Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever. I only write for my own personal enjoyment and the enjoyment of those who enjoy reading my works
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Airborne, Heading in the Direction of the Red Ribbon HQ Ruins, Gohan's P.O.V
"Hey Trunks!" Gohan yelled towards the teenage half-Saiyan flying behind him to his right, "Earth to Trunks!"
"Huh?" Trunks responded suddenly obviously roused from thinking about a serious topic, "Yeah?"
He didn't mind that the hybrid from the future hadn't been listening to him because what they had seen an hour ago was enough to distract anyone, but his curiosity was strong and he couldn't figure out what the whole thing was about on his own so that left only his Uncle Xander and Trunks. Checking out his one time training partner out from the corner of his eye, he could see that the newest Z-fighter was in deep contemplation himself. Seeing as how the grown up son of Vegeta and Bulma was closer to his own age, answers were more likely to come from him.
"Do you have any idea what kind of creature that might have been back there?"
"Nope. I'm afraid not." Trunks replied, not sounding too pleased by his lack of an answer, "But whatever it was, it was just about the ugliest thing that I've ever seen."
"Man! You're not kidding!" He declared agreeing that if the shed carapace was anything to go by the creature was definitely grotesque, "That think almost made me sick to my stomach."
"Definitely not something to see before sitting down to supper." Xander stated putting in his own opinion on what they'd found, "However, in my experience from hunting demons back home, the uglier something is, the more powerful it usually is. Here's hoping that this is as ugly as it gets!"
They all had a good chuckle at this although he was pretty sure that both Trunks and Uncle Xander were worried more about the powerful part than the ugliness part. It was then thought that something occurred to him that brought another level of puzzlement and worry into his mind.
"Hey! You said it got here about four years ago right?" He asked Trunks while keeping his gaze on the horizon.
"Yeah. At least that's what the indicator in the time capsule read before the batteries went dead." Trunks replied confirming what his memory had already told him, "Why?"
"I just find it hard to believe that a creature like that could be here for four whole years without anyone noticing it." He said making the dilemma he was pondering known, "I mean doesn't it seem a little bit weird to you?"
"Yeah. But what I wanna know is who sent it here and for what reason." Trunks replied agreeing that the odd bug-like creature from the time capsule was a mystery.
"Well, the way I see it, we've got one of two possibilities where this thing is concerned." Xander said with a serious tone to his voice, "Either this thing has been hiding for the past four years or it's smart enough to go about its business and not get caught. After all, the world's a big place and not all that crowded, so it's possible that thing could have slipped past everyone's notice so long as it steered clear of populated areas."
"Maybe but that still doesn't explain what it's doing here or who sent it." Trunks said, conceding the point his Uncle had made.
"There's no guarantee that anyone sent it at all, though." Xander said pointing out an assumption that could prove to be dangerous, "As for what it's here for, I'd say to make our lives more complicated is a safe bet. Since the time capsule it came in is identical to yours Trunks, plus four years of wear and tear, odds are it came from your time period. Somehow I doubt that that's a good thing."
He couldn't find fault with that train of thought because, to hear Trunks speak of his time, it was a nightmare where civilization was in tatters and two killing machines terrorized all. If someone had truly sent back or brought back that bug creature to some time four years ago, then it wasn't very likely that the intentions they had were benign. Whatever it was, if it turned out to be powerful, then it definitely would make their lives more complicated as well as potentially more dangerous. It was this kind of thinking that made him wonder if this world had a Hellmouth as well somewhere because the one trouble after another thing they were experiencing certainly made it feel that way. He remembered the stories that Xander had told him between sparring sessions about his hometown of Sunnydale and how almost every month there was a monster to be fought. Add to that the yearly apocalypse situation and there were definitely some similarities between the two worlds but he personally hoped that they didn't match up any closer. While he had no trouble defending the Earth against evil, he didn't think he could take having to do it every other week for the rest of his life.
Xander can handle it, though. He thought as he looked ahead for the first sign of their destination, In all the time he's been here, I've never once heard him say he was thinking of staying here. The thing that's at the front of his mind is to somehow get home to help his friends.
While he understood the desire to return home to friends and family, he couldn't quash the hope that somehow Xander would stay here for good. He knew it was selfish of him but the time he'd spent with his Uncle had left him happy to have gotten to known the teenage Saiyan and wishing that Xan didn't have to go home. The others felt the same way he was sure, even though some would more easily admit it than the others. He knew his Dad loved the idea of someone else to spar with and perhaps even liked the idea of having half-brother. Vegeta, of course, would always act like Vegeta but for a Prince whose total number of subjects numbered two (three, if you included Trunks) having another pureblooded Saiyan could only be considered a good thing. Bulma loved having someone around Capsule Corps HQ who was actually willing to work for their room and board. Just about everyone who Xander spent time with seemed to have something positive to say about him afterwards.
He'd asked Bulma a few times about what progress she'd made creating a dimensional portal to send Xander home but, even with his studies, most of what she told him was WAY over his head. The basic parts he did understand were that she'd gotten the math for it pretty much finished and now just needed to bring those calculations into the real world. He had no doubt that she'd find a way to do it because when it came to scientific genius he couldn't think of anyone smarter than Bulma Briefs. Still, according to her, it would take about another year or so before a prototype could be assembled but he didn't mind. It just meant more time he could spend with his Uncle and that was definitely a good thing.
Assuming we survive the androids and whatever that bug creature is. He thought with a frown before he turned it into a look of determination.
They would survive!
They had to.
&
Northern Region, Inside James' Western Apparel, Fifteen Minutes Later
P.O.V of Android 18
Of all the themes this town could have, why did it have to be a Wild West theme? She thought as she looked at herself in the mirror.
