The Third & The History of Tank
Chapter 3
Quick thanks to Juliedoo and Sexy and I know it for the amazing feedback! :) Okay, this chapter has me trying my hand at fighting/action scenes. This is back to the main timeline…
The Third: Chapter 2
May 12th, 767 Timeline #1
"What do you mean something else?" Trunks demanded, prying Bulma from Tank's arms.
Too absorbed in her thoughts, Tank didn't notice Trunks' distrust of her protection over his mother. The ground quaked again as a ring of buildings caved in from a mushroom cloud, leaving a massive crater.
"It's all the way on the other side of the town by the mountains, half the town will be annihilated before we can stop them." Krillin shouted over the noise.
"We can't just stand here!" Gohan grunted.
Tank tenderly patted Bulma's shoulder then blankly spoke to Trunks. "Take Bulma back to her plane or better yet, fly her home."
Trunks' hands curled into tight fists. "Wait a minute! You know what's attacking that city?! You still haven't explained how you know the androids!"
Tank turned calmly away and shut her eyes to mentally hone in on the city's edge. "I already told you, it's not Androids 17 and 18 you should be worried about at the moment." She found a focal point and shrugged her shoulders to relax her muscles. "Take Bulma home, I'll handle this myself."
Krillin recognized how she placed two fingers to her forehead in concentration and in the time it took him to react by leaping forward, she disappeared. "No! Wai—agh!" His heels dug into the grass where Tank previously stood.
"Huh? Where did she go?" Bulma shaded her eyes from the sun as she peered into the sky, believing Tank had flown.
The three warriors immediately shifted their sights to the southern edge of city, far away from them, as if to acknowledge that Tank had gone there.
Gohan's brows furrowed. "Was that…my dad's technique?"
"I think so, Gohan." Krillin muttered.
"Mother, fly home now." Trunks ordered.
The instigator of the chaos lifted his arm and from each of his fingers a beam of yellow energy fired in all directions. He noticed one of his blasts divert upon impact and spun around.
He saw a young woman with an arm outstretched, proving she had been the one to flick the energy. Her scowl was a familiar one. He tucked a stray strand of red hair to his ear and then crossed his arms. "Still alive I see…what? No blonde hair today?"
Tank growled, facing the redheaded android. Her eyes averted to the conscious red RR on his dark green and black uniform and felt anger ignite like fire. Automatically, she peered over her shoulders and below. In her haste to stop him, she missed her opportunity to check her computer for the location of the other two androids. Besides the smoke, rubble and panicked populace, her instincts swore that they were alone.
"I was wondering how long it would be until you miscreant joined this timeline." He crossed his arms and sneered. "I was getting bored."
"How long have you been here, 22?" Tank snarled.
The android held a finger to his lips and sniggered. "That I will keep a secret. But if you're asking if I have shifted the flow of this timeline, the answer is no. That is, until now." He gazed down over the wreckage of the city.
"Why do you keep following me? Isn't it bad enough that Trunks and I destroyed 17 and 18 in our timeline?"
Android 22's lip twitched at the mention of his dead siblings. "It is you who can be accused of following me. Dr. Gero created me to protect my siblings from interfering quims like as you, until they can reach their full potential." His voice unnaturally deepened in timbre for a moment, sounding unlike his usual tone.
The latter half of the statement sent shivers down Tank's did he mean by full potential? He uttered it like a robot as part of his programming; did he even know what it meant? She pictured the giant cicada-shaped skin and shouted, "Stop interfering!"
"Or else? You'll kill me?" Android 22 snickered. "If we're negotiating, I'll propose this: you return to your timeline and I might let you live if I ever think of returning."
"So you can destroy this time too?! I won't have it!" Tank viciously shook her head.
"Don't forget it is not only your life you're bargaining for. If I recall there is someone you care about that you left behind in our time." He bared his teeth with delight.
