Humming placidly to himself, King Kai began to replant the potato garden that had been so spectacularly destroyed when the Earthlings arrived on his planet. Just as he finished putting the dibble back up, he heard a slight scuffle outside of his house, then a thunderous crash. Rushing back out, he screamed furiously when he spotted yet ANOTHER crater where his potato garden had been. Spouting obscenities, he sped to the hole, ready to mangle whoever crawled out.
The poor ogre that climbed out was subjected to a barrage of hammers, invectives, and insinuations about his parentage that lasted a full three minutes. By the time the Kai finished his assault, the ogre was cowering in fright. Breathing heavily, the Kai plopped morosely onto the ground.
"Well? Get on with it, you're obviously here for a reason," grumbled King Kai.
The quivering ogre peeked out from his hands, then heaved a sigh of relief. "Sorry, Mr. Kai, sir. King Yemma sent me to warn you that the Hakaishin is on his way here. I didn't expect the gravity here, though...I'm sorry, sir..." He trailed off, his blue face turning interesting shades of purple, orange, and green as he beheld the very Hakaishin he was talking about.
King Kai turned around and screamed again. Champa's face was less than an inch from his, and the expression on it was less than impressed.
"L-Lord Beerus!" screeched the Kai. "Y-you look... different!"
Champa sighed. "I am not Beerus, you oaf. I am his brother, Champa. Now, if you will direct me to someone who can produce some good food, I will be on my way. I need to speak with my brother."
Eager to get this menace off of his planet, the Kai tuned his senses. He was about to point him to Earth, but then thought better of it. *Knowing Goku, he'll try to fight Champa, and that'll spell disaster!* So he retuned his antennae and searched elsewhere.
Finally, he found a planet with suitable cuisine and an extremely polite populace. Without further ado, he sent Champa there, fervently hoping that no one would challenge him.
Vegeta landed outside of the Son home, apprehension attempting to knot in his belly but being thwarted by his discipline. He breathed deeply, then knocked. The door opened almost before he had made contact with it. Son Goku stood there, expression firm, but not aggressive.
"Kakarot. I'd like to speak with you."
Goku studied Vegeta's face, then nodded. The tense moment was interrupted by the loud collision of a pot with Vegeta's head. Chi-Chi's grotesquely smiling face appeared in the doorway, clutching another, heavier pan in her hand. "Goku, I'm happy that you've met someone else who's the same as you, but please remove him from our house before I do so myself," she said calmly.
Despite the complete lack of threat the woman posed to him, Vegeta felt a trickle of apprehension run down his back. He shook his head. "I wish to speak with you as well... Chi-Chi, correct?"
A vein popped out in sharp relief on her forehead. "Yes, that is what my name is. I'm glad you remembered it, now please leave." Her grip tightened audibly on the pan's handle, making the metal creak in protest.
"I've come to apologize." The statement was short and direct. The vein disappeared, and Goku's wife looked up.
Vegeta crossed his arms and heaved a sigh. "I'd like to have the opportunity to speak with you and your family as a unit, and apologize. Kakarot knows that this is not something I have taken lightly. So I ask that you honor my request, or acknowledge that I regret my actions."
The pan lowered to Chi-Chi's side. Warily, like a caged animal, she looked at him, then copied his sigh and closed her eyes. "You can talk with us, but if I don't like what you say, Goku's kicking your ass. Right, honey?" she asked sweetly, tossing a simultaneously flirtatious and venomous glance at Goku, who gulped audibly.
"I don't care for the theatrics between him and you. I want to say my piece and be done with it," Vegeta stated flatly.
By this time, the young half-Saiyan had come out of his room and spotted Vegeta. He froze, remembering how he had died at the hands of this man. However, he sensed something different in his ki. Something...less menacing and more...sad? It was confusing, and much different than the relentless surge of insanity and malicious glee he had felt before. Curiosity overcame his better judgement and he cautiously walked to the door.
Goku ruffled his son's hair when he saw him, smiling warmly. "Hey there, buddy. What's up?" he asked.
"Nothing, Dad. I felt Mr. Vegeta's ki out here and I kinda got a bit worried. What's going on?"
"Vegeta just wanted to talk to us, that's all." Goku hugged his son and motioned for Vegeta to enter the domicile. "Let's talk over dinner, ok? We were just about to eat.
