A/N: Here it is! Now read! READ I SAY! Seriously just read...
Across Time: Eternal Hope
Eighteen sighed, one of her hands fiddling with a tiny stone resting on the smooth flat surface she sat upon. Words couldn't describe just how bored she was, watching her brother and the Namek battle it out, wanting to prove which of the two was the strongest. Well, more in her brother's case because she was sure Piccolo just waited to kill him. Anyways, back to her boredom rant; she was so bored, that she was actually using the stupid rock to doodle non-sense on the surface. Her jaded eyes never left the two figures in the air, who continuously clashed against one another, the incredible force scattering the clouds in the sky. It didn't help that the ruckus had disheveled her chestnut hair, pissing her off to the point that she was contemplating in just going up there and knocking them both out. Then she could do something that she would actually enjoy, like go shopping.
Her eyes briefly averted from the fight to the large Android, who was lending against a rather giant tree trunk which was wobbling violently do to the trembling ground. From what she could see, Sixteen had his eyes closed and giving how his brows creased every now and then he was definitely having some kind of inner struggle. Not liking this, Eighteen voiced her concerns by tapping his forearm to get his attention.
One jaded eye flickered open, staring at her curiously.
"What's wrong Sixteen?"
The Android pushed himself off the tree, his other eye opening. "There…is something coming…I'm just not sure what it is…"
His respond most certainly surprised Eighteen, since she thought he was still thinking about what happened earlier with Goku. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know…"
The brunette frowned as she chucked the pebble to Kami knows where, standing up and arching forward, giving her back a good stretch. "I'm sure it's nothing then if you don't know."
Sixteen remained silent, his eyes returning to the battle. Noticing that her comrade wasn't going to say anything more on the matter she does the same.
Fear
Piccolo was becoming slightly fatigued and well the same couldn't be said for his opponent. Sure he was breathing heavily and had scruffs here and there but the thing was, the Android wasn't slowing down at all. He had the same amount of stamina he had entering the battle and the Namek couldn't help but wonder if he would ever get tired. As if his foe had heard his unvoiced question, he smirked, his emerald orbs gleaming with excitement as their rapid movements, which involved flailing arms and legs, continued endlessly.
"Heh, I guess Sixteen was right after all! You are as strong as me! Excuse me-" Seventeen interrupted his dialogue to give the Namek a hard right hook, his eyes whitening from the powerful force behind it as the Android followed up by jerked his knee upwards, crashing it against his stomach before drifting back and hurling a bone crushing fist to his open back, sending him spiraling uncontrollably to the ground, the impact caused by the landing rupturing the entire area until it was unrecognizable.
"-Was as strong as me! You know what the difference between you and me is?"
Not moments later, Piccolo exploded from the ground, scattering rocks and debris of all types of sizes. "That I'm green."
Seventeen snorted, rolling his eyes. "That was lame, do me a favor and never joke again. Now as I was saying, the difference is that my energy is limitless! In other words, I'll never get tired! Sure my human side will, as you can see I am slightly winded but my cyborg half will not!"
Well that makes sense Piccolo thought as two yellow orbs began to develop within his palms. And here he had thought he could take on all three Androids.
Seventeen chuckled with amusement when he saw the Namek begin to hurl the small yellow orbs towards him. Assuming that he would have to either evade or block the attack, he crossed his arms, however to his confusion all of the energy balls thrown were missing their intended target.
"Look at that, you can't even aim anymore! Just give up and tell me where Goku is! Hell, I'll even let you live since I haven't had this much fun in…ha I can't even remember!" He hollered, Piccolo smirking as the Android had foolishly dropped his guard.
Seventeen tilted his head, not understanding what the heck the green man was smiling about.
"I wasn't trying to hit you." He said firmly as he extended his arms out. "Look around you."
And the blond man did and to his astonishment, he saw that all the energy balls the Namek had tossed were surrounding him, frozen in place. "Shit!"
"Nowhere to go. Hellzone Grenade!" He said and as he clutched his fist and brought his arms together, jaded eyes widened as the orbs rained on him, causing a large explosion that brighten the sky so much that it could surely be seen miles away.
As the smoke began to settle a minute or so later, a shadow could only be seen at first before clearing up. The sight that greeted the Namek made him grin.
Seventeen looked utterly trashed with his skin all scuffed up, his clothes tattered in many places. One of his arms was dangly limply, probably fractured while one of his eyes was bruised shut.
"No….way…" Seventeen uttered breathlessly as he began to descend uselessly to the Earth soil, landing roughing back first.
