Stand by your man
"Up we go!" Jewely said, as she hefted Juno's bruised body onto the gurney.
He seethed, from pain, as he eased into a resting position.
"Thank you." he said in a strained tone, giving her a nod, "Wish me luck."
And at that, the four scrubs clad individuals then took off with him.
Jewely stood back and watched for a second... before panic set it. She suddenly rushed to catch up with them.
"Juno, are you sure about this?" Jewely asked coolly, "I mean, realistically, we only have about 15 minutes maximum, before-"
"If they come looking for me," Juno face became grave for a moment, "You will have to delay them, you know this already. We can thank Beta for it coming to this."
"Yes, but what if they won't take no for an answer? After what Beta did-"
"I'll need you to buy at least half an hour." Juno glared at her with steely eyes at that, his intention clear.
Jewely's blood ran cold.
"... It shouldn't be a problem." she answered hesitantly.
"I trust you." he answered.
She stopped following as the gurney made a turn.
Her heart was beating so fast, it felt near to bursting... it was all starting to settle in now, this was really happening. After so much planning, now the shit was finally going to hit the fan.
… And her feet were ice cold.
She suddenly took a deep breath, and yelled to Juno;
"I- I love you!"
… But, she didn't get an answer, as he was too far off already.
Her heart sank in her chest at that. She could have really used that answer right about now. Really, for what she was going to have to do... just that little bit would have helped so much.
She bit her lip painfully and berated herself. It didn't matter, she told herself, as she fought back her misgivings and fears. This wasn't some childish game, this was serious! This was about freedom, and stopping oppression, about making the world work right! She would have to be like a machine. And she could do it, she knew, that was a certainty. If it was for him, it would be nothing at all.
…. If it was for him...
"What's going on?" Mars asked, as he suddenly appeared beside her, "Did Piccolo really beat him that badly?"
Jewely was roused from her thoughts. She looked at him curiously. Mars, what was his role in all this? He was supposed to be hard at work training, but he seemed relaxed now. Well, then again, he always seemed relaxed. But that didn't mean his timing wasn't suspicious. When Juno had invited him here, he hadn't said a thing to her, and she hadn't asked. But she had to assume he was with them, after all, had he not seen all the same things? Were they not brothers and sisters in all things?
"I could use a hand, would you come with me?" Jewely asked, carefully.
"You're doing it then, huh?" Mars asked, with his signature weak grin.
"What?"
"Yeah, I'll help." Mars shrugged.
Jewely regarded him a bit at that.
"... Good."
Meanwhile, in the barren wasteland that was once West City, a slab of brick was suddenly upended.
And from beneath it, Dende slowly rose from the earth, looking a good deal bloodied and weathered. But despite his injuries, he tossed off the weight of bricks with ease. He wasn't of Piccolo's strength, of course, but he was more than capable. In fact, with nothing to do but train and meditate with the 'Super Namek' all these years, he could perhaps be described as pretty good even.
But that begged the question; how had he been put in this predicament in the first place? He was at a loss for an answer himself.
…He knew something had hit him, while he was off guard... he wasn't sure what, or who. Whatever it was had injured him pretty good though. He had possibly even been nearly killed, he surmised. He had only just awoken in a blurry, half dead state, only to heal himself good as new. He wasn't exactly sure how bad of shape he had been in prior to that...
He examined himself, and found he was soaked with blood. So like he thought, it must have been pretty bad...
...!
Dende suddenly checked himself again, noticing something. Some of it was definitely his blood... but upon closer inspection... he found most of it was not.
He glanced down to the ground then, where a flattened mass of redness sat... right where he had gotten up from...
A small child had been crushed underneath him...
Dende stood for a moment, frozen in disbelief. Under... crushed underneath him. Crushed... by him...
He suddenly was overcome with nausea and fell to his knees. He then vomited violently as the realization poured over him. His head rang painfully with alarm and terror, he felt like a train was bearing down on him.
He had been... healing people, as he had always been since this incident started. He was better than the rescue teams; he could track the victims down by sense and heal them on the spot, after all.
Then this.. this kid... he had missed her in the first few sweeps... she was trapped in a partially collapsed building, and she was very sickly and weak... it made her very hard to sense.
When Dende had finally found her, she had been delirious. Barely able to speak from broken ribs, probably numerous internal injuries, and had been caught under fallen ruble. She was in pretty bad shape, lucky to still be alive.
It had been nothing he couldn't have fixed though.
As he was going to do it too… Something had hit him from behind. Yes, he was sure of it now, replaying it in his head... an energy blast... somehow he hadn't even noticed it until it was too late.
