Mensou Nitotte Shun
(Dragonball Z and all related properties belong to Akira Toriyama)
Chapter 1: Dr. Glock
He heard himself make a noise, kind of like a groan…
When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring up into… complete and utter blackness…
Where am I?
He forced his body up into a sitting position, feeling the wounds that plagued his body sting. He was drawn to the light that came from his wrists, a light made by what looked like red energy floating around in a circle and attached to a chain… like… handcuffs… or…
He shook his head, trying to get the throbbing pain out of it, but to no avail.
What happened?
He sat there for a few moments, listening to the silence, when suddenly, it struck him. His eyes widened, and he could have shouted out, had he not been as cautious as he was.
Wait! I remember now!! …Explosions… I was investigating… explosions…
He remembered his flight into the city, his mind filled with rage at whomever NOW was trying to hurt the innocents. With his sword on his back and his fists at his side, he had bolted into the sky, his mother's voice behind him… saying…something… He couldn't really remember what she'd said… It was probably something along the lines of "Be Safe." He didn't know…
He had arrived in a particularly run down, ruined part of the town where he'd sensed most of the danger coming from and walked quietly among the building graveyard.
And that was when… I saw…
An energy beam had destroyed another concrete wall, sending everything tumbling down, but he had been far from interested in that… Not with the shooter standing before him.
It was…
"I've been waiting for you," The shooter had said, a smile plastered on his face. His black eyes had looked directly into the defender's with no shame or remorse.
GOHAN!
The thought made him shudder. He remembered that as soon as he had gotten over the initial shock of seeing his deceased master before him, he had removed his sword, adopted his Super Saiyan form, and shouted at him. "IMPOSTER!"
It didn't make sense any other way.
But that was before things stopped making sense completely.
"I suppose so…" The imposter had said. He even had Gohan's voice… "So, tell me, Trunks…"
He had known his name…
"Would this face be more suitable to you?"
That wasn't Gohan's voice… Trunks had had to do a double take, for now, instead of his master, he was facing his father, Vegeta, with that smirk on his face and his arms crossed…
Trunks opened his mouth and closed it again, unable to find anything to say.
"Maybe this one?"
This voice came from behind him, and when he whirled around, he was stunned to be staring at the faces of Androids 17 and 18... The androids that had been killed by his own hands…
Caught off guard, Trunks had been hurled to the ground by 'Vegeta'. He fought valiantly with the three of them but only succeeded in becoming wounded. He never knew who he was facing… The had flown behind buildings and taken faces of bystanders… they would appear before him wearing the guise of his mother… and during one of their particular tricks, he remembered a stabbing pain in his neck. One of them had injected him with some sort of black serum that had been collected in a needle and shot directly into his blood stream…
And suddenly all of his power had been taken away. He couldn't transform into a Super Saiyan… he couldn't even fly…
And then he remembered a harsh kick to the head.
Well, that explained the headache… and the unconsciousness… but it still didn't answer his question: Where am I?
He placed his palms on the ground, feeling a smooth, rocky surface… He was beginning to get his bearings, and now he knew how incredibly cold it was. His breath came out of his mouth in ghosts of white smoke, and as he felt around for something, ANY-thing, he could feel his hands going numb.
As he was feeling about, he was abruptly blinded by light flooding the room. He couldn't help but shout out as he shut his eyes.
"That's interesting. You're already awake then, Trunks?"
He finally managed to open his eyes again, and after a moment of focusing, he found himself staring through iron bars a hunched, elderly man with long white hair, pulled back in a ponytail, and a matching beard and mustache. His eyes were blue, but the color was so pale that it was almost unnoticeable. He was dressed in a white lab coat, brown slacks, and black shoes, and while he wore a completely friendly expression as he stared down through his spectacles, Trunks couldn't help but feel sick inside… like something bad was happening…
"Wh-what's going on? Where--" Trunks stammered, looking around. His voice was hoarse, and every time he moved his head, he felt dizzy.
"Oh, do relax, Trunks, relax! You're in my care now."
His care? Calling it fishy was the understatement of the century.
"Who are you?" Trunks asked, his voice demanding an answer.
The old man chuckled and waved his wrinkled hand at Trunks. "You are so tense, dear boy, so tense! I am Dr. Glock."
Trunks scoured his memory to try and find a point when they had met or spoken, for the old man knew his name… but he got nothing out of it than another shot of pain in his skull.
"How do you know me? Why am I chained up and caged like this?"
That was when he heard footsteps again, and when he looked up, he found three featureless forms standing next to the man… They looked like… dolls… incomplete dolls…
And then one of them was Gohan. "That would be because of us. We captured you."
"How are you doing that?!" It was something he'd wanted to ask from the beginning.
