Disclaimer: Any names mentioned in this story, including the main character's, are meant to be fictional. Any resemblance to a real name is purely coincidental. In other words, if you know a guy named Robbie Barnes or Mike Santorini, I'm not writing about him!

Chapter 12: The Battle of Bridgetown, Part I

It began with twin flashes; one white, one gold. Power swelled from the two fighters until it swelled to its fullest extent. And then they pounced.

Trunks and Robbie were the first to move, with Trunks on a collision course with Eighteen and Robbie's sights set on Seventeen, as agreed upon before the battle. Trunks reached Eighteen and swung, but his blazing sword only met air as the android femme gracefully leapt backwards and smiled her deadly smile. Robbie had similar luck as his fists were easily caught by Seventeen's superior strength. The seconds froze again, as all waited for the Androids response, and then the battle began in force.

After Eighteen's dodge, Trunks followed on her heels slashing as fast as possible. The Android, with speed as her overwhelming advantage, dodged every blow sent her way, while never once countering herself. This served the desired purpose of infuriating her opponent into making crucial mistakes. Yet the young warrior kept his head and began to scale back his fury, channeling it into a more refined form. He began to throw feinting moves in an attempt to break the momentum of the female android. None landed, but after several near misses she was clearly frazzled. Finally, after a lucky blow took several strands of Eighteen's precious hair, she lost control and finally went on the offensive. In the face of real hand-to-hand combat with her, Trunks knew his sword would do little. In one quick motion he sheathed his weapon and prepared once again to duel.

Elsewhere, Robbie and Seventeen were still locked in a death struggle, with Robbie's fists clasped firmly in the Android's vice-like hands. He pushed and pulled, but nothing he did could free himself. Until Seventeen released him, he could only stare into ice-blue eyes, devoid of emotion except for perhaps sick merriment.

"Having fun yet?" The Android taunted.

"Fuck you, iron ass." Robbie growled back.

"Language, language kid. You should respect your elders."

"Ask me if I care!"

"Or not. You know, I'm going to have fun disciplining you. And apparently you need it, since it looks like your mother was asleep at the wheel."

"Don't you dare talk about her!" Enraged again, Robbie finally freed himself from the Android's grip and moved back into his fighting stance, only to sweep forward in one surreal motion and land a kick to Seventeen's midsection. The Android stumbled back, momentarily stunned, but quickly gaining composure as well as rage. His normally cold eyes lit with fury, and he charged again, intent on tearing Robbie limb from limb. Robbie threw his counter, received more attacks, and the fight continued.

Trunks and Eighteen had, in the meantime, taken their struggle to the skies, furiously trading attacks several hundred feet above the ruined metropolis. Trunks dodged another of Eighteen's vicious strikes and leapt back to put distance between him and his opponent. At twenty feet, he shook his head, stared at Eighteen, and smiled.

"Hmm, you don't seem so tough now without your big brother to back you up." Trunks said.

"You just wait until I'm warmed up. I'll let you see the strength of a woman." She spat back.

"Not this time, bitch. I'll make you pay for Gohan as I kill you piece by piece. I'll make it slow."

"You men, always blustering. And for your information I'm not a bitch. I'm just a woman who gets what she wants." Trunks received one cold smile before Eighteen disappeared. His defenses went up, but he was a second too late. Eighteen appeared two feet in front of him and executed a perfect sweeping kick to the side of his head. Stars exploded through his sight and pain swam in his mind, but only for a second before Eighteen spun and planted a foot into Trunks' sternum. The force of the kick combined with his disorientation from the headshot to render him completely helpless, and he crashed through a skyscraper before he struck the ground. The resulting crash echoed through the canyon as sweet music to Eighteen's ears.

Hmm…Got rid of him. That was easy.

Just as she was about to turn her attention to helping her brother with the other Saiya-jin, she heard a whistling wind behind her, and swept to the side just in time to avoid a stunning blow. Looking up, she saw that Trunks was back, looking not only none the worse for wear, but angry as hell as well. His hands were twitching, and he positively itched to fight once more. Eighteen would not begrudge him his desire.

As Trunks was taking his lumps, so was Robbie. Seventeen was fully on the offensive now, and his blows rained on Robbie like a thousand sledgehammers. He threw defense after defense, but nothing could stop the furious assault, and simply keeping his feet was fast becoming a monumental task.

