Chapter 14 – Trunks' Desperation
"AAAARGH! Damn you!" screamed Ultimate 17, clutching his eyes and shooting blindly at Goten. Goten had difficulty moving, but he was able to dodge the blasts due to 17's blindness.
"So you can't absorb energy through your eyes, can you, 17?" he called as he flipped backward to avoid a blast.
"Shut the hell up!" yelled 17 again, blasting the ground with a huge beam. A gigantic crater appeared in the ground, as wide as South City had been before it was obliterated. Gohan had had enough.
"All right, 17!" he yelled, turning to face him. "You've had your fun, but you're obviously in no condition to fight. So I think I'll end this right now!" Drawing his fist back, he hurled himself at 17, aiming for the chest. His hand crackled with energy as he brought it home...into 17's outstretched hand. 17 squeezed tight.
"Heh heh heh," he laughed quietly. "That was stupid of you, Son Gohan. I'm the ultimate android, do you think I don't have sensors that tell me when you're close? It's almost a pity to take the energy of such an idiot." Gohan kicked, but 17 caught it with his other hand. "But I'm forgiving. I'll take it anyway." He began to draw out Gohan's energy, his muscle mass slowly increasing again, and the flesh began to rip on other parts of his body, revealing more of his metallic structure.
"I know you're there somewhere, Son Goten," Ultimate 17 said to his surroundings. "If you come too close I'll sense you and kill you, and if you try to blast me I'll absorb it. It looks like I've won this battle!" He laughed again as Gohan grew weaker and weaker. Goten stood on the ground, teeth clenched in anger and frustration. He fell to his knees from despair and fatigue.
Suddenly, he jerked his head up. Had he sensed...? No, thought Goten. The blast completely overwhelmed him! There's no way he could be... But there was no denying the ki he was feeling. It belonged to Trunks. Looking toward the signal, he saw Trunks flying slowly, in a zigzagging pattern, toward him. His sword was straight again, and glowing. He reached Goten and opened his mouth to say something, but Goten held a finger to his lips and gestured at Ultimate 17. He asked in whisper, "How did you survive? What is going on?"
"It's the sword," Trunks whispered back. "I made it years ago, using the same principle of absorption that powers 17 now! Any energy that's fired at it will be absorbed into it and increase its strength! So when 17 blasted me point-blank, the sword took a lot of the hit."
"And how did it get straightened out?" hissed Goten.
"Well, I did have some physical strength left," whispered Trunks, smiling.
"So, are you too much of a coward to even try to save your own brother?" called 17. Gohan's eyes were unfocused and were beginning to close. "I don't blame you. But I'd like a little more excitement." Unexpectedly, he released Gohan, who fell to the ground. "Maybe I'll get some target practice in. Let's see...can I hit his heart if I'm blind?"
Goten flew as close to the ground as possible and snatched up Gohan as he passed. Ultimate 17 seemed not to notice. Trunks joined them, trying not to alert 17 to his presence.
"What are we going to do now?" wondered Trunks. "I was hoping Gohan could give his energy to the sword, but he barely has enough left for himself!"
"T...Trunks..." rasped a voice nearby. They both turned their heads and saw Goku, still managing to hold on to his Super Saiyan 3 form, but unable to move anything. "Use my energy."
"Dad!" Goten exclaimed in a sharp whisper.
"D-do it..." said Goku again. Trunks hesitated, then held up Goku's hand to the sword. The sword began to glow brighter as Goku transformed back into his Base form; smiling contentedly, he lost consciousness.
Trunks held the sword aloft. "Do you think there's enough energy here?" he asked.
"Not enough, the way my dad was in his weakened state," muttered Goten. Then an idea came to him. "Trunks!" he said, pointing to the ground where Gohan had been.
Ultimate 17 was preparing a shot at the ground. Trunks nodded and flew silently over to it, guarding himself with the sword. 17 fired; the beam hit the sword and it gave off a metallic clang.
"WHAT!" yelled 17. "Who's there!"
"Damn!" yelled Trunks as he flew out of the way.
