Against the Androids (Quarter Time Series #1)
Chapter 2: Confronting the Androids
by Contrail
Disclaimer: Dragonball Z was created by Akira Toriyama. The American translation is done by Funimation. I am not either one of them.
May 12th, 767 - Cilantro City, Amembo Island
It was around midmorning on a beautiful day in early May. The temperature was pleasantly mild, and the only clouds to be seen were puffy and white. Throughout the city, people were going about their daily lives. Down one particular street a pair of visitors walked side by side. One of them, a girl with blonde hair and pale skin looked around with obvious disinterest. The boy beside her, who had black hair and darker skin, seemed more curious about their surroundings. Both of them looked to be in their late teens, and both of them had the same cold blue eyes. Their clothes were not too far out of the ordinary, allowing them to blend in with the other pedestrians easily. There was no outward sign of the incredible destructive power each of them held within.
"I still don't understand why we bothered to come to this dump, Seventeen," the young woman said to her companion.
"I told you before, Eighteen, I wanted to see why Dr. Gero chose this city to attack in hopes of getting the attention of Son Goku," Seventeen replied.
"I don't see why you even care about that. We could have just gone to North City. It was a lot closer to where his lab was and there are just as many disgusting humans there to eliminate as there are here."
"You have no idea what fun is, do you Eighteen? I thought it would be fun to see if Dr. Gero had a particular reason for picking this city to start with."
"Going along with your strange ideas isn't fun, Seventeen, it's annoying. Blowing up some of these pathetic weaklings might be, however." Eighteen smirked evilly at this thought.
Seventeen returned the smirk. "Indeed it would be." Looking around, he spotted a large truck filled with some sort of flammable liquid fuel moving down the street towards them. "That looks like it would make an amusing toy." He calmly stepped out into the street in front of the truck.
"What do you think you're doing, you crazy kid!?!?" The truck's driver honked repeatedly and slowed down, trying not to run over him. Still completely call and wearing that evil smirk, Seventeen reached forward and grabbed the front end of the truck. Easily lifting the truck, he tossed it into a nearby gas station. The resulting explosion showered the area around it with fiery debris and rattled windows on all of the buildings that were close by. Blasting the gas station with an energy blast probably would have been equally effective, but Seventeen found doing it this way to be a lot more fun.
As smoke began to rise from the burning gas station, the pedestrians in the vicinity snapped out of their shock and began to run screaming away from the disaster. "Look, Eighteen, they're providing the perfect environment for a little contest between us. Let's say that whichever one of us kills the most of them before they all run away, wins. How does that sound to you?" He began to gleefully blast the fleeing civilians.
Eighteen rolled her eyes. "You can be so juvenile sometimes, Seventeen." Still, she began to join in the fun of slaughtering the helpless humans after a moment.
The smell of burning gasoline and the sickly-sweet odor of roasted flesh hung heavily in the smoke-laden air as the six warriors set down near where fires burned in the remains of a gas station. The light cast by the flames gave their surroundings a reddish cast as they searched the area for those who caused the explosion. Charred remains that were only sometimes identifiable as having been human surrounded what appeared at first glance to be a pair of human teenagers. But their cold dead eyes and identical cruel smiles revealed their true inhuman nature.
The blonde female fired a small energy blast from one of her hands, striking one last fleeing civilian in the back. The victim's terrified scream as she burned to death caused most of the warriors' expressions to darken with anger. The black-haired male calmly turned to face them. "Look, Eighteen. Some uninvited guests have arrived," he said in a coldly mocking voice.
Eighteen turned to see who her companion was talking about, idly tucking some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Don't they know it's rude to drop by without calling first? Of course, getting their attention was the point of this little exercise, Seventeen. Although I thought it would take much more destruction to get them to show up."
Piccolo calmly asked, "So you're the androids? About time you showed your faces."
Seventeen narrowed his slanted ice-blue eyes at him. "How could you know that my sister and I are androids? You even seem to have expected our arrival here. What do you know of us? Tell me!"
"If you're so tough, why don't you try to make us?" Piccolo responded.
