Some of you already know this has been a rough few months for my family and me. When I first started writing this chapter I wrote in this spot that my mom was doing better, but that changed and I lost her last month. I may be the youngest of my siblings but my mom was still too young to have left. What makes it worse is how unexpected it was. We were all under the impression that she was going to get better and were all making plans for what we were going to do once she was feeling like going out again. Now I feel terrible that all of those things I wanted to do for my mom to show her I cared will always be intentions but never actual actions. I always thought I had plenty of time left to do things with my mom and took a lot for granted. It sounds cliche, but you never know when today may actually be the last day.
My mom was my biggest fan. She loved my stories like ZAT and Legend. And it makes it harder to go back and continue editing and working on Legend especially because I really mixed a lot of my mom's personality into Chichi when I altered her character to work for this story. The parts where Chichi calls Gohan "baby" in front of everyone only for him to cringe and her to laugh is personal experience. I always had her to go to for advice on my female characters too. She helped me refine Videl's rough and tumble with a softer side personality, and when I was having difficulty with Erasa in the last chapter wondering what happiness meant to a thirteen year old girl, it was my mom who told me how something simple like her grandfather taking her into town for cotton candy meant the world to her.
I can't begin to describe how much it hurts that I've lost my biggest supporter, the one I could always turn to when I wanted to bounce ideas off of someone, the person in my life who was as big of a Gohan fan as I was. She wanted me to continue to write though so I'm going to try. She always wanted to see me publish something original so I intend to eventually work on more original fantasy stories too. I just need more time and hopefully things will get better.
Thank you everyone who has stood by and sent me comforting messages over these last few months. I know most of us don't actually know each other but hearing that my mom's influence has touched even my readers who never knew her meant a lot to me.
Thank you all.
I'm still replying to every review I get, but I've now moved my replies to Tumblr so I can respond with extra detail. Please visit my Tumblr page at revu-review dot tumblr dot com or do a search on Tumblr for #RevuReplies and they should all pop up.
Thank you so much for reading and see you at the bottom.
Last Time on Dragonball Legend
Videl, Sharp, and Erasa were finally introduced to the Z-Fighters. Videl was able to piece together from this new information more details on Gohan's life she had no idea about before, including that Gohan was both the little boy who was present during the alien attack almost ten years ago as well as at The Cell Games. It seemed as though MASK's helpfulness had come to an end after Erasa shared her findings with Bulma which would allow the Z-Fighters to blast through the Gete Star's shields when Hercule approached the Big Gete Star and was allowed to enter. Fearing for her father's safety Videl insisted she be a part of the team to enter the Star to rescue the man. With Gohan's support the other Z-Fighters relented and are now enroute to Satan City to deal with the Cyclopean Guards who are beginning to round up civilians while Bulma and Erasa make modifications to their reprogrammed Guide Robo in order to locate Mr. Satan. Time is running out before The Gete Star is ready to process prime life forms, today on Dragon Ball Legend!
Chapter 14: Intent on Assimilation
The sun now lit the city brightly in the later morning sky. Roads west of Satan City were still overcrowded by evacuees all trying to push their way as far from The Big Gete Star as possible. As crowded as the streets were, things were relatively calm. Very little was going on in the way of honking and shoving, and police had squad cars lined up trying to keep everything organized.
People near the end of the line waited in boredom for things to move, most of them hardly moving a city block in the last hour. A young man in a small car was nearly asleep with his head resting on his elbow that hung outside his rolled down window.
In the distance behind him there was noise. One of his eyes lazily opened and looked into the side mirror. There was nothing to see but tall grey buildings, but he was almost sure he could hear a faint drumming like sound. The area became quiet as more people began to notice the sound. It was slowly getting louder.
The young man's eyes widened when he saw it, several streets behind him, a battalion of robots rounded a corner and were marching in his direction. People from nearby cars screamed as they abandoned their vehicles and ran in a frenzied pace.
The robots marched forward, stomping over the abandoned cars as they made their way towards the crowds of people. A child fell and was separated from her parents. She looked up as a shadow fell over her, terrified at the hunk of metal before her, "*Beep* We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own, we are the Gete, you will be assimilated."
The girl screamed as the robot reached down toward her.
