Dragon Ball Zenkai: The Power of Two

Chapter 11 - Evolved

The island had to have been man-made for the explosion not to reach Goku and the others. Flamed licked over embers of the charred crater invoked by one last act of desperate resistance the Fused Warrior had to pull. Ash wafted in the wind and an eerie silence replaced the dull mechanical workings of the metal plated earth. Standing at its epicenter was a prostrate, exhausted Saiyan.

Alive, but feeling dangerously low on power.

"Eh...hehe...that almost killed me. Better ask...Dende for a...patch-up," Vegehan spoke aloud, finding some solace in that his enemy was annihilated. He fell into a trap, right as he swore to Piccolo that he wouldn't. He hoped the blithering fool of an ex-father and rival wouldn't remind him too much about this moment of wavering judgement he had.

"You can stop yer celebratin', boy!"

The voice alone shook the Potara Fighter from his celebratory reverie. His eyes looked over not two dozen meters away, right where the Android stood, was the enemy he intended to rip apart. Smugly, his arms were crossed in front of his face and a scarlet barrier transparently flickered away with his limbs moving to his sides. The sole part of the earth that wasn't affected was beneath his two feet, brushing aside such a massive blast of Ki away.

"The Dear Doctor may have all but dropped them energy absorb'n devices, but he did perfect energy repuls'n tech. This here takes time ta charge, but in yours truly's hands, it's damn impregnable against even yer attacks," Android 13 boasted with a broad grin; tucking the lip of his hat forward with emphasis that even his clothing hadn't been affected.

"Well...shit," Vegehan swore aloud, heaving in between his words as he stared down his enemy. "I can't even...talk tough. Barely standing as it is...think I'm gonna-"

"-Die? Allow me ta assist," Thirteen interrupted, raising a gloved hand to form a solid ball of plasma surrounded by a transparent dome of orbiting light. One of his signature attacks, even if Vegehan had some form of residual Ki left this would destroy him ten times over. Grinning he hollered with wicked glee. "Sayonara, boy!"

Launched in instants that the weakened hybrid could vaguely see, the whistling it made in the air was far too slow compared to this executioner's weapon of choice. A blur of crimson and his eyes just stared ahead, a sad smile on his face. He didn't get to apologize to the boys and Videl for not saving them.

The whistle that caught up followed a sudden sparking blast that sent him flying off his feet, the wind knocked out of his lungs. A look of delirium swept past his visage before an outstretched arm looped around his back. Arching slightly with the momentum of the blast he blinked with surprise and looked to his left. There, in the crimson over blue trappings of the Kaioshin with an orange sash tied around his waist was the lavender skinned and white-haired Kibitoshin.

"I came just in time," He announced finally, steadying his partner up to his feet while placing a palm on his shoulder. "I had heard what was going on from the Northern Kai. I came as soon as I found a crack through this infernal barrier; the crack you made, I assume."

"As much as I appreciate the help...I need to ask you...to heal me," The Potara Fighter pleaded in between raspy pants. "Videl...and the boys...need me..."

"HA! Well I be damned, ya survived!" Thirteen finally cried out after composing himself from the shock of his blast not detonating properly. A smooth stride forward approached the pair as a sinister smile breached his face, blue eyes gleaming with predatory ambition. "I'd like ya count yer chickens now, but I know what it means if he's here. Ya intend to restore his energy, ya gonna think twice, boy!"

Rocketing forward, the man zoomed forth with a speed that far surpassed even the likes he utilized to catch Goku off guard. Just as he swung his fist did he notice Kaioshin's eyes glow and an incredible caged sensation instantly wrap around every fiber of his being. No matter how much he tugged, invisible binds held him back, a hair's breadth away his knuckles almost connected with the god's face.

"I diligently trained, meditated and explored the vast cosmos not as a hobby, but to better promote myself as a caretaker of this Universe I'm charged with," He declared, pulling back an arm while 13's eyes widened, the only part of him capable of moving. A sudden blur of blue silk crashed into the inert Android's face, sending him sprawling like a rag doll to quite a distance away. Even as he jerked and squirmed he couldn't find the will to free himself. "Struggle all you like, my task will be finished by the time you escape my psychic bonds."

