Chapter 12: Course of Action
Goku's house on 439 East District, Mount Paozu was quite crowded, it was not suited to hold so many people, afterall. Chi-Chi, Goku, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, and both versions of Trunks and Gohan found themselves squished into the kitchen. Chi-Chi had shooed Yajirobe out of the house once he was caught trying to raid the fridge. Baby Trunks, who was situated in the young Gohan's arms, was having trouble sleeping. Evidently he wasn't the only one.
"GAAAAHHHH! Get your filthy hands off of me, woman!" Came Vegeta's roar of disapproval. Even afflicted with heart disease it seemed that the mighty Prince of All Saiyans would not rest.
"Dammit, Vegeta! If you don't rest the medicine can't work its way through your body!" Bulma yelled in reply to Vegeta's outcry.
"Oh, what the hell do you know?" Vegeta snarled.
"I'm a scientist, Vegeta! Go to sleep or you're going to die!" Bulma said, giving the angry saiyan an ultimatum.
"Whatever!" Vegeta growled, ending the conversation. There was a huff of anger, the slamming of a door, the stomping of feet, and suddenly Bulma was standing in the hallway.
"That man is impossible!" She exclaimed. The scientist proceeded to push Yamcha out of his seat and take it. The group generally nodded in agreement. They had been going on like that for the past forty minutes or so. It had made it quite difficult to for the day's information to be passed around. Earlier Trunks and Gohan had explained their story to everyone. It included a lot of gasps and Chi-Chi crying into Gohan's chest making comments about his scars and his arm. Bulma decided to relay the future information to Vegeta later, he already had a heart condition and she feared that telling people that the lavender haired young man he'd met was in fact his son from the future had a good chance of killing the man.
"So Bulma, do you think you can do anything with this blueprints?" The older Gohan asked. Bulma nodded as she surveyed the blueprints that had been lain across the table.
"You can see here," Bulma began to explain, pointing at something on the prints, "That inside both androids' chests there's a bomb. It was probably originally a failsafe for Gero, you know 'If you don't comply, I will destroy you'. I suppose it didn't exactly work out because from the way the wiring looks it seems he wasn't able to keep them from accessing the bombs themselves, kind of takes away the purpose,"
"So, how's that help us?" Yamcha asked.
"Well, using these blueprints I think I can create a remote to deactivates the bombs, seeing as they're the biggest problem," Bulma explained.
"Well you don't think they'd actually use 'em, do ya? I don't think they're the type to just forfeit their lives for a win," Goku said. Trunks nodded.
"He's got a point, even if they don't seem as bloodthirsty here, Seventeen and Eighteen are probably two of the people that care the most about their lives that I know of," Trunks explained.
"It's better to be safe than sorry, guys," Bulma explained, "I can also probably make the remote so I can deactivate the androids themselves," There were mixed reactions to this. After Krillin's interaction with Android Zero, he wanted them gone. If all of the android's were made by Doctor Gero, he figured they must all be the same. The Future Gohan and Trunks felt conflicted. Androids Seventeen and Eighteen were the ones that had tortured them for so long, but the ones here didn't seem the same. When they were fighting, the androids weren't even trying to kill them, if anything they were just trying to defend themselves from the future warriors' onslaught. Seventeen had seemed pretty sincere when he warned Gohan about Zero, even though he'd used it as an opportunity to slip away. It was an odd perspective for the two to view. Everyone else in the room only wanted the androids gone if they were a real threat.
"I mean, we can't just take away their free will, can we?" Young Gohan asked timidly. He didn't want the androids to be shut down if they hadn't done anything wrong.
"Of course we can, Gohan. They're killers," Krillin told the child coldly. Gohan frowned, Krillin seemed angrier than usual.
"But Krillin, they're people too!" Gohan reasoned.
"No they're not, they're robots!" Krillin yelled.
"Actually," Bulma interjected. Krillin and Gohan turned to look at her, "Seventeen and Eighteen aren't actually androids per se. It says something here about a 'human augmentation' here, Seventeen and Eighteen were originally human. They're less like the terminator, and more like, well Gohan here," Bulma explained, gesturing to Gohan and his metal arm. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, "Technically they're not even androids, they're cyborgs,"
"If they're part human, can you still shut them down?" Tien asked.
"Yes, I believe so," Bulma answered.
"Before we do anything, we need to be able to find them first," Future Gohan told the group. "Bulma, do you think you can track them?"
"I think so. All of the androids should operate on the same frequency, Gero would have needed a way to track them as well. If I can find that frequency then I can track the androids, and I know I said they're called cyborgs but I'm already used to calling them androids. I can probably rewire the dragon ball radar to do it too, it would save time since I don't have to build an entirely new device," Bulma told them. "I think the sooner I get to work, the better."