A new sound like a rocket falling caused the robot to look up, "That's enough!" Tien shot through the line of cars and crashed into the front line of cyclopean guards, pushing them all back and away from the people, giving them time to put some distance away from the encroaching Gete force.
Yamcha and Chaotzu landed behind Tien. Yamcha threw an energy blast at one of the robots which bounced off its shields much as their attacks on the proper Gete Star had done, "Even these guys are shielded."
"Yeah, so stop playing around," Tien grumbled as Yamcha turned the control on his glove activating the energy modulation Bulma had given them. The gloves emitted a slight hum and Yamcha could definitely feel a change come over his energy pattern. He continued to hold his wrist as he gathered energy to his hand, "Sokidan!" A large spirit ball gathered above Yamcha's upward turned palm, "Let's see how your shields do against this!" He threw the energy ball which tore through the shields of the first robot as if it had none and disintegrated its core. Using two fingers he guided the ball from one robot to another, taking out nearly a dozen with the single attack.
Chaotzu grinned, "It looks like Bulma's idea worked great!"
"At least we're not dressed up as saiyan space warriors for nothing…" Tien sighed as he pointed a finger towards the crowd of robots.
Chaotzu floated at Tien's side, his pose matching Tien's exactly. Energy gathered in the tip of both of their pointed fingers and together they shouted, "Dodon ray!" The two energy beams shot down the street tearing through many layers of Cyclopean Guards. A multitude of explosions rang out down the block and dozens of robots burst into flames. From within the smoke however was the unmistakable sound of clacking footsteps and many more Cyclopean Guards continued to march forward. The ones in front held out their arms, machine guns and cannons formed from their forearms and they began to fire on the Z-Fighters.
At a slower pace still outside the city, Gohan flew through the sky holding Videl underneath him while Krillin followed with Sharp at a distance out of earshot behind.
Gohan could feel tension radiating from his passenger, and though at first he chalked it up to anxiety in regards to her father he was starting to feel nervous. Videl made a frustrated grunt like sound and so Gohan finally asked, "Are you alright Videl?"
"How can you even ask me that right now?" Videl snapped immediately.
Gohan stiffened up, he wasn't completely sure what Videl's aggression was directed towards, "I'm sorry."
Videl clenched her mouth shut and looked to the side without replying at all.
It wasn't hard to guess that there was a lot on Videl's mind so Gohan tried to talk to her, "Don't worry, we're going to get your dad out of there, he'll be okay."
"Of course he'll be alright," Videl groaned, "He's Mr. Satan, he defeated Cell and countless other enemies, I'm sure he can hold his own until we get there."
Gohan swayed his head from side to side and tried not to say anything.
"You know…" Videl finally spoke up, "You really should have told me sooner, it's not like we haven't had a lot of personal talks about issues as well as about The Dragon."
"I…" Gohan took a nervous gulp as he wasn't sure how to deal with this topic, "I was scared, I wanted to tell you, but there was always a voice inside that said other people wouldn't understand me and to stay quiet if I wanted to fit in. So I got discouraged really easily from saying anything."
"I trusted you," Videl bit her lower lip, "I told you so many things I wouldn't have told anyone else, but the entire time it turns out I had no idea who you really were."
"That's not true!" Gohan's eyes widened as a sad look crossed his face, "My whole reason for leaving out these details about my life is because I wanted to make friends who were interested in getting to know me, the real me, and not the half alien freak son of my father."
Videl twitched. She wanted to say she understood, that a person deserves to be more than their parent's shadow, but somehow she just couldn't find the words, "You're an idiot."
Gohan sighed and apologized again, "I'm sorry."
"I can't believe I almost kissed you," Gohan noticeably dropped altitude as the stinging words sunk in. "Hey watch out!"
Gohan corrected his flight path and returned to his previous altitude, "I…"
"No, I'm sorry," Videl finally realized this was the wrong time to be digging into the boy and interrupted Gohan, "It's just I was finding myself admiring both you and The Dragon, as two separate people. So you'd think it would be great to find out you're the same person, but I'm going to need time to process everything that's happened."
"I'm still sorry Videl," Gohan said anyway, "I really, really, should have told you sooner."
The city was coming up fast ahead of them, "We'll figure all this out soon enough, for now let's concentrate on stopping these alien robots and saving my dad."