Tank's chest felt cold as she thought of her mother's face. "You're bluffing! Time travel will take too much of your energy and too much time. By the time you arrive in the future, I would have destroyed the androids here." She exhaled to soothe her anger and clear her mind. Then she smirked. "You should take my threat seriously—I've already made right on it three times."
She saw his bared teeth grit bitterly. That delighted her malice and it implored her to throw salt on the wound.
"Your efforts are wasted today. The androids aren't anywhere nearby." Tank hollered back. "I would suggest that instead of blowing up towns and murdering innocent people that you locate Androids 17 and 18. But you can't find them, can you?" For the same reason the remote didn't work. The androids differ with each timeline.
Android 22's lips twitched again but he dismissed her remarks and uncrossed his arms. "17 and 18 appear a little shy in this time. They never waited this long to begin their fun. I have taken for granted their typical trail of devastation. It never thought that they could be so difficult to find." His icy blue eyes narrowed on Tank and his hands curled into fists.
Tank locked her elbows by her side, preparing to attack and dodge.
Her instincts flared suddenly. Something wasn't right. "So why this? Why now?"
The android smirked and loosely set his hands to his sides. "I had to get somebody's attention. If I can't readily locate my fellow androids, I'll do the next best thing. Wiping out cities always drew you, Gohan and Trunks out of hiding."
Tank's knuckles popped from squeezing her fingers into her palms. She gritted her teeth painfully, causing her jaw to hurt sharply.
Android 22 subtly leaned forward, his arms locking at his side. His hair that blew softly in the wind didn't flutter back to his cheek before he sprung forward like a bullet.
Tank dropped her defenses unconsciously upon realization that Android 22 had been powering up the entire time. As quick as she believed herself to be, Tank wasn't prepared for the impact of his elbow to her right shoulder. Shocked by the pain, she was open to another hit on her back which propelled her downward headfirst.
Gathering her senses, she stopped her descent, causing a backfire of smoke and dust from the ground. Despite not being properly warmed up or powered up, every muscle and bone braced for impact and exertion. Her adrenaline kicked in, awakening her instincts enough to ready her fists and charge after Android 22.
Zipping across the sky in a speed faster than the cyborg, Tank pummeled his face and torso before he managed to block.
After one particularly painful hit to the nose, Android 22 flipped back in the air to gather distance. 22's human instincts warned him to tend to his bleeding nose. One sweeping motion of the back of his hand showed no blood. His programming intervened, silencing the humanist feeling.
Android 22 circled his hands and fired a medium powered beam towards the demi-saiyan.
Tank flicked the beam to the sky, consciously away from the city below. From the moment of distraction, Tank could only partially dodge the kick to her side. Instead, she used the momentum to circle in the direction of the kick to hit Android 22 again.
Groaning from the shock, Android 22 undercut her jaw then flipped fifty feet away. The gears within him turned gathering and focusing a significant amount of energy. The android used two precious seconds to tame a sphere of energy twice his size. He howled as he fired down towards the town, away from Tank's direction.
Tank flew after the ball of energy and tucked herself against it. She pressed against it with her hands, slowing the energy down but not enough to gradually be pushed down towards the town.
She calculated. At her current power level, she'd be obliterated with the town below. The energy was too large to flick away with the city so close. She could push back and send it after Android 22 but that would require more power…
Tank delved deep into her inner stores of power and a switch flicked on. Tremendous energy flowed and transformed every inch of her body. She howled and with new ease tossed the large energy mass towards Android 22 like a wad of paper.
With difficulty, Android 22 sidestepped the energy, singeing off a few stray strands of hair.
With annoyance he peered back and saw the figure encompassed by a gold aura. "Oh lookie, blondie has returned."
Tank stared at him unblinkingly with teal eyes. Her dark locks of hair stood away on end from her face in a bright platinum shade. Electric sparks popped in air near Tank's fast-flowing gold aura.
Android 22 hovered closer, never failing to be marveled by the transformation. "My siblings and I could never figure out how you miscreants transform. Remember how Android 18 always concluded that it sprang from a desire to copy her? Battling you, Gohan and Trunks over the years, I observed you saiyans and your fascinating ability to grow stronger. Dr. Gero's plan with my two siblings was flawed in their fixed powers. They could never get stronger—unlike me."
