Forcing herself to keep her posture relaxed, Marron warily faced the woman who in another time had borne her. She let go of Chaozu, letting the former emperor hover beside her under his own power. Subtly, she slipped the small bag of senzu from her pocket and pressed it into Chaozu's hand, holding Juuhachi-gou's gaze and hoping she wouldn't notice the action. Luckily, the blonde Jinzouningen's attention seemed to be riveted on her face.
Marron tried to keep the gamut of emotions roiling through her from showing on her face, and she schooled her expression into a mirror of her mother's. On one hand she wanted to throw her arms around the woman, overjoyed to see her mother alive again. Yet on the other hand, she knew this wasn't her mother. This woman was what Trunks had hated and feared…a killer. She'd do well to stay on her guard.
*What do you want to do, Marron-san?* Marron heard the soft voice of Chaozu in her mind. Despite her feelings, she had a mission to accomplish, to warn Trunks not to destroy Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou, she couldn't let herself get distracted.
*Let's go around if we can. If not, you try to get to Trunks-tachi and warn them. I'll distract her*
Slowly, Marron and Chaozu drifted farther apart, trying to slide around the motionless Juuhachi-gou. Juuhachi-gou's eyes tracked her movements, just as Marron suspected they would. Not paying a bit of mind to Chaozu.
"Not Jinzouningen. I'm sure of it now. Who the hell are you then?" Juuhachi-gou asked finally, her eyes narrowing as she moved into Marron's path, blocking her way. Marron took a steady breath, trying to decide how best to handle the situation. Unconsciously, she reached up and tucked a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear. She could see Chaozu still edging farther around Juuhachi-gou, trying to get in the clear and make a break for the east to reach Trunks. Marron made another attempt to go around and again found herself face to face with Juuhachi-gou.
"Please move. I don't want to have to hurt you," Marron said quietly. Never mind that she had never once beaten her mother in a spar, Marron was bluffing for all she was worth. Giving Chaozu an opportunity to get away. Juuhachi-gou folded her arms across her chest and regarded Marron stonily.
"Oh, I'd love to see you try," she said icily. "Now I asked you a question and I expect an answer. Who are you? Why do you look like me?" Marron shifted uncomfortably and said nothing. Juuhachi-gou unfolded her arms and raised them in an all to familiar stance as she hovered before Marron. "I'm not going to ask again. I'll just start beating it out of you," The blonde Jinzouningen told her matter of factly. Marron's eyes again flicked to Chaozu. The little psychic was almost enough in the clear to make a break for it, if only Marron could keep Juuhachi-gou's attention. No problem there, Marron thought to herself, smirking inwardly.
"I could tell you, " Marron said, raising her chin subtly and fixing her other world mother with a similarly icy gaze. "But you'd never believe me."
"Try me."
Marron tilted her head slightly to the side as she regarded the woman in front of her, her heart pulling her in two directions. She ached inside to look at this woman -her mother under different circumstances- so soon after losing her own. She reminded Marron so sharply of how her mother had looked when she was a child; the same razor cut bob, the same style of clothes she wore. She longed to trust the blonde Jinzouningen, to reach out to her. To take the risk that this Juuhachi-gou was more like her own mother, rather than the cold emotionless killing machine of Trunks' time. At her silence, Juuhachi-gou raised a hand and half turned her body, facing her palm toward Chaozu, even as her eyes never left Marron's. She fired a quick blast of energy that barely missed the little emperor. Chaozu hung frozen in the air, afraid to move.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way…" Juuhachi-gou said with a smirk, letting her know she had noticed Chaozu's bid to move around her. "Next time I won't miss."
Oh Trunks…you were right, Marron thought miserably. She's not my mother…she's like the other one.
"Let him go and I will."
"I don't make deals," Juuhachi-gou snapped, her eyebrows drawn down in a frown.
Before Juuhachi-gou could anticipate the move, Marron shot up and away from the Jinzouningen and Chaozu in a burst of speed as she took off toward the east, away from Pepper Town. Kami, I hope this works! She thought desperately, hoping that Juuhachi-gou would take the bait and follow her away from the others to get her answers. When she was several miles away she risked a look back, to see Juuhachi-gou right behind her and closing fast.
The Jinzouningen didn't look pleased.
