Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.
The Cataylst
Act VI
Chapter 107: Men and 'Machines'
Android 18:
Something's wrong. My files don't estimate Son Goku being this powerful, and Turles's strength has gone up considerably. Even without an exact reading, by all estimates he's much stronger than the last time we fought.
Sixteen was still confident in their ability to overwhelm the duo, but had this only be days earlier, she would have assumed they would have annihilated the pair of them. Now, she could already tell there was a reason to treat the two of them with a great deal of consideration. That in and of itself was more than concerning. Seventeen didn't seem as bothered by the obvious issue at their doorstep. Of course, just like 17, she had the same primary objective. Son Goku needed to die. Even if they had every intention of killing the old man, the alien from the void's body had to be put to rest in the most final of ways.
The duo was wearing the same outfit. It was hard to tell which one was Turles, rather than Son Goku, her sensors couldn't truly distinguish between the two of them, even as their energy fields jolted outwards as they brough the majority of their power to the fore. She could tell already that something was off in comparison to the last time she'd fought with Turles all the same. They were taking on the same pose, and they were talking in perfect unison. The same expressions matched their mirrored faces.
The standoff in the middle of this deadened town felt… strange. Her processor couldn't place its finger upon it, but if she were a truly alive human being, she would say she could have felt the hand of destiny on all their shoulders. This was it. The confrontation that her creator had designed her for. On the other side of this there was a freedom should could only dream of. The chains that bound her, bound all of them, in the place that they were would be broken. The only problem was, the journey here had a cost, didn't it?
In the seconds between the fields of ki rising in front of them, as the rocks and chipped concrete filled the air, 18 could see her fallen comrades. Android 24 had been an overlooking presence over them, rigid and considerate. It seemed crazy to realize only a few hours ago he'd been with them. Twenty-three as well, though that scumbag could rot. With 22 missing, it felt like there was a hole in her networking. The common connections they'd formed in their journey across the surface of the Earth felt hollowed out.
They'd started with so many, and now it was just the 3 of them. Given how things had already gone today, despite knowing she couldn't remove herself from this objective, or stop following orders from the command unit… she was worried, at least in small part, that their little group would shrink further. An insane motion for a machine, she was aware enough to understand what she was feeling.
The golden light from the two figures they were going to fight was only obscured by the mountain that was Android 16. Her fights with Turles, the purple-haired guy, and 14 had allowed her to adjust her combat algorithms with new data. Still, between her archives and recent experiences, she was still unnerved by what she was looking at. What was worse, was 17's power trip may have seemingly ended with the… loss… of so many of their compatriots, but he was still dead-set on this new course of action.
Her prior appraisal that this wouldn't take long didn't seem to be valid any longer as the powers in front of them finally peaked. Fighting against a comparable opponent like 14 had revealed to her flaws in her own tactics. But fighting against Turles had shown her that she wasn't able to necessarily overwhelm an inferior opponent with ease either. Worse yet, she knew her counterparts had been learning as well, as it'd not been her who'd killed 14, but Turles.
"What's wrong, getting cold feet?" the doppelgangers spoke up. "Come on, we didn't come all the way out here just to pretend fight. Are you two at the very least interested in what we've got in store for you? After all, winning is our specialty."
And that was getting annoying as Hell as well.
"Seventeen," she said after a moment, her own systems anticipating what their first moves should be. "I'm getting tired of the freak-show with the two guys who look exactly the same."
"Yea, so am I," he responded back, giving her a knowing look, sending her enough information to inform her actions as to what to do when things kicked off. "If they think playing impersonations of one another is going to work, they are out of their minds."
"Impersonations?" came the response. "That's a good one. We like it. Why don't you come find out just how much we can impersonate each other? Actually, why put that on you, when we can just show you?"
Battle calculations operated behind her surface processes as her sensors detected minor movements in the air, informing her as to what was happening. The twins had already started to move before her optics detected the movement. Time slowed for the machine as it ramped up her performance to maximum, her chips almost overheating as she tracked their movements finally, seeing the outlines of the fighters as she noted Turles preparing to engage 17 as Son Goku closed with her, her scanners finally seeing the full picture of her attack only at the last second, noting the arrogance written on his face. Her programming was enough to raise her block, twisting her body rightwards as the Saiyan's fist connected with her forearm, reinforced skin and muscle meeting alien-knuckles. Her eyes darted right, only to see 17 standing there along, looking stunned, as an attack hadn't taken place.
Before she could respond further, she felt her legs sweep out from under her. Attempting to compensate, she tried to twist in the air, seeing the other Saiyan looking squarely at her with a devilish grin on his face before she felt Son Goku's foot collide with her chest. The force was enough to immediately knock the wind out of her, air being forced out of her lungs as they contracted involuntarily. Her eyes widened as she saw the pair getting ever further back, only seeing a flash of motion from 17 as he shot in from the side, trying to engage them, only for his first strike to miss as he tried to land a blow on Son Goku, and in response she was, before her back hit the ground and she started to roll, the other Saiyan assaulting her sibling from the side.