"Alright, while Bulma's working, we need to decide what to do about the androids," Trunks told everyone. They nodded in agreement.
The door to Goku's room creaked as Bulma entered.
"Vegeta?" She asked, "You awake?" Vegeta was turned on his side in Goku and Chi-Chi's bed, something she was sure the woman woman wasn't very happy about. His chest raised up and down in steady breath. It was probably the most peaceful that Bulma had ever seen the saiyan. If he was awake, he didn't let her know. She sat on the edge of the bed opposite of Vegeta. "Look Vegeta, I know your pride doesn't allow me to help you without a fight, but I only do it because I care. I know we fight a lot but I do," She sighed, "I guess that must be odd for you if all the people that you used to hang around were like Raditz and Frieza, but it's true. I love you Vegeta, and Trunks needs his father. I don't know what things were like on the planet you're from, but here family matters. I know I can't make you do anything, but please just think about it," Vegeta made no signs to show that he was listening.
"Hey Bulma, you ready?" Goku asked from the doorway. Bulma nodded at him.
"Bye, Vegeta," Bulma said to the saiyan's back. There was an odd 'swish' sound and they were gone. Vegeta rolled over on to his back and stared at the ceiling, his heart heavy, and not because of the disease. He had a lot to think about.
"Turn the news on," Trunks told Krillin, the one closest to the television.
"Why? Has something happened?" Krillin asked.
"Not that I know of, but we'll need to have it on if something has or in the case it does," Trunks answered. Krillin nodded and pressed a button causing the television to flicker to life.
"And now some words from our sponsor, Mister Sat-" The television flickered as the channel was changed.
"Can we really trust a president that's a dog?" Flicker.
"Your drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens!" Flicker.
"In other news, the mysterious disappearances in Gingertown continue," Krillin looked over at Trunks.
"Do you think that's them?" Krillin asked the half-saiyan. Trunks shook his head.
"I don't thinkso, It's not their MO. It'd probably be a large scale attack, an entire city destroyed. Plus this sounds like it's something that's been going on, the androids just woke up today," Trunks explained. Krillin looked to be in turmoil.
"How do you feel about this whole thing, Trunks? I mean the androids have terrorized you guys for years! You couldn't be on their side, could you?"
"I don't know, Krillin. You're right, the androids from my time have ruined my time, but I don't know about these ones. We don't know much about time travel, but from our understanding travelling back to you guys caused ripples, and your time is different from ours now. In our timeline there were no androids zero, sixteen, nineteen, or twenty. Here, father was the one who was afflicted with the heart disease and he's achieved super saiyan, something he never did in my time. It's not too farfetched for the androids to be different here," Trunks told Krillin, "When me and Gohan were fighting them, they were on the defensive. Our androids are always on the offensive, if they were like them they would have been trying to slaughter us," Krillin let that sink, he was in a funk over this whole android thing.
"Tien, did Sixteen seem overly murderous to you?" Krillin asked the three-eyed man.
"At first, yes. I'm fairly certain he was an actual android, he kept talking about his programming and he felt pretty solid," Tien said, rubbing his fist, "When I stopped Goku's heart, it rewrote his program and he didn't want to kill Goku anymore, even though I'm pretty sure he knew that Goku wasn't dead. He certainly knew I wouldn't kill him. He seemed pretty decent, for a robot I mean," Tien finished.
"Are you sure he didn't just leave because you guys were too strong for him? I mean Goku is really strong and you're pretty good with the kaioken," Krillin tried reasoning with Tien. The triclops shook his head.
"Sixteen was pummeling us, if I hadn't done what I did he would have killed Goku, no doubt about it," Tien explained gravely. Krillin frowned at that.
"So what was up with Zero?" Krillin asked.
"I think I know," Gohan said, approaching them. He had passed baby Trunks off to Yamcha, who yelled as the baby grabbed his nose. "Zero told me that he was based off of Gero's grandson, and that Gero had tried to upload his grandson's consciousness into Zero. Something must have gone wrong and corrupted him, Zero wasn't supposed to be like that," Gohan explained.
"Oh," Krillin said simply.
"I guess Gero couldn't get any of the androids' personalities right," Gohan joked. Krillin had to take a minute to think. His encounter with Android Zero had led him to an early conclusion. Being who he was, having been made fun of at Orin Temple all those years, Krillin was one to know that you shouldn't make premature decisions about people that you didn't know.