They had arrived at the town about thirty minutes ago and, after some careful manipulation of 17, she had managed to get him to pull into the parking lot of the first clothing store they came across. She had been and still was eager to ditch the rags she'd been left with after pummelling Vegeta and wasn't inclined to be overly picky. Now she wished that they had just driven right through this town until they came to one that actually had some taste. Brown cowboy boots, black spandex body suit, brown skirt and a brown vest with oversized shoulders made up the entire outfit. Personally she thought that it had been designed with inferiority complexed nobodies with an overabundant desire to look 'butch' or something. According to the store owner, this was the best they had but if that was truly the case then she'd be doing this planet a favor by reducing it to a pile of ashes. She'd be doing these weak humans a favor by removing such a horrible place from existence but she supposed that would have to wait until after they killed Goku. If she blew up the place now then Goku's friends, including the Saiyan she was interested in, would show up and she'd have to kill them all along with 17. She was still trying to think up a good, logical, argument to use on her sibling android so that a certain fascinating Saiyan could be spared death. So far, though, nothing beyond 'it might be fun to have a Saiyan as a pet' had come up but it gave her something to think about in the van.
"So this is the best outfit in your store?" She asked in perfect deadpan as she continued to examine her appearance in the mirror.
"Yep! You won't find better than that little lady!" Replied the store owner, who was holding a shirt she'd tried on before.
Little lady? She thought as she glared at the man for implying that she was just a little girl.
The man wearing the cowboy hat did the smart thing and shut up.
"Well? Now, how do ya like it?" He asked, hoping to get the business transaction back on track.
"How do you think I like it?" She asked rhetorically, allowing her tone to state her opinion before she did, "It's grotesque but I suppose I can't expect much better in a hick town like this. It'll just have to do. Take care now."
With that she walked to the front door of the rags shop, knowing that if she stayed in there much longer 17 would probably get too bored and start blasting something for fun. She'd made it to the sliding glass doors before the store owner yelled at her about paying for the clothes she was wearing but, to her, that barely rated a 'whatever'. The human should consider himself lucky that she'd even bothered to ask his opinion or even concede to wear something from his shop. That she should pay for it (not that she had any money on her) was absurd and so she would treat it was such. As soon as she got into the passenger seat of the van and closed the door the idiot actually tried to intimidate her into getting out and paying. Fortunately one golem stare from 16 proved to be enough to scare the fool into backing off a few steps, allowing 17 to drive away. Not that she thought her scientific sibling wouldn't have driven off anyways, but at least this way she wouldn't have to listen to the hick screaming as he hung on for dear life.
Easing back into what was probably the most comfortable position she could expect to be in, she let her mind wander as her eyes took in the scenery passing by her window. Now that the issue of replaced clothing was dealt with there wasn't much else to do until they arrived at Goku's home and killed him so she decided to begin constructing battle scenarios with her bionic brain since it would at least distract her for a while and make the time go by quicker. First she went through the list of potential enemies: Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, that kid with the weird hair, Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, and the clever Saiyan that had been in her thoughts recently.
Goku was the primary target. All others were to be ignored until they became an obstruction or until the primary target was terminated. He was also the most powerful of the fighters in her files. File by file she reviewed the data that Dr. Gero had compiled on the primary target ranging from techniques to maximum physical abilities. It was nothing impressive really. Vegeta had been faster and more powerful than Goku was, if the files were accurate, when she'd fought him earlier and she'd kicked that fool's ass easily. Goku would be no challenge but she had to fulfill her primary programming before she could obtain the freedom she desired, so terminate him she would.
Piccolo was the secondary target. While not as powerful as Vegeta, the Namek was definitely the smarter of the two. His feud with Goku was well documented and his defeats were always near things that could really have ended in his favor if circumstances had been different. However, each defeat also forced the Namek to fight smarter and come up with new ways to overcome his foe. Still, he was weaker than Vegeta and, while his strategic mind might keep him alive for a bit longer, he'd still die in the end.
Vegeta was the third target. The little man wouldn't be a problem. She had already proven that she could beat him without any help from 16 or 17 and even if the arrogant hothead trained hard, it wouldn't matter. Gero had thoroughly measured each power increase Goku went through and came up with a formula to predict how strong he would get in a given stretch of time. She didn't believe the prince had enough patience to endure more than a year of training before he would break it off to restore his pride by fighting her. When that time came, though, she would finish him quickly and brutally since she very much doubted that he'd be any fun even with more training.
The unknown kid who came to Vegeta's rescue would be the fourth target. He had the same weird hair changing ability as the prince and comparable speed but was obviously an amateur. The fact that he relied on such a flimsy weapon in his attack against her proved that he didn't have very much confidence in his hand-to-hand combat abilities if he chose to use a sword. He had been swept aside easily though thanks to his recklessness and, even if the idiot managed to curb his recklessness, he would be no challenge.
Yamcha was no threat. He had not been present when the others had assaulted Gero's temple. That either meant that he had been slain, been seriously injured or was considered too weak to accompany the others. If he was still alive or had recovered from his serious injury he would be at best a plaything she could torment with near misses until she got bored and finally killed him.
Tien might have been considered a rival to Goku in the beginning but, based on the data she had, he had long since been left in the past by his former enemy. Still, there was one technique on file that could prove dangerous if it connected. The Tri-beam technique. Based on the files she had on it, the amount of power it had depended on how much of the user's own life energy they were willing to use per blast. Unlike other energy techniques that prevented users from performing them if they were too weak, the tri-beam could be used right up until the person expended the last of their life energy, killing themselves. If she, 17 or 16 were hit by the blast, it might not destroy them but they would take damage nonetheless. Still, it might be fun to at least let the three eyed human perform the technique just once for fun.
