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 97: Ghosts
Android 17:
"Android 20, I don't hear you with the others."
"This is ridiculous. I refuse to participate in this nonsense."
There was a pause as 17 gently pressed the brake on the bus, turning his eyes towards the mirror, spying Dr. Gero's visage as the other machine sat uncomfortably in place. It was clear that he thought himself to have too much pride to participate with the others, and 17 didn't exactly enjoy the idea of being told that they weren't playing by his rules.
"It's kind of ridiculous, to be fair," Eighteen remarked. "I hate it too."
"You hate everything."
"We've been singing that stupid song for four hours," Twenty-Two then cut in. "If I have to sing it anymore, I'll consider self-termination."
"Hail to the bus driver bus driver…" Twenty-Three started, receiving a glare from 22, though a smile emerged on sixteen's features.
"I can see that the order's been controversial, but the issue is, unit 20's not been listening to my orders that we all sing the song as an exercise in team cooperation," Seventeen commented. "So, I am going to need to insist, that one more time, we have the chorus."
All the other Androids turned their gaze to Dr. Gero, just as he'd hoped, as the old man sat there, isolated. Twenty-One sat behind him, next to 16, her own eyes looking about uncomfortably. The 'oldest' members of their crew clearly didn't enjoy what they were involved in. Admittedly, neither did 24, but 24 knew how to follow orders, it seemed.
"Can we just knock this crap off and sing the song. If I have to repeat it for the twenty-30th time, I'm going to be very upset with the maggots involved in making sure that happened."
"Alright everyone, in three… two… one…"
"Hail to the bus driver-"
The chorus started as Dr. Gero's lips moved, his vocals being heard amongst the others, as the self-satisfied smirk crossed 17's features while he looked ahead. He moved his head from side to side while he listened along to it, the tour bus rumbling along as his fingers tapped the top of the steering wheel.
The empty city had unnerved him, and their guest was still completely out cold and it'd been more than a few hours. He was guessing it was sleep at this point, she'd looked completely exhausted. The words she was mentioning for them to run was certainly something he'd taken note of, but firstly, he was an Android, and the strongest, Android. The only threat to him on this planet was the Namekian, Piccolo. That was something he was going to rectify in the extreme as well. He sincerely doubted that green freak was going to be able to stand up to him and 18 at the same time. The two of them together would work in perfect unison, and even if it was a struggle, it would be decided, once and for all, the next time they met.
Eyes peering to the road, he could see himself in the reflection of the glass. The reminder of his humiliation stared back at him. The black eye, with the blue ring inside of it, informed him every moment of this trip that he'd been a failure in his original design. The blame fell squarely on the shoulders of Dr. Gero, for not designing him to be more perfect. The Androids behind him remained in the reflection as well, even as the singing died down. He'd let them off the hook with continuing, especially with the contemptuous glare he was getting from his sister, 18. His processor quickly tried to avert the association with that again, knowing it was coming from the organic, underlying components of the dead host's body. The glitches had increased since his defeat, since the impact that Piccolo had delivered to his cranium at the end of their fight. Keeping himself in this world was becoming increasingly difficult.
I'm not experiencing any defects.
It was will, that was what the humans considered it. That was what had kept his predecessor alive, at least in the organic mind's view. It was what kept him fighting against Piccolo days ago. It was the strength of will to force himself to continue until he could no longer. The machine-mind now in possession of the body, even if it did adapt information inappropriately from the dead-mind within, experiencing impulses and changes, did adapt information necessary to its continued survive. In this case, it knew it could will itself to strive forward and overcome the errors it was experiencing, without the help of Dr. Gero.
A single figure stood up on the bus, in this case, Android 24, who walked past the others as they cast glances at him as he made it to the front. He was standing by hunching over, placing his large hand on the front windshield and looked sideways at 17. Being in charge had a lot of perks, getting to tell the others what to do, in order for them to have fun, was definitely entertaining, but it also meant putting up with concerns and questions, and that was the part of being the boss that he hated.
Why all the questions?
"Sir, with due respect, I think that the bus mission is a success, and we should consider alternative operations to achieve our goal of finding Son Goku. I think at the very least Android 16 would appreciate the effort."
Looking back in at the glass, he saw 16 smiling, looking out the window and appreciating the scenery which they were driving through.