The world was pain. Every joint, every muscle… He couldn't remember the last time he'd hurt so badly, wanting nothing more than to curl into a ball in the pile of rubble he lay in and let sweet oblivion take him. For a second the world grayed around him, and he forced himself to shake it off. He may wish that he could just lie down and give in to fatigue, to pain, but he would never do it. He was Son Gohan, the son of Son Gokou…he was better than that.
"I'm disappointed I have to admit. I expected better things from you…based on your lineage," The deep mocking voice of Juusan-gou pulled Gohan back from the edge of unconsciousness. The half-Saiyajin teenager bared his teeth at the white haired android and slowly pulled himself out of the crater he'd just formed with his own back.
"What do you know about anything?" Gohan snapped, turning his head to the side to spit out a mouthful of blood. "You're just a hunk of junk waiting to happen."
Juusan-gou sneered, watching patiently as the dark haired teen regained his balance. His orange dogi was ripped and muddy, and he was bleeding in several places. Juusan-gou was especially intrigued to note that the boy was favoring his left arm a bit and his sneer twisted into a smile, malicious and cold.
"What's the matter, boy? That old injury from Brother Cell paining you?" Juusan-gou drawled. Gohan bared his teeth.
"Nothing I can't HANDLE!" he punctuated with a thrust of his right hand. White-hot ki shot forth from his palm and enveloped the half leveled building Juusan-gou had been standing on. Gohan half turned his face away from the flying debris thrown out by the shockwave of his ki collapsing on itself and detonating. He peered through the dust looking for any sign of the android, but saw none. It couldn't be that easy, he thought and stiffened a heartbeat before he heard the low voice speaking in his ear, so close if Juusan-gou had had breath he would have felt it against his neck.
"Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy…" he chided. Ramming his fist into the base of Gohan's spine and sending the teenager flying into the melee of settling dust and debris from his last attack. Gohan slammed face first into a parked car, remarkably untouched by the destruction up until that point, deeply denting the hood and setting off the alarm to shrill stridently, drilling into Gohan's ears. It was the piercing wail that kept him from losing consciousness and he levered himself out of the Gohan shaped dent in the car slowly.
"Gohan!" Gohan swiveled his head up at his name and saw Trunks a short distance away. Just sheathing his sword as he crouched menacingly over the sparking exploded remains of Juuyon-gou. He powered down as he rose gracefully, the foot long gold spikes of his hair returning to lavender as they fell. "Need any help?" Trunks asked him, his eyes never leaving Juusan-gou. Gohan shook his head no. Juusan-gou chuckled nastily.
"I'd take the offer if I were you, boy. Ain't no way you gonna beat me on your own, and you know it," Juusan-gou told him, folding his arms across his broad chest casually.
Gohan's spine stiffened at the insult, the pain eclipsed by rage and he clenched his fists hard enough to crack his knuckles. He could feel it building in him, that same rage he feared, and with it the power. With a scream he let the power go, just enough to transform back into Super Saiyajin. His aura cracked and burned over the many cuts and scrapes on his body -needling him-– just irritating enough to balance his anger and he lowered his head to glare at Juusan-gou with pupiless teal eyes.
Juusan-gou smiled broadly at him. "The brat's starting to get serious," he sneered. Gohan's lips curled in a similar expression.
"I'm not starting. I'm finishing with you," Gohan told him. Juusan-gou made a beckoning motion with one hand before refolding his arms.
"Bring it then."
Marron was starting to tire. She couldn't keep flying at near sonic speeds indefinitely, and she'd already flown twice as far away from Pepper Town as she'd come from the Tenka, the whole way sensing Juuhachi-gou was still hot on her heels. How stupid to forget that her mother -no, the Jinzouningen, that woman wasn't her mother-– didn't expend ki to fly. She'd need to think of something else, and fast.
Marron swiped her arm over her sweating brow briefly. She hoped that Chaozu had been able to reach Trunks-tachi in time; otherwise this was going to end up an exercise in futility, a potentially painful one. She risked a look behind her by looking under her arm, like a swimmer would, expecting to see the blonde Jinzouningen breathing down her neck, but the sky behind her was empty.
"Whaaat?" she breathed dumbfounded, the air escaping her lips in a long exhale. She faltered and slowed, twisting in the air to scan the horizon behind her. When had she lost Juuhachi-gou? She barely had time to wonder before motion caught the corner of her eye. A split second later a hand closed around her ankle like a manacle. She didn't even have time to gasp before the world spun crazily and she was swung around by her foot and sent hurtling toward the ground at high speed.
