mara jade – Um…

mara jade - Um… Totally unintentional! Although when I went back and read it, I saw it, too. Let's just leave it ambiguous for now. J

[insert disclaimer here]

A/N - This fic will probably be going on hiatus after this part. School must come before everything sometimes. L Aside from that, I never had a chance to see the original versions of the Android and Cell Sagas, so we're going with the dub's events. Sorry if that bugs you! And I'm skipping around, too. It IS an AU, after all! This doesn't start where the last chapter left off, so don't think something's missing. I kind of figured that everyone knows what's going on, and I don't particularly want to rewrite the whole saga.

If Tomorrow Never… - Ch. 4 - Arrival

Yamcha cursed his luck. Of course he was the one to find the Androids first. Especially since there was no one else anywhere close. He would have growled in frustration if it weren't for the way the old guy was holding him up.

And the hole in his chest wasn't helping. It was hard to breathe. He held out as long as his body would allow, but it wasn't good enough. Once the energy drain actually started, he lost consciousness quickly, and didn't realize when the others arrived.

***

"Krillin, listen! There's still a chance to save him. Take him back to the cliff and give him one of the senzu beans. Go, now, as fast as you can!"

"I'm on it!" Krillin then growled at the Android before taking his fallen comrade to safety.

Once they reached the cliff, Krillin forced the senzu down Yamcha's throat. Yamcha recovered slowly, but was well enough in time for the explosion that took out most of the island. The two, along with Gohan and Yajirobe, stood shocked at the villians' handiwork.

"Oh, Kami," Yamcha breathed, unable to accept all those people dying. He swallowed before adding, "We should go."

All save Yajirobe agreed. "Into a war zone? You've got to be kidding me! No thanks, no way!" With that he sat down right where he was, unable to go anywhere else since his transportation had been blown up.

Yamcha left, muttering, "Coward," in the general direction of the 'fraidy cat. The others followed him and half-heartedly hoped Yajirobe would be safe by himself.

By the time they found the Z senshi, the battle had been moved to a deserted island nearby. Goku was allowing the others to take on the Androids ahead of him, wanting Vegeta in particular to get some of his frustrations out on something not him. While it was true that Goku was stronger than the Saiya-jin prince, Vegeta had no qualms about fighting dirty and using underhanded tricks, especially when he hadn't slept the night before.

Even thinking about those "fights" made Goku wince, and he forced his mind back to searching for weaknesses in their enemies. Vegeta played with the shorter Android, the one that looked like a doll. Goku disapproved of his tactics but wouldn't step in or say anything unless necessary.

Just then the Android grabbed Vegeta by the wrists. Before Goku even had a chance to move, a voice snarled in his mind, 'Back off, Kakarotto." That stopped him cold. He didn't know Vegeta could do that. Goku thought for a moment on whether he should listen to him and decided things would be ok for a few minutes more. He settled in to watch the show.

***

Vegeta was enjoying his fight. Taunting the imbecile in front of him was a dangerous move, but made things so much more interesting. Finally the Android grabbed his wrists, and Vegeta felt a surge of power from Kakarotto's direction. He also felt the Android stealing some of his power, but that wouldn't last long.

In the heat of the moment, Vegeta used a power he hadn't since his Chikyuu arrival. He forced one single thought into the other Saiya-jin's head. It was a success. Not only did the power die back down, but Kakarotto wore this amusing deer-in-the-headlights expression, too. Mentally, Vegeta grinned at the dopey look.

Just then he decided to end the fight. He knew Kakarotto wouldn't be as easily waylaid the next time he decided to interrupt Vegeta's fun. In a sudden burst of the power he had kept hidden from the Android, he ripped the machine's arms off and tossed them aside.

Vegeta used the stunned silence to finish the villain, blowing the body up and smashing its head. Smirking at his triumph, Vegeta turned to the remaining contraption and thought to himself, 'Hm, smashing things is fun today. Wanna do it again.' Then his smirk grew because he had made a funny. Duh, smashing things was always fun.