"D-D-Damn...it..." The Android growled out as his eyes wildly moved around, his muscles contorting and his face planted person could do nothing in the short term. "If only...I could project a barrier...this it'd be...nothin'..."

"Hold still, friend," Kibitoshin implored as he gave the shocked Saiyan a surge of magical light enveloping his person. Steadily it swelled within his pores, far more easily than the time Gohan was restored by Kibito in the past. In the seconds that past the Fused Warrior looked away with discomfort, feeling embarrassed that he was saved.

But, he still had enough humility to speak.

"Thanks," He quietly spoke, hoping no one else within the charred backdrop could hear him.

"I wish I could do more," The Kaioshin admitted, eyeing warily Thirteen as he administered the last charges of healing power necessary. "Your strength is needed, but I doubt their objective to steal your energy was for naught. Steel yourself for the coming fight, given they most likely didn't waste a single iota of your power."

"I'll try to think more clearly this time," Vegehan sighed, rocking his neck around to pop some discomfort out. A flash of peaking golden light and the hybrid looked down with smiling satisfaction that even his tarnished clothes from the blast were fixed. Looking at the slowly rising Android, he smugly grinned. "Think you can keep this guy off my back while I search for them?"

"Yes, and I can direct you to them," Kibitoshin spoke quickly, causing the Saiyan to turn back and look at him with surprise. "You may want to try the northeast part of the island. I sensed that to be the place your energy was transported, and likely where they're keeping their hostages."

"Got it," He spoke as his aura flashed a translucent pale color.

"YA AIN'T LEAVIN' HERE-!" The Android angrily shouted as he leaped from his position once more, two circles of crimson painted across his gloves. Reaching Vegehan's place on the scorched soil, he clasped his wrists together for both limbs moving forward. Just as he saw the visible afterimage of the Saiyan warrior departing, his energy crackled out of existence just as before.

Unlike last time, however, he was able to raise his arms up to guard a rising spin kick aimed at his face. His heels skid back a few meters as power resonated in the air in a loud pop. Hearing the hiss less than feeling the scuff of impact imprinted on his outermost arm, he chuckled.

"Well-Well, the boy playin' God actually got some fancy moves," Thirteen acknowledged as he lowered his arms, noticing that Kibitoshin gently slid his arms at the sleeves before one palm faced at an angle and the other facing at the earth while inches from his right cheek. Reaching up to tug on his hat, he realized to his dismay it wasn't on his head. Looking swiftly left and right, he angrily sneered when he saw no sight of it.

Lowering his head, he could only darkly laughed.

"I'd tip my hat to ya...BUT I LOST IT!" He exclaimed, just as crimson mantle of power pulsed out of his body. Propelling himself forward, both forces collided and left a visible impression in the earth while white and red bled into the distant horizon.

Such a fight was ignored by the determined Saiyan. He moved at speeds far greater than even light was capable of tracking. Materializing in front of an octagonal piece of metallic plating did he feel his stolen energy resonate beneath his feet. Not only that but he felt it contorting and...changing. Grimacing, he knelt down on one knee and raised up a hand.

"Let's see how robust this little bunker of yours is," He thought as he swung a 'normal' punch at the piece of metal. A loud gong followed by a wave of force that cracked the infrastructure of many surrounding machinery towers, he arched a brow at the small indent it made. Smiling he wrenched his fist from the warped plating and lifted it again. "Gotta say, you know how to build'em, old bastard. But if there's only one thing out of the many other things I'm good at..."

A resounding curtain of white followed by a complete shattering of the bunker ceiling, releasing a dome of force that blasted the towers off their foundations. Noticing everything within wasn't entirely ransacked and a bit emptier than he expected.

"...is breaking old men's valuables," He finished with a memory of Babidi's ship exploding by his former life's hands. Rising up from the molten fragments of the ceiling his eyes peered into the darkness, noticing the faint dimness of emergency lighting. Intricate coiled pipes filled with wires had finished a fleeting task of funneling energy to a particular portion of the underground system of the island.

But it wasn't the only Ki he felt.

