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 90: Parlay
Android 18:
Finally, this irritating creature was beginning to tire out. He was playing a game this whole time. Her own sensors were having trouble finding him as he ducked and weaved through the rocky ridges and valleys, and took to forest cover whenever he had the chance. She'd annihilated two valleys in their entirety with simple blasts to flush him out, only to find that he wasn't in them. But there was something she had in abundance, time, and she also had managed to score several hits on her target when she had managed to catch up with him.
The Goku-look-alike was as hard to get to as Son Goku himself, and he was right here. In the air, she looked over every rock and broken tree for a hundred kilometres, looking for any sign of movement at all, whether that be in the air, or on the ground. Only a few mocking remarks seemed to remain of him since their last quick encounter only moments earlier. For her warmup run before killing Son Goku, this one was proving to be not as fun or amusing as she thought.
"Fine," she finally scowled. "I'm getting bored of hide and seek anyway!"
As soon as she turned to head back towards where the rest of her compatriots had already finished off the rest of the fighters, she first felt the heat from an energy wave. When she turned about in a quick motion to catch the Saiyan, instead she found herself the subject of a hundred bolts of energy coming from the ruined valley below. Her scowl only deepened when she battered away the first bolt before the others converged on her. Blast after blast ruined the sleeves on her white shirt, before she threw her arms out, casting the other bolts away.
When she broke free from the last bolt, her anger swelled as she saw a spinning bolt coming towards her. Preparing to knock it aside as well, she saw the sides of the attack come away, revealing a spinning blade instead. It was only at the last moment before it was about to impact her. Her teeth clenched before she pulled herself to the side, the blade cutting through two of her hairs it'd come so close, and cutting away some of the fabric on her arm it was so close. A thin line of blood trickled down her arm before her eyes cast back down towards the muddy ruins below.
A hot rage filled her as she failed to even control her breathing, her teeth grinding with frustration. He was gone again, playing his stupid game! And she suspected he thought that last little trick was going to win him the fight. She was started to wish she'd let someone else have this idiot! The last thing she wanted to do was cede her advantage in the air to fight this pest on the ground. He was undoubtedly trying to spring a trap, given all he'd done was play deception.
Zipping to the leveled forest, her eyes scanned in front of her as she heard a brief laugh, her sensors picked it up as coming from her right and she turned to face the Saiyan, who was leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, and a devilish smile on his face.
"I thought you'd be like that other Android and try to catch the blade, you're at least smarter than the last generation I fought," he offered the backhanded compliment before pushing himself off the ruined tree, uncrossing his arms.
The bruise on his cheek from where she'd tagged him earlier was very real. He knew he couldn't beat her in a straight fight, so she was already scanning for what the play was.
"Tell me, Android, you can't sense power levels, can you?" Turles asked. "I'm sure you'd have narrowed down where I was more effectively if you could. Without a doubt you have some means of tracking me, otherwise you'd not have been able to keep up, but when it comes to the find details of energy detection, you just don't carry that feature, do you?"
An annoyed look crossed her face as she brushed some of the hairs behind her ear, letting herself relax, even if a little. The beginning of the end of the chase was now, and she had every intention of making this simpleton pay for it. She was already looking at his escape paths before taking another step forward. IN the distance there were a series of thunderous explosions. This late in the fight, that seemed… strange. When she turned to look, she quickly turned back, seeing Turles several steps closer. It was like turning your back on a predatory cat. The pair of hungry eyes were looking at her, trying to take advantage of any small inconsistency.
This one, despite being weaker, was dangerous. It was no wonder Dr. Gero built androids so sophisticated when having to deal with things like this one.
As she took her next step forward, preparing her route of attack, her quarry flipped back, before blurring away. This time however, she'd already tracked him, appearing next to him as soon as he went to turn.
"Not this time," she said coolly, throwing a swift kick.
When he slipped under it, and kicked her other leg out, her back hitting the mud, she felt like she could have destroyed half the planet in anger before hopping back to her feet, and noticing he was already gone again.
When the area rumbled again, she turned her attention back towards where they'd come from. Something was wrong. A realization was beginning to formulate for her, this one wasn't trying to kill her at all, he was just trying to make it look like he was, but he wasn't doing any damage. He was just obstructing her. He was banking on something, something happening back at the origin of the conflict. If the battle was going on this long, it meant that…
I can't detect power levels…?
Her eyes widen at the realization. There was a stronger one still! Stronger than Vegeta!
