Chapter 049 - Identity

"If that's not the android then who is he?" Vegeta's loud yell could be heard despite how far he was from her. Corset looked over to the mysterious man for any signs; he didn't seem too sure about any of this which worried her all the more.

"M-Maybe it's no big deal," Krillin suggested. "History turned out different anyway, right? Maybe the appearance of the androids changed too."

"I hope so..." Tenshinhan mumbled uncertain.

A high pitched but quiet sound caught her ear, it sounded like an engine of some sort. Again Corset searched it out, spotting a small plane on the horizon heading for them. Something about the shape of it seemed familiar to her.

"Hey look, isn't that Bulma?" Krillin asked.

Corset gasped dumbfounded and horrified, "That is Mama!" She cried panicked. "K-Krillin we need to tell her not to come down here!"

The craft swooped around the battle area; indeed Bulma, Trunks and Yajirobe were inside.

"Mama, get away!" Corset bellowed waving her arms frantically, frustrated when her mother waved back! "I'm not waving at you!" She yelled. "Go away! The android is still here!"

"Don't come any closer!" The boy from the future yelled.

"I spoke the truth when I said you had no chance!" Android Twenty bellowed loudly. "Androids Seventeen and Eighteen will come for you soon!"

Corset glared down at the android temporarily, almost caught off-guard when he fired off an energy attack engulfing the surrounding area in its wake! The wind harshly battered her, the explosion overpowering any other sound from reaching her ears. The imminent danger quickly struck her and she turned around to look back up to where the plane had been. "MAMA!" She cried (still unable to hear herself shout, so it was naturally obvious no one else could have heard her,) desperately trying to find her in the midst of the blinding light...

The ground below was choked in dust completely obstructing any view of the complex rocky canyons. Now that she could see again Corset frantically looked around the sky; no sign of her mother's plane anywhere. It was as she'd feared; there had been no chance of it being able to survive an attack like that at such close range. Why did her mother come here? Where was she now? What about Trunks?

Her eyes reluctantly turned to the ground, fearing the worst. Her mother was down there somewhere as was her baby brother; neither could survive the fall... "Please no... Don't be dead..." She choked, feeling the tears coming to her eyes, her heart tugging down.

"Is everyone alright?" Krillin asked.

"I think so, where's Bulma?" Gohan replied.

"Mama..." Corset whimpered, suddenly shooting down towards the ground furious with herself. She'd just let them down again. "MAMA!" As much as she wanted to beat herself up for her stupidity she knew there'd been no chance of her catching them from their fall, especially since the attack had muffled her sight and hearing so much. Still she'd sworn to herself she'd protect them! She'd let them down!

A couple of silhouetted appeared just to her right. Hopeful yet heartbroken she headed straight for them, surprised to see one of them was the boy from the future. The sound of her little brother crying was enough to relax her a little. The boy from the future knelt right beside her mother and brother, thankfully both of whom seemed a little shaken to say the least.

"That was close…" Bulma sighed, "Oh, where's my baby? Where's Trunks?" She spotted him and grabbed him from the boy's grasp. "Thank you so much!"

"Mama!" Corset was now in tears, feeling pitiful and embarrassed she was in such a state but also mighty relieved to see they were both alive. "Thank you Mr. Future man." She sniffed, running to her mother and hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry! I couldn't get to you in time! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, calm down Corset," Bulma cooed hugging her daughter back. "We're ok, thanks to this young man."

"Yeah," Corset nodded, wiping a tear away and looking back up at the man bashfully, "Thank you, really! You saved my mama and Trunks."

Confusingly the man seemed a little awkward, although Corset assumed it was because of the terrific rescue he'd just done.

"Bulma!" Gohan called.

"Are you alright?" Krillin asked as the two landed.

"We're ok guys," Bulma nodded. "This young man just saved us."

"That's a relief, right Corset?" Gohan asked noticing she was wiping her eyes. "Your mother's ok!"

"Yeah... I know," Corset nodded putting on a smile. She just felt so relieved.

The boy suddenly rose up into the air and headed straight for Vegeta, cutting him off mid-flight. Corset watched confused; what was he doing? Whatever it was it didn't last long as her father quickly flew off around him. "... I wonder what that was about..." she mumbled to herself.

"Hey, who was that guy you were fighting?" Bulma asked.

"That was one of the androids," Krillin replied.

"Really?" Bulma seemed surprised.

"Yeah, Dad destroyed one of them and Piccolo was beating the one you saw," Corset nodded.

"... I'm not so sure he's an android," Bulma mumbled. "I think that was Dr. Gero. I read about him in an academic journal; he's really changed a lot you know! It looks like he altered his own body..."

The three couldn't hide their shock. That android had been Dr. Gero?

"H-Hey!" Krillin shouted up to the others. "Bulma says that android is Dr. Gero!"


"That android was Dr. Gero himself?" Vegeta yelled frustrated. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I've seen his picture before." Bulma snapped back at the Saiyan. "He's pretty famous among all the scientists although they all say he's a jerk but a genius. He probably turned himself into a cyborg so he could live longer..."

