[1] A New Threat - Another Android?!

Content originated from dates of: December 30 2013 - August 4 2015; March 8 2017; November 29 2021 - January 2 2022; September 6 - 7 2022; September 30 2022

"Hey, Maudie! What's up?!" Goten greeted on the phone, throwing himself across the love seat in the living room of his mother's house.

Chichi sighed and muttered in the background. She was never a fan of Goten's insistence to play with girls' hearts since he became a middle-teen. Valese was a nice girl and she couldn't see why her son had to move on to the next girl every month or so. Granted, Goten did stick to Valese for a few years (the longest he'd ever followed a single girl) and still talked with her. Chichi just couldn't figure out if the girls were boring for him, or they didn't pose a saiyan challenge for him. Most of the girls didn't have a fighting spirit, which Chichi would consider a good thing; that is, if it made him happy.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were busy," Goten apologized, sitting back upright in the chair.

The girl's voice came through the phone, "It's okay, Goten. I just can't go on a date right now. Besides, weren't you on a date with a brown-haired girl last time we met? I don't want to cause an issue or anything."

Goten smoothly talked, "Oh, Valese? She's just a friend of mine. And when I say date, it doesn't have to be a date-date. We can just hang out as friends, you know?"

In the background, Chichi placed a hand over her face. She didn't understand how he got so good at playing with his words. Chichi felt bad for the poor girl who she already forgot the name of. Goten sugar coated everything to get his way with women.

"I can stop by, if you'd like me to. I don't mind that you're working. Actually, it'd be nice to get out of the house for a while," Goten continued.

"Well, I'm not exactly close to Mount Paozu. I've just arrived at Yorjurk," the girl's voice said.

"That's no problem! I'll see you when I get there!" Goten hung up before the girl could argue. The twenty-one-year-old jolted out of the chair and bolted for the nearest exit. "Bye mom!"

Chichi called back, "Goten! Be careful! Don't distract her while she's working!"

"I won't!" Goten called back as he took to the sky in flight.

The raven-haired young man flew quickly to the distant northern city of Yorjurk. When he arrived, he looked around with his senses to find where the girl he was looking for was. It wasn't long before he walked towards a science convention. That's where he found her loitering outside.

"Surprise!" Goten called to her, making the girl jump out of her skin.

"Oh, Goten! It's you!" she responded happily after she turned around. "That was really fast! Did you use fast travel to get here or are you a secret magician?"

Goten laughed, scratching at his neck, "A magician never reveals his secrets!"

"I suppose you're right!" she giggled.

After their reunion, the girl focused on the convention. Goten cluelessly followed her lead, wondering what kind of work she was doing. He continued to spark conversation, but it seemed like they lasted a minute or two before fizzling out.

Goten stretches exasperated, "That was some cool robot tech. I've seen my fair share of technology back at my best friend's place. Hey, you wanna stop to grab a drink?"

She replied, "Oh? Not really right now, sorry. I have to get this job done soon and I feel like I'm so close."

"What is the job? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well, I don't know. It's kind of complicated to explain."

"I can try my best. I'm all ears."

"Okay, well " she started. The two walked into the center of town, not walking in any specific direction. "It's like a reconnaissance mission. I am supposed to track and report on this underground scientist."

"Underground? Like, an evil scientist?"

"Sort of. I'm trying to figure that out, I guess. I've been tracking him across a few cities already and my most recent trail leads me to believe his lab is somewhere here in Yorjurk. I just have to find that lab."

"Oh! Well, if it's a secret lab you want, you might want to check literally under the ground. All scientists have a basement, especially if they are evil! My mom and brother told me stories about that kind of stuff all the time when I was little."

"Those sound like fun stories."

"Hey, there was this one that created super evil and strong androids. They turned to our side in the end, but the fights sound awesome!"

"A happy ending."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. 18's really happy."

The girl stopped in her tracks, "Did you say 18? Is that a person?"

Goten noticed she stopped and turned on his heels to look at her confused. "Hm? Yeah. 18's a good family friend. She was one of the androids I was talking about."

"You mean those stories are true?"

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"Goten, I think my mission could be connected to those stories! I've been tracking an old scientist without an identity but he has been sited at old military Red Ribbon ruins and reported to be smuggling android parts from old science labs. If you remember enough of those stories, we might be able to figure out what this scientist is doing!"

"Wait, you don't mean someone is making more androids like 18, do you?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking."

Goten placed his pointer on his chin as he thought. He didn't know too much about it, but he remembered his brother telling crazy stories about Cell and how 17 and 18 were absorbed by Cell to create a super-duper strong bio android. He also remembered a part of these stories from his mother about his father as a kid fighting the Red Ribbon Army. Goten remembered that Gohan had mentioned they were related.

Wracking his brain, Goten recalled, "I think my brother once mentioned a Dr. Gero evil lab in North city."

The girl nodded, "Yes, that's where I went first. North city, Papaya Town, Muscle Tower, Red Beach, West city, and now here at Yorjurk."

"West city is when we met, right? What did you find there?"