… He... He had been flung forward...
He had... landed, over this poor child...
Dende heaved painfully, his guts no longer able to produce bile... so he just wretched violently again and again... trying to expel something he couldn't.
… If he had remained conscious... he probably still could have saved her... instead the building collapsed...
He had stared into her eyes... he clearly remembered the hope and terror in them. As the the brick and rubble rained down on his injured back.
… He had tried so hard to endure it... but he remembered clearly, the moment his elbows buckled... right before he had lost consciousness...
He had squashed her beneath him like a bug!
He turned skyward suddenly. That dark dark sky... could it just fall and end this?
He screamed into the night.
… He could handle death. He had been around it his entire life. He had watched Frieza's men kill all his family and friends. And being guardian of Earth, he had witnessed the many horrors of Cell and Majin Buu first hand.
However, in all that time, he had never participated in the slaughtering so... integrally!
Dende wretched again, and collapsed into the earth, as he began another bout of useless, painful heaving...
How ever much he wanted to, he wasn't going to just throw this up.
...
He may have passed out for a few moments after that.
When he awoke, it was beginning to get light out.
His eyes slowly scanned the environment.
No people, no roads, no plants. West City was just one big hole, he could now see.
As dawn started to break, the nothingness that was once West City unfolded. The emergency field hospitals, the evacuation centers and refugee camps, the emergency search and rescue teams, the undamaged section of town... the freaking rubble. All of it. All of it was gone.
Dende smiled, no matter how he looked at it, this was a good thing.
This, this was something he understood. The horror of a super monster. This was something he could deal with, this was something he could fight.
And also, with some self loathing at himself, he reveled in the idea that no one... no one other than him, was left alive to know about what happened to him.
Dende rose, somehow able to wrap himself up in righteous indignation for the fate of this city and it's people... and convincing himself that what had happened earlier was just a disgusting nightmare and nothing more.
He had to... if he wanted to continue living...
He grabbed his head wearily, as another bout of pain rocked him, worried he would begin heaving again. … But he steadies himself, and put serious effort into contemplating his situation.
How does this just happen? He asked himself, trying oh so hard not to think of the travesty lying behind him... and saturating his robes... or how he could feel it on his skin...
Dende shook his head violently... had to focus, he was starting to lose it.
… As he continued looking around, he found only one other thing was left, and it... made him feel... well, like he wanted to kill himself all over again.
Like an ominous beacon, for all it represented. It remained untouched; Capsule Corporation.
Dende stared at it, like it might disappear if he willed it hard enough... But it was standing. It's continued existence didn't necessarily mean this was all his fault, there was plenty of other evidence to suggest that. It merely made that truth undeniable... that this was something he could have stopped.
Obviously, the android had escaped. He should feel guilty for that, yes, he should apologize to Piccolo for disagreeing with him... He had stood up for Juno, out of respect, and maybe a small sense of pity. Killing someone who couldn't even move? It seemed wrong. But now, he could see it had been a terrible blunder.
That kid... would be alive if he was just a little bit less opinionated...
At this moment, he could sense Piccolo and Buu. Their energy output suggested flight. Dende surmised they hadn't even located the culprit yet.
So, why would Android 17 allow Capsule Corp to stand? That was the question. That was the place of Juno's labs and data banks. Certainly, if the android wanted to ensure it wouldn't get captured the same way again, wouldn't this be the one place it would make extra sure to destroy?
Unless... Dende suddenly got excited despite himself, could the man still be inside? Doing god knows what to the helpless civilians? He suddenly wanted to go to Capsule Corp.
Dende fought with himself... he couldn't just risk his life like that...
But, it hurt, everything he believed in was as trampled... as that poor kid.
Dende suddenly bolted for the building.
If he died, everyone was gone, cause the dragon balls went with him. But he couldn't stop himself, he needed some semblance of justice right now, from himself.
And, was he meant to just watch while others were dieing? Capsule Corp being the lone surviving structure, no doubt any survivors would have held up there. He needed to be there, treating the wounded. And to be honest, how great was the chance 17 was in there, really?
That was all bullshit, of course. The fact of the matter was, if 17 wasn't in there, Dende wasn't sure what he was going to do.
All he knew, was he had to get as far away from what was behind him as possible, both physically, and mentally.. Even if he had to fake it, pretending he was his old self was a good start at burying that incident as far as he could into his sub conscious.
Dende decided to proceed recklessly, very recklessly.
