The sun was rising as Vegeta tore through the sky. Just above the horizon there was a smattering of gold, red and purple, the stars still sparkling in the deepest part of night still hanging overhead. While the morning was peaceful, Vegeta most assuredly was not.

For the better part of three years he had been furious with himself for what he thought of as "weakling behavior." When he first came to live at Capsule Corp., he roamed the hallways alone—day and night—rarely speaking to anyone but the elder scientist. He ate meals alone, though he was often invited to dine with company, and allowed his body to be thrashed over and over again during his hours-long training sessions. But as he lay in bed, tracing the ceiling with random maps and memories, it was impossible for his soul not to crave something more—something else.

It was the first time in his life he did not have some megalomaniac dictator pouring over his every move and intention. Now, he was free—but what for?

What drew him in first was her smell. He had been trying to ignore her to the best of his abilities, but every time she would fix something on the gravity machine or deliver him some new armor or equipment, she was drenched in this intoxicating aroma he found himself thinking about long after she had left. Even as his mind screamed at him to leave it alone—to not allow himself to seek comfort in her—after a stolen kiss late one night he threw his inhibitions out the door.

As hard as he tried, he could not push her away and he kept coming back to her again and again and again.

She told him she was pregnant during one of their nightly visits. When he arrived in her room, she sat on the edge of the bed with her head hung and her eyes cast downward at her fidgeting fingers. Biting her lip, she made several attempts to speak, but always ended up speechless, looking at him with these moon-like eyes that were brimming with tears. He figured she wanted out of their arrangement, and while he wouldn't have minded that for his sanity, his body had begun to crave her all on its own. He wasn't sure he could withstand that. Instead, she confessed to him that she was having their child.

He didn't speak. He turned on his heel, retreated back to his room where he grabbed his very few belongings, and went directly to the spaceship to finish out the remaining year or so left before the androids were set to arrive. He did not want a child—especially an Earth one—and saw the news as a signal he had overstayed his welcome.

Now he had a grown-up version of the brat bossing him around, threatening him as if she could overpower him. She had the audacity to challenge him and to speak to him as if he was not her superior in every way, shape and form. Did she have no respect for her father?

He snapped back to reality. As he lazily soared through the sky, he scanned the surrounding area. He came to a stop and stayed that way for what seemed like a while, floating above the earth below, looking for a needle in a haystack.

How was he going to find androids with no ki? They could've gone anywhere, he figured, but based on their conversation with Gero, it was more likely they were going to actually try and find Goku instead of dawdling about. Did they know he was at Capsule Corp.?

Vegeta shuttered at the thought of going back there again. His chest tightened and he swallowed a lump in his throat as he desperately tried to think of anything else but that woman and her bed.

Just like that, it was as if the androids revealed themselves once more. A large plume of smoke appeared a few miles in the distance, and Vegeta had no doubt the androids were responsible for it.


It had been a fairly regular morning at East City's premier news station until an explosion ripped through the lobby. Staffers began running in all directions, and on the studio floor, they cut short their 6 a.m. broadcast abruptly right in the middle of the program. Two strange people had come up to the floor, their hands glowing, and demanded that the showrunner get the program up and live again.

One of the main producers shepherded everyone back onto the set, motioning to the camera men to start rolling again and radioing the control room that they were going back on the air at some point in the near future. He was a veteran reporter—he had seen it all at this point—and now was running the show behind the scenes. Despite the fear running through his veins, he knew the only way to control the situation was to remain in control. There was no use in fighting these strangers.

He approached the duo and asked them what exactly they wanted to do.

"Are you terrorists, is that what this is?" He asked as calmly as me could muster. His radio was going off again—the control room was ready, he just needed to give the okay.

"No," the dark-haired man said. "We're trying to deliver a message to a friend."

The phone was practically falling off the hook it was ringing so much. While he tried to maintain a strong poker face, the producer was rubbing his chest just to check that his heart wasn't doing somersaults. Quickly he assigned tasks to all his staffers—the interns would answer phones, the news anchors would move from their desks, the cameramen needed to remain steady and calm no matter what happened. They all looked at him in pure disbelief.

He stalled as long as he could, hoping someone had called the police to handle the situation. But as time ticked on and no one came, he accepted his fate.

"We start again at the top of the hour," he said to the strangers. "Is that okay?"

"And what time is it now?" the woman asked curtly.

"Well, uh, it's 6:23 a.m.," he said, glancing down at his watch. "We start again at 7 a.m."

The woman shrugged—as did her brother—and she headed toward an on-set mirror. She began primping and applying a bright red lipstick.