She righted herself in the air so she'd impact feet -rather than head- first, but it was still going to hurt. She couldn't get enough ki under her quick enough to totally cushion the impact and she slammed into the ground with bone-jarring force, burying her legs in the relatively soft soil nearly to her knees.
"Tag. You're it," she heard the dry inflectionless voice of Juuhachi-gou say from above her.
Marron gritted her teeth, levitating herself out of the twin craters of her crash. Her legs throbbed and burned, if she hadn't gotten some ki under her she'd probably be sporting two badly broken legs about now, if not more. Her legs wobbled as she landed lightly on the ground and she nearly went to her knees. Not good, if Juuhachi-gou could hurt her this badly already. In her own defense she had just flown at top speeds nearly halfway around the world, and already had the stuffing beaten out of her by Trunks when they'd sparred that morning. But still, it didn't bode well for her chances of holding her own against the android. She raised her head to look defiantly at the Jinzouningen hovering in the air above her, hands planted on her slender hips as she glared down at Marron, effectively cutting off her escape route if she chose to try to run again.
Slowly, the blonde android lowered herself to the ground, maintaining the same posture as she faced Marron. "Let's try this again," she said in a deceptively neutral tone. But Marron knew her world's Juuhachi-gou to read even the tiniest inflection in her voice, and she could tell…she was angry. Not good. Juuhachi-gou brushed her windblown hair back out of her eyes with an impatient gesture, tucking it behind her ear before continuing. "Who are you?"
Marron bent slightly at the waist, brushing the dirt from her jeans as she fought to keep her composure, her mind racing. She straightened and unconsciously mimicked her mother's gesture, tucking her long blonde hair – so like the other woman's – behind a shell shaped ear. Juuhachi-gou's eyes narrowed as she noted the similarity of their movements.
"I'm Marron," she replied simply.
And then suddenly found herself sprawled on her back in the dirt a few meters away from where she'd just stood. She hadn't even seen Juuhachi-gou move before her fist connected with her jaw, sending her flying. She sat up shakily and rubbed her jaw experimentally, wincing. She was going to be all kinds of colorfully bruised tomorrow, that was for sure…if she lived that long. Taking her time, Marron got back on her feet, not meeting the Jinzouningen's eyes.
"If you want to taste the ground again, then by all means, keep being cute," Juuhachi-gou told her.
Marron wiped away a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. What had she gotten herself into? Juuhachi-gou had only attacked her twice, and not even very seriously either, and she was already in a world of hurt. Her own mother had never hit her that hard when they had sparred, was this Juuhachi-gou just that much stronger? Or had her mother always been holding that much back? Marron's heart pumped frantically. Trunks had been right; the Jinzouningen would show her no mercy when they fought. And despite her confidence in her skills and natural speed, she was no match for them whatsoever.
And she'd purposefully led Juuhachi-gou into a fight away from the only person who could possibly help her. Then again, knowing Trunks' feelings about the Jinzouningen, he'd probably have destroyed Juuhachi-gou on sight, just on principle. She wondered…could she appeal to Juuhachi-gou's softer side? She had to have one in there somewhere, Marron thought; she was after all fundamentally the same person as the Juuhachi-gou that had borne her. It couldn't hurt to try.
"I'm not being cute. My name is Marron, but I'm not from this time. I came in a time machine from twenty-eight years in the future with my…" she hesitated on what to call Trunks. Lover? Friend? Fiancé? "My companion, Trunks. We ended up in this time by accident, I assure you."
Juuhachi-gou walked toward her slowly, arms akimbo as she studied Marron narrowly. "Do I look that stupid?" she asked, each word dropping like a stone into a bucket. Marron raised her hands in a supplicating gesture.
"No! I know it sounds improbable, but please, just hear me out," Marron said. Her words cut off when Juuhachi-gou's hand shot out and grabbed her by the chin, holding her prisoner as Juuhachi-gou studied her closely, her slanted ice blue eyes moving over her face slowly.
"All right, Future Girl," Juuhachi-gou said in a low voice, "explain the resemblance then. Why do you look so much like me, and yet…there's something…not quite the same," The android trailed off, turning Marron's face this way and that. The Jinzouningen's strong fingers dug into the tender part of Marron's jaw where Juuhachi-gou had just punched her, making Marron's teeth clench in pain.