"I think he's fine, he seems to be enjoying himself. Hey 16! Did you want us to start flying, or are you enjoying the trip?"
"Flying would be a faster method to finding Son Goku," Sixteen answered.
"See?"
That was an odd way to answer the question, wasn't it?
"Sixteen, I didn't ask if it was going to be faster, I asked if you wanted to start flying?"
There was a pause amongst all of them, 18 rolled her eyes, expecting the default answer he could tell, but 17 had higher expectations. The largest Android remained silent for several more seconds, processing the question in more detail.
"I enjoy the scenery," It admitted. "Though this is not apart of our mission."
"Good enough for me, bus trip is still on," Seventeen smiled, before giving a sideways glance to 24, who looked exhausted by the answer.
"Sir, yes sir," Twenty-Four answered before striding towards the back, he could see him gesture towards 22 before just saying. "I tried."
"Thanks," she answered quietly, before glaring at him, 17, through the reflection in the glass.
"Hey, if you don't want to drive on the bus, I can just turn this thing around and drop you off where we started."
The threat left her rolling her eyes and looking away, sitting back with both her arms across the seats in the row she was in.
"Does this really need to be this boring?" she asked.
"We could always start singing again," Eighteen countered, though more to troll her counterpart, than her wanting too, 17 was more than aware.
Twenty's eyes lit up in disdain as 22 looked horrified at the prospect. Sixteen smiled again, and 23 started to laugh. He could see 24 place his hands on his head and trying to rub his eyes in frustration.
"Row, row, row your boat…"
Twenty-One's voice broke through, like a siren's song as 17 grinned maliciously. The other Android's all immediately gave dim views back at him as his smile grew wider. It wasn't even that he enjoyed the singing, he certainly didn't. But honestly, he enjoyed their discomfort more. It was really funny.
As soon as his own mouth opened to join in, automatically the others did, even the extremely displeased looking Gero.
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Android 22:
When the bus came to a creaking stop, its brakes hissing, she was the first one off that circus of nightmares. In her entire life she'd never hated something so much. She understood what 17 was doing, beyond just the power trip. He thought it was funny how much they didn't enjoy it, and he enjoyed being the bus driver, but that hardly meant she was wanting to stick around in there. It'd been almost 10 hours of non-stop driving, and she was very much done with the scenic views. At the very least she knew a plurality of those there agreed, though they weren't the ones in charge. Android 17 was definitively the one in charge.
The cooler night air was refreshing, and it was beautiful out here in the sticks, even if the sky was largely overcast.
Sixteen's nature gazing better not be contagious, I don't have time for that.
"Thank god," Eighteen breathed as she got off next, standing there looking almost stunned.
The non-existent town in front of them was composed of six buildings including an exceptionally crappy looking diner. Not that any of them were hungry, that was a sensation that wasn't fulfilled anymore. Eating was optional for those who wanted to do it, or rather, for those who could do it. It would be more than amusing to see 20 or 16 try to eat when they were almost wholly mechanical.
"I'm not getting back on that thing."
As the others continued to file off, 22 noticed 16 exiting out the back while holding the sleeping rock-star they'd managed to 'save' from whatever the Hell happened to that human settlement. Well, not that it mattered now, she was still out and it'd been a whole day almost. If there was any likelihood of her waking up, it was going to be very shortly.
"Right," Seventeen said, walking out after 20. "We're going to get her something to eat here at the diner. Then, after we do that, I'm going to have a milkshake, before we gas up and go."
The orders were simple, and her operating system filed them in the order they needed to be accomplished, though she wasn't exactly brimming with excitement over some human they were keeping around them. Rolling her eyes, she looked at 18.
"I think he just wants to get Lade," Eighteen remarked.
"Oh, ha, ha, I already thought of that joke myself, thank you," Seventeen responded, rolling his eyes. "But really. I want to know what happened in that city, it's interesting to me."
"Nothing of note," Twenty responded. "We should continue on our original mission."
"And we will, once I get the answers I want. I told you, it's interesting to me, or did you forget where I said that?"
The nervous looking older machine nodded numbly, stepping back and remembering his place behind the leader-unit.
There was something odd however. Sixteen and 24 both seemed to be not listening.
"It's quiet," Twenty-Four remarked.
"Too quiet," Sixteen added, stepping forward and scanning the darkness around them. The night's sky became oppressive in that moment, it's overcast sky felt suffocating while they all stood there.