That was where the battle she heard was coming from. This entire "battle" was nothing but a ploy to distract her from helping the others. Immediately, her body twisted, launching off the ground and preparing to fly back at full speed. Something grabbed her foot, and by the time she turned around, she saw the image of Son Goku grinning at her before launching her into the ground. The impact did not damage. But he was gone again.
"You are starting to annoy me," she said coolly, rising to her feet again and looking through the destroyed trees. He was having to stay nearby, which meant if she kept her attention focused on him, she could catch him the next time she tried to leave.
Feigning another flight, her sensors scanned for any signs of the other warrior, only to find him directly in front of her, much to her surprise. He almost seemed to be a step ahead of her. It was unnatural, and it was unnerving. Here he was, staring directly at her with confidence of all things, and she was starting to think it wasn't delusional, because he wasn't trying to kill her.
"You'll need to forgive me. This is very new for me as well. I normally try to kill the prey I catch," he offered. "It's not every day I fight a killer cyborg."
"It's not every day that I need to deal with an annoyance like you. Your insidious, you know that?"
"Guilty as charged," Turles answered, taking a false bow of respect. "So, once the Namek is done killing your friends, I think your position is going to become significantly weaker. But I have a proposal. Join me, and help me kill the Namek and Vegeta, if he's still alive, and I'll work with you to dominate this planet. I don't have any of those weak moral qualms the others have. In fact, I'll even lead you to Kakarot myself."
The snake she'd been fighting was starting to show his true scales. Was he really about to make a deal to betray his friends, in order to kill one of his other rivals? He couldn't be serious. Out of all of Goku's friends, she'd not even had a scan of this one on her files. All she knew now was that it was a Saiyan that looked like Son Goku, and seemed to want him dead?
He mentioned also the Namek was killing her friends? How was that possible? Piccolo couldn't have been ranked at that strength level.
Smiling calmly, she nodded towards him. Not actually wanting to accept in any way, this was her own play to get him to play along. The second she got an opportunity she'd punch a hole in him for all of the trouble he'd caused her. His seemed to drop his guard, smiling darkly at her acceptance. This one was trying to manipulate her, she already guessed if she did work with him, he'd betray her at the first possible opportunity if he felt it meant he could achieve an advantage, especially if his little plot went sideways.
No, she wouldn't be joining him in any agreement. This was going to end here. A few more calm steps ended before she noticed something was wrong. He was stepping back as he grinned at her, meaning that he knew not to let her get too close. A frustrated look finally crossed her features, as she realized he was wasting more of her time.
Instead of making a play for an attack, 18 launched herself at him, causing him to break his position, but she carried on, bursting with her superior speed, launching herself across the ruined valley and towards the mountains. A hundred bolts of energy trailed after her, and hundreds more a second later as she grew increasingly tired of this. He was following her and firing, keeping his distance the entire time. Turning on a hard motion, doing 180 degrees, she blasted straight at him, catching him off guard for a moment, but it was enough. She slammed her elbow into his face as spit shot out of the other side of it. Stunned eyes reeled before he deliberately let himself drop off, trying to gain distance from her, but not this time.
Shifting after him in several quick motions, 18 managed to drop a kick into his midsection, sending him crashing into the surface of a plateau. Before he could even dream of getting up, she stepped on foot on his chest, holding him in place. She expected fear, or anger, but instead the Saiyan just gave her a grin in response.
"Something funny?" she asked, grinding her foot into his chest, just enough to make him grimace.
"Yea, I'm not used to the woman being on top."
It took several seconds for the machine-mind of the android to process what was said. Blinking, 18 scowled at him, pointing her finger at him and shooting him through the lung. The expression of his face immediately turned from amused, to fear and more than a little concern as he tried to breathe, covering the wound with one hand before she shoved him away with her boot.
"I think you're more used to being alone for this kind of thing, so I'll leave you to it."
She just heard a few wet wheezes in the background before she finally was able to lift off, uninterrupted.
The only problem was, she then heard a series of gigantic explosions, as mountains were torn apart not far out. Her processor tried to calculate what was going on as her body lifted off. The pathway of destruction she saw within a minute of flying back to the road was immense. New canyons were ripped through the area, and there was a gigantic new track through the mountains created by a body. She could only hope that it'd been one of their enemies.
When her frame came into range to see the Namekian standing there, with the others huddling, she looked for any sign of 17, not seeing him at all. When she looked at the green one, Piccolo, her sensors focused in on him, noticing 22 and 24 barely functional, while 21, and 23 were completely disabled.