She blushed slightly, "I, um, wasn't able to find much. I just heard of a sub-lab in Capsule Corp and I wasn't sure if that would be related."

Goten laughed, "Yeah Dr. Briefs likes doing his experiments down in the basement. No evil going on there though. Capsule Corp is fine. Wait, you weren't trying to sneak in, were you Maudie?"

"Well, I… Um," her shoulders slumped and her pointer fingers tapped together.

"There's no need for that. Bulma has an open-door policy. Pretty sure they have guest tours once a month or so, too."

"Now I'm a bit embarrassed. I didn't know… But it's okay. I got what I needed anyway. I heard a rumor and that's what led me here. Someone said a scientist was starting up a project in Yorjurk and could rival the technology of Capsule Corp, taking out the rude bits, and I heard something similar when we were in the convention as well. Someone mentioned the new scientist in town didn't bring his master project because it wasn't quite done yet."

Goten suggested, "We should look around for anything suspicious, then. Hopefully we can find it before this new technology is activated."

She agreed as the two began a search of the minor city. They couldn't find an inkling of a clue until a spontaneous explosion tore down part of the eastern periphery of the city. The two ran to the scene to see what had happened to be met by a cloud of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, a silhouette could be found. A tall and somewhat lanky male body with mixed, obviously robotic, appendages. He turned to face the couple and scanned their profiles. These two were much stronger than the other humans he detected around the nearby city. The android flew in the couple's direction making them both take a defensive stance.

Noting the other taking a fighting stance took each other by surprise. Neither of them told the other that they knew Martial Arts or any form of fighting style. They don't have long to be surprised, however, as the android landed in front of them and a gust of wind and dust pelted their faces. Goten attempted to push Maudie behind him, but she refused to be pushed aside. She was still unsure how trained he was and believed he was just a human as he similarly believed her to be a simple human as well.

"Son Goku… Where is he?" the android demanded of the two in front of him.

"He's not here," Goten responded on edge.

The android's mechanical glass eyes flashed and he responded, "I see. Son Goku does not register to be alive. However, you appear to be 50% Son Goku. These parameters are acceptable."

Maudie looked to Goten, unaware of his apparent connection to the android besides from the stories he told her of, and jumped in front of the man as the android launched forwards. The android punched her defenses, slamming her into Goten's arms to which he picked her up and jumped backwards in order to create distance between them and the angry machine.

The half-saiyan bolted into the city, hoping to lose the android behind as he recalled that 18 could not sense energy. However, this android was different. Any time Goten thought he was able to leave the android in the dust, laser eyes or energy beams would follow. Goten grunted in annoyance at the android's persistence.

"Goten, we should get out of the city. He'll kill civilians," Maudie warned.

"Good point," Goten nodded, strengthening his grip on the brunette before exerting his energy and launching high into the sky, flying out into the woods of the north. As expected, the android followed them.

"Oh! Goten! I didn't know you could manipulate energy!" Maudie gasped as the half-saiyan flew the two at incredible speeds through the woods and avoided attacks from the android.

"I didn't know you knew, either!"

The android continued to follow the couple until they reached a meadow and a blast stopped Goten in his tracks, "Here's far enough, boy!"

~ In the Capsule Corporation Mansion… ~

Bulla loudly complained to one of her school friends on the phone in the large common area the family gathered in often. Bulma sat in a recliner, coffee in hand and newspaper in her other. The radio softly playing in the background. Vegeta walked into the area, intent to grab a fruit from the fruit bowl. He peeled an orange and ate the fruit, standing away from the loud teen.

The radio broke off from its normal music broadcast to a breaking news report. The announcer yelled out a blurb of chaos which the family ignored. Trunks walked into the room to be greeted by the rest of the family and shushed Bulla to her annoyance. Bulma turned up the volume to better listen.

"The military has blocked all entry into the city, Yorjurk. The local authorities reported there were no irregularities. The city's eastern periphery spontaneously blew up. There are still no signs as to what could have caused this catastrophe. Civilians are being evacuated to the western side as we speak… Oh, I just got informed that the source has been found to be a science lab of sorts. Could have been the local scientist with an experiment that went sour. There was a convention that occurred earlier in the day. The situation could be unstable and authorities want to make sure the explosion and fire can be contained. I… Oh, what's this? I've just been told that there seems to be some kind of robot/cyborg spotted through the city. Possibly related to this incident. It's a man but has prosthetic arms and legs. The report states he is wearing a baseball cap, an orange t, and black shorts. There also appears to be some sort of fight breaking out between this cyborg and a young couple…"

"Cyborg?" Bulma questioned, looking to her husband in concern.

Vegeta nods, dropping the peel of his orange in the trash and stuffing the rest of his fruit in his mouth. Finished with his fruit, he grumbles, "Fighting Goten, no doubt; his power has increased. This better not be another of Gero's creations. I'm tired of cleaning up Kakarot's messes."

"Goten's fighting him?" Trunks confirmed, removing his vest in preparation to leave for the fight to come.