Corset still couldn't believe what she was hearing. That android had said that Dr Gero had died; the liar! She didn't like being lied to... Turning back to the identity of Android Twenty Corset was left baffled and perplexed. How on earth had Dr. Gero managed to turn himself into an android by himself? (Or was that a cyborg as her mama had said?) Surely he'd have needed help?

"You told us a pack of lies!" Vegeta snapped, his attention on the boy from the future. "You told us Dr. Gero was killed by the androids, you didn't say he turned himself into one! Now you say the androids are different?"

She felt empathy for the future boy; her father's yell sounded scary to her even if he wasn't telling her off. She watched him as he seemed to be contemplating something. "... History must have changed somehow..." He muttered. "Could it have been a side-effect of me coming to the past before?"

"Dr. Gero spoke of two other androids; Seventeen and Eighteen," Piccolo butted in. "They're probably the androids you warned us about! Tell us what they look like; we don't want to be wrong again."

Piccolo had a good point. Corset listened eagerly to what the boy was about to tell them; it was important information!

"Seventeen is a kid with long black hair and a red scarf around his neck," The boy answered, "Eighteen is a girl – a pretty girl – her clothes are similar to mine. Both have hoop earrings and icy stares."

"A... girl?" Krillin stuttered.

"Do they also drain your energy through their hands?" Piccolo asked.

"Drain energy? ... No, nothing like that," the boy answered. "They have an infinite energy supply."

"... Infinite energy..." Vegeta bared his teeth.

Corset took a deep gulp; icy stares and infinite energy. They didn't sound too pleasant to fight at all! She was beginning to have doubts about her own abilities again and was a little anxious about meeting these two androids.

"Where's Goku? Why isn't he here?" The boy queried.

"The heart virus just hit him," Krillin replied. "He's gone home to recover and get the medicine."

"... So that changed too?" The boy mumbled to himself.

Corset looked at the ground and frowned. It sounded like they were in for far more trouble than she'd thought. Half an hour ago she was convinced they had beaten the androids and were going to survive... now she knew they still had to face the androids the boy from the future had warned them about.

"Bulma, Dr. Gero must be going back to his lab; do you know where it is?" Vegeta demanded, taking a couple of steps forward.

Bulma hurriedly backed away as Trunks began to cry. "Darn it, Vegeta! You know every time you go near Trunks, you make him cry!" She began to tend to her sobbing baby; Corset finding the situation a little funny. Not that she'd ever admit this in front of her father; she liked living.

"Bulma, would you forget the child for one minute?" Vegeta barked. "Do you know where the lab is?"

Bulma glared at him defiantly at first, her face softening a little as she took in a small breath. "...I think it was in the mountains near North City. There was a rumour he converted a cave there into a lab, if he hasn't moved of course. I had no idea Dr. Gero was connected to the Red Ribbon Army..."

"Yeah but Dr. Gero's probably long gone by now and headed back to his lab..." Krillin suggested. "It's probably already too late to try and stop him."

"We're fine," Vegeta smirked. "No one saw him fly away, right? That means he's on foot and if he's on foot, he can't have gotten far."

"I follow you. Alright, we're going to destroy Seventeen and Eighteen before Gero has a chance to return to his lab and activate them." Piccolo decided.

"The coward's way out." Vegeta snorted. "I want to be the one to destroy the androids with my own hands! Those other androids weren't worth my time."

Several eyes had turned to the Saiyan Prince. Although she felt Piccolo's idea was far smarter and safer, she was surprised to hear her father had disagreed! Corset'd always assumed her dad and Piccolo were the smarter fighters; surely they'd have both agreed what was the right thing to do?

"No!" The boy from the future cried, "Don't underestimate those androids! Piccolo's right, we have to find the lab and destroy them before Dr. Gero can activate them."

Vegeta smirked at the remark. Suddenly he was metres away from them shooting up into the sky, the boy from the future pursued and cut him off once again. "W-Wait! If we can't make it in time we should avoid battle at least until Goku gets better!" He suggested, sounding more desperate than before.

"We don't need to wait for Kakarrot!" Vegeta's patience was wearing thin. "Can't you see I've become a Super Saiyan too? As a Saiyan Prince, I should be far more powerful than he is!"

"You don't know what you're dealing with!" The boy insisted urgently, stepping out in front of Vegeta.

"Get out of my way!" Vegeta bellowed, passing the boy with ease and flying off into the distance.

"He's really gone..." Tenshinhan muttered.

Corset raised an eyebrow and sighed; her dad was so selfish and stubborn! Piccolo and the boy from the future were right; they needed to reach the lab before Gero did so they could prevent the androids from being activated. If they were as strong and scary as this youth said they were then she wasn't sure she wanted to fight them.

"... Vegeta's a Super Saiyan now; it's true he's become stronger than Goku now," Piccolo spoke, "Maybe he really is strong enough to beat these androids."