He flew up above, and soon spotted what he knew he would... a large gaping hole where the lab 17 was formally held in was. Seems his hypothesis was right on the money.
It really was his fault...
...
He suddenly flew in, coming in instant contact with both Mars and Jewely, to his immediate shock and relief.
"What are you guys doing here!" Dende exclaimed, more excitedly than he should have.
They both looked at him, with odd expressions on their faces, even that Mars who was supposed to be so permanently unmoved. The honest bastard, Dende roiled to himself, his emotions for once were an easy read.
It was damnable curiosity...
With some amount of horror, Dende realized he was still covered in gore... they were going to question him about it... what was he going to say?
He panicked. He couldn't, not under any circumstance, answer that question right now! He had come here wanting something to help convince him what happened had not happened, not something to confirm it!
He looked to Mars, "YOU! Come on! We have to find 17!"
"Dende..." he started.
"Wh-What?" Dende took a double take.
They were both standing around uselessly with grave looks on their faces, even Mars for once in his life. Was this too much for them? Was there not a monster on the loose? Could they not just focus on that!
"What's with the attitude? Don't you realize what's going on!"
"Dende, are you okay?" Jewely calmly retorted, "Piccolo and Buu are on the way-"
"Exactly, they're headed straight here!" Dende growled, "So stop giving me the business and we can get to work on a decent search strat-"
"Dende relax." Mars said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Where did this bl-"
That's as far as he got, before Dende clocked him.
Mars stumbled, blood oozing down his face. He looked back at the Guardian with shock.
Dende seized up... that attack was involuntary!
"What the hell is the matter with you!" Jewely screamed, grabbing him.
Dende knew she was sensitive to such violence from someone of unnatural strength, even him... which is why he was especially regretful of his next action. She had touched him so suddenly... he couldn't help it!
Jewely fell to her knees, grabbing her face where Dende had backhanded her.
The whole room had become quieter than the surface of the no longer existent moon.
Dende convulsed, he might have just killed the girl! He backed away recklessly and quickly, and soon slammed into the back of the lab.
Mars moved towards him.
"STAND BACK!" Dende screamed, holding up a hand.
If he was thinking clearly, he'd instantly know how ridiculous his actions were... but he wasn't. He was terrified, and after what he did to Jewely, having very troubling flashbacks to what had happened earlier. He just wanted to escape!
He closed his eyes, and desperately tried to will this situation away.
Mars arm drove itself into the Namekian's neck, and instantly subdued him, leaving him unconscious. Dende slumped lifelessly into the part saiyan's arms.
"You okay?" he asked Jewely, who was slowly rising, still nursing her face.
"..." she was silent, and didn't face him.
He thought for a moment, before choosing a course of action.
"... I'll be right back,"
Mars then disappearing with Dende. An instant later, he was back, and the guardian was not.
Jewely still didn't face him... instead, she began to shiver.
Mars studied her carefully... he began to approach her, in an attempt to console her... but was interrupted.
"What the hell was that?" the larger Namekian growled like an old truck.
The former Demon king and Majin had arrived during that little exchange, and now they hovered outside the gaping hole of the lab with an air of immediate threat.
Mars blinked, what horrible timing. He could just imagine what Piccolo was thinking.
"It was just a misunderstanding, I just took him back to the Look-"
"I've had it with your games." Piccolo seethed, as he suddenly grabbed up the boy from the building and flung him into the earth.
The action was so sudden and ruthless, it caused Jewely to jump with shock, and finally turn to meet her company.
Piccolo was snarled up, filled with rage. Buu was smiling blankly as usual. They, they were here to hurt them, she realized.
Piccolo regarded his target lightly, once he was sure Mars wasn't getting up, he then turned his attention to the girl.
"Tell me where your boy friend is hiding, or you'll get the same. I need to talk to him."
She was taken aback by his bluntness. How could he be so cruel? But despite herself, she remembered the plan.
"Juno can't see you now." Jewely began, as calmly as she could, "I can schedule an appointment later, but for now, I'll have to ask you both to leave."
Buu turned to go at that, simple as he was, but Piccolo quickly grabbed him. The Namekian was quickly building rage, and everything around him seemed to be helping out enthusiastically. Luckily, Buu caught on, and wordlessly resumed his place by his side.
"Jewely, I just want to talk to him right now," Piccolo started, and it was certain he was deadly serious, "I'll try to put aside what I just saw, with Dende, but if you give me one more ounce of friction, I'm just going to assume you and him are every bit as guilty as you look. So, one more time, where is he?"
There were daggers in Piccolo's eyes. Jewely's had tears... but were perhaps filled with more hatred still.