Her own vision switched filters several times, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. There was no random movement, but her audio-sensors weren't picking much up anyway. What the Hell was going on here? No, no way, this place couldn't be like the city. It was a nowhere town, in the middle of some peaks and mountains. People must have just been sleeping.
Outside of the diner, there were no lights on. Stepping forward a few paces on the dirt leading up to the town, 22 stepped on what appeared to be a kid's shoe. Noticing the outline of the clothes of what appeared to be a little girl, she paused as she felt something odd. It was like walking on someone's grave.
"Form up!" she shouted.
Even 23 listened as the machines closed ranked, looking around them for danger.
What the HELL is with this?
Sixteen knelt down, gently placing their new unconscious friend on the ground, before grasping a man's boot and examining it. The silent titan's features never truly changed outside of slight gestures of a smile, but now, she could swear she saw what appeared to be a frown.
"They were running," he noted, his monotone voice somehow sounding… disturbed. "Whatever did this, came from that direction."
He pointed towards the diner before rising to his full height, taking bold strides forward, his head turning from side to side as 24 moved to back him up.
"What the Hell is with all this?" Seventeen asked. "I can't even get my milkshake now."
"Someone is in the diner," Twenty-Four remarked. "Silhouette implies human male. Standing at approximately 2 metres. Optics can't make further details out at this distance and these filters."
Great, another survivor.
Stepping away from the discarded clothing, 22 walked back towards 17, taking up the flank not occupied by 18. Their leader did walk over, grabbing the girl off the ground and hoisting her over his shoulders.
"Uh… huh?" a murmur escaped the woman, sounding confused, but she was barely with it yet.
"Time to start getting answers," Seventeen remarked, taking steps towards the diner. "We can't have any fun at all if people keep stripping from their clothes and disappearing."
Already, 22 had begun to realize they weren't just disappearing. Their boss would figure it out in a few minutes too once they got inside the diner. Sixteen had clued in too. They were being killed, and the bodies were being removed, leaving nothing but their clothes behind. These people were dead, and it unnerved her, not because they were dead, but because where the hell did you just put people? Thousands of bodies like this. Were they being vaporized? What was happening?
They were being watched again. 18 eyed her, knowingly as well as the cadre moved forward. This traveling circus of machines was the only group 22 had ever known, and it was increasingly becoming known to her. She could rely on certain members of this org, namely she thought 16, 18, and 24 were sold. Seventeen was too much up his own ass right now, but when things hit the fan, he seemed to rally. The chaff they could get rid of real quick? Twenty-Three, 20 and 21.
Didn't trust any of them, even if they were all androids here.
"It's like they didn't even take the clothes off," Twenty-Three commented. "Something sucked them out of them."
The idea of that was more than sickening. The idea of some vacuum, gulping the humans out of their clothes, was…
When he held up the shirt in question, she saw a hole in the back of it, and her heart stopped in her throat. Eighteen stopped next to her as he stared at the two of them, before dropping it quickly.
"What the hell?"Eighteen almost gagged, before walking over and examining the shirt herself, 17 paused on his trek to follow 24 and 16.
"What is it?" he asked quickly.
"They're being suckled out of their clothes," Twenty-Three confirmed. "Through a hose, almost."
The normally placid look on 17's face twisted with disgust before looking at the diner.
"Come on," he ordered. "Hey, 16! 24! Take point and get in that building. Everyone else on me."
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Android 24:
These people were getting killed, and getting killed bad. His audio logs were picking it all up, and he guessed 16 put it together the fastest. The two biggest Androids put up the biggest intimidation factor, which worked for them as they approached the diner. Inside, he could see the man behind the counter, he was cleaning a glass, which meant whatever swept through here didn't catch everybody, at least not yet.
Which means threat is still in the area of operation.
"I should be in front," Sixteen remarked. "I have no real biological components necessary to my design."
A good point.
Standing several feet back, 24 couldn't help but notice his larger counterpart's personality showing through. There were only subtle hints of it, here and there, but he noticed just how gentle the big man seemed. Outside of wanting to get their mission done, he thought the big guy might just wander the world and enjoy the sights. Even if everyone amongst them had all their own motives, goals, or more aggressive natures, he seemed to be this docile, gentle giant. It didn't match the imposing view even 24 could take of him.