Tank's energy senses told of three fast approaching energies—Krillin, Gohan and Trunks.
Android 22 halted his power-up to see the three clear auras that hovered near Tank.
The three fighters stared in awe at Tank's transformation then to the unfamiliar android in the distance.
Krillin grunted with beads of sweat shining his forehead. "You're kidding me? Anotherone?! At this rate, we'll have more androids than I can count."
Android 22 narrowed his attention on Krillin's statement. There were only supposed to be three androids. Was the bald man dense or were there more androids in this timeline?
Gohan and Trunks peered back to Tank and the latter couldn't help but remember her earlier comment of "I'm human." Only human? He had wondered and now gazing at her super saiyan features now, if she was definitely human, she was at least half saiyan too.
"Ah…Krillin and young Gohan, I killed you both in my time. Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for Trunks."
Blondie I can handle but four on one, especially when I don't know how powerful Gohan and Trunks are, would be too risky.
As if watching in slow motion, Tank recognized how Android 22 folded his arms over his chest and bent his knees. The tail of his tied hair, as if manipulated by static electric spread up like a paper-fan. In between blinking, watching Android 22 and spotting the others lunging forward to attack, her vision appeared to ripple. When she blinked again, her vision was clear again, but she lost Android 22.
Three fists hit an after image. The fighters near bumped into each other before realizing their target had disappeared. They spun around, ardently searching for the redheaded android.
The lavender haired teenager felt cold sweat on his brow. He had never seen an android move so fast— He looked to Tank who had dropped her defenses and felt his blood boil. "Why aren't you looking?! He couldn't have gone far!"
Tank, formerly mentally preoccupied, turned her attention to Trunks and groaned a short throaty noise. "Trust me in that you won't find him. He's gone." She said impassively and curtly. She exhaled and her reversed to her ordinary power level.
"I don't get it. Why not attack us?" Krillin griped.
"He has already killed you before. What interest should he have in killing you again?" Tank responded sharply.
Krillin was caught off guard as he let out a shaky yelp. Did she have to be so harsh…?
"He mentioned his time so is what how you know him, Tank?" Gohan considered.
Tank withheld her annoyance for the sake of the younger demi-saiyan. "Yes, he is part of the trio that pulverized Earth in my time."
"Is he strong?"
"The fact that he is still alive certainly validates that."
Gohan glanced away to think about his observation while Tank pulled her jacket tighter around her torso as exhaustion shivers raced down her body. Going super had sapped a lot of energy she needed to hold off on sleeping. She'd need to fully rest soon but there was still so much to do…
Trunks was at the end of his patience with Tank. He was gonna get some answers from her now. He had waited long enough. Since she showed up, three mysterious things had happened: the mossy time machine, the giant cicada shell and another android.
The female arrival stretched her ki senses further then turned back to the lavender haired teenager. "Trunks, didn't I tell you to make sure Bulma got away?"
The abrupt mention of Bulma was enough to distract his train of thought. "What do you mean? I saw her decapsulize her jet—"
"Then why do I still sense that she's still where you left her?" Tank scolded. She huffed and set two fingers to her forehead to concentrate on the small energy.
"Hold it!" Krillin cried. "At least take us with you this time."
Tank waited until Krillin touched her left arm and Gohan held the other. Trunks set a hand down on Gohan's shoulder. Krillin glimpsed at Tank's features again and couldn't help but think that it was the second time that way that he was standing near her. He blushed as they disappeared from the crumbling town.
"Mother! Why did you stay after I told you to leave?!"
Just as Tank had said, Bulma had been strolling aimlessly between her jet and battered time machine. "Well excuuuuuse me?! I was gonna leave but I couldn't lift the shell-thing all by myself and you guys left your time machines out in the open! So, I waited! Because one of us had to have a decent head on their shoulders!" Bulma huffed, tightly crossing her arms, squeezing the time machine capsules in her hand.