"He's not taking visitors, since you injured him so badly last time, he's not feeling well."
"I think you're overestimating me, little girl." Piccolo started, "My compassion is limited only to the millions that were killed this morning. So, give up that little prick right now, or I'll beat you just as mercilessly as I did that grinning retard. That's a promise."
"Like I said," Jewely growled, just as angrily, "Come back later."
Piccolo could have spit fire at that. But he composed himself, Jewely was only human, and a girl, he decided on a less traditional tactic. It would prove to be quite the mistake.
"Buu," Piccolo called, his eyes sharpening with malice, "Go ahead and eat her."
Jewely's eyes bugged out at that with obvious fear. So did Buu's.
"B- But Buu can't eat peop-" it started.
Buu would never get to finish that sentence.
"Hell Flash!" Jewely screamed, as an orange blast suddenly erupted from her forearm and engulfed the Majin.
Piccolo roared in pain as he dodged the brunt of it. But as he recovered, he realized with some horror; his right antennae and ear had been burned clean away. Actually burned! It hurt like hell! And Buu, Buu on the other hand... he was no where to be found at all.
"What the hell was that!" Piccolo seethed, as he regenerated his lost appendages.
He was angry, but it was also somewhat obvious he had been shaken. And for good reason, he was stronger than Buu, but not that much stronger...
"The power, of Android 16." Jewely announced, rising up to meet him.
Piccolo was taken aback, as he watched this formal normal take flight. True to form, she gave off no energy signal, she truly was an android. He was speechless.
"His energy core has been in our labs for decades. It was ignorant of you to assume we wouldn't have used it." she explained, tearing open her blouse and revealing an intricate pattern of scars adorning her body. One could only assume it was the side effect of surgeries needed to make one into an android. Piccolo was disgusted by it, the thought of someone mutilating their body for power. And for more than that, these androids were less than human to him to begin with.
"So, now we finally see what you two were really up to." Piccolo seethed back, still getting over the shock, "So, what was Beta, a decoy?"
He was trying to get info out of her, a cautious tactic. But, after all, she had just killed Buu in one hit. Besides dealing with the threat, Piccolo had to reevaluate the threat he was up against.
"Beta was a simple prototype." Jewely scowled, "And a mistake, but one we would have fixed on our own, if given the chance!"
Piccolo scoffed, handled their selves? She was still acting as if Beta's actions were separate from theirs. They weren't, intentions counted for squat when lives were on the line.
"Are you pretending you're somehow justifiable, even after you just killed Buu in cold blood!"
She hesitated at that.
Piccolo was regaining his nerve by the second. He surmised that even if she really had the power of 16, that didn't mean she knew how to use it. After all, she was just a secretary who suddenly had the power of a god. There was difference between a trained warrior, and a manufactured one.
"In cold blood?" Jewely laughed, "You just told him to kill me! You're just shocked one of us finally defended ourselves!"
"Buu would have never hurt you! It was a meaningless threat!"
"Buu was just a retarded oaf, he'd do whatever you said without hesitance!" she screeched back.
"You... bitch!" Piccolo shouted back, emotion getting the better of him.
"... He was a dim witted monster with a taste for human flesh," Jewely retorted calmly, "He's better off dead!"
They stared each other down at that, both bristling with rage.
Something snapped in Piccolo, at those callous words. Besides Dende, and after Gohan passed, he didn't exactly have a lot of close friends. He had known Buu most of his life now... he was a friend. Listening to his killer mock him, after so thoughtlessly murdering him, it was truly more than he could stand.
"Go to hell!" he suddenly roared, as his arm stretched over to her and clamped onto her face.
He fired across to her, his speed bolstered by his arm reeling back in. As he closed in, he prepared to dive his hand under her ribs. He was going to kill her in one hit!
She had different ideas, though.
Piccolo's arm was sliced off in one whip of her own arm, and when the Namekian closed in for the kill, she used her thigh to block him.
And then, as Piccolo turned to stare at her in bewilderment, she heel smashed him in the face with her other leg. That, that stunned him. It felt a good deal more painful than any of 17's attacks from earlier. He no longer saw any deceit in her claims of power.
A quick rapping of her fists into his rib cage, and she finished by slamming him into the earth like a missile with an elbow drop.
It was quite the reprisal.
As the dust cleared, Jewely greeted her victim with a sneer.
"Psst," she scoffed, "I bet you thought I didn't know how to fight, eh?"
"Arg!" Piccolo roared, clawing his way back out of the earth, he looked up to her with an incredulous scowl, "The thought had crossed my mind."