Piccolo walked to the fallen battered young man, who coughed and twitched ever now and then.
"That was very foolish of you. If you wouldn't have dropped your guard and not get over confident you could have surely used a barrier to protect yourself. Too bad." Piccolo extended his hand and pointed it down at the Android, whose working eye began to show fear.
Seventeen wanted to tell him to stop, that it was all a game but he kept his words to himself because he knew better. No matter what he said, Piccolo wasn't going to stop. So instead of voicing his pleads, he shut his eye tightly, slackening his tense body in resignation.
Just as Piccolo was about to let loose the last thing that the Android would feel, his pointed ears perked when he heard a familiar voice.
"No! Stop! Please stop!"
A woman with chestnut hair hurried pass the Namek, as she then knelt next to the blond man, lifting his head and placing it on her lap. "You're such an idiot you know that?!"
Seventeen's good eye opened, his blurred sight caught on his sister's tearful face. "Move…or he'll kill you too…"
Eighteen shook her head rapidly. "No! You and Sixteen are the only family I have and I refuse to lose either one of you!" she said stubbornly, her glistening orbs turning to Piccolo, who looked utterly shocked, his energy attack all but gone at this point.
"If you have to kill anyone it should be me." A new voice entered in, this one being Sixteen's. "Let them live please. I'm the only threat here since I'm the one wanting to kill Goku."
"Sixteen…don't be ridiculously! Didn't you just hear what I said!?" Eighteen nearly screamed out.
Sixteen however smiled, though it was a bitter one. "When I first attacked Goku earlier on, I was truly aiming to kill him, however, as I saw that woman selflessly throw herself to save him, taking the blow that was meant for him, I realized that I was being foolish. We had gained our freedom from Dr. Gero and yet we are acting as if we were still under his command." the Namek stared at the large Android in disbelief.
What-what is all this?
Sixteen continued. "You both weren't faulted for that, so neither of you should be punished since it was I that insisted on killing him. And for that I apologize."
Seventeen coughed, blood spewing out. "S-sixteen, I was basically the instigator in this, so I should be the-"
Eighteen shrieked, causing Piccolo to flinch. This display before the Namek was so pathetic that he didn't even want to kill any of them any longer.
"No one is dying today okay?! Why don't we just forget this and just go somewhere else! You basically just said you didn't want to kill Goku so-"
Sixteen sighed, his weak smile still present. "Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You see Dr. Gero had installed a program inside me that would active should I refuse to do the mission. After I nearly killed that woman, my urge to kill Goku all but vanished however as soon as I attempted to override my orders, I was stopped by the program, which is why you saw me suddenly attack Goku despite me saying I didn't want to moments before. After a brief reading into my internal data base, I found that if my sights so happen to land on Goku again, the Doctor's program would active automatically, taking away my free will."
Eighteen's mouth hung, not really knowing what to say, her brother mimicking her.
"B-But-then we can stay away from Go-"
Having enough of all the drama, Piccolo growled as a means to silence the three. "Listen! Your attempts to kill Goku are not the reason why I was trying to finish you all. It's a hell of a lot bigger than that and it involves something that's worse than any of you could ever-"
That's when a deep raspy voice echoed through the Namekian's sensitive ears, causing chills to run down his spine, fear slammed into his being.
"Awww Piccolo, I didn't know you held me with such high regards!"
The three Androids turned to the ivory and purple creature standing several feet away, couching on an elevated piece of terrain, one arm draped over a knee.
"What-What the fuck is that thing?" The battered Android said, removing his head from his sister's lap, using his elbow to stay leveled.
Cell just laughed.
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Leaning against one of the Lookout's tall white pillars, the Saiyan Princess's brows creased every now and then, her eyes shut as she focused on the fluctuating energy signatures below. Well more like single signature since she could only lock on Piccolo's, the Androids having no signatures whatsoever. Nevertheless she could sort of tell how the battle was going based on the amount of power Piccolo was releasing. So far he was doing well and for that she was thankful, but the question was for how long? Deciding that she was wasting her time worrying she pushed away from the pillar, beelining to the group, the Z-Fighters listening with complete interest to Mr. Popo as he explained how the Hyperbolic Time Chamber worked. She already knew all about the Time Chamber and needless to say she didn't like anything about it. Who would? Other than the small resting and eating area on the other side of the double doors, the entire place was just an endless white void. The further one would head into the void, the more rigorous it would get and to make things worse, if one were to go too far in, they would run the risk of becoming lost; Forever.
