SO FAR: Queen Beryl, frustrated at the loss of her four generals, has
had her fifth general, Chronite, travel to other worlds to recruit new
fighters for her army. Their mission: Eliminate the Sailor Scouts once
and for all. Just as Ranma, Lina, and Ryoko were about to kill Amy, the
alter ego of Sailor Mercury, a blast from the sky stopped them, and Cell
stepped in to take over the fight. Planet Power proved to have no effect
on Cell, and he promptly laid into the Scouts with powerful attacks
until Tuxedo Mask intervened. Seconds later, Cell had knocked Tuxedo
Mask out and proceeded to absorb the caped crusader through his tail.

A General Time Paradox
Chapter 18: The Ascension of Cell

    The silence didn't last very long before Sailor Moon broke it.
"TUXEDO MASK!" she screamed, running toward the empty tuxedo that was
all that remained of her future husband.
    Sailor Mars grabbed at her as she passed, but missed. "Sailor Moon,
no!" she shouted in vain as the crying girl fell to her knees and
clutched the pile of clothes, cradling them to her chest as if their
former occupant were still within.
    Mercury sat up and gasped at the numbers suddenly flashing in giant
red characters in her visor. It took her a few seconds to find her
voice. "His power!" she shouted at last. "He's become even stronger!
It's like he added Tuxedo Mask's power to his own!"
    "He absorbed him..." Venus realized. "That's what he meant! He's
going to try to absorb all of us the same way!" She got up, pressing a
hand to her aching side, and stood in front of Jupiter, who was just
beginning to stir. "Sailor Moon, get away from him!" she shouted. "Don't
let him stab you with his tail!"
    Sailor Moon made no move as Cell raised his tail threateningly.
    "She's not even paying attention!" said Mars. "She's still in shock
over Tuxedo Mask!"
    "We don't have time for her to cry!" snapped Venus. "Sailor Mercury,
we have to get her out of there!"
    "Right!" Mercury stood up unsteadily and raised her arms. "MERCURY
BUBBLES SPLASH!"
    Ryoko leapt to the edge of the roof, her body tensing as the
courtyard below filled with a thick fog. "Damn! They're going to get
away!"
    Ranma held her back. "If you go down there, you'll be blind," he
reminded her. "We'll watch from up here and make sure they can't get
away."
    "You can't hide from me!" shouted Cell. There was a bright flash,
and waves of energy surrounded him, pushing the fog away. In the now
clear air, he could clearly see Sailor Mercury right in front of him,
staring back in horror as she vainly tried to drag Sailor Moon away.
With a smile, Cell clamped a giant hand around her head and lifted her
completely off the ground. Her grip on Sailor Moon broke almost
instantly, and she found herself dangling helplessly yet again.
    "I've decided," announced Cell. "You'll be the first."
    Mercury gritted her teeth and reached up to grab Cell's arm in an
attempt to free herself, but a sharp, shooting pain in the right side of
her chest stopped her short. She looked down to see the tip of Cell's
tail embedded in her breast, sucking up her blood faster than it could
pour from the wound.
    "Sailor Mercury, no!" screamed Venus. "Sailor Moon, pull yourself
together! Mercury needs you!"
    Sailor Moon didn't respond to Venus' plea. Cell, however, suddenly
stopped his absorption and withdrew his tail from Mercury's chest. He
lifted the bloody tip to his mouth and licked it, savoring the flavor of
her blood. "Yes... I can taste the power within you. Absorbing your
energy alone would be a waste." He let Mercury fall from his fingers,
and she crumpled to the ground. The tip of Cell's tail suddenly opened
like a blooming flower, becoming a wide funnel with a dark, forbidding
hole in its center.
    Mercury weakly opened her eyes, coughing up a mouthful of blood as
she tried to get her bearings. The next thing she saw was the inside of
Cell's funnel, as a strong wind began to pull her toward its gaping
mouth. She stretched her arms up and grabbed the sides of the funnel,
but the wound in her chest had drained all of her strength. She could
offer no resistance as her head and shoulders entered the hole, pinning
her arms to her sides. The funnel closed around her, and Cell's powerful
tail muscles began to draw her into the tube like a snake ingesting its
food.
    Lina blanched. "Ew... that's pretty gross."
    Ryoko nodded. "Not even the Sailor Scouts deserve THAT."
    Venus took aim at Cell's face. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" she
shouted, hitting her mark squarely. Cell ignored the attack.
    Mars watched with clenched fists. "I can't attack without hitting
Mercury too!" She cupped her hands to her mouth. "Yo, meatball-brain!
Wake up and do something!"
    Sailor Moon snapped to attention, looking up at the object that was
casting its shadow on her. The last traces of Mercury's skirt vanished
into Cell's tail as she watched, while Mercury continued to kick
hopelessly at the air. Sailor Moon immediately leapt to her feet and
grabbed Mercury's ankles, pulling as hard as she could. "Hang on, Sailor
Mercury!" she shouted. "I won't let you go!"
    "Be careful, you idiot!" warned Mars. "You'll get sucked in too!"
    Sailor Moon continued to hold on while Cell sucked in Mercury's
thighs, then her calves, only barely letting go before the funnel closed
around the soles of Mercury's boots. She leapt forward and threw her
arms around the base of Cell's tail, trying to stop the bulge that
contained Mercury from merging with Cell's body.
    With one final grunt of exertion, Cell pulled Mercury's body right
through Sailor Moon's arms and into himself. Sailor Moon backed away,
staring at the base of his tail, as Cell's entire body began to glow
brightly. The light faded within moments, revealing that Cell's skin had
changed to a deep blue that reflected the faint light in the courtyard
like waves on the surface of a pool. He looked down at himself, enjoying
what he saw. "Hmmm... not bad at all. Not as powerful as the fighters in
my world, but the elemental power will be of considerable use to me. And
when I absorb the rest of their powers...." He looked up at the massed
Sailor Scouts with an eager gleam in his eyes.
    Sailor Moon grabbed the tip of Cell's tail and tugged angrily on it.
"Give her back, you monster! Give Sailor Mercury back!"