Seventeen smirked. "Why not? It might be fun." A gust of wind fanned the flames behind them higher as all six of Earth's Special Forces took up fighting stances while Seventeen began to calmly walk towards them. Eighteen stayed where she was standing, arms crossed over her chest, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.
Goku turned his head towards Piccolo and said quietly, "There's way too many innocent people around here! We've got to lead these two out of the city."
Seventeen paused. "Yes, I suppose the fragile humans around here might distract you from our fight. Shall we take care of that problem, Eighteen?"
The blonde android smirked back at him. "Gladly." Each of them calmly raised a hand into the air, energy crackling as it gathered in the palms of their hands. As one, they released it, letting it leap out and cut through the air like a knife, shattering building after building. With a slow sweep of their arms, they spread the destruction all around them, every movement accompanied by a fresh cacophony of shattering glass and toppling concrete.
Goku was the first one to break out of his shock at the androids' casual and effortless destruction of the city. With a heartfelt cry he rushed forward, intent on stopping them before they could cause any more harm. His outstretched fist impacted on the side of Seventeen's face, spinning him part of the way around and forcing him to take a couple of steps backwards before he regained his balance. Eighteen paused in her destruction to see how her brother would react.
As Goku slowly returned his fist to his side, Seventeen turned back towards him, gently rubbing his cheek where Goku has struck him. As the Saiyan and the android stared at each other, the other warriors took in the devastation that now surrounded them. Smoke billowed from the burning stumps of buildings that had once reached towards the sky. Shards of glass glittered on the ground, reflecting the firelight, and large chunks of concrete and steel clogged the roads, crushing cars and pedestrians alike. No structure remained untouched as far as any of them could see.
"You monsters!" Goku nearly growled at the androids.
Seventeen raised an eyebrow at Goku's angered glare. "I thought you wanted to fight without distractions. We were merely trying to clear an area to fight in. I suppose all the burning wreckage might get in the way, though."
How could they kill all those people with no more emotion than one would shoo swatting a fly? "Come with me, I'll take you someplace where I can smash you both to bits!"
"I don't care where we fight, just as long as we start fighting soon," Eighteen said, her annoyed expression and bored pose revealing her impatience.
"Well, then, lead us to where you'd rather fight, Son Goku," Seventeen said.
Surprise showed to various degrees on the face of the six warriors defending the Earth. The androids knew who they were? "How did you know Goku's name?" Tien asked.
"We know who all of you are," Seventeen replied with an enigmatic smirk.
The wailing sirens of fire trucks and ambulances could be heard in the distance, drawing ever closer. "We can ask questions later," Goku stated, raising his power level enough to make an aura of white flame to spring up around him. They had to get the androids away from here before they caused anymore damage. "Let's go!" he cried, shooting up into the sky, heading towards the northwest. The androids took off after him, keeping up without any noticeable effort on their part. The remaining five warriors quickly powered up and followed after them.
The crackling of the fires and the wailing of the sirens quickly faded behind them, leaving the rushing of the air past them as they flew the only sound they heard. The world passed beneath them in patches of green and blue and brown. They continued on, following Goku, for perhaps half an hour, passing to the west of South City early on. The longer they continued their silent flight, the more impatient the blonde android appeared to become.
"Do you even know where you're leading us?" Eighteen finally asked Goku, who gave no sign that he even heard her as he continued to fly. She grumbled under her breath a little in annoyance. "Fine. If you're going to be that way about it, this should be good enough. It's out in the middle of nowhere so none of your precious little humans will get hurt when we fight."
Both of the androids stopped flying forwards and began to slowly descend to the ground. The other warriors followed them, most of them looking around cautiously at the location the androids had chosen to fight in. Piccolo in particular wondered why they had chosen that specific spot. They had set down on one of the few large flat areas of this region's generally rough terrain. All around the edges of the area were rocky outcroppings. There were many places one of the androids could hide within them, and without being able to sense their energy they'd never be able to spot them until it was too late.
In a low voice that nonetheless carried to the entire group, Piccolo said, "We mustn't underestimate them, you guys. They chose this place for its strategic value."
The slightest of nods is all the acknowledgment Goku gave to Piccolo's statement. His attention was almost completely focused on the androids. "Before we get this little show started, I want to know how you knew our names."