That thought alone was enough to make sweat secrete from her smooth white palms. Of course, she had been told all this in her reality because there was no way in hell that she would go inside there. Her father had tried to get her to join him and well even with her change in demeanor at the time, she still had been scared. After three fail attempts to get her inside, the Saiyan Prince never bothered to ask again.
And now she regretted it.
Well that's going to change and she didn't care if she had to go in by herself…though she really would rather not.
Once within hearing range, Bra found that Mr. Popo's explanation had just finished, the group now proceeding to discuss who was going with whom, since only two can go at a time.
"Okay so it's decided then! Vegeta will go with Trunks and I'll go with Gohan. Tien and Yamcha could go-"
Yamcha coughed. "Yeah about that, me, Tien and Krillin have already talked about this and yeah…we've decided that we're not going in."
"Awww why not?" Goku asked, clearly disappointed. "You guys don't have anything to worry about! I know I couldn't do it when I was younger but that was a long time ago! There is no need to be scared!"
Before Tien could respond, feeling offended by the Saiyan's assumptions, Vegeta beat him to the punch.
"Kakarot! You fool, it's obviously not fear! It's just that they know that no matter how much they train in there, they will never become as strong as we could. So in other words, they are useless." Vegeta said, causing the three human fighters to frown at how blunt he was.
"Gee thanks Vegeta…" Krillin mumbled.
"Vegeta!" Bulma scolded, trying to hush the crying baby Trunks by rocking him back and forth.
"I swear every time you open your big mouth, Trunks begins to cry!"
The Prince snorted at her comment, which didn't bother him in the slightest…really. "Are you sure it's not yours?"
"Why you jerk! I'll-"
Trunks's older counterpart placed his hand on his mother's shoulder, surprisingly calming her down. Bulma glanced at her son, giving him a bright smile, causing his cheeks to turn into a nice shade of pinkish-red as he took notice that he had become the center of attention.
"You're such a sweetheart!" Bulma gushed, giving the mortified young man a sideways hug.
Man, maybe I should just stop interfering… he thought, his eyes briefly landing on his father, who was giving him a disapproving look before turning away.
"Okay guys, if that's how you all feel… So then that leaves Piccolo and Bra I guess…well if he even wants to go in. if not, one of us can go back in there with you after, alright?" Goku said, giving Bra a sincere smile.
Lucky for the Princess, no one was paying mind to her or else they would have seen the hard blush she was desperately trying to suppress. Kami I hope so, because I want to go with you…even though I know that isn't a good idea all things considering… her cheeks nearly exploded as her mind drifted elsewhere and upon glancing at her mother, she could have sworn she saw her wink.
"Kakarot, I will go first." The Prince declared.
Goku nodded. "Sure, then me and Gohan will. Let's just hope that Piccolo can handle things while we're gone." Goku and Bra had been completely filled in and now knew just how much more dire the situation has gotten, seeing as how Cell was added into the mix.
With everything all set and done, after receiving the extra Saiyan armor from Bulma, Trunks getting his own set, Vegeta began to head to the Time Chamber, where they would be gone for a year a day's time in the real world. However as the doors open, he paused.
"Wait…" The Saiyan Prince started, making his way to his daughter, who was taken aback at the way he was glaring at her. "You… after that thing hightailed it to who knows where; you were going to tell us of a way to ascend pass a Super Saiyan! So spit it out! That way I could go there with a goal instead of training blindly for months!"
All eyes were then on Bra, causing her to inwardly groaned.
Bra sighed, running a hand through her long hair before grabbing one strand, twirling it around a finger in a nervous fashion. "Well it-it goes like this..." She paused, trying to recall how the Goku from her timeline explained it to her.
"In my timeline, something similar to what's happening now transpired… except instead of the Android, there was another threat. This guy went by the name of Bojack and-"
Vegeta growl rudely interrupted his daughter. "Don't waste my time telling a tale of your past! Just tell me of this suppose transformation and how to ascend to it!"
"I was getting to that jackass! You really think I was going to 'waste' your 'precious' time on my life's story!" Bra snapped and if it weren't for the fact that the Prince would kill them on the spot, Yamcha and Krillin would have laughed. They most certainly loved the fact that Bra had no qualms talking back to her father, just like her mother.
Oddly enough Vegeta decided not to throw in a snarky remark. "Whatever, just tell me what I need to know so I can get away from you all."