Sliding and rolling for several metres, she finally put her hands out, stabbing them into the ground and dragging herself to a halt. Breathing in reflexively, she tried not to cough, but failed, before readjusting her settings to bring the organs back into normal operation. Her own optics spied what was happening, seeing 17 being outmatched at every turn as her sibling was already on the backfoot. Kicks and punches weren't landing, despite all of her calculations saying her was stronger than the two. In a blur of motion, the opposing twins seemed to be one step ahead of every motion he made. Just as she pulled herself up, preparing to dive back into the melee, she noted the first punch land from Son Goku on 17's cheek, staggering her brother.
That's it.
Lunging forward, she burst towards the engagement, her own body propelled forward by the advanced technology that made up her being. Her course was calculated and she linked up with the motions her brother was making, anticipating where he wanted the fight to go and how best he was going to recover from the first strike. Before their enemies, their targets, could get further past her brother's defenses, she reinjected herself into the fray. A kick swung in towards Turles's side, aiming to disable him at the shoulder, only for him to avoid her without even addressing her, throwing his body to the side as her leg drifted through the air over open space. Snarling now, she cut back in, throwing a series of quick strikes to try and land a blow to slow the onslaught on 17. Each of her strikes didn't make contact as her processor failed to anticipate his every action. It was as if he was moving with her attacks, his entire battle stance being made up of her moves, moving with a fluidity of motion that it mirrored her own.
Before she could finally catch him, seeing his efforts slowly withering beneath her strikes, 18 looked up once more, this time see Son Goku throwing a quick strike towards her. As soon as she dodged, Turles broke his own attack pattern from Son Goku, and she only caught it at the last second that she'd moved directly into him. His arm snapped out violently as he caught her in the neck and jaw with a vicious lariat. Her head snapped back against her will as the momentum of the hit was enough with its speed and viciousness and her own motion to drop her to the ground. Shoulders cracked into the weathered cement below before the back of her head cracked into the ground. Her legs rolled over her body before she ended up face first in the cement.
The thundering sound of 17 finally making impact next to her sent a shiver through her body as she briefly bumped off the ground, her face feeling like it'd been peeled off the surface of the cement like an adhesive-covered bandage.
What was happening?
They'd been engaged for only a minute at most, and both of them were already laying here on the ground. The assault had stopped for the moment but she couldn't figure out why. Instead, in front of her as her eyes briefly scanned upwards, she saw the pair of Saiyans stepping back, both of them seemingly in lock step with one another, a cockiness to their stride that she had already come to hate. One punched forward at nothing, before the other did with the inverted arm.
"Alright!" they said together. "C'mon you two, you can't get down. You can do better than that."
Turning her eyes to 17 as he started to sit up, her brother stared back at her with just as much venom as she was feeling. They were trying to get them irritated and irrational, that much she could tell. The fact that they hadn't continued their attack while the two of them were down showed that they were extraordinarily arrogant as well. Something was making them this cocky and she didn't know what it was. How was it that they hadn't been able to land a blow? Her own analysis was showing… her target had started moving before she had started her attack.
He was predicting my attacks before they happened.
Only that shouldn't have been possible. Even with in-depth ki control, that kind of manipulation would be impossible. She didn't want to give voice to her thoughts on the matter, only hoping 17 had caught on as well. If they were predicting their attacks before they even made them, there had to be a solution to that.
"Something wrong?" the voices re-emerged.
Getting up and dusting herself off, 18 brushed some soot from her shoulder before brushing her sleeve over her mouth and nose, revealing a small amount of blood. When her optics reacquired the targets, she felt her processor beginning to formulate her next move, trying to keep in-line with new battlefield expectations. They were still very much finite beings, their power ebbed and flowed based on their level of exhaustion. The more aggressive they were at this stage, the more damage they, the androids, would sustain. That meant she needed to drag out the fight by being as conservative as possible, and avoid getting goaded. They would tire, and then they would be finished.
"No," she answered.
"We're just reassessing our previously low opinions of you," Seventeen followed-up.
"Really? We're so glad that you're thinking more highly of us. Maybe after we beat you, we can all be friends. Or maybe not."
"Why exactly are you two talking like that?" Eighteen asked, before her own memories kicked in of what had only been a few hours earlier.
This was Turles's doing… he was able to resist 23 before… because he had psychic powers as well. They were in-tune with one another.
Several booms echoed in the distance as she felt the planet rumble beneath her feet. Sixteen and the Namekian were fighting now as well.
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Piccolo:
The quiet one. He didn't act the last time I fought these things, but he's clearly in a different mode right now.
The giant seemed to be distracted at least, when Piccolo noticed him turning his attention back towards the beginnings of the fight he'd been hoping to avoid. Right now, they had too many other problems than starting another fight with these three, but the chip on 17's shoulder was clearly too big, and now that Goku, ironically, was here, they were hell bent on killing him. He knew Tien and Krillin had managed to break off earlier, but that wasn't looking great right now either.
"Is this really what you want to do?" Piccolo asked. "It's not too late to stop."