"That's fine," the dark haired man replied. "As long as you don't make us wait a minute more."

About 5 minutes before the clock struck 7, the two strangers walked over to the news desk. When the producer asked if they'd like to sit, they declined, instead asking how best to stay in the frame while standing. A young intern quickly hustled over with some gaff tape, and with his hands shaking marked a spot on the ground and wordlessly pointed to it before hightailing it back behind the cameras.

A tiny red light appeared on top of the main camera and the producer pointed to it, then back to the strangers who had overtaken his studio. He gave the thumbs up and nodded.

"This message is for Goku," the man said as the woman sternly looked on. "We are coming to find you, and if you don't show yourself, we will destroy this entire city."

Audible gasps rippled through the newsroom, but a glare from the woman almost immediately silenced the crowd.

"Come meet us here in this city by the end of the day today, or it will be reduced to rubble by morning."

He and the woman turned away from the camera, and with his hand generated a giant beam of light that shot out and penetrated the set, leaving a gaping hole that led to the outside. More screams ripped through the studio, but viewers at home could not hear them—the feed had gone black.


People were pouring out of the TV building as Vegeta landed, none of them remotely concerned about a man who could fly touching down in the middle of the street. Doors from the surrounding buildings shot open as well, the citizens of East City running through the streets like a flowing river trying to escape the chaos. From the tower, Vegeta spotted the androids floating out of what appeared to be a massive hole in the side of the building, and he quickly became airborne again to follow.

When he was within earshot, he called out to them.

"Looks like we meet again," Vegeta smirked. "I hope your creator won't ruin our fun this time."

17 did not look amused.

"Where is Goku?" he screamed. Vegeta took in the concern and fear on his face, and it made the Saiyan prince feel powerful.

"I know where he is, but you'll have to fight me if you want to know."

"Fine," 17 snapped. "But I'll let my dear sister take this one."

She looked at her brother. What was he playing at? Since they left Gero's lab this morning, her stomach had been in knots. While most of her body had been altered on the cellular level, she still had a soul. Even as the twins were forced into submission by Gero—forced to endure beatings and zappings and days or weeks without seeing sunlight—she never let her spirit completely break. Her brother, not so much. The light behind his eyes faded with every passing year, and now it looked completely burned out. The only thing stopping them from completely rebelling was the uncertainness of their life without their captor.

She pursed her lips. If she fought Vegeta, what would it prove? What was she going to say instead-that this whole plot to kill Goku seemed kind of pointless? That she no longer wanted to be controlled by Gero?

"Aww," Vegeta taunted her. "Scared, are you?"

Without saying anything else, she formed an energy blast in her hands and shot it out toward him. It did catch him off guard, but Vegeta easily got out of the way. He zoomed up to her, and suspended in the air they punched and kicked at one another—satisfaction behind Vegeta's eyes and desperation behind 18's.

As she flung her arms and legs at Vegeta's head, 18's mind was still racing. It was definitely affecting her fighting now. After he dragged them from the battlefield, they awoke back in Gero's underground lab, which to her felt more like a prison. She half expected him to kill them both right there-and he did threaten that. Instead, he brokered them a deal. If they killed Goku, he would allow them to be free to do whatever they would like. It made no sense.

She knew what he was actually going to do. He was going to get them to kill Goku and then have his creation kill them. They were never going to be free from him-even in death. And yet here she was, following his orders, unable to break free from her captor's will.

Images of all the people she killed—all of the chaos she had caused-clouded her mind. What would happen if she just laid down her hands right now, formed an alliance with Vegeta and begged for forgiveness for her sins. While her focus remained elsewhere, Vegeta landed a brutal punch that flung her backward so far she landed into a rock face nearly a mile from the city center.

"What is wrong with you!" 17 screamed at her. "Get your head in the game!"

He hustled over to her and landed in the empty field below, Vegeta hot on his tail. As she emerged slowly from the rubble, she took the chance to talk to her brother.

"17, there might be another way," she coughed, brushing the dust from herself. "What if we work with them to fight Gero?"

"Have you lost your mind?" 17 barked. "Our mission is to kill Goku, not work with him and his lackeys."

"But why is that our mission?" Her eyes widened. "Because Gero told us it is?"

"Enough of the chit-chat!" Vegeta shouted. He, too, had landed in the field and was making his way over to the brother and sister.

"That's enough out of you," 17 snapped at his sister. "Go finish the fight you started."

Reluctantly, 18 got up, her line of sight not leaving that of her brother's. "Fine," she scowled. "Have it your way."