Trunks cowered from Bulma's scalding reply and Tank chuckled softly.
Gohan slumped and sighed with disbelief. "Oh man. Now we've got that guy."
"This day can't get any worse." Krillin grumbled. "That makes four androids."
Tank recalled how her computer noticed an unidentifiable android riding with 17 and 18, which counted three androids. With Android 22, that was four. She swallowed for her dry throat. "Actually that brings us up to five."
"His name is Cell and he's an android." Tank began. She turned away suddenly, unable to stand, yet again, their surprise and fear. "Unlike the other autotrophic partially artificial cyborgs, Cell is wholly heterotrophic biomechanical organism—"
Krillin timidly held up his hand before interrupting. "Sorry to cut in…but do you mind explaining it more in English…"
Bulma rolled her eyes thinking, sheesh, don't they know anything?
Tank hiked a brow but obliged. "He doesn't look like Androids 17 and 18. And he needs to consume life forms for energy."
"You still haven't explained a thing about yourself. How do you know about them?" Trunks insisted.
Tank inhaled deeply to give herself more time to gather her thoughts. "Because they killed Earth's forces in my time—Piccolo, Vegeta, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Krillin, and Gohan."
Gohan flinched when Tank uttered his name but remained silent. Android 22 had said that he had killed the Gohan of his time.
"Twelve months after Goku died of a new heart virus, three beings appeared nine miles South of South city. Immediately, Earth's defenses were obliterated." Tank reached into her jacket pocket and showed a protective container. Releasing the lock, she carefully removed a hand-held device. "This is the remote we used to deactivate the androids in the past and future."
Struggling with a rush of deja vu, staring at the ground was all Trunks could do to restrain from demanding more answers from Tank. Why wasn't it six months after Goku died in her time? What made hers and his time different yet so similar? Slowly, he peered up and stared with avid interest at the mechanical device.
Now do you believe me?! Tank wanted to shout to him, but controlled the urge. The Trunks she had known wouldn't have welcomed her with open arms in a similar situation.
All other eyes widened at the remote in her hand, Trunks looked ready to leap for it. "Don't bother. I've already found the androids in this time and the remote was useless against them. If I build another, it will probably be from scratch."
"Did you come here to warn us about this new threat and Android 22?" Krillin exclaimed, shakily.
Tank shook her head. "Not really, as you can see," she gestured to the slimy skin. "A warning won't do much good at this point. Ideally, I wouldn't be here chatting with you. You'll hear about Cell's destruction soon enough on the news. Had I been quick enough, I wouldn't have needed to confront you all."
"What do you mean?" Gohan added.
"I hoped to destroy Cell in his larvae form like a sitting duck. But the one time I locate the machine, he manages to surpass my initial calculations and reach his humanoid-form faster than before."
"What do you mean this one time?" Trunks exasperated, but immediately understood. "How many time periods have you been to?"
Tank momentarily shut her eyes as if to count then she held out four fingers. "Four: My home timeline and one where we ventured to warn Goku. The third and fourth one, now, was me chasing after Cell after he stole our time machine."
"For the last two years, I've been hunting Cell down. I've stopped him so far but I could never trap him in any time period as long as he had my machine. With the machine in tattered condition and the battery gauge nearly dead, Cell won't be going anywhere. But now he's in his humanoid-form and with the androids currently activated…. I thought finding the time machine would relieve me." Tank bit her lip, her brows furrowed. "If Cell hadn't severely damaged my machine in the previous timeline, I would have beat him here."
"But what does he have to do with the androids? And what about Android 22? If you claim to know about the androids as well as I do, then you know they are monsters that nobody can defeat." Trunks shouted.
A smirk twitched across Tank's lips—it was like looking into a mirror of herself in the past. "In the last timeline, Cell's power equaled that of an individual android. That probably explains why he was able to evolve back into his humanoid form in just one year while before it took him two—
"You didn't answer me. What does this Cell have to do with Androids 17 and 18?!" Trunks' fists clenched tightly at his sides.
