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 VI
Chapter 87: Ultra
Android 22:
Driving anywhere was pointless. Programming was a major factor behind her sticking with any of this band of other Androids. Already she was critical of just about all of them. The skeleton was a feeble design who was trying to control them, and the only reason she'd not killed him was because her commander… the lead unit, Android 17 had told her not to. Doing pointless crap she didn't want to do upon orders was something she had trouble swallowing, but inevitably did. It was a familiar sensation, only without another component. It felt like she was missing a big picture, a big idea behind it all. It felt arbitrary, and if something was arbitrary, she'd rather it be her, living by her own rules.
The bus fiasco, prior to it thankfully being destroyed, had been the best example of why she was itching under the rule of this punk kid. Files filtered past through her understanding as to why he was in charge. Unit 17 was the most sophisticated and powerful Android built at this time. His template was a more effective one than her own. It was deemed after her own trials, as well as that of 23 and 24, that the new models were not as worthwhile as the prior, also flawed models. The main error she suffered was in son far that she did not know why 17 and 18 were considered to be superior, and hence given preferential deferral in her commands.
Once the occupants of the bus had been encouraged to leave, and the new comer arrived, it'd been impossible to not look at him. Every time a routine in her programming tried to change her focus, it was overridden. There was something that she couldn't escape from, with this one. She was stuck in a loop. Its arrogant speeches didn't impact her at all, she couldn't comprehend what it was doing there. It was as if it belonged somewhere else, in a different time. Briefly, she remembered ash, fire, and pain.
It felt like her body was shredded, if only for a brief second. Her face remained impassive but her breathing did hitch once as she saw him lift his fist towards them.
Eighteen seemed prepared to fight, but every compulsion in her body pushed her forward. Something it'd never felt before began to rise up in its chest as she stepped forward, cracking her knuckles and then her head from side to side.
"I'll deal with…"
The Saiyan regarded her as her files on the subject finally came up.
-Vegeta.
That name brought another emotion forward, even the way it was said didn't come to her in her own voice, it sounded like a woman, a whisper from the depths of her organic mind. Her eyes intensified on the target as her sensors scanned him with every bit of interest. Examination could never yield an accurate battlepower for the organic-reliant Androids, but she estimated by her calculations that he was at least 20 times stronger than her record's most generous estimations. Which mean that she was still more than able to handle the enemy.
"Twenty-Two, you want this one?" Seventeen asked from behind.
Her own programming didn't respond for a moment, beyond zeroing in on Vegeta.
"Yes," she answered as the decision was guided by a force beneath the layers of programming in it's operating system and behavioral programs.
As soon as she spoke, the Saiyan seemed to look at her with some confusion. His head seemed to rise as his eyes at first looked at her with a measure of disbelief before a smile slowly formed across his features. Her facial recognition protocols recognized it as a kind of awareness. The organic component to her primary processor was giving off strange signals. Most of her line had severely damaged organics before restoration, and the extra components needed to utilize the body appropriately didn't fully understand the signals giving off fear, anger, or other hormonal indicators of something severe. For the first time, she felt her adrenaline pumping through her body just at the sight of this thing.
It was then he started to laugh. It was full throated, his head even reared back as his eyes closed momentarily. She expected it to subside, but as the seconds passed it continued for longer than what was deemed normal.
"I know exactly who youare, stupid girl."
When it was proclaimed, she didn't give an immediate, emotive response. It was highly unlikely that Vegeta knew anything about her, beyond that she was an Android. Combat algorithms however seemed to slowly become corrupted by a violent pathway from the brain itself. The computer onboard, she, tried to compensate for it as her mind already started to race towards the most appropriate act to begin the fight.
She wanted to break his face in, and it was something that went beyond the computer discovering idle amusement, or simply wanting to achieve victory. With every few moments, impulses started to run through her as her combat protocols became corrupted beyond repair. She was barely thinking, she felt like she was about to crash.
"Is this who the Androids are? A bunch of failures? You're that stupid woman that Raditz kept around. He missed you so much. I think your friend over there killed him, by the way."
Immediately her files searched for the fighter named Raditz. As soon as it came to her view, she scanned the profile's image and notes. It didn't seem to indicate that she knew him at all, but there was a familiarity there, even if it wasn't a warm one. It wasn't someone she was noted to have encountered.
She ignored Vegeta's pointing as she raised her fists, and it was in a different style than she'd originally been programmed. Her own files raced to find out what stance she was assuming. This was best described as being the stance taken by a street fighter, rather than a martial artist. Briefly, the primary processor tried to alter course again before Vegeta spoke.
"Oh? So, you think you can fight me now? I remember the last time we met. Do you? Or are you just something looks like her? It doesn't matter. I'll enjoy killing again."
The reference didn't register, but finally she felt herself start to panic internally. The references had no registry, but she was receiving data that she'd met this Saiyan before. He was also clearly referencing her. But she'd never been killed, her files didn't possess anything regarding Saiyans dispatching a unit such as herself.