    Cell glared disdainfully at her. "You really don't learn very
quickly, do you?" He flexed the fingers of his right hand and pointed
his palm into her face. A powerful spray of water poured out, throwing
Sailor Moon backward. She landed on her back, coughing up the water from
her lungs as Cell raised his tail to stab her. "I doubt your power will
do me any good. I think I'll just take your life energy instead."
    "Sailor Moon, no!" shouted Mars, taking aim at Cell. "MARS FIRE
IGNITE!" This time, the flames rolled right over Cell without even
touching him.
    "Be careful!" warned Jupiter as she finally got to her feet. "You'll
hit Sailor Moon too!"
    "She's about to die anyway if we don't save her!" Mars pointed out.
    Venus pointed a finger in desperation, even though she knew her
attack was useless. But before she could fire, a glowing boulder
streaked across the courtyard, clipping Cell's tail as it darted
downward. The deadly point struck the ground beside Sailor Moon's
shoulder, and he looked up to see where it had come from just in time to
receive a faceful of Sailor Neptune's water attack. The ball of water
carried Cell with it until it splashed against the wall of the school
building, where another well-timed attack from Uranus smashed into him
and knocked him through the bricks and into a classroom.
    "It's the Outer Scouts!" cheered Venus.
    Sailor Moon quickly shook off her shock and sat up. "Uranus!
Neptune!" she shouted accusingly. "What took you so long? If you'd
gotten here sooner, you could have saved Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo
Mask!"
    "Hey, what do you think we were trying to do?" Uranus shot back. "We
were here when that thing first attacked Sailor Mercury, but then you
jumped in the way and we couldn't get a clear shot!"
    "Sailor Mercury can't be dead," added Neptune. "If she were, there
would have been a paradox by now. There must be a way to bring her back,
somehow."
    The pile of bricks in the classroom shifted as Cell climbed to his
feet. "That was quite a display," he said. "Even more power than the
rest of them! I'll be sure to make good use of your powers once I absorb
them."
    As he stepped out into the open, Neptune gasped. "He's not damaged
at all!"
    "We'll have to attack together," said Uranus, taking a battle
stance. "Ready, Neptune?"
    "Ready!" The two launched their energy blasts in tandem, sending a
pair of projectiles streaking toward Cell. He watched them spiral
through the air until the last second, when he leapt smoothly over them
and changed directions in midair, making a beeline for the Outer Scouts.
    "Look out!" shouted Uranus, too late. Cell was between the Outer
Scouts before they could move, swinging his legs to kick both of them at
the same time. Sailor Uranus' flight sent her through the wall of the
auditorium, while Neptune landed on her back on the blacktop, skidding
several feet before coming to a stop. She managed to open her eyes, only
to see Cell's funnel bearing down on her.
    This time, Sailor Moon leapt to action immediately. "MOON TIARA
MAGIC!" she shouted, hurling her attack at Cell. Cell merely knocked the
discus aside with his forearm and covered Neptune's head with his tail.
She struggled to escape, but the pain in her bruised side quickly
drained what little strength she could muster to fight the powerful
suction.
    Uranus weakly climbed out of the hole in the auditorium wall and
gathered energy in her hand. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.
"URANUS WORLD SHAKING!" she shouted, sending her attack in Cell's
direction. He was so engrossed in his target that he failed to see the
attack coming, and it hit him in the back hard enough to knock him off
balance. Sailor Neptune popped out of his tail and rolled onto her
stomach as she landed.
    Uranus tried to prepare a follow-up attack, but she was in severe
pain. She fell to one knee, leaning on the rubble from the wall to stay
up even that much. "Neptune, run!" she shouted desperately.
    Neptune pushed herself up onto her elbows, but a shooting pain in
her side stopped her short. "I can't move!" she shouted back. "I think
my ribs are broken!"
    "We can't let Cell absorb her!" said Mars. She ran toward the
monster, with Venus and Jupiter close behind. Cell simply waved his arm
at them, and a wave of energy threw them all backward. With those
distractions out of the way, he returned his attention to the helpless
Neptune. Realizing the futility of trying to stand, Neptune began to
crawl away, but she couldn't move quickly enough. Cell lifted his foot
and brought it down hard on the small of her back, forcing the air out
of her lungs in one blow. She felt the rest of her ribs snap one by one,
and then everything went black.
    The others watched helplessly as Cell once again covered Neptune's
head with his funnel, knowing that their attacks would have no effect.
Only Uranus continued to fight, but her weakened body refused to move.
"Neptune, hang on!" she shouted, more to herself than to her partner.
"I'll save you, somehow!" She sat down heavily and turned her face to
the sky. "Sailor Pluto, hurry! Do something! Forget about the Inner
Scouts and save Neptune!"
    There was no response to Uranus' plea as Neptune's body slid through
Cell's tail like a strand of spaghetti.
    Uranus pounded the ground uselessly with her fist. "NEPTUNE! DAMMIT,
WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING? I KNOW YOU CAN!"
    Ryoko snorted. "Hmph. The way she's crying, you'd think those two
were married or something."
    "This is sick," said Ranma, getting to his feet.
    "Nothing wrong with a little healthy love between women," said
Ryoko.
    "That's not what I mean! He's not just killing them, he's.... I
can't just stand here and watch!" He stepped onto the edge of the roof,
preparing to jump down, but Lina held him back.
    "Just let him do his job, Ranma," she urged him. "Then Akane will be
safe, and we can all go home."
    Ranma sighed and sat down. "Yeah, you're right. This is what happens
when I can't get the job done. But I don't like it."
    Down below, Cell pulled Sailor Neptune into his body and began to
glow, as his body took on an even deeper shade of aqua. The appearance
of water on his skin seemed to penetrate even deeper into his body now,
and the reflections were those of a stormy sea rather than calm waves.
"Excellent," he declared. "Now I can truly feel the power of water
flowing through me." He spread his arms, and four jets of water sprayed
from the earth, fountaining several stories into the air and soaking a
large area of the courtyard.
    "We're never going to beat him at this rate!" shouted Mars. "He's
just going to suck us all up one by one and absorb our powers!"
    Cell stepped casually out from between the fountains of water and
strode toward Sailor Uranus. "Please, don't stop screaming for my sake,"
he invited. "I want to hear your terror one more time before you join
your friend."