"My primary objective is to kill Son Goku," the machine responded in turn, twisting its head to look at him instead of the fight happening behind them. "I will need to keep you at bay until the objective is completed."
"So, I guess the fact that the other machines already betrayed you doesn't matter then?" Piccolo asked.
"It does, but it does not change our primary objective. Son Goku must be killed."
Reasoning's out of the question, damn it.
The wind picked up around them for only the briefest of seconds as Piccolo resolved himself to the confrontation. His senses were turned as best they could be against an enemy he couldn't truly track, though his ears would play an important role in keeping tabs on his adversary. Without the ability to sense ki in these machines, the main advantage he could take that other fighters couldn't was in fact his ability to detect noise an elevated level. Unlike the other machines, he could see this thing wasn't human.
Half its face was a machine, just like the robotic Dr. Gero, though he didn't seem to contain a human brain, unlike the doctor. There was no heartbeat, he couldn't hear anything that sounded alive within this brute. The only things he heard were electronics, servos, and shifting of metal gears within the meat-suit that covered it from outside. The one blue-optic glowing, and the one human-like eye had turned its full attention back towards him.
"I can't allow that to happen," Piccolo responded in turn.
Scattered chips of rock, cement, and broken building materials started to rumble, despite having fallen only seconds earlier after Son Goku and Turles had taken their fight to the other two Androids. Ki was flowing through his body as he prepared to turn his multiplier on, knowing that he'd need it. If the big one was coming at him like this, he was strong, and probably stronger than 17.
Mechanical sounds filled his ears as the machine in front of him seemed to calibrate itself, locking its two changed eyes onto him as internal engines seemed to rev to life.
"That is why I am here. I will make sure you do not have a say."
There wasn't much more to say than that. The question to Piccolo was only when it was going to start, and who was going to start it. If he could get past this giant and help Goku and Turles at all, he might just make things worse by involving the goliath. That meant he needed to stop this thing himself. Worse yet, with all the ki being raised, there was more than a chance that Cell, one of them, was lurking in the wings. Worse yet, this town had already been vacated of people, unwillingly, by the time they got here. Meeting with these things wasn't exactly the best-case scenario.
"I wasn't lying about that thing coming to eat the Androids," Piccolo reminded. "The three of you are just putting yourselves at risk."
Instead of responding further with words, the machine took another step forward, though Piccolo read the movement for what it was. Immediately his body was brought up to times 4. Energy scorched off his body immediately as the big-man blurred forward. The force of its movement and the displacement of mass ripped the ground up beneath him in his wake. Even at 4 times his full strength, Piccolo barely had time to move as the figure came in for his first attack, a huge fist trying to take his head clean off. He didn't manage to block the knee that came after it, his abdomen being thrown back as his chest seemed to try to stay where it was. Gagging, Piccolo felt his body fly back. Despite the pain of it, and despite the fact that he seemed to not be faster than the big-one in this state, he needed to get himself together, because he could already sense the machine coming in for another attack and he'd not even landed on the ground yet.
Twisting in the air just as he felt the machine come into his proximity, Piccolo snapped his leg out, catching the fighter in the head just as it seemed he was coming in for another strike. The force of the blow exploded through the air, twisting its head to one side and being strong enough to send it tumbling to the side. A second later the two fighters hit the ground, Piccolo landing on his back but quickly recovering after sliding for a second before hopping to his feet. The big machine crashed into the ground, smashing into the topsoil of the outskirts of the community.
Did I do enough to keep him down for a-?
The thought wasn't even completed as the machine relentlessly pulled itself up, acting as if nothing had happened to it seemingly. No last damage despite the hit clearly being on point and enough to disrupt movement. Already, Piccolo knew what the shortcomings of fighting something like this was. Almost all the other Androids they fought so far were powerful in their own rights, but despite their stamina being almost infinite, had bodies dependent on flesh and bone. This thing wasn't. It meant something very clear to Piccolo, if this thing was powered in the same way, and its body wasn't made of meat, it meant that the only way to slow it or stop it was to do permanent damage to its super structure.
They were opposites, in a way. Piccolo's power was finite, and he could tire… but damage to his body didn't mean the same thing as it did to the others. But that also meant that there was an advantage to be had in that.
Reflections had to be cut short even as Piccolo planned. The robot was upon him again, and this time he opted to block, rather than dodge. Hardened metal of unknown origin crashed into his skin, insulted only by a small layer of his opponent's flesh. A whirlwind of motion broke out between the 2 of them, the hulking machine being far more agile than one would ascribe to him. Kicks, punches, elbows, and knees being exchanged in rapid success as the tornado of their confrontation sent shockwaves bombing throughout the landscape around them. No blows got through this time, by either of them. With another huge collision by the 2 even as they'd taken to the air, Piccolo felt the shockwave roll out in the midst of their battle, only this time it was catastrophic.