"L-let's not shut down the androids, guys," Krillin said shakily.
"I suppose if Vegeta, Piccolo, and I can get second chances, they should too," Tien agreed. Gohan smiled and nodded.
"Alright," Trunks hesitantly agreed, "But the remote will still be made, and we still need to find and talk with them," The others agreed.
"So we'll tell Bulma and the others when the devices are done?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah, sounds good. Where are," Krillin looked around, "Goku, Piccolo, and big Gohan anyways?" The short monk asked.
"Dad is probably hanging out with Bulma while she works, Piccolo said something about going to Kami's, and I think big me is about to meet Icarus," Gohan explained. On cue, the scarred man stuck his head through Gohan's bedroom window.
"You still have Icarus? Trunks, there's a dragon out here, he's as big as the house!" Future Gohan said, pulling his head back through the window. Trunks raised his eyebrow, he never saw Gohan that happy.
"You have a dragon? He had a dragon?" Trunks asked quizzically. Gohan nodded and grabbed Trunks arm, leading him outside. Trunks saw that there was, in fact, a dragon who was the size of the house. Icarus had grown quite a bit over the years. His six horns had all grown longer, the side horns having curved and grown backwards. His small wings had grown much longer and now had no problem carrying the dragon through the air. The dragon no longer looked so chubby and cute, having reached what was called 'dragon adolescence' he now packed on muscle and looked much sleeker. His purple scales shimmered in the sun.
"My Icarus never got this big, something," Gohan's face fell, "Well, something bad happened to him," Gohan trailed off, clearly not wanting to speak anymore of it. "But man, it's good to see you buddy!" Icarus chirped and nuzzled Future Gohan, recognizing his master's scent. He then reared back in confusion. There were two of his master, one who looked like he normally saw him, and one much older with scars and a metal arm. Icarus figured they looked similar enough and had almost the exact same scent, so he continued to nuzzle the man.
"How much do you have to feed him?" Trunks asked, thinking that a dragon was a much bigger responsibility as a pet than a puppy.
"We live in the mountains, Trunks. He feeds himself," Gohan explained. Before Trunks could reply to that, Icarus made a burping sound, and a fireball shot into the sky.
"Well that's new," Gohan said blandly, not entirely sure what to say.
There was a light 'tap' as Piccolo's feet landed on the floor of Kami's lookout. Kami stood in front of him, having sensed Piccolo's arrival. The elder namekian regarded Piccolo with a grim expression, his hand gripping his cane tightly.
"So you sensed it as well, this malicious force?" Piccolo asked the so called deity.
"Of course I did, I am Earth's guardian after all," Kami said calmly, "I sensed it days ago, but it was hazy and I couldn't be sure. It has grown stronger, though, it is a threat,"
"It must be linked with these disappearances in Gingertown. It could be taking them, adding their power to its own," Piccolo theorized.
"If it wanted to substantially increase its power through humans it would have to take, why, hundreds of thousands of them," Kami said incredulously.
"And you don't think that it wouldn't? That's why I'm here Kami, we need to act before it does," Piccolo shot at him.
"And what do you propose we do?" Kami spit, his temper rising.
"You already know," Piccolo replied gruffly. Kami sighed and stared at his counterpart. Indeed he did know, but he didn't know if it was something he could go through with.
"I cannot fuse with you Piccolo. I am the guardian of Earth, and without me the dragon balls will vanish," Kami reasoned. Piccolo scowled.
"We have more immediate problems! If this thing gets out of control even Super Saiyans won't be able to handle it! Combined, our power is stronger than a Super Saiyan, we need to take care of this before it becomes an even bigger threat," Piccolo argued.
"What if with our combined power even we cannot handle it? If we fail, then there are no dragon balls and everyone else is up against immeasurable odds. I cannot stand for that Piccolo!" Kami yelled. "What of Gohan, the one from the future? He is most likely the strongest Super Saiyan, why not send him to battle the monstrosity?"
"I don't want to bring him into this, that boy has been through enough. He is here to help us by his own desire, this has nothing to do with him," Piccolo barked.
"Boy? Why Piccolo, I believe he is older than you, you are but fourteen. I think sometimes you forget that," Kami leveled.
"Well if we're on the matter of age, you're over three hundred years old Kami, and you're only part of a whole, " Piccolo looked the elderly namekian in the eye. Kami shifted, uncomfortable, "You're nearing the end of your rope, you're hardly even fit to be a guardian anymore," Piccolo stated harshly. Kami looked at the warrior in shock before sighing, knowing that his words were true.
"If I were to fuse with you, what would you suppose we do about a new guardian?" Kami asked. Piccolo thought.