    "I'll never give you the pleasure!" Uranus spat defiantly, brushing
tears from her face angrily.
    "Stop right there!" shouted a deep voice from behind Cell. He turned
to face a woman almost as tall as himself, sporting long hair that was
such a dark shade of green it was almost black, and a sailor fuku with
an even darker skirt. "You must stop this at once, before you destroy
this entire universe!"
    Uranus' eyes grew wide at the sound of the voice. "Pluto... you
bitch! Why didn't you save Neptune?"
    "It is not my place to interfere in this world," replied Pluto.
"Already, I have done too much, and given power to my adversary. But if
Cell continues this absorption, the risk will be even greater."
    "It really doesn't matter how many of you I absorb," countered Cell.
"No power in this universe can stand up to me. The power I acquire here
is merely a means to simplify my goal." He raised his arm and fired an
energy blast at Sailor Pluto. Without seeming to move, she was suddenly
several feet outside the path of the attack. Cell's eyes narrowed. "I
see. You have power like his...."
    "You cannot absorb me," warned Sailor Pluto. "If I am destroyed, it
will throw this entire universe into chaos!"
    "As if I care about the fate of this universe!" snorted Cell. "All
that matters to me is the power that you and the other Sailor Scouts
have!"
    "I won't let you lay a finger on any one of them!" shouted Pluto.
"PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!" She leveled her staff at Cell and fired a ball of
dark energy at him. Cell easily dodged the attack and retaliated with a
ball of his own energy, which Pluto parried with her staff.
    Sailor Moon trotted over to where the other Inner Scouts stood,
watching the unfolding duel. "Who is that woman?" she asked. "She looks
like a Sailor Scout!"
    "Uranus called her Sailor Pluto," said Venus. "I wonder why they
didn't tell us about her before."
    "I don't like the way that fight is going," said Mars. "They're too
evenly matched!"
    "At least Sailor Pluto's holding her own so far," observed Jupiter.
"Maybe she can beat him!"
    Deciding that long-range combat was useless, Cell darted in to close
range and began to attack Sailor Pluto with his fists and feet, his
limbs moving so quickly that not even Ranma could follow them. Sailor
Pluto blocked as best she could, but her limited ability to manipulate
time wasn't enough to protect her. She countered by swinging her staff
at Cell's head, but the blow didn't faze him.
    "She's losing!" shouted Sailor Mars. "Cell's going to absorb her
too!"
    "We can't let that happen!" Uranus shouted across the battlefield.
"Sailor Pluto is the Guardian of Time! If Cell controls her power, he'll
be unstoppable!"
    "Don't do this!" Pluto begged, trying one more time to reason with
Cell. "If you absorb me, this universe will be destroyed by the
paradox!"
    Lina's ears perked up. "Paradox? They mentioned that before."
    "You think it's a bluff?" asked Ranma. "I mean, universes don't just
blow up, do they?"
    "It's not as hard as you think to destroy a universe," Lina pointed
out. "I've almost destroyed my own twice. Which is why I'm here,
actually...."
    Before she could finish her sentence, a lucky strike from Cell's
tail sent Pluto's staff spinning across the blacktop. Cell's tail was at
her throat before she could blink. "On second thought..." he mumbled,
then quickly rammed his tail forward, barely missing Pluto's windpipe.
"You're too dangerous an opponent to underestimate." He pulled his tail
free, and Pluto fell to her knees, blood gushing from the wound. The
tail opened into a funnel, and he positioned it over her head, preparing
to absorb her power.
    "It's all over if he absorbs her!" shouted Mars. "We have to stop
him!"
    Uranus stood up, holding the wall for support with one hand while
she charged up her attack with the other. "URANUS WORLD SHAKING!"
    Cell calmly pointed his palm at the incoming projectile and blasted
it with a powerful jet of water, sending it right back at Uranus, who
barely managed to fall flat on her face as the stone exploded against
the wall above her. The threat dispensed with, he returned to his
objective, covering Pluto's head with his tail and beginning to draw her
in.
    "What are we going to do?" asked Venus. "He's too strong, and he has
water powers now!"
    "Water powers?" Jupiter's eyes lit up. "Everybody stand back! I have
an idea!" As the other Scouts backed away, Jupiter's hair stood on end.
She crossed her arms over her chest and raised the antenna of her tiara.
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" A bolt of lightning struck her antenna, then
arced across the courtyard to Cell. Cell screamed in pain as the
electricity shot through his body, and Sailor Pluto shot out of his tail
like a bullet. She rolled across the ground and came to a stop not far
from Uranus.
    Uranus raised her head. "Pluto, you have to get out of here! You
can't let Cell absorb your power too!"
    "But you and the others..." protested Pluto.
    "We'll be in even more danger if Cell absorbs you," Uranus pointed
out. "Just get yourself someplace safe and don't worry about us!"
    "I'm afraid you're right," agreed Pluto. She raised her arm
imploringly toward where her staff had fallen. "Key of Time, to me!"
    The staff vibrated at her command, then leapt up and flew toward
her. Cell sneered and stretched out a hand to grab it, but a shout of
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" from Jupiter sent another bolt of lightning
through his body, paralyzing him long enough for the staff to slip
through his fingers and into Pluto's. Space wrapped around her, and she
vanished.
    Cell snarled as he watched his target escape. "It seems I've made a
mistake by absorbing the two Sailor Scouts with water elemental powers,
giving me a weakness to an electric attack." His eyes focused on Uranus
as she tried once again to stand up. "However, the power of earth should
be an adequate shield."
    Uranus' eyes grew wide as she realized that she was the new object
of Cell's attention. She felt a chill as she realized that there was
nothing she could do to protect herself, but she was determined to go
down fighting. "URANUS WORLD SHAKING!" she shouted, pounding the ground
in front of her and sending a boulder streaking toward Cell. He darted
around it and landed on her back, knocking the air out of her lungs,
then hopped to the ground beside her.
    "Sailor Uranus!" shouted Sailor Moon. "Jupiter, you have to do
something!"
    "I'm on it," Jupiter assured her, charging up another blast.
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"
    Cell raised his hand at the approaching electricity and shot a giant
ball of water at it. The water absorbed the electricity as it crossed
the distance, splashing all over Jupiter before she could dodge. Jupiter
screamed as the electricity lanced through her body, then collapsed to
the ground in a smoking heap.