His own files didn't even state his capabilities, so he was hoping he was better off than unit 20 in that respect.
"Whatever is doing this is a threat to the entirety of the group, your scanners can be calibrated to search for heat signatures in your series. I will cover the light spectrums if you largely cover heat."
"Understood," 24 remarked, his filter switching.
The kitchen was still active, that was the first thing he noted before reducing the intensity of the vision. Nothing else was radiating heat outside of the clerk, who he was more than interested in talking to.
Pulling the door open, 24 slipped through, his hulking frame barely making it and having to adjust his stance to get by, but thankfully he could stand his full height once inside. Optics scanned the establishment, where he noticed two other patrons, a small man in a strange hat, and a huge hulking goliath, someone bigger than him, though perhaps smaller than 16, sitting in the corner.
"Howdy, mighty fine of you to drop by," a voice emerged in front of him as the tender put another cleaned glass down, just as 16 slipped in behind him, having to remain crouched.
"Have you seen what's been happening out there?" Twenty-Four asked.
The silver blonde-haired male, with his slicked back hair looked past the two of them towards a window before looking back at him. This guy had a mullet, didn't he? Some parts of his brain recognized the hairstyle as being preposterous.
"Ain't much noticed anything that noteworthy, it's night, but we run 24 hours, no problem. You boys hungry?"
Something was off, and as others approached the door, 24 noticed the tender look immediately past them towards the others as they made their way inside.
"More clients, ain't this a fine evening. Must be lots of folks on the road tonight."
"You must have noticed the clothes outside," Sixteen commented. "The lack of residents in this town outside of yourselves."
"You know, now that you mention it, outside of me and the boys, it's been real quiet here most of tonight, ain't that right boys?"
"Sure has, boss," the smaller figure commented, his accent dramatically different from the tender's. "Been real quiet."
Scanning the two frames, 24 was looking for suspicions as the giant laid back, his arms on the back of the booth he was sitting in. He had the look in his eyes like he wanted to fight him. That'd be the worst mistake of that guy's life.
But this place definitely smelled like shit, something was definitely wrong.
As the others came inside, the tender pulled up two menus, sliding them down the counter towards the others before turning his attention back to them.
"You all here together? Almost looks like a whole circus popped in here."
"We're a band," Seventeen covered, immediately. "The tour bus is outside."
"Ain't that a thing? Look at that boys, our towns even got a whole big fancy tour bus comin' through here. Plenty kind of you to drop by. Wouldn't suppose…"
"That you'd seen anything other than it being slow, out these parts?" Seventeen mocked the accent they were being fed. "Look, something outside looks like it's been punching holes in people, and then leaving their clothes behind. Any idea what would be doing that?"
"Ain't ever heard of nothin' doing that out there, I'll tell you that. Maybe got some bears around here, but besides that, this ain't the bad lands or nothin'. You sure it's all abandoned out there? Maybe folks are just sleeping."
"With holes in their bodies and no clothes?"
"Well, I ain't one to judge, and I ain't seen what's been goin' on out there, I'll tell you that," he remarked. "Now, you folks wanting to order something? Or are you gonna play things cheap and just get water?"
This guy had no concern for his neighbours? No curiosity about what was going on? This didn't respond favourably to behaviour patterns. Was he involved, with what was happening? For a clerk, he was built like a brick-shithouse. Muscle hung tightly off his frame, almost like he was an athlete. Something wasn't lining up.
"I think we'll get a new server," Twenty-Two commented. "Someone who can speak proper and not sound like a windbag."
The man glared at her for several seconds before the host smiled, turning his attention to the others, gesturing for the little man in the most outrageously badly planned outfit in the world to walk over. He was shorter than anyone 24 had ever seen who wasn't a child. The figure walked around the counter, and for anyone actually sitting, he knew they could only see the top of his head and hat.
"Yo, so, what can we get you folks today?"
Sighing with annoyance, 17 finally spoke up.
"Menus, first of all."
"All on the board, man," the figure said, adjusted his sunglasses before gesturing to the board behind them.
Walking to the other side of 17, and trying to fit on the stool next to 18, 24 looked at the other Android who looked back at her, clearly not impressed with the service either. This whole town was fucked. Something was wrong, and the question was just if 17 thought they should make some kind of play…
Man, I'm hoping he does.