"Well…" Marron started, stalling for all she was worth. "See, that's where things get a little tricky."
"My patience with your little game is not infinite. I don't want to know THAT bad," Juuhachi-gou threatened her, giving her a little shake that to Marron felt like a close cousin to whiplash before letting go of her face. Marron stumbled back, off balance and brought her hand to her jaw. Probing it tenderly. She looked at Juuhachi-gou accusingly, how could this woman be so different? It defied logic…had her mother truly been the exception? And not the rule?
"The reason we look alike is because you are my mother. At least, the Juuhachi-gou of my time was my mother," Marron confessed. Juuhachi-gou looked nonplussed.
"You don't say?" the Jinzouningen replied dryly, cupping her elbows in her hands as she shifted her weight slightly. One hip cocked. "And who, pray tell, might your father be? Another Jinzouningen?" she asked with an ironic smile, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"No, my father was human. He was part of the Z-Warriors and the bravest man I've ever known," Marron said proudly, her chin rising defiantly. Juuhachi-gou stood as still as stone, it was almost as though she had been carved of it. The breeze lifted her razor cut hair and ruffled her sleeves, but her body was motionless, like a snake coiled to strike.
"Name," she demanded, that one word command uttering from her lips without disrupting the stillness of her countenance. Marron swallowed, licking her lips nervously. There was danger ahead; she could sense it, like walking in a minefield.
"My father's name was Kuririn."
Juuhachi-gou exploded into motion, so fast Marron barely had time to register it and no time to evade. "Lies!" Juuhachi-gou spat, her punches raining hard to Marron's midsection and face. Marron blocked some of them, but Juuhachi-gou was so fast! "Liar! My brother put you up to this didn't he?" the blonde android snarled, cocking back her fist to roundhouse punch her otherworld daughter right in her lying face.
Baring her own teeth, Marron caught the punch in both hands, holding Juuhachi-gou's fist captive, hoping to make the other woman listen to her. "I'm not lying!" Marron panted, blood trickling again from the corners of her mouth. "I AM your daughter! Look at me! Take a good long look at me and you'll know I'm telling you the truth. I was born to Kuririn and Juuhachi-gou in 771 A.D., the year after they were married, three years after Cell was destroyed." Marron told her. Juuhachi-gou's lips pulled back from her teeth in a silent snarl. Marron let go of her fist and quickly sprang back to a safer distance, taking a ready stance. She didn't intend to be caught off guard by her mother again.
"This has to be a trick, some sick childish joke Juunana-gou cooked up in that twisted little mind of his. I don't know what hole he dug you up out of, but I'm going to put you back in it. Permanently. Nobody makes a fool of me! To think…me…and that little bald…HUMAN!" Juuhachi-gou ground out through clenched teeth. Her hands fisted and raised. "It's inconceivable!"
"I can prove it…if you'll let me," Marron said quietly. Juuhachi-gou faltered, pulling herself up short, as she'd been about to launch herself at the lying blonde imposter again.
"How?" Juuhachi-gou exhaled.
Her eyes never leaving Juuhachi-gou's, Marron reached into her jacket pocket and took out the capsule with her belongings from the lab. The same container she'd unencapsulated earlier when she showed the picture to Kuririn. "When I showed this to my fath– to Kuririn – yesterday…he had the same reaction," Marron told her, thumbing the trigger and tossing the capsule a short distance away where it exploded. Carefully, Marron moved toward it, treating her mother like a wild and dangerous animal, making no sudden moves. She fished out the picture and held the silver frame out to Juuhachi-gou, who watched her narrowly, but made no move to take it from her. "Go on…" Marron urged.
Slowly, Juuhachi-gou extended her hand and took the photograph from her. Marron watched avidly as the Jinzouningen's eyes fell to the photograph of Marron's family. She said nothing at first, just stared at the image so intently.
"He has hair," Juuhachi-gou said at last, not raising her eyes from her keen study of the photo. Marron smiled slightly.
"He told me once that he grew it just to please you, that you wanted him to do it. He did anything to make you happy," Marron said fondly, unable to keep the love for her late father from her voice. Juuhachi-gou's eyes flicked up to hers briefly before returning to the image.
"You…looked like him."
Marron nodded, "I didn't have much of a nose until I was nearly ten years old. And it wasn't until I hit puberty that I started growing to look more and more like you – I mean - my mother," Marron corrected at Juuhachi-gou's pointed stare.