This one had done all that?
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Android 22:
Her onboard memory files had no point of reference for a being this power. Three hits had disabled enough of her systems that she could barely stand, and doing so was causing nervous system responses that made her leg tremble. It was fairly severe damage, and would take days to heal with her enhanced physiology. What this fighter had just done to all of them, including the command model, Android 17, was nothing short of terrifying. Her instincts which lay under her programs, were forcing her into fight or flight model, and she couldn't fight in this condition.
Better to get out alive.
For a brief moment, the words in her head felt like they weren't hers. There was a crisis, she didn't fully understand her being alive. She didn't remember dying… not fully. She remembered what Vegeta had said, and then she remembered his face before the mountain slide…
Still, she tried to back up from the Namek, almost tripping from her bad leg quivering as she looked to 24 for insight, now that 22 was gone.
"Tactical withdrawal," 24 advised before looking to 20. "With 17 disabled, we won't be able to stop him. It is important that the mission continues. Android 16 will need to be an escort to the others who get out. Twenty-Two and I will remain to keep the enemy in place."
The orders were met with confusion. Onboard systems acknowledged them and began trying to prepare her for a final stand against this thing, but everything else screamed escape. When she looked up however, she could see 18. Immediately command fell to her, which allowed her to clear her cache, and she knew 24 would as well.
When she landed in front of them, standing opposite of the warrior, 22 spoke up.
"He defeated or destroyed 17," she said. "And defeated 21, myself, 23, and 24," she added. "He beat all of us. We barely laid a hand on him."
There was something different about his body language however. The way he was standing was that of someone trying to conceal their weakness. It devolved down to her most basic instincts, this was the time to strike, in theory. The data said something else. Every other attack he'd been faced with, he turned into a quick and devastating victory. The question was, did they continue to challenge him? She more or less, couldn't, she could barely walk. Twenty-Four and 18 might have better luck, but none of them had anything to go off outside of impulses.
"Your friends are dying," Eighteen said. "At least two of them will expire within the next 5 minutes. Do you think you have that kind of time?"
"Does your black-haired friend?" Piccolo asked in return.
Turning her eyes down the pathway 17's body made, 18 looked back at Piccolo with a cold demeanour. The fact that he didn't just shut her down, told 22 that this was it. He was out. There was no way he could continue to fight at the level he had been. Now was the time to strike, and then it was time to finish off the others. Like a creature at the top of the foodchain, she felt her aggression beginning to rise before 18 placed a hand on her hip, looking him over before looking nervously down the pathway again.
Why is she nervous? This is another step towards completing our objective.
"Seventeen was built for this, he'll be fine."
"Are you sure? The longer we play at this, the more we both waste our friend's time," Piccolo responded. "If you think he's fine, then we can start this."
The Namek's entire battle stance changed, and fundamentally so. Twenty-Two could see the rouse however, because it was a bluff. There was no way 18 would believe it. Logically, this was where they would finish him off.
Instead… 18 faltered?
Dropping her hand off her hip, she looked back to them before looking at the green-skinned warrior.
"My friends here are going to leave, and you're not going to follow them, understand?" she asked.
Piccolo's stance relaxed as well, but he didn't walk anywhere. Instead, he just looked at his own comrades before looking back at 18 before nodding. She felt… angry. This was totally unjustified, now was the time to go for the win. What was this retreat being called for? To sustain Android 17? He was a command unit, but once disabled, he could be replaced. Android 18, in fact, was the replacement under this circumstance. Her objective was to kill Son Goku, and this would interfere with those plans, directly. Especially if the Namek lived.
When she looked at them, her eyes were cold.
"Head east," she ordered. "I'll catch up with you soon."
She's going to retrieve 17…
Standing up straight, though almost immediately being forced to hobble again, she gave a hollow salute, before lifting into the air carefully, keeping her bad leg bent, though in truth it was her back which was causing the issue. With a bitter taste in her mouth, and with her processor not understanding why it was being ordered to do this, 22 began the process of evacuating the area with the others, due east.
The only one of them that paused was 16, before he walked over and picked up Android 21 and began to lift off.
Isn't he the heroic type?
The thought evaporated into the lines of code as she accepted her orders.