"Right!" Gohan swooped down toward the city streets
Gohan and Krillin flew quickly through the city, taking sharp turns between skyscrapers like guided missiles. It was almost disorienting to the humans dealing with the swinging G-Forces.
"There!" Videl pointed to a large group of Cyclopean Robots approaching trapped motorists.
Once directly above the motorists Gohan let Videl go. She was nervous that he dropped her from so high up, but the armband of the suit lit up with the words "Free Fall Detected" and her descent slowed to a rate she could safely touch down at.
Sharp landed just beside her, similarly impressed by how he didn't crash into the ground.
Gohan placed himself between the people and the encroaching robots. The people looked at the newcomers and cheered, "It's The Dragon!"
"He's brought friends!"
"Come on Dragon! Show them who's boss!"
Gohan looked over to Krillin, "I got these ones."
Krillin nodded, "Cool, then I'll find me some other targets!"
Gohan raised his hands to his forehead, "MA-SEN-KO-HAAA!" The yellow and purple energy amplified through his suit and tore through the wave of Cyclopean Guards. Once the light faded only robot debris and slag remained.
The crowd cheered, "Was that some kind of Dragon Breath attack?!"
"That was awesome!"
"Think he'll do it again?"
The Dragon flew up over the crowd, "More are coming! You need to hurry up and keep moving!"
Sounds of metallic marching were approaching still igniting the panic in the people to get them running again.
Through the clearing dust the Cyclopean guards zoomed in on the people in front of them. Their targeting system focused on The Dragon and displayed the warning, "Threat level: Extreme". The robots pointed their arms forward as guns extended and pointed Gohan's way.
"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!" Gohan shouted at them.
"*BEEP*" The robots eyes blinked and additional cannons rose out from their backs and pointed over their shoulders.
"Oh…" Gohan spread his arms wide and created a large energy shield as the Cyclopean Guards started firing to protect everyone behind him. The bullets weren't affecting the shield very much, but Gohan couldn't let it down while there were still bystanders nearby, "GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!"
Videl and Sharp kept to the edges of the crowd trying to route them all ahead. "Do you hear that?!" Sharp shouted looking up. From a side street a group of Cyclopean guards flew down toward the people.
"No you don't!" Videl jumped onto a car and used the leverage of the collapsing roof rebounding to give her some extra launch power toward the incoming robots. She managed to punch one in the eyestalk and sent it careening in the opposite direction.
Sharp reached her side as she hit the ground. The robot's eyestalks blinked as they scanned the two, "Prime life forms detected with above average fighting abilities. Potential threat, exterminate." Guns pointed down at the two teens and started firing.
"Oh crap!" The movement was quick and caught Sharp off guard. He held up his arms as if to defend himself but never felt anything hit him. It took a moment for Videl and Sharp to realize the lense in the center of their armor was glowing in relation to the incoming projectiles.
"I forgot," Videl clenched her fist and smiled, "These suits repel bullets! Let's take these guys out!"
"Oh hell yeah!" Sharp grinned and ran alongside Videl toward the robots despite the incoming hail of ammunition.
Several streets down, a mass of robots were circling around a stranded group of people with two twins trying to hold off the robots from getting much closer.
"You just had to pick this weekend to come shopping in Satan City, didn't you?" The dark haired boy quipped in frustration as he blasted at the robots. His beam bounced off the robot's shields and they continued to step forward.
"You have to admit the sale was really good, now keep blasting! POWER BLITZ!" The light haired girl threw a large beam at the ground causing chunks pavement to get thrown in the robots direction but it did little more than slow them down.
The boy grit his teeth, he had been tempted to grab the people and fly, but the robots were circling from above as well, "Well I sure hope the new outfit was worth it."
"KIENZAN DISK!" a spinning disk of energy slice clean through the flying Cyclopean Guards and they exploded.
"What was that?" The girl squinted her eyes towards the explosion.
Through the light and debris Krillin descended and landed in front of everyone in a defensive position, "Are you alright Eighteen?"
Recognizing the martial arts master, Eighteen fidgeted a bit, "Fine, but if I wasn't able to scratch these things how the hell did you tear through so many of them that easily?"