Krillin was about at the same level as Yamcha, if not lower in terms of the threat he posed. He had only one technique that stood a chance of hurting her and it was pathetically easy to evade and the good doctor had already provided both her and 17 with the perfect defence for baldy's Destructo Disk. Add to that the fact that he was one of the slowest and weakest of the forces allied to Goku and he wasn't even worth killing.
The final potential target was the Saiyan with no name that had persuaded her brother into letting the others live. He was a mystery in that she had no data on him, so she didn't know what techniques he favored or what tactics he would use in any given situation. However, given that he was allied with Goku and the others, it'd be fair to say that they had either trained him or passed on at least some of their techniques. If she used the data she had on the others and used her own judgment to determine who his trainer had been, she could make a reasonable guess about both his power and skill level. Logically the best people to train a Saiyan were other Saiyans, since they would know the stranger's limits as well as what he could potentially do. That meant Goku, Vegeta and perhaps the reckless boy with the sword would be the likely who taught her interesting young man. Using this premise, she began to copy all of the other Saiyan's techniques and strategies into her mystery man so she could begin to formulate a plan to deal with him. It took a bit longer than the others but, eventually, she was able to come up with at least ten scenarios where she could defeat him.
Only two of them though had a chance of leaving him alive afterwards.
She was about to ask 17 what he planned on doing after Goku was dead when her audio sensors, normally called her ears, picked up the sounds of sirens approaching from the rear. Her mind had already identified the sounds, their exact location and the source all in the space of three seconds. Police.
Nothing I need to bother with. She thought since her power sensors didn't go up at all.
"We've got company." 17 said, never moving his head an inch.
Spoke too soon. She thought with a mental sigh of annoyance, "Maybe I should go say hello."
Opening her door, she looked back and confirmed visually what her ears had told her earlier. Yep. Three standard police hover cars with both sirens and lights at full power. Letting herself fall out of the van, she activated her anti-grav generator one second later and directed her flight towards the lead police car. Accelerating a bit once she was at the halfway mark, it wasn't long before she was where she wanted to be and with barely minimal strength she punched a hole into the front of the vehicle. Pulling it back out, she didn't even bother to watch as the engine she'd damaged burst into flames as she flipped over it but rather directed her attention to the two final pursuers approaching from behind her after she landed. She then executed a move she had once seen on one of Gero's monitors that she'd modified to pick up local TV broadcasts. A double clothesline. Only in this case instead of people she used her superior body to tear the metal frames of the two hover cars apart from front to back. Once they were three feet away from her, smoke and flames began to peak out of the damage she'd made followed by the failure of all anti-gravity systems. End over end they fell until they lost what momentum their engines had given them before her attack and all three came to a screeching halt.
Well that was over quick. She thought with disappointment before she took to the air once more and caught up with the van.
With ease she opened the passenger side door and slid back into her seat to resume what she had been doing before the cops had interrupted her: mentally constructing scenarios and strategies to defeat her enemies while also wondering what she would do with her life once her primary objective was achieved.
It was boring at times but it was either that or inane car games.
The former was definitely less annoying than the latter.
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The Ruins of the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, Thirty Minutes Later,
Xander's P.O.V
Well at least she didn't start arranging the rubble into lawn sculptures or something. He thought as he descended to the building that was obviously being used by Chi-Chi.
It had only been three hours since he'd last seen the woman and her husband, Goku, and it couldn't have taken them more than an hour to have gotten there, but already the place looked lived in. There was a clothesline hanging from the building where Goku likely was to what used to be a support beam of some kind and it had wash clothes hanging on it. A mini-barbecue was set near the door and looked like there was some meat cooking there and the smell was making his stomach growl with hunger. It had been hours since he'd last had a good meal but he willed himself to curb the Saiyan impulses, which were telling him to dig in. There probably was barely enough food to last the ten days needed for Goku to get better and, as much as he might like too, he wouldn't scarf it all down just because his body could pack it away like no one's business.
Trunks, Gohan and he touched down by the entrance and walked inside to find Krillin, Yamcha and Chi-Chi all looking at the mini-TV that sat in the corner of the room. What caught his attention though was the fact that all three of them were looking at the screen like they were in some kind of trance or were captivated by some great show. Not that it was all that strange for Krillin and Yamcha but, with the way that Chi-Chi always went on about the importance of a good education, she was the last person he thought would watch TV like this. Walking inside with the others he tried to figure out what precisely was so interesting but unfortunately the television was too small to see or hear much.
"Uh, Krillin?" Gohan asked tentatively wary about distracting the bald wonder from whatever the trio had found so interesting, "What's going on?"
"Gohan, Trunks, Xander, come over here and have a look at what's on the news." Krillin replied urgently as though there was something important being broadcasted.
"What do you mean?" Gohan asked completely bewildered at what could have attracted his father's best friend's attention like this.
I was never much interested in the news either. He thought to himself as he recalled his days back in Sunnydale, It either had nothing to do with me or didn't impress me much after learning about Sunnyhell's nightlife.
Looking at the TV screen he didn't see anything all that impressive, all it was showing was the usual cityscape, but there had to be more to this so he waited. Sounds soon got added to the pictures and he knew then why this broadcast was so important. People were screaming in fear. That could only mean trouble but there were no accompanying explosions or crashes so either the androids were playing with their prey or it wasn't them.
"Oh, the humanity!" Exclaimed the male news anchor as he was brought into the picture, "As you can hear, the city is not deserted after all."
Gunfire was soon added to the mix of screams and cries but he doubted very much that whatever was causing the commotion would be all that impressed by bullets.