"Trunks!" raged 17, turning wildly around. "You're alive! Well, you're going to pay!" He flew as fast as he could, following the sound of Trunks' movements. He was unbelievably fast; Trunks couldn't keep track of him. He would be killed before long at this rate.
Goten saw he had no other choice. He leaped into the air, high above 17 and Trunks. He cupped his hands at his sides, pouring all his energy into this one attack. He said, quietly, to himself: "KA. ME. HA. ME."
Just as 17 was about to impact Trunks with his overwhelming force, Goten called out, "Trunks! Get this!" Trunks looked up just in time to see Goten throw his hands forward and scream "HAAAAAAAAAA!" Trunks flew upward and out of harm's way, thrusting the sword upward to catch the full force of the Kamehameha. It flowed into the sword, which emitted a blinding flash of light. Ultimate 17 caught the flash on his sensors. He looked up.
"Got you!" he yelled, flying up as fast as he possibly could. Trunks flew downward as well, holding the sword in front of him. "The face, Trunks!" yelled Goten. "Go for his eyes! They're vulnerable to energy!" He collapsed to the ground, his energy spent.
Ultimate 17 and Trunks collided. For one agonizing moment, the sword stood on the brink of the android's face. Then, with a flash and an overwhelming force, it burst through the other end. The energized sword cut straight through 17's head and down his body. Trunks withdrew his sword and looked at what it had done. The two halves of 17's body had a look of shock on them; they began to smoke as blood and circuits escaped them. With a final explosion that threw the exhausted Trunks to the ground, Ultimate Android 17 was destroyed. An hour or two later, Trunks woke up and looked around. He saw the bodies of Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Uub lying around him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the only Senzu he had. After eating it, he picked up the others and carried them over to the island where Krillin and Android 18 lay unconscious. With all of them in his arms (it took some maneuvering), he flew up to Dende's lookout.
Luckily, they were all alive; Dende healed them in no time. "That was quite a battle," said Dende. "The Earth suffered greatly from it. I suppose you'll want to find the Dragonballs now?"
"Yeah," said Trunks, as the others sat up around him.
"Will that work, though?" asked Krillin. "A lot of those people have been revived already. Could they come back again?"
Dende frowned. "I don't know," he said. "It's likely that they couldn't. That may be the price we pay for saving the rest of them." Everyone looked down, thinking. Finally, Goku spoke.
"Well, we may as well try," he said. "Let's go find Bulma and get the Dragon Radar!"
They flew off the lookout. Goku was about to follow them, when he noticed 18 standing alone, looking off into the distance.
"18," he said, approaching her. "I know how you must feel. That was a terrible thing to happen to 17."
18 nodded silently, her eyes glazed with tears. "I know, Goku. It's just that...I'd hoped we were done with evil scientists." A tear fell from her eye and hit the floor of the lookout.
"You know he would have wanted it this way," said Goku softly. "If he had known what was going on."
"Yes," said 18. "I know." Krillin flew back up to where they were. "18, are you..." He caught sight of her face. Goku went to catch up with the others, and left them to talk. Goku and the others arrived at Capsule Corporation, where they found Bulma frantic.
"Bulma? What's wrong?" asked Goku.
"I can't find Vegeta!" she said nervously. "Last time I talked to him, he told me he was going to take a short rest! And when I went to wake him up to help you fight, he was gone! Where could he be!"
"Hmm," said Trunks. "Maybe he went off to train somewhere. He usually trains somewhere on Earth a couple of hours a day."
Bulma' eyes popped. "WHAT!" she yelled. "He told me he got a job!"
Goku suppressed a laugh. Gohan said, "Well, if he's training, we should be able to find out where he is." He searched around for Vegeta's ki, but came up blank. "I can't sense him!" he said. "He must not be using his power!"
"But if he's not training," said Goku. "Then why isn't he here? Where could he have gone?"
"Guys," said Trunks, looking at the Dragon Radar on Bulma's desk. "I think we have bigger problems than that."
They all looked at the Radar. The blips on the screen indicating the location of the Dragonballs were blinking faster than normal. As they watched in confusion, the blinking sped up, until it was almost impossible to see; then, suddenly, there was a cracking sound, and the normal blips were back, trembling slightly on the screen.