Sixteen moved past him, sitting on his flank now as well, the entire establishment creaking as he did. He definitely trusted 16 out of everyone here. This guy was solid as a rock, even in terms of how they approached this place.
This was the kind of guy you'd want in your squad…
At the thought of it, he felt like he was pulled back in time, if only for a second as he heard gunfire and screams. There wasn't any return fire, only the sound of cracking bones and breaking brick, followed by a child's voice rising and falling with every strike.
Ha! Hyah! Hey! That was rude you know!
"Cover me," he heard his own voice said. "I'm gonna try to pin him down once he makes his move!"
"Understood," 16's voice emerged.
But in all of it, in this file he didn't have, 24 thought he heard the beginnings of something that his files had detailed analysis on. He could sense the desperation and confusion in the instance, however.
"Kaaaaa meeeee haaaaa meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…"
Looking ahead a moment later, 24 saw 17 stand up, his hands coming onto his hips.
"I told you, I want fish, fries, an ice tea, and the chocolate-strawberry blast milkshake. Do you need me to repeat myself?"
"No man, I got you," the small clerk said, raising his hands defensively before looking at the rest of them.
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Android 17:
Sitting down, he was getting fed up. Honestly, if this place didn't stop being creepy and weird, he was going to start knocking people out and blowing buildings up. These three employees, had no idea what was happening outside of here? None, no idea at all then? Yea, colour him shocked if he believed that. Then, you've got the fact that at best one of them looked like they worked here, at best. Cannibals may be? Nah, why would cannibals poke holes in people's clothes, and how could they eat that many people.
The girl he'd been dragging around, Lade, whose name was still funny to 17, was propped up by his sister, looking more than annoyed at having the task. Maybe it was the smell of this badly made slop they were making in this building.
Memories, glitches, from before slipped through his filters as he remembered sitting in a dingy café with a half dozen friends, and his twin. Ordering coffee and talking about bullshit.
That wasn't him.
"Where…" she seemed confused before her eyes looked around at where she was. "Where… the Hell am I?"
"This here is Shorty's Diner," the accented moron spoke up. "Finest dining establishment in this here town."
"It's the only dining establishment in the town," Eighteen almost fired back, sounding more annoyed than ever. "Seventeen, can we just go?"
"Not until our new friend eats."
The confused girl started to tremble when she realized she had no idea where she was, or who any of them were. That was 17's best guess as she placed her hand over her mouth.
"Hey, calm down," Seventeen said, his tone dispassionate. "My friends and I found you while we were on a road trip, you looked pretty scared. There has been a lot of weird things going on, and we were hoping…"
"Where is it?" she asked, her eyes filled with horror as she looked left and right, her entire body tense. Tears of fear were welling in her eyes.
"Oh god," she almost lurched forward. "Nafe… Fok… Cale, it… it…"
Projectile vomit was one of those things you never really expected to see. His own files, or rather the corpses memory catalogue, definitely had a few instances in mind. The milky substance wasn't in significant quantities as it splattered on the counter and floor beyond the bar. Looking past the labouring woman, he could see 18 giving him a cold look, clearly unimpressed at what had just occurred.
"Disgusting," she said bluntly.
"Oh my god," Twenty-Three said with revulsion. "She's not even eaten anything yet, and she can't keep it down? Do you bring your sick pets to every business you go to?"
Before he could respond, he noticed the short gentlemen behind the counter, standing there with fries and fish in one hand, and an ice tea in the other. He looked at the vomit only a few feet from where he stood, before looking back at 17.
"Sorry," Seventeen non-apologized.
"You gonna clean that up?" he asked in turn. "Because I ain't gonna clean up. That's some nasty shit right there."
"Isn't this your place?" Seventeen countered quickly. "I mean, if this place is making people sick…"
"Yea, she ain't eat none of my food yet. She comes in here, looking drugged as shit, and now this crazy bitch is going all exorcist in my fucking diner, you understand the nature of my complaint? I didn't get hired here to clean up no vomit, specially when I didn't cause that vomit, you get me?"
God damn it.
"Twenty-Three, clean it up."
"ME?!" the aghast android stuttered almost. "But I didn't do anything."
"Yes, you, I gave you an order, now do it."