"Now I can hear shots!" said the anchor, obviously trying to convey the chaos of the moment with his own excitement, "It sounds like machine gun fire coming from the very core of the city but we can't make out who's doing the shooting!"
The shooting went on for several moments, changing tempo as well as indicating more than one weapon, until all of a sudden all was silent once again. That did not bode well for the few survivors of the city because it likely meant that they were either dead or defeated or both.
"The commotion appears to have calmed down once again." The anchor said and it looked like he would have continued had not something truly terrifying caught his eye.
Whatever it was it was off screen so no one viewing the broadcast knew what it was but it was safe to say it was horrifying enough to scare the man stiff. All they could hear from the TV was the man's fearful exclamations that only increased in volume as the cause of his terror did something off-screen. Then the screen shattered into static white noise and snow screen before the signal was cut off and things went back to the main news building.
"Krillin! Quick! Change it to another channel!" Yamcha ordered looking like he was ready to dive right into the screen with the idea that that would take him to Ginger town.
Baldy did as he was told and eventually they got to a channel that seemed to be coming from the same town but what they saw was not good. The camera was on the ground judging by the angle as well as the positioning of the objects on the screen but what bothered him was the lack of bodies. If the male news anchor and his people, along with the others he'd seen in the background, were killed only a minute ago then there'd be no time for the killed to dispose of the bodies. There weren't even any scorch marks or signs of street damage to indicate a vaporizing level ki blast were used to dispose of them. All that was on the screen was a microphone, a shoe and some pants but no people whatsoever. Gunshots could be heard in the background but they didn't last long and eventually all went unto silence once again.
"It sounds like its over." Krillin said eerily as he was probably thinking the same thing as everyone else.
Something seriously creepy was happening in Ginger Town.
It was a deadly mystery and it was also one that had him wanting to head out to Ginger Town and investigate the crisis. If something like this had happened in an area of Sunnydale, the gang would have gone all out to identify the threat before any more lives could be lost. However he suspected that this threat wouldn't be like any demon or monster he'd ever faced before and it worried him that this might be a bigger problem than even he could comprehend. Mentally he growled at how yet another problem was added on top of the two that they already had: the androids and the bug thing they'd found.
Quietly contemplating what sort of demon could be behind the threat in Ginger Town, he began to go through the list of demons that had similar MOs. He knew that this could be something completely different but there was always the off chance that something he knew could be useful. While he did this he could hear Trunks and Gohan telling the others about what they had found when they'd gone to look into that beaten up Time Capsule Bulma had found. He didn't bother to pay much attention to this because as far as he was concerned it was old news and he'd much rather keep his mind on current events. Fortunately the debriefing didn't take long because he was about ready to head off to Ginger Town to snoop around a bit.
"So it's some kind of creature that's causing all the trouble?" Krillin asked, sounding even more serious than before.
"Yeah. Right. We found its shell near the Time Capsule." Trunks replied sounding like he was only half into the conversation, "Now I've got to go to Ginger Town."
"No!" Yamcha exclaimed taking a step forward but a step short of stopping the kid from the future.
"You can't!" Krilling declared with concern that no doubt came from how freaked out he was about the whole situation.
"Hey! Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Trunks said turning halfway towards them, "After all I am a Super Saiyan and, besides, it's the androids we really have to worry about."
I wouldn't be too sure about that. He thought as he went over everything they'd learned so far about Ginger town and the bug thing, Ignoring a problem just because it isn't as high profile as a couple of androids would be a mistake.
"I'll go with you!" Gohan said volunteering to back the older halfbreed up.
"WHAT!? Oh no you're not!" Chi-Chi bellowed making just about every male in the room cringe, "I think you're forgetting about your father. He's more important than some dumb creature."
"But mom! If Trunks has a fight he might need my help." Gohan pleaded to his mother.
"Don't worry about that, Gohan." He said as he moved to Trunks' side, "I'll be going with him. You stay here and take care of your dad. I'll be Trunks' back up."
"Yes! Let your uncle handle this." Chi-Chi said immediately jumping on the bandwagon that would keep her son where she could keep an eye on him, "He can help Trunks just fine."
"All right. I'll stay." Gohan said finally admitting defeat albeit reluctantly.
Not that he could blame the kid, considering how overbearing and strict Chi-Chi could be. He could remember quite a few times when he visited he cringed when the woman started getting all controlling and bossy. He had also heard many a horror story from the others about how bad she could get when particularly cross or angry and that had been enough to make him spend as little time at the Son home as possible. That had been somewhat difficult seeing as how two years of his training had been with either Goku or Gohan but, fortunately, he timed his sessions for when Chi-Chi was in town.
Didn't always work, though. He thought with a barely noticeable grimace, That woman could make the Devil himself cower in fear.
He listened to the others advise caution and discretion when it came to investigating Ginger Town but the warnings were unnecessary. Trunks came from a time when caution was the word of the day every day and that made it unlikely that the kid would doing anything too reckless. Assuming, of course, no one he knew was in trouble because if that turned out to be the case then the idiot would dive in headfirst. He personally blamed Bulma for that part of the teenager because he believed that there was no way that Vegeta would doing anything without at least thinking it out a little bit… unless prick wanted to show off his power or the person he faced got under his skin then it was pretty much going to devolve into a free for all. Okay, so maybe it was pretty much a guarantee that this teenager from the future would go and do something stupid or reckless in Ginger town. All the more reason for him to go along and try to keep things from going completely FUBAR on everyone.
Walking outside with Trunks, they fired up their ki fields and took to the air heading in the general Direction of where Ginger Town was in relation to the abandoned Red Ribbon Army HQ.