Tank inhaled a deep breath to halt her incitement from his impatience.
Trunks didn't believe that she understood the magnitude of the power of the androids, but she mutually conceived that Trunks wasn't listening to her about Cell.
She decided to explain slower, as she had also been in disbelief when she discovered another monster stronger than the androids that petrified her world. "Gero designed Cell to be biologically compatible with the androids. In order to achieve his most powerful form, Cell must absorb Androids 17 and 18. With his tail, he sucks in flesh until nothing but clothing remains."
Tank involuntarily gagged as if a bad taste coated her mouth. She watched as their faces contorted from their imagining of the monster Cell.
"And…what about this Android 22? He mentioned that he…was from another time." Krillin purposely left out how the android gleefully reminisced about his death. Does he have a time machine too?" Krillin asked.
Tank shook her head. "No. He doesn't need a time machine. Gero designed Android 22 to manipulate time."
"Impossible!" Trunks cried while the others gasped.
"You mean—was that how he escaped without a trace?" Krillin pondered.
Tank nodded. Well done, Krillin. Not so thick after all.
"Sounds bleak for us." Krillin grimaced, his face pale.
"What does 22 have to do with this Cell?" Gohan asked.
"He doesn't know Cell. Android 22 acts as an eternal bodyguard for Androids 17 and 18." Until they can reach their full potential, Tank recalled fearfully. Cell used similar rhetoric. Without really knowing it, could Android 22 be unconsciously fighting to protect 17 and 18 for Cell?
"What makes him so strong that he can survive several timelines?" Gohan pondered. "Could he have been deactivated with that remote like the other androids?"
"Other than the fact that he can freeze time when he starts losing?" Krillin groaned.
"Wait-time travel requires intense energy. Even with unlimited power generators, gathering energy for back-to-back leaps in time should take a lot of time. In other words, he can't use time manipulation too often." Trunks concluded.
Tank nodded her head. "The reason he has survived this long is because he falls off the radar more often than not. Today is not a good example but destruction is not his style. In the past, he mostly sat aside passively while the other androids played. Whenever me and the others turned up to take them down, he'd turn into a soldier, protect them."
"Protect them? From us? From Cell? For what?" Krillin asked.
Tank tipped her head down, unable to answer the question. "I-I don't know." She murmured.
Everyone but Bulma stared point blank at the dirt, slowly digesting Tank's explanations, unsure if to believe them. Tank allowed a few moments of silence to calm her anxiety.
She had seen twice before how such alarming news from a stranger "from the future" couldn't sink through the visual sighting of the androids. Trunks had done such a good job of warning the Z fighters to prepare for the androids that they were unable to comprehend the idea of yet two other threats, especially one that could be more powerful than the androids they all had spent three years training for.
"Where is Son Goku right now?" Tank asked, needing one of her own questions answered.
Gohan finally lifted his head; the worry from the situation had subsided. "My dad is resting at Master Roshi's house."
"So he did survive the virus..." Tank muttered softly to herself, her words completely overpowered by Bulma's question.
"Why at Kame's house?"
"The androids want to find my dad, but his heart is still recovering. We thought that the androids would try and find him at our home, so we hid him at Kame house for the time being." Gohan uttered reluctantly.
Tank recalled the familiar mountainous background of her first sighting of the androids of the current time; they must have been heading towards the Son home. It still surprised her that the androids were driving a van instead of flying, but that worked to their advantage according to Gohan's statement. "If the androids are busy searching for Goku, that means we have time." She added.
She turned to the rest of the group and showed a brief smile. "Should we go to Kame house?"
Gohan gave a laugh while Krillin nodded his head in approval. "Let's go."
Trunks hadn't managed to say anything in agreement though they all assumed that he would join them.
Bulma rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I guess I'll go take that egg shell-thing back to the lab to test its age." She turned back to the shed-skin, her lip quivered with disgust. "And maybe that too so I can see if there's anything we can figure out from that...thing." She continued, "One thing I don't understand is why you all didn't destroy the androids when you saw them earlier?"