"These guys aren't too tough but they've got special shields that protect them," The robots continued coming closer. Krillin pulled off one of his gloves and tossed it towards Eighteen, "Here! put this on and blast them with that hand, you should find you can deal with them fine as long as you're wearing that!"
Eighteen caught the glove that was thrown her way and slid her left hand through it. The wrist panel lit up signaling it was ready, "Just shoot with this hand huh?" Eighteen pointed her hand toward a group of flying Cyclopean Guards and fired. Her energy blast tore through the whole squad of them with ease sending circuitry and steel to the street below. Eighteen's normally stoic face formed a slight grin.
Without wasting any more time, Eighteen flung herself forward into more approaching robots, her gloved hand punched the closest one. From this distance she could actually hear the glove cancelling out the shields of the robot a fraction of a second before her hand ripped through the metal shell and out the other side. With the robot still impaled on her arm she opened her hand and blasted at all of the robots behind it.
Krillin blushed as he gulped while watching her, "Wow…" A hand tapped on Krillin's shoulder, "Huh?" Krillin turned around and saw Seventeen holding his hand expectantly towards him.
The people behind Gohan weren't able to move with several other squads of Cyclopean Guards approaching from other angles. Videl and Sharp were taking them on one and two a time but Gohan knew they needed to get the people moving.
Videl kicked one robot hard enough to knock its head clean off its body. She turned around and tackled another robot to the ground, crushing its head between her knee and the street.
Sharp ran straight through hail of bullets. One of the Cyclopean Guards tried to punch him once he was in range but Sharp ducked around the metal fist and caught it over his shoulder. He managed to swing his body around the extended arm and pointed it toward other robots as it shot out another salvo of bullets.
The Dragon's winged aura flared as he began pushing his energy shield forward into the barrage of gunfire. The barrier scraped up a layer of pavement as it was pushed along the surface until it reached the robots and began scooping them up like a plow. Once Gohan had the entire platoon of Cyclopean Guards scooped up he converted the defensive energy into an attack and caused the shield to explode taking out the captured robots with it. He turned back around with the flames still burning behind him and pointed his hands forward at the remaining robots, "EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" Videl and Sharp saw the energy building in Gohan's hands and pushed the people who had failed to notice out of the way before Gohan jumped and swiped his arm higher than the tallest standing person, but below the neckline of the attacking machines. The energy wave sliced through the robots like a giant blade and the fell to the ground leaving convulsing servos and electrical sparks.
"Wow…" Sharp looked at the mass of downed robots, "That was awesome!"
Videl looked away and bit her lip.
One of Yamcha's Sokidan Spirit Balls blasted its way through an alley which the alien machines were using as a corridor to approach another group of people. The controllable ball had gotten further away when more guards approached Yamcha from another alley. Yamcha shot the ball up into the sky before turning around and dropping into a fighting stance, "Wolf Fang Fist!"
Yamcha was in the zone as he combo attacked one robot to the next down the line. With his adrenaline pumping he turned and swung to his side barely realizing that it wasn't a robot there but short bald man instead, "Geez Krillin!"
Krillin looked up from where he had ducked in case he had to avoid a punch, "Sorry, didn't mean to throw you off your game."
Yamcha looked over Krillin a little more carefully and noticed his bare hands, "What happened to your gloves?"
Krillin chuckled slightly, "Well, I came here hoping I could borrow one of yours. I kind of leant mine to Seventeen and Eighteen."
"The androids are here?!" Yamcha looked concerned for a moment.
Krillin nodded, "Yeah, I gave them each a glove and now they're busting some serious robo cans over that way."
Yamcha put a hand over his chest for a moment before he pulled his glove off and handed it to Krillin, "Try not to lose this one."
"Thanks bro!" Krillin put the glove on and powered it back up.
Vegeta floated over the city with his arms crossed. As he noticed a group of robots below him he'd simply point a finger in their direction and fire. He kept glaring at the towering Big Gete Star while tapping his fingers on the suit's arm band.
The radio on Vegeta's cuff buzzed, "OK everyone, geniuses inbound, ETA two minutes!"
"It's about time!" Vegeta barked as he floated towards the Gete Star to rendezvous.
Erasa looked out the window as Bulma's skycar began to descend just outside the range of the Big Gete Star, "Wow, it's gotten even bigger."
