No! That was all wrong!
The android searched through the computer database, looking for a body that that suited him. So far, none had yet. The energy-absorbing model was no good. Sure it could get stronger, but he would have to take someone else's energy to do it. Plus he could get very weak very fast. And he didn't think that model could stand up against a Super Saiyan.
The everlasting energy models were strong, very strong. But it too had a fault…the strength he had would be fixed. Sure, he could make it stronger than Goku's strongest form. But he knew somehow that Goku would still find a way to get stronger himself and win…much like he knew that somehow, Goku would come out of this. It wasn't as if he didn't have any confidence in his charges, he just knew that if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself, and he felt deep within him that he would end up facing Goku himself.
There was a chiming noise coming from the computer. The android's head fell. He knew who this would be. He pressed a button and answered, "Yes?"
**Is Goku dead yet?**
He knew it. "No, not yet, but I'm working on it."
**And how can you be working on it if you're sitting here talking to me?**
"I have some…friends taking care of it. In fact, I'm watching them work right now. And I can tell you that Goku, along with Gohan, Piccolo and Vegeta are all in dire straits. So not only will you have the man himself dead, you won't have to worry about his friends seeking revenge."
**You mean YOU won't have to worry about his friends.** Damn him. **I have to admit, this sounds good. Looks like we did better with you than I thought. I expect the next time we speak, you will have news of Son Goku's untimely demise.** With that, the line went dead.
Fool. After Goku, it'll be your untimely demise everyone'll be talking about. All he had to do was find the right body…
Vegeta was hurting.
There was no question about it physically. His opponent was strong. He didn't know how he got so powerful, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that the Human was powerful and was beating the life out of him.
But he was also hurting mentally. It was bad enough that Kakarotto, a third class Saiyan with Human upbringing, was stronger than him. It was bad enough that Gohan, an Earth born half-breed was stronger than him. But to have a lowly a lowly Human that was as strong as he was really got to him. The Saiyans were supposed to be the strongest warrior race in the galaxy; and he, as their prince and future king, was supposed to be the best of them all. To have so many people as strong, or stronger then he was, was absolutely infuriating.
Vegeta looked at Yamucha with more distain than he ever showed Goku or any opponent he ever faced. Vegeta had been fighting him all out for who knew how long, and the bastard was barely winded. Vegeta could only guess about Yamucha's condition; he couldn't sense his power. But he knew that his own power was fading. He could only go two more rounds with him, maybe, at the level they had been fighting.
Both were in their fighting stances, watching the other for the next move. There was nothing left of their current surroundings. Everything that had the misfortune of being in their way was incinerated by the power of the two combatants. Fortunately, they had moved far enough from the Capsule Corp. building, so it wouldn't suffer more damage and they were on the outskirts of the city, so it didn't have much more damage done to it either.
Vegeta's eyes captured a slight hint of movement. Yamucha's leg closest to him inched ever so slightly towards him. It looked like Yamucha was ready for that next round. Not one to disappoint, Yamucha charged.
No tricks. No misdirection. Both fighters went at each other and their power exploded when they met. How things have changed for Vegeta. Fighting had always been a sport to him. For so many years, he longed to find worthy challengers to test his prowess against. He found many worthy fighters to battle, but one thing always remained the same; he always won in the end.
That, of course came to a screeching halt when he met Kakarotto. Kakarotto had so much going against him. He was weak, raised in a planet of weaklings. He couldn't even beat Raditz without getting himself killed. And yet, he managed to defeat him, great Prince Vegeta, supposedly the strongest of all Saiyans.
Looking back, and he hated to admit it even to himself, he owed Kakarotto a great debt of gratitude for that loss. It was because of that loss, he became powerful enough to rid himself of a lot of nuisances, especially Dadoria and Zarbon. Vegeta hated them beyond words. Then Kakarotto did the unthinkable; he became a Super Saiyan and defeated Freeza. That was a two-fold debt Vegeta owed him. The first, obviously, for beating Freeza. The second was to give him something to shoot for, to become a Super Saiyan himself.
The sport of fighting became so much more enjoyable when he became a Super Saiyan. While the others fought to protect Earth, that was all that mattered to him; the sport…and of course, proving himself superior to Kakarotto. But somewhere along the line, that changed. Where he was wrapped up in himself before and fighting only to prove how great he was, now, he had a real reason to fight.
