I literally just got back from seeing DBS Super Hero. It's amazing. Go see it. Piccolo's the main character and it was everything I wanted it to be. Also, he and Bulma interact a lot, which made me happy.
Okay, onto the story.
The next morning, Trunks was suiting up to go down to Gero's lab. He was dressed in one of his grandfather's work jumpsuits. It fit loosely around him and the legs were too short, but it would get the job done. If there was any dangerous equipment lying around, he needed to be properly outfitted for it. A toolbelt was around his waist, with a pocket of empty capsules in it, in case they found something interesting enough to take with them.
When his mother told him the good news, he was ecstatic. He had completely forgotten about that goal, too focused on getting stronger. Even if Gero was really dead, they needed to destroy the rest of his creations. Lord help them if another android came crawling out of there.
He tightened the belt around his waist, before heading out the door. His mother and Piccolo were talking outside.
"You sure you don't wanna come with," she asked. "We could use the extra pair of eyes."
"You'll manage. Just make sure you get back here in one piece, kid."
She laughed, running her fingers through her hair. "I'll sure try!"
As Trunks approached them, they looked over at him. His mother raised a hand to her chest and gasped. She walked up to him and adjusted the collar of his jumpsuit.
A sad smile came onto her face. "You look so much like him." Trunks frowned. He hated seeing his mom like this. When he tried to hug her, she stepped back, putting her hands up and shaking her head. "It's fine, sweetheart. Do you have the capsules?"
He patted his pocket. "Sure do."
"If anything gets overwhelming," Piccolo said, "both of you need to come back. This isn't worth either of you getting hurt." He looked straight at Trunks as he said that last sentence.
He nodded. "We will."
She slung a bag over her shoulder. "Let's head out. The sooner we get this over with, the better. We'll be back by sunset." And with those parting words, the duo powered up and flew away - his mother leading the way while he followed.
They flew for hours until she signalled for him to stop. Once they did, Trunks found himself by a large cliffside. Below, many jagged rocks stuck up from the ground. The air was freezing cold, with harsh winds blowing against them. Trunks wished he had brought a coat with him.
"Where are we," he asked as he rubbed his arms for warmth.
"We're about," her sentence trailed off, as she did the math in her head, "fifty kilometers away from North City. I read that Gero's old lab is somewhere in these highlands."
"You really think so?"
"If those old journals are true." She looked up and down at the cliffside. "It should be in some kind of cave. If you find it first, power up and I'll come to you. If I find it first, I'll throw something in the air to get your attention. Then, you come and find me. Got it?"
He nodded. "Okay, mom."
They split up to look around the place. Trunks flew against the cliffside searching up and down for caves. When he came across one, he went in to get a closer look. But all of them were just regular-looking caves - no sign of a lab to be found. At the rate they were going, it could take months to find it. It could be absolutely anywhere.
His feet landed on a plateau. A harsh wind blew against his back, making him shiver. He needed to focus. For all they knew, the androids were lying about Gero's fate, and only did it to throw them off of his trail. He could still be building more androids or be trying to get his mom. They needed to put an end to his reign of misery once and for all.
He descended down the face of the cliff, stopping when he saw another cave. He touched down on the cliffside, carefully walking inside and ducking his head beneath the stalactites. Then, he saw it - a metal door frame. It glistening against the sunlight, the space inside of them shrouded in darkness. He quickly raised his energy and in moments his mother flew up and entered behind him.
Before she could ask him about what he found, she saw the frame. "Jackpot," she exclaimed. She lit up a ball of energy in her hands, letting it float freely next to her. "Let's head in!"
When they stepped through the door frame, the ball of energy lit up the room. It was clearly a lab, but it was in complete disarray. Papers were all over, broken furniture sat in piles in the middle of the floor, and the computer monitors were shattered. Glass crunched against the souls of their shoes and every object was covered in a layer of dust. Trunks ran his hand against a broken desk, before wiping the dust on his jumpsuit.
When he looked against the wall, he saw two empty pods sitting against it. They looked like something straight out of an old sci-fi movie - like something astronauts would rest in during space travel. When he leaned in to get a closer look, he could make out roman numerals engraved in both of them. One of them read XVII and the other read XVIII. A chill ran up his spine - this was where it all started.
"Hey, come here." His mother was kneeling over a pothole cover, putting her hands underneath it. "Grab onto the other end. I think we can move this thing." Trunks ran over and knelt down in front of her, rolling up his sleeves and grabbing onto the opposite side of the cover. They nodded at each other and carefully lifted it off the ground. It weighed a ton, but they managed to peel it off and throw it against the wall.