Trunks fought back an impatient snort. "Don't be silly mother. Father, Piccolo, Tien attacked them but to no avail. Not even a scratch."
Tank cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, is Vegeta alright?" Bulma asked.
"He was alright after he was given a senzu bean. He has no will to work with us." Trunks said with visible disappointment.
"But are all of them alive? Piccolo and Tien?" Tank asked.
Krillin narrowed on Tank, surprised by her wording 'alive' but answered her. "Everyone managed to survived, but they weren't interested in annihilating us."
"Get out of here! Three years worth of training and not one of you could fight them?!" Bulma exasperated.
Trunks stared blankly the ground, recalling his thoughts of how different things were from his time. "They're much stronger in this time than in my time."
Tank sighed; her suspicions confirmed. "That might be my fault. With each time I visit, I notice changes with the androids. Differences in design, power, personality, unfortunately more and more against our favor. That might explain why this remote is useless against them in this time, but not in the others."
Silence fell over the group until Krillin suggested that they leave soon. They all flew back to the time machines, with Bulma carried by Gohan.
With assistance from Gohan, Bulma carried the skin and egg-shell into her plane, tiptoeing around the skin as if expecting it to come alive. Trunks capsulized both machines, placing his one with the rest of his capsules. He hesitated before setting the foreign machine with his capsules. With an open hand, he held out his arm for Tank to take it.
"Thank you, Trunks." Tank mumbled, taking the capsule from his hand and set it carefully next to her time machine.
Bulma watched this exchange with pride. "Man, I must be a real genius if I could create a time machine." She turned to leave, "oh, and Trunks, if you ever have time, feel free to drop by. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa will be thrilled." As she passed by Tank's line of vision, she gave the slightest of winks to the girl.
Tank hadn't known if anyone else saw Bulma's gesture, but she didn't call any attention to it.
Bulma's plane hovered from the ground, sending a powerful rush of air around them but the four still remaining in the grass were unfazed. Trunks watched attentively until his mother's plane was a safe distance, heading South-West for West Capitol.
Krillin turned to Tank suddenly. "I trust you know where Kame house is?" He tested.
Tank smirked and focused her energy for flight. I could find that place blindfolded, Tank resisted saying. In a blue aura, she lifted off from the grass, arcing towards South-East.
Satisfied, Gohan and Krillin immediately powered up to follow. A second later, Trunks followed, in line with Gohan and Krillin as they trailed Tank.
Tank had known where Kame house was, the three men thought to themselves as she slowed her flight speed in order to descend upon a lonely island in the middle of the Southern Ocean.
"We're here, sorry to bother you Master Roshi," Gohan announced modestly as the four of them stepped in one by one into Kame house, Tank being the last one inside.
Their expressions tightened due to the nervous atmosphere that hung amongst the members of the house. The Kame house was silent, save for the television. No arguing, no laughter, just strong focus on the news broadcast. Chi-Chi, her face whiter than snow, appeared as if she were about to faint, held the phone to Yamcha's ear. The man in the orange gi stared frighteningly at the television.
"Yes, Bulma, they just returned, she said—huh?" Yamcha said as he turned to the door, just now realizing there was a serious-looking stranger who stood with Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks.
"Do any of you know what this means?" Master Roshi, sitting on his couch, leaning towards the television, mumbled without removing his focus.
Tank heard a round of gunfire blasting from the television's speaker than the crinkle of static as the picture flickered.
"CHANGE THE CHANNEL!" Yamcha yelled, startling Krillin to rush to the television's dial to find another news channel.
"His screaming...it stopped." Yamcha stammered with alarm.
Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks who found themselves surrounded around the television, peered nervously to each other then finally, in unison to the door, to Tank.
"That's directly south of where we found that skin." Trunks stated.
The silence that replaced the frightened chatter increased Tank's anxiety. She strode forward, the tension unfazed at how loud her boots clicked against the hardwood floor. The camera shot was showing the vertical as the horizon, as if the camera had been tossed, but along the ground, there was a single garment. "I have zero doubt that it's him."
