Author's note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reads, & the reviews. I love getting those alerts. Please feel free to keep them coming, & let me know your thoughts as the story progresses.
Written by: SparkerLightning.
Edited by: StevenBodner
Chapter 64
On Amenbo Island
Android 19 and Android 20 stood side by side in the middle of a cross walk at the edge of a 4-way intersection. In the middle of the intersection Goku stood alone. Behind him were his sons and Piccolo. The Namekian tended to the injured elder son, while the younger stood directly in front of them.
"I don't remember you." Goku admitted. 'I remember Eighter, I remember the military base, but you, you I don't remember."
"That's all I would expect from someone like you." Android 20, Dr. Gero, shook his head. "But that is irreverent. What matters is that I remember you, and we are going to get our revenge, today."
"You want to fight me?" Goku asked, slight surprise in his voice.
"No, Son Goku, we are going to kill you." Android 20 took a single step forward, as Android 19 took two.
"Fine." Goku nodded before turning his face to the sky. "But not here, there are too many people here. I'll fight you, but let's go somewhere more remote."
Android 20 slowly rose into the air and away from Goku. Without broadcasting what he was doing, he began charging energy into his fingertips.
Goku went to follow him, but seeing that Android 19 wasn't moving, he stayed between the enemy and his family.
"Request denied." He spoke casually as he flung small balls of ki in a circle around him.
Flying out incredibly fast, they all found their mark, piercing deep into the surrounding buildings. Before Goku could react, each of the ten small sparks turned into a massive explosion. The buildings were reduced to rubble in a moment, before being carried up and out, over the rest of the city.
Without taking a moment to think, Goku charged at Android 19. Before the enemy could react, he buried his fist into the Android's gut. As the Android doubled over in pain, Goku swung his other elbow around, cracking it into the top of Android 19's head.
Pulling his fist from Android 19's stomach, Goku planted it firmly on his shoulder, pinning him into place. Striking out with his elbow once more, he paired it with a knee strike. As his attacks smashed both into Android 19's skull and chin, Goku felt a slight crack, before the enemy was knocked backwards from the force of the pinching attack.
Taking full advantage of the off-balance Android, Goku swept his rear leg out, low and fast. Connecting with Android 19's feet, he successfully got his target into the air. Following with a series of bullet punches, he shot the Android away.
Rotating freely in the air, Android 19 fumbled to stop himself, finally doing so directly under Android 20. Shooting back the way he came, he launched a serious attack at Goku.
The two were seemingly evenly matched, as fists and feet, along with elbows and knees, were exchanged in equal power and precision. Neither landing a damaging strike, nor giving an inch, to the other.
Slowly, very purposefully, Goku began to turn his blocks into dodges, and his glancing blows into strikes. Very carefully, very uncomfortable not knowing how he compared to this enemy, he prepared a critical blow. As Android 19 wound up for a heavy, overhand, punch, Goku sneaked under his guard with a wicked chop delivered directly to Android 19's throat.
Pausing for a moment, his world shook, Android 19's censors were jarred. As his awareness came back into focus, and he regained control of his functions, he was smashed on the top of his head by a powerful spinning back kick.
Goku hopped backwards as Android 19 was buried under the cross walk.
Pulling himself free of the Android 19 shaped hole in the ground, Android 19 dusted himself off. That was surprising, but not entirely unexpected. Goku's power was directly in line with where they had anticipated it being. They were facing a powerful foe, but nothing they couldn't handle.
Charging forward once more, Android 19 found himself making no contact yet again.
Goku jumped clear of the initial spear kick, and over the following series of punches. Flipping while over Android 19, just out of Android 20's reach, Goku stomped both of his feet into the top of Android 19's head, once again smashing him into the ground.
Goku quickly spun, raising his guard. The expected attack from Android 20 didn't come though, and nothing came. Android 19 was pulling himself free once more while Goku scanned the battlefield, finding no trace of Android 20.
"Give up." Goku ordered. "I'm still warming up. You can't compete with me."
Planting a hand on either side of his head, Android 19 adjusted his neck. With the slight sound of foil ripping, stretched. "No." He spoke synthetically as a pair of Eye Beams fired towards Goku.
