[CELLS chattering]
[RED BLOOD CELL] Hello there!
Your requested delivery of oxygen
and nutrients has arrived!
Great, not a moment too soon!
I've been freakin' starvin' all day.
[RED BLOOD CELL] Well, thank you for your patience!
--Here you go. --No. Thank you!
[RED BLOOD CELL] My pleasure!
It's so nice out today.
Maybe I'll have myself a little picnic right out here.
[buzzing]
[MAST CELL] That isn't good!
Those toxic substances are dangerously close
to the epidermis.
Hmm...
Let's see... All right...
For this amount of toxins, I should turn the dial...
...right about here.
Come to papa!
[PA SYSTEM] Toxic substances detected nearby.
Now releasing histamines.
Wait, isn't that a little sudden?!
[CELLS screaming]
[ORDINARY CELL A groaning]
[PA SYSTEM] Confirming histamine response.
Now dilating blood vessels.
[MOB CELL A] Everything's shorting out!
The itch-sensing nerve endings got short-circuited!
[screams]
[1146] What's going on?
Show me to the antigen!
Huh?
M-Mr. White Blood Cell, a-are you all righ--
[BOTH screaming]
[ALL] Wow Wow Wow Wow
[LACTOBACILLUS] Nyu Nyu Nyu Nyu
[ALL] Wow Wow Wow Wow Ah- Ah- Ah-
Wooo!
[RED] Every day of every week, when the day begins
I am always primed and ready
even if the load is heavy, ya know
[WHITE] When disaster strikes I'm there, it's a flawless win
Though my breath is kind of hurried
and my clothes are torn and dirty, it's teatime
[RED, WHITE] But when my tasks are through,
I think back to you
Wishing fate could make our worlds collide
--[MACRO] Collide --[KILLER] Collide
[ORDINARY] Collide
[RED, WHITE] "I'll show you how much stronger I am..."
Like always, whatever comes our way
[MACRO, KILLER] Whatever comes our way
[RED, WHITE] We're gonna work today
[MACRO, KILLER] We're gonna work today
[RED, WHITE] All together, now! Giving it our all!
For the sake of peace, we'll see it all through!
This is the path we choose
[MACRO, KILLER] This is the path we choose
[RED, WHITE] We will never lose
[MACRO, KILLER] We will never lose
[RED, WHITE] Always on your side! We won't let you die!
Miracle brigade, we're Cells at work
[MACRO, KILLER, ORDINARY] We each play our role
[RED, WHITE] Our job is one in the same
[MACRO, KILLER, ORDINARY] Together we're whole
[RED, WHITE] To keep you healthy's our aim
It's our festival Working for you, let's go!
[ALL] Wow Wow Wow Wow
[RED, WHITE] Here we go!
[LACTOBACILLUS] Nyu Nyu Nyu Nyu
[RED, WHITE] Here we go!
[sighs]
I take one little break, and look what happens.
It's not easy, having to react to each and every
toxic substance that turns up...
But it is my job, so I've gotta do it.
--[knocking] --[MAST CELL gasps]
What's happening, Mast Cell?! Where's the antigen?
Wait? What antigen?
There doesn't seem to be one, Mr. White Blood Cell.
Would you please stop dumping histamine on everything!
Do you have any idea how annoying it is?!
[MAST CELL] Huh?!
We were getting invaded by a toxic substance, so I responded!
I was doing my job!
Come on, you were just overreacting!
My job isn't to get soaked by your histamines!
Hey, hold up! This body needs histamines to keep running!
Let's all just take a breath.
Listen, I... was only... I was doing my job.
Doing your job?! When have you ever done anything
but make trouble for everyone else?
All you do is make extra work for us, you... crazy cell!
[growls]
[BOTH gasp]
Did I just hear you call me...
...crazy?!
Wait, Ms. Mast Cell! Please calm down!
Oh, I get it now! So I'm just a troublemaker who loads up
the rest of you with extra work, is that right?!
Well, fine, then I'm not gonna do jack!