Juuhachi-gou looked the picture over again before extending her arm and handing the frame back to Marron. Marron took it from her and held it to her chest, folding her arms around the precious memory.
"Do you believe me now?" Marron asked quietly. The silence dragged out between them as Juuhachi-gou watched her, the wind lifting their identical hair to blow across their faces. At the same time they both reached to tuck their hair behind their ears, like looking in a mirror and they both stopped, hands poised. The absurdity of it on top of the stress made Marron giggle uncontrollably. The Jinzouningen simply quirked an eyebrow and completed the motion, before refolding her arms across her chest.
"I'll accept your story…for now," Juuhachi-gou told her. Relief flooded Marron's body and she relaxed at last. Not even picking up on the frostiness of the other woman's voice. Marron turned back to her container, putting the precious photograph back before encapsulating.
"I'm so glad. I was afraid that you wouldn't believe me, that Trunks was going to be right about…well, never mind what Trunks says. Now we can get back to the matter at hand, stopping Trunks-tachi from destroying Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou—" Marron's chatter stopped abruptly as Juuhachi-gou brought the side of her hand down sharply against the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.
Juuhachi-gou looked down coldly at the unconscious woman at her feet, the capsule holding her belongings curled in her loose fingers. Holding her hand out before her, a ball of pinkish white energy formed in her palm. It was more than enough to destroy the deceiver in front of her, all she had to do was let it go. Kill the girl and go beat a confession out of her brother. By the time she was through with him she'd guarantee Juunana-gou wouldn't dare pull a stunt on her like this again.
She scowled as she looked at the young woman's face, almost the mirror of her own. How could Juunana-gou have found such a near copy? Unless… What if the strange young woman was telling the truth? Could she, in some other time have actually had a child? And if she had, could she now kill her own daughter? Conflicted, Juuhachi-gou snapped her fist closed, reabsorbing the energy ball back into her body angrily. There was really only one way to find out the truth.
Bending over, she picked up the girl and slung her limp body over her shoulder. The capsule fell from Marron's lax hand and Juuhachi-gou absently picked it up and tucked it into her own pocket before taking to the air with her prisoner and heading for home.
Back in Pepper Town, Trunks' attention was divided between watching Gohan go on the offensive with Juusan-gou. And watching as Kuririn plagued the diminutive Juugo-gou with his Kienzan attack. He'd made a few improvements on it over the years too Trunks noticed, as he watched the former monk make elaborate arm gestures that turned the lethal energy disks into homing devices the purple skinned android couldn't shake.
Trunks' admiration grew as he watched Kuririn take the battle to the next level. Juugo-gou had no quarter from the now half dozen Kienzan that dogged his every move, and Trunks could see the strategy as Kuririn was cornering the purple-skinned android.
"You've got him now, Kuririn-san!" Trunks shouted in encouragement. Kuririn's response was a wild grin as he drew back his arms and added two more deadly energy disks to the mix. A quick glance in Gohan's direction found the half Saiyajin teenager more than holding his own for the time being.
*Trunks-saaaannn!* A soft gentle voice cried urgently in his mind. Trunks twisted in the direction he felt the insistent call coming from in time to see a glimmer of ki on the horizon as it winked into view. Frowning, Trunks watched as the small form of Chaozu approached, landing beside the demi-Saiyajin lightly. The expression on the former Emperor's face made his heart freeze; it was just this side of panic. Had something happened back at the Tenka?
"Chaozu-san! What is it?" Trunks demanded. Chaozu's eyes frantically scanned the scene in front of him as he tried to catch his breath. He didn't do well in extremely tense situations -he got flustered easily- and after the encounter he and Marron just had with the Jinzouningen, Chaozu was more than flustered. He was terrified for the young blonde who had so bravely led Juuhachi-gou away so that he could escape.
"Marron-san…" Chaozu gasped. Trunks' hands gripped the smaller man's shoulders tightly as he knelt before Chaozu, forcing him to look into his eyes.
"What about Marron? What happened?" Trunks asked urgently. Chaozu's eyes slid away from the intense blue of Trunks' and he caught sight of the scattered remains of Juuyon-gou a short distance away. Seeing the destroyed android forcibly brought the main purpose of his mission back to Chaozu's mind and he got a hold of himself. Meeting Trunks' gaze steadily. Chaozu knew in his heart if he told Trunks about Marron leading the Jinzouningen away that he would just go after her. And they needed him here. *Gomen ne, Marron-san…please be safe.* Chaozu thought briefly and then spoke.