    Seizing advantage of the momentary distraction, Uranus leapt at Cell
with her fists raised. Cell spun around and grabbed her wrists in both
hands, then pulled them apart, stretching her arms to their limit. His
tail appeared above her head, opening to reveal the deadly funnel. With
her arms pinned, all she could do was kick at Cell's chest, but he
didn't even seem to feel the blows.
    Uranus felt the suction from the funnel and knew she didn't have
much time left. Thinking quickly, she swung her legs up over her head
and braced them on the sides of the funnel. Cell cackled as her feet
slipped on the water he'd secreted on the inner surface of the funnel
and slid right into the hole. The sides of the funnel closed tightly
around her legs and began to draw her in.
    Mars fell to her knees and gave Jupiter a vigorous shake. "Come on,
wake up! She needs your help!" After a short pause, she shook her head
despondently. "No good! She's out cold!"
    "We can't just stand here and do nothing!" said Venus. "VENUS
CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" The beam hit Cell with no effect. Venus' hand fell
to her side in frustration. "Dammit! We're just not powerful enough!"
    "The only one with enough power to hurt Cell is Sailor Uranus!" said
Mars. "If he absorbs her, we're as good as dead!"
    Uranus groaned as the lip of the funnel crept under her miniskirt,
pressing against her hips in a way that reminded her of some of the
things Neptune used to do during those long evenings they'd spent
together. It was a revolting and terrifying comparison. She did her best
to ignore the sensations and grabbed at the tail, prying at the edges in
a vain attempt to free herself. Unfortunately, the tail's grip was too
tight, and there was no room to use her World Shaking. She briefly
considered summoning the Space Sword, but the chilling thought of the
universe being torn apart quickly dispelled that idea. There was nothing
she could do to prevent Cell from sucking her in.
    "It's so interesting to watch you struggle," said Cell pensively.
"Perhaps I should absorb more of my victims feet first."
    "Shut up!" shouted Uranus as the mouth of the funnel expanded just
enough to take in her breasts. She could almost feel Neptune's hands on
her, as if her partner were taking charge of her absorption
personally.... She looked up at the Inner Scouts with desperation in her
eyes. "If you girls are holding out some big plan, now would be a great
time to use it!"
    Sailor Moon turned to her friends. "What about the combined attack?"
    "It's our best shot," agreed Mars. "But we need Mercury for that.
And Jupiter's in no condition to -"
    "I can do it," groaned Jupiter as she climbed to her hands and
knees. Venus hauled her to her feet, and she managed to remain standing
under her own power.
    "I guess it can't hurt to try," said Venus. "We have to do
something."
    "All right," said Sailor Moon. She removed her tiara and held it
over her head.
    "Hurry!" shouted Uranus as Cell's tail pulled her shoulders in,
forcing her arms straight.
    Jupiter raised her arms determinedly. "By the power of Jupiter!"
Electricity surrounded the discus as her power took form, forming a cage
in the absence of Mercury's water power.
    "By the power of Mars!" shouted Mars, sending fire into the cage. It
flared like a star as it wrapped around the discus.
    "By the power of Venus!" shouted Venus, covering the discus with
white energy.
    "And by the power of the Moon," finished Sailor Moon, "let our
combined powers strike down our enemies!" The mixture of energies
combined into a white light, as it had before, but it was rather dim and
pulsated as if preparing to wink out at any second. Wasting no time,
Sailor Moon hurled the discus at Cell. "SAILOR SCOUTS COMBINED TIARA
MAGIC!"
    Cell raised his hand to catch the discus, but even without Mercury's
energy in it, the projectile proved stronger than his defense for once.
It sliced easily through his hand, chopping his fingers off as it went,
then proceeded to tear a hole through his chest before whirling off into
the sky.
    "All right!" cheered Mars. "We got him!"
    Cell stared at the hole in his body with an irritated look. "How
inconvenient," he assessed. "No matter." He screwed his eyes shut and
tensed his muscles, eliciting another groan from Uranus, this one more
pained than pleasure. The exposed edges of the wound bulged outward,
pulsating in time with a heartbeat; then, in an instant, spat forth
enough material to completely fill the hole. Purple slime dripped from
the edges of the newly-healed wound, then vanished as the new green skin
changed color to match the rest of Cell's body. Seconds after the attack
had torn him open, Cell's chest showed absolutely no sign of damage. He
tensed again, and the stumps of his fingers disgorged a new set of
digits. "That's better," he said. He curled his new fingers
experimentally, nodded with satisfaction, then pulled Uranus the rest of
the way into his tail in one smooth motion. Her fingers clutched at the
edges for a few final seconds before they were pulled inside.
    "It didn't do anything at all?" said Mars incredulously.
    "Quick, another combined attack!" ordered Sailor Moon.
    "There's no time!" replied Jupiter. "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" This
time, Cell didn't even bother to counter her attack. Instead, he pulled
Uranus into his body before the attack could land, and the white glow of
his new transformation pushed the electricity away like a rubber suit.
When the light faded, the aqueous surface of Cell's body seemed to be
covered with sand-colored speckles.
    Sailor Moon covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. "She's
gone..." she whispered.
    "Looks like it's over for them now," said Lina. "They've lost
everyone who had enough power to damage Cell, and even the electricity
won't work anymore."
    "Not to mention Cell seems to be able to heal himself even if they
DO damage him," added Ranma.
    Below them, Mars came to the same conclusion. "I hate to say it, you
guys, but I don't think there's anything we can do. We'd better run for
it and hope we can think of something once we're clear!"
    "But Mercury and Tuxedo Mask and the others are still inside Cell!"
protested Sailor Moon. "We have to save them!"
    "We can't save them if we're dead!" Mars shot back. "I say we all
run in different directions and try to lose him."
    Venus nodded emphatically. "Maybe Sailor Pluto can catch up with us
later, once she's healed."
    "But the others!" repeated Sailor Moon.
    "Just grab her and get out of here!" said Mars. "We don't have time
for her whining!"
    Sailor Venus grabbed Sailor Moon by the elbow and ran away from
Cell, while Jupiter and Mars took off in different directions.