The machine glared at him with genuine hatred as he stood up, almost snarling as he walked past the red neck and the giant, moving around to the other side of the counter. He looked like he might vomit himself as he found a rag, looking at the clerk before turning his face in disgust, walking towards the vomit like it was radioactive.
Right, so that's solved.
The food came up on the table as 22 couldn't help but laugh at the fate of her stablemate, ribbing 17 himself in the side as she smirked.
"Good one, he looks so good on the floor like that," she remarked. "Hail to the bus driver, am I right 23?'
"Shut up," Twenty-Three scowled back before continuing.
Well, now that's over.
He turned his attention to the girl, who just heaving, holding her head as she sat there between him and his sister. Staring at the once clean surface in front of her, her eyes closed periodically as she just tried to compose herself, but he could see the tears were flowing freely. Why were these humans so emotional about this? Some units got killed, probably badly, that was sad and all, but it wasn't the end of the world. She should feel lucky, they pulled her out of the fire.
And now it was time to repay that debt.
Once the vomit had been cleared from in front of her, he slid the food, if one could call it that, in front of her.
"Eat," he ordered.
"I can't," she managed. "I… I can't do this."
"Eat, now. You need to keep your energy up, and we have questions."
The scared girl looked at him with confused eyes as she just trembled. His patience was really not doing well with this.
"Hey, girl," Twenty-Two said, leaning over the counter from behind him. "I'm going to make this easy for you. Either you start eating, or I'll cut your throat open and stuff the food down it."
Her entire face seized up in horror, now at her 'rescuers' as 17 breathed in patiently. Twenty-Two was clearly trying to help, but this wasn't what he would call helpful. Though the trembling hand did manage to grab one of the poorly made French fries, and brought it to her mouth. The girl chewed for several seconds before swallowing. He let her eat for a minute, despite the bursts of tears, when something unexpected happened.
Eighteen, started it, looking like she didn't want to be here. He suspected much like 22, she didn't have much time for this. Standing up, she crossed her arms and looked at the other android behind him.
"Come on 22, let's go put gas in that stupid bus for when we get out of here," she remarked. "I can't deal with blubbering."
The other Android considered it for a second before he heard her stool swivel as well, the other Android hopping up behind him.
"Yea, good plan. If I stick around here much longer, I'm likely to make our dear leader mad if I put her head through the counter."
When the words came out, the girl stopped eating, her eyes looking around frightfully.
When the door swung open a moment later, he was relieved that they were heading to take care of the gas situation. The pair of them would likely be safe from whatever was killing everyone.
But it would be 16 who stood up, walking over to where 18 had been before sitting down with another great creek, just as 23 rounded the corner of the counter, looking livid as he stormed out of the diner next, clearly intent on following the other two. The dirty look he'd been cast was enough to make 17 take note of it, before turning his attention back to the situation to his left.
"Your friends," Sixteen commented. "What happened to them? What did this?"
"I can't," she answered him, pushing the half-eaten remains of the meal away from her. "It killed them."
Something caught 17's attention in the humanity that 16 seemed to show, despite his stiff mannerisms and monotone voice. He almost believed that this guy cared about this girl's pain. Was it an enhanced interrogation program? It had to be, whatever it was, it was very good.
"So far you are the only person to have seen it, and have lived. No one has any idea what has happened to your friends or anyone else. If you do not inform us, we will not be able to disseminate the information further, and we will not be able to help stop it."
Help stop it? That was quite the promise, wasn't it?
In the distance, behind the two, he noticed 20 and 21's heads turn immediately from their perch, listening to every word said. Did they know something? If so, they were holding their cards close to their chest, and were oddly silent about almost all of this. If he knew Dr. Gero, being silent about things he knew about would be a new achievement for him. Which meant if he did know, it was in his interest not to say anything.
Perhaps the doctor is beginning to outlive his usefulness.
"I'm the only one?" broke through his attention towards the doctor. "Th…there's no one else?"
"No, you are the only one we have met who has seen this thing, and been able to be talked to. What is making the people disappear?"
"They're not disappearing," her voice cracked, her breathing shook as she looked ahead. "I can see it. People were screaming… they banged on the bus, they were running for their lives. We didn't know what was going on, our driver didn't want to go because he was worried, we'd hit people. They were all so scared. I got scared too, I didn't know what was going on."
She couldn't describe it. Even as she described the event, 17 noticed she was avoiding speaking about what it was. And what happened to the people.