When he gestured to her to come at him, she obliged in seconds. Legs bound forward, feet pounding against the asphalt beneath her, her boots gripping the surface of the road as every step she increased her speed 100-fold, her gloved fists still up in front of her as her jacket bristled in the 'wind' behind her.
In the fragment of a moment she was at Vegeta, swinging her first strike at him. The Saiyan dodged, preparing to come in low to strike upwards, but she'd already kicked to the side, catching his guard as he quickly moved to defend himself. Grabbing both sides of his head before he could respond, she flipped upward, swinging above him vertically, direction moving above him before swinging both around to his back, grabbing other sides of his waist with her boots before grabbing the ground, flipping forward again with a handstand, she drove the confusion Saiyan into the road, head first in a blur of speed. Hopping back several times she raised her guard again, light immediately emerged from the small hole his body had made being drive straight into the ground before energy rippled out, exploding out of the asphalt, blasting away a huge section of the road itself as the side of the mountain it was rested again, collapsed in on itself in an avalanche.
With pure speed he was already on her, blurring through the air and striking down from above. A streak of gold moved through the space above her as the furious looking Saiyan caught her, his fist came across the side of her face, hitting reinforced bone and enhanced carbon weaved skin. Even with these enhancements, she felt her head jet to one side. Using the momentum of the to pull herself down, moving with the energy, she swept low, kicking out where his legs were. The Saiyan hopped into the air, avoiding the sweep, but not when she'd shot backup, her joints literally glowing through her skin as she did as her enhancement points drew on excess energy. Springing up with her legs as she threw all the power her body could make into the rising fist, she slammed into his armoured chest with a stiff right. The armour itself cracked a second later as Vegeta gagged, a drop of blood emerging, splattering against her jacket before he was sent flying into the air.
This time she didn't receded, instead, blasting off after him, her combat algorithms finally taking hold as she blurred into the air towards him, wanting to take advantage of his weakened position. Swinging in with a diving kick from above him before he seemingly could recover, 22 shot straight past where he should have been before a sweeping kick caught her in the side, immediately her body jetted to one side before crashing into the side of the hard rock. She bounced and skid off the side of the mountain before she slapped squarely into the hard ground.
Her sensors recalibrated as new estimations on Vegeta's strength and energy were made. Instinct however had overridden all of the data she was inputting as the brain kicked into action.
Ducking to one side from her back, a white boot smashed into the road where she'd been laying for only a micro-second. Her hands grabbed the ground as she'd flipped to her front while shifting away, diving towards Vegeta's legs, this time catching them with both arms. The Prince was confused as his legs locked together. Raising both his arms to strike down, 22 maneuvered herself to slip his feet off the ground with ease. His back slammed into the ground before she pulled him along, sliding his body against the rough asphalt before swinging his frame into the side of the mountain, this time Vegeta crashed face and chest first into the mountain as energy collected in her legs.
Accessing arsenal. Maneuver 7. Murder Kick.
Jetting forward, aiming for where Vegeta was crumbled into the wall, her joints glowed brightly with the same red-purple colouration they had before. She stepped forward, swinging her leg around and striking out exactly where the Saiyan was. Only this time it was Vegeta who dodged, but as he did she saw him preparing to attack, only at the last heartbeat realizing what was happening, he blurred away.
When her foot hit where he was, energy blasted out where it landed from the force of the kick. A wave of violet energy blasted through the entire mountain itself, cleaving through a half dozen kilometres of rock in a sec before the shorn rocks exploded outwards as the second wave of power rolled through. Thousands of tons of rubble were launched into the air, scattering across the landscape beyond, boulders and rocks descending over the canyon.
She carefully pulled her leg back, before planting it at her side, her eyes scanning for where Vegeta had gone before she turned to look at the other Androids.
She could see the skeleton looking on in fascination, and she could see 17 beginning to clap.
Whatever.
"You have scared the birds," Sixteen said to her, sounding openly disappointed.
"Birds?" General Blue scoffed. "You are bird watching at a time like this?"
When her eyes calibrated again, this time finding Vegeta once more, she turned to look at him as he slowly descended from the sky. The twisted features on his face were written with anger and frustration. Her combat commands didn't even bother to prompt themselves again as the CPU almost gave up when her arms came up, taking up her simple, but what was determined to be increasingly effective fighting stance.
The scathing look he was giving her slowly faded to an arrogant, malicious smirk. That was somehow very, very familiar once again.
"Did you really think that was going to finish me, Android?" he breathed, though she was disregarding him for one very simple reason. "You won't be able to keep up for me forever. The game's over, I'm going to take off the kid's gloves."
"I make it a rule to not talk to dead men. Keep your last words to yourself, if you don't mind."