"Ten years of Karate! I have more combat training than half of you freaks! Plus, I got these nifty things!" Jewely motioned to her pair of small hoop earrings.
They were instantly recognizable to Piccolo. The same earrings all the androids wore.
The rings that held all of the Z fighter's battle data.
"Anyhow, you can die now, Piccolo!"
Jewely formed another blast, aimed right down at the still recovering Piccolo.
She had him, he realized with horror.
"Kiao Ken x 20!" Mars roared, slamming his leg against Jewely's skull.
That same leg also snapped sickeningly from the force and bent at the point of impact.
Jewely slowly lowered her arm... and balled her fists. She was shivering again.
"... Are you stupid Mars?" she growled, sadly.
"Maybe a little." he allowed, with a defiant grin.
"That's not what I mean, you idiot!" Jewely cried, "How could you side with them!"
Even Mars had to pause at that.
"You guys... you're in the wrong. Just stop."
"You turned out to be one of them," Jewely said, she was actually tearing up, "Do you know what I have to do to you now?"
She looked at him, tears in her eyes, despair painting her face.
A truly rare occurrence happened then, Mars' grin faded.
"... It's okay, Jewely."
"I'll never forgive you for making me do this!" Jewely yelled, clasping her hands around Mars' neck.
The part Saiyan's eyes began to bulge, but he didn't fight back. He maintained his weak smile, as he began to convulse.
Jewely growled, as she sensed Piccolo begin to stir.
"That won't be enough!" she said turning, only to pause in shock as she saw another figure beside him.
She was not ready for that.
They both drove their feet into her face, and sent her skipping through the rocky wasteland, safely away from Mars. Who, even gasping and coughing, seemed to recover himself in no time.
"Thanks, 18." he grinned to his newly arrived heroine. Then he turned to Piccolo, "You, on the other hand, owed me one though."
"Shut up and get the hell out of here!" Piccolo snarled.
He had recovered his arm, not his humor. Perhaps he was feeling some shame for attacking the young man earlier.
"Not to sound ungrateful, but do you two really think you can take her by yourselves?" Mars asked, ignoring the threat, "With force?"
"Just get out here boy," Piccolo warned, "This has nothing to do with you now."
Mars and Piccolo stared each other down at that. The difference in ideals was apparent, even if it wasn't spoken. Piccolo wanted to kill Jewely, and Mars wanted to try to talk her down.
"You're too weak to help," 18 shot in blankly, missing the point, "And you're already injured."
Mars turned to her then... and sighed with some disappointment.
"Oh, I wouldn't think of interfering. Seems like a good match up!" Mars smirked, floating off to the sidelines, "I'll just watch."
They both regarded him at that, but then quickly returned their attention to the red headed inferno bursting up the wasteland. Good intentions or no, there was going to be a fight either way.
Jewely was looking especially riled up now, perhaps because it was the first time she was truly struck in this fight. She was not going to be easily stopped.
"18? Against your own blood! You're here to kill Juno too?" she shouted out indignantly.
18 blinked in shock at that.
"I'm not here to kill anybody! I'm just not going to watch you two kill each other!"
Piccolo regarded his new accomplice warily, would she be friend or foe by the end of this? He was uneasy in this partnership. Despite everything, he was still not convinced of 18's loyalties.
"It doesn't matter, betray all you want," Jewely shrugged, ignoring her, "Neither of you can stop us anyway!"
Jewely then roared, "Hell's Flash!"
This time, she used both arms.
Piccolo dove left, 18 dove right and ended up barreling into the Capsule Corp building. Both narrowly avoided the intense orange firewall that ripped through the wasteland with ease.
18, regaining her bearings, rose out of the rubble and shrapnel with apparent confusion. Looking around, she found she had ended up in an office within Capsule Corp... where people were still working normally.
Even in the midst of this fight, she was left a bit speechless at it. A bunch of people working casually... even during the apocalypse. Oh, they acknowledged her alright, kept their distance. But they weren't running... they weren't screaming.
"What the hell is the matter with you people? Get out of here!" 18 yelled.
They regarded her with caution, not action.
… How was this not terrifying to them? What the hell point was there in working when their entire city had been blasted away? The quandary left her dumbfounded... and vulnerable, as Jewely then suddenly plowed into her.
18 held her own, but the younger android had power and position on her. After they tore up the floor for a good twenty or so yards, and some desks, walls, and even some people in their pushing match, Jewely finally locked 18 arms, hefted her over her head, and launched her through a pane glass window, at a downward angle so she smashed into the ground outside.