Vegeta took no time in reaching his full power—he loved being a Super Saiyan and revelled in the fact that he had finally achieved it. He gripped his fists, dug his feet into the ground and launched himself at 18. She immediately jumped up into the air, and he threw an uppercut in response, though it barely grazed her nose.

She swung her arm around, but he ducked. He sideswiped his leg to connect to her hip, swinging her to the side before Vegeta moved at an alarming speed to kick her back. She jutted forward and Vegeta took his opportunity to position himself above and launch her back down to Earth.

"What are you doing?" 17 shouted at her as she emerged from a crater.

"I-I-" her voice quivered. Before she had a chance to answer, Vegeta appeared again. Gero's chains were binding her to this life, to this fight even. As heavy as they were, she could not take them off just yet.

Vegeta and 18 went head-to-head, throwing punches and kicks the other answered every time. It went on like this for a while, and it was putting 17 straight to sleep. His sister should've been radiating with power. Vegeta was an easy opponent for her to overtake, and yet he was gaining ground on her. She was holding her power back and dragging out this fight for seemingly no good reason.

He had enough. He would insert himself into this situation. He leapt up toward them, his right fist locked onto Vegeta's jaw, then he twisted his body and connected his left leg to the torso. Vegeta went sailing, and at super speed, 17 was there to meet him. With one swift push, 17 threw Vegeta down to the ground and let out an assault of ki blasts that pummeled him.

"I am so disappointed in you," 17 seethed at his sister. "You're wasting our time!"

By now the morning sun had risen and it was firmly overhead. The stars disappeared into the blue sky and the wind had picked up from the east-it was going to be a beautiful day. How long had they been there?

Vegeta crawled out of the rubble, reaching toward 17 to indicate he was still ready to fight. But before he got the chance, a pair of boots landed in front of his face. He looked up. Eclipsed by the sun, there stood Bulla.

"Back to join us, huh?" 17 laughed. "I'd say you could fight my sister while I finish off your friend here, but she's come down with something suddenly."

"17, this ends here," Bulla's voice was emotionless.

As she powered up, Vegeta couldn't help but to be stunned. Her hair turned golden yellow, her eyes green, and the vibrations off her body were running through the dirt and into Vegeta. He had not seen her fight since Frieza, and while she irked him to no end, he was curious to see what she could do now.

"Alright," 17 grinned. "Have it your way."

He shot an energy blast at her, but in a flash she was gone. She appeared right behind him, punching him in the face and throwing him skidding across the ground. 17 got up and came back with vigor, but before he could land a punch, she answered with a kick of her own. He doubled over as Bulla swung back with her other leg. As he flew backward, Bulla formed a ki blast and shot it at him—and it managed to hit.

"Agh!" he screamed, getting up and forming a ki blast of his own. "How dare you!"

He swung at her, and she managed to catch his hand in hers. Twisting his arm, she flipped him around, and she tried to kick again. This time, though, 17 was able to grab her leg and toss her into the air, moving quickly to position himself above her and with both hands strike her in the back. Before she hit the ground, she managed to stop herself and swing back upward.

The two began sparring. Kick for kick, punch for punch—they went like that until 17 managed to get a good hit directly on her face. With a sickening crack, her nose broke and blood began pouring out of it. He shoved her down and she landed to where her father was now recovering and watching the fight.

She forced herself up, blood running down her face.

In one last assault, she rushed 17 with two ki blasts formed in her hands. They sailed directly toward him but buzzed past his head, instead digging into the ground behind him and creating a massive explosion that flung 17 and 18 forward.

Just then, the world became very still. Bulla and Vegeta both felt it. Somewhere not too far away was a huge drop in ki—another mass extinction event like the one the day before—and their attention was immediately diverted from the fight. As 17 and 18 collected their bearings, they realized their opponents were now very much disengaged.

"Is this your way of quitting?" 17 asked while sucking in air.

Bulla's eyes wandered back to 17. He searched her face to understand what she was feeling. It was a mix of confusion and fear, and it was most certainly not being caused by him.

"You don't feel that?" she asked sincerely. "That drop in energy?"

"No," 17 reluctantly admitted. "What is it?"

It all became very clear to Bulla just then: they didn't know how to read ki. The androids couldn't find Goku because they couldn't find his energy. They didn't know Bulla and Gohan were at the lab not because their kis were suppressed, but because of their own lack of skill. Maybe she had found a weakness after all.

"It's Gero's monster," she said.

17 stood breathless, his expression one of pure, unmitigated fear.