Bolting into the sky, Goku felt the heat of the beams barely pass under his feet. "I warned you." He shouted down as he rose slightly higher. Pulling his hands to his side, he began to chant.
"Ka… me…" They weren't too strong. They got the drop on Gohan, that's all. If it was a fair fight, Gohan would have wiped the floor with them.
Gohan's skin began to tingle as he fought to regain control of his body.
"Ha… me…" A large ball of blue ki formed between Goku's hands. They're not alive. They're not real. One strike, one blast. Erase them. Kill them. Destroy them. End this, now, before it gets out of hand.
"TAKE COVER!" Piccolo shouted to the younger Gohan as he picked up the elder. Together, they began running down street they had been watching from.
Gohan screamed into the void. "No." A low groan escaped his lips as his faded vision began to blur back to reality.
"HA!" Goku thrust his hands forward. Pulling the plug on his energy, he allowed it all to flood into this attack. More powerful than any while he trained, more powerful than any while he fought, this attack was overkill, but he couldn't risk the Android living.
Lifting one hand into the air, Android 19 opened his palm. Pointing the other back towards the retreating reinforcements, he opened it as well.
The attack closed in on Android 19, and Gohan saw the palm pointed at himself, at his family. Finally able to move, he rolled out of Piccolo's arms, landing on one knee facing the battle. Crossing his arms in front of him, he leaned into what he knew was coming.
The attack flowed into Android 19, once again recharging his barely drained power. As he reached capacity, the additional energy was allowed to flow through him, guided by him, towards the auxiliary targets.
"Get behind me!" Gohan tried to scream, his voice instead coming out as a horse growl.
The redirected Kamehameha raged towards Gohan, who caught the blast on his arms. Forcing what ki he had left into the guard, he was able to part the beam. It washed over him, around him, sliced in two. One section cut through one side of the street, ripping through the base of numerous skyscrapers, and the other turned a green park into a collection of burnt logs.
"What was that?" The younger Gohan asked anyone who could answer.
"That's it!" Piccolo shouted as he returned to Gohan's side, once again pushing his energy into the elder half-Saiyan. "That's why your energy was dropping so quickly."
"Not quite." Gohan panted, lowering his arms and returning to his feet. "He can redirect energy, but he can absorb it too. The extra energy, our energy, it bolsters his own. He's stronger now than he was before, and as long as he keeps absorbing our energy, he'll keep recharging, and he'll stay at his maximum level."
Goku cursed under his breath. "That's, not good." He chuckled to himself. "I maybe should have not put everything into that one attack, huh?"
"Do not worry." Android 19 failed to emulate even sarcastic sympathy. "I was already at my maximum charge before you arrived. And while you drained a small bit of my energy, all you did was bring me right back to where I was."
Shooting off the ground, Android 19 rocketed up towards Goku. The distance was short, and he was fast.
Goku, relying on his reflexes, barely dodged Android 19's first attack. Snapping his fist out he punched at the side of the Android's head, but his target disappeared in front of his eyes.
Spinning to the right, Goku didn't see Android 19 reappear to his left. Aiming low, the Android delivered a powerful punch directly into the small of Goku's back. The Saiyan would have been thrown back, except Android 19 gripped onto his gi.
Cringing in pain, Goku clinched his jaw. Using the force of the blow to help him wind up, Goku was able to retaliate with a savage haymaker to Android 19's chin. The unexpected response forcing the Android to release his grip on him.
With his head shot backwards from the force of the blow, Android 19 focused his energy once more. Quickly bringing his chin back down, at pointblank range, he fired another pair of Eye Beams at Goku.
Taking a direct hit to the chest, Goku saw stars dancing. This time no one stopped him, and he was tossed away before being stopped by a knee from the still appearing Android 20. With no horizontal movement to reduce his angle of approach, Goku began to plummet.
Android 19 stayed in the air, watching Goku fall, as Piccolo jumped into motion. Barely making it under Goku before he hit the ground, piccolo was able to catch Goku.
"You're too exhausted." Piccolo snarled as he helped Goku get his feet under him. "You fool, you wasted too much energy with that last attack. That's why we start slow, feel each other out, so we don't give our enemy this much of an advantage over us."