The time had come for Trunks to return to the future. Cradling the larval Cell in his hands, he climbed into the time machine, ready to begin the journey back home. He was sent with a number of devices created by Gero specifically to aid in the reversion of the damage done by the Androids, as well as a directive program for the presumably unactivated androids 13, 14, 15, and 16. It would wipe any nefarious programs and place Trunks as their owner. This, along with a brainwave by Nappa that one of the Androids could be sent to Namek to request a wish to revive Piccolo, meant that the future timeline...looked bright indeed.
So it was that Trunks arrived with hope in his eyes, a spring in his step, and tools to rebuild civilization.
Three days later
17 laughed as he methodically dismembered the body of an unfortunate soul he had captured. The screams were horrible, but music to his ears. "Now, how about this finger?" he cackled, wrenching off the pinky. Howling, the man struggled against the iron grip of the psychotic Android, but failed to free himself. He tried to punch him, but his fist contacted with absolutely no effect. His life ended shortly thereafter, the Android being disgusted that such a lower being would dare touch him.
"I'm done here," his sister called, walking out of the decimated ruins of a clothing store. "Nothing in there's my style...ugh." She casually lobbed a sphere of ki behind her and blew up the whole building. "Let's go to the next city...what the hell is that?"
18 pointed in the distance, where a tall figure, abnormally so, flickered in and out of view. Abruptly, it disappeared, and did not reappear. Something about it, despite being too far off to make any details out, was unsettling. 17 shrugged. "Probably that Trunks kid, or a mirage maybe? Doesn't matter, whoever it is, we can kill them when we please." 17 lifted off and headed to the next city. "C'mon, let's go. I'll bet the rats have rebuilt a bit since we last blew that city up. First to thirty points wins the skeet shoot?"
18 grinned. "You're on!" she laughed, and lifted into the air, following her brother.
Deep in the ruins of a destroyed lab, Trunks was tapping commands into a console. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the console meant to house Dr. Gero's mind in this timeline had been destroyed, with only the support for the Androids remaining active because of a subcomputer that ran the processes on a secured and reinforced server. After a few minutes and a lot of frustration, Trunks finally navigated his way to the grouped primary directives folders for each Android.
He breathed deeply, closed his eyes, and hit Copy.
The pod door opened. A tall man with chiseled muscles and silver hair walked out. Beside him, two more pods opened, releasing a lanky black-haired man and a purple-skinned midget with an oversized hat.
"Well howdy doody, city boy," drawled the tallest man. "Nice of you to wake us up, friend. Whatcha got for us to do, hoss?" He smiled in anticipation of much entertainment.
"You're Android 13?" asked Trunks. The tall man grinned in response and nodded.
"I've got some work I need you to do, but first, you three need to follow me. 16 is upstairs waiting." The youth motioned for the group to follow him, which they did.
Taking off towards what remained of Capsule Corps, the group of Androids landed in front, with Trunks leading them.
Unfortunately, he forgot to tell his mother about everything, having been too eager to end the menace of 17 and 18, and she quickly took off screaming in terror when she saw the Red Ribbon logo on their lapels.
"Christ in a bucket, your mama makes a racket louder'n a screamin' mountain cat!" grumbled 13, plugging his ears. Trunks sped off, trying to catch and calm his mother. In the meantime, 16 set about examining the perimeter and setting up escape plans.
Android 15 took a swig from his flask and wiped his mouth. "Nice digs," he droned, looking around with mild interest. 14 ignored his flamboyant companion's observations, preferring to ensure the security perimeter remained unbroken.
By this time, the young warrior had caught his mother and managed to calm her down, so the screaming had stopped. However, an audible slap echoed through the silence, making 13 grin wryly. "Seems like his mama's feistier than a cornered coyote!" he laughed. 15's mouth curled up slightly in amusement as well. Bulma and Trunks reappeared around the corner, the former glowering venomously and the latter sporting a glowing handprint on his face.
"My son tells me you're more of that psychotic Dr. Gero's creations. Give me one good reason I shouldn't turn you all into scrap here and now," she growled, hefting a massive wrench to punctuate her statement.
13 bowled over in laughter. "No need t'worry, ma'am. We're happy as a clam as it is, and I got nothing in my files sayin' to hurt y'all's two or anyone else. I'm just a nice friendly redneck robot," he drawled in a warm tone. He stuck his hand out for a handshake. "Nice t'meet you, ma'am. I'm Android 13. My plum-colored friend over there's 15, and the Injun to his right is 14. The green cowboy's 16, though I can't say anything about his character. I'm more'n happy t'help with anything y'all need." A friendly smile sprouted on his face.