With a zooming rush past corridors and ramming through several security walls as if they were tissue paper, he'd arrive in an ominously lit lab. Feeling as if he entered a deep hollowed room, he saw a horde of the same coils funnel towards a single tubular shaped holding pod. It churned with a single vertical glow, energy ebbing from it in conductive snaps and cracks around it.

Seething with anger, he tightened his fists till he noticed the original energy he sensed underneath his pilfered power.

"Trunks! Goten!" He suddenly gawked, his feet sprinting forth to a pair of unconscious floating children. They were outfitted in what looked like skin-tight jumpsuits of deep blue coloration. Their eyes looked placid and non-responsive, particularly due to the bio-mechanical wiring that was placed along their abdomens through special surgical nodes sewed into the fabric of their apparel.

Gritting his teeth with anger at the sight, his eyes blinked in a hue of blue...

...and then the two glass chambers shattered, releasing gallons of preserving fluid as the two boys fell forward, timely caught by the hybrid.

"What the Hell did he do to you two?!" He snarled aloud, his hands quickly moving to pull out the tubes from their waists. They both squirmed and then coughed out the oxygenated fluid within their lungs. Dazed, they looked around with visible confusion, that brightened when they saw Vegehan.

"Vegehan!" Goten cried out with relief, eagerly leaping out to hug his partial big brother.

"You...came for us," Trunks slowly spoke, realizing that he came where he expected Goku to.

"I wouldn't leave either of you behind," The man announced, realizing his own words. As he ruffled Goten's hair, he reached out and momentarily hesitated. Shaking his head he smiled and did the same to Trunks, much to the boy's audible dismay. "You're my kids, regardless who I'm related to. I'll always come for you."

"Wait, Videl-!"

"Don't worry, I know she's around here somewhere," Vegehan began to say with a scowl, until Trunks gawked in fear. Realizing what he was looking at suddenly became apparent to even Goten. Both children paled as the energy he sensed was emerging, from behind. Turning around to face his enemy, he'd suddenly feel a fist crash into his chest followed by an explosion of pain.

That turned into a literal blast of force that sent him flying.

Goku couldn't believe what transpired in a matter of a few minutes. One moment he felt his tentatively related rival's energy drop and then it rose up even higher than before. Even as he parried with the two skilled Androids, he couldn't help but grow a bit jealous of the strength he possessed and the gap that continued to keep widening. That envy turned into a bit of competitive pressure as he caught both Fourteen and Fifteen's fists.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!" He roared aloud as veins crossed his hands up to his face, his energy spiking up with his golden glow becoming brighter. Pushing forward the grip on his enemies quickly bent their mechanical wrists backwards, shoving them back while they grimaced in discomfort and stared with alarm. As the crackling bolts of bio-energy circuited around him, Goku couldn't help but chuckle lowly at the two, noticing the shorter one's glasses had broke and his hat flew off in the wind of his own power. It revealed his dome of circuits hidden by the flamboyant hat and grotesquely inhuman optics for eyes.

"Sorry, but I can't waste any time on you two. I want to see what kind of enemy Gero's got cooked up in that lab of his," He announced, his lethal intent real as he balled his fists casually at his sides.

Garbled static came from Android 14 that made the purple skinned droid confirm with a sage nod.

"Guess it can't be helped. We gotta fuse," Fifteen declared with a smirk.

Eyes widened and Goku immediately became curious. They were decently challenging before as they could use teamwork that made any difference in power they had against him as a Super Saiyan irrelevant. But now he was intrigued at the possibility of these two becoming stronger; now his priorities were at a crossroads as what to do.

A sudden explosion of Vegehan's fist making impact not far away followed by a bristling wind made him chuckle sheepishly.

"He can handle it, I gotta see what these two are up to," He assured himself as he locked eyes as the two ripped off their non-functioning hands from their leaking sockets. From there they protruded a host of cables and mechanically lubricated wiring that coiled around each other. Slithering around each other's frames, they'd soon be wrapped in a metal cocoon of sorts. A gleam of lime bled through the writhing covering, the ground beneath warping and the air swirling around it.

Then, a blast of emerald light shattered it, sending the pieces flying fast enough Goku needed to defensively swat the debris away. What was revealed in the center of the energy field was something he'd expect.

