Disclaimer: DBZ does not belong to me. I am not making any money off this, etc, therefore it would be completely pointless to sue me over this one little fanfic. Also, to answer a question I've been asked about twenty times, no, I had never, ever read Ender's Game before writing this story. Whatever similarities between this fanfic and OSC's writings are purely coincidental, believe it or not.

Author's Note: Sorry it took me this long to get this chapter out. I'd written it a while ago, but I never got around to editing and posting it on ff.net, gomen nasai to all. Please review! It'll help me write more.

Fire and Ice

Chapter Eight, The Suspicion

Goku, standing there, could easily sense the flare of power as Ender shot after the two androids, could easily see where she went in the city, but couldn't sense the most important thing of all- the androids' power levels.

[Trunks did warn us that the androids didn't have any ki...] He thought, looking over the buildings. It was going to be one hell of a job locating the three of them. If she chose to, Ender could hide her power level so well that none of them could sense it.

[Ender...you're making such a stupid mistake...]

"Gohan!" He said, "I want you to find Yajirobe."

"Dad," Gohan said, "The androids..."

"We'll take care of them. Yajirobe needs help _now_."
Gohan nodded, unwillingly, but he left. Good. He didn't want his son around, dealing with these... things.

"The rest of you." Goku continued, "We need to head down into the city, and split up. If any of us finds the androids, raise your power level so that we can find you. And always keep a lookout for Ender's ki, understood?"
One by one, they agreed and flew over the city, choosing different parts to land in. Goku shook his head, also landing on the ground lightly and giving a cursory glance over the streets around him.

[C'mon Ender. Don't be a fool. You can't fight both of them without our help...]

* * * * *

"Gero." Ender said, finally connecting the familiar looking face before her to a name. The android in front of her nodded as she shook her head. He was famous, had been in several science and technology journals, not to mention all over the Internet. It was natural that she had seen him somewhere.

She looked at him, "What kind of person makes himself into a robot?"

"It's much better than you think." He said, still with that icy smile on his lips, "More strength without having to sacrifice speed. More stamina. Unlimited power. And, you're trapped eternally in your body. You'd stay sixteen forever. How about it?"

"You're offering to change me into an android?"

"Yes."

He took a step toward her, and she stepped back, unwilling to let the distance between Gero and her shorten, then glanced behind her, looking for the other android. He was about twenty feet away from her, not moving.

"Thanks for the offer, but no."

"And why not?"

Gero had the real power in this situation, since he could probably stage an attack on her, but she was quick, she was fast, she'd be able to get away before the fight started and find Goku.

"How do you know me?" She said, changing the topic as she reached out with her
ki to see whether the other android still had moved. It hadn't.

"I don't. At least, I've never met you, but..." He said, watching her face, waiting for some emotion to rise despite the coldness surrounding her. He saw none. "You're an attractive little thing, aren't you? Maybe that's why he chose you out of all those other girls he could've had."

Her whole body went cold for a second, and she hissed, jamming her hands into her pockets so that he wouldn't see that they were shaking. With anger? With fear? "So...you're his..." She didn't understand the feelings running through her head. It had been so long since she'd lost control of her mind like this.

"Yes."

She turned a little to the side, so that he couldn't see the look on her face.

"Though I must admit, those videos I extracted were very entertaining."

He could sense the snap, the ki shooting sky high before she got some control over the rage inside of her. She rose in the air, letting energy waves rise up around her, her power level rising until even the humans in the buildings around her could almost taste that raw energy, crackling in the air.

"You're scared." Gero said, mimicking the voice that still had the power to hurt her, even after so long.

For a second, she couldn't think. She wanted to abandon everything and just attack, just tear that little bastard into...

Then she shot up and away, ignoring Goku's friends, whose ki were coming closer and closer, ignoring Gero's laugh, only hearing his whisper in her mind, of the man who had betrayed her so many years ago, the memory of his face and smile unsoftened by the tides of time.

[Dammit.]

* * * * *

[She must have made a mistake,] Yamcha thought, as he flew over to where he had last sensed Ender's ki, [I don't see them anywhere.] He was expecting something metallic, something gleaming silver and copper under the sun.

The only people standing there were two men, one of them tall and thin, his face withered and gaunt, and the other short and heavy, with the palest skin imaginable, a stark porcelain white. They were dressed oddly, but, then again, he had met all kind of weirdoes.

Yamcha looked at them again, and shivered, realizing that both their eyes were blue. Ice blue. They were the coldest pair of eyes he had ever seen.