It was a lot of trouble to go through for such an action.
… She was protecting the building, 18 realized.
Jewely then fired herself downward at her, and cratered her into the earth for several more feet than the initial throw had imbedded her.
Piccolo seized his opportunity at this point. Good timing, as any more trauma would threaten 18's life.
"Special Beam Cannon!" he roared, as the drill like beam fired out.
Jewely was caught by surprise, but still managed to meet the blast with one of her own.
She was quick, as well as powerful.
The two blasts collided mere yards away from Jewely, but her beam established itself immediately.
"You think you can match energy with me, you relic?" Jewely seethed, "I'm going to blast you to pieces!"
It was not an idle threat. The blasts struggled against one another, but it was instantly apparent which one was more powerful. The epicenter of the blasts moved towards Piccolo with frightening speed.
"Damn it!" Piccolo seethed desperately, there was a serious danger of death right now.
"Destructo disc!" 18 snarled, from her crater tomb.
Jewely's eyes flitted over to her... this was trouble for her. She had expected some sort of interference, and had even been prepared to handle it, too. But, not that... particular move. She had no choice, they had her.
Jewely dodged one blast, only to be hit directly by the other. Piccolo was an apt opportunist, and wasted no time in turning the tables on her. The blast engulfed her, and then barreled along the horizon like a monstrous freight train. A direct hit.
The blast continued til it was out of sight, eventually dissipating into the stratosphere.
And then there was quiet.
18 lifted herself out of the rubble. Her lip was dribbling blood, and she was pretty scuffed up, but she was alright. She carefully walked over to Piccolo, while nursing her chin thoughtfully... eyes glued on the horizon.
Piccolo breathed heavily, staring off into the distance.
"Did that kill her?" he asked hopefully.
He was struggling to catch his breath, he wasn't doing the best. Fatiguing already.
"... I don't think so," she said tiredly, "But she has to be hurting pretty good."
"She better be." Piccolo sighed, exasperatedly.
The dust settled oh so slowly, as the two watched anxiously together.
Their hearts probably sank at the same time, too.
"You don't want to kill anybody, huh 18?" Jewely growled, an intense blue aura surrounding her.
"17's shield." Piccolo seethed tiredly.
"I told you to go away." she said slowly, "Now you're both gonna die. Just remember, you asked for this!"
And with that, she blasted herself down into the earth.
Piccolo and 18 shared an uneasy glance at that. What the heck was she up to? Hiding? Mining? Going to blow up the Earth's core directly, like some lunatic mole? It was anyone's guess at this point. But they didn't have to wait long, before an ominous phrase rung up from the ground to answer them.
"Hell's Field!"
The voice spouted, as yet another intense orange blast blazed out. This time, from under the unlikely duo's feet. With mere milliseconds, the two again dove in opposite directions to avoid it. And again, they both managed to evade, though very narrowly.
They were left to gape at the odd tactic their enemy was using.
"What is she up to?" Piccolo asked, hoping that one android understood another better than he could.
"She's taking advantage of her infinite energy," 18 surmised, "And limiting our ability to counter attack."
"What can we do?"
"... I'm not sure."
Another blast rocked their conversation, only to be followed by another and another, as soon the entire battlefield erupted in pillars of fiery energy.
18 disappeared in the confusion, but Piccolo's luck was much worse. After a few successful dodges, he was clipped. He managed to get off with minor burns, but the it set him up for another hit. This time worse, searing the flesh off his abdomen. The pain was incredible, and like real fire burns, had staying power. That was only the beginning though, Jewely, however she was tracking him, was taking full advantage of his predicament. The third hit, was a direct one.
"Argh!" Piccolo screamed in agony, as his body hit the ground.
He was more black then green now, his flesh darkened by severe burns, while some of his extremities had been burned off completely.
He looked like a horror show... and felt much worse...
"MARS!" he wretched out, exhausted, and in more pain than he had perhaps ever felt, "HELP!"
It was quite the compromise for the Namekian, to ask for help from the kid.
The boy in question, who had been watching this whole time from atop Capsule Corp, moved then. He disappeared.
And in the next instant, the ground warfare stopped.
Piccolo waited a moment to cry out again, despite the insurmountable pain. What had just happened to Mars... and had he somehow managed to stop Jewely's assault? Or was this just a trap?
He cursed himself for his weakness, but he couldn't stand not to risk it.
"MARS, ANYBODY!" Piccolo screamed.
He couldn't move. He needed someone, anyone to help.