A brown skinned body with rippling biceps and triceps flexed, its choice of clothing simplified to that of a sleeveless black bodysuit that defined his muscular form. Possessing the jaw-line and stony brows of Fourteen and the broad smile of Fifteen, its blue eyes stared confidently as its trimmed Mohawk cranium balled up his fists up. Chuckling he immediately cocked his head to one side and then the other as he danced from one foot and then back into a frontal fighting stance.

"C'mon, blondie! We're gonna show ya the error of underestimating the Doctor's genius," The Fused Android, Android Tee, declared as he watched Goku raised curled digits in readiness.

"This might be fun, if your power has gone up a notch," The Turtle Schooler intoned with a whisper. "Let's see how far you push me-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt the stolen energy finish siphon and then change in feeling entirely. Pupils dilated, jaws dropped and his head turned just in time to see a distant figure fly out of the steel earth. The energy he felt was almost like-

Distracted, the Fused Android moved in and headbutted Goku, making him see stars with a loud crack. Following up with a punch to his jaw and a knee to the gut, Goku barely managed to cartwheel away to counterattack with a leaping elbow thrust. Crashing into a defending arm, the force indented the ground and sent a blasting pressure wave from the two.

"That was careless of me," Goku admitted with a smile, unwavering even as his forehead bled from the attack that caught him off guard. "But it's good to know your strong enough to take a hit and throw one that I'd feel. Keep this up, and I may enjoy our fight."

"Enough talk, ya fool!" Tee announced with a twist of his torso. Throwing a mighty punch that crashed into Goku's guard, resulting in him to fly back with the momentum of its impact. "TIME TO DIE, SON GOKU!"

Vegehan was reeling from the hit that struck him. Holding his midsection tenderly, he grimaced from the impact. Focusing his attention on the point of which he was sent flying he looked on with horror as a figure shimmered into his vicinity not but a few meters away. Cold sweat crawled down his neck and his eyes widened with horror.

"No...wh-what the Hell is this?! Some sick joke?!" He cried out with adamant disbelief with a wave of his arm.

A guttural laugh followed by the arrival's smile. Before him hovered a head of ebony that was loosely flowing over the shoulders to the upper back. Eyes crystal blue bore into his with an alien menace he'd never saw before, a cruel smile spread across the soft visage. A sleek high collar of a black unbuttoned jacket that stopped at the middle of her back, rustling in the high altitude wind while also possessing a similarly colored sports bra covered her chest with the RR emblem on the left cup. A toned abdomen left uncovered down to a pair of dark blue jeans with partial shreds around the knees, left with a pair of boots on each foot. The only other thing that stood out was the armor coil of a prehensile tail waving behind the back.

"What, you expected me to hold your trinket love interest as some damsel?" Videl's voice spoke through, but in a tone whose mannerisms and facial expression made Vegehan went from stark horror to livid rage. Cocking her head to the right she showed pearly teeth as she laughed further. "Thank you for falling for my trap, by the way. So easily manipulated. I guess in the end you're as useless as the sum of your parts, Vegehan."

"THE HELL DID YOU DO TO VIDEL, GERO?!" Vegehan howled, his eyes flashing dangerously as his gloved hands raised with an angry clench of raised fists at the sides.

"Oh?" She blinked coyly, then placed a hand over her face with a depraved grin. "I'm simply piggybacking off her consciousness. As a cyborg, it's easy for me to do that to any of my creations, including the Androids below and that cyborg Violet. She was easy to manipulate as well, though far more cautious than a mad dog that you turned out to be, Saiyan abomination."

"Says the mad man who perverted science in the name of ambition," The Potara Fighter growled.

"Please, I did a wonder that no one can ever claim," The Doctor proclaimed wildly with arms outspread and a look of ecstasy flashing across manically enlarged eyes. "Imagine that a simple back-up file of my own genius was the biggest benefit to myself other than becoming an Android. Abandoning the weakness of humanity's shackles and embracing technology, I've improved myself in every way. The creations I've made, the leaps of advancement I've accomplished and the complete alteration of human DNA while merging it with nano-tech and alien DNA has made me the ULTIMATE warrior!

"Humanity will thank me -no, WORSHIP me- once I destroy you lot," She finished with a gleam in her eyes and arms stretched out in a beckoning manner. "Unless, you believe you can stop me?"