Piccolo was already waiting at the landing site when the car landed and Vegeta approached. Gohan wasn't far behind holding onto Sharp and Videl each by one arm.
Erasa waved to her friends as she ran around to the back of the Skycar and opened the cargo door allowing the Guide Robo to step out. It looked over toward the The Big Gete Star as its eye began flashing while it processed data.
"How do things look?" Erasa asked expectantly.
The Guide Robo looked down at Erasa, "We are still out of range for a wireless link up to the Gete System Mainframe. I will continue to attempt to establish a connection as we approach."
"Alright, then let's head out!" Erasa gave the thumbs up and the group set off toward the base of the Big Gete Star.
"Good luck you guys, I'll be rooting for you!" Bulma waved as she got back into the Skycar and left the area.
The group approached the Big Gete Star from the ground. Gohan looked up at the towering form of the planet eater. The top of it was obscured by clouds and the upper atmosphere, "It's not as big as it was on New Namek yet, but it's definitely tall. Where do you guys think the best place to get inside this thing is going to be?"
"It's hard to say until Grobert is able to connect," Erasa didn't notice the looks the others were giving her.
"Grobert?" Sharp blinked trying to comprehend his sister.
"Yeah! He's a member of the team so we can't just go around calling him Guide Robo, and he likes the name, isn't that right Grobert?" Erasa turned and winked to the robot following behind her.
"My designation was officially updated during the last software patch," Grobert stated.
"That doesn't mean he actually likes it," Sharp teased.
Vegeta scowled, "Are they going to be like this the entire way there?"
Sharp and Erasa both gulped at Vegeta's irritated tone.
Gohan was about to stand up for his friends but surprisingly Piccolo spoke up, "The fact that they are able banter in a situation like this speaks volumes of their character. Though walking into the unknown they have confidence and hearts ready for adventure. They may prove themselves to be far stronger than any of us have given them credit for."
"Hmph…" Vegeta crossed his arms looking uninterested while Sharp and Erasa looked up at Piccolo with wide eyes not sure how to respond. Gohan simply grinned in appreciation to his mentor as continued to lead the way.
Grobert's eye flashed again, "*Beep* We are approaching the defensive barrier."
Gohan nodded and held up his hand. Energy began to collect and the shield near them gave off a glow in response. With a wave of his hand his energy punched a hole in the shield and expanded forming a hole where the entire group could pass through. Erasa paid close attention to the line where Gohan's energy made contact with the alien energy. It visibly sparked as the two energies repulsed each other and she could even detect the faint smell of ozone.
Once inside the barrier Grobert's eye blinked faster, "Within wireless range, connecting… connecting… connecting…"
Erasa watched Grobert with crossed fingers, "Come on, you can do it!"
Grobert's eye solidified, "Connection established. Warning, intrusion attempts detected on multiple data ports. Access on specified ports has been disabled. Downloading update to structure layout and beginning search for prime lifeforms."
Erasa breathed out a sigh of relief, "Let us know as soon as you find something."
Gohan looked over the boney metallic surface of the Gete Star, "Should we blow a hole in this thing and make our way inside?"
Piccolo shook head head, "That didn't work too well earlier. It heals wounds to its structure quickly, and if you're caught in the reforming mass it can drain your energy extremely quickly."
Gohan pulled his hand away from the surface, "How do we get in then?"
Videl pointed further around the structure, "We got in through a factory port that should be near here, follow me!"
The group rounded a corner around one of the arms of the Big Gete Star and Gohan noticed a school bus crushed against the other side of the shield nearby. Sharp caught Gohan's stare and tapped him on the shoulder before quietly pointing at Videl, "She drove it."
"Wow…" Gohan's eyes widened and then he grinned and matched step with his friends again.
"Here!" Videl pointed up toward what looked like a vent on the side of the Gete Star, "It looks higher than it did before though.
Erasa nodded, "Yeah it must have grown a lot since we got in the first time."
Gohan took both Videl and Erasa by the hand and floated them up to the entrance.
Videl quickly took her hand back as soon as they landed, "I didn't ask for any help."
Gohan cringed feeling he must have done something thoughtless, "I'm sorry, I just thought it would be faster this way."