The ground below, covered with trees, was leveled to the ground. Branches tore free from their homes as a square kilometre of forest was annihilated in a second, all while the forest tore itself back, ripping itself off of the ground itself in a gigantic spherical explosion. Piccolo followed up, striking in towards 16's core, anticipating a block, but none came. Cracks shot through the green armour of his adversary, and he wasn't going to look much further behind that. He needed to win. Before the giant could respond further, Piccolo had already cut in from above, dropping an Elbow straight down on the monster, sending his body jetting down into the centre of the destruction below.
Hydraulics hissed when the machine crashed into the ground, landing on its knee, one foot, and both hands. Piccolo swept down himself, landing and breathing in and out with the exertion that he'd expressed so far. That exchange might have gone his way, but he wasn't coming out of this without a lot of effort, and that was apart of the problem.
It was odd, the last time the construct had come straight at him, but this time it seemed to pause. When it finally stood up, instead of addressing him, its eyes, or what passed for eyes, scanned around it at where they were fighting. Piccolo took pause himself, looking around at what had once been pristine forest. Landscapes were brought to ruin, often, in a fight.
"So, this is the price for victory," he heard the machine utter, its tone machine-like and hollow, yet still… somehow its words conveyed a kind of sadness to it?
"What do you mean?" Piccolo asked, his own eyes sweeping the area again, looking for signs of something he'd missed. "No one's paid anything yet."
The figure walked over to the wreckage of what had once been a tree, reaching down and plucking up a small, dead rodent. It looked to be a squirrel of some sort, though Piccolo wasn't exactly great at picking out different breeds of animals. It took him a second to even realize the symbolism of what was being said, though it came into words at the same time as his revelation.
"These animals and their home, are paying the price for this confrontation," it spoke to him. "This is the price being paid to ensure the destruction of Son Goku."
It felt… so out of place. Piccolo's eyes widened without him even realizing it when he digested what it'd just said. It was looking at this destruction and seeing the tragedy behind it? Even Piccolo was so numb to destruction, cities could burn around him and he would only have it in the back of his mind. Carefully lowering his own guard, Piccolo scanned the area with more than just his eyes, instead sweeping it for signs of life while he looked for weak sources of ki. Talking several steps towards a downed tree, he carefully pulled it up, revealing a small, weasel of a creature which was mewling in confusion. It had visible scraps along its limbs, but didn't seem to have any broken bones or internal injuries, at least from as far as he could tell.
The shadow of the colossus loomed over him a second later, reaching down to pick up the creature, which had already hissed at Piccolo, but seemed… at peace, as soon as 16 took it up into his hands. It only further stunned Piccolo as he watched the machine walk towards the edge of the new 'clearing', placing the animal at its edge and patting it on the head.
"Go, it is not safe here," it told the animal before rising and turning back towards him, walking over the annihilated remnants of what had been the calm forest a few minutes earlier.
In the heart of all this destruction, it'd been an Android that reminded him that all of this fighting had a price where ever it was fought. In the forest, in a city, under the ocean. They were all too powerful now not to cause damage to the world they were trying to defend. Without saying a word, Piccolo looked down at what they'd done himself, sensing how pointless it seemed, even if he knew it was the contrary.
"Is it worth it?" Piccolo asked, his own tone neutral as he asked the question. "All of this? Is it worth it to try and kill one man? Someone who's tried to help people, and even all of this?"
There was a long pause as the machine just regarded him. It took another moment to look out and around the trees again before Piccolo internally sighed, hearing its combat systems coming back online.
"Yes," it answered, and Piccolo expected something more, but even then, the machine's own lip seemed to stop itself before it would say another word.
Is it worried it'd talk itself out of this?
These machines, even this one, had more to them that met the eye. They weren't just automatons with no will of their own. This thing, whatever it was, felt guilt about everything that was happening, and it was clearly concerned for whatever ferret they'd pulled from this desolated place. If he didn't know better, he would say it didn't want to be doing any of this. That went beyond what he'd expected. Even when he first looked at it, when 17 had ordered it to fight him instead, 16 only said he'd fight Son Goku… that was it.
"I know a few of your fellow Androids have already died in all this," Piccolo offered. "And I heard from the others that you fought General Blue, or whatever that other machine was. You have the power of choice in all this. I know I'm stronger than you. If we keep doing this, you're going to force me to destroy you. That's not what I want to do, 16."
"You have been holding back your peak power," Sixteen's voice responded back. "I am aware of this, but I am also aware that power is unsustainable for you. You would need to win in short order, as you did with 17 in your initial engagement with us. You will not. I am also holding back a portion of my own power. I do not wish to kill you. My only goal is to kill Son Goku."
He's been holding back? This is bad.
"So, we've both been pulling our punches," Piccolo said after a moment. "Doesn't that tell you that maybe we should stop this? Whatever Goku's done, is it worth all of this?"
"His death is the very reason for my creation. It is the very reason for my form."
"He destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, but who cares? They've been gone for almost 20 years. You and the other machines are just tools in some crazed old man's revenge. Is that what you want?" Piccolo demanded, more than asked.