Get out of here!
All of you, get out of my sight! Never come back!
[RED BLOOD CELL] So, that was intense...
I know we've all got our roles to play,
and that we can't always work together perfectly, but...
[gasping]
I'm so sorry!
I was lost in thought and I-I should've been
looking where I was going!
Now, now, a collision takes two.
[NARRATOR] Langerhans Cell.
A type of dendritic cell found in the epidermis.
They mainly present bacteria, viruses,
and other foreign substances to the immune system,
alerting the brain to any invasions.
They also have a secondary function, shielding the skin
from UV rays and dryness.
[LANGERHANS CELL] But I do urge you to be careful,
Lady Red Blood Cell.
We're close to the epidermis.
There's no telling when external enemies may attack.
Yes, sir!
[RED BLOOD CELL] That's right.
I've got to focus on my own work!
[buzzing]
[RED BLOOD CELL] Huh? Uh?
Hey, do you hear that?
[MOB RBC B] What the...?
[CELLS screaming]
What the heck is that thing?!
[NARRATOR] Mosquito.
A parasitic insect that sucks blood from humans,
sometimes serving as a medium
for malaria protozoa and other viruses.
[RED BLOOD CELL] There's something in the air!
Everyone, we've gotta get outta here!
I don't feel so good...
I'm getting sleepy...
[RED BLOOD CELL] Huh?
Huh?! Ahh!
The blood cells are being abducted!
No, no, no! I don't wanna go!
Take my hand, young lady!
[RED BLOOD CELL gasps]
[LANGERHANS CELL] Come on, take my hand!
Quickly! You can do it!
Huh? Huh?!
[RED BLOOD CELL screams]
Yeowch!
Huh?
[gasps]
[RED BLOOD CELL] They're gone.
Uh, what just happened?
Oh...
Now what do we have here?
A mask?
Hm?
[LANGERHANS CELL] Hm...
Its origins are frankly dubious at best,
but I must admit, it does possess an ominous allure.
[LANGERHANS CELL grunting]
[screams]
[RED BLOOD CELL gasping]
Are you doin' okay?
Dengue!
[RED BLOOD CELL gasps]
[LANGERHANS CELL yells]
[RED BLOOD CELL screams]
[ORDINARY CELL B] What's with this wind?!
[DENGUE FEVER] Dengue!
[ORDINARY CELL A] What's goin' on?
[ORDINARY CELL B] The Langerhans Cells have totally lost it!
No, run! They must have gotten infected by some kinda virus.
[DENGUE FEVER B growls]
[chuckles]
[ORDINARY CELL C] Somebody help us!
This reaction is all out of control!
We need histamine, now!
Please stop dumping histamine on everything!
You're just a crazy cell!
[CELL IN DISTRESS A screaming]
No... Forget about them. I know the job I have to do.
[CELL IN DISTRESS E screaming]
[MAST CELL] Uh.
But that... would just make extra work.
I mean of course it would.
Even if I don't release any histamine,
someone will eventually show up.
--[beeping] --[CELLS screaming]
[gasps]
[MAST CELL] Those are the cells from before!
[BASOPHIL] You are as a marionette, forced to dance
by strings wound of the words that bind you.
In this world, where all things intertwine,
transform, and vanish,
the blazing flames of chaos...
[MAST CELL] Huh--? How did you end up all over my screens?
[BASOPHIL] In this uncertain world, there exists
but one thing that each life can control.
And that is the ego. The self.
Basophil, are you talking to someone over there?
[BASOPHIL] We, who are but fragile life forms, must affirm
our reason for being through our own independent actions,
and make our lives complete
by fulfilling our respective missions.
What?
Why're you getting all "follow the path you believe in" on me?
[gasps]
[BASOPHIL] We must never forget
that our reason for being is to prove our existence.
[EOSINOPHIL] Hey, what is this thing?!
[DENGUE FEVER C] Dengue!
[EOSINOPHIL gasps]
[DENGUE FEVER C] Dengue!