He was about three minutes into the trip before his stomach growled with complaint that it hadn't gotten anything to eat.
With great difficulty he ignored it.
&
Ginger Town, Twenty-Five Minutes Later, Piccolo's P.O.V
There is an evil presence in this town. Picollo thought, walking through the town that was completely vacant of life save for him and his… quarry.
He could sense it in the shadows, he could sense it moving, but its precise location was eluding him despite the sharpness of his senses. Nevertheless, he continued his search and used the knowledge he gained from Kami to seek it out for while he could not sense the creature precisely, he had enough to work with to keep it nearby. Walking calmly through the town, he tried to imagine what the inhabitants must have felt when the place first came under siege from the monster. It would have happened quickly and without warning for nothing in the way of news of the threats to have reached the outside world. That implied significant speed, precision and strategy especially since he didn't see any damage to the roads out of town that would imply someone tried to prevent the people from escaping. He knew that if it was him doing this, it would have been an absolute requirement to learn about the city first and use surprise attacks at every opportunity. He wouldn't let the people know where he was at any time, since knowing his position would allow them to evade him more easily. Better to keep them guessing for every second of their panic in order to prevent them from thinking straight and coming up with a thorough plan.
It was as he reached the southern area of the town though that the feeling that he'd attached to the creature spiked in strength and he knew that it was coming for him. He didn't have long to wait before a hideous creature emerged from the shadows of an alley. It was definitely a bug themed foe with segmented organic armor all over its body with only small areas around its joints lacking this protection to allow for movement. It had wings and a tail as well with three toed feet and a head piece that looked like a crown but different in that it was grown out of its head rather than put on.
"At last we meet face to face." He said as he turned to face the beast responsible for the deaths of all but one person in this town.
That one person was hanging limp in the creature's right hand, a balding man of middle years dressed in an expensive suit, who was either unconscious or simply weak from trying to escape this abomination. He waited for it to say something, presuming that it was capable of speech, when a ki signal lit up right in front of him that he'd know anywhere but that shouldn't be coming from this thing. He tried to understand what the hell was going on but it was about then that the killing machine's captive woke up and locked eyes on him.
"Hey! You've gotta help me!" the man pleaded reaching out with one arm towards him, "Please! Help me!"
He could hear the man speaking but his mind was so distracted by what his ki sensing abilities were telling him that he barely paid the guy any attention at all.
'What the--! What am I sensing from this thing!?' Piccolo thought to himself, unable to shake how familiar the ki he was sensing was or who he bet it belonged to.
"Please! I'm begging you!" the captive beseeched as the creature dragged it a step forward, "Please! Please! I am in more than a little pain right now."
This second line of pleading had about as much effect on him as the first one. It wasn't that he didn't understand that the man was in trouble or that he was cold blooded enough that he was indifferent to whether the guy died or not, but rather it was the sheer importance of what he was sensing that kept him from drawing his attention away from the creature in front of him. When he'd come to this town, he'd expected a foe more along the lines of what he and Goku had encounter in their long lives. This, however, was completely different and it left him feeling a little unprepared for what he was staring down at the moment. In the end, though, he knew that he would have to goad this thing into attacking him so that he could get a better idea of what it could do. Fortunately the captive it had provided him with the perfect opening play.
"You would be wise to let him go." He said emphasizing with his eyes what would happen if the man was not freed, "You've done enough already. It's time you picked on someone your own size."
With some surprise he watched as the creature released the man and thought for a moment that perhaps this creature could be reasoned with. That possibility was obliterated when the monster stabbed the bald man who'd claimed to be the wealthiest in town in the back with its tail. It was ruthless! However it was also revolting as he watched the abomination begin to literally suck the organic elements of the man's body into itself through its tail. It happened in a matter of seconds and, in the end, all that was left was the man's clothes and they looked precisely like the other clumps of garments he'd seen in this town. Now he knew precisely what happened to the people of Ginger Town! They'd been devoured by this thing! Every last one of them!
"Now that we've gotten that vermin out of the way, you're next Piccolo." Spoke the creature in a raspy, malevolent voice.
"W-what did you say?" he asked, shocked that this thing would know of him even though they'd never met before ever.
Despite his adventures with Goku and the fact that he'd participated in the World Martial Arts tournament, he wasn't that widely known to the world. Those that weren't interested in martial arts or the destruction that usually accompanied his encounters with Goku were completely clueless about him. Yet somehow this insectile fiend knew his name and acted like it knew him. This was not right. He had come into this situation believing that he would be on more or less equal footing with the threat in terms of what one knew about the other. Obviously that was not the case and unless he wanted this to be over with too quickly he'd have to stay on his guard.
A smart move since it was then that the creature began to raise its ki level exponentially displacing air and tearing up concrete in every direction. Then with one almighty burst of energy, everything save the buildings around them were destroyed and it looked like the structures around them would crumble with only one good blow. However, what bothered him the most was that he could sense himself in this creature, his ki signature, and it was almost as strong as he was from what he could feel. This was not what he had been expecting.
"Heheheheh! What's the matter?" The creature asked arrogantly, "You seem afraid, Piccolo."
"No. Far from it in fact." He replied even though beneath the surface he was a little unsettled, "Now tell me how you know that name."
"Well…one might say that we're…brothers." Declared the monster casually despite the power it now had flowing through it.
"What!?" he exclaimed remembering what happened the last time some one strange showed up claiming to be someone's brother.
Naturally this caused the beast to cackle with glee at his discomfort.
"Now, if you think you've finished showing off, I want answers." He said threateningly as he glared at the being before him, "Who are you?"
To this the creature merely looked back at him offering nothing in the way of answers.
