Note: This story is one of fourteen that I am writing - companion pieces to my as-yet-unpublished-book, DRAGONBALL Z: AND THE GREATEST OF THESE. While the book itself fits accepted DBZ canon, these stories are meant to expand on themes not explored in depth in AND THE GREATEST OF THESE, or as in the case of "Twisted Timelines," are tales based on those two words of such promise… 'What if…'
Twisted Timelines
Chapter Seven
"Ready or not, here I come!" Android 17 shouted as he lunged at Kurenai, but in a blur of lines, she disappeared. "Hey… what the hell! 18, where'd she go!"
Android 18 had been just as startled as Android 17 when the woman on the balcony had vanished, but her eyes caught a glimpse of movement as Kurenai appeared on the grass some distance from the black-haired android. "There she is!"
"She's quick, I'll give her that."
"She's Vegeta's wife, what did you expect, 17? You should be glad, at least now she might be more fun for you."
Android 17 glared at Kurenai. "That was very clever of you," he growled as he descended to the ground. "It seems that Vegeta's taught you a few tricks."
"Vegeta had nothing to do with it," she shot back, slowly straightening. "I've been fighting my entire life. And if he's not here to stop you, then I'll do it myself."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that? You're certainly in no condition to fight me, let alone both of us."
Slowly she smiled, and Android 17 took a step back from her in surprise as she lifted her hands like a conductor about to begin leading the orchestra. Power sparked and danced around her lifted hands, then she made a strange gesture and the energy resolved itself into a shimmering staff nearly six feet in length. "What's this? What… what are you doing?"
"Impressive," Android 18 said as Kurenai raised the staff in front of her in a defensive stance. "She has a remarkably fine control over energy."
"I never said I was going to fight," she replied in a chilling voice. "I said I was going to stop you. And I will." Suddenly she leapt straight at Android 17, swinging the staff, and he let out a yell of surprise as it connected with him, sending a surge of energy coursing wildly through every circuit in his body.
Kurenai laughed. "Weren't expecting that, now, were you?"
He twisted and dodged, trying to keep her from hitting him with it again, but she kept pressing the attack, wielding the staff with the grace and deadly accuracy of years of long practice, and it soon became obvious to both of the Androids that the woman in front of them was much, much stronger than she looked.
"18, what is going on? How can she be this strong?" Android 17 called to the blonde android, but she was just as confused as he.
"I don't know, there's nothing else in our files about who she is, other than that she's Vegeta's mate!"
"Well, that's not much help!"
"Then maybe you should take this little sparring match more seriously instead of playing around!"
"Shut up!" he shouted at Android 18, who shrugged and walked over to a nearby rock to sit down.
Cursing, Android 17 sprang at Kurenai, and gritting his teeth, he seized the staff of energy out of her hands. "I think it's time to take this away from you." She jumped back, startled, as he shattered it into a thousand fragments. "Now you won't be able to keep such a distance between us."
"Get away from me," she growled, dropping into a low horse stance. He moved in to attack, but she lifted her crossed forearms in front of her face and blocked him. What sent him reeling backward, however, was the unexpected crackle of energy he'd felt when his punch made contact.
Again and again he attacked, and again and again she repelled his blows, but with each strike, he could sense her weakening.
"You are really starting to annoy me," he said through clenched teeth.
"Why? Because you're not winning as easily as you thought you would?" she panted.
"It's of no importance," he replied. "You might be powerful, but in the end, you're only flesh and blood, you'll wear out eventually."
She tried to use her enhanced speed again, but with uncanny precision, he anticipated where she would emerge and threw a vicious punch that caught her straight in the face, sending her flying.
"Damn you!" she shouted, cartwheeling in midair to land lightly on the ground, but all of a sudden Android 17 was there, standing right in front of her.
"What… how did…" was all she got out as he brought his hand up in front of her face. Before she could even get out a whole sentence, a ball of energy blazed into existence in front of his hand.
"It's been fun, but as they say, all good things must come to an end."
"Get the HELL away from my wife!"
"Vegeta!" Kurenai cried out.
Android 17 recovered from the surprise faster than she did, however, and he glanced back at Kurenai while her attention was still on the Saiyan prince.
"Well, well, well, it looks like the cavalry has arrived," Android 18 said sardonically as Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien, Gohan, Krillin, and Yamcha came to a halt in midair above the Capsule Corp grounds.
"And just when things were getting interesting," Android 17 complained.
"Vegeta, stay back!" the immortal screamed as the ball of energy in Android 17's hand suddenly became much brighter.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Vegeta shouted, diving down at where Kurenai stood stock-still in horror.
"So, your gallant husband comes rushing to your rescue. Pity… I always did think that happy endings were over-rated."
Android 17 launched the energy attack at point-blank range.
Kurenai closed her eyes.
And the Z Warriors screamed in horror and fury as Kurenai vanished in a white-hot ball of flame.
"No…" Gohan whispered, staring down at the roiling smoke that curled skyward from where Kurenai had been standing. "No… not Kurenai and the baby." Tears slid down his face unchecked. "Please… tell me it's not true…"
Piccolo was growling in barely-controlled grief and rage, fists clenched so hard that blood trickled from his palms. "That mechanical bastard… I'll rip him limb from limb for this."
Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien all looked like they were either going to faint or go absolutely ballistic.
Only Vegeta remained quiet.
This was too much for Gohan to take. "Why didn't you save them, Vegeta?" He turned to the Saiyan prince and lashed out at him with his fists. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE THEM, DAMN YOU! DON'T YOU EVEN CARE!"
