Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.

The Cataylst

Act V

Chapter 74: Disharmony

Turles:

All that fool did was stare ahead for weeks now. There wasn't a lot of training going on in the final stretch for everyone to prepare for the supposedly dangerous Androids. The only thing that made him in any way concerned was that two Super Saiyans from the future, both of whom were weaker than him, had trouble with these organisms. Still, that wasn't his immediate concern. The immediate concern he had was the fact that Raditz was useless. It was a good thing he wasn't in the apartment right now, or he'd blast him out of the window to get him to move.

It'd taken all of two days for that buffoon to concede his ambitions when he'd sensed Vegeta's power flair up once. Depression and despair were the other Saiyan's watchwords. Admittedly, he wasn't the one who'd burnt everything he cared about to the ground in a failed bid for revenge, and then not been given the dignity of death in a battle. Still, this wasn't his problem, other than pressing an asset into service. Right now, Raditz wasn't being a helpful asset. He didn't take him in to be useless.

Landing feet first at the designated spot, Turles looked around the area for any signs of the others. It was telling that Vegeta wasn't coming, and Raditz wasn't invited. He had a feeling were he not Kakarot's equal, he'd not be invited either. This was fascinating to be here for. A few weeks earlier he was fighting for his life and deceiving Kakarot, but now that the Androids were under a year away, oh, well, they needed him as apart of their little group talk. They were vastly more powerful than anything those machines would have faced in some failed timeline. So, the real question was, why did he care at all about this trash?

Immediately he sensed a disruption in the energies around him as Kakarot appeared out of thin air. There was his face staring back at him, though it held a different intelligence behind its eyes. The one who didn't need Bardock's help. The thought wasn't resentful, it was just a harsh truth which Turles didn't let himself forget. Other powers were still converging on them, but Kakarot thought he should be here first. Well, that interesting, wasn't it? The obvious reason was predictable, and he wasn't surprised by the first words out of Kakarot's mouth.

"I don't want Raditz showing up to South City," Kakarot said bluntly. "I've sensed his energy near yours, and I know about your apartment in Orange Star City too."

The boy ratted me out. That's upsetting.

"Well, you and his other uncle seemed to try and kill everyone."

Thank you, from the gallery, I appreciate your calm and meaningful input.

Still, Kakarot's tone wasn't one he appreciated at all. Crossing his arms, he looked through the skies, trying to determine just how much time they had before the others got here. Kakarot undoubtedly didn't want to air dirty laundry, which was why he'd come here first. Looking at his twin a moment later, Turles considered what he'd said.

"I don't control our older brother. But I can say for my part, I've lost interest in his revenge. I wasn't that committed in the first place, as you know," Turles remarked. "Are you concerned then Kakarot? That Raditz may be a problem?"

The comment was obviously bait, and Kakarot took it of course. He was very predictable.

"You know exactly why I don't want him near anything involved. Not only did he just try to kill my first friend, and betrayed everyone I know, even you, but he'd be a liability in any fight we get in. He'll attack Vegeta, or cause a problem with the others. Vegeta decided not to kill him, that was his choice."

Not rewarded enough for his efforts, Kakarot? Well, don't you have a vengeful streak against him? Our own flesh and blood.

"Very well," Turles commented, nodding as he did, his eyes never breaking contact with Kakarot. "Is there anything else I can do for you, oh mighty and powerful Kakarot?"

"Yea, there is," Kakarot answered tightly, realizing the inflection of his tone was mocking. "I don't want you coming around for training anymore, and I don't want you near my son."

It took only a few moments for Turles's snide demeanour to turn to a particularly grim one, giving Kakarot a very defined look. Killing him at the moment would prove difficult. Especially given how they're last encounter had gone. Kakarot had friends, too many friends to make that work at the moment. Without Raditz achieving the status of Super Saiyan as well, it meant his own friend was inferior to the Namek. Of course, there was also these supposedly dangerous Androids. That wasn't something he subscribed to in the least, mind you. His power now rivalled Kakarot's, and either of them could defeat Cooler. The only being stronger than them had been Slug, and these things were going to hardly be as dangerous as an ancient Namekian.

Human inventions, for human problems. They'd be weak even compared to Frieza, at least as far as he was concerned.