Love.
He loved Bulma and he loved Trunks. He finally figured out what Kakarotto had obviously known all along…the fight was grand. You should revel in it in victory or in defeat. But the most important thing wasn't the fight, but what drove you in the fight. Somewhere in his mind, he knew this already, too; hence his sacrifice fighting Majin Buu, but now, it was as if he could see it clearly for the first time. Vegeta didn't even care that Yamucha was after his head. It was the thought of what Yamucha would do to Bulma that fueled him.
Vegeta landed a punch to Yamucha's gut that doubled him over. Bulma was his and he would be damned if he would let anyone lay a hand on her. Vegeta grit his teeth, focused his ki into his hand and launched an uppercut to Yamucha's jaw that sent the Human reeling.
Vegeta looked at his fallen foe and, through the blinding pain, smiled. For the first time in their encounter, Yamucha was hurt.
Yamucha painfully pushed himself to his feet, wiped off the blood that ran down the side of his mouth…and laughed. "Good, very good. You actually managed to hurt me. You fight against death as hard as I knew you would. But that last shot took quite a lot out of you. Even though you can't feel my power, I can feel yours. It's dropping dramatically and, even though my power has dropped off as well, it's still much higher than yours."
"You're lying!" blasted Vegeta. "I don't care how strong you are, you're still just a Human! There's no way you can have more stamina than I do!"
"Don't believe me?" said Yamucha. "I guess you have good reason not too. I could just be messing with your head. However, I can make it so you can feel my power." Yamucha blinked half way and his smile grew broader, "How's that? Still don't believe me?"
It was as if a floodgate had been opened. The power coming from Yamucha was enormous. There was no denying it. Vegeta's eyes went wide and he took a step back. He was right. That last blow did use a lot of his power, which meant at that moment, Yamucha's power surpassed his. It didn't matter though. Vegeta steeled himself and prepared for the fight to continue. The only way Yamucha was going to get to Bulma was over his dead body.
Suddenly, there was an explosion not far away from them. Both men looked towards the blast and found some sort of mechanical device in pieces and engulfed in flames. The next thing they noticed was Piccolo hovering just over their heads. Slowly, he descended from the sky and landed next to Vegeta.
"What are you doing here Piccolo?" growled Vegeta. "Get out of here now! This is my fight!"
"This is a lot bigger than you think," said Piccolo. "For now, I need your help. And to do that, I'm giving you my help and this." Piccolo handed Vegeta a senzu bean.
"What do you take me for?" yelled the Saiyan Prince. "I will not take this thing!"
"Do as you will. But if you die here, now, you won't get your chance to get to the root of the problem, the one that sent him to get you."
Vegeta pondered this for a moment. As much as he wanted Piccolo to take his bean and leave, he would be letting something very important slip through his hands. There was another player in this game and that player seemed to be a puppet master, pulling the Human's strings. Vegeta relented to the idea that it would be better to deal with the king than to waste time with the pawn. He ate the bean, which instantly healed his injuries and replenished his power.
Things suddenly took a turn for the worse for Yamucha. Vegeta was back at full power and he had Piccolo to back him. There was no way that even he could win against those odds in his current condition. "This isn't over," he warned. With that, his power flared to life around him and he flew off.
"He's probably going back to the one who sent him. Let's go!" Vegeta said.
"No."
"What? Why?"
"Like I said, I need your help first. We have to go save Goku and Gohan first."
"But if we lose him now, we won't find where they're hiding out!"
"He would make sure we couldn't follow him. He's already masking his ki again. Besides, we will know where they're hiding soon enough."
Vegeta looked at him, "How?"
"First, we save Goku and Gohan."
Vegeta glared at the Namek, challenging him, but Piccolo didn't back down. "…fine."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
This had to be a nightmare.
Chi Chi sat, dumbfounded, with little Goten in hand, watching the battle in her front yard. Kuririn struck her. It was true what he said…she hadn't exactly treated him like a friend. But…but he never struck her before. And now, he was fighting Goku, who had been his best friend for most of their lives. To top that off, Gohan was fighting against his rich future wife.