"Silly Piccolo! My secrets will not be unlocked so easily." The beast said confidently as though there was nothing that could move him from this position.
"No matter. I'll still destroy you." He said deciding that the direct approach might serve him better than the Q&A was at the moment, "Whoever you are."
"Heheheheh. You're even more amusing that I'd imagined." The killer said with much amusement at the threat it perceived to be so hollow.
"Well, we'll see if you still feel that way after I've beaten you." He said, deciding that now would be the time to see precisely where his limits truly were after fusing with Kami.
"Such a fighter's spirit!" The abomination cackled as it prepared itself to repel whatever feeble attack came its way, "I will enjoy absorbing you, Piccolo."
"You keep using that name. It seems you've mistaken me for someone else." He said bracing himself for the rise in power he was about to get, "So allow me to introduce myself!"
With those words he began to raise his ki exponentially, forcing it to go higher with every second that passed, displacing more air and matter than this insectile foe did before by quite a bit. It was amazing! Every time he thought his power increase would come to a stop, it passed his estimate completely and kept on going strong. It was with a flash of ki that he settled at what he felt was a power level strong enough to defeat the foe in front of him. There was no reason to expose his true maximum to this being, especially since holding something in reserve could prove useful in case the creature had any tricks up its sleeve. Nevertheless, he could feel himself, the air and all things around him vibrating with the power he now held and it made him feel like this fight was already his to win.
"The Piccolo you know is gone!" He declared loud and clear to his foe, "I am the Namek! And as for you? Well…you're history!"
Looking at his enemy he waited, hoping that the creature would be scared enough to make the sloppy first move he could use to get this party started, but instead the being before him began to chuckle in amusement. That wasn't a good sign. It could be a nervous laughter or an attempt at a bluff but somehow it didn't sound quite right for that.
"I'm impressed, Namek! Your power is astounding." The creature said with hunger in its voice, "I am sure you will prove to be a most satisfying meal."
"Don't count on it." He said, knowing that within seconds the battle would be joined.
Of course this meant that it would be him who made the opening move since it was often the case that whoever took the initiative in a fight like this was often the one who emerged victorious. He also knew the perfect way to do it and so began to condense the ki within him in preparation for an attack that would hopefully do some serious damage. With little arcs of energy jumping off his body, he kept a close eye on his adversary on the off chance that the thing before him caught on to what he was doing. It seemed to know more than it should so it wasn't totally beyond the realm of possibility.
"You know, you made one critical mistake. You should've never emptied this city of its population." He said feeling that he was almost ready to go on the offensive.
"Oh and why is that?" it asked with calm curiosity.
"Because as long as there are no innocent bystanders to get in the way I'm free to fight you with the best of my abilities!" He replied letting the arrogant one in front of him know what a mistake he'd made.
"So what's stopping you?" It asked, calling his bluff with contempt in its voice.
"You know…that's a really good question." He said as the pressure of power building within him began to get to him.
It was time to let it out.
Thrusting his left hand out at his foe he watched as cracks in his ability to control the build up of power began to manifest themselves in the form of little spheres of energy being drawn towards the center of his palm. His enemy saw this as well and caused it to place itself into a guarding position that, theoretically, would keep it on its feet as well as let it withstand the power headed its way. However he knew something this thing didn't know.
Some energy attacks you just can't guard against.
With one final cry of strength, he unleashed his attack overwhelming his foe within seconds and pushing it backwards for several city blows while demolishing everything in its path as well as on either side. By the time he was done, a good section of the city had been destroyed and reduced everything to little more than fragile rubble. But he didn't let his guard down despite how some might believe that the bugman had been destroyed. This thing had proven to be one surprise after another and he wasn't about to let another such surprise take the advantage away from him.
It was seconds later that he found his foe as the fool used a ki discharge to blow away some rubble that it had been buried under. With speed that surpassed his previous best, he charged forward, appearing to be aiming for a head-on collision, but just as he saw the monster attempt a punch he evaded it. Looping around, he flew backwards towards it and then spun around in order to gain some extra momentum so he could deliver a thunderous reverse kick to its back. This almost succeeded in knocking it down but it went on all fours to steady itself and so he attempted a follow up kick to finish the job. It was then that the monster showed that it had some speed of its own as it evaded the attack but if it thought that speed was going to save, it the monster was dead wrong. With a burst of speed, it was easy to get behind it and deliver a punch that sent it in the opposite direction it had been heading. Moving with the utmost speed once more he soon arrived at its most likely touchdown point only for it to stop its fall mere feet from him. Before he could make use of its stationary position, it flew high into the air, perhaps to think up a strategy, but that soon its intentions became clear.
In a move that surprised him greatly the bug used his own technique, the Special Beam Cannon, in an attempt to do some damage. Fortunately for him it was a trifle to swat away the blast and send it into the remains of a building to detonate harmlessly a fair distance from him.
"He's good." He muttered as each move the abomination made increased his appraisal of it.
He didn't get much of a chance to say anything else because, in seconds, the thing closed to fighting range and an exchange of blows began. They were fast and furious and it wasn't until he upped his own power level a few notches that he was finally able to surpass the thing enough to deliver a solid punch to the side of its head. It only dazed the creature for a moment though but that was enough to set it up for another attack using a variation on the after image technique. One quick kick later and the creature was buried in rubble again in the middle of the devastation and he used this time to land close by. Like clockwork it didn't take long before it dug itself out but now was the time to see if the freak's tongue had been loosened any.
"I must admit you're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for." He said to start the conversation, "But don't let that go to your head."
"You have yet to see my true strength." It said with a chuckle, "I was not able to gain enough energy in this town to reach my full power."