...Nothing stirred for a moment, Piccolo was left with the horrible thought that perhaps they had moved the battle elsewhere and he'd been left here completely alone, in so much pain he couldn't stand it, with no energy left to recover himself.
It was a terrible moment.
"HELP ME!" he roared out once more, praying the worst wasn't true.
He'd almost rather be dead than left like this.
But luckily, it wasn't his fate.
"Piccolo!" 18 cried.
Landing beside him, he could see her eyes widen at the sight of his injuries. He didn't need the confirmation though, he was feeling it rather certainly.
"Where were you!" he tried growling accusingly, even if his relief was overtly obvious.
"I got away... I suppose she couldn't track me as well." 18 shrugged.
Piccolo eyeballed her at that. He was unmoved by her answer.
The immense distrust between them was not lost on her. She and Piccolo had never gotten along. He would not turn a blind eye to any discrepancy. Well, unless he was dieing of burn injuries it seemed.
"Find me someone who can help already!" he suddenly snapped.
"What about a senzu bean?"
"I need Dende!" he growled, "You and 17 destroyed Korin's tower, or have you forgotten! The beans are all gone-"
"I have some," 18 interrupted him, producing one.
The Namekian stared back for a bit, bewildered. But, still, in immense pain.
"... Well? I CAN"T MOVE!" he snarled.
"Sorry."
18 fed him the bean at that, and quietly watched the metamorphosis. As the burnt flesh dissipated, and the missing appendages replaced. In an instant the Namekian's true and healthy form was renewed. From miserably slow death to 100% in an instant.
Those beans were a marvel.
As soon as they had done their job, Piccolo rose curtly, and regarded his healer... with a fair amount of personal shame. Saved by someone he distrusted so intently. It was an embarrassment to him, more so than with Mars, because of their history...
Also, it was not lost on him why she had those beans. He had seen her dragging that ancient human around. He also knew why she had no use for them anymore.
All of it made him feel very shitty about now.
Then he did something he should have done earlier. Her looked at her soberly for the first time, in a long, long time.
18 was looking... just empty. Staring off at Capsule Corp. She showed no disdain for his actions, no expectations of thanks or apology. She was just going through the motions it seemed. And doing what was right. He could no longer so much as sense the ill intent he had been so sure was there, not a moment ago.
A long uncomfortable pause followed.
"18-"
"It's fine." she said rising, "She's coming back."
Piccolo was relieved and unnerved at the same time.
She was right. No sooner had she said it, than that hell spawn had reappeared. Mars' bloody body in tow. Slowly wafting down to them from the sky, with an infernal aura surrounding her, she looked like an angel of the apocalypse.
"You bastards think you can just teleport me away, and kill Juno behind my back?" she screeched.
Her eyes were frantic and wild, her expression; enraged beyond reason.
Again, 18 scoffed.
"Do you really think that I want to kill Juno?" 18 asked, incredulously, "We just want an explanation! I mean, have you looked around! Can you blame us?"
She motioned to the wasteland surrounding them that Beta had helped create.
"Beta went crazy, you already know that! You already killed him too!" Jewely seethed, "It was never our intention to kill innocent civilians!"
"Then what is your intention?" Piccolo asked, trying his best to sound civil.
"To... to..." Jewely paused.
"Can't remember what Juno told you to think?" Mars spoke up, still hanging limply by her side.
"Shut up!" she cried, flinging him away, only to be caught by Piccolo.
She paused for another moment, and scowled.
"We're taking you freaks out of power!"
"What does that mean?" 18 asked.
"We're replacing you, me and Juno!" she growled, "Soon he'll be too strong for you to ever harm again, just like me!"
"Let the cat out of the bag, didn't you?" Mars shot back.
Jewely moved to snap at him, then stopped cold.
Her eyes widened with fear, while Piccolo's sharpened with malice.
"We have to stop him before there are two of them!" he growled, dropping Mars and teleporting forward.
He blasted ahead with more gumption then he had shown this entire fight, straight towards Capsule Corp.
"NO!" Jewely screeched, firing after him.
"Wait!" 18 cried, a distant third in this morbid chase.
The situation had gotten very murky all of a sudden.
Piccolo growled inwardly, noticing Jewely was going to catch him before he made it to the building. It left him with one alternative, albeit a dark one.
He outstretched his arm.
"HAAA!" he screamed, as he fired an over sized and fast moving energy blast towards the building.
"You monster!" Jewely seethed, catching him by his leg and smashing him against the ground.
"How could you!" 18 screamed, coming to a stop, helpless to stop it.
They all watching helplessly as the blast closed in.