"Marron-san and Bulma-san, they found something strange about Juusan-gou's design. They said not to destroy the other two Jinzouningen," Chaozu told him. Trunks' frown intensified, and Chaozu was suddenly struck by just how much the young man resembled the late Saiyajin prince. Never more than when he was angry.
"What did they find?" Trunks asked, releasing the former Emperor's shoulders and rising. Chaozu nearly vibrated with urgency, wringing his small white hands together tightly.
"They aren't sure yet. But Marron-san…she said she thinks it might be a bomb…a big one."
Juusan-gou was not enjoying himself. Not even a little bit.
When had that annoying half-Saiyajin brat gotten so damned powerful? Where once Juusan-gou had clearly had the advantage, now the dark haired teen was meeting him attack for attack. And in several cases taking command of the battle and putting Juusan-gou on the defensive, something he despised. He was an offensive fighter, it was in his programming, but he also held the will of his creator, and Gero hated to lose.
His sensors ever attuned to what was happening around him, even if his focus was the fight with Gohan, Juusan-gou was all too aware of the plight Juugo-gou was in as the purple skinned android repeatedly evaded destruction by the narrowest of margins. He was also aware of the arrival of a new person to the scene; a small doll like man that his files told him was no real threat.
His attention momentarily diverted, Gohan took full advantage delivering a flurry of lightning fast punches to Juusan-gou's body that left the Jinzouningen no time to process how to counter the attack. His hands could only open and close spasmodically as he turned into the teenager's punching bag.
"For Tenshinhan! For Vegeta! For my mother!" Gohan was snarling into the androids face as he rained hard quick blows to Juusan-gou's torso. The Jinzouningen looked dazed, Gohan had never seen that kind of expression on any of the artificial humans before. He took it to mean the android was weakening, and he drew back his fist, gathering energy for what he hoped would be a killing blow. "This is for Piccolo you—"
Before Gohan could finish the insult and deliver the blow, Juusan-gou's expression sharpened, his ice blue eyes narrowing as he smirked. He brought his hands up to Gohan's chest and with a popping hum a brilliant red ball of energy formed in his palms. Gohan's expression of open-mouthed amazement was almost comical to the Jinzouningen. "Give it a rest, son, willya?" Juusan-gou drawled and let the ball go. Watching with satisfaction as it pushed the dark haired teen away from him. Gohan's scream of fury and defeat was music to his ears as he watched Gohan and the energy ball connect with the ground and explode.
As he hovered in the air, his internals diagnosing and repairing the damage that Gohan had done to him, Juusan-gou watched as the Son boy's friends called his name and rushed to where their friend had met his end. Juusan-gou's smile widened when he saw Gohan's limp form uncovered by the rubble that had fallen in on him. As Juusan-gou watched, the small doll like man crouched by Gohan's head and pulled out a small bag. The big Jinzouningen scoffed, it was too late for medicine, that boy was done for.
Now all he had to do was find Son Goten and destroy him, a trivial task he figured, considering the boy was only five years old. He levitated to the ground slowly, arms folded on his chest. The more powerful of the two fighters still remaining, the one with the long purple hair and the sword, rose slowly from where he had been kneeling beside the prone teenager. The expression of rage on his face reminded Juusan-gou of someone else. The other one, the bald headed monk of Juuhachi-gou's, was right at purple-haired one's side, his expression no less furious than the other's.
"One Son down, one to go," Juusan-gou told the two men glibly.
The metallic shriiing of a sword clearing the scabbard was unnaturally loud in sudden stillness of the afternoon. "Not if I have anything to say about it," the purple haired man said in a low deadly voice.
"Or me," the monk Kuririn chimed in.
"Or me…" Son Gohan said, pulling himself up from where he had been lying as still as death only moments before. "Don't count me out just yet."
Juusan-gou bared his teeth in frustration. These Saiyajin's were tougher to kill than he'd imagined. He'd always thought of Cell as a failure, considering the lengths he'd had to go to destroy Son Gokou. Now he wasn't so sure. They were tougher than cockroaches. He knew that blast should have had more than enough energy to kill the boy, or at least keep him down for quite a while. Now he stood with the other two, good as new. Quickly, Juusan-gou did a scan, looking for Juugo-gou to come and back him up, but the diminutive android was gone.