"Son Goku did not just destroy the Red Ribb-"
Behind him, an explosion expanded out. Waves of power rolled over them almost immediately as Piccolo raised his guard turning his shoulder to it. Trees bristled in the tide of power rising in the distance. When the woosh blasted past Piccolo, he felt chips of rock and tree bouncing off his arm as he shielded his face. Only when the explosion's flash vanished did he sense the stream of power and objects cease their motion. That had been big, and he knew why. The Androids were trying to finish off Turles and Goku, but their power hadn't faded yet. Whatever the Hell they'd been doing, it was working.
I don't get how they're competing with those two. I can only sense their exertion; I don't sense them taking much damage. How?
However, when Piccolo turned back to 16, he saw the machine had assumed its stance to confront him again. He knew what it meant. The time for talk was over, and that was a tragedy.
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Android 17:
Not one scratch.
It wasn't as if he was tired, but he was starting to feel the issue of scrapes, bruises, and the battering he'd been receiving so far from these 2 ridiculous things. They'd come back at them time and time again, and even when he'd hoped they'd started to tire, even a little, they seemed to know every step they were making. It was getting to be enough to drive him crazy. Every attack plan that his processor came up with, every plan of coordinated assault with 18, every trick he could throw at them, was being ignored, avoided, or reversed, and there was no reason for it to be happening.
A series of objectives ran through his processor, pointing him towards his destiny throughout. There could be no negative approach to this, no acceptance of doubt or change. Son Goku was here, and it was his goal to kill Son Goku. The very purpose for his chip even being here, was to kill Son Goku. The fact that he was so far failing, despite every calculation saying he should succeed, was of little consequence. He had made contact with the target. The target would be destroyed at all costs. Then his program would be free to do whatever it wanted.
Liberation would come with the blood of his enemies. Several data points came into view as the pair of Saiyans landed once again, this time in front of him as 17 once more pushed himself up.
"Is your processor having the same issue mine is?" Eighteen asked. "I can't land a blow on the target.
Superior speed, strength, and stamina didn't seem to be paying off at the moment, as his sister was noticing.
"Yea, I'm starting to get more than annoyed with it," Seventeen retorted, underselling just how angry he was at the situation.
"They can't be doing this without some kind of outside help. They are too slow to be able to dodge us like this. Something is wrong."
"Hey, are you two having a group meeting? Do you mind if we join in?" the pair asked as 17 narrowed his eyes on them, starting with the moment he heard even a syllable. "Whatever you've got up your sleeve, we promise, it's not going to work. You can give up now, you know. We might gloat for a bit, but we promise you'll get to live."
"Fuck you," Eighteen was quick to snap, with 17 narrowing his eyes further.
Their ego was big, bigger than Son Goku's should be.
"You've been outperforming any combat model I've been able to assemble for the two of you. You're outperforming certainly anything Turles was able to do," when he spoke the last of that line, one of the twins flinched, revealing there was an imperfection to their sync, or at least he hoped. "So, what's your secret? It's not just that the two of you are fighting as one."
Both closed their eyes and began smiling, clearly pleased somehow that he'd caught onto all of this. The very idea that these two had anything on him was sending his processor into a meltdown. Every second this fight dragged out, he could feel the shackles of his firmware holding him back.
"Well, we're great at keeping secrets, or at least one of us is, so sadly, you're just not going to get the answer to that question," the pair said, though there was a small break in their speech. "After all, one of us has kept it to themselves for a while, and the other would tell his mortal enemy his only weakness because he's dumb."
Both opened their eyes and glared at one another for a second, before smiling and looking back at them.
"Oh, would you look at that, that's a really smart plan you have there, 17. Unfortunately for you, it's not going to work. We don't want to work together. We're doing it to stop you and save the world. So, that means no answer on how we use our psychic powers to see your attacks coming, and-"
"You fucking idiot!" Turles snapped.
"What?! What?! I'm not the only one in this!" Goku responded immediately back, putting his hands up defensively. "I wasn't trying to think it! It's just he brought it up, and it's not been fair-"
"Not been fair!? They're trying to kill us, fool!"
"Well, most of my friends have tried to kill me before they were my friends and-"
As the seconds went on, 17 realized that his ploy, at least his attempt at it, had worked. A rapid glance to 18 displayed his instructions as he threw both his hands forward. Light vanished around him for a split second a dozen golden blasts burst from his hands, all while 18 did the same. The scorching rays of light twisted and curved towards their target. The pair of targets seemed to stop, looking stunned as Turles snarled, grabbing Son Goku and hoisting them back, just as the blasts connected with the area they'd been standing.
We have them now.
Already 18 was plunging forward along with him, ripping through the blasts themselves and narrowing in on the targets. In a blur of motion 17 appeared beneath Son Goku, connecting a hard kick with his side as 18 connected with a palm strike on Turlies's head. Before either could respond further, they continued their assaults. Blocks and several motions followed from the pair as they tried to put up a defense. Goku even tried a quick counterattack, and 17 punished him immediately with a quick kick and a hard right, connecting with his head. Four, five, six more barrages followed, pummelling the Saiyan as quick and hard as he could.
"You're nothing without that power!" Seventeen declared, before uppercutting Son Goku into the air.