[ORDINARY CELL B] Dammit, what's taking the immune cells so long?
I am sure they'll be here soon.
Please stay calm!
We can't wait that long...
[DENGUE FEVER D] Dengue!
[ORDINARY CELL A] We're done...!
[ORDINARY CELL B] Someone, please! Just save us!
[DENGUE FEVER] Dengue!
Ah! [coughing]
Is this stuff... histamine?
Are you serious, Mast Cell?!
I need you to shut your big mouth
and watch me work!
[PA SYSTEM] Confirming histamine response.
Now dilating blood vessels.
[DENGUE FEVER E] Dengue!
[PA SYSTEM] Immune cells, please hurry to target site.
[ORDINARY CELL B] It's them!
[1146] Where are they?
--[4989] Just you wait, buddy! --[2626] Here we come!
[SHORT-HAIRED MACROPHAGE] Come on out and show your faces!
[1146] I'll kill you! Every last one!
Target sighted!
Now, die!
You damn infected cells!
[MACROPHAGE laughs]
[DENGUE FEVER F groans]
She really saved us...
[DENGUE FEVER G] De-Dengue!
[1146] Say goodnight!
[DENGUE FEVER H screaming]
[RED BLOOD CELL] Not today, Dengue! Ha!
[NARRATOR] The crisis was averted in the nick of time.
Thanks to the immune cells who arrived on the scene,
the virus was wiped out without proliferating.
The enemy was revealed to be the dengue virus.
As the mosquito sucked blood out of the body,
the dengue virus found its way in.
[RED BLOOD CELL] A mosquito, huh? How freaky.
Let's get to it, Platelets!
Hard to believe that a mosquito bite
could be the cause of such a crisis.
Yeah.
There were an awful lot of cells that didn't make it through.
But the silver lining is that we immune cells
managed to minimize the damage.
And we've got Mast Cell to thank for that.
If you hadn't released the histamine when you did,
we never would have made over there.
[ORDINARY CELLS] Uhh...
[ORDINARY CELL B] Hey, Mast Cell...?
Huh? What is it?
I just... wanted to say sorry.
Without your histamines, I guess the Immune cells
wouldn't have known where to go and...
You really came to our rescue.
Not sure we can thank you enough.
Did you seriously get tangled up in another incident?!
[RED BLOOD CELL] Shorry shenpai!
[ORDINARY CELL A] Thanks so much, Mast Cell.
I'm... really sorry I called you crazy.
[MAST CELL] If only I'd...
...released the histamines sooner...
Then you wouldn't have been so scared...
[SENPAI RED BLOOD CELL] I'm taking your hat!
[1146] Be reasonable...
Sorry--
Wait! If anything, this just proves
that I was right, like I was trying to tell you all along!
I don't have a damn thing to apologize for!
This is messed up!
I was this close to really feeling bad!
We told you, those histamines make us so itchy!
[MAST CELL] Oh, boo hoo!
You can be itchy and alive...
[BASOPHIL] An irrational life spurs a transformative wind,
altering all things in its path.
Was that the same wind that broke your umbrella?
[BASOPHIL] Yes.
[ORDINARY CELL B] Why you... cell of Mast destruction!
This inflammation reaction...
[NARRATOR] Hair root.
The part of a hair embedded under the skin.
The tissue where hair is developed.
Move it! No slacking off!
Come on, now! You better churn out that sebum!
Anybody slacking gets a hundred lashes!
[ELDER] I-I can't go on...
Please, Elder, you have to get up!
[ACNE GERM A] Ah-ha! Is that a super-slacker I see?
[laughs] One hundred lashes.
Huh?
Please, boy, stand down.
[NARRATOR] The Hair Matrix Cell.
Divides to produce hair.
Don't you dare abuse the Elder!
[laughing]
All right, so I suppose you're ready
to take the geezer's beating for him then, huh?
It's almost enough to make you cry.
But I do love whipping!
The lashes it is!
[gasps]
[1146] Die! You filthy germ bastard!