"Yeah." Goku freely admitted. Closing his eyes for a moment he felt his sons. They were both still here, but only one was in good enough shape to actually fight. "Are you in the mood for a team-up?" He asked.
Bringing his hand to his neck, Piccolo released his cape, which fell to the ground with a shrug. Stretching his neck he allowed his turban to follow suit as well. "Last time we teamed up, you died, and I basically raised your son." He smirked. "Yeah, I think I can do that."
Android 19 began focusing his ki into the edge of his palm.
"We're going to try to avoid that last part." Goku said as he stretched in the middle of the intersection.
A moment later, the younger Gohan was at his side, Super Saiyan energy raging. "I'm going to fight too." His voice was deeper than it should have been. "I can't let you fight alone, Mr. Piccolo."
"What, and no concern for me?" Goku asked warmly, seemingly dismissive of the threat at hand.
The younger Gohan smiled up at his father. "No, no concern for you." He glanced back towards the direction he came from. His brother was not standing, or kneeling, but sitting on the ground.
"He'll be fine." Piccolo said. "He just needs to get his energy back. He's not injured. He just needs time."
Android 19 slowly brought his palm up to be level with his armpit. Laying it flat in front of him, palm down, he slashed outward, releasing the ki. The wave, more of a rope like blade, whipped out. In a flash, the surrounding, already damaged, buildings had too much. Completely severed between the fourth and fifth floors, and after suffering a massive impact, the surrounding blocks began to be reduced from abandoned and wrecked buildings, down to rubble.
Goku's blood boiled once again, and he shot towards the barbaric Android. Sacrificing speed for power, he aimed a series of blows at Android 19. Kicks went wide, punches fell short, and elbow and knee strikes were redirected.
Android 19 jerkily avoided Goku as he charged more energy in his right fist. Letting each limb move independently he began to block rather than dodge. Each impact sent a small shock through his body, but completely jarred Goku. After one particularly strong headbutt that bounced off of his skull, he shot his blast at pointblank range.
Letting the recoil of the failed headbutt carry him backwards, and letting the energy ball roll over him, Goku rotated backwards through the air.
As Android 19 prepared to deliver a follow up, axe drop, to Goku's… vital area… Piccolo appeared above him. With Android 19's hands together, the red lenses were out of play.
With both palms, and all ten fingers, pointed at Android 19, Piccolo unleashed a barrage, a rain, a typhoon, of energy.
Spinning in the air Android 19 opened his palms towards Piccolo. As he counted the tens, hundreds, of blasts though, he began to slow. He could absorb them, he could take all of their energy, but he couldn't catch them all… As the first sheet of ki rain fell over Android 19, he managed to absorb a minuscule amount of energy, even considering the attack's weak source.
As the second sheet, inches behind the first, closed in, so did Gohan. Android 19's attention was on Piccolo, Piccolo was copying Goku's mistake, and Goku was still recovering from being rolled over. Gohan though, the young slayer of Frieza was ready. He brought both fists down on Android 19's head,
Android 19 shot down towards the grain, still being battered by Piccolo's assault, but he wouldn't hit the ground.
Coming in quick from the side, Goku delivered a vicious spear kick into what would have been Android 19's ribs, if he had any. Goku's momentum came to a sudden stop, transferred entirely into Android 19.
Immediately seizing his attack, Piccolo shifted gears. Charging towards Android 19 he wound his fist up behind his back. Throwing his punch from yards away, he extended his arm out, wrapping it around Android 19. With effort, he was able to grab both of his hands behind his back. Seeing their moment, Goku and Gohan joined the charge as well.
Despite Piccolo's head start, both Goku and Gohan reached Android 19 first. With his defenses down they both began pummeling the undefended Android. Axe drops crushed into his face and chest. Knee strikes drove into his back. Ki was detonated against his belly, and fists threatened to burst through his chest.
Deciding that his sensory feedback wasn't a priority at the moment, Android 19 disabled input. Focusing his power inward, he curled himself into even more of a ball. His hands were tied, literally behind his back, but that wouldn't stop him. Forming a hollow ball of ki, he expanded it rapidly, over himself, over Piccolo, but between himself and the threats.