"What about Mister Popo? He's been here for years, he should know all the ins and outs," Piccolo suggested. Kami shook his head.
"Mister Popo was created in Otherworld specifically to be the attendant to the guardian, he physically cannot be the guardian himself," Kami answered.
"Is no one on Earth suited for the position?" Piccolo asked. Kami relaxed the grip on his cane to think.
"The only two I can think of that are would be that Tenshinhan and Roshi, but I do not think either of them could," Said Kami.
"Why not?" Piccolo asked, not too thrown off by his choices.
"Roshi is wise, he has been on this planet even longer than I. He is the younger brother of the fortuneteller Baba and has trained under Korin and Mutaito, the one who had originally managed to seal away your father. He is not exactly mature, though, as I'm sure you know. I do not believe Muten Roshi has the full responsibility to take the position," Kami explained, "Tenshinhan is a strong warrior, and is very responsible and disciplined, but the main reason I say is because he is a descendent of the ancient Three-Eyed clan. The Three-Eyed clan is able to perform extraordinary and godlike abilities through their third eye's 'true sight'. Tenshinhan was trained by Shen, who was quite despicable. This corruption caused him to lose the ability of true sight, without that I believe he has more use as a member of the Earth's fighting forces,"
"I understand Roshi, but do you think you know enough to teach Tien how to use true sight once again?" Piccolo asked.
"I might, but it is too much of a bargain to be sure, and it would take time that we do not have," Kami explained.
"What about the time chamber?" Piccolo asked.
"I do not believe it should be used for this. Besides, neither Tenshinhan or Roshi can learn the secrets of the dragon balls,. That would have to be a namekian," Kami and Piccolo both took a second to think.
"I can have Goku locate New Namek, I think I know someone suitable," Piccolo said. Kami nodded at him.
"I trust your judgement," Kami informed him.
"First though, can multiple people maintain the status of guardian?" Piccolo asked. Kami widened his eyes in shock, it was an interesting question.
"Well I suppose so, but why? Do you have something in mind?" Kami asked.
"The person I have in mind is an astounding healer and a skilled member of Namek's Dragon Clan, but he is lacking three things. Wisdom, knowledge of Earth, and fighting power." Kami nodded, catching Piccolo's drift.
"Do you believe Tenshinhan and Roshi would agree to that?" Kami asked.
"I believe so," Piccolo answered. Kami sighed.
"Since I suppose you won't compromise to anything that includes us not fusing and me staying guardian, this will have to do," Kami said, finally agreeing with Piccolo. "Mister Popo, please come here," Kami instructed the genie. Mister Popo, who had been tending to his garden while listening in, walked towards them.
"Kami, are you sure about this?" Popo asked timidly. He hated to see Kami go, the one who had been a friend to him so long. He had seen many a guardian come and go in his time, but Kami had been the closest to him, and the most benevolent. Kami smiled sadly down at his attendant.
"Yes. I am sorry, old friend. It seems my time is coming to an end," He placed his hand on Mister Popo's head, and there was a brief flash of light.
"What did you do?" Piccolo asked.
"Since we are using your body as the base, my memories will disappear. I believe my knowledge will be highly useful to you, so I am transferring it to Mister Popo who will transfer it back to you once we are finished," Kami explained.
"Once we fuse, I will find our three guardians and inform them of the situation," Piccolo told Kami, "Then I will hunt down this thing that has appeared," Piccolo confirmed.
"Then let it commence. Piccolo, please place your hand on my chest," Kami instructed. Piccolo complied and placed his hand right in the center of the circle that held Kami's symbol, reading 'god'.
"Kami, no..." Popo whispered, tears forming in his eyes. Kami smiled over at his friend.
"Goodbye, Popo," Were his last words. Kami released a cacophony of uncomfortable grunts and screams as a white aura flared around him. The aura continued to grow brighter and cover a larger expanse of the area until no one could quite see what was happening. The light faded, leaving smoke billowing from a single form. It was Piccolo's body, but Popo knew it wasn't quite Piccolo anymore.
"G-Goodbye...Kami," Popo said softly, tears now streaming down his face. The namekian nodded at him respectfully, and walked towards him. Piccolo and Kami's fusion kneeled once more, before Popo. The genie held his hand against the green skinned alien's head and there was a bright flash of light. The namekian's eyes widened as the information poured into his head.