"No, I'm afraid he doesn't stand a chance," The boy frowned as he descended back to the ground; his words alarming Corset. "I'm a Super Saiyan as well but I'm still powerless against them! They have unbelievable strength..."

"... So Dad's gonna lose against them?" Corset gulped. She knew it was far worse than how she'd put it.

"I'm going after him," the boy decided. "He's an idiot but I won't let my father die again!" With that he took to the sky vanishing quickly.

The phrase hadn't gone unnoticed. Corset was left perplexed and speechless, repeating the last sentence back to herself: I won't let my father die again. "... What?" She asked baffled.

"Did he really say 'my father'...Why?" Bulma asked. "Was his dad killed by the androids?"

"There's no reason to keep it a secret anymore," Piccolo muttered turning to Bulma. "His name is Trunks. His father is Vegeta and you're his mother. He's who the baby you're holding in your arms grows up to be. He's your son."

"What?" Bulma's eyes widened.

"Wha?" Corset's jaw dropped in disbelief. "No way!" She stared intensely at her baby brother as her mother did the same!

"You're kidding!" Gohan cried.

"... So that's how it is?" Bulma stuttered.

"You know, there's a resemblance…" Krillin gaped. "That sure explains how he can transform into a Super Saiyan!"

Corset couldn't get her head around it! That boy from the future was actually her baby brother. "... You mean I met my brother before he was born? Whoa... That's unbelievably weird! Wow…" She looked at her baby brother and smiled, "hey, he beat Freeza and that other guy… See, Trunks, you're a strong fighter already."

"You guys, come and help me look for Dr Gero's lab," Piccolo requested. "It might be better to destroy those androids before Vegeta or Dr Gero gets to them before us."

"Right," Krillin nodded.

"... Well Trunks it looks like you're gonna grow up to become a good guy!" Bulma smiled. "I was beginning to worry – you're such a mean looking baby!"

"Bulma, could you let my dad know about all this the next time you see him?" Gohan asked. "Oh, and if he gets well, we'd like him to join us."

"Sure but I have no way of getting home now," Bulma frowned, "My plane exploded!"

Corset was about to step in and offer to take her mother home when Piccolo interrupted, "Gohan, take Bulma back home. We should be able to handle the androids without you, providing we make it in time..."

"Ok but be careful," Gohan nodded.

"What about me? Should I go with him?" Corset asked.

"Gohan will be enough," Piccolo muttered. "You'll come look for Gero's lab; we need all the eyes we can get!"

"Alright," Corset frowned. "Gohan, look after my mama and Trunks!"

"Don't worry, I will," Gohan nodded with a cheesy thumbs-up and a grin.

"Corset, be careful and listen to what Piccolo, Tenshinhan and Krillin tell you," Bulma instructed. "Don't get yourself hurt, ok?"

"I'll be ok, Mama," Corset smiled.

"Right, let's go!" Piccolo decided. "We have to get to those androids before Vegeta does!"

"Right," Krillin and Corset nodded.

Piccolo and the others took to the skies leaving Gohan and Bulma behind. Corset glanced over her shoulder and waved as she left them, "Bye!"


The flight to North City was a long one considering how much land they had to cross. She could tell when they were getting closer as the temperature slowly dropped in the air. Her thoughts almost kept her from noticing it. Why had her father acted like such a jerk to her brother? Did he know the boy from the future was his son? Why did he insist on fighting these androids? Surely he could see the sense in what they'd been telling him to do?

"Corset! Keep focused!" Piccolo barked. "We're starting to fly over the mountains surrounding North City so keep your eyes peeled!"

"S-Sorry," Corset apologised.

The group of four fighters came to a halt over what seemed like an endless mountain range. The icy cold air began to brush against her skin making her shiver; she crossed her arms in a bid to stay warm.

"Dr Gero's lab is in a cave in one of these mountains," Tenshinhan explained, "How on earth do we find it? There's nothing but mountains here! Also, he might be able to sense our ki when we're approaching... there's no way we can sense him."

"It's pretty cold up here..." Krillin mumbled.

"I wish I had a jacket or something," Corset agreed. She didn't mind cold weather providing she had adequate clothing on - which right now she didn't!

"...We'll have to split up and start searching. Whoever of us finds it should give some sort of signal..." Piccolo muttered.

"What kind of signal did you have in mind?" Krillin asked.

"Suddenly raise your ki," Piccolo decided.

Corset nodded, shivering as a strong gust of wind passed them.

"Does anyone have money so we can buy jackets?" Krillin protested.

"Live with it, I'm cold too," Tenshinhan answered.

"Stop whinging!" Piccolo growled. "Deal with it and find those androids before they're started up – and before Vegeta finds them! Humans are so inconvenient."

"Oh!" Krillin gasped. "Before you all go..." He reached into his shirt and took out the senzu bag, tipping the beans out into his hand. "Let's split the senzu beans just in case. There are six of them left... so two of us get two and the other two get only one."

"... Maybe you and Corset ought to keep hold of two," Piccolo suggested. "Tenshinhan and I will take one each... although I'd like to take care of this without having to use any of them..."

With that, the group split up.