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Raditz:
Dying powers. That was a familiar sensation as he limped along through the air, trying to follow in the wake of the powers which had emerged. He couldn't sense what they were fighting at all, but he could tell they were fighting. Most incredibly of all, he could sense the Namek's power rising and falling rapidly, but always to an immense height, far in excess to what he'd sensed Vegeta, Turles or Kakarot be capable of. The tremendous sounds of the battle, even as his own slow flight had been engaged, burst through the air. At several points the weather systems themselves were impacted, as well as his flight, as immense winds of force blast past him. The few large energy blasts could be seen in the distance even as he closed in.
When the battlefield finally came into view, it was as destructive as what he'd seen on Namek between Kakarot and Frieza. Whole swathes of the region had been annihilated, geographical formations which had taken thousands of years to cultivate, were turned to broken ruins, or split open chasms. Craters littered the battlefield, and disabled and destroyed human vehicles, just from being in the area, were destroyed. Humans were flocking to their injured and dead and Raditz couldn't help but notice how the survivors were stranded. When his eyes peeled ahead, he finally saw it. He could see the others, but he couldn't see any of the Androids. Had they been destroyed?
"Hey, is that Raditz?" he heard Tien's voice ask.
Briefly, he wondered if Vegeta was about to blow him out of the sky, but the Saiyan Prince looked to be laying in a bloody heap. There was a relief Raditz felt in seeing it. Especially given that the others seemed alive. A pressing concern was that he could sense a fragment of Turles's power still, and it was fading, and it was nearby, but not with the others. Landing, the large Saiyan took several steps forward, his eyes tracing over all of them as he took careful steps forward.
Krillin seemed to be coming to life just as he arrived.
"How many do we have left?" Piccolo asked, his voice exhausted, and Raditz could see a muscle spasm emerge across his arms.
Both of the future warriors looked maimed, though Vegeta was clearly the worst off.
"Vegeta needs one," Trunks breathed. "And so, does 'Ox' and Turles. I can wait. Please, Vegeta's dying, he needs one now."
Where was the human, Yamcha? Raditz's eyes looked for any sign of him, but there was nothing. There was no residual sense of his power either. Raditz took that to mean what it sounded like. They'd killed the human, but the death of Vegeta was a more impressive feat. The Saiyan "Prince" had stopped breathing just as Raditz landed. The boy noticed as well, grabbing the bad of Senzu Beans and ran over to his side.
"Let him die," Raditz managed to say, with what little strength he had left, trying to walk over to intervene. "It'd be for the best."
The boy hurriedly ran over, glaring at him for a brief moment before shoving a bean in Vegeta's mouth and trying to get him to swallow it. As soon as it went down, Raditz saw the Saiyan's eyes open. Vegeta pulled himself up, gasping for air several times before sitting back against the side of the rocks that were now propped against the section of road.
"Father, are you alright?"
Father?
Vegeta shoved the boy away, looking at all of them as his breathing intensified. The kid looked hurt, but it was an expected hurt. He recovered a second later, as soon as Vegeta spoke, in fact. It turned from a quiet pain to disbelief.
"Where. Are. They?" he managed.
"Gone," Piccolo responded, his tone edged with pain. "I'd not track them down Vegeta, you're in no condition to fight them. We need to find Turles before he dies. If there is a bean left over, I'll need one."
Quickly, the purple haired teenager looked through the bag.
"Looks like we've got… Four. Krillin and Vegeta already got theirs. So that means Raditz, Turles, Gohan, me… I can go without if you need one, Piccolo," Vegeta's apparent kid offered.
Vegeta seemed quiet. Raditz expected a snide remark from him regarding Turles, but there was nothing. Instead, Vegeta's blue aura burst around him before he took the air and launching himself westward. Watching him disappear, Raditz felt himself feel some relief.
Good.
"Where's he going?" Tien asked.
"To not be here," Raditz managed. "Vegeta doesn't take losing well."
A moment later, Raditz had his bean in hand, eating it as his body was restored. The wounds covering his body, inside and out, vanished before he looked to the others. There was going to be a lot to discuss, but more importantly, they needed to find Turles before he bled out wherever he was.
"Let's find my brother. And tell me what happened."
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Turles:
A world of black and white surrounded him as Turles looked around the strangely tranquil environment that surrounded him. He was standing in a building overseeing the arid rocks that went on as far as the eye could see. The air smelled of blood and sand, it was foreign to him, but it was strangely familiar. This place felt like the home he never knew. The sky was beautiful, even without colour. The warped nature of the clouds, the chaos of the winds that swept the planet. He could only imagine where he was, but he knew.