Amazingly, Vegeta smiled.
"They're not dead."
Everyone turned to look at Vegeta, including the Androids.
"He's clearly deranged," Android 18 drawled, brushing ash off her. "After all, for a mere mortal to survive a blast like that would be impossible."
"Except that my wife is no mere mortal," Vegeta said, and all of them could hear the pride in his voice as he pointed down at the grounds where she had been when Android 17 had fired the blast at her.
"Vegeta… you mean…" Krillin whispered, moving closer to take a better look.
"It can't be," Tien said in amazement.
Through the smoke came a faint glimmer of light.
"Son of a…" Yamcha swore, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
Android 17 backed away in shock, shaking his head in mute denial of what he was seeing. "It's… it's not possible… it's just not possible…"
As the smoke cleared, a shimmering ball of energy was revealed.
Standing inside of it, hands outstretched and eyes closed in concentration, was Kurenai.
"But… how?" Android 18 seemed to voice the question for all of them.
"Magic." From within the energy barrier came a soft chuckle. Kurenai opened her eyes and lowered her hands, and with a crackle, the energy barrier around her vanished. She drew in a deep breath, and lifted her head to look at Vegeta, a smile on her face.
"Kurenai, are you all right?" Gohan called down to her.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Don't you have one ounce of decency?" Krillin shouted down at Android 17. "Attacking a pregnant woman is the lowest thing you could have done!"
With scowls of displeasure, the Z Warriors landed near Kurenai. She slowly backed away from Android 17 until she felt Vegeta at her back.
"What in hell were you thinking, pulling a damned fool stunt like that?" he said, and Kurenai could tell from the way his voice shook that he was almost as scared as he was angry.
"You weren't here, and they were about to start leveling Capsule Corp," she replied without turning around. "What was I supposed to do, let them?"
"You could have been hurt! And what about the baby?"
"Vegeta, I will not buy my child's life at the cost of the lives of others. I'm not like that. I never have been, and so help me God, I never will be." She finally turned to look over her shoulder at him. "And you know it."
"We were actually looking for Son Goku," Android 17 said calmly, having finally gotten over the shock of Kurenai surviving his attack. "But as he wasn't here, we had to do something to entertain ourselves."
"Well, he's dead," Piccolo said, his voice low and harsh. "And I'm afraid that your fun with Kurenai is officially over. If you want entertainment, you can deal with us."
"Be careful, Piccolo," Kurenai warned. "These two are much stronger than they look."
"That's okay, we've already disposed of the other two androids, these two shouldn't be all that tough."
"What?" Kurenai was in shock. "There are more androids out there!"
"The operative word is 'were', not 'are'," Yamcha corrected her cheerfully. "That chaos earlier in Sazebo was due to two androids, but we dealt with them."
"Yeah, after you nearly got yourself killed," Tien said in an undertone, and Yamcha glared at him.
"Well, Krillin had Senzu beans, so it all turned out all right in the end."
"Wait a minute," Android 17 said sharply. "You're saying that Androids 19 and 20 have been destroyed?"
"That's right," Vegeta said in disdain, moving his wife to one side as he stood in front of her. "And while they certainly could talk big, they were in no condition to back it up."
His eyes dropped to Android 17's hands. "I suppose you're an energy-stealing model just like they were."
"Energy stealing?" Kurenai said, confused.
"The other two Androids we faced had these devices in their palms that could absorb energy," Piccolo explained. "One of them caught a blast of Vegeta's dead on, and absorbed the power into its body. They could also drain energy if they got hold of you."
"Yes, Androids 19 and 20 were of a less efficient design," Android 18 said, shrugging. "Android 17 and I, however, are superior to those two. Our energy supply is limitless – it lasts forever."
"Oh, this is great," Vegeta growled. "So ripping YOUR arms off would do no good."
"Assuming you could, the worst you would do is aggravate me," Android 17 said with a smirk.
"Well, I'd say Kurenai already did a good job of that," Vegeta said, looking the Android up and down. While Kurenai was certainly looking the worse for wear of the two, Android 17 had clearly been on the receiving end of more than a few of her attacks.
"Yes, your wife was a little stronger than either of us had anticipated."
"That's no shock," the Saiyan said flatly. "Considering her power level, I'm surprised she hasn't obliterated both of you by herself. I guess pregnancy has made her a little soft."
Everyone turned to him in surprise.
"Say what?" Yamcha asked. "Her power level?" He turned to look at Kurenai standing beside her husband. "I mean, I know she's strong, but defeating both Androids by herself?"
"Think about what Android 20 said," Piccolo said thoughtfully. "Seven major powers on this planet. If the Androids don't have power levels, they can't be talking about themselves. And we already know that six of them are the six of us."
"And he also said that the seventh power level was in West City," Gohan said, his voice rising as he caught Piccolo's train of thought. "Kurenai is the seventh power level, she has to be!"
"But that Android said that the seventh power level was stronger than any of us, and the only person that strong was Goku!" Tien protested. "There's no way he could be talking about Kurenai!"
"Tien's right," Kurenai agreed, and they turned to her in surprise. "The greatest power level isn't mine."
"But who else is there?" Krillin said in frustration.
"Why, I'd have thought the answer was obvious, when you consider the existence of someone like Gohan," Kurenai said, looking at the boy.
She rested her hand on her stomach.
"It's Keiki."
To be continued…