AN: Hey! It's me again! Glad you like it so far. Look guys, I got news… I've started college! Ahhhh! So… I may not get to update as often, but I will update like I usually do, with at least three chapters at a time, so no worries!
Back to the story…
Chapter 14: The Losses Begin
I locked onto Gohan's Ki and came out of the Void near him and Piccolo, who were training in the woods.
"Gohan, we need to get you out of here!"
"Katie, what is it?" Piccolo asked.
"No time to explain, come on, let's get to the Lookout or something, now!"
"Katie-"
I felt 17 and 18 coming, unlike before, I could sense them now because we were… family. My mechanical parts let me sense 17 and 18's Ki, and they were near. I grabbed onto Gohan and Piccolo and teleported the three of us to the roof of an abandoned building in West City. If 17 and 18 found Piccolo but no Gohan, they'd fight Piccolo, and then they'd kill him.
"Katie, explain." It was simple, but Piccolo's point came across clearly.
"Gero is dead, and that means 17 and 18 won't hold back on their killing. I know what they're like, they don't feel anything. Gero programmed them to kill Goku, and with Goku gone now they'll go after his family, and I'm guessing they'll start with the strongest."
"And why would they come after me? You're stronger than me." Gohan stated.
"Yeah, but you're Goku's only son. I'd be next. I promised Goku I'd look after you, and I plan on keeping that promise."
"Touching, really, it was." 17 and 18 landed.
"What! How did you know? How could you have found us so soon?"
"Its simple, sister, you Sayjins are so predictable. We knew you'd think of Goku's son as our first victim, and we were right. You'd do anything to save him from us, so you'd hide him away."
"Damn you both. I'm not going to let the two of you hurt anyone. The State Army already knows about you."
"At least what you told them." 18 corrected.
"What?"
"You think we'd tell you everything? You're even more of a fool than I thought." She responded.
"22, get out of our way, or we'll kill you too."
"I told you 17, my name is Katie."
"Too bad." 17 shook his head and came at me and we started to fight.
"Piccolo, you have to protect Gohan! Get out of here!"
Our fight was short, but it was hard. I did everything I knew except my Ki attacks to keep 17 near so Piccolo and Gohan could escape. But 18 had other ideas.
"22, we want you back, so we'll hold this city hostage if we have to." 17 stated.
"I won't rejoin you!"
"And would you rather live with the guilt of the deaths of all of these people?"
"We can use the Dragonballs if it comes to that!"
"Oh, you can?" 18 asked. She started to charge at Piccolo.
"Piccolo, get out of there!" I cried.
"No, Piccolo!" Gohan yelled.
18 was too fast for him, and before he had a chance to react, 18's arm was sticking through his chest.
"No! What have you done, 18? How could you!" I screamed. Tears couldn't flow now, no matter how upset I was. One of the drawbacks of being a cyborg.
Piccolo's eyes were blank, and purple blood was oozing out of his chest. 18 removed her hand, and in it was Piccolo's Namekian heart. When she brought her arm out Piccolo fell. His body disappeared.
"Piccolo!" I screamed.
"No! Piccolo!" Gohan fell to his knees screaming, crying in anger and pain. Piccolo was like a second father to Gohan, and to me.
Then something amazing happened. Gohan stopped crying and became too quiet, too still. His energy and Ki were rising rapidly. Then, at last, I understood what had happened. Gohan stood up and faced the androids, his golden hair blowing in the wind and his blue eyes cold as ice.
"You two are in for it now." I sneered.
"You think so? We were built to kill Goku, a Super Sayjin, so this brat is no worry to us." 18 stepped up to face him.
"You're going down, 18. Katie, let's go!" Gohan's eyes were still flowing with tears, but he was determined to fight, to avenge Piccolo. So was I.
Gohan flew at 18 in a rage, his tears flying off his face as he fought her. For a moment 17 and I just watched.
"So, ready to do this, 17?"
"22, why go through with this? You're strong enough to be with us, and once Vegeta is gone we can all fight without guilt."
"So you know I admire Vegeta then, do you? Well, you can shove it, I've got promises to keep and people to protect. You might as well forget I was ever on your side, 17. You told me I was the enemy, remember?"
"So I did." He chuckled, but then it turned into a full-fledged laugh.
I went first, deciding the harder we started out the faster it would end.
"Photon Volley!" I used my left arm attack and he took it full on. He was fine, not even a scratch!
"Are you finished yet? Power Blitz!" his attack knocked me back a few feet, but I held it and pushed it back, finally tossing it upwards where no one would get hurt. "You really do want to protect those people, don't you? The Army that held you hostage and experimented on you, not even listening to your pleas to find us."
"Don't talk ethics to me, 17. Gero did a lot worse to me, and to you. Now all you and 18 want is blood, and it doesn't matter how you get it."
"Katie, you are a fool. Those people don't give a damn about you, so why should you care about them?"
"Goku taught me that there is good in everyone somewhere. You were nice to me once, and so was 18, but all traces of humanity are gone in you. I read Gero's file on the two of you. You were once human, just like he was."
"Yeah, but we wanted to lose our humanity."
"What!"
"Without humanity, we're free to do as we wish. We don't care what the other humans think of us, and we can do anything."
"Then you're past hope. Even Frieza had a trace of humanity."
"And look what happened to him. 18, stop playing with him, we have other things to do."
"No, you won't get away!" I cried, and Gohan tried to charge at 18 again, but she hit him hard in the stomach. He lost hold of SSJ and fell over, unconscious.
I went at 17, and he did the same maneuver as 18, but I kept from losing consciousness.
"We'll be back, 22. You can count on it." 17 said as he and 18 started their way out of the city.
I recovered quickly due to my robotic and Sayjin genes. I went over to Gohan. No, he hadn't lost consciousness after all, he was shaking, he was crying.
"Gohan?"
"Even as a Super Sayjin I couldn't stop them. I let Piccolo down, and I let dad down."
I sat down and held him, comforting him.
"Don't let me ever hear you say something like that again." I didn't say it in a scolding way, but in an encouraging way, "You didn't let anyone down, Gohan. You did your best. There is nothing more I can teach you now. I'm no longer your sensei but your partner. I'll help you avenge Piccolo. I know for a fact that Goku is proud of you."
He stood up on his own, and I couldn't help but smile. He was only ten, but he had grown up so much since I first met him. He had surpassed me.
"We have to get everyone together. It's going to take all of us to stop 17 and 18." Gohan said as he kicked off the ground.
"Yeah, I'll go find Vegeta, Choazu, and Tien. You get to Capsule Corp. and get Krillen and Yamcha."