Finally, one hit sailed through and collided with Robbie's jaw. Three hundred feet later, Robbie had made his own personal hole in the rubble, and lay amid a pile of shattered concrete with re-bar sticking into his back. A split-second later, Robbie was up, and mad as a hornet. In his fury, his power burned hotter, and he released it in a rush.

Seventeen, unable to see where the boy had landed amidst the debris, watched with mute surprise as what seemed like the entire city, or what was left of it, went up in a brilliant inferno. So intent was he on the light show that he failed to notice the small shape that leapt from it, and was now on a collision course from above. He never saw it coming as Robbie slammed his fist into Seventeen's head, repaying the vicious blow of moments before. Moment's later, Seventeen was up, his rage burning equal to Robbie's.

"I hate it when people touch me without asking!" Seventeen dematerialized and reappeared in front of Robbie, who was unable to defend against the knee that slammed into his gut and sent him careening hundreds of feet in the air. With motions too fast for even Saiya-jin eyes, Seventeen followed hot on his trail, and once overtaking him, slammed Robbie again back to earth with an iron fist.

Robbie heard a cracking noise as he struck hard asphalt and plowed through it to the sub layers beneath. He was on his feet at once, but fierce pain brought him to his knees once more. When the pain subsided enough to open his clenched eyelids, he saw that his entire right side was covered in blood. Even worse, he discovered from careful inspection, his ribs on that side were broken. It wasn't a devastating injury though, at least not for a Saiya-jin, and he could feel his body immediately going to work to repair the damage. Even more to his delight was the fact that his Saiya-jin adrenaline was taking hold, and his pain was fading away to nothing, leaving him able to fight at full strength without having to worry about his body's condition. It was one of the most useful enhancements he had discovered yet. Robbie was smiling fiendishly as he rose back to his feet, his ki burning hotter than before.

Stepping from the crater, he sighted his enemy with his back turned a few hundred feet away and above him. For a moment, their positions reminded him of their first meeting over a month ago, back when he was still human, weak, and helpless. That time, he had been utterly frightened as he floundered in a lake with the sadistic Android hovering overhead and his bitch sister jeering him from the shore. The memory filled him once again with rage, and he dropped quickly into his stance once again. He was ready to attack, but opted for a new battle plan aside from direct assault. That obviously didn't work because Seventeen had a decided strength advantage, so Robbie knew that the only way to win was to use a little creative finesse.

Furrowing his brow in concentration, he brought his hands together behind him, and began to charge the air around him. In five seconds, everything within twenty feet of the Saiya-jin was shimmering with energy, and it continued to charge. In ten seconds, the energy had condensed solid, and was continuing to form itself into the desired shape. In fifteen seconds, Robbie was waiting for the right moment to fire. In twenty seconds, he could wait no more. Seventeen had turned, and surprise filled the Android. He stared below him, and immediately kicked himself for missing such a massive power buildup. He could barely see his Saiya-jin opponent beneath the swirling white disk that was being formed above him. Suddenly, the disk began to spin, whirling faster and faster until it leapt off the surface of the Earth and went soaring towards Seventeen. Seventeen, in turn, knew he couldn't block such an amazing amount of energy, but wouldn't be able to dodge all of it either, so he compromised.

The disk swung forth from his opponent, gaining ground mercilessly. The light blinded Seventeen's visual receptors and a roar overwhelmed his sensors like the rumbling of a tornado. Seventeen dashed right as far as he could before the disk struck, then threw out his hands. The disk struck hard, sending a shock through Seventeen as energy fought its way into him, then past him. He saw the opportunity, and used it to hurl himself to the side and out of the disk's path, avoiding destruction.

On the ground, Robbie saw this and was not impressed. Seventeen could dodge stage one, but he would never withstand stage two. The light ball swung higher into the sky, soaring until it was only a smaller point of brightness against the sunlit sky. Seventeen looked up, then back at Robbie, sneering.

"That was a nice attack. But I'm afraid its going to be someone else's mess to clean up. How sad." Robbie ignored his taunts and waited. He could feel stage two approaching, when the ball was just out of reach of Seventeen's senses. Meanwhile, he could only stand, hands out in front in the firing position, and wait.