The sentence had emerged to its program only at the irritation that this thing was talking, but it felt very natural, almost disconnected from the fate of itself, or this Vegeta creature. She would fight and she would triumph, or she would die, but she would not suffer this thing's tongue.
Now the Saiyan prepped himself, almost crouching down as he prepared to launch himself back at her, a confident sneer crossing his features.
"Dead man? I'll remember that when I'm ripping the circuits out of that corpse of yours."
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Vegeta:
This thing was fast, and it moved like it wasn't a living thing. Its joints all seemed almost double jointed, and it struck out like a snake, coiling back and striking when attacked, or moving around him like water before going for a critical hit. It even used wrestling to setup a kill shot, one which he was smart enough to avoid. To the contrary of what these machines thought, they were far from his equal. Now that he'd had the beginning of the exchange, he could see exactly what this thing could do, and he had ways to deal with it.
She wasn't going to be able to keep up with him, not for long. Her stance was primitive but effective, arms guarded the face, and legs covered themselves or the body. It wasn't a typical fighting stance, but it wasn't an advantage or a disadvantage.
Edging towards her, Vegeta's eyes didn't break from hers as he looked for the new tempo of the battle. He needed to land something critical soon, in his opinion. Either a significant energy wave of some sort, or he needed to catch her with something strong enough to do lasting damage. Right now, there was a bruise on her cheek and little else.
His aura flared one more time before Vegeta dived forward, blasting off towards the machine, this time putting his power to the fore to overwhelm the target. Coming in with a hard-right punch, Vegeta aimed under her guard he faked striking at the face, before he threw a brutal body hook with his left into her ribs. The machine staggered to one side, though she wasn't taken out by any means. The legs he'd learned to watch for had repositioned themselves to use the momentum of his attack to let her flow with the hit and carry the momentum with her attack. It meant she'd be striking at him from the right, and he was correct.
Blocking the high striking left kick, he gave her a smirk before her follow up strike could land, connecting with his own left punch, catching her in the side of the head. Stepping into her before she could recover, he followed up with a stiff, short uppercut to the jaw. This time, he saw the damage, the expression of her face shifted for a second as her eyes widened. He'd hit her hard enough that she had a reboot, as far as he was concerned. Swinging into the finish, Vegeta connected with an unguarded roundhouse kick into the chest. The machine fell back, its arms and legs trailing behind it before the energy of the hit slowly faded, letting her fall off into a roll against the road, before she slid onto the dirt beside it, just next to her comrades.
Vegeta was left standing there, now posing with his arms up as his feet started to skip across the surface of the ground arrogant.
The other machines didn't respond as she started to push herself off the ground. Turning her eyes towards him again, he didn't see anger, rage, or disappointment. The only thing he saw was the impassive machine examining him once more, and that was fine. It could examine all it wanted, because he was going to kill this thing, and then move onto the rest of its friends.
"Androids, is that the best you can do?" Vegeta laughed.
Between them a few silent remarks were given, before he heard the purple haired girl just say…
"I told you, he's mine."
The next time he had the advantage, he'd finish her off. He'd already proven to himself that he was more than this thing's match, after all. Just like the fat one before it, this one was heading towards the electronics graveyard, as far as he was concerned. When she dashed ahead again, using the same tactic she had last time, Vegeta grinned to himself as he prepared for her to strike high and then go low. Every indicator showed this, before instead her legs shot together as her body shot like a missile at the ground level. Lifting one leg to avoid the attack from knocking out his feet, he scowled.
"You-"
Before he could get a further word out, she'd grabbed his other foot, still placed on the ground as her body carried forward, dropping him face first into the road as she dragged him face first along the pavement for four metres before he felt her pull him violently back with her. Both her arms wrapped around his waste as Vegeta felt confusion, feeling his back against her chest before she lunged back, almost bending her own body in two, driving him head forward against the ground before rolling back over him, grabbing him by his legs and hoisting him off the ground his pelvis, before driving him back down towards the ground was already cracked him his initial impact. The road split open he hit it so hard, his face imbedding itself in the hardened ground as he felt one eye completely close from his face before crushed into the ground. It hurt, he'd not lie about that, and he'd been completely unprepared for what she'd just done.
Pushing himself up before he could even fully feel the pain, Vegeta spat furiously before throwing an energy wave directly in her face, she rapidly stepped around it before kicking the underside of his extended arm from his side, sending his limb straight up. Before he could even think to recover, she was into him again. A hard punch cracked into his lower back before another one battered into his ribs, and then another. By the time he'd turned his guard to her, she'd already landed a fourth strike on his mid section with a series of short, powerful shots into his lower body. This was stopping now.
Throwing a quick jab to get her to back off, she didn't move an inch, instead her head just slipped back, almost bending backwards before it popped back into place quickly than his arm even fully retracked. Her legs kicked low, trying to catch his knee in an extended position, though he managed to step back in time.