"If you're looking for your buddy, I just took care of him. Now YOU get to know what it's like to be ganged up on," Kuririn crowed, poking his thumb to his chest. The doll like man and the one with the sword cringed.
"Baka…" the purple haired one hissed under his breath. Kuririn gulped and clapped his hands over his mouth.
"Whoops! Sorry, Trunks…" Kuririn muttered.
Juusan-gou lowered his head a moment, mostly to cover up the exhalant and triumphant grin that had taken over his normally narrow and stern looking countenance. Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou were destroyed, how much more perfect could his day get? He threw back his head and bellowed with laughter, which only made the men in front of him angrier he was sure.
"I'd like to thank you boys for doing me a favor," Juusan-gou told them with nasty grin, his eyes flashing red a moment as the subroutine programmed within him initialized, the failsafe that would ensure that Dr. Gero's vision became a reality. From four locations around the nearby ruins, the CPU's and power cells from the remains of the two destroyed Jinzouningen responded to the same subroutine, tearing themselves free of the wires and connections to rise into the air and speed toward Juusan-gou like they were magnetized.
Trunks took a swing at one of the power cells with his sword as it sailed past his head, close enough to part his hair. The backwash of air blew Trunks' hair into his eyes and he missed slicing the power cell in two by a hairsbreadth. The tip of his sword scored the metal housing of the power cell's end and severed many of wires that trailed behind it like a banner.
"Kusooo…" Trunks snarled, and could only watch helplessly with Kuririn, Gohan, and Chaozu as the four components reached their destination. Juusan-gou held his vest open and to the amazement of the remaining fighters the two power cells aligned themselves with the androids pectoral muscles and seemed to sink into his skin. The two small CPU chips slid into Juusan-gou's temples as though his skin were nothing more than soft butter.
"That's just…perfect," Juusan-gou laughed as the additional components were assimilated, and his final function initialized. Dormant power supplies he hadn't even been aware of activated, flooding his body with so much energy he had to expand his mass to contain it all. His vest shredded itself as he nearly doubled in size. Even as his processors were tied up with his transformation, Juusan-gou still enjoyed the shocked and horrified looks on the faces of the four men before him.
"I think now would be a really good time to leave," Kuririn said worriedly, backing slowly away from the Jinzouningen before him.
Juusan-gou gritted his teeth against the exertion as his body size increased again, his synthetic muscles expanding to a gross parody of anatomy. His hair stood straight on end and stayed that way changing from white to orange, his skin darkening to blue. His transformation was nearly complete. He looked up at the four men before him with his old eyes, moments before the yellow solarized lenses replaced them. His data stream enhanced. He couldn't wait to try out his new upgrades.
The purple haired one called Trunks was looking to be his first volunteer as he stepped forward, that look of murderous fury that reminded Juusan-gou of that pointy haired Saiyajin he'd killed back on his face. With a scream of fury he powered up, his long hair stiffening into yellow white spikes that surrounded his head like a corona as his ki enveloped him in light.
"Trunks-san, no! Remember what Marron-san said!" the small white-faced man called urgently.
"Doesn't matter. It's just another disgusting android," Trunks growled, pushing off the ground as he drew his sword back. Juusan-gou dodged the first downward slash and blasted Trunks in the chest, not even that seriously, but it sent the Super Saiyajin flying back toward his friends who scattered like chickens to get out of the way. He heard the loud crash of Trunks impacting with the remains of several buildings.
"Oh that's gotta hurt. I guess I don't know my own strength," Juusan-gou told them. His voice had deepened to a rough growl that sounded foreign to his own audio receptors. He waited for Trunks to get up and attack him again, but it seemed he'd taken out the Saiyajin with one blast.
"Now would be an even better time to get the hell out of here," Kuririn said.
Juusan-gou grinned at them. With his new power they were no match for him. He could take out Son Gohan and his little brother any time he wanted. Right now what he wanted was to test the full limits of his new capabilities, there was only one fight he was truly looking forward too. This bunch in front of him could wait.
"Run along boys. I'll give you a reprieve for now, since I have other pressing business. But you'd best settle your affairs," Juusan-gou told them pointing at Gohan, "because I'll be coming for you. And your little brother."