Once everyone was up, the group began making their way through the corridors. It seemed as though the dark walk space went on much further than the teens remembered it from last time, but a lot of loud clanging told them they were approaching an opening. There was a soft light at the end of the tunnel, but once through it everyone had to pause and take in the enormity of the construction floor. The clanging sound was the robots themselves marching from the factory and taking position in a gigantic assembly room to await deployment orders.
"I thought there were a lot of these outside," Sharp gulped as he looked around.
Gohan nodded, "This group is intended to harvest more than Satan City, they'll be after the world and we won't be enough to save everyone."
"Then we stop them now," Vegeta simply floated towards the robots.
A Cyclopean Guard happened to look up and noticed Vegeta's approach. It's optical sensors zoomed in on Vegeta's face and began to analyze the image. The Cyclopean Guard's eye immediately turned to an intensively bright red, "ALERT! MONSTER OF DESTRUCTION DETECTED! BEGIN SELF PRESERVATION MODE ALPHA!" All of the guards activated and turned to face Vegeta.
Gohan landed at Vegeta's side, "Oh yeah, I forgot this thing considers you and my dad to be these terrible monsters."
Vegeta smirked, "So it remembers me…" Vegeta took a few steps closer to the mass of robots.
Videl watched closely from her position on the catwalk, "So he's one of the two monsters it was talking about before?"
Vegeta held an open hand towards the robots and many of the robots took steps back, "Metal and ones and zeros offer you no protection from a very basic universal truth." The robots looked to each other as if contemplating the statement before looking back towards Vegeta, "That all should fear me." With a wave of his hand, hundreds of the one eyed robots exploded. The rest immediately charged forward.
Gohan joined Vegeta in blasting at the robots as they approached. Between the two of them robotic parts were beginning to form gigantic mounds on the floor. The motions of their arms were little more than blurs to the spectators as they launched what seemed to be hundreds of energy blasts a second.
"They're incredible!" Sharp exclaimed while watching thousands of explosions go off around the room.
"*Beep* I have located the holding place for prime lifeforms, it would appear that Mr. Satan is still being held there but will be processed soon," Grobert finally announced.
Videl visibly tensed, "We need to get there fast then!"
Erasa ran to the side of the catwalk, "Grobert found Mr. Satan, we need to move!"
"You go with them," Vegeta barked at Gohan.
"But there are a lot of these things!" Gohan fired off several more blasts as he dodged other shots targeted at him.
"Don't insult me, these are nothing!" Vegeta let loose another wide wave destroying another row of robots, "Hurry and find that buffoon so we can be done with this!"
"Okay!" Gohan flew back up to the catwalk and the group ran from the factory room.
Vegeta walked quietly around the large group of robots, "Honestly I just couldn't stand all the team work bravado that oozes off those brats, so be enough of a challenge that I don't regret staying behind." A flash of light filled the room as Vegeta's hair changed from black to a brilliant gold and he flew through more robots, tearing them up with practically little more than his overpowering aura.
The remaining group ran through several corridors empty corridors lit only by dim blue and orange luminescence panels.
"*Beep* The Gete Star System is aware of our presence and is making motions to counter our advancement." Grobert Reported.
Erasa looked around, "Do you know what it's going to do?"
Grobert's eye flickered, "It will begin by dispatching the immune system response."
Sharp stopped, "You don't mean those spider things do you?"
"Cleansing agents will initiate the first phase," on cue several vents around them opened and dozens of the four legged robots crawled out and the lasers on their back targeted the group.
Piccolo punched forward, his arm extended drastically. he managed to scoop up many of the approaching robots and push them all back inside the vent they crawled out of. The sound of metal crushing could be heard through the wall as Piccolo continued to push them deep inside the wall before his arm expanded with energy and he released an Explosive Wave into their chute.
All three of the human teens watched with their mouths hanging open as Piccolo's arm returned to its original size. Videl gulped, "So I guess his ability to transform into a giant wasn't an illusion or a trick…"
More of the small robots exited vents on the other side of the wall and began firing. As before the suits protected their wearers and didn't allow the the blasts to penetrate the defensive fields. Sharp and Videl started kicking at the small bug like robots.
Piccolo noticed the small laser cannons on these robots weren't able to affect even the teens with their armor on, "We ignore these for now, keep moving!"