Both Goku and Gohan continued their assault, now against the barrier. Chips began to form, followed by cracks, but it held long enough...
Flexing his fingers, Android 19 was able to press his palms into Piccolo's arm, securely grabbing one of them. "You will repair the limited damage I have taken." Reacting his sensors, he momentarily became aware of the energy draining from Piccolo, into his storage.
An instant later, the charging process stopped.
Android 19 whirled around to see what had caused the disruption, and was surprised by what he saw. He still had Piccolo's arm, cleanly cut from Piccolo himself. Before he could reach out to grab Piccolo's other arm, his barrier began to groan under the weight of two Super Saiyans' assault.
Coming in high, Gohan delivered a final, stomping, attack on the barrier. His foot went clean through, smashing into Android 19's head, and driving him once more into the ground.
Goku was there when he arrived, delivering several powerful skyward blows before kicking Android 19 away.
Slowly, with no wasted movement, Android 19 got back to his feet. A flag was raised in his operating system, broadcasting potential distress to his nearby creator.
Android 20 dismissed the alert, knowing that there was plenty of energy left for them to absorb.
Unintentionally tapping into his Saiyan heritage, Goku roared as he lifted his hands over his head. Dropping to a knee, he smashed his hands into the Earth. Letting his ki pulse out, he shattered the ground under his feet.
The shockwave from Goku's slam ripped out in a circle around him, propelled by the blast of energy. The already ruined buildings shook and crumbled further. The city was still present, although all they could see around them, from ground level, were ruins, rubble, and destruction.
Android 19 thrust his hands out, attempting to balance on the liquid like flowing ground. Jumping into the air, he fell victim to the unfair odds.
The younger Gohan shot in low over the ground, swooping in from behind. With his back to the ground he latched onto Android's 19 feet, and spun. Lowering himself, he dragged the mechanical warrior along the ground, sanding off his smooth white finish, before arcing up and taking Android 19, upside down, into the air.
Not giving Android 19 a moment to recalculate a battle strategy, Gohan changed direction once more. Now vertical, he swung his prey over his head, inverting himself. Continuing to roll, he spun as well, before launching Android 19 back towards the ground.
As Android 19 smashed into the uneven, almost sponge like ground, he managed to get his hands out in front of him. Pulsing his ki down, just as Goku had a moment ago, to a far different result. Android 19 bounced back into the air.
"You may attack me as many times as you like." He droned. "I will always recover. As long as you have energy, I have energy." He flexed his fingers before firing a pair of Eye Beams up at the young Gohan.
While Gohan barely dodged the attack, Goku and Piccolo moved in on the attack once more. Piccolo dove in from the right, delivering an elbow into Android's 19 side, getting little reaction. Goku blasted in from the left, delivering the same attack to Android 19's neck.
Recoiling from the danger, Android 19 rolled over Piccolo before launching a hastily prepared ki at where his target should have been. Unfortunately for him, Piccolo had been knocked aside, and his blast smashed against the ground. Fortunately for him, the shock wave filled the air with dust and debris. He could sense them, they couldn't sense him.
Goku and Piccolo coughed as they found each other, turning to be back-to-back.
Frantically Goku looked from side to side. His eyes were watering, and he could barely breathe. "Where is he?" Goku asked.
"I don't kn..."
Goku felt a train pass against his back, pealing Piccolo away. Following the force, and Piccolo's energy, he rose into the sky. Spotting the younger Gohan, he tilted his head.
"BEHIND YOU!" Gohan shouted as he prepared an energy attack.
Goku spun in place. Android 19 was there, yards away. His facade had been nearly completely removed in front, and partially shattered on the sides. More concerning though was what was in his arms.
"If you move, he dies." Android 19 spoke into Piccolo's pointed ear as he tightened his arms, his bearhug, around the Namekian.
"DON'T! Goku shouted, barely stopping himself from flying forward.
"Android 19!" Android 20 transmitted to his creation, appearing in the air off to the side. "He's weak. He's useless. Kill him."
"Yes." Android 19 spoke allowed. Tightening his left arm around Piccolo's chest, he ignored the kicking feet and flying elbows. Energizing his right hand, from the tip of his thumb to his wrist, he brought his hand up..