The daughter of the Prince rolled her aqua orbs, untangling her finger from her hair. She then crossed her arms and continued. "Okay so I was only a baby at the time but from what I was told, this guy Bojack—you know what, I'll just tell you all who he is some other time, preferably when daddy isn't here. Anyways, after being beaten many times, Goku suggested for them to give the Time Chamber a try. Fatherof course went first by himself and when he returned, he revealed during his fight with Bojack and his crew that he had reached the Ascended Saiyan state, which is basically just a more powerful form that increases one's body mass, strength and speed. Well at some point during the fight, when he realized he was outclassed, he pushed himself to surpass his current form, upgrading to a more beefed up version of it however it focused more on mass and strength than speed; Now father knew the weakness with that bulky form but at the time he was well out of options and the others were nowhere near his level to even help out. To everyone's surprise he was really giving Bojack a run for his money."
Vegeta of course smirked smugly, which is why his daughter decided to knock him down a few hundred pegs.
"And of course the thing I like to call the 'Vegeta Cycle' happened. Vegeta reaches a new level of power, Vegeta then gets overconfident, Vegeta taunts 'insert villain here' until they transform, and finally as the realization of just how screwed he is settles in, he gets his ass handed to him."
Vegeta's hard frown caused Bra to smirk with triumph, her mother copying her expression while Yamcha and Krillin were literally red in the face from holding in the laughter that was trying to erupt from within.
"It was Goku-" she sang out the name, just to push her father's buttons even further, which obviously worked since he knew what was going to happen next. "-Who figured out how to become stronger…well actually Gohan helped put it together also." At the mentioning of his name, Gohan, who had been extremely quiet, raised a brow almost as if he was surprised he could be useful at all.
"They figured out that if a Saiyan were to transform into a Super Saiyan and remain that way until it became as natural as breathing air, they would eventually become stronger. It pretty much removes all the strain that comes with the transformation and makes it overall easier to control and use ki. Imagine being a Super Saiyan, but feeling as you do now."
Bra paused, letting everyone absorb everything she had said so far before continuing. "Goku and Gohan were able to do it but unfortunately father never was able to only because he was too stubborn to use any technique that Kakarot came up with." She had deepened her voice upon saying Goku's Saiyan name; Vegeta just rolled his eyes at this point, no longer affected by his daughter's teasing….seriously.
"Let me guess, Kakarot was able to beat this 'Bojack' with that power increase, because that's what that is! A damned power up, not an ascension!" Vegeta shouted, pissed off that Bra had just wasted his time.
"Wrong. Gohan was the one that beat Bojack." Bra said, making everyone turn to the small half Saiyan in surprise, Gohan himself dumbfounded.
"M-me?"
Bra smiled brightly. "Yeah you and you didn't with the Ascended Saiyan state nor Full Power Super Saiyan. You did the transformation right. That means no excessive muscle mass, just incredible strength and speed! From what the others told me, it was insane! Bojack couldn't even touch you and he was in his absolute max power! In the end, Gohan had killed him with one fist to the stomach. And get this; you weren't much older than you are now! I think Goku had told me you had been twelve! "
"Whoa…" Gohan murmured his eyes wide and round with amazement. "That's crazy!"
Goku placed his hand on top of his son's head, ruffling it, causing Gohan to smile. "Not really son. You've always had great hidden power and I wouldn't be surprised if you're the one to save us this time around."
Gohan gave a terse laughter in amusement. "Y-yeah right dad. You're the one who always comes through! I'm sure you'll figure someone out as always!"
Goku cracked a grin, his eyes gleaming with confidence…but unbeknownst to the small Saiyan, his confidence was not directed towards himself.
"So Bra, what was the transformation named?" asked Yamcha.
The Saiyan Princess rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "Well as I said, what Gohan reached was the true next level, so it's only logical that it was named Super Saiyan 2."
"Awww awesome! Do I ever reach that level too!? And Vegeta?!" Goku asked, now absolutely excited, wanting nothing more than to get started with his training right away. Unfortunately, he had to wait for his turn since he already agreed to let the Prince and his son go first.
"You sure do… and I'll leave daddy to figure that out for himself." She quipped, giving her father an innocent smile.
Vegeta sneered at his daughter, causing her smile to form into a grin that strangely enough looked like one of Goku's, which just- I don't need to put up with this!
With that thought, Vegeta stomped his way to the Chamber doors, making sure to snap at Trunks to hurry up and follow, which he did. Once they went inside, the doors sealing shut, Bra answered the question that everyone still wanted to know.
"He does…however Goku still was stronger than him." She said, winking at the older Saiyan, causing him to laugh nervously.