"Hey kid, you alright? Pull a muscle or something? Want me to get you unstuck?"

Seventeen hovered in close, and Robbie began to sweat, but not from heat or exertion.

I wish I would've paid more attention to how long this takes! I'm a sitting duck!

Seventeen was within ten feet now, leering at him. "Okay, kid. Fun's over."

And that was all Robbie needed. He triggered stage two. There was no immediate change, but up in space, Robbie's attack exploded into thousands of light fragments. As one, the new storm reversed direction and took aim for the Earth, and for Robbie. Seventeen raised one glowing hand to strike Robbie down with a ki-blast, but was stopped dead by motion above him. He turned around.

To Seventeen, it seemed that day had become night. The sky had turned dark, and it seemed like thousands of stars had appeared from nowhere. But they were not stars. The cybernetic bells and whistles in his mind were going off like fire alarms. Seventeen kicked himself again, harder, and turned his attention away from Robbie as he readied a defense.

Robbie's attack began as one, but had split into thousand of individual ki-attacks, each with a mind of its own. Together, they fell on the Earth like deadly rain, turning already pulverized debris into dust. Concrete, steel girders, I-beams, hover cars, and everything that was left of the city were vaporized by energy.

Seventeen, the target of the salvo, began frantically countering every attack that came his way, both with his hands and energy attacks of his own. Seventy of the deadly orbs disappeared in the first seconds, but still more came. Another fifty were countered before the Android's defenses were overwhelmed. Over thirty of Robbie's attacks slammed into his body, sending him spiraling from the sky. He landed in yet another pile of debris. He tried to get up, but the sky continued to fall on him, pounding him even further into the dirt, tearing his clothing and even his skin. In his bionic mind, devoid of the burden of human emotion, he saw damage reports, heard warning sirens, and could no longer deny what his body was telling him: he was in trouble. Then the storm stopped.

In the midst of silence, he rose from the ashes, internal systems whirring. His mind quickly assembled the tally of the damage: core reactor power down to 50, right leg servo damaged, left arm servo damaged, central processor overheat…the list went on, scrolling through his brain like a grim marquee. In his human mind, however, he merely shook it off and rose to his feet. He looked up, and saw that his attacker was faring little better.

Robbie was on his knees, breathing heavily, unable to stand. His adrenaline rush was gone, and with it any hope he might have had of defeating his opponent. He felt weary, more weary than he ever had in his life. More weary than after his last baseball game that went into extra innings. More weary than when he stayed up until 3 a.m. working on his English term paper last spring. Robbie was, in every way, shape, and form, completely spent. His only hope now was for Trunks to defeat Eighteen and come help him. Through blurred vision, he saw his own opponent rising from the ashes, and fixing on him a glare of bottomless hate. With slow but resolved steps, he was closing the distance between them, and Robbie had no hope of a defense. Suddenly, the Android was there.

"That was a nick trick, kid. You made me break a sweat." The voice was colder than ice and carried an edge harder than diamond. "You've grown so much. It's a shame you have to die now." Robbie could only raise his eyes, giving a look of defiance.

Do it then, you bastard. I gave my all, and I'll see you in the darkest pits of Hell.

Seventeen drew back a hand and slapped Robbie across the face brutally, lifting him from the ground and sending him soaring backwards several feet. His face stung and his vision was blurred further by hot tears.

"You're not crying enough yet!" He screamed, and clenched his hand around Robbie's throat. He hoisted him high into the air with his one good arm. Robbie could only clutch weakly at his hand.

"C'mon, I want to hear you scream." Robbie would have screamed, but his airway was completely shut. His Saiya-jin lungs needed less air, but if he didn't breathe in the next couple of minutes, he would end up unconscious. Robbie kept squeezing, but couldn't break the android's grip. Seventeen gripped all the harder, and soon spots were forming in Robbie's eyes. His air supply was running out, and all he could see now were the androids lifeless eyes, lit only by maniacal hate. The android was far beyond rational. Now, he seethed.

Suddenly, Robbie found himself dropped roughly to the dust. He quickly gulped air, and once he regained his train of thought, he quickly began to wonder what had distracted his tormentor. He looked up, and just as he did, he saw Trunks.