This was Vegeta. The pain in his chest had become numb, and he knew he passed out minutes ago. This was the strange place that his connection with Bardock had taken him in his near death before. Drowning in the black sea, falling into nothingness, or when he'd met the woman with the beating heart. Right now, he could feel his heart pumping more erratically, trying to move less and less oxygen through his body. It'd been a good attempt, and perhaps the Namek had won. He'd done what Kakarot would have done, and of course he regretted it. If he'd played it smarter, he'd have not bothered trying to stop her once she fled him.
Walking past another corner, he saw the Android staring through him, she was smiling before pointing and laughing at him, mockingly. Great, this was one of those visions then? Walking straight towards her to shut her up, Turles walked outside the second he came close to her, as if transporting somewhere else. Standing atop the rocks in the distance, he could see a dozen figures. His brothers, Vegeta, the Androids, and the Namek all came to mind… with Gohan in the middle… and another Namekian behind him. Each one stood on their own pillar of stone; each one left being blasted by the harsh winds of planet Vegeta. As he approached, he could see their faces changing, morphing between happiness and sadness, or going to one's of fear and horror.
Where the hell was Bardock when he needed him? Where the Hell had he been?
"You can't save me," Gohan's voice echoed out from his pillar. "I'm too far gone."
Too far gone? What did he mean?
"What do you mean, boy?" he asked seriously. "I'm still upset you've been giving my address out."
"All things require sacrifice," Kakarot's voice said from behind him, turning to look at his brother, he saw him staring sternly at him. "You already know this. When the time comes, you'll know what to do. Bravery over fear."
What did that mean? What was he supposed to sacrifice this time? His dignity? His pride?
"The last one standing," Raditz's voice laughed, before smiling sadly.
"You can only bring pain to those you surround yourself with," the Android who'd shot his chest open mocked, causing him more than a little irritation. "Your desire to have what you can't possess will ruin everything for you."
"I have all that I want to possess," Turles shot back, before quickly turning to scowl at anyone else around him. He was going to survive this. That much he was now certain of. There were no Dragon Balls. These visions were forebearers, vague premonitions of what was coming.
"Your strength doesn't matter to me," Krillin, Kakarot's little human said, smiling at him and giving him a victory sign. "It's who you are that counts."
When he turned back to see Gohan, instead, he saw… whatever Namekian that looked like Piccolo standing there, opening his hand to him as his father stood beside him, staring at him intensely. When he made eye contact with Bardock, Turles realized he wasn't a fantasy, he was real. Or as real as he was. Finally, the old man stopped blocking him.
"Finally, I've been waiting for you to…"
Pain shot through his head as he dropped to one knee, grasping his skull as he choked for several seconds.
"I've been looking for you," the Namek said, his voice chillingly like Piccolo's. "I'd been wondering when you'd dream again."
Glaring back at the alien, he tried to stand up, only finding a hand on his shoulder. It was Raditz? His brother looked down at him with a sad smile.
"It's alright, I've got this."
The pain in his chest evaporated, before Turles's eyes flashed open.
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Raditz:
His brother's chest healed as Turles's eyes flashed open, breathing in sharply as the effects came through him. The way Turles was looking at him, it was like he was looking at a ghost. Sometimes he wondered just what the hell was up with his brother. Turles looked at him and then the others before starting to drag himself to his feet, brushing his hand over the hole in his chest before trying to look dignified somehow about the whole thing.
"Well," he started. "I hope that I distracted the Android sufficiently for you to kill off the rest of them?" he asked Piccolo bluntly. "It's my good deed for the decade, so I hope…"
"They got away," 'Ox' admitted almost right away. "We're trying to think of plan B right now. But they're in no condition to fight right now, except Android 18 and the other big red haired one."
"And no one died?" Turles asked in return. "So much for the terrifying Androids…"
He paused when everyone went dead quiet. Looking them over a moment later, Turles smirked, seemingly not realizing one of the humans had been killed in the battle. Raditz wanted to inform him of such, but didn't feel it was his place. It was the short bald one, Kakarot's friend Krillin, who stepped forward, clearing his throat.
"Yamcha, our friend, was killed by the Android with the red hair," he offered. "It… it wasn't easy finding that out. If… if we'd only been stronger… or quicker, we could have…"
"So, no one important died, then?" Turles clarified, before Raditz covered his own face with almost embarrassment.
"What was that?!" Tien shouted, stepping forward with a clenched fist as he sneered openly at him.