The proffered hand almost went unanswered, then Bulma closed her eyes and sighed. "Trunks, what in Kami's name is going on here?" she asked as she shook the giant's massive hand. To his credit, the Android was gentle, despite his obvious strength.
"I'll explain later, but right now, 17 and 18 need to be taken down. 14, 15, stay with my mother and keep her safe at all costs. 13, 16, come with me. We're going to rendezvous with Cell."
13 cracked his knuckles. "Now you're talkin' my language, city boy! Let's go whoop some ass!"
He grinned broadly as he stretched, casting a glance at the placid 16. "Whatcha gonna do, big guy? You wanna call dibs on one of them or am I gonna dance this two-step alone?"
16 looked at the enthusiastic 13. "My directive is to follow instructions from Trunks. I will not do anything other than that."
"Heh, suit yourself, city slicker. I plan on havin' some fun!"
The pursuit was beginning to wear on the Android's sanity. Their pursuers never came close enough for them to see who it was, and always disappeared before they could come upon them.
At first, they had been cocky and self-assured, but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, they found they no longer had the peace of mind to continue engaging in reckless slaughter. Their pursuers launched massive ki blasts at them whenever they tried to have even a little fun, and they were nothing to laugh at. 17 had made the mistake of trying to block one and scorched his arms so badly in several places that his endoskeleton poked through. Since that time, the skin had healed, but the memory remained.
In short, they were beginning to truly feel fear.
One day, the exhausting new routine changed...but not for the better.
"How are you liking being chased like rats?" a grating, gleeful voice rasped in their ears one day. 18 shrieked in fright and 17 wheeled around to see...nothing.
"It's not fun, is it?" the sinister voice cackled from an alleyway. The twins blasted the broken bricks of the buildings forming the alley, but when the dust settled, they could find nothing.
"You know, once upon a time, I would have turned out like you," the voice said, almost conversationally. This time it was above them. They threw their heads up, but saw only a blur of movement. Ice filled their veins.
"I'm glad you're both still alive, though," the voice chuckled raspily. "Trunks told me all about you, and how you killed everyone and enjoyed it. Maybe I have no place saying this, seeing as I had no part in choosing my nature, really, but honestly, I'm disgusted with you two for choosing this path."
"Stop hiding and show yourself, you coward!" screamed 18, her voice cracking from her frustration and sheer stress. She loosed a massive blast centered on herself, making a huge crater. 17, being close to her, was unaffected.
So too was the mysterious speaker, as it seemed. "I, a coward? Honestly, listen to yourself," the voice laughed. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, sinister and cunning. "This is rich, coming from two pathetic machines like you. You've never had a reason to know bravery, so how can you say anyone else is a coward?"
Without warning, 18 felt a massively powerful punch bury itself in her gut. She doubled over, retching and spewing up blood. Her brother tried to catch a glimpse, a hint of a shadow, anything to give them even the slightest clue as to what they were up against, but nothing revealed itself.
"Did I mention I'm far more powerful than you two are? It's all thanks to something called time travel," laughed the voice.
18 began to feel her grip on sanity loosening as fear began to seep into her bones. Normally, fatigue wouldn't be an issue for Androids, but they had been being chased for months with no rest. Their biological parts were screaming for rest, and the toxins that built up in their systems from the lack of rest were beginning to cloud their judgement and ability to think.
"Stop it! Stop it! Just stop it!" shrieked 18, screaming at the top of her lungs. She began spamming blasts in every direction, not caring what she hit so long as the list of destroyed objects included whatever it whoever was tormenting them.
"City girl, that's not nice," growled a man's voice in a deep Southern drawl. This statement was punctuated by a muffled explosion as a ki blast detonated in a hand. She whirled around, as did 17, to see a massive giant in green armor and a slightly shorter man in a cap, his open vest showing chiseled muscles the Greek gods themselves would have envied. They were flanking a Super Saiyan Trunks. And behind them...a terrifying image of horror...a tall, lanky, insect-like creature with green skin and orange mouth. A vicious tail with a needle-sharp point curved up behind it.
It smiled maliciously at them. "Welcome to the end of the road, 17 and 18. Come and join perfection. There's two ways you can do this...the easy way, or the hard way. And believe me, the hard way is going to hurt," it cackled.
17 and 18 shouted in unison as they charged headlong into battle, bringing ki blasts to bear against their foes. They shot them simultaneously, and both connected with their targets. Not content with this, they flew up and charged twin beams of energy, firing down on the assembled group.