"Isn't it marvelous?" Dr. Glock asked with a smile. "They're androids of my own creation, perfect in the ability of camouflage. They're quite wondrous, wouldn't you say, Trunks?"
"HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" Trunks demanded.
"Ooh, temper, temper…" One of them had taken form of Android 18. "Why wouldn't he know you?"
Trunks glared at her. "Answer the question."
"You're famous!" Dr. Glock laughed. "Famous, dear boy, what did you think?"
"F-famous?" He hadn't been aware of that… For defeating the androids? For being the son of the president of Capsule Corporation?
"Famous, boy, for being the last of the Saiyans!"
It hadn't been the answer he'd expected. "W-what?" He asked dumbly.
Dr. Glock ignored it. "Pity that you're only half… but you'll have to do. You're the last one. The last of your kind. So sad."
"So sad," The androids repeated, all in form of random humans from the town… all without a twinge of sadness in their voice.
"Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?" Trunks was practically begging. He clenched his fists. I may have to force my way out of here… but not before I get some answers.
"It's all very simple, Trunks," Dr. Glock shrugged carelessly. "I need you. That's about it really."
"Need me…? For what?"
"My, my, you ask a lot of questions, don't you? Ah, well, I'm a bit of an question-asker myself… What I need you for is to help with my creations. My androids, you see?"
"So, you build androids…" Trunks grumbled. "You're beginning to sound a bit like a friend of mine that went by the name of Gero."
"Ah, yes!" Glock exclaimed, eyes darkening with anger, though a smile never left his face. "Gero was a… good friend… of mine too. Until he got was he deserved, the thieving bastard."
"Thieving--"
"Oh, that's right! You don't know! How rude of me, terribly sorry… I was Dr. Gero's apprentice for many, many years, Trunks, many years. He was like a father to me… well, more like a brother, since he was only about five years my senior… Yes, brother is more correct… anyways, yes, I was his apprentice. He taught me everything there was to know about constructing cyborgs. Of course, as many students do, I eventually surpassed him in ability, and I drew out some truly brilliant blue prints. My blue prints wrote out how an android could be created from an original human life form, splendid! It was written out on paper, something Gero never could figure out on his own… and I must say, he wasn't very happy when he realized that I figured it out. So you know what he did? He stole my designs, isn't that a scoundrel move?"
Trunks couldn't believe what he was hearing… Did this mean that Glock was-
"Of course, I knew Gero was that kind of person, so I wasn't necessarily surprised. In fact, I expected it, so I changed part of my blue prints, aren't I clever? I was forced into captivity, so that he could carry out his plans, and I watched as it all unfolded. He never even knew that I had created skeleton key to the cell I was in and could have escaped at any time. I plan ahead like that of course… Anyways, I sat back in my cell and watched as he lured two teenage twins into his clutches. The two had had quite a difficult home life, you see, especially the young man who seemed so very angry. Gero showered the two of them with promises of love and freedom, only to have them chained to a table and forced to watch as he ripped out their organs and replaced them with metal. That's where my change in blue prints comes of course. I removed the information on the control chip. The androids he called 17 and 18 were reborn with unimaginable power, completely free will, and an relentless hatred towards all human beings and all the world. Gero didn't know how to control them, and so he perished, and they were set loose on you unsuspecting folks. So sad."
"So sad," The androids repeated emotionlessly.
Gero wasn't the designer of Androids 17 and 18 after all… Trunks was astonished.
"So, what, are you going to try and turn me into an android now?" Trunk growled, fearing the answer would actually be 'yes'.
"Oh, heavens, NO!" Dr. Glock exclaimed. "It's far too messy a process, no, no… My androids use completely cyborg parts. They just run off of a special serum I have created from alien blood that allows them to change form. See, after Gero perished, I left Earth and traveled the universe. I realized that alien races have such magnificent, magnificent powers of all different kinds. So, I captured one and performed an experiment. As you can see, it was successful."
"What happened to the alien…?" Trunks asked hesitantly.
"Oh, well, when I was through, I didn't need him anymore, so I had him taken care of. Life goes on… well, maybe not for him, but whatever… but anyway, that's where you come in, dear boy!"
"Me?"
"Of course! You see, I decided that, why stop with just shape-shifting? I want more. I fully intend to perfect my android in every way possible. I haven't completely figured it out yet, but I'm planning on adding you to the mix… and I mean that quite literally."
Trunks screamed out, hair flying out of his face and spiking. Before he could begin to put up a fight however, he was injected once again, and he felt his power drain away.
"Can't have you trying to run away now, can we, Trunks?" Dr. Glock said.
Weakness pulled at his eyelids, and with his pain now magnified, he fell unconscious again almost instantly.
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