    Cell watched them go with a smile on his face. "So, they plan to
divide and escape? I suppose it's a reasonable strategy." He flexed his
fist. "Let's see how this new elemental power works." He bent down and
pressed his palm to the ground at his feet.
    At the far side of the courtyard, Sailor Mars shrieked as her legs
plunged knee-deep into what had appeared to be solid blacktop. "Not
again!" she screamed.
    Jupiter, who was similarly mired, turned to her with an inquisitive
stare. "What do you mean, not again?"
    Mars shook her head. "I don't know.... I just felt the strangest
sense of d�j� vu."
    Jupiter's stomach lurched as she started to lose her balance. As she
righted herself, she felt the liquid earth rising around her thighs.
"Um, Mars... I think we're sinking!"
    Mars quickly lifted her arms to keep them well clear of the sucking
surface. "I feel it too. I have a feeling this stuff is quicksand."
    "Quicksand?" repeated Jupiter. "But how? This is solid asphalt!"
    "Was," corrected Mars. "Cell has the powers of earth AND water now."
    Jupiter swallowed hard. "So, what do we do now?"
    Mars shrugged. "Sink, I guess."
    Meanwhile, Cell appeared in front of the fleeing Venus, cutting off
her escape. Venus stopped in her tracks and reflexively pointed her
finger at his face. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" Cell flinched at the
blow, giving Venus time to turn around and run in the other direction.
Sailor Moon couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and the two tripped
over each other and fell to the ground at Cell's feet.
    Cell's hand wrapped around Venus' throat, and he pulled her up to
his face. "Remember, fighting only makes it hurt. Allow me to
demonstrate." He gave her throat a hard squeeze as his tail opened above
her head.
    Sailor Moon sat up and tore her tiara from her head. "MOON TIARA
MAGIC!" she shouted, hurling the discus over Cell's shoulder. It neatly
sliced the tip off his tail, causing Cell to release his grip on Venus.
She dropped to the ground and rolled out of his reach in the same
motion.
    Sailor Moon stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You may have
taken some of our friends from us, but without your tail, you can't
absorb the rest of us!"
    "That's where you're wrong," said Cell. He clasped his hands
together and groaned, and a new tip sprouted from the stump of his tail.
    "They're in trouble!" shouted Mars. She lunged for a handhold at the
edge of the quicksand, driving herself to waist-depth almost instantly.
    "Mars, don't struggle!" warned Jupiter. "It'll just make you sink
faster!"
    Mars turned to show her determined face to Jupiter. "If it's a
choice between being swallowed by quicksand or by Cell's tail, I'll take
the quicksand any day."
    Jupiter stared at the undulating ground around her hips. "I'd rather
not have to die at all, but I guess you've got a point. Hold still and
let me try getting out of this stuff." She carefully leaned forward and
grabbed the solid edge of the pit, slowly pulling herself toward safety.
Her efforts pushed her down as much as forward, but as her waist settled
into the quicksand, she found herself close enough to the edge to hold
herself up. She lay down on her stomach and pushed with all her might,
slowly but steadily swinging her legs up to the surface.
    "Wow," said Mars. "Maybe struggling isn't such a bad idea after
all."
    "It's all -" Jupiter grunted as she pulled her hips out of the pit
"- upper body strength."
    Mars felt the slurry tickling her lower ribs and sighed. "Well, at
least one of us is going to survive."
    "I'll get you out as soon as I can," Jupiter assured her.
    "Don't worry about me," said Mars. "I'll stop sinking after a while.
But I think they need your help more." She raised an arm to point to the
other Scouts, who were backing nervously away from Cell as he advanced
menacingly on them.
    "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" shouted Venus, knocking Cell's head
back with a well-placed shot.
    Cell rubbed his chin and scowled at her. "When did that little beam
get so powerful?" he asked.
    Venus quickly backed away, firing her Crescent Beam repeatedly to
keep Cell at bay, but he pushed his way forward through the constant
barrage. Suddenly, Sailor Moon's tiara flew over Venus' head and sliced
through Cell's neck, decapitating him. Venus sighed her relief.
"Finally! It's over!"
    Before Venus could inhale, the stump of Cell's neck bulged, and a
new head sprouted forth. Cell tilted his head from one side to the
other, casually cracking his neck as if losing and regrowing his head
was a common experience for him.
    "He's unstoppable!" whined Sailor Moon. "We're never going to beat
him!"
    "Just keep attacking him with everything you've got!" commanded
Venus. "I think we might be weakening him!" She pushed all of her energy
into a Crescent Beam, knocking Cell back hard enough that he had to stab
his tail into the ground to keep his balance. Relieved, she took another
step backward, and the ground swallowed her legs in an instant. She
screamed and raised her arms to ward off Cell's funnel as it descended
upon her - but the next thing she felt was a pair of hands grabbing her
waist and pulling her out of the quicksand. She looked up to see the
mud-covered Sailor Jupiter standing in front of her, holding Cell's tail
up to keep it away from Venus, while Sailor Moon hauled her to solid
ground.
    "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" shouted Venus, knocking Cell's tail
aside with her beam to allow Jupiter to escape. "Thanks for the save,
guys!"
    "Go help Sailor Mars!" ordered Jupiter, waving her arm in the
direction of the imperiled Scout. "I'll keep Cell busy!"
    "I'm staying too!" asserted Sailor Moon. She pulled off her tiara
and prepared to throw it in Jupiter's defense.
    "You guys be careful," said Venus. "I'll be right back with Sailor
Mars!"
    Cell smiled as Venus ran to Mars' rescue. "I trust you've realized
the futility of running away. It's only a matter of time now until
you're all part of me."
    "I wouldn't bet on it!" retorted Jupiter. She quickly leapt aside as
she saw Cell stab his tail into the ground, barely escaping before the
spot where she'd been standing turned to quicksand. "You can't catch me
with the same trick twice!"
    "Well, he tricked me!" whined Sailor Moon, knee-deep in the liquid
ground. "Help!"
    Jupiter groaned in exasperation, not taking her eyes off Cell.
"Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now! Try not to move!"
    "Easy for you to say," mumbled Sailor Moon. "I'm the one who's
sinking!"