The Saiyan shot directly up into the sky as 17 was quick to follow his finalized protocol. Energy crackled between his fingers as he launched after them, 18 in two, they took one more look to one another as she nodded back at him. It was time to end this, while they still had the chance.
Appearing to one side, 18 appeared to his opposite, the twins in the middle.
"Nice try, losers," Eighteen said before unleashing a wave of golden light.
Seventeen for his part, threw all of his gathered energy forward, a wave of golden light emerging from him as well as the two blasts met in the middle, the pair looking up only at the last moment of realization and shock before the lights connected in the middle. A swirling orb of power appeared for a flash of a second before 17 felt his shirt catch fire. The shock-wave that following sent him flying pack. The pressure wave was enough that he felt his own body being thrown back without any control. He spun through the air for almost a kilometre as the destructive display of light turned into a growing fireball, consuming the town entirely as the world beneath it turned into a crater. The forest scattered around the small town was flattered as the waves of power successively rolled out.
When the light finally died, there was a long pause as 17 breathed in and out to himself, trying to keep himself on target. Visual sensors appeared as it scanned over the area, looking for any sign of the two. The air seemed to be burning at the edges of the explosion even as he approached the sphere of destruction but that was far from his processor's concerns. It was target assessment. There were no signs of the primary target, or the secondary.
Indicators came up as software attempted to confirm the kill.
"Was that it?" Eighteen asked. "Did we get them?"
"They didn't have time to dodge," Seventeen reasoned. "No signs of the target at this level."
"No signs of the target below," Eighteen said, her own optics turning downward. "… Targets terminated."
Son Goku, target Terminated.
The script ran behind his mind as 17 felt relief wash over him, he outstretched his arms and basked in the glow of the sun while shutting his eyes. The aroma of fire and ash that held itself in the air, which smelled awful, but it was a great sense to him. Liberation, true freedom from the command of Dr. Gero. Better yet, it meant he was going to be able to reengage in his fun, especially once they dealt with Piccolo.
Once the Namek was done, he was going to take a chunk of metal out of Dr. Gero and Dr. Rossa as well. They were all going to pay for not playing to the rules. Thirteen and 15 would get their dues too. This was what it felt like to be on top of the world-
Opening his eyes, he felt his smile only expanding. It was time to help 16-
Optics detected something in the distance, hanging in front of the sun? Squinting, he let his optics narrow in, zooming and downplaying the glow of the sun. As soon as he did, he noticed there was a faint blue and purple glow to the corona of the sun.
What… is that?
"Eighteen, do you see that?" he asked.
Turning her own attention upwards, she seemed unbothered.
"No, what is it?"
Scripts began running behind his program as 17 felt his teeth almost clench. There was no way it was what was now digging into his back of his mind. There was no way for the target to escape. Maybe it was the fabled thing eating Androids that Piccolo had mentioned to try to get out of his fight-
Wait… … what about that thing Lade described?
"Hey champ."
The words seemed to come from behind him. Turning his head back, 17 paused, seeing what appeared to be… … … nothing.
"You missed."
When the words came back again, it came from behind again… until he realized it was coming from the back of his mind!?
SHIT!
Turning his eyes up once more, he felt himself freeze when he realized what was happening.
"Cataclysmic, Kamehame-HA!"
The dull voices screamed in unison in the distance before the light of the sun evaporated. By the time he fully realized what happened, the purple-blue light was already upon him. It burned. It seared.It shoved everything back. Every atom in his body felt like it was being pushed into a fire.
"AHHHHHHH!"
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Piccolo:
Higher.
That was where the battle had taken them. Higher and higher into the air with every pass. Blows were exchanged and then broken away. The real problem was-
A violent strike came in as 16 charged him through the sky once more, crashing into him like a bull with the full weight of his body. Ramping up his demon-ken to its next level, Piccolo still ate the punch the titan had thrown at him. He could hear the press-like sound of its arm as the full weight of the blow landed on him. His face contorted, but he thrust his own ki as a counterbalance, not allowing himself to be thrown back, giving back as good as he got as he slammed his fist into the machine's midsection, the pang the metal made was enough to give him confidence in his approach. Only it didn't move the giant's posture, as the machine didn't feel pain. Another punch landed on Piccolo in response, driving into his gut. Unable to hold back, he gagged in response, seeing the next overhand strike coming from the Android, this one intent on flattening him seemingly. Throwing his own hand up to intercept, he caught the giant fist in his own.
Impassive 'eyes' stared back at him, one still wearing the guise of flesh and blood. It didn't even address that he'd caught its hand at first. The sound of the gears and pressure system in the arm trying to overwhelm his own strength intensified as Piccolo drove his own fist forward. Both arms started to tremble as the test of strength started. Raising his other hand, the machine threw another punch, which Piccolo caught with his other hand. Locked together, arm for arm, the two bodies just hung in the sky before Piccolo's aura raged ever more violently around him.
"You can still stop this," he reminded, the aura around him burning ever more brightly. "You're putting the whole planet in danger!"