Resting the side of his wrist against Piccolo's throat, he extended his thumb to curl around the side of Piccolo's throat. Purple blood began to trickle down from where Android 19 had effortlessly cut through Piccolo's skin.
Pulling his right shoulder back, Android 19 opened Piccolo's throat. A shower of alien liquids, spit, blood, and spinal fluid, shot from Piccolo's wound, before he vanished into unreality.
"NO!" Gohan screamed. Sparks began to flow up his aura, before the next attack hit.
From under the ground, Piccolo's green, extended, fist smashed into Android 19's jaw, knocking him backwards. As the enemy flew, Piccolo shot from the hole, quickly backing towards his team.
"That, that would have been bad." His mouth was dry.
"Mr. Piccolo." Gohan turned to his master.
"Eyes forward." Goku ordered. "He's fine."
"His attack patterns are predictable." Piccolo spoke as he shifted to stay relatively in front of Gohan, and behind Goku. Distantly he was aware of the other Gohan, still stable, but still weak. Based on what he was feeling, he was probably under one of these buildings. Which, that was good, he'd be protected from being a primary target.
"All he's doing is trying to maintain his power. Goku, since you were drained, and Gohan, you were far away, of course he'd target me." His eyes flicked to where Android 20 was, where Android 20 now wasn't. "But now, now that he's been ordered to kill, well, things may change."
"It's the red lenses." Gohan reminded everyone. "Without those, he can't drain us. Without those, it'll only be a matter of time until he's out of power."
"Got it." Goku said, snapping his fingers to his forehead. "Solar Flare!"
The bright light filled Android 19's vision. Immediately, he switched off his photo censors, and pulled up a digital map based off of memory and his other sensory systems.
Goku rushed in, a head on attack. His right arm had a ki ball at the end of it, and Android 19 quickly shot his left arm out. Grabbing the ki ball, he absorbed the surprisingly small amount of energy, before Goku closed on him.
Latching onto Android 19's wrist with both hands, Goku threw his legs around the trunk of the thick limb. Using himself as a weight, he curled up tighter, smaller, on the limb, and began to fly.
Dragging the half-presentable Android behind him, Goku flew like a witch on a broom, with a jolly white puff of smoke behind her.
"Release me at ..." Android 19 droned, until his demand was met.
Flying in from above, Gohan reinforced his foot with ki. With one kick he was able to cleanly remove Android 19's arm.
Android 19, no longer supported, fell to the ground. Rolling to a stop, he got back to his unsteady feet. Looking at his stump, his processors began to race. This wasn't right. Something was wrong. Something was missing. It was impossible. This was impossible. He was too powerful. He absorbed too much energy. He couldn't have been injured, not like this, not at all.
"Good job!" Goku cheered his son as the three of them reunited. "Good call, Gohan."
He examined the electronic arm in his hand. "I wonder if this could help Tien?" He poked the lens with a curious finger before tossing the device gently to land at Android 19's feet.
"How dare you." Android 19 turned to face his opponents. "How could you? How dare you." He flexed his right arm. It was still functional.
"It's a pretty obvious weakness." Goku began to walk forward, Gohan behind him to the left, and Piccolo to his right. "Without our power, you're actually not that strong."
Flaring his aura once more, he continued to close on the one-armed Android. "Without you being able to reabsorb our energy, this won't take long to finish you off."
"I still have my right arm." Android 19 thrust his palm forward, a low powered blast coming out.
Goku caught the blast in one hand, letting it detonate against him. "But not enough energy to use it."
Android 19 lifted his arm off the ground, slowly walking backwards as he did so. Reviewing his shared knowledge of Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo, he quickly came up with a new plan. Winding up, he threw the arm, overhand, at Goku's face.
Goku prepared to bat it out of the air, but was too slow.
Android 19 shot a blast at his own detached arm. Easily striking the inanimate unit, he smirked.
Exploding in a blast of sparks and metal shards, the arm vanished. A majority of the shrapnel harmlessly struck the ground, or lost energy as it traveled through the air.
Piccolo and Gohan scattered as soon as the explosion began.
Unfortunately for Goku, he was too close, felt too strong, and several fragments of hardware blasted into his face. His nose was pierced, his cheeks were cut, and right eye was shredded. He dropped to his knees, pressing his hands to his face. Screaming in pain, he was helpless.