    "Then let's make this quick," said Jupiter. "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"
Lightning leapt from her tiara and enveloped Cell, who didn't even
flinch. "Shoot! I forgot that won't work!"
    Cell chuckled and curled his hand around a ball of energy, which he
casually flung at Jupiter with such speed that she couldn't dodge it.
The explosion threw her head over heels, but Cell was in front of her
before she could land. He stretched out his arm and flicked her forehead
with a finger, sending her into the sky. He leapt up to meet her,
wrapped his arms around her waist, and shot downward at supersonic
speed, letting go of her just above the ground and veering off. He
hovered beside the giant cloud of dust from her impact and reached into
it, pulling Jupiter out by her ponytail.
    "Hold it right there!" shouted Sailor Moon, brandishing her tiara
without regard to the quicksand that she was waist-deep in. "I won't let
you hurt my friends any more!"
    Cell clamped his hand onto Jupiter's skull and picked her up,
letting her body dangle in front of his body. "Are you willing to risk
her life by attacking me?"
    "You can't use her as a shield!" protested Sailor Moon. "That's just
evil!"
    "So I'm told," said Cell with a mock bow. "I'd advise you to hold
still until I'm done with this one."
    "Just try it!" threatened Sailor Moon, holding her discus aloft. "If
you try to absorb her, I'll have a clear shot at your tail!"
    "Yet, the luxury of time is on my side," noted Cell.
    Sailor Moon gave the quicksand a brief worried glance. "I don't care
what happens to me!" she shouted defiantly. "If I have to die to protect
my friends, then I will!"
    "I'm sure that can be arranged," agreed Cell.
    "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" The beam struck the side of Cell's
head, nearly snapping his neck from the force. Venus and Mars ran to
Sailor Moon's side, each grabbing an arm to haul her up out of the pit.
    Cell threw a ball of light at the trio, who could do little more
than brace for the impact. Venus and Mars held on doggedly to Sailor
Moon's arms as the projectile exploded, but that only caused all three
of them to fly across the courtyard together, landing in a heap in the
giant puddle of water from Cell's original demonstration of Neptune's
power.
    "You can't all die at once," said Cell as he turned his attention
back to the unconscious Sailor Scout in his hand. He shifted his grip to
hold her shoulders so that he could cover her head with the funnel and
begin to suck her in. As the lip of the funnel closed over her
shoulders, Jupiter's legs began to kick weakly, but she was powerless to
stop her ascent into the tube.
    Sailor Moon raised her head just in time to see the hem of Jupiter's
skirt vanish into Cell's tail. "No..." she moaned. "You can't!" She
pushed herself to her feet, slipping several times in the pitch that
covered her legs. By the time she could stand, only Jupiter's muddy
boots were visible poking out of the end of Cell's tail. They quickly
went up the tube as well.
    Sailor Moon tore the tiara from her head. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" As she
wound up to throw, a wave of dizziness hit her, and her vision blurred.
The discus flew off in the wrong direction, nearly slicing off Ranma's
ear as he ducked, while Sailor Moon fell back to the ground.
    Cell watched the discus fly out of sight, shaking his head sadly.
"Humans. Such sad creatures. Even when they can't take care of
themselves, they try to help others. It all amounts to the same thing in
the end." He pulled Sailor Jupiter into his body. "But enough poetry. I
have a job to do." As the glow of his new integration faded, arcs of
electricity crackled across his skin. He watched them trace from pebble
to pebble across his arms, then pointed a finger at the Sailor Scouts
who remained.
    Venus lifted her head out of the water, which was beginning to turn
black as it washed the mud off their bodies, and saw Cell preparing to
launch an attack. She wasted no time in putting up the only defense she
could. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" The beam tore into Cell's shoulder,
snapping his arm back and sending his electric attack harmlessly into
the sky.
    Cell stared angrily at the smoking crater in his shoulder. "What is
happening? Why does your attack damage me more as I grow more powerful?"
    "Yeah," echoed Ryoko, "how come? He should be even stronger now,
right?"
    "I thought it would be obvious," replied Lina. "Just like when he
absorbed too much water power and had an elemental weakness to
electricity, now he's got an elemental weakness to Sailor Venus' love
power."
    "What kind of power makes him weak to that?" asked Ryoko.
    "Evil," replied Lina. "His entire body is full of it, and every time
he absorbs a Sailor Scout, that power grows."
    Ryoko hummed. "Talk about a double-edged sword."
    Cell seemed to disappear and reappear at the edge of the puddle as
the Sailor Scouts tried to get to their feet. He reached down and
grabbed Venus by the collar as the hole in his shoulder rippled and
repaired itself. "You won't live to try that again, I promise you." He
clenched his fingers and sent the full force of his electricity through
her. She couldn't hold back the screams as her body arched and bucked
involuntarily while Cell fried her alive.
    Sailor Moon pushed herself up to an elbow at the sound of Venus'
screams and grabbed her tiara, then threw it sidearm at Cell while
shouting "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Cell easily knocked the discus away with
his forearm, letting up his electric attack for a split second while he
was distracted. Venus seized the opportunity and focused her energy into
her fingertip, then pressed it to Cell's wrist before the electric
current could resume. The blast completely severed Cell's hand, dropping
her to the ground with its fingers still clutching her leotard.
    Now it was Sailor Mars who had risen to her knees to take aim at the
stump of Cell's wrist. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" she shouted, sending a jet of
flame shooting across the exposed innards of Cell's arm.
    Once the flame attack had ended, Mars rose to her feet to assess the
damage, but as always, Cell's body was unharmed. Without even
acknowledging the attack, Cell tensed his muscles to regrow his hand.
However, after several seconds had passed, his arm remained handless.
"What's wrong with me?" he asked aloud. "Why am I not regenerating?" His
eyes narrowed, and he glared at Mars. "You...."
    Mars smiled and gave a cocky salute. "I call that the Sailor Mars
Cauterization Special."
    Cell simply pointed at her with his good hand and blasted her with
electricity until she collapsed. "I don't have a name for that," he
said, "but if it shuts you up, I'm satisfied."
    Venus shakily stood up, raising a finger threateningly. "Hey, you
leave her alone!"
    "Every time I put one down, another pops up," groaned Cell.