"What were they scared of?" he asked a moment later, his huge hand moving out and resting on the counter in front of them.
"It," she answered. "I don't even know what it was. When I first saw it… it was shaped like a person, but it was armoured, it looked like… it had a shell, like a bug. It looked alien, with black, shining plating on it. And its tail… it had a tail. It's tail."
Her breathing was becoming frantic.
"That's what happened to everyone. When Nafe got off the bus we screamed as he ran with the crowd. We didn't know what to do so we hid. It… it came on the bus and Fok tried to fight him. It laughed. It made no noise outside of growling, but I could hear it, I know it. It stabbed him, and he started to scream. I… Oh my god."
She lurched before without realizing it, 17 placed his hand on her back, as if being supportive. It wasn't even that he cared, but whatever this thing was it sounded horrifying. Even to him it sounded terrible, and if this thing was a new thing, maybe he did want to go find something to kill. Maybe after they were done with Son Goku they could hunt this thing down and kill it, not even to be the heroes or anything, but just to say they did.
Still, the girl's usefulness was beginning to run dry. The question was, what to do with her now? Leave her here with these three? If that thing was nearby, which he thought very likely, she'd just get to meet it again, he had a feeling not a lot of people got second chances with whatever this thing was.
"It sucked him up," she breathed. "He screamed as it sucked him through the tail, before he couldn't scream anymore and he… he disappeared. It… drank him."
There was a long look from her as she was left trembling, her hands wouldn't stop shaking as it appeared like she might vomit again.
"Hey man, this girl's freakin' us out, maybe you wanna move along, cause if she throws up again, I'm charging you extra," the little minion remarked.
Twenty-Four stood up, striding over to him, the other Android looked visibly shaken, though 16 did not, he just looked calm as always, but had taken in all that she said. The glare he gave the clerk was noteworthy.
"You wanna keep your shit together, little man?" Twenty-Four asked.
"Sorry, sorry! She's just bein' crazy. You believe that story?"
"Yea, sure," the brute responded, leading to the giant across the room to standing up himself. "Let's get out of this shithole."
"We can get more details later, why don't you come with us to the Bus?" Seventeen offered. "Might as well, we dragged you here in the first place."
There was a brief moment of hesitation before she looked back at 16 and then at him, carefully, she started to pull herself up, her entire body shaking as she did, still completely drained from just talking for a few minutes after whatever ordeal the human had suffered.
"No being a kill-joy though," he warned. "My friends and I like to have fun. Even if there is some creepy, bug man, eating people on the loose. It's not that big a deal for us."
There was a pause as she gave him a look, not understanding what he was saying as 17 smiled.
"You'll see."
"Alright, old man, time to go," Seventeen ordered the pair in the corner.
Rising to his feet, 20 approached first as he turned to the staff, almost mechanically.
"Thank you for the services you have offered here today," he said, being the only one to thank them. "Perhaps we can meet again under better circumstances."
"Yea, that'd be much appreciated," the original clerk responded. "Tell you what, this one's on the house. You folks go find yourselves somewhere to bed down as soon as you can though, you hear? Talking about all these monsters and nightmares out there that you so eloquently illuminated us with. I ain't gonna be able to sleep worth a shit now."
Rolling his eyes at the bumpkin, 17 stepped out along with 16 and 24, as well as with their new 'friend' Lade in tow. She was still confused.
"You want me to wrap things up here?" Twenty-Four asked.
"Be my guest," Seventeen responded as 20 and 21 walked past them.
They kept in stride for several moments before the explosion followed. The blast-wave rolled out over them as the diner, and the surrounding area, were blasted into a flaming ruin. Not exactly what he meant by that, but honestly, he wasn't going to shed any tears for those three weirdos.
"Oh my god," Lade gasped, her eyes turning towards the flames in horror as the big man made his way back to them.
"See?" Seventeen remarked. "We're not worried about the bug-man."
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Android 13:
Fire scorched over his body as 13 stepped outside of the blast site. His eyes scanned as the bus started to depart from town. The tells were all there, especially from the Doctor near the end. Now wasn't the time to directly intervene, at least not yet. They were going to need to keep track of them, and now that they'd confirmed all the units they were going to need to round up, it would be much easier.