Furious, he lunged directly back into her, his power flaring as he did, only this time as soon as he threw his punch she was underneath him, grabbing him by the hand and wrist and flipping him over, using his own momentum, crashing him back into the broken road his body had been imbedded in moments earlier. A furious snarl escaped him.
"Android bitch!" he shouted, before she twisted his arm. "AHHH!"
His shoulder almost popped out of place as she pushed her foot into his side for leverage. Roaring in pain once more, it felt like she was about to wrench his arm off. She paused for a moment as her attention was diverted. That was his chance. Taking his arm and pointing it up towards her, golden energy exploded forward, hitting her straight on. Her feet slid back across the ground as she let go, before her body was sent back into the air from the angle he'd fired from. When she fell off the beam, she landed on both of her feet with grace, her eyes staring ahead with a dead sight.
When he got up, he spat some of the blood from his mouth, seething at how she'd just made a fool of him.
There was a familiar, significant energy hovering in the air nearby, and that was even more infuriating.
"Are you a fool, boy?" Vegeta spat, turning to look at him. "I don't need your help."
"I'm not a coward," Trunks said, his tone dangerous as he said it.
Idiot!
"Fine, you're not, happy?" Vegeta shot back. "Stay out of my fight. If you want one of these things after I'm done, then go ahead. But I'm beating this machine, on my own, do you understand?"
There was silence at first from the other Super Saiyan before he boy acknowledged him, nodding a second later. At least he understood where his place was, unlike the other fools.
The Android he'd been fighting removed her now smoldering jacket, tossing it aside, revealing her bare arms before she started to walk forward again, stopping in front of him, they were about to square off again, only… she stopped, looking up again, narrowing her eyes.
I thought I'd made it clear I didn't want that waste around.
Turning and looking up, Vegeta saw the whole army of idiots appearing in the sky.
Damn it.
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Future Gohan:
They'd been fighting, at a pretty high level. That much was evidenced by the split mountain, multiple avalanches, destroyed infrastructure., and the tremors they heard on the way here. He was worried before they got there that Vegeta might have already been dead, but his power was stable, for the moment. The machine fighting him wasn't one he recognized, it was one of the damned legions of the fucking things. Normally his mom had taught him not even to think in that way, but just looking at them brought out the worst in him.,
How could there be this many? How was that even possible?
Trunks hadn't done anything crazy yet, but that was maybe only a matter of time. Without even addressing Vegeta, Gohan took point, flying down to Trunks' level and hovering near him.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Not now," Trunks answered, looking up at the other Androids. "I'm not a coward, I'm going to face these things down."
"Don't listen to Vegeta, we're going to need to play this safe, you know that. In my time, you died not playing it safe, and in your time, I died, not playing it safe. This is what got Vegeta killed, Trunks. He's a selfish bastard who never cared about anyone but himself."
There was a laugh from below, as the fight had to resume.
"Is that so, Ox? Well, it's too bad that your Vegeta was such a weakling then, isn't it? You're nothing compared to me, boy, and neither are these androids!"
Looking at the Android, Gohan could see the damage she'd taken, and it was… lacking in substance. A few bruises, but he wasn't even sure this model was as powerful as Android 17 or 18. Then there was a dozen more over there? Vegeta hadn't even finished one, and even if he won this fight, what kind of condition was he going to be in? It was crazy to fight them like this; they needed a plan! Vegeta was so irresponsible he was putting everyone in danger by acting this way.
"I'll take the next one," Trunks said, trying to remain dead serious, but he knew full well Trunks was scared.
Your dad is not going to be impressed by this Trunks. That's now how this works.
Everyone for years had told Trunks that his dad wasn't such a bad guy, or avoided the subject all together. This was a problem, it turns out, because the vision he had for his old man wasn't accurate. He wanted to be accepted by him even now, even after he basically got spat in the face. It was unbelievably irresponsible of Vegeta to acted that way, and even more irresponsible for them to have created the expectation that he wouldn't.
"You know you can't beat one of them," Gohan said seriously. "One on one, Trunks? Come on."
"I have to," Trunks said harshly a second later, turning his eyes towards the machines.
"Hey, you there?" a voice called up from below. "Time out for a second. We were happy to let these 2 fight, without interference. Is that going to a problem for you?"
Seventeen.
Looking down at the man who'd killed Piccolo and Krillin, and killed his best friend later in life, Gohan felt himself swallow his pride just by floating there and not taking action. But taking a stupid action was just going to get them all killed, and they needed to play this smart. Even being here right now, wasn't smart.
"These fools wouldn't die for me," Vegeta laughed. "They accept."
"That's great of you to speak for them, but I need to hear it from them," Seventeen laughed. "So, what do you say up there? These two going to be allowed to have it out?"
Looking towards the others, Gohan saw Turles smirk, clearly more than happy to see this play out, and Piccolo reluctantly nodded. The others looked to those two for what to do, and Tien, Krillin, and Yamcha all seemed to come to agreement.