Vegehan had no more verbal retorts. Veins protruded from his head down to his neck, his jacket undulated as thick currents of power emitted from his being. As his energy rose the barrier's canopy warped and contorted, cracking apart at the measure of pressure exerted upon it. Eventually with a loud yell a pyre of blue accented white flourished from his body; its shockwave loud enough to lap against the metal earth like a bomb and the barrier all but completely shattered.

Then, as shards of the 'sky' fell, Vegehan's person appeared before the Doctor -Android Videl-'s vicinity his hand already palming her abdomen. A flash of gold followed by vertical expanse of Ki that detonated, sending the jacket-toting cyborg flying across the skyline. Reappearing behind with a teleporting elbow in between the shoulder blades, the Saiyan grappled her hair and throttled towards the earth. A titanic crash planted her face and the entirety of her body into a wedged plate, cracking a third of the island with impact along with a smoldering cloud of iron dust and debris flying from them.

"It's not faith, Gero," Vegehan muttered quietly as he glared down at the inert form he kept planted on the earth. "It's fact."

The feeling of an armored appendage crashing into his midsection like a whirling beam. Once again he coughed aloud as his eyes widened with pain, his body propelled back by the force caused from impact. Digging the fronts of his boots against the shattering isle, he looked up to see the Saiyan Cyborg rise up, a metal tail swishing back and forth in a visual mockery.

"Those were good hits," Android Videl mused, turning to look over her shoulder as a trickle of blood came from her lips. "But they're shallow ones at best."

"Even with my recovery from near death, it didn't do shit!" The Fused Saiyan snarled under his breath.

The sudden rupture of air followed her blurring form arriving beneath his gaze, a palm already clapping against his abdomen. With a cyan spiral of light, an energy blast was unleashed, crashing into him like a bullet train at point blank. Letting loose a howl grasped the tangible field of Ki and spun his body around till he could arch it into the sky. Once it was safely discharged away, he saw a volley of glowing bullets rush towards him.

A loud manic laugh fell on deaf ears as he quickly bolted across the deteriorating island, his gaze looking for an opening among the wild discharge of detonating shots. In between the hail, he cocked his hands back and clenched them into finger pistols. Leaping forward in a spin to which he winced as projectiles grazed his shoulders, thighs, abdomen and back he stretched both hands in front of him.

"Shooting Gallery!" He howled aloud, shooting a number of blue shots that blew away the golden. Amidst the rolling flames exploding attacks, Vegehan streaked past the tongues with both fists clenched. When his face met Android Videl's shocked visage, he thrust both arms forth, knuckles parallel to be ontop of each other. A sudden fizzle of static past by the moving muscle, leaving a smug grinning image of the Saiyan Droid...

...just before he felt an elbow plant straight at the base of his lower back.

"Gaugh!" The Potara Fighter gargled out spit and air, the connection enough to produce lightning to discharge from the point of contact. Snapping the ground and splitting up the severed isle mass, the shockwave further cracked the barrier encircling the larger than believed metal base. Stumbling straight with a pained look of anger, he whirled around to swipe only for Android Videl to duck low and land a volley of punches to his gut. Each one thundering the environment around them.

"What's the matter, Saiyan?!" The Mad Doctor inquired brazenly as she landed an uppercut. "Do you have not the will to harm this body? Or is this truly the best you have to offer?" She dished out several more punches to torso, another hand coiled with translucent light into a balled up fist. "Either way, you'll die at this rate!"

The final punch blew away the isle beneath their feet, reducing it into metallic dust that washed away with the sea that flowed beneath their feet. With an open hole swirling underneath them, Android Videl's smile remained as her knuckles planted against a firm jaw that made the Saiyan reel back from its pressure. Then, her eyes widened as his head pitched forward, bruised and bloodied did his own head push against her fist.

When she saw his eyes flash open to be a shining pair of emeralds, did she realize that he took the damage with little to no repercussion.

"No," He whispered out loud, light churning around his pores, the barrier in the atmosphere finally shattering like glass. Fists raised with arms cocked back, his mouth opened with a jaw open howl. The shout followed by a monstrous pyre of golden flames, the epicenter of which produced a halo of transparent yellow that made him a fierce glowing avenger. His shout that came forth was as powerful as a bomb, producing a torrential whirlwind of power that sent Android Videl skidding back across the buffeting water. "I CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO STAND!"