    "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" shouted Venus, shooting a beam at Cell.
He slid aside to dodge it, then darted forward and smacked her on the
head with the tip of his tail before she could get off another shot. She
leaned back just in time to avoid the worst of the impact, but as she
fell, Cell's funnel opened and quickly snapped closed around her right
wrist. She threw her weight backward, hoping to break free, but merely
wrenched her shoulder and nearly dislocated it as Cell's grip held firm.
The muscles within his tail closed around her hand and drew her in until
the tip of the tail encircled her shoulder. Realizing that the opening
wasn't large enough to take her in any further, Venus grabbed the tip of
the tail and pried with fierce determination, but when the funnel
opened, the tube held her arm firmly in place. She was drawn into the
wider opening in an instant, and the funnel closed over her head,
entombing her in its cold darkness.
    Sailor Mars pushed herself to her elbows and watched as Sailor Venus
again began to slide up Cell's tail. She clenched her fists angrily and
turned her head to face Sailor Moon. "Yo, meatball-head, wake up! Sailor
Venus needs your help!"
    Sailor Moon weakly opened her eyes. "I don't think I can use my
power again," she whispered. "I barely made it work the last time."
    "You can't just give up!" shouted Mars. "You never give up, no
matter how bad things get!"
    "I can't move," moaned Sailor Moon. "I don't have the energy left to
fight any more."
    "Then find it!" snapped Mars. "You're the one who wanted to stay and
fight when the rest of us wanted to run away. And you were right. It's
our duty to protect all the people who can't fight for themselves. We
have to win, to protect everyone! And right now, Cell's sucking up the
best chance we have at victory! Are you going to let him take Sailor
Venus too?"
    Sailor Moon shook her head and removed her tiara. "Moon... Tiara..."
she whispered, making the headpiece glow faintly. It flickered,
alternately taking the form of a discus, then returning to its original
shape. "I can't do it," she announced tearfully. "I've never had to use
so much power at once. I just... don't have it in me anymore." Her hand
fell to the ground, dropping the tiara into the mud.
    Mars let Sailor Moon be and turned her attention instead to Cell, as
the last traces of Venus' boots vanished into his tail. "Then I guess
it's up to me," she spat, pushing herself to her feet. She clasped her
hands together with her index fingers extended and drew on all the power
she could find, pushing it into the growing fireball at her fingertips.
    Cell spread his arms wide, pulling his tail behind him. "You want
one final shot at me before I absorb you as well? Then make it a quick
one. You haven't much time."
    Mars gritted her teeth as the energy coursing through her began to
take its toll, making her entire body ache, but she ignored the pain and
focused on her goal. She had to come up with enough energy to destroy
Cell in one shot, and the only way to be sure was to give him everything
she had left and then some. But she had to wait until the last possible
second, to make sure she had every ounce of power she could muster....
    Suddenly, Cell's tail exploded in a blinding flash of light,
showering the entire courtyard with purple goo. Cell spun around to face
the source of the attack, but the only thing behind him was Sailor
Venus, sprawled on the ground and coughing. "You... how did you do
that?" he demanded. "Did you destroy my tail from the inside?"
    Sailor Mars smiled as Cell turned his back to her, giving her an
excellent target - the stump of his missing tail. She took aim and let
fly the attack she'd been building up, sending a powerful jet of flame
shooting at the exposed target. A spout of water from the stump formed a
shield just a moment before the flames could hit home, but Mars poured
even more energy into the attack, adrenaline surging through her system
as sheer determination overcame her fatigue. Gallons of water turned to
steam in the wake of Mars' fire, forming a cloud that covered Cell from
head to toe, but she kept fighting. This attack was her only chance, and
just a little more power would spell the end of Cell's murderous
rampage....
    A barely perceptible shadow moved slightly in the depths of the
steam cloud. Before Mars could react, Cell's new tail shot out of the
steam and tore right through her stomach as it regrew. The entire needle
protruded from her back in a spray of blood, while the round tip
penetrated halfway through her body before finally reaching its limit
and lodging in her gut. A quick gasp escaped her lips, along with a few
ounces of blood. Then, Cell withdrew his tail in a swift motion, opening
the funnel and covering her head with it before her nearly lifeless body
could fall to the ground.
    Sailor Moon's heart sank as she watched helplessly. "I'm sorry... I
wasn't strong enough."
    Venus rolled over and took aim at Cell's back. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM
SMASH!" Her beam hit the base of Cell's tail, leaving a large burn mark
but not penetrating the skin. Cell twisted at the waist and fired a ball
of light, which exploded right next to her as she rolled out of the way.
The blast threw her several feet across the courtyard. When she stopped,
she looked up to see Cell standing over her.
    "Wait your turn," he said. "I have to finish absorbing this one
before she dies."
    "NO!" screamed Venus, climbing to her feet. She pointed her finger
at Cell's face, but he grabbed her forearm in his remaining hand and
twisted hard, nearly lifting her off the ground in a very painful way.
Venus cried out in pain and lost her balance, tugging even harder on her
pinned arm as she started to fall. Cell held her for just a second
longer before letting her drop to the ground, where she curled around
her injured arm protectively.
    Cell sneered at the fallen Scout as he pulled Sailor Mars the rest
of the way into his tail. "The power of fire is mine," he announced.
"Now things will really - dare I say it? - heat up!" He cackled as his
body glowed with the familiar energy as he integrated Sailor Mars into
himself. When the glow faded, the sparks crackling over his skin were
joined by tiny peals of flame that leapt from one invisible node to
another like solar flares.
    "Well, let's see how it works," said Cell. He peered down at Sailor
Venus and opened his mouth to spit a wave of fire at her. Venus' eyes
widened in horror as the flames approached, and she pushed herself away
with her good arm, barely rolling to safety in time.
    "Lovely," said Cell. "I can see why Chronite felt this power would
be of use to me." He raised the stump of his right arm and pointed his
left index finger at it. A ball of light formed at the tip of the finger
and shot out in a beam that severed what was left of his forearm. A new
hand instantly sprouted from the freshly opened stump. "Ahh, it feels
good to be whole once again, now that they don't have the power of fire
to prevent me from regenerating lost parts."
    Venus quickly stood up, bracing her injured arm with her left hand.