Whoa!
I'm a White Blood Cell, Neutrophil Division.
Are you guys okay?
Thank you.
We're the cells who work in this humble pore.
[1146] What in the body happened here?
Back in the day, things were so simple.
We all carried out our respective jobs,
like managing hair color or producing sebum...
But then, the acne germs appeared,
and began their reign of terror.
Our dear, beloved home
is no longer a mere pore. It's become a pimple!
[NARRATOR] Pimple.
An inflammatory skin disease.
Inflammation begins when the pores become clogged with sebum.
Parts of the body that produce excess sebum
are susceptible to acne.
An outbreak is often accompanied by pus and minor pain.
[ACNE GERM B] I hear talking,
but I don't hear harvesting of sebum!
[HAIR MATRIX CELLS] It's the Acne Germs!
[NARRATOR] Acne germ.
Normal bacteria flora that can cause acne.
Official name: Propionibacterium acnes.
Dislikes oxygen and loves sebum.
[ACNE GERM B] Huh? Y-You accursed White Blood Cell!
How dare you?
[1146] That's a whole legion of acne germs!
[ACNE GERMS yelling]
[1146 grunts]
I'm not gonna let these jerks push us around anymore!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL yells]
Wait, boy, come back!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL yelling]
[1146 grunts]
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] White Blood Cell!
[1146 groaning]
[HAIR MATRIX CELL screams]
--The neutrophil! --Boy, no!
Ha! There are no saviors in this pore!
Now, get back to your posts and churn me that sebum!
[1146 grunting]
Where are we?
You're awake!
I'm sorry about all this. It's all my fault.
No... You were just trying to protect your home.
What can you tell me about them?
It didn't even seem like it was gonna be a big deal at first...
The pipe we use to send sebum to the epidermis
got clogged with dirt,
and the whole pore got flooded instead.
That's when the acne germs set their sights on us, and the more
sebum they consumed, the stronger they got...
The next thing we knew, they'd taken over,
and they made us their slaves.
Why did you wait around for them to multiply like that?
Didn't my comrades come to help you fight back?
Of course they did.
But they... But they just...
They just couldn't stop it.
And they...
[1146] What?
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] Take a look.
[1146] Is that pus...?
No... My comrades!
They were all brave warriors like you.
They wanted to save us.
And still...
Look what happened to them!
[ELDER] This hair root is both our homeland
and our precious workplace.
For us, it's our everything, but in the overall scheme of things,
it's one of trillions.
All we have to do is accept that this is our end.
I know it's hard, boy, but try to understand.
You were alone...
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] If only I had the courage to fight--
If only I was strong enough!
[1146] This is 1146.
I've located a den of acne germs inside a hair root.
Requesting backup from all nearby units.
[4989] Gotcha! We'll head on over.
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] B-But they'll kill you!
[1146] So long as I am alive...
I cannot allow a germ to run rampant.
No matter its impact.
That's my... No, that's our job.
Our job...
All right! It's lash time!
[HAIR MATRIX CELLS yelp]
[1146 grunts]
[1146] Die!
[ACNE GERM C groans]
[ACNE GERM KING] Ah...
You're that white blood cell that was supposed to have died.
Still kickin', huh?
How amusing!
Then allow me, the King of the Acne Germs,
to personally add you to my collection
of white blood cell corpses!
You're gonna fit right in with the rest of the pus!
I'm going to kill you...
[ACNE GERM KING] Heh.
--[1146 grunts] --[ACNE GERM KING screams]
Hang on!
[GLAND CELL] Slay that wretched germ!
I know you can do it!
Die!
[ACNE GERM KING groans]
[ACNE GERM KING] I'm going to tear you apart!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL B] Hey! Look!
He's actually winning!
Something's off.
Between your huge chunky body and sluggish movements,
there's no way you could have beaten
all those white blood cells.
What sort of dirty tricks did you use,
oh noble king of the acne germs?
[laughs] You haven't even gotten a glimpse
at horrifying I can be!