But to be fair, he'd give the others a chance. "Anyone else want a shot? If not, I think I'll introduce this guy to some acquaintances in the other dimension." No reason for them to think he was selfish. Not that he wasn't, but… Vegeta paused inwardly. This was a weird mental exchange. Being slammed into that mountain a few minutes ago must have hurt his head a leetle more than he had originally thought. Then he gave a mental shrug, dismissing the thoughts completely. He was having fun. What more mattered?

"Vegeta… Oh, go ahead." Goku knew something was off with Vegeta, but he also knew better than to actually say that. Then the maniacal gleam reentered Vegeta's eyes, and Goku was sorry he hadn't. Sorry for the Android, anyway.

***

"Baka! Stop that! We don't have time for toys." In the darkened room, a slender figure, a girl by the voice, moved quickly toward her goal, hissing at the bulky figure amazed at everything in the chamber.

"What I wouldn't give…" the other figure breathed.

"Quit gawking! Do you have the new code?"

"Of course, highness. Here are the disks." The large creature, male, handed his companion two disks, motioning toward a computer terminal set to the side of the room. He knew she wanted to do this part of the operation herself.

"Oh, I so hope this guy doesn't have any cameras in here." Her voice trailed as she began to hack through the simple security of the system.

"Does it really matter, Ten-chan? We'll destroy everything on our way out."

The girl paused for a moment, face and expression still shadowed. "True. And it's not like we won't be done before he gets back," she lightly laughed. As she waited for the new code to download from the computer to its final destination, she scanned the system's files idly. One caught her eye. "Kuso. Take a look at this."

Her muscular companion returned to gaze at the computer screen. He, too, sounded shocked, "We can't-"

"No, we can't. There's the machine, over there," her tone quiet as she pointed to an ominously glowing cylinder, about 6 meters tall at the other end of the room.

"I'll take care of it." With that, the shadow moved toward the tank. Suddenly the entire cavern was flooded by a brilliant golden-blue light, followed by a loud explosion.

"Never, 'ji-san, let it be said you don't love drama," the girl sighed, settling back in time to see the download finish. "They're ready. We get them some place safe, then I want to check on the fight."

"Hai." The man reached to the side and grabbed a remote. Using the control he activated two of the large pods while his companion opened a third.

Ninmu kanryou.

***

Vegeta felt himself begin to flag as the battle with the Android wore on. He would never admit a weakness, though, so he graciously allowed Kakarotto to "assist" him.

"Oi, Kakarotto, you're looking bored. If you beg, I might allow you to join in on my fight."

Kakarotto wasn't fooled for a second. Grinning, he threw back, "Thanks, Vegeta! I thought you'd never ask!"

"Get in here and fight, kisama, or close your mouth. It's not like I need your help." Vegeta was acting, more than anything else, but he had to keep up appearances.

Before Goku had a chance to join in, all present felt a strong new ki. "Trunks is here!" Piccolo shouted.

'Trunks?!?'­ Vegeta wondered. 'But he's with Kakarotto's mate. Wait, it's that boy again!' Vegeta watched as the boy drew nearer. 'Huh, never noticed how much my son looks like him… Waitasec! I thought he'd been gone this whole time. But why would he and my son look so similar? Unless…' Vegeta's thoughts ended about that time as he noticed Kakarotto nearly faint.

Goku had been thinking thoughts similar to Vegeta's, mostly noticing how much the teen looked like his younger self. Then one other thought struck him: In this boy's world, he had only his mother. How would he react to the truth of this past? How would he deal with the fact that his mother had killed herself? Goku blanched at the questions and stared at the halfling.

And the Android took the opportunity to make an escape.

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A/N - Anyone catch the GW references? *g* I just couldn't resist! Email me if you didn't and want them explained. Also, again to mara jade, yes, I know that this chapter had some more possible references, but… *g*