No sound came from the crater below, but their vision was obscured by the dust cloud rising from the ground. Before the dust had settled, though, the same voice echoed from behind them. "The hard way it is, then," it said raspily.
It slammed its tail into 17's gut, sending the Android hurtling down to the ground. 18 found a fist buried in her face, courtesy of the tall, silver haired man. He grinned. "Let's dance this two-step, missy," he laughed, and swung his other fist around for a follow-up attack. This punch landed her beside her brother in a similar crater.
Suddenly, she found herself lifted from the ground. The giant in green armor had lifted her up and restrained her arms and legs in a massive bear hug. Trunks walked calmly up to her. "What was my master's name?" he asked quietly.
"What the fuck?! Let me go!" she shouted. Trunks narrowed his eyes and drew his fist back, then punched her as hard as he could. The impact brought some blood to her lip, but not much else. She laughed derisively. "What, was that a love tap?" she snickered. "Release me and I might decide not to play with you," she threatened, with far more bravado than she actually felt.
Another punch.
She spat to the side. "Ow."
Another. And another. And another. And another. It wasn't long before 18 realized he was not going to stop until it began to actually hurt her severely.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Her nose began to flatten slightly, and her jaw began to ache.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. This time, her right eye got hit, and it hurt. It was almost immediately blackened by the blow.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. This time, her nose broke with an audible crack. 17 was trying desperately to aid his sister, but the other two fighters were holding him off. He shouted in frustration, then squeaked in mortal agony as 13 grabbed his leg and mashed his grapes with a direct punch to the groin. Despite not having any genitalia to speak of, Cell winced at this brutal strike.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. It began to hurt very badly at this point. Her vision wavered slightly.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. This time, some teeth became dislodged. She didn't have time to spit them out before the next punch, though.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. She could see slight bloody marks on his knuckles, but they were ignored in his fury. The pain was now unbearable, and she tried to scream out for help from someone, anyone, but the next series of punches stopped that.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. The last one hit her throat, causing her to hack. Her nose had long since shattered into splinters, and the pain buried itself in her head like a spike.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Blood flowed freely from her now-ruined right eye socket, the organ of sight having collapsed and deflated on the second punch of this series.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. She had long since stopped resisting, the pain of her injuries being too much for her to even think. She twitched limply in the grasp of the tall giant.
Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Then finally, blessedly, she was dropped to the ground, the punches ceasing. The silver-haired man floored 17 with a powerful strike and dragged him kicking and screaming over to 16, who restrained him as well.
Trunks walked up to 17. "How about you? Do you remember his name?" he asked softly. "Do you remember the man whose arm you removed and left to die? Who I found and brought back to health? Who you then later finished the job of killing?"
17 struggled in the grasp of the green-armored giant, but could not so much as budge him. Trunks sighed again and turned to the last of the group. "You're up... Cell." The green creature gave an excited hiss and stalked towards 18. 17 struggled with renewed vigor as the dangerous thing came closer and closer to his sister. Its tail came up over its shoulder and the end opened up like a giant suction cup. 18 could do little other than groan and roll around in increasing fear as the tail came closer and closer, so great was the pain she was in. 17 screamed and fought to free himself, to do anything to free his sister, but couldn't make so much as an inch of leeway.
And suddenly, she was gone. The tail slammed itself over her head and swallowed her faster than the eye could blink. A struggling lump traveled down the tail into Cell's body, the movements becoming weaker and weaker the closer it got. Then, the lump was gone, and Cell began to glow brightly.
Energy poured off of him in waves, green light illuminating the landscape. Wind blasted all those within a radius of several miles. The gale was so strong that it blasted much rubble far away from the broken city, sending it miles into the distance.
And then, suddenly, it was over. A shining dome obscured Cell for some seconds, then it popped, like a soap bubble on the ground, revealing Cell...but this time, much less spindly and much more muscular. His body had lost the sticklike frailty it seemed to be afflicted with, and he had lips (but still no nose, similarly to Krillin).
"Much better," he purred, his voice deeper and more refined. He turned to 17. "It's interesting. I now have 18's memories at my disposal, as well as the emotions he felt. You two are utterly vile." He turned to Trunks. "They tortured Gohan before they killed him. It was...not a pretty sight."
13 grimaced. "Playin' with lives ain't something I think I much like. Which means, pretty boy, that I don't like you." He stepped up to 17 and drove a massive fist into his gut. Being much more powerful than the smaller Android, the pain was intense for the killer teen. He retched and hacked, trying in vain to dispel the agony. Then he spotted the logos on 13's lapel and cap.