This isn't good, what are we doing? Why couldn't you just listen Vegeta?
Turning around, Gohan nodded towards the Android.
"You got it."
"Come on Trunks, you can wait your turn with us, hovering this close is just asking to break the rules your dad asked for."
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Vegeta:
Perfect, those fools can stand by and watch me dismantle this machine.
And he most certainly would. This would cement him at the top of the pack here on this planet, they would all come to understand that he was the most powerful. Kakarot would never come close to him again, or that bastard Turles.
Setting up his stance again, he eyed the Android before stepping forward, looking for an opening as her guard came back up.
"Still think I'm a dead man?" he asked coolly, though his tone was laced with the confidence he felt so far.
The fact she didn't respond, of course, implied to him exactly what his silent killer thought of him. When she slid forward as well, slowly making motions as she looked for an opening in his own position, he knew this was when things were going to start getting turned up. In truth, this was a worthy adversary, she repeatedly moved away from his strengths, and touched on her own. But now he had seen all of her moves, he knew full well how quickly he could end this. When the right opening came up, he was going to annihilate this machine. In his mind's eye, he was already seeing a hundred ways this next engagement, the final engagement, would go.
A strange, purple aura caught fire around the Android. These machines didn't have auras. Energy started to catch fire in the area around her as Vegeta recognized the attack almost immediately. It was a strange copy of Nappa's explosive force technique. Flipping back, the area in front of him exploded in a massive display of force and light. Scowling, Vegeta clenched his teeth together as he looked at the huge dust cloud from where the attack had detonated. She knew that wouldn't hit him.
The sound a bootstep behind him was the only warning he had before he heard Trunks yell out from above.
"Behind you!"
Twisting just in time, Vegeta blocked the incoming strike. Kicking back towards her legs, she skipped back before he dashed towards her, spitting mad that she'd tried to ambush him. She'd scaled down the side of the mountain and come up behind him under the cover of the blast because he couldn't sense her energy. Well, she was going to have her fill of energy now!
Each swing he made in return had his full force behind it. Even when his arm connected with her block, he saw her entire frame resonate, forcing her back. Knowing he had his moment, Vegeta pushed. Swinging his leg out, he caught her block, before two more strikes hit her face guard, only for a low punch to smash into her abdomen. Her entire body lurched inwards before he came back around with a high kick, aiming to take her head clean off her shoulders. Instead, her body folded back around the kick, moving like she was more of fluid water instead of a solid body. When his next kick sailed past her body in the side way as she slithered around his attacks, Vegeta's frustration grew.
Another hard punch shot straight towards her as she stepped back, before he finally caught her, his leg connected with another straight kick, this time connecting with her abdomen. As she sailed back, Vegeta rapidly moved his left hand up before his leg even finished returning to the ground.
"BIG BANG ATTACK!"
The bolt launched from his hand towards her, leaving the machine with widened eyes before it connected head on. At the last moment she'd tried to regain control of her flight, only for the bolt to still make contact. The heart of the blast concentrated in before the first explosion rolled out, annihilating the road she'd been standing on, as well as the mountain below and above it. When the second blast wave rolled out, it washed past him, as well as the Androids now behind him, watching the confrontation.
As the mushroom cloud rolled into the sky and rocks clattered against the road all around him, Vegeta smiled before lowering his arm slowly, his eyes peeled for any signs of life within the debris cloud. It was impossible to tell without sensing any energy, but she'd taken the blast head on. The real problem was that attack had drained a significant portion of his own energy. When he turned to look up at the other fighters, it was for the cynical move of seeing if they saw any sign of her. Each one was gawking, trying to see any signs of the other warrior.
Good. One down, seven to go.
Smirking at "Ox", Vegeta saw the boy looking down in disbelief next to him, taking some pride in seeing what his superior progenitor had managed to achieve. Turning his attention back to the other androids, they were all watching with little to no interest, at least on the surface.
They were likely scared, and doing their best to conceal it. But by the end of this, they'd flee, just like the fat one had before he'd destroyed it.
"Well, it looks like that's now two for me, and none for you. Who's next on the chopping block?"
The skeleton looked horrified, if he had a face still, he was sure it'd have been one of complete fear, but all it could down now was drop its skeletal jaw, before its optics turned to the others.
"Everyone's so worried about your pitiful attack, but here you are, bystanders to my greatness. What do you have to say now, androids? Do you understand the power you're now up against? Or am I going to have to make another example of one of you?"
He was confident that even with less power, he was going to be fine taking on another one of them at least.
"You really are an arrogant one, aren't you, Vegeta? Don't you remember before? I called you incompetent. You still are."
Vegeta's scowl returned, his fist closed tightly before making a step forward. The black-haired one was next. He was so furious with him he'd bite him he was so mad.