Grobert continued to lead the way forward. His repaired weapon systems extended and he began to rapidly target and shoot at anything hostile in front of him while the others hung close behind. Gohan walked backward throwing blasts at the cleansing robots behind them, blowing up whole rooms to keep the crawlers from swarming on them.
Grobert hesitated for a moment before walking on, "Phase two of the immune system will be initiating soon, by my estimation it will pose a greater threat than the cleansing units by a factor of ten."
Sharp gulped, "Is that bad?"
"You guys need to be careful!" Gohan shouted as he kept blasting at the robots encroaching from behind, "These small fry are no big deal but the suits defenses may not be able to withstand the energy blasts of something a lot more powerful."
"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine!" Videl assured as she kept a sharp eye for anything unusual.
The group entered a round cylinder like room, looking up it was impossible to tell how high the ceiling was from where they were standing. Grobert examined the structure, "We must ascend to a higher level to find Mr. Satan but the system is currently on lockdown. Miss the one and only amazing Erasa, all hail! All hail! We may require your abilities to restore power to the lift system."
Sharp's eye twitched, "Why haven't you changed your name on Grobert's system yet?"
"I kind of like it, at least someone respects my abilities around here," Erasa winked playfully as she pulled out her tablet.
Gohan couldn't suppress chuckling from their antics, "You've earned my respect many times over the one and only Erasa the great, all hail! All hail!"
"Erasa the great? That has a good ring to it too…" Erasa hummed while hacking back into the Gete Star System.
"*Beep* Incoming level two immune system response from above!" Grobert moved towards the center of the elevator platform and looked up causing the others to assume a similar defense.
Many red lights became visible in the tube above and were falling. Videl tried to squint her eyes to get a better look but it was too dark, "What are they?"
A large robot landed on the platform beside the group. It had four legs, was a copper like color and had a single glowing red eye, "*Beep* Welcome to the Big Gete Star, your threat level has exceeded the maximum tolerance, you will now be exterminated."
"Guide Robos…" Gohan gulped, "Upgraded Guide Robos."
Piccolo wasted no time in grabbing the robot's eye stalk and ripping it out before tossing the hunk of metal out from the elevator shaft. Immediately three more Guide Robos landed beside them. Gohan's fist impaled one of them in the chest before kicking it back into the next room also.
"Can you help them?" Erasa asked Grobert.
"*Beep* I will try," gun turrets rose through the slots in Grobert's arms and he started firing at the descending Guide Robos. The bullets seemed to bounce off the armor of the new Guide Robos though.
Erasa panicked as she watched the Guide Robos approach, "It's no good, they're upgraded beyond what Grobert can deal with!"
"Focus on getting this thing moving!" Videl stood ready at Grobert's side, "We'll help keep things under control here!"
A Guide Robo landed beside Videl and immediately the girl lunged at it, landing a hit square to the robot's core. Besides a metallic bell like clang that rang out through the elevator shaft, Videl's punch had no other effect.
The robot pulled its arm back and swung towards Videl. Videl braced herself and felt the force of the air blow past her head, but the blow hit something besides her. Opening her eyes she saw Gohan in front of her, he bent the arm of the robot back, the metal making a groaning sound as it warped under the force of Gohan's strength, then he kicked it out of the way.
"These things have gotten a lot stronger, you guys need to keep down!" Gohan ordered before taking on the next one.
Videl bit her lip out of frustration as she tried to keep up with watching Gohan and Piccolo decimate the bulky robots with relative ease, "Damn it… how are they so strong?"
Two of the robots which Gohan and Piccolo thought were already destroyed reactivated and charged at the teens from behind. Grobert saw the robots coming and put himself between Erasa and the attacking machines. The larger Guide Robo threw a punch and completely tore through Grobert's core armor.
Erasa's eyes widened, "GROBERT!"
Grobert spasmed, still impaled by the robot's arm. Noticing a weak spot where one of the others had already attacked the unit, Grobert inserted his gun almost directly into the cracked armor and began firing. The Guide Robo shorted out and began to fall, its weight taking Grobert down with it. The second Guide Robo was still approaching Erasa but as Grobert fell he reached out and grabbed the Guide Robo's leg, tripping it as well. The Guide Robo looked over to where its leg was caught in Grobert's grip and began kicking at the offending arm. Grobert refused to let go and eventually the Guide Robo sat itself up and smashed its fist down on Grobert's arm, crushing it to get him to release its leg.