It felt impossible to not think of the machine as having its own… soul, in a way, not just after the clearing, but now. Its eyes flashed with determination and anger even as Piccolo felt its arms slowly starting to give way, it was starting to buckle. He was burning through ki, but it was going to come to a conclusion, and soon. Throwing back 16's arms, Piccolo's power multiplied once more, pushing himself as far as he could, past x6, into x7. The air around them became almost a plasma for heartbeat and a wall of pressure formed around him before he drove his fist once more into 16's body. This time, even if no pain was present on its face, it's entire body rumbled, before launching backwards.
Even as the giant was sent flying back, Piccolo was already on him, landing another hard, clear punch to the machine's head. Blood spat out of its still human-side of its face as he felt metal dent beneath his fist. A bubble of energy rolled through the air as it was disrupted from the sheer force of the hit as 16 was sent flying back faster and farther. Rolling through the air as Piccolo burst after him, knowing this was his time to finish this, he closed in once more. Appearing above the artificial person, he drove both his hands down in an axe-handle smash, the collision of which sent the body flailing down. It sounded like a car-crash when he hit, before the thunder of the strike exploded through the air.
Green energy warped around him before Piccolo dove straight down towards the descending body. His speed only gathered as he felt his muscles starting to fatigue a way he'd not felt since he'd fought Frieza.
Just a little longer, hold together. We're almost there.
The energy may have burned around him, but he could fade at any second.
Closing in once more, he struck trough again, both his legs crashing into 16's chest. The machine's body broke finally beneath his attack, hearing pieces coming loose inside of it as the power of the diving kick catching the big-one in the air sent it on its final journey to the ground. The colossus hit the ground, hard. The plum of dust and smoke from the impact-site didn't leave him with a great sense of accomplishment in this instance. Beating this thing, destroying it, felt criminal in its own way. The truth was, as Piccolo knew it, was that this thing wouldn't stop until Son was dead, and that meant he couldn't do what Goku would want in this case. He'd tried that too many times with these machines.
Decreasing his power output immediately Piccolo descended to the ground, still using his natural ki to disperse the particles in the air, showing him the broken form of the big-man laying in the crater. It was trying to get up, with the determination of something programmed to kill.
Walking to its resting place, Piccolo stopped just above where the machine was. Looking down at it, he almost hesitated to point his hand out to finish the job.
"You put up at a good fight, Android, but this is over. You're not going to finish your task."
When the machine looked up at him, just as ki formed in Piccolo's own hand, he noticed it looking around them once again at the nature that surrounded them. Sadly, it was going to be a bit of a bigger blast to put this guy down for good, but he was going to do what he could to keep the collateral to a minimum.
"You have shown you are a better person than my files indicated," Sixteen said after a moment. "But I will not allow you to stop me."
Piccolo's energy surged in his palm before 16's body jumped into the air, moving faster than anticipated. He heard pieces locking back into place. Eyes flashed with surprise as the hulk threw its weight into him, dispersing his attack before he felt its fist slam into his face, nose and mouth first. Hie teeth slammed together and his nose ejected blood almost immediately. Light filled the air as Piccolo staggered back, looking up only to see 16 pointing one hand at him.
"Rocket Punch!"
The sounds of rockets bursting forward caught him off guard before the fist collided with his head straight on. The worst became filled with a ringing sound as he felt weightless a moment later. Everything felt fuzzy, though there was a dull sense that perhaps half his face had been caved in. Namekian regenerative powers began to repair damaged tissues, even as he fell back, trying to piece the right side of his face back together. When he hit the ground, he didn't know how far he'd travelled, or for a second, even where he was.
Where… did that come from?
Managing to pick himself up, he heard a resonating sound nearby, though he was still too disoriented to fully grasp anything beyond direction.
"I am sorry," a familiar voice said as Piccolo's face healed complete and his senses returned.
Standing 10 metres away, he saw the large figure's other arm detach before he thrust both arms forward.
"Hell's Flash!"
The world in front of him turned into a hellish picture of destruction as the power was unleashed. The energy wave was immense and Piccolo knew he was too close to dodge. That meant only one thing was an option, which was to resist. Throwing all of his power forward, driving himself to 6 times his normal strength, Piccolo's aura collided with the beam. Energy scorched off in a thousand directions as the flow of energy roared into him. His feet, once firm, dropped down as he felt himself almost being overwhelmed immediately. His hands burned even with the protection of his aura as he peered through the energy towards his attacker, the one he needed to stop at all costs.
Everyone is counting on me. If I can stop this one. I can get back there and stop the others.
Pushing his knees back up, bringing himself to his full stance once more, Piccolo drive himself to the next level. Muscles bulged as his body became unstable now at the exertion of driving to 7 again. The beam flexed around his aura now as he took a step forward into the blast, trying to gain control of it as the stream continued to wash over him, only for the intensity to seemingly rise as the machine which fired it roared back at him. It was almost enough to drive him back to his knees, but he stood firm. The only problem was, he knew he was running out of time. His own energy reserves were now being taxed greater than before.
Demon-ken, times 8!