[Well, almost the coldest.] He shook his head, remembering slanted pale blue-green eyes that had never shown any emotion, never warmed in a smile. The eyes of a beautiful woman, but one that was not only unattainable, but untouchable.

He continued to scan the streets, looking for any signs of the androids. After a few more minutes, he gave up, conceding that even icy, inhuman Ender was capable of blundering.

Turning around to leave, he came face to face with ice blue eyes, set in a thin, sunken face.

[When did they come up behind me?] Yamcha took a step back, eyes widening in surprise, [Why didn't I sense them?]

Then, the realization. [Oh, damn.]

A long arm snaked up, fast, faster than any normal human could possibly be, especially one as old as this. It curled around his jaw and throat, the bony fingers lifting him off the ground with impossible strength.

[Dammit!] He cursed at himself, struggling to get free. [Yamcha, you idiot! You made a stupid mistake, and you're going to die for it now.]

* * * * *

It was almost surprising how easy it had been to catch the one who called himself Yamcha off guard. The baka was still fighting, still kicking out with his feet, trying to hurt him enough to let him go. Gero squeezed with the hand holding him up, and felt the man cry out, once, in pain.

[Fool. If he just raised his power level, he'd be able to get help faster.] Gero shrugged to himself. He had given up on humans a long time ago. Instead, he ordered the absorber's mechanisms in his hands to open up.

[Well, too late for him now.] Gero almost smiled, feeling the power draining from Yamcha and into his being, the strands of energy combining within him, twisting together to make himself stronger.

As soon as he was sure that there was no more power to be tapped, he placed one hand against the other man's stomach, watching the man's look of helpless fury, but most of all, reveling in the fear in Yamcha's eyes.

[I'm going to enjoy this.]

* * * * *

[Oh God!]

He cried out as the android punched through his abdomen, feeling its hand ripping through his torso. It took a while for him to realize that blood, his blood, was dripping down from his stomach to his feet and down onto the ground. His eyes widened in pain as the android removed his arm, making sure to drag fingers along the edges of broken skin.

Everything seemed to focus and blur out at the same time. He tried to keep his eyes open, but a blackness was overcoming all of his senses, shrouding his mind completely.

[Let me sleep, oh God, I just want to go to sleep...]

* * * * *

He was going to be late with his shipment. Then the manager of the gas station was going to be angry with him and report him to his boss, then his boss would be angry with him, then he would be fired. So far he'd been lucky, but this time...

[How am I supposed to explain?] He wondered to himself, taking a right at breakneck speed. [How am I supposed to tell an old scrooge like Tyson that since my wife died, I have to take care of two toddlers on my own? How am I supposed to say that I can't always make it on time with both the kids and the deliveries?]

Preoccupied with his own thoughts, he didn't notice the men standing in the middle of the road until it was almost too late.

[Damn!]

He slammed on the brakes, and, not thinking, swerved to the right, hard. The tires protested as they slanted, then they fell, turning the trunk on the side and ramming into the gas station.

He took his hands off the steering wheel and stopped for a moment, hands shaking. Was he okay? Yeah. Head was scratched up, though. That was all right. It could've been worse. It could've been much worse.

He only had a few moments of peace before he realized that the collision had certainly started some spark or the other, and that would mean...

...that the huge tank of gas at the back of the truck, not to mention the containers in the station...

"Dammit!" He screamed, undoing his safety belt and jumping out of the car, "Dammit!"

* * * * *

He had felt the rise of someone's ki, maybe Ender's, but he wasn't sure. It was too sudden, and he was too far away. He would have liked to go and check it out, but he couldn't leave until he had found Yajirobe....

Gohan sighed to himself, continuing the scan the wreck in the water, searching for a flicker of orange- the color of Yajirobe's clothes.

A huge smoke cloud rose in the air, clouding the distant sky. He looked up, every nerve in his body suddenly alert, reaching out for that area.

[Yamcha...]

The other man's ki was dangerously faint, fading even as he stood there. Gohan hissed to himself in frustration and forced himself to continue to search for Yajirobe in the wreck left in the sea.

[What's going on?]

* * * * *

[His friends must have arrived...] Gero realized, feeling several other ki levels surrounding him. [No matter. They won't make a move as long as I still have the power to hurt Yamcha.]

He glanced at the man in disgust. [Not that his life is much to bargain with.] Yamcha was very near death. A few more minutes of bleeding, then he would be gone.

He turned a little, to face them, looking over their faces. Tien, Piccolo, Krillan, and, of course, the leader of them all. Goku.

"Let him go." Goku said.

In all of their faces, there was no flicker of recognition.

[They don't know who I am.]