And why was Videl fighting against Gohan? Didn't Videl know that she wanted her to get married to Gohan so she could be wealthy…oops…so that they could be happy?
"I don't understand mom," Goten said, "why are they attacking us? I thought they were our friends."
"I wish I knew Goten…" Chi Chi hoped someone would wake her up from the nightmare soon.
Despite Goku's burst of anger against Kuririn for hitting Chi Chi, he still couldn't bring himself to fight him full out. True, he was a Super Saiyan and by all rights should have ground the smaller fighter into dust already, but Goku knew that this Kuririn would be able to take the punishment.
There was still a nagging doubt in Goku's mind that this wasn't the real Kuririn…or, if it were the real Kuririn, then someone had to be controlling him. He wished he had a definite answer. If it were a fake Kuririn he was fighting, then he wouldn't have to hold back. Despite what he did to Chi Chi, Goku couldn't chance hurting his friend, in case the latter were true.
He stole a glance at his son, fighting against what appeared to be the girl he liked. He could tell Gohan was in a similar situation. As strong as Videl was now, Gohan didn't want to hurt her. But was that the real Videl? If they were really who they appeared to be, then why couldn't he feel their ki? That should've been a telltale sign that said 'not real'. However, Goku trusted his instincts and they said hold back.
It was not a good thing to have your thoughts battling inside your head when you were in a battle outside. Goku was reminded of this when Kuririn kicked him in the face, sending him skidding into the earth. He put a hand on his bloodied nose…unquestionably broken. The rage was boiling within him, his, yet untapped, power screaming to be called forth to put an end to this. But the battle within him didn't die, as the question of 'could you live with yourself if you killed your best friend' ran through his head.
It was a moot point anyway.
"Looks like the end of this 'sparring match', buddy." Kuririn raised his hand above his head and called forth his final attack, "KIENZAN!"
As the circular razor of pure energy raced downward, aiming to decapitate him, Goku thought wryly that it looked like he was going to pay another visit to Kaio soon. With the many deaths he had experienced, this would be the first one from a person he considered a friend.
This time, however, death was narrowly averted as the Kienzan was deflected by what looked like the corkscrewing energy that made Piccolo's Makankosappou. Goku looked into the sky hovering high above him was, indeed Piccolo, with Vegeta beside him.
Piccolo landed next to Goku and helped him to his feet. "You okay, Son?"
"Nutin much, jusd a broken dose," Goku said.
"So, you've betrayed us too, have you?" snarled Vegeta. He powered strait into SSJ2 and landed in front of Piccolo and Goku, facing off against Kuririn.
"Begeda! Whad are youb doing?" Goku said through his broken nose.
"I fought that other Human, Yamucha. I wasn't able to match him until I powered up to this level."
Kuririn backpedaled at the appearance of the new arrivals. Even though Piccolo wouldn't be a problem, Vegeta would be able to go toe to toe with him in that form. And all in all, four on two didn't make for good odds.
"Dammit, we lost our advantage. Come on, Videl, we have to leave," shouted Kuririn.
"No! We can still get them!"
"Not like this. With all of them against us, we'd lose in no time. We'll have our time later, but for now, he have to leave!" With that, Kuririn's aura came to life around him and he took off like a rocket.
Videl gave Gohan one last glare and said, "I'll see you again, 'Great Saiyaman'. Count on it." Then she was gone as well.
With the threat gone, all of the warriors powered down. "I woulb still like to dowh what dat was about. Why would dey attack us all ob a sudden? And how dib dey get so powerful?"
"Here, Son." Piccolo gave Goku a senzu been.
"Ah, thank you Piccolo. That's much better."
Gohan walked up to the alien trio, looking more tired than he ever had in his entire life. "Why? Why did she…did they turn on us like that?"
"That's what I'd like to find out," said Vegeta. "You know something, Namek. I want you to tell us now."
"I know less than you think," went Piccolo. "But I'm sure we'll get all of the answers we're looking for once we get back to Capsule Corp."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
In a short amount of time, the Son family and the Briefs family were gathered at Capsule Corp. Goten was put to bed with Trunks, while all of the adults were in Bulma's lab, waiting for their answers from #18. What they got was another cue to wait.