"Oh? I'm sorry, human, did I stutter? No one important died. All the main players stayed on the field. A pawn fell off the board, there are more," Turles said bluntly before taking a step towards the human, crossing his arms as he did, staring at him cruelly. "Truth be told, I'd have rather preferred we lost a more important piece. Vegeta, in particular, in fact."
Now it was Trunks turn to almost snarl at him before he flared his power, if only barely. As usual, Turles was making friends all around, knowing just how far he could push things before it was too far. Just enough to be disliked by everyone, he was honestly curious just how much of it was real, and just how much of it was apart of games, rather than open malice. Though in truth, he knew Turles, probably better than anyone here, and he thought it was perhaps a mixture of the two. Turles would kill any of the people here for his own gain, if there weren't repercussions. When he said he'd have preferred Vegeta being dead, he meant it.
"Maybe the next time we'll remember to given the Senzu Bean to someone else who deserves it more," Trunks fired back.
Vegeta's bastard from the future. Raditz himself knew he was far inferior to his strength, given that Trunks was in fact a Super Saiyan. Given Vegeta seemed to shirk him off, and showed no signs of affection for him, Raditz didn't feel as coolly about the Saiyan as he thought he would have. Still, he didn't like anything that came from Vegeta, admittedly, but there wasn't exactly much he could do about that at the moment. Even then, the kid just seemed to be someone who wanted approval, and was getting none of it.
That's familiar.
"Oh?" Turles asked in return. "So that means I'd get yours instead? Because your father certain would get one before you, given that he actually fought an Android, and didn't just get levelled by one. And also, that I fought an Android longer than you, I think that puts me higher on the priority list. Or does hurting the feelings of a bastard and a bunch of pitiful humans get me taken off the list?"
Blinking, Trunks glared a second later before taking another step forward. This kid was too fearless. He'd been given the brief on who he was now. Some alternate bastard of Vegeta's. This was likely just another thing to be prodded by his younger brother.
Piccolo however, growled with irritation before stepping forward, clearly still in a weakened state, trying to bring some sanity back to the situation.
"Alright, enough, we need a game plan," he offered. "We need to find the Androids, and someone needs to go to Korin's Tower to see if he has more Senzu Beans. The only problem is, whoever finds them might not have enough strength, so until I get a Senzu Bean…"
"You let THEM have a bean before you?" Turles almost shouted, turning to face Piccolo before walking straight towards him, getting in his face even. "You were the only thing able to stop those things, and you decided to do what? Let the bald ones have them? Or was it giving it to Vegeta's mistake?"
"If you call me that one more time," Trunks seethed. "There is going to be a fight."
Raditz could see Turles smiling to himself before he turned away from Piccolo as the Namekian scowled back at the other Saiyan. Diplomatic as always, wasn't he?
"We needed to make sure everyone we could save, survived, and most of the injuries sustained were severe, even for Trunks," Piccolo argued, sounding annoyed. "It was my call, I made it."
Not even listening, clearly, Raditz watched in near horror as Turles grinned at Trunks.
"Bastard," he said. "An unclaimed bastard, as well, if I remember correctly."
Raditz raised his arms in warning as a Super Saiyan aura emerged. Pulsing waves of energy rolled off of Trunks as he resonated with his anger. It was ironic he never showed this anger at the man who rejected him, but at the man who mocked it. The only problem was making Turles a surrogate for Vegeta was a terrible idea for Trunks, and everyone recognized it.
"Guys, stop!" Krillin shouted.
"Not here, not now!" Tien followed up.
It was only when a new Super Saiyan aura appeared as Ox grabbed Trunks' shoulder that tensions noticeably fell.
"That's enough," he said seriously. "This is the last thing we need right now, Trunks. You know that. Goku's helpless out there right now. Someone needs to protect him. Krillin, Piccolo, and Tien. You guys go grab the Senzu Beans. Trunks and I will go and help protect my dad until..."
Turles cleared his throat.
"Aren't you leaving someone out?"
"You and Raditz can do whatever you want," Ox confirmed, his own gaze steeled.
Ah, the protective older brother, even if its not biological. This one's been watching out for the kid, and doesn't appreciate Turles's 'insights'. That's something to be noted for later.
It was important to know the lay of the land, in order to survive the landscape which Raditz now found himself in. Alliances were being formed even amongst comrades. Piccolo was the stalwart protector, trying to keep them unified, but couldn't despite his power. At best he could force peace upon them, but only so long as he was able to, which right now he most certainly could not. Then there were the two future warriors, but that alliance was beginning to fray, even now Raditz could see it, in fact… it might be a past alliance. The humans were left out in the wings with Kakarot being ill, and that left himself and Turles, as the last bastion. The only issue was, he too was sensing a decline in his standing with his younger brother.