"What...what the fuck is this?! You're Dr. Gero's! Why are you helping this brat?!" he shouted, twisting to catch a glimpse of the logo on 16's armor. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You should have destroyed him on sight!"
13 put on a mock thinking face, his eyes cast upwards and rubbing his chin with his fingers. "Hmmm, let's see here... Nope, I ain't findin' any 'kill Trunks' directives rattlin' around in this here noggin. Just me all on my lonesome up there." He grinned, showing his perfectly pearly white teeth. "Now, if you don't mind, I think my friend Trunks has some business to finish with ya, buckaroo. Somethin' tells me you and your thirty-dollar haircut ain't gonna come out smilin' from this, pretty boy."
The grin remained on his face as he stepped back next to Cell, who was absently manipulating some rubble with his telekinesis, his mind on stratagems for rebuilding. 'Perhaps a garden and nature preserve for 16. He seems to love nature, and it would be good for him and the survivors to interact in such a peaceful setting.'
Trunks powered up, forcing ki into his fist. "Welcome to the end of your life, you monster. And just like you made Gohan suffer before you killed him, I promise you...this is going to hurt."
He didn't stop punching until his knuckles were pouring blood and 17's face was a bubbling crater of mangled flesh, barely recognizable as even alive. With a vague expression of disgust, 16 handed the limp Android to Cell, who wasted no time in absorbing him.
One year later...
The sounds of people once more filled the area around Capsule Corp, which, in the absence of any sort of government, had been appointed as a sort of interim leadership. Cell proved extremely useful in this regard, as he was preternaturally skilled in designating jobs for people and planning effective recovery efforts. Despite his odd appearance, he had quickly become highly beloved by the populace, who often took to speaking with him whenever he chanced to go outside. A more accurate description would probably be mobbing him, really. It got to the point that he had to utilize Multi-Form to answer all the questions, a task which he relished, as it fed his ego and warmed his heart to know he could make these people feel more at ease after the horrible, unspeakable things the Androids had put them through.
Before anyone could stop him, as soon as Android 16 heard about the issue with getting to Namek, he took off into space, speeding towards the coordinates given to Trunks by an astonished King Kai. The Android had made quick work of the trip despite its length, as his chassis was equipped with many modifications that previous and later models did not enjoy. It did not take long for Piccolo to find himself revived, though unfortunately he woke up in the ladies changing room of a recently rebuilt clothing store. He exited the building with three bras hanging from his antennae and what appeared to be a thong resting on his right pauldron.
After that, repairs to the Earth went smoothly. A democratic government was set up, and to absolutely no one's surprise, Cell was elected to presidency, which he took to with relish. To aid in the workload, he made use of a skill that had originally been meant for combat to create small clones of himself. These took over rebuilding of infrastructure and served as a temporary police force as he made more. He did not need to make them very powerful, so he was thankfully able to produce several hundred, all of whom became quite a common sight, whether repairing a destroyed street with telekinesis or manhandling a criminal into submission.
13 and 14 took to guarding Capsule Corp after a failed assassination attempt on Bulma by a mentally deranged man who was convinced she had been replaced by an Android. 15 became something of a legend wherever he went, not only for his eccentric style, but also because he was quite personable. He enjoyed traveling, and especially loved the liquor he could sample on his journeys.
And the Z-Fighters? All had been revived with Namek's Dragon Balls, of course, but what they did with their lives would be an entire book in and of itself.
In short...the future timeline, once dark and dismal, with nothing but pain and suffering...had become one of hope, warmth, and charity.
This is the longest chapter yet, I think. Hopefully this satisfies that "karmic justice boner" I know y'all have. I've only seen snippets of Super 13, but I've seen enough to hopefully get 13's over-the-top redneck attitude right.
The bit with Champa is going somewhere, but not too far. It's going to be ridiculous, though, so look forward to some hilarity.
Our mysterious time traveler, though, is a herald of something far more sinister, and will signal the arrival of the first OC villain of this tale.
If I need to add more punchety punch to this one, let me know. I enjoyed describing the suffering that Future 17 and 18 endured here, mainly because I felt that their deaths in canon were far too...swift and merciful. I don't know about you, but if it had been me in Trunks' place, I would have made them suffer as much as possible, just so they could know even so much as a tenth of the agony they inflicted on the world.
Maybe I need help.