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"Heh I have to thank you Piccolo, for softening one of the Androids up for me. It just makes it that much easier to absorb him and be one more step closer to perfection!" Cell said gleefully.
Seventeen coughed violently as he was finally able to stand up, wobbling slightly before regain his footing. Doubling over from the intense pain coursing through his form, the blond man eyed the thing with disgust. "J-just what the hell is that ugly thing talking about?"
"He is what I was going to tell you about. His name is Cell and his goal is to reach his perfect form. In order to do that, he has to just absorb two of you." Piccolo answered, breathing heavily as he was still weary from his fight with Seventeen.
"You heard the Namek, so now I will give you one chance to do this painlessly." The lanky monster said, standing straight and spreading his arms wide. "Join me so we could carry out Dr. Gero's master plan! Become one with perfection, just as you were meant to!"
Sixteen looked on with concern as Eighteen wore a repulsed expression. "Eww! I think I speak for us all when I say that you are one of the most revolting thing I've ever seen! Being part of you is a no no."
"That…that is what I sensed earlier…" Sixteen mumbled uneasily as he curled his hands into a fist.
Cell didn't even bat an eye to the brunette rejection. He already expected it but hey, he had to ask nicely first. "Well then, painful it is!" He said, as he tightened his form, his turquoise cat-like orbs shimmering eerily.
His body began to tremble with power, as everyone present could hear the haunting screams of the innocent people he had consumed unified with his own. "HHHAAAAAAAAAA!"
As a foul yellow misty aura expelled from him, his raspy voice reverberating loudly, Piccolo stumbled back, his mouth dropping open in shock combined with fear. "H-he must have killed thousands of people. His power is unreal!"
Since Eighteen and Seventeen were unable sense power levels, they remained ignorant to the amount of power the monster was releasing. The same couldn't be said for Sixteen, his sensors telling him how out classed they all were.
"We-we have to leave now!" He hollered.
"What? I know Seventeen is down but I'm sure me and you could take him!" Eighteen said confidently.
Sixteen shook his head. "No, we cannot! He far exceeds everyone here-"
And with one last scream he exploded, his voice fading as his sickening yellow aura warped into that of a Super Saiyan's, the red sclera that once covered his eyes all but gone and replaced with the common color of white. His turquoise eyes zeroed in on Seventeen, causing him to stiffen.
"Run!" Sixteen shouted as Cell took off faster than the eye could see, slamming his fist into Seventeen, causing his jaded eyes to whiten as he was sent hurling across the ground, rolling in a cringeworthy manner.
As Seventeen struggled to remain conscious, he raised his head as he stared at the monster who was causally making his way towards him. Eighteen yelled her brother's name in pure dread and took off to aid him, only to have Cell frown, vanish from sight and appear behind the brunette, landing a blow so powerful that she was sure that she had temporary lost all feeling in her body…which she did seeing as how she couldn't move once she fell down. Shit, I'm paralyzed! She thought with disbelief.
Cell grinned as he licked his beak, his long ivory tail extending and curving over his head. The tip of the needle-like end then expanded. "You should have just said you wanted to go first my little peach."
As he gave a throaty chuckle, his eyes shining with pleasure, he grasped the brunette by her neck, causing her to swallow a scream.
"Don't worry; it will all be over soon..." he cooed out, enchanted by the petrified look Eighteen was giving him.
Over in a hidden chosen spot, the evil creature's counterpart was debating if he should step in or not.
A/N: You're going to find out soon that this Cell doesn't like to play around much. As for Eighteen being really emotional...yeah as I said before she was changed most while Seventeen and Sixteen remained the same, though Sixteen is a bit different since he is a cyborg here. However, she does still have her attitude, as she seemed more herself in the beginning of the chapter.
Anyways, sorry for the wait and I know I failed you all on the update for January.
And OH GOD! I finally, for the first time ever, hit over 100 reviews for a fanfic! Yay! Thanks you guys! Now if I could only get some of you, someone once worded it to me, "fave and runs" to fave and review! You know what would be great, if someone would tell me how this story is holding up, break it down for me in cons and pros. But then again, doesn't everyone posting here want that? I'm guilty of fave and run too...I know...I know... ^_^; But I have given reviews before and when I do, I break it down in likes and dislikes. If you were to ask me to review one of you're stories, I sure wouldn't mind... it would just take me a while to get to it with my slow ass. (Needs to be DBZ of course)
Anyways, Thanks for reading and Happy Valentines Day! =)
Later!
(Posted: 2-14-15)
~Gater~