Raditz wasn't a powerful enough tool, and he knew it. Turles had already started looking towards their nephew.
In a ray of golden light, Trunks took to the air, his clothes billowing around him as his golden hair waved in the air.
"I'm going to find Vegeta," he declared. "He's going to know what to do. He's not going to run and hide; we're going to find a way to beat the Androids."
"Trunks! Don't be an idiot. Vegeta wants to be alone right now!" Ox shouted. "Listen, we'll go protect Son Goku! It's the best way to solve this. I promise!"
Before he could be fully heard out, the other Super Saiyan had already launched himself away.
"Damn it," he swore, preparing to go after him.
"Let him go," Piccolo said. "He's going to need to find out for himself what Vegeta's like, you can't hide him from that."
The other warrior seemed resigned from Piccolo's comment, and Raditz knew full well by now as to why. Any doubts he had remaining had vanished, even how he answered him seemed familiar, just accepting Piccolo's position, but it was the body language that gave it away.
This kid without a doubt, was Gohan, his nephew.
He wasn't his offspring, and the one he most resembled was either Kakarot or Turles, and Turles didn't exist in his time. His age, being older than Trunks, was the next giveaway. That was remarkable,his nephew had become so powerful at such a young age. Even Kakarot wasn't a Super Saiyan at this time, and it was something he'd been clearly for at least some time, given the state of his power. He wasn't as strong as Kakarot, but few were. He had been almost as strong as Cooler, and that was a feat in and of itself. He had avenged their people by being the one to finally kill Frieza.
While he was validating what he'd already come to believe, Turles approached their nephew, smirking as he did.
"I'll tell you what, kid," he said bluntly. "I'll head with you to protect Kakarot. I want to make sure someone looks after our nephew as well," he said, gesturing to Raditz and then himself. "Raditz can take position with the others."
The way he was looking at him for a brief moment, Raditz realized it was an order, and he wasn't yet confident enough or strong enough to deny it. Add to the fact that he wasn't wanted at the Son Household, it only made sense to follow the implied command. Nodding, Raditz took several steps towards Tien.
"Raditz," the other warrior nodded, though very clearly it was reluctantly.
"The only one here who can't transform," Krillin groaned.
They didn't want him there, and that much was obvious. They just couldn't turn him away now because of the circumstances.
"So, you've come up short on the Saiyan list to join your little band," Raditz admitted. "Not everyone can be a Super Saiyan. But I think with the Namek here, we should be sufficient to deal with anything."
The irony of course, was that he was, of the last of his species, the only one to not have become a Super Saiyan.
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Author's Notes:
Sorry for the delay everyone. You'd think I'd get more written while in isolation along with everyone else, but life's been throwing me a bunch of curveballs. It's given me a really hard writer's block for TLR, which I wanted to get a chapter out for before posting this one. It's also stunted writing I was doing on this as well. I'm hoping to get inspiration soon. I can force myself to write too, but it's just never as good as if it organically comes to me.
There's been a fair bit of tragedy around me lately. I'm still employed, have a roof over my head, and have food in the kitchen, so I can't complain nearly as much as others, but it's been not great. I've got up to Chapter 95 written, the delay for the post was the editing process before putting it up. I've just been too wiped out to even edit.
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Reviewers:
Blades of Fury: Seventeen's gonna be in denial that just happened to him. Lol.
RedHunter87: Tien needs someone to be kept still for long enough to let him gather enough power to do the more powerful Tri-Beam. Unfortunately, that's not in the cards at the moment, but fear not, Tien's role in all this isn't being Yamcha'd. lol
Instinct (?): You guys got a glimpse of the fight here. In reality, Turles was just smart enough to play avoidance on 18. Using terrain to his advantage, slipping out of sight as soon as he could, and still being fast enough to do it. Can't win a straight fight? Don't. Only problem was he decided to get too far in, and she just flattened him, lol.
Transformers G1's Prime: I think my favourite part is when the three are really struggling to keep up with him, and 23 just isn't having any of it. Even after they all got put down, 23's the one striking from the shadows the second he gets a chance, just 0 self control, lol.