"Why should we bother to tell you?" Eighteen snorted. "It won't matter much once you're dead."
"Hold on, sister," Seventeen said as he placed a hand on one of Eighteen's arms, provoking a glare from her. "I think killing them would be more fun if they knew why we were doing it."
Pulling her arm away from Seventeen's grasp, she snapped, "Fine! If you want to explain things to them, go ahead. Just let me know when the fighting starts so I can start paying attention again." She strode a few paces away from him and sat down on a rock, facing away from everyone.
Turning back to address Goku, Seventeen began his explanation. "Dr. Gero, the scientist who created us, spent years gathering information about you, your abilities, your allies, and your enemies. When he was making us to defeat you, he made sure we knew about everyone that might get in our way. He wanted your destruction of the Red Ribbon Army to be avenged by your death."
"This is just a grudge?" Goku asked.
"Not really," Seventeen replied. "We don't care about what Gero made us for, we just want to have some fun. The only reason we've followed his plans as much as we have was to get a chance to fight you. Beating you into the ground will be a better test of our abilities than wrecking that city was. After all, you have to beat the best to prove that you're the best. Not that that should be difficult given Gero's projections of what your current abilities are." He smirked at Goku.
"I see," Goku replied, frowning. All that destruction just because the two androids were bored... "So did Dr. Gero spy on me during the fight on Namek as well?"
"No, he thought he had enough information to predict how much your power would increase by then. Even if your power greatly exceeds his predictions, I should still be more than powerful enough to kill you."
"I guess we'll just have to find out if that's true or not," Goku said with a hint of a smile. It fades as he begins to concentrate on making the change into a Super Saiyan. Muscles expand in size as they increase in strength, and the sheer power he evokes makes the folds of his clothing ripple as his hair begins to rise upwards and stiffen. His eyes flicker between black and teal before settling on teal, and with a shout an aura of golden flame surrounds him as his hair turns gold, completing the transition.
Seventeen quietly observed Goku's transformation. He was not equipped with the ability to detect the strength of his opponents, but the flaring aura and physical changes made it obvious that Goku had increased his power in some fashion. Perhaps he had discovered a transformation that did not rely on seeing a full moon like his ability to change into a giant ape? Well, whatever Goku had done, it couldn't have made him stronger than Seventeen.
"Look, sis, he decided he wanted to be a blonde like you," he remarked snidely.
Eighteen, who had turned to watch Goku power up as well, stood up in response to her brother's comment. "It's finally time for us to see how tough the great Son Goku is," she said with a cold smile. "Ready, Seventeen?"
"No, I want to face him by myself," Seventeen replied.
Eighteen shrugged. "Have it your way. At least it'll be more interesting than listening to you talk. But I won't let you have all the fun; If his friends interfere I'll have to step in." She flew to the edge of the tableland and perched on top of one of the outcroppings, where she could watch and be out of the way of the fight.
"Do you agree to face me alone?" Seventeen asked Goku.
Goku nodded. "I'm not going let you have a chance to hurt anymore innocent people." He turned to face the five warriors gathered near him. "Please stay out of this, you guys."
Most of them nodded, but Gohan looked up at him with concern and asked, "Are you sure, Dad? We have no idea how strong they are."
"Yes, I am. Fighting them is the only way to find that out, and it will be better if I'm only fighting one of them while I'm doing that."
Gohan, Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien moved away from the upcoming battle as Goku increased his power even further. The aura around him steadied and he crouched down into a ready stance, eyes locked on Seventeen. "Let's go."
Author's Note
I got the name of the island the androids attack from the Project: Shinonome (www.dbzoa.net /features/projectscript.html) translation of Japanese episode 127 (American episode 112). The city on the island is not named in that translation; The American dub gives a name for the city, but I can't quite figure out what exactly it is. I chose 'Cilantro' as the city's name to follow the spices theme for names of cities the androids attack. If anyone knows the actual name, please let me know.
Also, some of the dialogue used in this chapter is taken from that translation, as opposed coming from the American dub like all the dialog in the last chapter.
I thought I would get to the fight between Seventeen and Goku in this chapter, but it's running a little long already. Ah, well, you'll get to see that in the next chapter.