"Ah right, Super Saiyan. Shi-"

She began to speak until his body hurtled, crashing into her with immense rebuttal. Her body buckled, bowing forth then shot like a slug from a gun, thrusting into the horizon. Seconds passed and she'd be half across the planet, passing over land to the open sea once more. Before she could complete a full circuit, a gloved fist cemented into her back, exploding the air with mere connection. A soundless cry left her lungs followed with another propulsion that arched her up into the heavens.

Reappearing within the cloud filled planetary canopy, Vegehan reared an arm back in preparation. Once she was in range he threw his arm forth; this time connecting with something more solid than a limp body. A forearm was raised, defending her torso, her jacket flapping in the wind. A bloodied smile spread across her face while a more stoic glare was exchanged from the Saiyan hybrid.

"That's more like it," She growled aloud, shoving his arm out of the way to spin her hips in an arching kick aimed for his head. As he bowed back her tail jabbed towards his abdomen, this time caught by a free hand. Yanking viciously to the side he kneed towards her face, this time both palms caught it. Spinning her waist around to double-kick him away, the Super Saiyan reeling back with aggravation. Righting herself into the air, she chuckled while stroking her bangs out of her eyes. "Though, it seems you're still hiding a great deal of your power back. Your punches would yield far more punishment if you wanted to. Still holding back?"

"Majin Buu was the only one privileged enough to see my Super Saiyan form. Be grateful I'm not atomizing you in a single blow," The powered up hybrid sneered. "It's only a matter of time before I dismantle you completely. I'd give up now if I were you."

A chuckle rose up from her throat as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Such a fool, even now," She jeered, opening eyes to narrow dangerously at him, her smile thin and sinister. Onyx eyes stirred into bluish-green, hair rose upward till it spiked, encased in a golden raiment while her jacketed frame exploded with a sudden blast of Ki. Yellow waves of force billowed out to lap across the world's skies, giving it a damning golden overcast over land, sea and air. As soon as it settled, her own aura thrummed constantly while Vegehan stared with a mix of anger and apprehension, even as she spoke condescendingly to him."Did you think I hadn't come prepared to completely destroy you?"

Vegehan had so many questions that he knew very little would be answered. It was one thing to mechanically splice human DNA with that of a machine's and a Saiyan's biology. That's what he gathered from the reason they kidnapped Goten and Trunks, why they were hooked up like he found them. But to transform at will? He wondered just how much the mad doctor, embodied in software and hardware, was really capable of now.

"I'm sorry, Videl," Vegehan whispered, closing his eyes. With a brief inhale and then exhale, his Super Saiyan aura ignited, burning brighter than before. Glaring forth he struck a posture, this one different than he had displayed before Majin Buu. One arm clawed out at a slight bend while the other open palmed facing his left pectoral, left leg bent forward and right leg angled behind. "Gero. I'm going to show you the difference in strength doesn't come from just Ki, but fighting prowess. Even with all of your data, all of your lurking in the dark and your stealing of genetics cannot compare to the Pride of a Warrior. Nor the wrath of harming those closest to me!"

"By all means, boy prince," Android Videl bowed mockingly, pulling back into a stance mirroring that of Goku's. "Please show me this power that rivals my own genius and masterpiece of ultimate power!"

The two leaped, striking in the air, producing a golden wave of absurd power. The planet shook and light flashed within the sky. They'd dance across the globe with pockets of seaside and earth quaking or being obliterated outright. Their speed defying logic of science, soon no one could keep track of the pair's battle.

Nor predict its outcome.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry if this is a bit shorter than you'd expect, but given the pacing I didn't want to break it for the sake of adding more fights. Don't worry, you guys will see Suigin, Violet and 13 in the first half of the next Chapter. How their battles will go is still up in the air. Let's just hope that Android Videl (yes, that will be 'her' name for now) doesn't end up killing their best chance of survival...or do they need him at all? Find out, on the next Chapter of Dragon Ball Zenkai: The Power of Two!