Underneath it, there was a ladder leading down the hole. It was so deep that they couldn't see the bottom. She gestured, bringing the ball of light over to them and pushing it down the hole all the way to the bottom. There appeared to be solid ground underneath it, with no rubble or debris lying on it. She jumped through it and floated towards the ground, with him following close behind.
This room appeared to be some kind of hidden bunker underneath the lab. Unlike the top floor, the walls were not padded with metal siding. A large machine sat in the middle of the room, with a glass dome on top filled with wires. Wires and cables stuck out from the bottom and sides, leading to other places in the room. It looked like it supplied power to the rest of the lab. Maybe this was a back-up, in case the top floor was destroyed.
Trunks looked over. "Hey mom - look at this!" They walked over to a workbench, with a chair lying on the ground in front of it.. Sitting on top of it were blueprints. They were detailed plans for the androids. 18's was on the top, 17's was underneath it, and underneath both of them was a third one - for Android 16.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Android 16?! You mean there's another one?! How?!" He dropped the other blueprints to look at it more closely. 16 had a small frame like the other androids. Its features weren't as detailed as the ones for 17 and 18, so he couldn't figure out what it looked like. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to it. Did he ever make the android or was it just a failed experiment?
After looking over the plans, he realized his mother never responded. He looked over his shoulder. Her head was down and she was staring off into space with a sad look in her eyes. The same kind she always had, when she thought about the past.
"Mom?"
She blinked, as if pulled back to the present. Then, she sighed. "Yes, Trunks. There's another android." She paused. "It's me."
He dropped the blueprint, looking even more flabbergasted. "You?!"
She nodded, not looking at him. "Gero took me all those years ago so he could make me into an android. And that's why we had to go into hiding."
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Because I didn't know how. I'm sorry I didn't, but I wasn't sure how to." She shook her head. "But it doesn't matter. What's done is done, and Gero's gone, now."
Trunks frowned. It did matter. His mom had been through even more than he thought possible. She shouldn't have downplayed it or hidden it from him. His hands clenched into fists. It wasn't fair: his mom didn't deserve any of this.
"What on Earth is that?"
His mother's words snapped him out of his thoughts. She was walking towards something emitting an eerie glow. He went over to get a better look. It was a machine filled with a cyan, gel-like liquid, bubbling while it hummed. And floating inside was some kind of tiny organism curled up inside of itself. It had a short tail and no eyes. It looked like some kind of alien fetus.
"What is that thing," Trunks asked.
"I don't know. Whatever it is, we better get rid of it." She jumped back and extended her hand, holding her palm towards it. "On my mark, we fire with everything we've got. We can't leave anything behind."
Trunks nodded and jumped back, holding his palm out like she did. After seconds of waiting, she nodded towards him. Then, they fired, sending a large wave of energy shooting out towards it. The glass shattered into many pieces and the liquid from the machine seeped out onto the floor. The creature was incinerated, engulfed in the bright light and disappeared without a trace.
"Let's deal with the rest of this place, too. Think you're up for it?" She looked over at him with a smirk.
He grinned. "Let's do it!"
Together, mother and son fired around the room, destroying every last bit of Gero's lab - both the top and bottom floors. Smoke began to engulf the room, as broken circuitry flickered. Finally, they were granted a cathartic retribution. Gero's life work was being destroyed. All of his other monstrosities would be lost forever and he'd never be able to hurt anyone ever again.
One of the explosions triggered a chain reaction. They quickly ran out of the cave, as smoke and flames bellowed behind them. Once they were out, the entire cliffside shook, as the cave came crashing in. When the dust settled, a large pile of rock and rubble stood at its mouth.
Trunks smiled, as he sighed. He was more relieved than he had ever been in his entire life. His body went slack, as he relaxed. He felt good knowing that they finally had closure on Gero. Once the androids were dealt with, it would be all over.
He looked over at his mother. She was staring at the remains with a somber look on her face - her eyes were downcast, her brows were furrowed, and she was frowning. He could only imagine what she was thinking, after everything she had been through. She didn't even look happy or relieved. She just looked sad. If Gero was dead, Trunks hoped he was burning in hell. He was never one to wish that on people, but it was the least he deserved.
After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and exhaled. "At least we've got that done."
"Are we gonna head back home," Trunks asked.
"Not yet." She opened the bag around her shoulders, digging one hand into it. "Since we haven't been able to go out in a while, I thought we might take advantage of that." She pulled out a capsule and hit the button on top. Then, a small basket appeared in her hands. "What do you say?"
He smiled. "Sure!"
She smiled back at him. "I saw a nice meadow on the way - let's head there."