Android 19 charged forward, a knee prepared to cave in Goku's skull, Super Saiyan or not.
As he closed in though, Gohan came in from the side. Kicking Android 19 off course, Gohan continued his assault. That was too much, that was too personal. Ripping as he punched, he began, essentially, trying to excavate his way through his enemy. Sparks were flying, from Android 19's injuries, as well as a few mixed in with Gohan's aura.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" Gohan shouted as he barely missed an almost certainly lethal blow to the back of Android 19's head.
Weaving through the narrow gap, Android 19 rotated his body and delivered a powerful right hook to Gohan's jaw. He attempted to fall up by grabbing his weak, fleshy, throat with his left hand, but failed...
Stopping his ascent from the brutal blow, Gohan was slightly higher than Android 19. Using his elevation to his advantage, he delivered a series of kicks to the Android's already damaged face.
Lowering himself down, Gohan spun in the air, delivering a roundhouse kick to the exact same point of Android 19's head. Using the force of the blow to push himself back, Gohan prepared an energy blast between his hands.
Slowly, compared to his former speed, the young Gohan stepped to his left as the attack charged. "YOU'RE DONE!" He lifted the attack over his head. "Masenko, HA!" He shot it forward, wider, slower, darker, than normal.
Shoving both of his arms in front of him, Android 19 had a wave of system failure alerts pop up, which were quickly dismissed. Spinning to make himself a narrower target, he kept his right arm up in front of him, but adjusted his left stub to catch as little additional damage as possible.
From the right, Piccolo's hand shot out, wrapping around Android 19's open palm. "No you don't!"
For the second time that day, Piccolo lost an arm. It was worth it though, as he instantly began regenerating them both.
Android 19 did not make it out nearly as well. He was unable to absorb the attack due to Piccolo's burning flesh. He was unable to block it due to his lack of a left arm. He took the hit, directly and nearly exclusively.
When the dust settled, Android 19 was on the ground, at the end of a wide, yet shallow, trench. Slowly from his right, Piccolo approached. Slowly, from directly ahead, Gohan approached. With great difficulty, constant over correction for inaccurate sensors and overly sensitive motors, he got to his feet.
An elbow smashed into his back, knocking him right back to the ground. Goku appeared, standing behind him.
"What is your name?" Goku growled. His right eye was shut, blood creating a crispy line where his eye lids meet.
"He is Android 19." Android 20 spoke from the air.
Goku cursed under his breath. He forgot about the other one.
"Android 19." Goku cracked his knuckles. "While I'm normally not one to hold a grudge, and my eye is nothing a Senzu bean won't fix, I think that was a dirty move." He tried to open his eye, before quickly responding to the incredible pain and closing it once more.
Android 19, surrounded, got to his feet once more. Every system was alerting failure. Every system was broken. This, this didn't make sense. Lunging forward, he swung a punch at Goku's blind eye.
Goku easily grabbed Android 19's remaining hand. "You were never born, so you cannot die."
Goku took a step forward, pushing Android 19 backwards. "You were not given life, so destroying you will not be taking a life."
He took another step, forcing Android 19 to his knees. "Eighter, Eighter is good. I don't know if he has a soul, but he deserves one. You, you are a weapon." He tightened his grip. "A weapon that I will not allow to cause any more pain. A weapon that I will destroy!" Wrapping his free hand around Android 19's wrist, he pinched, cleanly cutting it off. Throwing it aside, he shook his head.
"No. No. No. No. No. No, no, no, no. NO NO NO NO!" Android 19's voice sped up as his system processed all the current factors, trying to find the inevitable path to victory.
"Yes." Goku said, placing his open palm atop Android 19's head. "You lost. You may be a computer, but you are too slow. You're not adaptable. You couldn't even tell we weren't fighting to kill you. No, we were just fighting to drain your energy, to force you to expose your weakness, so we could take advantage."
Turning around, using his stumps to help himself to his feet, Android 19 began to run.
"Ka… me…" Goku pulled his hands back.
Gohan appeared in front of Android 19, punching him in the forehead, knocking him to the ground.