Guest1: I really enjoyed writing Piccolo letting the Androids bury themselves. Saves power to use it when he needs it, limits his exertions to just dodging them until he has the right moments to put nails in their coffin's. Also, you totally called what happened this chapter. Lol
FabDuwangIsFab: I was 100% inspired by the early Dragon Ball Movies and the Ginyu Force about how to approach this fight, it's still me writing it, but more the first moments when Piccolo's just outmaneuvering them without any reprisal was 100% inspired by that. Lol
Luke: Raditz did not save the day, lol.
Thomas-The-TMC: He's off with Chi-Chi, got sent home early.
Jetiq: Piccolo's got a very high ceiling at the moment, but even lower stamina than in the show before. Goku's a hard character to write, but I think he's got texture there. He's now way paranoid about all the other fighters on the planet. He's worried way more than in the show, and less happy-go-lucky (though he still is, lol).
Perfect Carnage: Worse yet, I don't drink or consume any substances that would alter my thinking. I can't even escape this Hell of a Pandemic through drunkenness! Lol
ThePowerfulKira: He's back.
Super Mystic Gohan: Yamcha's not entirely out of the story, but his own story will be pretty muted going forward.
Ultimate Savior: 17's alive!... But there are consequences.
Guest2: Thank you! I really enjoyed writing it.
Mouse From Hell: Piccolo would beat Slug 1v1 right now, by how much is the question. I think it'd be close at the moment, unless Piccolo got the knock-out early. Depends on if Slug realized what was happening soon, or if he got arrogant, which he probably would.
Jason9000: Doubt edged sword though, as regenerative powers consume energy too, which means that if he's using those and Demon-Ken he's going to just devour that energy.
ILiekFishes: He 100% would have beat Turles if he chose to reveal it back during their sparring session. So yes, he knew, he was just trying to beat Turles at his base level, which he nearly did. Piccolo is as far beyond Turles, Vegeta, and Goku, as a creature like Android 16 right now. If he were a baddy, he'd be able to kill the entire Z-fighters if he wanted to, lol. But yes, Piccolo had the ace-in-the-hole and remained confident that he could control the situation no matter what. One thing he didn't expect from Turles was his ability to KO him so decisively when he had to. But that just helped Piccolo learn.
TheItchyCocoon: I think Turles is genuinely smarter than Raditz, he's got a more tactical mind. Raditz however, is no slouch. The difference is, unless otherwise obvious, Turles can be lazy in his approach to a threat, where as Raditz is always switched on in terms of how best to get around the obstacles around him. He's more efficient than Turles on average, because he needs to take things more seriously. Turles would hate to admit it, but he and Goku really share the trait of not taking things seriously, necessarily, at first. They're opposites, but they're also two-sides of the same coin. But the Android Saga has a much bigger push for Raditz. Even in things not directly related to him, his perspective is referenced more. This Saga has a big push for him.
Guest3: You guessed wrong! Lol
Anon: Turles is a bit more pragmatic than Vegeta, he's mad, but he also knows that Piccolo is manageable. It's like comics, if you don't see them die on screen, they probably didn't, lol.
DarkFalconZ: I didn't know the VA played someone named Ace, lol. Did you mean the Japanese VA, or one of the international ones?
Silas: Eighteen's got a few big fights coming up, this wasn't one of them, unfortunately, lol.
Maximussj: Sorry it dragged on. I thought of splitting it in two, but people know I hate breaking up my fight chapters. If this were TLR, you'd probably have the misfortune of the entire fight taking place, from VEgeta vs. 22, to Piccolo vs. 17, in one Chapter, lol. I format The Catalyst a bit more to be like episodes of DBZ, or at least I try. More cliffhangers. Last Chapter was actually short for one of my fights, lmao.
Michael Stone: Thank you!
The Rocha: Wow, thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far! A few notes: Gero was too fun to explore, he's got development coming in the 90's and 00's. His arc should be interesting to explore. I had to do the techno-horror road, there was no choice! I've done my best to give Raditz an arc based off what I think would logically happen to him. From his unwillingness to let go of a grudge with Vegeta, to his development of a relationship with his siblings and nephew, to even where things are going now. And yes, Goku is very sick of it, lol.
Guest4: I loved writing him getting some action (Wait, what?) lol
An: Trunks gets demolished most of the show if you think about it. He's definitely Vegeta's son, lmao.
Instinct (?): ?
TheDignityofRadi: Yamcha died as he lived, in obscurity. Lol
Instinct (?): Make an account, makes things easier, lol
Kacarrot: None of that was from Turles's perspective, but he was sly enough to know that he could use Piccolo as a weapon, lol.