"Listen to him, all he can do is talk," the blonde-haired girl said dismissively. "He doesn't even realize he's not won yet."
Vegeta paused at the last remark, about to spit venom at the girl when he heard her say the last words. Stopping, he turned and began looking around, there was no sign of the android. The fools in the air certainly didn't see any android, or they'd have said so. Was this just a trick? Turning around entirely, Vegeta began walking towards the rubble of where the Android had been. When a few rocks slid down, he immediately turned, firing a bolt into it, blasting another chunk out of the side of the mountain.
Ridiculous.
"You're lying," Vegeta scoffed, before making his way back towards them. "Were you just trying to buy a few more moments of-"
The ground beneath Vegeta, exploded a moment later as the violet-haired woman exploded out of the ground beneath him, murder in her eyes, as he saw the glowing leg, she was coming at him with, kick him. The blow landed at the centre of mass as he'd been launched back by the blast beneath him. Everything froze as he felt a wave of power roll through his body, unprotected. His insides burned seemingly. The purple energy around the leg crackled before the full wave washed over him. The violence of the rush of energy was already ripping through his frame… All while he was staring into the eyes of a spectre from the past, come to kill him.
No… no it can't be…
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Android 22:
The rubble around her left her body buried. The direct hit from the attack brought up her systems diagnostics. It had been enough to cause substantial damage. Enhanced skin and bone had been damaged, with bruised bones and several tears and burns on her skin. Muscles were pulled or damaged, even with synthetic reinforcement. When the bolt had hit her, the world seemed to slow down as she was sent sprawling down into the chaos.
A few rocks slid down around her still as she breathed in the air, her body filtering only the clean air, rather than the dust, into her lungs, at least at this level of contamination. There was only light breaking through at one angle, and as she looked through it, she could see it. Vegeta was staring down at her, arms crossed with a smug look on his face.
But it wasn't Vegeta as she saw him now. There was no golden hair, and his armour was different. His frame wasn't as heavily bulked with muscle, but there was still the same arrogant look on his features. In the wake of the blast, after her systems had been so damaged, she could see it as the processor onboard worked at full capacity to try and run a full system's check. He was looking down at her… and she was about to die.
Her breathing hitched as she felt her heart start racing without cause as she saw him.
"Are you disobeying my orders, Raditz?"
Her own eyes flinched with fear before hate poured not her system. Her sensors went back into hunter-killer mode, ignoring the diagnostics reports, even ignoring the pain as she let her body burrow further into the rubble, slowly and deliberately as her eyes scanned through the rock, going beneath the road itself as she triangulated Vegeta's position. Programs were altered to meet the new objective of the unit, even the objective of killing Son Goku because secondary to KILL VEGETA.
It was hard to remain composed; her chest was heaving as she breathed underground for any signs of air, but she was so upset. She could see him killing her. A flash of her eyes towards the thug he'd sent after her, followed by a flash, left her with the understanding of what had happened. Vegeta hadn't been delusional, or lying. The sense of having seen him before wasn't false. She was dead. But how was she here? What was going on? Revenge. But was that her? She didn't have any of those memories… even now there were no files with this, but she knew it'd happened. There was a pain resonating in her skull as she tried to rationalize what was happening, but it too was ignored, even as she gritted her teeth through it.
Vegeta.
Energy gathered in her hands as she pressed it against the dirt above her. Her joints in her legs also began to gather energy as her body went into overdrive again. When the ground exploded outwards, she launched herself at full speed up, following Vegeta amongst the scattered earth now flying through the air. He had no time to react before she swung around, snapping her kick into his chest.
Murder Kick.
Immediately his armour shattered, rather than her foot going through his body. Scanners showed trauma going through the entire body. Her foot might have gone through his chest had he not been wearing armour to begin with. Several fractures followed before his body was propelled into the air helplessly. Overdrive was initiated again as she took off above him, her muscles being energized once again. Appearing above him, she snapped her foot down, bringing it heel first down into his shoulder. The blow landed with such force she heard the bone fracture, before his arm almost popped out of place. A gag of pain escaped the Saiyan before he plunged back down towards the ground, his body slamming into the surface. She was already following him before he made impact, bouncing off the ground even after cracking into it.
Bringing her foot down again, she cracked it into the back of his ribs, smacking him once again into the half-destroyed road. When he bounced up again, though not as high, she put all her force into driving an axe-handle smash into him, throwing his body violently into the ground one final time. When he bounced up again, blood trailed out of his nose and mouth as he barely looked at her. Swinging around, she planted another kick into him, this time crashing his body into the side of the mountain.
"Good job, 22," Seventeen laughed, but she ignored it, immediately storming towards Vegeta.
The full reality of what had happened hit the machine in a wave as she looked at the battered Vegeta. It was hard to control, because it didn't make any sense, but she couldn't unsee it.
"You," she breathed. "You… you killed me."