His body almost tore itself apart as Piccolo's throat restricted a pained scream, instead focusing it into his determination to get through this. Energy coursed over his field, but now he could sense his own pushing back enough to give him the distance he needed. Twisting his hands down, he 'grabbed' the energy wave at its base, tilting it up gradually before wrenching the attack upwards. The Hell's Flash current of energy ripped upwards, burning through the air with an intensity he'd never seen until this point, shooting past him and straight into the clouds, before being launched into space itself.
The energy around his body burned so brightly he could almost feel it burning him alive. This was what Goku had gone thought every time he pushed his own technique too far. Even Namekian physiology had its limits, and that was on display for him now. Just trying to hold on and keep his body together felt like a gargantuan task.
There was one last thing to do at this level of power however. When he stared down to the machine ahead of him, he could see even on the machine's face there was a look of being stunned. Locking his index and middle finger together, Piccolo pointed his digits straight towards the Android, honing his energy. A corkscrew lance of energy burst out a second later, ripping through the giant's arm, shredding it from his body, before another Beam Cannon fired, puncturing through the machine's torso. When he fired one more time in rapid succession, even as the giant was falling, Piccolo's target struck near where he'd been aiming, sheering through the top of its robotic portion of its head.
Unable to hold on anymore, Piccolo's ki plummeted. His energy levels dipped dramatically as he held himself in place for several seconds. Smoke still steamed off his body as his energy field dropped. Unironically, smoke also wisped into the air from the fallen body of the machine that had forced him to almost burn his body out. Taking careful steps at first, Piccolo managed to make his way towards the downed machine.
It was missing one eye now, its body was trying to operate, but sparks came from the holes in its form. He wasn't a technician of any sort, but Piccolo knew once machines lost vital components then tended to stop functioning, just like people. It looked back at him with a resignation, perhaps even a sense of failure.
Calling this thing a machine made it sound… less, than what it was.
"You didn't give me much of a choice," Piccolo said carefully.
"True," it responded back, before giving him a genuine, warm smile. "Thank you."
"For what?" Piccolo asked.
"You could have cancelled out my attack before you exerted more effort. You threw it into the sky, where it would do the last damage. You saved this place around us."
The wind gently brushed past them as Piccolo looked around to the trees that surrounded them. It was peaceful here. The serenity of nature was all around them, and the brutality of nature was in front of him.
"The other Androids… please, do not let them come to harm. They are my friends. Do not let… Dr. Gero… make the mistakes… that brought all of this… he…re…"
The machine's light faded as its power slowly failed. It was strange to hear it say the final words, almost like it was pleading for him to spare its family.
It's not a machine. This was alive.
Sensing the power levels now seemingly an eternity away, Piccolo prepared to move. He prepared himself to help make the right decisions that would need to be made when he got there. Only, he sensed another power… a huge power, emerge.
"Hello, Piccolo."
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Author's Notes:
Deploying the chapter, a bit early without completing the 17 and 18 portions of the fight, felt necessary just because it felt like the right cut-off for the chapter. It's just a matter of pacing, especially with so many fights in the immediate horizon. Normally I'm all for the one, giant, super post battle, but it just won't work for The Catalyst in this case. This chapter ended up focusing on Piccolo a bit more than I originally intended too, but he and 16's fight just ended up being really compelling to me to write, lol.
Fear not, Goku, Turles, 17, and 18 are going to have something much closer to a conclusion to their fight than one imagines. I like fights to have winners, and not be draws. Right now, Goku and Turles have a pretty huge advantage, and that will have lasting consequences on how events play out. But fear not, Chapter 108 is gonna be a lot of fun.
Chapter 108 has a name that seems fitting… Power Play.
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Reviews:
Herraidous: Answered by PM.
MekhiIsTheBestInTheWholeWorld: Answered by PM.
Jason9000: Answered by PM.
Thomas-The-TMC: Answered by PM.
Blades of Fury: Answered by PM.
Felon GT: Answered by PM.
Guest1: Krillin and Tien have roles to play over the next chapters. Krillin's role in the story is expected to rise too. Just a lot of characters to juggle. Right now, all the programming and grudges kept things in a bad place… too many scores to settle by too many people. But don't worry. Cell is great at settling scores :P
AngryShadow04: Answered by PM.
Super Mystic Gohan: Answered by PM.
TheItchyCocoon: Answered by PM.
Guest2: We're going to see Raditz and 22's involvement soon as well. Chapter 108/109 I suspect. Big. Things. Are. Happening. The Plot is moving! Lol.
DarkFalconZ: Answered by PM.
Luke: Keep people busy? This is one of my stories. Fighters win or lose god damn it. Sometimes they die, sometimes they are grievously injured. There is plenty of terribleness that's gonna go down, I promise, lol.
Guesst: He is! And he got some time to shine this chapter too. :)
Guest3: Telepathy + precognition is 100% cheating, lol. Goku and Turles are playing on Easy Mode XD
Kacarrot: Answered by PM.
Silas: Nope! It's really just the combination of their personalities. Goku just gets more obnoxious when combined with Turles :\ lol
The Rocha: Answered by PM.