The half-Saiya-jin was locked in a furious struggle with Eighteen high above the city, perched just above a collapsed tower which was one of the few left standing. As Robbie watched, Eighteen evaded one of Trunks' fists and managed to maneuver behind him. Quickly, she linked her fists and brought them down hard on Trunks' exposed back. His body bent backwards before it dropped to the Earth and crashed through every floor of the ruined tower before reaching the ground. The tower collapsed, bringing over twenty floors' worth of concrete and steel down on him with a roar. Once the dust cleared, nothing stirred. In the sky, Eighteen stared down at her brother, and Seventeen stared back. Both nodded, then Seventeen turned to him.

"It looks like your friend's on his last legs…" At that moment, a crash shook the ground, and debris was sent flying everywhere. Robbie looked over, and there was Trunks, rising from the rubble.

He was up, but barely. His face was streaked with blood, and more drizzled down his lips. His hair looked singed in several places, but it was hard to tell while he was still transformed. What worried Robbie the most was his arm dangling at his side and how he seemed to favoring his left leg. In battle, limbs were life. If you couldn't strike (or move), you couldn't win.

Robbie tried to rise as his partner had, but even this was too much. His energy level was next to nil. Several of his bones were broken, including ribs, and his organs bruised. Even the simple act of taking a breath was agony. Robbie was essentially worthless now. This left the entire battle up to Trunks, and his situation was looking beyond grim. However, Robbie saw that their opponents were doing little better. He knew how badly he had damaged Seventeen with his own attack, and it looked like Eighteen herself was running out of energy, and her aura of youthful sexuality had been reduced to tatters. If nothing else, the odds for Trunks were certainly better this time around.

From his place on the ground, Robbie watched the fated events unfold. As one, the Android duo began to move, leaping from their positions in perfect sync. Trunks, cutting his eyes left and right, saw them and prepared himself. As the Androids prepared to strike, Trunks disappeared. The androids looked around, then up, and there he was. His sword was out again and he fell upon them like an archangel, swinging wildly. One strike landed across Seventeen's chest, making a shallow gash. In the same motion, he leveled a spinning kick and struck Eighteen on the side of the head. Both androids rocked backwards. Trunks came to ground, but it was over for him.

Both recovered quickly and were on him like twin buzz saws. Like the well-tuned machines that they were, they worked together to quickly dismantle the young warrior with precision attacks. Then, once he was beaten into pulp onto the ground, they rose up into the air. Robbie knew what was coming next. They were going to kill him the same way they had killed Gohan.

And when they killed Trunks they would kill him. And when they killed him they would kill everyone on this world. And when the other Android arrived, he would kill all of Robbie's friends and family. And all the people of Earth would be dead.

Robbie came to each conclusion numbly, in grim succession, and reality was finally able to sink in: for all his trials, for all his training, for all of his father's technology and brilliant ideas, he had failed. They all had; Robbie, Malcolm Barnes, Trunks, Bulma, even the Z-fighters before him. What was worse was that this world would have survived without Robbie's interference. Now the death of two worlds lay on his conscience. So many had put their trust in him, and he had let them down.

Overwhelmed, the young boy finally completed his inevitable descent to the dust. From his place he could see the Androids streaking higher into the sky. Any second, he knew, they would stop, turn, and set their sights on his broken friend. Then there would be a flash, a storm of scarlet light, and his last hope would be gone. All he had left to hope for was a quick and merciful death, and perhaps beyond that, to see his family and friends on the other side.

In these fleeting moments before death, Robbie's mind began its customary review of life, with the events of his past stretching across his vision.

Green grass. Blue skies. White clouds and white picket fences. A peaceful suburban neighborhood.

On one front lawn resembling a hundred others in the area, a young boy and an older man toss around a football. No matter what the weather, the sun was always shining when Robbie played catch with his dad. It was their bonding ritual. Before Robbie grew into a teenager and Dr. Barnes had taken a high ranking job for Innova Systems as a physicist, this was how they spent their spare time.

Robbie remembered how close they had been until their busy schedules had pushed them apart. Robbie had friends, baseball or football practice, and schoolwork, while Malcolm had endless projects and the laborious reports and presentations that went along with being a senior researcher. They drifted apart, but Robbie was still aware of how close they were. The Android had shown him that.

He thought back farther.

