After running for a little while longer, finally, I see a glowing light at the end of the long dark hall of the Lincoln Correctional Facility. "Woah, is that outside?" I ask. "Why would a prison hallway lead to the outdoors?!" I keep on running forwards, until I find myself at the glowing light at the end of the hallway. And as I step into the outdoors, I can't believe my eyes. I find myself at the edge of a canyon, with a single rocky path going down the middle. One slip up, and you're done for. Farther down the end of the rocky path, I see a tall, buff man wearing a prisoner's uniform. Cell.
"You've never heard of the Lincoln Correctional Facility's last name, have you, kid?" Cell asks, causing me to recoil. How did he know I'm here? "It's called the "Flying Prison." The toughest, roughest maximum security prison of them all. That is, until Cursed Power is involved."
Oh come on. Why do I have to fight the buffest inmate?! That's so not fair! Well, whatever. I'm in too deep now, here goes nothing.
"Hey, you, inmate! Cell, right? I'm here to, er, stop you!" I call to the inmate.
Cell chuckles as he slowly turns around to face me. "I would call you spunky but in reality, you are a horrible liar. I can tell that you are nervous and think you're weak. What are you kids fighting for? Because you were hired to? Us, we're fighting for our freedom. Is there really any will that can outpower the desire for freedom?" Cell asks.
My hand clenches tightly into a fist. "Me? Probably not. My will isn't that strong. But my squadmates, they all have grand dreams for the future. And their ambition is strong enough to put an end to yours," I reply. Cell's right. I'm scared as Hell. But… even a coward like me passed the Pro Slayer Exams. And I can't let that be a mistake, not after Nick congratulated me. I can't fail on my first mission.
"You don't sound all too confident," Cell replies. "Are you sure you want to fight? I'm telling you now. There is no chance that you won't die."
"Oh, please, I'm a Pro Slayer! You're a newbie to this whole cursed Ability business while I have mastery over the very wind itself! You're the one who would be backing down before you die!" I shout.
"Well, come at me then!" Cell shouts back.
I'm so dead.
The fight between Cell and I starts off when Cell's entire body begins glowing minty colors of Cursed Power then slips into the ground.
"What the…where did he go?!" I cry.
Before I can react, Cell then pops out of the ground directly in front of me and jabs me in the gut, causing me to double over and vomit up spit and blood all over Cell, as I'm sent flying backwards and landing on the ground in a cloud of dust.
I writhe and spazz on the ground in agony, my entire body feels numb due to Cell's attack, and I think I've broken some ribs.
"Oh…" I groan as I weakly push myself up to my feet, clutching my stomach in pain.
"Hmm…so my punch didn't knock you out?" Cell asks me with a smirk.
"I can stay down, you'll just kill me anyway," I grunt back.
I bring my hands up and form a mini tornado between them. "Wind Control: Tornado!" I shout as I throw my tornado towards Cell, hoping to test out the waters a little bit. But much to my surprise, when my tornado makes contact with Cell, it simply phases right through him. "Okay, I know that wind isn't really solid, but shouldn't that have at least blown you back a little?!" I ask. Hmm…Austin did say that Cell managed to slip right through the bars of his cell as if his body was made out of the air itself. Can Cell just…not get touched by anything? A Cursed Ability that makes his body permeable? No, Cell's still standing on the ground. He would have phased through it if that were the case. Unless he only made the upper half of his body permeable. But then again, his clothes are (fortunately) still on. Shouldn't they have slipped off as well? So maybe the wind really did pass right through him like normal wind, not with any Cursed Power crap. Austin has glasses for a reason, maybe he didn't see it correctly? Meh, let's try that again.
Again, I form a tornado in between my hands and launch it towards Cell, and just as before, my tornado phases right through the inmate, not damaging Cell in the slightest.
"Alright, so if ranged attacks aren't working, should I try melee attacks?" I gulp. No, he's some giant, buff inmate. He'll kill me in seconds! Oh well, if I get too close and it seems dangerous, I can always use my wind to shield me and gain some distance between the two of us. Let's just get this shit over with.
Like with my fight against Slayer Haraki days ago, I bring my fist up as wind begins spiraling around it, like a drill of a tornado. "Wind Control: Tornado-Drill Fist!" I shout as I charge Cell again. Cell simply smirks as he crosses his arms, not preparing his defense in the slightest. Once I'm in front of Cell, I launch my fist forwards, but as my wind punch makes contact with Cell, it slips right through him. And then, so does the rest of my body, and I fall face forward onto rocky ground in front of me with an "oof!"
"Ugh, that felt strange," I groan as I sit up and rub my head. It's like I passed through…nothing."
"Hey kid. Wanna know why they called me "Mitochondria," in the slammer?" Cell asks as he turns around to face me.
"Why?" I ask. No shot they called him that!
"BECAUSE I'M THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL!" Cell roars. Swiftly, and before I can even get a chance to recover, Cell reaches down and grabs me by the hood of my hoodie, hosting me into the air, as I kick and flail in protest. With a roar, Cell then slams me into the rocky ground below, before hucking me backwards. I land on my butt and skid against the ground a few dozen feet away.
"Hah hah, your name is Cell, you're the powerhouse of the cell, and you're an inmate?" I ask as I grunt and wipe the blood off my face. "Did your parents know that you were gonna get arrested when they named you?"
Wait a minute...no way...his name is Cell, he's in a cell, he's called the powerhouse of the cell. Mitochondria...does his ability...have something to do with cells Or maybe it's inspired by a cell. Let's see, let's see. Think-8th grade living environment. Cells...cells...photosynthesis, reproduction, selectively permeable. Wait- selectively permeable? No way, is that it?
What the Hell, did he really make his entire Cursed Ability a shitty pun?
"Alright, alright, I've figured out your Ability," I announce.
"Oh really? Lay it on me," Cell asks.
"Your name is Cell, and you're the "powerhouse of the Cell," like the Mitochondria. And you know, about Mitochondria, their cell walls are selectively permeable, afterall," I begin to explain, before pointing to Cell. "Your Cursed Ability is allowing your body to become selectively permeable!"
Cell laughs. "Mitochondria is its name," he says, basically confirming my theory.
"I'm just wondering how you're able to allow things to pass through your body without your clothes (thankfully) falling off?" I ask. "Seems like a plot hole to me."
"Ah, well you see, when I activate my Cursed Ability, I flood my Cursed Power into my clothing as well, so that I can make it permeable as well," Cell explains.
"Not sure how that works, but okay," I grumble to myself. "I don't know jack about Cursed Power."
Cell then charges me, and once he's in front of me, Cell shoots a punch towards me, which I duck under right away.
"WAH!" I cry as I duck under Cell's fist, and cover my head with my hands.
Cell then launches a kick towards me, but I manage to dodge that as well.
Cell launches another flurry of punches and kicks towards me, but I'm able to dodge all of them.
"What the Hell?!" Cell snaps. "Let me hit you!"
"Hee hee…I've gotten pretty good at dodging attacks due to dealing with bullies my entire life!" I reply with a small smirk. But my brief conversation with Cell catches me off guard, and Cell slams a roundhouse kick into my head, causing blood to explode from my face as I'm sent flying backwards, landing on the ground dozens of feet away from Cell in a cloud of dust.
"As you were saying…?" Cell asks with a small smirk as he lowers his leg.