I'll give you a taste of suffering
beyond your deepest, darkest nightmares.
Just as I did your comrades!
What?
[ACNE GERM KING] Suck!
How's that?
Talk about a home field advantage, am I right?
Here we've got all the sebum we can eat.
And boy oh boy, can we ever eat a lot of it!
That's why we're able to heal over and over again!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL B] No, no!
[ELDER] It was futile from the very start.
It was simply that cell's fate to become pus like the others...
Let us surrender.
After all, what is this but a single hair?
[HAIR MATRIX CELL gasping]
[1146 grunting]
[gasps]
[1146] So long as I am alive,
I cannot allow a germ to run rampant.
No matter its impact.
[HAIR MATRIX CELL cries]
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] Elder...
Elder, you--
Big dummy!
Th-The Elder!
How could you do such a thing, boy?!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] That white blood cell told me
that no matter how small a germ's impact,
he'd still fight it.
Because that was his job!
It may be a single hair,
but it's still our precious homeland!
White Blood Cell...
...and all of his fallen comrades, too...
They put their lives on the line for our single, precious hair!
And you're saying we should surrender?!
How could you?!
[ELDER] B-Boy...
I just want to protect our home. But I...
[PIGMENT CELL] Elder?
Listen, Elder, we all agree with the boy.
It's time...
...for us to make a stand!
Oh, what mighty hairs...
[ACNE GERM KING] Not bad.
Who knew you'd hang on this long?
I'm tired of playing around-- it's time to end this!
Die!
[screaming]
[laughing] A glorious victory for the King of Acne!
Now let's get you to my collection of corpses.
[HAIR MATRIX CELLS] Heave-ho!
[ACNE GERM KING] Huh? What madness?
[HAIR MATRIX CELLS] Heave-ho! Heave-ho...
Open the floodgates wide!
Turn it with all your might!
This is our workplace!
And we'll protect it ourselves!
[ACNE GERM KING gasps]
[ACNE GERM KING] Water?
No, this is... sebum?
[ELDER] Keep turning till it's going full blast!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL B] If it's sebum you want,
it's sebum you'll get!
White Blood Cell...
[grunting]
My belly's so heavy...
I'm gonna drown if I don't hurry up...
I have to find a way out of this tube...
[gasps]
Sebum slowing you down, you gluttonous germ?!
[ACNE GERM KING whimpers]
[1146 growls]
[ACNE GERM KING whimpers]
[1146] Time to die!
[ACNE GERM KING groaning]
Please forgive us, ol' brave neutrophil.
No, please!
[HAIR MATRIX CELLS chattering]
[ELDER] I'm afraid we don't know where that brave
white blood cell ended up.
[4989] Is that right?
[ELDER] Who knows what could have become of him?
[4989 grunts] Let's get a search party together!
[gasps]
[1146 grunting]
[HAIR MATRIX CELLS scream]
Did I fall into the sebum pipe somehow?
I'm shiny all over...
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] White Blood Cell!
[1146] Heh.
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] You're alive!
[HAIR MATRIX CELL] Thank you.
We cells of the single hair that you protected...
...will cherish and nurture it with all our hearts.
From now... until the day that it falls out.
I'm telling you, man.
You really gotta be a little kinder to yourself.
People who aren't kind to themselves don't know
how to be kind to anyone else, you know.
Good point, I'll work on that.
Thanks for the tip.
[gasps] Hey! Mr. White Blood...
...Cell?!
[1146 grunting]
So, uh... Did you switch jobs?
Uh, no, it's just, uh...
So, this is for you.
Hm?
[gasps]
Something to say thank you! Heh!
[RED BLOOD CELL] Hey, White Blood Cell,
what makes a sound like, "Nyu Nyu"?
[1146] Uh, new employee?
[RED BLOOD CELL] The answer is...
...gonna be revealed in the next episode!
[1146] Next time on Cells at Work!!
"H. Pylori/Antigenic Shift!"
[BOTH] All right, let's get to work!