She ground her teeth in spite of herself. Cell's power seemed to soar exponentially with each new time period. She had never seen Cell begin his hunt so soon. Tank bit her lip then tightened her fists and left for the door, gathering another round of energy for flight. "I'm leaving."
"Wait? Stop!" Gohan gasped.
Tank turned around at the door to face each of them. "Don't try and stop me."
"Wait—Tank! I'm going with you." Trunks followed her outside.
"Don't! You'll get in the way!" Tank glared, but her mouth fell agape when a strong presence of energy spiked everyone's attention. Krillin, Gohan, and Yamcha sprinted outside, sharing matching expressions of fear and dread towards the West, where the auspicious energy could be felt.
"What's this energy that I'm feeling?!" Krillin yelled, shaking with worry.
"I feel Frieza, King Cold, and my dad!" Gohan's jaw shook so severely he could barely utter his words. Suddenly he flew to the side of Kame house to inspect the bedroom window.
"I sense Piccolo, Tien, and my father." Trunks muttered. "This can't be..."
"Impossible!" Yamcha quivered. "Frieza's dead! Dead I say! And his father is dead too! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"And my father's still sleeping in the house!" Gohan pointed, hovering in the air.
"We shouldn't have flown here hastily. We've be there by now if we stayed near that town." Tank glared at the flowing ocean water at her boots, hiding her surprise at Cell's jump in strength since the last time she had faced him.
Tank understood their dread, but they were wasting precious time. "I must leave now." She froze when she felt an unfamiliar and strong power level, unsure of what to make of it. Who could that possibly be? And why haven't I sensed them before? "Trunks—" Her call managed to pull Trunks from his trance. "Are you still coming? I might need your help."
Her admittance caused Trunks to focus and he replied with a soft nod.
"I thought all we had to worry about were those androids you warned us about!" Yamcha exclaimed, unable to contain his fear. "And you, young girl, you shouldn't be involved in this! These monsters that you're able to chase after are very powerful!"
Tank glared at Yamcha and unconsciously the muscles tightened in her arm. Why I oughta..."Don't start with me, Yamcha." She snapped.
Yamcha stepped back, more thrown off by the unknown girl knowing his name than by her tone or words.
Chi-Chi had stumbled outside with Master Roshi. The sun glared pointedly on the turtle hermit's sunglasses. "This energy that I'm feeling doesn't belong to the androids, Yamcha. It would appear as if we have yet another problem on our hands."
"I'm going too!" Gohan powered up, but was thrown off by his mother's shriek.
"Never! Gohan! I absolutely forbid it!" Dramatically, the mother began to weep, her knees gave in and she flopped to the ground. Gohan rushed to console his mother.
"Mom, mom." He started softly. "It's alright..."
"You stay here with your mother, father, Master Roshi, and Yamcha." Krillin said, but with certain reluctance as if he expected to regret his actions. "I'm going too. I need to see this for myself."
"So long." Trunks mumbled as a clear wave of energy glimmered around him in preparation for flight.
Krillin bowed his head and fired by curiosity and anticipation of a good fight, he powered up.
"Bye Auntie Chi-Chi!" Tank waved, which caused the crying mother to look up.
Before Chi-Chi could confirm or deny what she heard, Tank, Trunks, and Krillin darted into the sky until they become tiny specks like stars in the bright blue horizon.
Yamcha huffed loudly, crossing his arms pointedly, slightly relieved with fewer people on the island. "How did she know my name?"
"Beats me," Chi-Chi mumbled against her son's embrace. "She did look a little familiar though..."
Yamcha shook his head, decidedly, shrugging Chi-Chi's observation. "No way, I've never seen her before."
Krillin and Trunks flew alongside Tank straight for Sherry Town.
"Tank! Is this Cell the reason why we were able to sense Goku, Vegeta, Tien, and Piccolo?" Krillin shouted over the air pressure.