"So I was right. All the people you consumed, it wasn't just for the fun of it, it was to make their energy your own." He said as his earlier suspicion was proven correct, "Who are you?! What kind of a twisted mind would think to send you here in the time machine?"
"I came here of my own accord. The time machine was much too small for me to fit inside in my present. I was forced to regress myself to my larval stage and encase myself in an egg." It replied with glee at possessing superior information, "Pretty ingenious, wouldn't you agree? Still, you have learned much, Piccolo, however there is so much more for you to discover."
With those words the creature placed its hands in a position he was all too familiar with and it was then that he picked up another ki signature within the monster. He sensed Goku's ki within this abomination. Then began the chant he knew all too well and even though he could see it coming he was amazed at how someone not taught by anyone he knew could perform this technique. Even Goku needed to see Roshi perform the move once before he could even manage a mini version of it and yet he could feel the familiar flow of power that was the Kamehameha wave building within the monster.
"KA-ME-HA-ME-HAAAAA!" The creature yelled before unleashing a stream of neon blue energy at him.
Just as the blast was at the halfway point, a blurred form appeared out of nowhere and knocked it off course with one arm. It was soon revealed though that it was the newest member of the Z-warriors, Xander, who had intercepted the attack and was currently glaring at the monster with his cold, green Super Saiyan eyes.
"Sorry if you had a strategy in the works, Piccolo." Xander said before rising to a more at ease stance, "But this guy was driving me nuts with all the different ki signatures he has rolling around inside of him."
&
The Remains of Ginger Town, One Minute Later, Xander's P.O.V
"So this is where you've been, Mr. Bug." He said looking about the ruins of the town now devoid of all life, "Can't say I'm crazy about the new look though. The whole 'apocalyptic wasteland' look is so 80's!"
"Ah! So the court jester of Saiyans has arrived. Good." The creature said as though the arrival of a fully powered up Super Saiyan didn't bother him, "The fighting with Piccolo was amusing in the beginning but he was starting to bore me. I hope that you will provide better entertainment then he did."
"Well, if you're into pain and entreating death then I promise you all the 'entertainment' you can handle!" He declared and with that charged the creature head on with all the speed he could muster.
Just as he expected, when he got close enough to strike, Mr. Bug performed a haymaker in an effort to knock him back. However, instead of reversing course, he let the knowledge he inherited from Soldier boy on Halloween guide his movements. Ducking under the monster's arm, he quickly got past any effective guard and with both hands delivered a double palm thrust to the creature's chest. Add in a little ki for flavor and the beast was sent tumbling back through several slabs of stone before it dug in its toes bringing its journey to a stop. It was one of the things that he found proved useful every now and again: despite having many interesting styles of combat, they didn't have close quarters combat training like the military back home. There were a few moves that were close but nothing quite matched up to what he recalled and it was those differences that gave him the advantage. It didn't always work, neither Goku nor Vegeta were all that phased by them, but his moves got through often enough that he'd incorporated them into everything else he'd learned on this world. It'd been enough to get a few nods from both Goku and Vegeta but, as usual, they made it clear that their fighting style was better than his.
Time to prove them wrong! He thought before he used a burst of ki enhanced speed to close the distance between him and the monster.
This time, when the creature attempted to use a kick to repel his assault, he ducked under it, grabbed it by the ankle while the leg was fully extended and then delivered a punch aimed at the knee joint. Before the blow could connect, though, the abomination lashed out with its tail, forcing him to lean back in order to avoid getting the point end of its appendage in the eye. This proved to be enough of a distraction for the beast to wrench its leg out of his grasp and then it was he who was on the defensive. Fortunately it wasn't for very long because, soon enough, Piccolo intervened adding his considerable power to the side of good. Between the two of them, they steadily began to gain ground against their single enemy with one of them, always making sure that Mr. Bug didn't get a chance to put some space between it and them. Their good fortune, however, didn't last because in a rare moment of respite the creature performed the multi-form technique, creating three copies of itself for a total of four, including itself.
"Let us see how you fair being attacked two on one." It said before both he and Piccolo were forced to focus on defending themselves rather than attacking their true enemy.
While he soon discovered that the duplicates didn't have the power of the original, two on one was still nothing to brush off. With an extra appendage and knowledge of the techniques used by the Z-warriors, it was like fighting an entire team of trained warriors alone. He was able to get in a few lucky hits here and there but so did the creature and they were strong enough to do some damage. Still, if there was one thing that his time training under Vegeta taught him, it was how to endure the pain and keep on fighting despite his body's complaints. Back and forth it went until he heard Piccolo cry out and when he looked up he saw that the two monsters had grabbed ahold of the Namek with a firm grip on all of his limbs. He was about to break off from his own fight but, all of a sudden, his body was overcome with pain and so severe was it that he was forced to drop to his hands and knees. Willing his mind to ignore his pain, he tried to figure out what precisely was causing him such intense pain and it was then that his sense of touch alerted him to something being wrong with his tail. Turning his head he saw the source of his problems.
One of the duplicates had grabbed onto his tail with both hands and was squeezing it tightly.
It was one of the few ways that a Saiyan could be harmed by someone of lesser strength and, sadly, it appeared that unlike Vegeta his body hadn't evolved to the point where the weakness was no more. Instead he was all too like Goku in that grabbing his tail essentially put him out of the fight until he could find some way to free it. A scream cut through the air and he turned his head with much difficulty towards the source and saw that the creature had pierced the Namek's left arm with its tail. What was most horrifying though was that he could see something being sucked out, up the tail and into the thing's body. He didn't want to even think about what that something might be but in the back of his mind he had a pretty good idea. With all the considerable will at his disposal, he tried to fight against the pain in order to free himself but the most he was able to manage was to rise to one knee.