"Your fight should be with me, not Yamcha."

A rise of simulated curiosity almost made a smile flicker on his face. Almost. [How do they know of my programming to destroy Goku?]

"I'm surprised that you knew that I was going to be here." Gero said mildly, "I'm not quite sure how you managed to do that."

Goku had the sense to remain silent.

"Actually..." Gero continued, "You didn't find me. Shiranai did. Then she raised her power level before she ran off."

"Shiranai?" Tien said, "Does he mean..."

"Ender?"

* * * * *

Gero smiled to himself, but didn't let it show on his face. Then he flung Yamcha to the ground, face down in front of them, watching for the rise and fall of the man's chest. There was none.

For a while, all of them stood there. Goku was the first to react.

He was saying something, ordering Krillan to pick up Yamcha and to take him to a safer place, and something else, in a quieter tone of voice.

[Fools. He's dead.]

But no, Yamcha groaned a little as Krillan swung him over his back, and flew off in the air. Gero watched them leave, feeling unreasonably annoyed. But he shook his head at himself mentally and made himself turn back to more important matters.

Goku.

* * * * *

There was nothing more that any of them could do about Yamcha. They would just stay there, and hope that Krillan would be able to reach somewhere safe in time to give Yamcha a senzu bean.

So now, like the others, he turned to their next concern.

"Where's Ender?" Goku said.

The android before him almost smiled. What number was it ... Twenty? "Is that what she goes by now?"

[That's right. It called her Shiranai, didn't it?]

"She flew off. I think I offended her."

Goku recalled the huge blast of energy before the explosion of the gas station that had first led him to realize where the androids were. If that was Ender, then she must have been a helluva lot more than just 'offended'...

He got into a fighting stance along with Piccolo and Tien, watching the androids approach him, but his mind was on the spectators reckless enough to stay and watch the show. There were already a few scattered crowds beginning to gather some distance away from them.

"We have to draw them away from here," He concluded to the others, "Too many people can get hurt here..."

* * * * *

[So now they're worried about people 'getting hurt', are they...] Gero smiled inwardly as he continued to listen into the conversation, still careful to keep his face blank and expressionless, [Just wait, all of you. Just wait...]

"Yes." He found himself saying, acting on impulse for the first time in his life. Why not? What could someone like Goku possibly do to an android like him? "There are far too many spectators here. They could get in our way."

* * * * *

[Oh Christ. He wouldn't.]

"I will make sure that they do not." Its eyes were changing, beginning to glow.

[He would.]

The first lasers fired from Gero's eyes demolished what was left of the gas station. After a few more well aimed beams, almost all the buildings around them were either falling or burning as golden flames flickered up, darting hungrily from building to building.

* * * * *

Gohan lifted Yajirobe out of the water, ignoring the other man's sputters and coughs as he tried to concentrate. Even from here, he could see how the city seemed to be collapsing upon itself, the larger buildings knocking down the smaller ones.

He frowned. He could sense the energy blasts that were destroying the city, but he couldn't sense who was giving off those energy blasts. Maybe the androids couldn't be detected? That would make sense...

* * * * *

Goku gave a cry of rage and launched himself at Gero.

[Fool.]

He was ready. Waiting for it. Anticipating it, even, as the Saiyan's fist connected solidly. A blow like that would have stunned any of the Z fighters, knocked a human out.

[But I'm not human, am I?]

[Or at least, not anymore.]

He could feel himself being knocked aside, and immediately, the enhanced nerves in his body forced one foot to move instinctively, to keep his balance. His hat, however, fell, and rolled along the pavement beside his feet. As Gero straightened to face Goku, he could feel the numbness on the side of his face. The punch had been harder than he had expected. But still, already the feeling was coming back as the mechanisms within him repaired what little damage was done to his cheek.

[He's going to be tougher than I thought...but he doesn't matter. He's still only Saiyan. Still flesh and bone.]

[Still beatable.]

* * * * *

[He's barely even moved.]

That was the first thought that flashed into Goku's mind as soon as the initial rush from the anger had subsided. What it was replaced by was something remarkably like awe.

And fear.

* * * * *

Bulma sighed in relief as she watched Yamcha begin to breathe again, the huge gap in his abdomen beginning to heal. She had been expecting the worst. The senzu bean's healing properties were stronger than she thought.

Krillan and Gohan were talking about something. Something about the androids.

"Wait a second. You mean the _androids_ did this to him?"

Yamcha opened his mouth to reply.

An explosion, far away but still intimidating, and louder than the ones that had been echoing off the mountain walls all morning long. She whirled around to look, still holding Trunks protectively as she looked out toward the city below. Or rather, what was left of the city. Most of it was just a smoldering pile of ruin.