When she finished saying it, she saw him look back up at her, his eyes wincing. Something snapped beneath her processor. It was as if her eyes had been peeled open. She could feel the pain running through her system, crushed bones, ruptured organs. None of her sensors could detect it but she could feel it, and she didn't know what feeling was. It was like somehow her senses had been peeled back, she felt… alive. The hatred heaped upon a burning ruin that was burning inside her from the moment she recognized Vegeta.
Immediately she punched him in the gut with more intensity, speed and power than any prior strike in the fight so far, before punching him in the side of the head. More power was put into the next one, and then the next. Each punch pushed the Saiyan further into the wall. She twisted her with her hips and legs to put everything into each blow, another hook, another haymaker, another straight punch. She peppered her body deliberately aiming into his abdomen and torso. Each blow fractured, or broke bones as she concentrated everything on him. Her torn attire, rips in her tanktop and pants, tore further she was moving so violently. High punches came next, mixing in with the body blows, hitting him in the face, before moving back into hitting his body again. He coughed blood up several times, splattering her torn tanktop and skin as she blasted him with as many punches as she could.
Her hands were starting to ache, but she ignored it.
She was so angry. She couldn't think, she couldn't process.
Another two strikes landed, this time fracturing his sternum before she punched into his gut, tearing muscle. Another high punch came a moment later, swinging with all of her force into it.
She could hear someone screaming with fury. The hatred behind the scream even her processor could grasp, the distress was real. It was human, it was very human, and the processing unit couldn't even recognize the voice. Only idle processes in the back of her system caught that it was her, she was the one screaming as her fists slammed into Vegeta. Her combat gloves had literally been torn away in the ferocity of the onslaught.
The intensity of her attack picked up, the speed already blinding, she drove another dozen punches into the broken body of the Saiyan warrior. They started to make wet thuds as each one did increases damage to the meat inside and outside of the skeleton she was breaking. Another punch landed on the side of his head, cracking his ocular bone with such intensity his eye hung to one side helplessly before swelling up entirely. Blood oozed from his face as she'd been hitting him hard enough to break skin.
Stepping back, she raised her foot to his head, preparing to finish him, measuring the strike to take his head clean off his shoulders.
There was only weakened wheezing from the Saiyan before his hair turned to black.
"NO!"
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Vegeta:
When his body bounced off the ground, Vegeta felt another kick come from above, this time crashing into the back of his ribs, before he was smashed into the wall. He couldn't let this happen to him. He'd trained and worked so hard… and it was all coming apart. The silent killer was attacking him with a ferocity he couldn't hope to match. Each strike was strong enough to do lasting damage to him. It almost didn't hurt anymore he was being hit so hard. He just felt himself starting to collapse.
When she walked in front of him, he recognized the rage he was seeing. He'd seen it a dozen times, those who'd been slighted or wronged, turning their full fury on their attacker. Briefly, he managed to spit some of the blood up from his body as he tried to muster a defense. He couldn't even push himself out of the side of the mountain as she looked at her.
The black-haired Android said something, but it was dull to him, it barely registered.
"You," the purple haired assassin breathed, her voice erratic. "You… you killed me."
A moment of realization crossed Vegeta's face as he stared at the woman that he'd had Nappa kill. Every moment he'd fought her up until this point, it'd been a machine. It was a cold, lifeless animated robot. When this woman stalked towards him, he looked into the eyes of a spectre of the woman he'd slaughtered all those years ago. The irony of the battlefield wasn't lost of him, nor was the fact that he knew if Raditz would have been here, his shame would have been complete.
The others didn't know the grudge the woman held at least.
When the first blow landed, he felt his entire body quake under its impact. Then it started, strike after strike, her entire body being pulled into the blows, each one designed to do as much damage as possible. Vegeta felt his ribs break, his collar bone snap, his sternum fracture, as well as his jaw and skull.
The blows didn't stop, as internal bleeding started to occur amongst his traumatized organs and shredded muscles and skin. He felt blood oozing inside himself, and outside. He managed to cough several times between blows, each one spluttering out blood, some of it splashing on his would-be Killer.
And it was soon going to be more than would-be.
She'd started to scream in a fury while hitting him, a rage overtaking her so deeply that he wasn't even sure she was aware of it. His pride was cut down, piece by piece as she beat him into a bag of spoiled meat. There was one thing as he was dying that he regretted. Underestimating these machines had been his fault. They'd all tried to warn him and he'd ignored them, even if he struggled to admit it. But the worst thing of all was that he was going to break his word.
I'm sorry, Bulma. I won't be able to protect you anymore.
This was how he died, undoubtedly in the future, just as 'Ox' had warned him.
Twenty-Two landed a blow on the side of his face, crashing his right eye in, he felt the bones broke the left side of his face as his eye flooded with blood before swelling over. Only able to see her with one hazy, fading eye now, Vegeta felt his hair shift back to black. He could no longer hold his Super Saiyan form. He would die without his legendary state. He couldn't even look anywhere except at her.