"I've had enough!" she shouted. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM -"
    Before she could finish her attack, Cell's fist pounded her in the
stomach with enough force to instantly double her over. She coughed up a
lungful of blood as her body curled around his fist, while time seemed
to slow to a crawl as if to prolong her pain. Then, the laws of momentum
reasserted themselves, and she flew across the courtyard to land in an
undignified heap.
    Sailor Moon pushed herself up on her elbows. "Venus...."
    "Well, that was easier than I expected," said Cell as he strode
toward the incapacitated Scout. Sailor Venus tried to stand up, but
hadn't gotten to her hands and knees before her stomach heaved and she
vomited up a foul-tasting mixture of blood and half-digested food. She
spat out the last of it as Cell's shadow fell on her, blocking the light
from the streetlamps.
    "Stop!" shouted Sailor Moon. "I won't let you!" She pushed herself
up to her feet, wobbling wildly as she stood upright. The tiara in her
hand became a discus, flickered, then glowed brightly. "I won't let you
hurt her!"
    Cell turned to face her. "Are you up already? Then I'll just have to
beat you first!" He opened his hand and charged up a ball of energy to
throw at her, but a wide beam of light shot through him from behind,
tearing a gaping hole in his chest. He whirled angrily on Venus and
raised his arm to throw the ball at her instead, but the Moon Tiara tore
a chunk out of his left side before he could strike. He screamed in rage
and leapt into the air, coming down where Sailor Moon had been standing
with enough force to leave a crater as the Scout dove out of the way.
    "Don't give up!" shouted Venus. "We've got a chance to beat him!
Keep attacking until there's nothing left!" She rose to one foot, but a
wave of nausea prevented her from standing up any further.
    Cell ignored the hopeful plea and lowered his hand to shoot the
energy ball at Sailor Moon before she could recover from the shock of
his previous attack. She crawled out of the way, barely making it to the
periphery of the blast in time. The explosion sent her rolling across
the blacktop, but she used the momentum to roll to her feet. She tore
the tiara from her head, but dropped it as the ground liquefied beneath
her feet and swallowed her legs whole. The tiara landed on the wet
surface and bobbed for a split second before the mud closed over it.
Sailor Moon gasped and plunged her arms into the quicksand, searching
for the lost tiara, but her fingers found nothing but the bottomless
mud.
    Cell smiled. "That ought to keep her busy for a while." He turned
back to Sailor Venus, who tensed as she felt his eyes on her and aimed
her finger at him.
    "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
    Cell leaned easily aside to dodge the blast, then leapt forward,
grabbing her arms and holding them as far apart as they would stretch.
She twisted in his grip, hoping to pull an arm free, but her stomach
churned as she moved, abruptly ending her struggle.
    "No!" shouted Sailor Moon. "I have to save Sailor Venus, with or
without my tiara!" She pulled her arms out of the mud, sinking to her
chest in the process, and lunged for the edge of the pit. Her
mud-covered fingers slipped across the solid surface without finding
purchase. She swallowed hard as the quicksand rose around her neck and
clawed vainly at the ground in a last, desperate attempt to survive.
Suddenly, something beneath the surface grabbed her foot and tugged it
sharply, causing her leg to jerk involuntarily. The sudden movement
plunged her head beneath the surface in an instant, and she panicked,
thrashing wildly in an attempt to swim to the surface for air. This only
served to speed her descent, and she sank even faster as the surface
rose farther and farther out of reach. Blind and deaf to the world,
Sailor Moon sank into the infinite muddy blackness until she could hold
her breath no longer. The air escaped from her lungs in a single fatal
gasp, and the mud rushed in to fill the vacuum, coating her tongue with
the acrid taste of pitch as it filled her and choked out the last of her
air.
    Venus watched helplessly as the quicksand swallowed the last traces
of Sailor Moon's pigtails and the bubbles of her dying exhalation broke
the surface.  "I can't believe it... not Sailor Moon!"
    "Indeed," countered Cell. "I didn't need her power anyway. But yours
seems to be stronger than I first believed, so I suppose it's only
fitting that I absorb you last."
    Venus quickly turned her attention back to Cell, remembering her own
predicament now that Sailor Moon had succumbed to her fate. Summoning
all the strength she had left, she swung her legs up and kicked at his
chest repeatedly, but Cell ignored the blows and waited patiently while
she put up the last fight of her life. Her stomach turned from the
effort, but she choked back the bile that rose in her throat and let her
legs dangle while she summoned the energy for another round.
    She never got the chance. Before she could move again, she felt the
lip of the funnel tighten around her ankles, and her heart leapt into
her throat. She tried to pull her legs free, but Cell's tail held her in
an unbreakable grip, closing tightly around her feet as it rose around
her body, encircling more and more of her with every second that passed.
Once again, she tried to pull an arm out of Cell's grasp, but that too
proved to be stronger than her weakened muscles. There was nothing she
could do to prevent the tail from swallowing her, inch by inch.
    Already, the lip of the tail was around her shoulders, and Cell
raised her arms straight over her head so they would fit into the tube.
The movement forced her head back, and she found herself staring up into
the night sky. As she watched, the starry field split apart, spilling
colorless light onto the battlefield through a countless web of cracks.
"A paradox," she whispered. "I have to stop it! I have to fight...." But
even as she said it, she knew it was futile. Her head was halfway into
Cell's tail, and she couldn't move a muscle. She closed her eyes firmly,
shutting out the scene of impending destruction. "I'm sorry, everyone. I
let you all die, even Sailor Moon. I couldn't save you." A tear ran down
her cheek. "But don't worry. We're all going to be together again soon."
The tail closed over her head, and she took her final breath and waited
for the end.

--------------------------------------------

Yeah, it ends there for now. I've been told this is a rather evil place
to end, but that just makes me more determined to leave it. The next
chapter's mostly plotted out, and just needs a rewrite before I finish
up and post it. Shouldn't be too long to wait, particularly if I get
some more prereaders... more prereaders means I feel confident enough to
publish sooner. Big thanks to the guys who did preread for me on this
chapter... it wouldn't be here without you guys.

Weiler's Law: Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do
it himself.

My not-so-humble webpage of fanfiction and other random junk has MOVED:
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