Yamcha shook his head, "I have no idea how we're ever going to stop them. I hope-" He stopped, because he knew everyone else was thinking the same thing.

[I hope Goku does.]

* * * * *

"Monster." Goku said. Almost immediately, he regretted his words. Acting like a little kid wasn't going to help the situation.

Sure enough, Twenty was already saying some retort. Something along the lines of following Goku's wishes and clearing the area. The little bastard was smiling!

[I'll get them for this...]

* * * * *

Ender had been flying for a while when she felt the explosion at the very edge of her power. Instantly, the cold, mindless anger faded as she looked up at the sun. How much time had passed? Not much. Had Gero already destroyed...
She reached out as far as she could, and found that she could no longer sense the millions of small kis that belonged to the humans living the South City.

[So he's done it.]

[No, not he. It. It's done it. It's probably blown up the whole city by now.]

[Should I head back?]

[No. I'm sure that Goku would think up something to hold the two androids off. He's a fighter. He knows how to handle an enemy or two.]

[So I'm basically useless now. There's nothing I can do to help.]

[Yes there is. I can go back through the gateway to Alec's time and see what the hell is going on there. We had agreed to meet in South City much earlier. Why hasn't he arrived? Of all the times for him to be late...]

[Relax. He and Bulma are probably having some last minute trouble with the time machine or something, and he did tell you he didn't want to go through the gateway. Just relax. They're fine. He's fine.]

[All right then. Forget Alec. He's not a child. He's capable of taking care of himself. I have to know what's happening with Goku and the others.]

She checked the sun again, out of habit, although some sensible part of her mind told her that the exchange in her mind had taken only a few seconds, then turned around and started to head back.

* * * * *

"Leave them out of this." Goku was talking about the people living in South City, "They're perfectly innocent." He was trying to keep the anger from showing in his voice. It wasn't working.

"Well, then." Twenty said, in that distant way of its, "You may lead us to a different place."

Goku was about to say something, before he decided against it. What could he do? Bargain? Make some kind of foolish retort that would result in more retaliation?

There were police sirens in the distance. Goku winced at the sound of them, winced at the human eagerness to be "where the action was" they symbolized. So many years protecting this species. So much he still didn't understand about them. Didn't they ever realize that this sort of danger required power that was beyond them?

[Let's not be here when they arrive.]

Goku powered up grimly.

[Well then, time to go.]

* * * * *

Gohan saw them rising in the air, so far away that they were only beams of light. Three power levels. The strongest one was unmistakable; his father. He would have liked to follow, to soar up after them, but he knew that he couldn't.
He'd be useless there; just another person to worry about.

"Your father's leading them off." Krillan said. Of course. Everyone could see that. They didn't need Krillan to point it out, but he had to say something to fill the tense silence.

"Yes." Gohan finally said.

"He's going to fight them soon."

"Yes."

"No!"

Gohan turned around to look at Yamcha.

Yamcha stood up, "Don't you get it? The androids can drain the energy of anyone they touch! That's why I didn't have the power to heal myself after one of them-"

"And my father doesn't know that." Gohan interjected, already beginning to hover, "Let's go!" Yamcha didn't move.

"Yamcha?"

"I don't think that I should..." He swallowed, hard, remembering searing pain when the android had punched through his stomach, "You know, go with you guys..."

"Yamcha," Krillan started, "You-"

"Forget it." Gohan cut him off, "Look, we don't mind if you don't come. We won't hold it against you, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"In the meantime, my dad's getting out of range. C'mon Krillan. Let's go."

* * * * *

Ender surveyed the wreckage, knowing that she should leave, that with every second, Goku's ki was getting fainter and fainter, and soon she wouldn't be able to find him altogether. But still, she continued to stand there, eyes glued onto the debris before her, like a child who's watching a horror movie and wants to look away, but can't.

[Would this still have happened if I hadn't lost my temper and flew off?]

[Probably. From what I know about Gero, he's a flashy person. Loves to show off. That's why, during his career, he kept on doing demonstration after demonstration for expectant audiences. Even now, he would have wanted to display his powers. He wouldn't mind destroying an entire city to do that.]

[Is this how I'm trying to rationalize my stupidity to myself?]

[He killed off so many people. And I was indirectly responsible for that. If I hadn't run away. If I had waited to see how Goku would handle the situation. If I had at least challenged him and led him off, then this city would still be standing.]

Closing her eyes, she turned her back on the scene, firmly, and pushed off into the air, taking long, deep breaths to soothe the ugly anger in her mind, the involuntary tenseness of her body.