Despite her outward appearances, his mother was never as simple as she let on. Whenever Malcolm went to scientific conferences, she went with him, and not just for appearances. As many books as Malcolm had read on physics, she had read just as many. While other women in the neighborhood toted around V.C. Andrews paperbacks, Catherine carried around scientific journals. Her last read was Hyperspace, a novel on the search for a unified field theory. Robbie didn't even know what a field theory was.

Unlike most children, it was highly unlikely that Catherine Barnes could be stumped by any of his homework questions. Math and science were always a breeze, especially when his mother was able to explain to him, in detail, Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity. Most of his success in school he owed to her, her perpetual pursuit of knowledge, and her insistence that he be the same way. He never loved it the way she did, but he knew its value.

But for some reason, Catherine had always insisted on playing dumb and being a dutiful wife, even when she could have been so much more. She washed his clothes, cooked his meals, and, more often than not, cleaned his room so he could go have fun with his friends. How many times had he ever said thank you?

Robbie quickly realized that he would, in all reality, never see his parents again.

Robbie's thoughts quickly left home and shifted to school. Faces flew by. Dozens. Hundreds. Robbie wasn't exactly popular, but he was well-known, and knew many. However, there were only three people he could really call good friends. His best friend was an older kid named Mike Santorini, a name which made him the subject of endless jokes, since he was an Italian living on the West Coast. Somehow, the kids in his school though that was funny. Mike laughed it off though, and was well-liked by his friends, even though he had a mean streak and liked to fight at least once a week. It wasn't that he was violent, it was just a case of him never wanting to back down. Perhaps it was this fighting habit that drew him to watching DBZ, which was how Robbie had met him. When Robbie was in 6th grade, he had met Mike in a Study Hall and began talking about DBZ. Mike chimed in, and the rest was history. Mike was wiry, growing more muscular as time went on. His hair had been light brown when Robbie met him, but after 7th grade he got into the habit of shaving his head, mostly for sports. Where Robbie was into team sports like baseball and football, Mike chose a more solitary path through swimming, track and field, and especially wrestling, where his mean streak could be put to its best use. He never wore glasses and never needed braces, and girls went nuts. He was almost all any of them talked about. Guys tried to get him expelled just so they could get a date.

Robbie's second friend, Dan Pratt, was exactly the opposite of Mike. Dan was heavy and slow. Girls never talked to him, except to tell him to move in the hallway. Robbie had met Dan through Mike, and Mike had met Dan in a fight. For all of Dan's supposed weakness and stupidity, he was able to hold out against Mike longer than anyone else, thus disproving the school mantra of "If you went up against Mike Santorini, you were screwed in a second." Mike was faster, but couldn't land any good hits on Dan, whereas Dan couldn't get his hands on Mike. The fight ended in a draw, and they became friends shortly after. Dan's main claims to fame were his intelligence and stubbornness. He always had the answer and he never gave up. Robbie was in his chemistry class, and they always worked together because Dan would do anything necessary to complete a project or make an experiment work. Dan also shared a class with Mike and was tutoring him pretty much every week, since Mike had about as many book smarts as you'd find in a lab rat on Valium. Dan knew very little about DBZ, since his interests mostly lay in science and not fantasy, but he quickly grew to love the series.

Robbie's last friend wasn't a real part of the group, but was a close friend nonetheless. Her name was Sidney Mayes. Theirs was highly unlikely because Sidney was almost a nobody. She was what many popular kids called an 'untouchable'. She wasn't ugly, at least not to Robbie, but what beauty she did have was hidden under long wild tresses that she had dyed black, with not even a hint of other colors. She wore black everywhere, even on the hottest California days, never once revealing any skin like her classmates usually did. She didn't even have any piercings, just black. She was quiet, and if you were brave enough to talk to her, you were sent packing in a hurry. Nobody knew anything about her, except that she was a Chinese immigrant, and lived with foster parents. Everything else was shrouded in mysteries even blacker than her clothes.

Robbie didn't cross paths with her voluntarily. After he and Dan put just a smidge too much acetone in a mixture and nearly blew up the lab, their teacher decided to give the two a hiatus from one another for the rest of the school year. When the major project for the year came up, and partners were being assigned, Dan got paired with Mike, and Robbie got Sidney. When the partners were called off, Robbie's friends began humming a funeral song behind him. Robbie felt like dying; Sidney was the walking dead!