Android 19 pushed himself forward, onto his stumps and knees.
"Ha… me…" Goku was behind him, energy ball already formed.
"This is for my brother." Gohan crossed his arms over his head. "Masenko!"
"No." Android 19's voice spoke. "No. no. No. No. No, no, no, no. No no no no!"
"HA!" Father and son launched their attacks in unison. They could have maximized their power, destroyed the Android, the city, the island, even the planet, but they held back. They weren't done. They'd destroy this Android, and then, the other.
As Android 19's shattered body smoked, twitched, and slowed to inactivity, Goku and his youngest son took a moment to breathe. That was difficult, and they still had another Android to fight, or possibly eighteen more if the numbering was horrifyingly correct.
"How's Gohan?" Goku turned to face Piccolo, one hand clutched over his wounded eye.
"He's stable." Piccolo responded, once again at the elder's side. "But he's in no condition to fight."
"We need to get him out of here." Goku could feel the blood under his palm. He needed a Senzu bean, but Gohan would need it first. "Piccolo, I need you to take Gohan to..."
"No." The younger Gohan interrupted, appearing next to Piccolo, two fingers on his forehead. "I'll take him, and be right back." He turned his gaze to the sky. "Dad, Mr. Piccolo, you two need to find the other Android."
A fresh layer of sweat covered Goku's body as his eyes shot open, before the wounded one snapped back shut. Spinning to where Android 20 was moments ago, finding empty space. "Where did he go!?" He demanded, spinning, searching, not finding.
As he looked past Piccolo, he mentally noted the Namekian was alone. When he circled back around again, his younger son was once more with him, holding out an open palm.
"What?" The over stressed warrior unintentionally barked at his son.
"Senzu bean, eat it." Gohan insisted.
Goku growled in frustration. He didn't have time for this. "Your brother needs it more than I do. Bring it back to him."
"No." Gohan refused. "Gohan is fine. Eat the bean."
"My eye isn't life threatening. Gohan was… his energy was..." Goku began to stammer as he turned his back on Gohan, raising into the sky to continue his search.
The boy followed his father into the air. "Korin gave him a bean already." Gohan's mouth was dry. "Now, eat the bean, Dad. You need to heal your eye."
Goku took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves. "He's alright? He ate a bean?" He stared into his son's right eye.
"Yes." Gohan pushed his hand into Goku's chest. "Now, eat it."
Goku pondered for a moment before picking the bean up between his thumb and index finger. Taking a deep breath, he popped it into his mouth. As he chewed, as his saliva dissolved the medicine, he felt every muscle in his body pulsing with renewed energy, he felt his cuts closing, and his eye reforming. Pulling his hand free from his face, he examined the line of blood and other, less common, bodily fluids. His aura flared, and he blitzed into the sky, Gohan directly behind him.
"We need to find the other Android." Goku's voice was confident.
As Goku spoke, Piccolo joined them. While Goku didn't notice the glare from Piccolo, Gohan felt it over every inch of his body.
"I hate to say it, but we need to split up." Goku shifted his gaze from the ground to his companions, searching for any sign of fear. Both were as solid as stone.
"Agreed." Piccolo growled through gritted teeth. Splitting up is what lead to Gohan's current condition. It was the right path forward, but it put them all in far more danger than if they stuck together.
"Gohan?" Goku asked.
Jumping at the question, he nodded. "Yeah."
He tapped his forehead. He bit his tongue from making the comment he wanted to, about how if he knew Gohan was alone earlier, he could have left Piccolo behind to join the battle quicker… about how Goku should have joined the battle quicker… Knowing him, he was probably helping evacuate a building, or put out a fire, instead of jumping to his son's aid… "Sounds good."
Atop Korin's tower
"And he just left him here?" Kami asked, kneeling beside the unconscious elder Gohan.
"Yes." Korin nodded as he eyed a blushing Yajirobe. "He appeared, demanded Senzu beans. "When I told him we only had one, he took it and vanished."
"I see." Kami passed his hand over Gohan's body. "Well, I can keep him stable, but we'll either need a Senzu bean, a proper healer, or an actual doctor and time." He began pouring white energy out of his hand and into Gohan's body.
Author's note: That was a tough one.