When he saw her boot measure up to his head, the battle-damaged android seemed prepared to kick his head off. It was more mercy than he'd have given her, admittedly.
"NO!"
The voice rang out from his right. In a blur of motion, a blade came striking down, cutting through where she'd been standing. Before she could fully adjust, the boy had kicked her away.
That's how far I've fallen? Fools come to my rescue?
Unable to maintain consciousness further, Vegeta passed out.
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Author's Notes:
Thanks to a certain virus screwing up my weekend, you guys get this 100% this weekend. Chapter 88 will be up next weekend.
The fight between Vegeta and 18 was pretty quick, just as this one was. Only 7400 words, lol.
After all this time, Vegeta finally got what was coming to him, at least a little bit, lol. I like the idea that through battle, Android 22 saw the memories of Colonel Violet, and it just got impulses from the brain it uses as a processor. When she finally sees Vegeta, the younger Vegeta that killed her, it can't deal with it.
Also, it was a lot of fight to write Violet's fighting style again. That unorthodox brawler and wrestling style from the really early chapters. I deliberately am avoiding giving her big ki blast attacks that are ranged, as I really feel that the persona lends itself towards just getting in people's faces.
Thanks everyone for the feedback for Chapter 86! I hope Chapter 87 was a good payoff, it was one of my favourite pieces to write, and I've tinkered with it for weeks. I thought about extending the fight, but as it stands every motion and part of it has an importance behind it, it's not really filler at any point, so I really decided to keep it as is. Short, brutal, and tied to a key conflict that's emerged within the story itself.
Also, it was amazingly fun to write 22's fighting style. I enjoyed when she bounced Vegeta, and the part where she just tackles his legs before pelting him into a wall, lol.
This was pretty fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed! :D
Reviewers:
Guest1: 24's an amalgamation of a bunch of figures. General White would had offered some 'components' to him for instance, as well as others. He's a construct, rather than a repurposed entity. The 'perfect' soldier.
RedHunter87: I think I answered this one by PM.
Blades of Fury: I love Catalyst Vegeta, personally. But I mean that as a character. I would absolutely loathe him in person, lol.
Masvan: Everyone was rooting against poor Vegeta. What'd Getes ever do to deserve all this cheering for the other side? Lol
Pyromania101: 17's not that bad, neither is 18. They'd need more time to be pulled in a bad direction. Violet's definitely dead, but the computer keeps getting fed information from the biological components in its system. It's an echo, of who used to inhabit the body, basically. A ghost without a soul.
Guest2: They're all cybernetic organisms, minus Android 16, and kind of Android 24.
Thomas-The-TMC: Yep, the ghost inside of 17 of the dead kid who used to be in the body is haunting him, just like they're all being haunted.
Instinct: The opening of this comment was my favourite part of the review. Everyone wants Vegeta to get beat so badly, lol.
Zy0TruthCanExist: I think I answered by PM.
Perfect Carnage: The Time Machine getting different settings, sets it to different moments in time, and as it fractures the timeline it creates more chances for things to get mixed. Also, Colonel Blue was a degenerate nutcase based off of a couple real life World War II figures. Toriyama wasn't kind to that character, lol.
TheItchyCocoon: There are so many threats coming. I don't even know how I'm going to piece it all together XD
Super Mystic Gohan: 17's questions don't emerge quite yet, the battle was too distracting. But there will be time for that later.
Guest3: Time's not quite up yet…
AquarianKing: Violet's not alive. Violet is 100% dead, that's a new organism that just happens to use her body.
Luke: Vegeta's actions finally coming back to haunt him. Thank goodness, lol.
Guest4: Chapter 88 and 89 are pretty important. 89 and 87 are my favourite chapters of this part of the story so far. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did, lol. Yea, the Corona already screwed with my plans for the weekend. I'm going into lockdown mode myself. :\
Kacarrot: It was written that way on purpose. There are definite similarities. :). I just think AT went back on the Saiyans being savages, which is why we get this really muddled vision for them. I've tried to keep them consistent to the edgy 1990's interpretation from both AT and the anime studio. I hope you enjoyed ULTRA. :)
Warga: It's on now! Lol
DarkFalconZ: I hope you enjoyed! :D
Guest5: I never wrote that Yamcha cheated or anything. Bulma just moved on from him. One of my favourite scenes I ever wrote was when Yamcha built up the courage to confront Turles while he was ransacking Bulma's lab after she basically shamed him into it. "I have a problem." Lmao
Maximussj: Blue and Violet are dead, you mean 23 and 22 :P
ThePowerfullKira: When it happens, definitely.
Silas: I was really sad when tons of people caught it early, lol.
Anon: Violet was a complete monster, just like the Saiyans were.