Juno, and all those people... The blast looked prime to send it all to the next dimension... but at the last moment... it veered off... and fired off into space.
They were all left pretty confused at that.
"What the-" Piccolo started, but was interrupted as Jewely clasped a hand around his neck, dragging him up from the ground.
"How could you throw away so many lives Piccolo?" 18 asked, her relief apparent.
Her ignorance of Piccolo's dilemma also apparent.
"Shut up and help me! " he choked out.
"What stopped the blast?" she asked carefully, ignoring him.
"That building is protected by a energy shield built around the same principals as an android's energy system! So, sorry, but you really will have to kill me before you can even touch Juno!" she growled, wrapping another hand around her victim's neck.
That got 18's attention.
She flew over to them, but did not ready an attack. She believed it was time for this to stop.
"That's enough!" 18 ordered, grabbing her arm, "Let's end this peacefully!"
Jewely turned to her then, and few things became abundantly clear. Jewely was terrified. And 18... was naïve.
"Killing is the only way to handle you two," Jewely snarled, taking advantage of 18's counseling composure to clamp a hand around her neck too.
"Jewely!" 18 squirmed, genuinely surprised.
"How's this, two killers gone in one go?" she suggested, as her palms around their necks began glowing orange.
"Don't do this Jewely!" 18 cried.
For an instant, Jewely faltered. Fear and loathing, and immense amounts of doubt were all obvious from her face. Her heart was not in this. But her will, unfortunately, was.
"Just die already!" she answered, tightly closing her eyes.
Two orange waves of energy flared across the wasteland, carving huge trenches into the earth before disappearing into the distance.
It did not signal her victory, instead her defeat.
"Buu not let anyone else die!" the Majin screeched at the top of his lungs.
"Ge-GET OFF ME YOU SCUM!" Jewely screeched back, full of disgust and terror.
Buu had contorted his body around Jewely, mostly enveloping her. He had removed her grip from 18 and Piccolo, and outstretched her arms away, safely. Now he held her, and she seemed completely immobile.
It was over.
Piccolo, at first rubbed his neck. But then took the initiative, wordlessly and without hesitance. He began beating into her relentlessly.
"ARGHHH!" Jewely screamed.
She was defenseless, and even with her power, Piccolo's strength was nothing to sneeze at. She was being destroyed.
"Piccolo, ease up." 18 shot in, after a few belts, after it became apparent the girl no longer had any fight left in her.
"Shut up." he said, and continued.
This situation was beginning to look less like punishment, and more like a overly brutal execution.
"I'm serious Piccolo, she's had enough!" 18 yelled, grabbing him.
"I said shut up!" Piccolo exclaimed, stopping his assault and backhanding her.
Jewely then slumped lifelessly in Buu's grip. If it hadn't been obvious before, it was now. She was done.
"You've lost it!" 18 screamed, nursing her cheek.
They stared each other down, both fitting in rage.
"She tried to kill Buu, you, and me, personally, six times now! You really think she's still forgivable? Still deserving sympathy? You're going to get us all killed with your ignorance!"
"I think she's just confused and scared, I think you are too! None of this would have happened had you used a cooler head!"
Piccolo openly scoffed at her.
"How dense can you be?" Piccolo snarled, "You really think they're not up to something? That they just made themselves into super powered beings just for giggles? That that Beta really was just an honest mistake?
Piccolo scoffed again.
"They want to kill us! She as much said it herself already!"
"What did she say? It sounded like she was just trying to protect Juno this entire time to me!"
Piccolo glared at her. He suddenly grabbed Jewely at that, still in Buu's grip, by her chin.
"Tell her what you guys want, princess."
Jewely eyes winced open, she was crying.
"We're gonna kill all of you," she sputtered, "All of you monsters. The future will be governed by the chosen!"
Piccolo looked back to 18 triumphantly.
"See?"
"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed, "She's obviously under extreme duress! You can't judge her based on that!"
"Can't I?" Piccolo sneered, "She's more powerful than any of us. Next time, we won't be able to stop her. So it's now, or never!"
"Piccolo, come on." Mars counseled, having hobbled up, "She's defenseless!"
"For now, and only for now!"
"It's just wrong!" 18 cried, "How can you even suggest it!"
"It's one travesty to prevent a billion." Piccolo seethed, "I can live with those numbers!"
His hand drove forward suddenly at that, fingers outstretched for stabbing. It penetrated the chest with ease.
"I'm impressed Piccolo." Juno said, twisting his hand downward inside the Namekian, as he began to form a blast, "You and I think the same way."