"Definitely though I'm not sure why. I theorized that Dr. Gero made him that way so he could attract the androids to absorb them." Tank said to both of them.
"There's another large power level also coming from Sherry Town." Trunks said with sweat glistening on his forehead as his worry escalated.
Krillin analyzed the power deeply then grinned from ear to ear with an excited laugh. "It's Piccolo!"
Tank nearly stopped in midair. "What?! That's Piccolo?" She gawked, trying to feel anything familiar about the energy. "But, then why couldn't he have defeated the androids with that kind of power? Or are you telling me that the androids are even more powerful than I suspected?!" She prayed for that not to be true.
"No, that power level is far too high to be Piccolo. The Piccolo I saw just a few hours ago did not have that kind of power." Trunks said, earning a sigh from Tank.
Krillin wasn't listening, laughing too loudly and enthusiastically to hear their words. "Incredible! He must have rejoined with Kami!"
Tank blinked but took a leap of faith. "I had no idea it was possible. This certainly didn't happen in any of the other timelines. No way would I have guessed that Piccolo could have that much power! This changes everything!" Unable to contain the optimism within her, Tank daringly increased her speed, rocketing ahead of the two.
Krillin and Trunks flew faster, struggling to keep up with the thrilled Tank.
The two powerful energy levels were getting closer and closer as the outskirts of the town zipped by below. There was an explosion far ahead of the trio; they all halted their flight to gaze at the gold mushroom cloud.
"The fight's already started!" Krillin shouted, shutting his eyes against the blowing dust.
"Whose attack was that?!" Trunks yelled as his entire body lit from the blast.
"I have no idea—so strong." Tank choked out. Unconsciously, her excitement soared and the blood rushed in her veins with power begging to be released, to be tested. Tank breathed in deeply to relax herself, grateful that Krillin and Trunks were also waiting for the blast to clear.
When the blinding light faded and left the crystal blue sky, the trio continued towards the center of Sherry Town. Tank panned her neck, as they flew over destruction from the battle. Suddenly two beings stood amongst the rumble, one with a distinctive stinger tail. The trio stopped to stare upon the monster.
Tank gritted her teeth with uncontainable disgust then forcibly cleared her mind to prepare for battle. As she lowered herself beside Piccolo, she stretched her limbs defensively. Even from the distance, Tank could make out Cell's face of surprise at Trunks then as he saw her, and hatefully narrowed his red-eyed glare on her. Cell let out a low, vicious growl and positioned his stinger tail like a dagger pointed right at Tank.
The teenage girl glowered at the monster, feeling something to the degree of fire boiling in her blood.
His slitted eyes were fixed on her violet set with abhorrence. The android was troubled with containing his urge to race forward and snap her neck like a twig. He licked his lips at the thought. She has caused me far too much inconvenience. I should have been complete years ago. I should have destroyed her with the time machine, Cell thought atrociously. Tank was deaf to the confused rambling surrounding her, attempting to control her anger before she acted recklessly.
Piccolo twitched as he laid his sight on the young stranger. "Who the hell is this supposed to be?"
Krillin and Trunks landed next to them, slightly recognizing the form of the monster from the shed skin. Yet they were unable to turn away from the mottled, tall, bug-like humanoid. Wings shadowed the creature's back with a needle-ended tail wagging from behind.
"Don't worry about her for now, Piccolo. Just know that she's on our side." Krillin affirmed the Namekian.
Before Piccolo could respond, the monster slammed his tail into the rubble angrily and hissed to them.
"Why, hello Tank."
Tell me what you think. The hardest thing about this chapter was trying not to seem like I wrote straight from the manga or anime... I know I gave a lot of information in this chapter so if I'm progressively too fast, please let me know!
More timelines...
1) Main time
2) Future Trunks (unseen)
3) Tank & Cell
4) When Tank ventured into the past to warn Goku
5) After Cell stole the machine, Tank followed him to this timeline.
Again, I hope that isn't confusing... Anyway, con-crit is more than welcome!