"I'll take your request under consideration," Turles responded, his tone just as restrained as Kakarots.

"See that you do."

Humans landed nearby, Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha all made their lands. Turles grinned at Yamcha, who glared back at him with a scared and hateful scowl. Humans were great for their impotence, that much he most definitely knew. The three eyed one ignored him, turning his attention to Goku.

"Hey, Goku, who else is coming? Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan?" he asked, going through the list of other actual warriors.

"Piccolo's coming," Kakarot responded, looking serious as he answered, trying to give off how important all of this supposedly was.

"So, you couldn't rope Vegeta in? I fail to see why I should have bothered showing up. You want to have a meeting with the C-team and the head of the B-team on how to beat the scary Androids. Well, I'm glad you wanted these insects to feel important."

It was obvious to him that Vegeta would never cooperate with Kakarot. Hell, he was only here to see how these fools might end up being important to him, but this was embarrassing even for the Earthlings. Their can-do attitude was even more frustrating to deal with. Admittedly, he thought very much that this entire thing was blown out of proportions. Even if these androids were as bad as everyone seemed to think they'd be, then these idiots weren't going to be any help to a Saiyan.

"Insects?" Tien fired up immediately, closing his fist furiously as he stepped forward. "How dare you?! You're lucky that Goku's here, or I'd-"

"Do. Absolutely. Nothing," Turles stonewalled coldly, turning his attention to the frustrated human, who flinched at the words. "What? You thought that all that training was going to make you able to stop a legendary warrior? If you can't beat Kakarot, you can't beat me. If Kakarot weren't here, I'd have already broken at least one of your bones for your insolence."

The human just growled, trying to do his best to keep himself composed. They both knew the truth, and that was that Turles had been straight with him. He wasn't going to do anything.

"You really should consider writing a book on how to make friends and mend bridges"

I don't need friends.

"No, but you need people to not want to kill you, or leave you to die."

Don't tell me these Androids have you worried.

"I've seen what they can do. I don't know if you can beat them."

Now that was interesting. A dark smile slowly started to emerge on Turles's lips before he looked at Kakarot, who was clearly staring back at him with the same look as before. There was a real tension in the air, but Turles ignored it, instead choosing to focus on the new piece of data he'd learned. These human inventions might be strong enough to defeat a Super Saiyan? They might prove strong enough to challenge Kakarot, Vegeta, or himself? That was more than fascinating. As a Saiyan, he always wanted to be challenged. Certainly, he didn't want to lose, no, that was not anything he wanted. But the idea of a challenge, a mountain to climb, it was very much shared between himself and Kakarot, that much he knew.

Before another word could be spoken, the final guest arrived. The only other one who mattered, if Turles was to be frank.

When the Namekian landed, he looked worried, and that was in and of itself an interesting notion. Was he worried about the Androids? No, that was a look of a deeper concern. There was something more immediate, that was following the Namekian. And it was concerning enough that his stoic outer shell had been broken by it. Well, well, well, more problems? Everyone clearly wanted those.

"Piccolo," Kakarot greeted. "Now that we're all here. We're going to need to agree on how this is done. First, we need to establish where the Androids are in South City, before we confront anyone. After that, Piccolo and I will be the front line. If either of us get injured or run out of energy, it'll be up to you guys to step in."

Turles almost laughed at his ridiculous this was. He shook his head, just staring at Kakarot in disbelief.

"You and the Namek? Why not you and the midget? Or you and three-eyes? Clearly, that should be the front line. And what will the backline be doing? Making conversation with the Androids to distract them?"

There was an immediate stillness in the air before Turles crossed his arms, the fabric of his grey suit bending at his elbows while he continued to trace his vision past all of them. This was why even if these things were a threat, Kakarot and his band of retards were going to lose. Simply put, he wanted the chaff to feel important. The three humans were useless at best against something that supposedly could stop a Super Saiyan.

"We've got another problem," Piccolo cut in before Turles could continue.

Another problem? You mean one greater than the pile of useless we're currently dealing with? How great.

"I've spent months now looking for Kami, and there isn't any of sign of him," Piccolo said seriously. "I can't even sense my connection to him. If he was dead, I would have died already, but this creates a serious problem for us. I don't even know if the Dragon Balls are still working."