The machine turned back around in time to see Gohan's fist slam into its eye stalk with enough force to splatter the mechanical components against the far wall.
Erasa's ears stopped up as she watched Grobert writhe on the floor. Gohan jumped up and fired more blasts into the air at other approaching robots, but even those sounds were little more than gunshots in the distance. Videl and Sharp ran over to Grobert and began to pull him away from being directly under the fighting. Erasa saw Videl's mouth move, but her words were like some distant echo, "Erasa! Do it!"
Erasa shook her head and looked back to her tablet. She almost had the firewall breached. She entered a few more commands and inserted a data packet into the system. In another minute all of the open doors to the elevator shaft finally closed and the platform itself began to vibrate.
"You did it!" Sharp yelled gratefully.
Erasa dropped her tablet and kneeled beside Grobert, "Grobert! Are you okay? Talk to me!"
"*Beep* System damage at sixty seven perce… *Beep* System damage at sixty eight per… *Beep* System damage at sixty nine percent…" Grobert informed, "Energy core rupture, total system collapse estimated in three minutes."
Tears stained Erasa's face. The others could hardly watch, "Why Grobert? Why would you get yourself hurt like that?"
The light behind Grobert's eye flashed, "You are my the one and only amazing Erasa, all hail! All hail! And I learned much from my short timespan with you as my primary user."
"You weren't…" Erasa sniffed trying to collect her thoughts.
"*Beep*" Grobert blipped almost as if to hush Erasa, "The prime life form you seek, Mr. Satan, take this platform to level eighty two J, he will be in the holding tank not far down the primary corridor of that level."
"Thank you," Erasa squeezed Grobert's good hand, even though was sure he couldn't sense the pressure through his steel frame.
Grobert's eye lit up brighter, "*Beep* Alert, the third phase of the immune system response has been activated."
Piccolo and Gohan stepped forward. Though he wanted to give Erasa and Grobert some space Gohan had to know what was coming. He kneeled by the fallen robot, "What is it, and where?"
Grobert's eye blinked as it processed data, "Not here… The level three response is focused elsewhere."
"Elsewhere?" Gohan looked around, "Why?"
Grobert looked straight at Gohan, "The monster!"
The factory was littered with sparking debris all along the floor. Near mountains of parts and rubble lined every visible surface.
The Saiyan Prince sat atop one of the piles of parts looking over his handiwork, "That was utterly disappointing, I had my hopes up of finding a challenge in this place."
A mound of parts behind Vegeta began to liquify and melted into the floor.
"I suppose I should go find the brats and assist them…" Vegeta stood from his hill and floated up as it too liquified and began to join the mass of components.
"Though if what they're up against is anywhere near as pathetic as this room then there is little chance they would need me there any longer." Behind Vegeta, the liquid metal began forming wires and components as a humanoid like figure rose from the metallic goop.
Vegeta tsked, "Though if that punk were to tell the woman that I abandoned them in this place I'm sure I'd never hear the end of it, blast it all…"
A metal thunk finally got Vegeta's attention as he turned around and noticed the entire room of parts had emptied, and now standing before him was a figure only slightly taller than he was, two arms, two legs, a thick tail, and no face, "What the?!"
A single red eye formed where the face would have gone and two fingers pointed at Vegeta. "Cooler?!" The prince looked stunned as a death ray shot from the being's fingers, broke through the suit's defenses, and struck Vegeta in the chest.
Vegeta yelled as he fell from the air and hit the ground. His teeth ground tight as he looked up at the Cooler look alike, "That's… not… possible!"
The Cooler pointed its fingers at Vegeta again, "*BEEP!*"
End Chapter
I'm not sure what to think of this chapter. I swear this chapter was written a paragraph a week so I'm not convinced it flows too well. It wasn't my intention to have a chapter out for the holidays, but I really wanted to get back to writing and sort of just forced myself to sit here and write, even if I didn't like it and my thought process wasn't really in the right place I just forced myself to write. This doesn't quite mean that a new chapter will be up next week, but I'll try.
Thanks again for all your support everyone. It really means alot to me.
I hope everyone else out there had a great Winter's Day. I'll keep trying my best to hang in here as well.
'Til next time