"This is amazing!" Bulma said suddenly.
"What is?" asked Gohan.
"Well, #18 was out earlier to get me a blood sample from Vegeta's fight with Yamucha. There was more of Vegeta's blood everywhere, but she did manage to find a little of Yamucha's." Vegeta growled to himself at the comment. "There seems to be something in his blood…could it be?"
"Nanoprobes," said #18.
"What're nanoprobes?" asked Goku.
"Microscopic robots," Bulma explained. "When they're active, they can do a variety of tasks. Notably, one of the things they do is replicate themselves. But these seem to be dormant."
"That's because these probes in particular cannot function outside of their host bodies," said the android.
"Very fascinating," went Vegeta. "But what does this have to do with anything?"
"They have everything to do with everything," she returned. "There's another android."
"WHAT?"
"That's right," #18 continued. "He kidnapped me, Kuririn, Yamucha and Videl and injected us with these nanoprobes. They did replicate themselves inside of us and together they're acting like a huge transmitter, receiving instructions from the android's main computer. I'm sure you can guess what the instructions are."
"That still doesn't explain how you got so strong, why we can't feel the other's ki, or how you seem to not be affected by these instructions," said Piccolo.
"I don't know why I'm immune," she admitted. "It might be because I'm an android. To answer your other questions, the android has more of your cell samples Dr. Gero used to make Cell. He's using the nanoprobes to mimic the properties of your Saiyan cells. For all intents and purposes, we're Saiyans now too, with as much power as you have and with the ability to grow stronger after every battle. And you can't feel their ki, because the probes are equipped with dampening fields. You won't be able to feel their ki through them."
"How can there be another android?" Goku thought out loud. "We destroyed them all. Trunks and Kuririn destroyed Gero's lab. The Red Ribbon army should be dead."
"The Red Ribbon army may not be flourishing like it once did, but it's far from dead. There are others, inactive members, retirees, members that keep themselves in the shadows all over the world. They haven't tried anything before because they were banking on Dr. Gero to get you. When you died in the fight with Cell, they thought they had won. But they started work again after they saw you fight Majin Buu."
"…so, he didn't attack us because he wanted to…" said Bulma, also thinking out loud. "…he attacked us because he was being controlled by the android…"
Hearing the relief in Bulma's voice, Vegeta growled, "Whatever. The question is what do we do now? I do not feel like sitting around, waiting for them to attack us again."
"I didn't think you would. I'm going to go back to the android's lab. I want you," #18 pointed to the three Saiyan men and Piccolo, "to follow me there. Once I'm inside, I can shut down his main computer. That should get Kuririn and the others back to normal. From there, we should have no trouble taking the android down together."
"Hmm…that sounds like a good idea," said Goku. "I like it."
"Feh. Idiot. You would," spat Vegeta.
Goku looked at him, "What?"
Basically cut from the same mold, Piccolo knew exactly what Vegeta was getting at. "How do we know she's telling the truth? For all we know, this could be what the android's computer is instructing her to do."
Vegeta nodded in agreement. "We'd be giving ourselves to this android."
#18 started for the exit, "Whatever. I didn't have to come to you, you know. I just thought you'd want the chance to get your friends back. Do what you want. I don't care. But I'm going back. I'm not going to leave my husband there with that thing." After saying her peace, she walked out.
Immediately after she stepped through the door, Gohan started after her. "Where are you going Gohan?"
"I'm following #18. I don't care if it's a trap or not. They're our friends and I'm going to do everything in my power to get them back, even if I have to do it alone."
Goku put a hand on his son's shoulder, "You won't be alone son. I'll be right there with you."
Before they could reach the door, Piccolo called to them, "Wait! If you're going, I may as well go too. SOMEONE with a clear head needs to be out there with you."
The Son duo along with Piccolo walked out of the room, leaving Vegeta with Chi Chi and Bulma. The two women glared at him. "What?" he said. Saying nothing, the two women continued to bore a hole into the Saiyan prince with their eyes. Disquieted by the silent female rage directed at him, he cracked, "ALL RIGHT! I'll go! I'd rather face a death trap than you two anyway." Vegeta ran out the door after the other fighters. "This can only end in disaster…"
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