Everyone seemed to grow immediately uncomfortable as Turles looked at all of them. Who cared? Kami? He didn't know of this creature, so he was struggling to find out why he cared? The real issue seemed to be his mentioning that the Dragon Balls were no longer functioning. That was a far more pressing concern.

"Why would they Dragon Balls stop working if Kami disappeared?" Turles scoffed.

"Kami is their creator," Piccolo said bluntly. "If Kami should die, the Dragon Balls, and me, will quickly both disappear as well."

Well, that was interesting, wasn't it? Those were notes to keep for later, wasn't they?

"But what happened to him?" Krillin's voice cut in. "There has to be some kind of anything, right?"

"I don't know," Piccolo answered, his tone unsettled. "He didn't tell anyone anything, all Mr. Popo knows is that he vanished while we were fighting Slug."

Now that was interesting, wasn't it? The slugs got together it appeared? Smirking, Turles leaned back against a nearby tree.

"Maybe your friendly counterparts took him," Turles observed.

"We'd have seen him by now, or I'd have died already," Piccolo said bluntly. "Before we confront the Androids. I want help to find him."

Everyone there seemed surprised, even Turles seemed a bit surprised. The Namekian wasn't exactly the type to ask for anything, in his recollection. Admittedly, he was the odd man out in this instance. Namely because he didn't know who or what Kami was. Though he was certain that if he saw a Namekian walking around who wasn't Piccolo, he'd be sure to mention it. Not because he was intending on helping by any stretch, but out of an effort to play on the team.

"And Goku," Piccolo added. "When the Androids come, it should be you and Turles who are the front line."

A smug smile was cast in Kakarot's direction at the remark.

"See? We're a great team, aren't we?" Turles sardonically chuckled.

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Cooler:

The future lay wide open, didn't it? Every Catalyst there was, now was trying to examine their next best option. Cooler was aware of the Death of Lord Slug, which had little impact on him in any way. Instead, the galactic conqueror was trying to look at the long game. If things played out as they were predicted, then when was the best time to strike? It certainly wasn't now, perhaps after the Androids had been dealt with? If they were dealt with, that was. There were now too many variables from his observation of what was called by King Piccolo as being "the third timeline".

The last thing he saw before the end of the information available to all of them, was the resurrection of Frieza by the Frieza Force, without the resurrection of their father. Worse yet, he was nowhere to be found in that timeline as well. Something his father hadn't seen, which Cooler had, was that Frieza had killed him in a prior encounter. When the timelines diverged, he wasn't sure. Still, it left him with an irritated sensation.

"We can wish Frieza back?" Cold's tone sounded almost surprised as Cooler remained still, looking out across the stars beyond. "We should do so immediately then."

"I think not," Cooler responded bluntly. "Frieza was killed by someone weaker than Son Goku, significantly so. His power will not be helpful to us."

"But we saw Frieza's resurrection. Your brother's power and strength are unmatched in the universe. Focusing his efforts on training, he would be an unstoppable asset, easily able to annihilate the Saiyans."

Turning his gaze at his father, Cooler remained as determined as before to keep his hand close to his chest. If they did resurrect Frieza, it wouldn't be for some time. The Earth's Dragon Balls weren't available at the moment. Additionally, the Earth's warriors were far too focused on threats at the moment, which could lead to their detection in such an effort, which would further complicate any efforts later to procure the Dragon Balls.

"It is tactically unsound at this time," Cooler offered before walking towards the edge of the bridge. "Frieza will just have to suffer for a while, just as he did in the world we viewed."

There was a low growl from his father, who Cooler almost thought for a moment was going to try and overrule him. The truth was, of course, after what Cooler had displayed on Earth, he was the one in charge here, not their father. A small smile traced of his lips, cunning and arrogant in its nature. No, they would need to strike either before, or after the release of Majin Buu, and that was provided however this world had changed its human-centric androids was still in play. The question was, of course, were they going to both resurrecting Frieza of all people?

You spoiled brat. If you'd actually trained ever, you'd have not been defeated by that monkey on Namek. And you'd have not allowed father to get caught up in your pitiful schemes. You got him killed as well. Why should I resurrect you?