[I really am an idiot.]

* * * * *

[Coward.] Yamcha found himself thinking. [You're just another worthless coward. ]

[Gohan places himself in life-threatening positions all the time for the sake of his father. Why can't you do the same for one of your closest friends?]

[That's easy for him. He never got punched through by an android.]

[No, but Krillan got killed by Frieza, didn't he? Vegeta was murdered by Frieza, wasn't he? Yet, they both went to face Frieza again when he appeared on earth. You didn't see them cowering, did you? And now Krillan is going to stand by Goku, while you're here hiding.]

[I'm not hiding.]

[Then what do you call this?]

[This is different.]

[No it's not.]

"Hey!" Yamcha shouted. The others stopped and waited expectantly, "Wait up for me!"

* * * * *

Goku wasn't really leading them anywhere in particular. He was going due south, because he knew that they were a few abandoned islands where he had trained before, but other than that, he had no idea what to do. He was just stalling.

[Okay...What do I know?]

[Twenty obviously knows Ender. And from the flare of her ki before she ran off, she was extremely upset when she left, probably over something that it said to her.]

[That doesn't help much. Just leaves more questions to be answered.]

[Why did she change her name from Shiranai to Ender? What did the android say to her that got her so mad? How does she know an android?]

[More precisely, how does she know this android? Do the others have any idea what this means? This means that she's somehow connected to the creator of the androids, Gero, or somehow met the android without either destroying it or telling the rest of us.]

[Who knows? Maybe she even helped Gero create the androids.]

[No. I doubt that. Ender's cold, Ender's detached, but I doubt that even Ender would do something that could possibly destroy civilization as we know it.]

[But how do I know that? I barely know the girl. I met her for about twenty minutes three years ago, and I'm already assuming that she's one of the good guys.]

Goku glanced back at the androids following him.

[So odd... They look so _human_ , and yet... The way they talk, they way they move...]

[Stop thinking. You're just making yourself worry. Right now, I have to lead those two...things...to someplace else, where they can't do any more damage. When Ender shows up, that's when everything will start to make a little more sense. That's when we'll know whether she's with us or with them. If she's with us, good. If she's with them...the rest of us will figure something out.]

[Ender, Shiranai, whoever you are, where are you?]

* * * * *

Gero was getting impatient.

Goku had been flying for almost half an hour, and he didn't show any sign of slacking. They were never going to start the battle at the rate that they were going.

[So I'll start it for him.]

"This is far enough." He said, and began to lower himself onto the ground.
Unlike other fights with other enemies, there would be only a few exchange of words, little before-battle bantering, and virtually no trying to intimidate the opponent. Goku didn't try because he knew there'd be no point; Gero was an android, for chrissakes, and Gero didn't try because he knew he wasn't going to fight.

Nineteen was.

Gero wasn't stupid. He wasn't about to attack an opponent he knew almost nothing about. Although his little detectors had been hanging around Goku for years, they hadn't been around when Goku traveled to the Namek planet. Who knows? Maybe Goku had learned something from the people there. Maybe he had acquired some new skill that could only been learned on that planet. So although Gero was sure of his own abilities, he wanted Nineteen to fight Goku first, just to be sure. And if Goku was only as strong as he had anticipated, then he would call Nineteen off and kill Goku himself.

* * * * *

Ender flew, hiding her power level as well as she could at the speed that she was going, but she knew that Goku and the others wouldn't notice. They were too preoccupied with the battle that was about to take place. Anyway, she was still too far away from them to see her, so they wouldn't be trying to sense her, since they wouldn't even know she was there.

[Gero...]

[Nothing's making sense.]

[Alec said that the first thing the androids did when they were released was to kill Gero. But Gero is number Twenty. Gero is an android. ]

[But how can I be so sure about this? Everything I know is from Alec, and he didn't really elaborate, did he? Maybe the androids really did kill Gero, and Twenty is simply an android designed to be like Gero in every way, even to believe that he really is Gero.]

[But why would Gero go through that much trouble to program Twenty to look like him, talk like him, and even act like him? That sort of complexity is almost impossible to program into a mechanical being. No, Twenty is Gero, I'm sure of that.]

She slowed down a little and began to descend.

[Something must have happened. Maybe Alec's time machine changed history more than we anticipated, maybe my gateway altered something by accident, but whatever it is, things are not happening as they should.]

* * * * *

Nobody said anything when Ender landed near them. There was no need. The look on her face was closed, meaning that she wouldn't tell them anything, so there was no point asking.

Cold as ice.