It was then that he heard the sounds of tanks approaching and when he looked he saw a small army of tanks rolling in the direction of the battleground. Apparently the local military had decided to move in after the loss of news coverage of Ginger Town and were planning to take the beast down themselves. The fools. Anything that could survive energy blasts from Piccolo or punches strong enough to topple a building from him had no chance of being destroyed by conventional weapons. Redoubling his efforts, he knew he'd have to intercept the monster's counter assault but for that to happen he had to get free. Punching and kicking her out of the question with his muscles spasming every few seconds with pain making movement difficult. Potent energy blasts were also not possible because they required a certain level of concentration to properly execute them. Add to that the likelihood that the creature would be in an idea position to dodge them and he'd be seriously lucky to score a glancing blow. That left one possibility that might free him and didn't require precise aim in order to execute. He just hoped that the bug didn't see it coming. Rolling onto his back, while being careful not to put any more pressure on his tail, he brought both his hands up to his face and released his ki in the appropriate manner.
"SOLAR FLARE!!"
It wasn't very powerful, nowhere near as bright as it could have been, but it was enough to cause the duplicate creature to rear back and cover its face with its hands… hands that had once been wrapped firmly around his tail.
With his strength rapidly returning, he was quick to put some distance between himself and the two duplicates. He had been fortunate that the other duplicate (since he was fairly sure that the original and another duplicate were holding Piccolo) hadn't been holding onto him as well. If that had been the case the solar flare technique would have been impossible to perform but, now that he was free, it was time to save the idiot brigade and their tanks from themselves. Firing off two generic ki blasts to keep his sparring partners busy, he took to the air to try and get the soldiers to withdraw but, the moment he locked eyes with them, he was given a reason to question this course of action.
They fire missiles at him!
On instinct he raised a ki field around himself and, within seconds, explosions were all around him as the projectiles from the tanks slammed into his protective barrier. It wasn't a difficult thing for him to do but it annoyed him that the very people he'd wanted to save were shooting at him. He did NOT like being shot at! Deciding that trying to reason with these people wasn't going to get him anywhere fast, he chose to go with the usual method for making military people turn tail and run.
Break their toys in the most impressive ways possible.
Zipping down to the lead tank he brought both arms above his head and screamed "XAN SMASH!!"
Slamming both fists downwards, he caved in the front of the tank rendering the vehicle useless. Grabbing the barrel of the weapon, he wrenched off the top of the war machine he swung it around like a baseball bat, demolishing the other tanks around him. He took care not to hit any of the soldiers but soon made quick work of the tanks and their missile launchers, turning them into so much scrap metal. Then, just to make sure that the deal was sealed, he fired off a few random ki blasts at the retreating soldiers to ensure that they didn't get any bright ideas about mounting a counterattack. It was as he was about to fire a final shot when out of nowhere he was struck from behind and sent tumbling along the ground. Quickly employing the move he'd been taught by Goku to recover from such an attack he got back to his feet in a flash. His guard on full, he looked back to see what or who had struck him. He was surprised to see it was one of the monster duplicates that he'd freed himself from moments ago but it wasn't the attack so much as the fact he didn't sense it coming that bothered him. It was one of the key things about being able to sense your opponent's ki: it allowed you to detect their blows coming even if you can't see them with your eyes. Vegeta had hammered this skill into him for days and didn't stop until he managed to last a full three hours without taking a single hit.
I didn't sense a thing leading up to the attack! He thought with worry as he began employing Soldier boy's methods for watching for an attack, Is this bug that fast that I don't have time to even sense him before he attacks? Impossible!
The only possibility he could think of was that somehow the duplicate was hiding his ki signature from him somehow. It wasn't an impossible thing to do but it did get more difficult the more powerful a person was. Put a lit match behind a thick blanket and it's near impossible to see its light but put a bonfire behind the same blanket and it's easy to see. In the case of the duplicate, though, he hadn't sensed either light or heat, thus resulting in him eating dirt for a few moments.
Seeing something coming in fast from the right, he immediately turned in that direction and fired off a ki blast the size of a bowling ball. The second monster duplicate that had chosen him as its sparring partner evaded the attack but at least the move ruined its sneak attack from the side. Too bad it distracted him from the one coming from the front since it would've saved him from a pretty painful strike to the jaw. Thus began round two of the two-on-one battle but, unlike last time, he was taking way more hits than he should. Where before he had been able to match the clones on roughly equal terms, he was now struggling to avoid getting pummelled. None of the movements or strikes they were making showed up on his ki senses, forcing him to rely on the five senses that everyone had. Even if, as he'd learned, the multi-form technique divided the person's strength into a quarter of the whole, these duplicates were still hard to deal with and their ability to mask their ki from him was only making it harder.
In the end it was a two pronged strike to his legs that knocked him off his feet and destroyed his defensive stance. It also caused him great pain that could easily mean broken legs and it made it difficult to think as every impact on the ground jarred his bones. When his momentum played out, he was on his back and he tried to sit up but any movement only moved his bones including those that might be broken. He tried to improvise, to make his ki move him instead of his legs, but just as he was about to get off the ground a three toed foot slammed down on his legs, engulfing him in pain.
"I think that's quite enough for now. Don't you agree?" Asked the duplicate with a smug tone of voice.
It was about then that he heard a cry of pain from above but it wasn't from Piccolo but rather from the monsters holding him, the original and one clone, and soon after the Namek dropping to the ground under his own power. His left arm was completely shrivelled up and hanging limp at his side clearly no longer usable no matter how much will power was gathered to move it.
It was not looking good for the home team.