Turning to face his father, Cooler removed his smirk, looking at the titan before him, his father's arms in front of him, folded, while his own were behind himself, contemplating their next move. If training didn't work as well for him as it clearly did Frieza, perhaps he should cooperate with Garlic and his plans. The imp was unbearable, but might be a useful asset. Which increasingly meant to Cooler, that the least useful of his new allies, was in fact King Piccolo. Even Garlic would need to be dealt with eventually.

"We should set course for the ruins of Planet Namek," Cooler remarked. "I suspect that the Imp had more to his plan than we originally thought. There might be the chance to unlock the very power of the Gods there."

His father remained stoic for several moments before seating himself upon his throne, staring into the void ahead of them.

"Change course to planet Namek," he ordered, before turning his attention back to Cooler. "I expect you have a reasonable explanation for this, beyond trusting in that pitiful imp?"

"I suspect that Garlic had been looking for the Tree of Might."

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Author's Notes:

I'm kinda torn on a few elements of how I'm going to be handling Cooler and King Cold. For a long time, I never really expected to work this far into The Catalyst, and ported elements of this story over to The Long Road, and since Cooler's story here, may end up being similar to Cooler's story in TLR, there is pretty likely going to be a reimagining of it, and changes.

The plans for the Android / Cell Saga, I hope end up being unique. It might end up going longer than I want, but I think it's going to be very unique in its telling. I'm just plotting out the logistics behind all of it. I definitely don't want it to be as close as the Frieza Saga was. The idea is of course, is everything starts diverging more and more as the story goes forward. So, don't expect The Android/Cell Saga, just with Raditz and Turles bouncing around. I really want to change it up. You might even see the same fights line up…

Work's been extremely busy lately, it's that time of year for me, sadly. So, updates are gonna slow down until the new year, I suspect. But there still will be updates.

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Reviewers:

Perfect Carnage: The Red Ribbon Army existed, sadly, to make General Red taller. Just none of them knew it, except General Black, who killed Red as soon as he found out, lol.

Blades of Fury: Android 21 will be her own design, but it's closer to 17 and 18, than it is to 19 and 20.

Pyromania101: That'd be amazing. Lol

Luke: Nah, I had time. Now I'm in the slowdown time for writing. Just swamped with work. I've not even had time to respond to reviewers until tonight. It's been crazy.

Ultimate Savior: She did in the game, dunno, fell in love while working on Science? :O

Guest1: I incorporated something like his death from Abridged, it's not the same of course. There are gonna be tons of Androids going on, lol.

Warga: Thanks!

TheItchyCocoon: A great armada of androids, lol.

SSJ1998: Interesting you mention that. Gero didn't know about Super Saiyans, despite Goku and Trunks clearly demonstrating it, and I'm sure Goku training more than once as it… … … Did he notice? Lol. Thanks :)

Transformers G1's-Prime: We're gonna see Androids 13-24, I promise. :)

Red Power: I think Bardock is always proud of Goku, and he's learning to be proud of Turles. Raditz is on the shit list at the moment, I suspect. Lol

ILiekFishes: Terrible things happen to everyone in everything I write, lol.

Jason9000: Gero does keep his humanity. But he's not who he was. A mind without a body, isn't the same thing as a mind with one… he's surrounded by his creations and his grief. In a way, he may have just ended his wife's suffering, while severing his last tie to the past. But there is one more chapter left for Gero's build…

Super Mystic Gohan: Raditz has some fun stuff coming up for the Android Saga. :)

RoxaShadow: I dare, lol. Thanks :)

DarkFalconZ: Yep. Revenge is something that consumes the one who wants it, as much as it consumes the victim of it.

OuterSpaceHooker: I aim for horror with the Android Chapters in a lot of ways.

Maximussji: There will be the sci-fis, I promise, lol.

James: There is going to be a great bath of blood coming, I promise, lol.

Instinct: Vegeta's great at fighting, and he's got a great tactical slant, the problem isn't his ability to analysize what's happening, his problem is he overestimates his own abilities, or underestimates his opponents. Only when things start to slide out of his favour, does he often get his shit together.