Three days later, Robbie went over to her house for the first time to begin research on her Internet connection, which he didn't have. The house was exactly the opposite of her: bright, cheery, lovingly cared for, and inviting. Her parents were the same way when they greeted him at the door. They seemed eager to make an impression, and Robbie gathered that their daughter didn't have as active a social life as they would've wanted. Robbie walked upstairs and opened the door to her room, and felt like he was walking into a tomb. There were black curtains over the windows, black shrouds hanging from the walls, and black sheets on her bed. Robbie felt his heart drop into his shoes, and wondered in his mind how anyone could live in that much darkness. He said hi to her briefly, then took a seat next to her in front of her computer. Amazingly, she had already found over thirty web pages with the information they needed to construct their experiment. He had been amazed. With only a few words to him, she had explained how she already had a good idea of what was needed for the project, and had bought some of the things needed. All she needed from Robbie was some money to buy the rest of the stuff and help assembling it. Robbie had agreed. With his help and her dedication, the project was finished a week before it was due, even with the final lab report. Dan and Mike didn't get theirs done until 3:30 AM on the morning it was due. This had been because they knew little about the composition of the stuff they were working with, and had blown up their experiment seven times over the course of two weeks.

With the project finished, they could have parted ways, but Robbie's heart told him not to break contact with her. He had found out during their time together that she not only liked DBZ but was an anime super fan all around. She had DVDs for everything: Inuyasha, DBZ, Bebop, Outlaw Star, Onegai Teacher, Saikano…the list went on. He also found out that she had bought it all herself, as well as the decorations (if you wanted to call them that) for her room and her computer. Her only reason was that she hated asking her parents for anything, especially money. Robbie learned many more things about her, and through a miracle had become the only person in the school, possibly all of LA, who would talk to her.

Sidney's face was the last to pass by. He had seen all of the most important people in his life, the ones who were always by his side and who he could go to at any time. These were his family, his friends, and his life.

Robbie was buried under a wave of anguish. They would all die. All the football games, all the cooking, all the good times, and all the anime would be wiped away without a trace, and everything and everyone that made Robbie who he was would be lost.

Anguish came again, carrying with it grief, fear, sadness, and frustration. Robbie wanted to say goodbye to them, but he would die in a few moments. He would not be with them, nor they with him. The Androids were still climbing into the heavens, and Robbie watched in pain.

But as he watched, taking in their sardonic grins, his emotions began to crystallize. They grew solid and heavy in him like a weight, taking form to become something real. Against this new sensation he shut his eyes, but then he saw their faces in the darkness behind his eyelids, and his blood began to boil. His eyelids squeezed together and his fists clenched.

Everything inside him began to scream, and his eyes flew open. His lips spoke one word:

"No."

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Another chapter down, and the battle is on. What is Robbie going to do? Pay special attention to the people I mentioned, since they're going to be featured later on. Here's the shout-outs.

Thomas Drovin: Always so enthusiastic. The good news about this chapter is that you won't have to wait long for the next one because I've already written most of it. It will be up in a week, guaranteed.

Z-man: Martial artist? Cool. I took Tae Kwon Do as a course in college and not only did I like it, but I got an almost perfect grade, like a 98.6 or something. In addition, I went to a competition at the school and won first place in forms. I really enjoy it, but I'm not training right now because its too expensive. What are you into? Karate, Tae Kwon Do, kung fu? Anyway, thanks for the review.

harmony22: Thank you for the complement. I like to do original and I like throwing original characters into fanfics, rather than just rearranging events and characters that have already been written.

Fireyone233: I agree with you. That chapter was better than the last and this chapter will hopefully be better than that. This was my first-ever attempt at a really long battle scene, and I'm quite proud of myself. I hope you're pleased.

lala land: I will, and I thank you.

Lionpire: I was really surprised to get a review from you. Most of the time, I only get reviews shortly after I update, but you reviewed months after my last update. I guess we both got lucky. Thanks a lot, and I won't let you down.

Dudemeister: How the hell do you guys find this thing!? Thanks a bunch, but I'm just really confused as to how you stumbled upon this story and reviewed it. Thanks though, and you've inspired me to upload much earlier than I had originally planned.