Another figure stepped out of the flames, this time it was Android 15. The small figure pulled a flask from his jacket, taking a sip before inserting it back in his coat, his sunglasses remaining unscathed by the flames or the debris, the smaller Android remained in place while 14 came up a few seconds later.
"Those boys shouldn't be too much of a problem. The big fella is the only one I'm worried about," Thirteen said. "Target data states he's stronger than I am in my current form, though he's least likely to get involved. Still, careful not to piss that son bitch off, could be a problem."
"Those units ain't shit," Fifteen followed up. "You see them trying to take care of that human? And what the Hell were they talking about? Big man-eating bug-thing with a tail that drinks people. My files aren't showing nothin' about that being a thing."
The overconfidence wasn't really inviting. Namely because even if they were outwardly stronger, there were issues in regards to capturing all of them at once. The 22-24 lineup could assist 17 and 18 in resisting them, and that would lower the probability of success to only 40%, if they engaged them. They'd need to wait their moment, and see opportunities to thin the heard. Twenty-One, 22, 23, and 24 were all listed as expendable, as well. Which meant that they could disable or destroy those targets without breaking their core mission parameters.
Hopefully, it wasn't going to come to that.
"Fourteen, you got anything to contribute?"
The mute just looked at him coldly.
Right, this one never spoke seemingly.
"Yea, I get you, I don't think they're worth the effort either," Thirteen responded. "Isolate the pair from the others and engage, before pulling them back to the lab for Dr. Gero to decide on what to do. Also, ensure that unit 20 survives, that's definitely at the top of the list."
"We need that old man still? He's crazy, didn't even wake us up along with the others. That shit's weird man, why'd he not want his best and brightest out there, serving on the right lines? I'm a soldier. I'll take on all those other units, even at the same time, I don't care."
Though his bravery was noteworthy, that was the last thing they needed.
"Calm down, my vertically challenged friend, we're gonna need to analyze this situation a bit more, the Doctor even implied it his self."
Slipping his baseball cap back on, 13 turned to look at the others, looking from one side then the other.
"Keep out of their optics, keep scans up for their vehicle, let's not lose track of them. They spy us again and the game will be up. They make any hostile moves? You're free to engage."
"Excellent," Fourteen finally spoke, his bulky form striding forward.
"You get me all excited when you speak up like that," Thirteen chuckled, a sinister grin pulling at the sides of his mouth. "And remember, even if it ain't on the table right now, I'm sure Dr. Gero would find himself most pleased if we got the kill on Son Goku as well. You boys remember that. Would be more than peachy with me if we came up with aces on every objective of the Red Ribbon Army."
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Author's Notes:
Right then. I think that's set things up for what is to come, don't all of you? Lol
I really agonized over how I was going to do this one, and I think it turned out okay.
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Reviewers:
All account-based reviewers were answered by PM. So, thank you to, Pyromania101, Perfect Carnage, Blades of Fury, TheItchyCocoon, RulesofNature626, Herraidous, Thomas-The-TMC, Janem-Dragnove, Super Mystic Gohan, AntonioBarbarian, Masvan, and Proman1398.
Guest1: Goku's a better person than Turles, he'd still offer him an olive branch, and through being manipulative, Turles has done more for 'Goku' than Raditz has, even if it was for his own self gain, lol. And yea, Chapter 98's got some pretty big moments in it…
Luke: It's always sad when Update spam ends bro! But it had to end sometime, lol. I wish I could answer by PM, because I'd tell you who goes in the Time Chamber .
Guest2: Turles ain't spilling any beans to anyone. He'll go to the grave with his secrets if he can. That guy's about as open as a nuclear bunker, lol. Goku's got some great pieces coming up.
Red Power: Yea, that's in my opinion, non-canon. In Japan they treat canon differently, but he's basically saying those aren't really the work of Dragon Ball. So, I reject the premise that humans in Dragon Ball are as bad as humans here. I don't think they've been broadly shown to be that way. And there will be no Super Saiyan 4, I actually strongly dislike Dragon Ball GT, and everything that came with it.
Guest3: These are buildup chapters my friend. It's leading somewhere, very soon. Chapter's 100-106/107 are basically going to kill me as a writer to get through them, lol.
Guest1(Guest4): Oh I love writing Goku and Turles together, they're hugely fun.
Guest5: Goku's starting to play the game a bit more than Turles would want him to…