"Thank you," He said. His voice was like Piccolo's but smoother, more confident. When he stood, he stood proudly, the wind causing his cape to flow behind him. He stood at the edge of the lookout, viewing the world that a fraction of himself had once guarded. "I...I am no longer Kami, nor Piccolo. I am the Namek who has long since forgotten has name," The so called 'Nameless Namek' proclaimed to the sky. He turned towards Mister Popo and gave him a small smile, "I must go," He stated confidently, right before he turned back around and dived off of the lookout.
"What do you mean you haven't seen mom since you were nine?" Young Gohan shouted at his future counterpart. The one-armed man sighed sadly and scratched his head.
"When everyone... everyone died I just couldn't face her. I couldn't stand to imagine her face when I told her that they were all gone, and I was the only one left, and that I just," Gohan paused and sniffled, "I couldn't save anyone. I told myself that when I defeated the androids that I just might be able be able to look her in the eyes," Gohan said quietly. His younger counterpart couldn't believe what was hearing, he couldn't figure out what to say. Now that his Super Saiyan transformation had released the floodgate that held his rage in a small corner in his mind so long, his personality had changed a bit. He was still mannerly and polite as always, but he knew just a bit now that his rage didn't need to just be a powerup during battle. So, for just a second, his anger told him what to do. Gohan stared his future self in the eye, reared his fist back, and slammed it into his gut. The older Gohan's eyes shot open, and he stumbled back clutching his stomach. "I-I Suppose I deserved that," The scarred man gasped.
"Are you stupid?!" Gohan yelled at himself, definitely having broken through his mannerly self, "Did you think your mom would just abandon you because you weren't strong enough to save everyone? Your mom loves you unconditionally, no matter what happens! How could you just leave her like that, with evil androids ravaging the Earth? Do you even know if she's alive?!" The nine year old screamed.
"Of course I do, I check her energy every single day," Gohan stuttered, shocked by the child's outburst.
"But how is she? What do you think it does to someone when everyone they know dies and they have no idea where their son has gone? I can't tell you how to live your life, you're an adult, but I can tell you that for such a supposedly smart person," Gohan paused and looked into the man's eyes, "You're kind of stupid," Gohan huffed, and stomped inside. Future Gohan sat down in the grass, a lost look on his face. Icarus chirped in his ear and laid down on the grass beside him, looking quite happy as Future Gohan rubbed his head.
"Well, I never thought I'd have to go back in time and get told off by myself to realize something so obvious," The time-traveler said as he flopped on to his back.
There was a 'swish' and suddenly Goku and Bulma were standing in Goku's house once again. Bulma quickly found her sons, one was being held by Yamcha, and the one she technically hadn't given birth to was talking with Tien.
"Trunks, Yamcha I need you two to come with me," Bulma informed them. She gently lifted baby Trunks from Yamcha's arms, "Hi sweetie! I'm sorry but mommy is busy helping save the world!" The baby giggled happily and clapped his hands, "Mommy is going to have to be busy a bit longer too. I bet you're hungry though!" Bulma set baby Trunks down in Tien's arms and handed the three-eyed man a bottle filled with formula, "Sorry Tien, this can't wait," Bulma explained as she bustled off, leaving Tien wondering when he'd become a babysitter.
"Grab on guys," Goku said, Trunks, Yamcha, and Bulma laying their hands down on Goku's person. There was a 'swish' and they were gone again. They reappeared in the middle of the forest, in front of a golden, moss covered machine.
"What are we doing here, mother?" Trunks asked, having trouble with the last word.
"I did manage to find the android's frequency, but when I was rewiring the dragon ball radar I noticed a fourth signal that was well, sort of all over the place. I managed to track it to here." Bulma explained.
"But what am I doing here?" Yamcha asked. Bulma shrugged.
"In case it was some sort of emergency I wanted to have a few fighters around, and you're a good friend," Bulma told him causing Yamcha to smile, "I mean I know Tien is stronger than you," Yamcha's smile turned into a frown, "And that he's a trustworthy person but he's so solemn and his third eye kind of creeps me out." The scientist finished. Yamcha rolled his eyes. Yamcha, Trunks, and Bulma walked towards the machine as Goku stood off to the side wondering when he'd become a mode of transportation. Trunks recognized the machine and the color that shined beneath the moss. He rubbed some of the moss off of the machine to reveal the word 'HOPE' written on it in marker.
"This... This is our time machine," Trunks whispered.
Hello! [Insert apologies about posting so damn late again here] Sorry I don't have much to say in this afternote but damn am I tired bros. Have a nice whatever you're doing and don't text and drive. See you lates magates readers. Also ignore that I just typed 'lates magates' what the hell.
BUT FIRST, yeah don't worry TaitanoRules555, Cell'll be showing his ugly...face? Soon enough.
Now lates maga- wait fuck no.