And so, the misadventure continues, and our villain's diabolical scheme goes into action!

Dragon Ball Z is © Akira Toriyama

Chapter 4:

Murderous Tactics

There it was. The five-star dragon ball, one of the only two not yet recovered by Goku's unknown attackers, was nestled comfortably in the tree branch in front of Goku. All he would have to do would be to reach out and grab it… if not for the six-foot hawk roosted over it. As fate would have it, the dragon ball was right next to the nest, and the mother hawk evidently thought that Goku sought to steal one of her eggs. Searching for dragon balls invariably led to some kind of strangeness.

Having been brought up in the woods, Goku was less than eager to cause any kind of harm to the creature.

"Ok, birdie," he said as calmingly as he could, "just relax, and… OW!" When he reached forward, the bird's sizeable beak clamped shut around his hand, releasing only when he pulled back. "Look, I don't want your nest; I just need to get the dragon ball next to it…"

Then, suddenly, the hail of bullets came flying out of nowhere, striking the back of the bird. It gave a piercing, high-pitched squawk of agony, then fell backwards and slumped to the ground as Goku watched in a mix of shock and horror.

"No! What happened?"

On the ground below stood three metal figures; two of them silver, and the other a pale colour, the same tone as human skin but still clearly formed of panelled metal.

Again, having lived in the woods for much of his life, Goku did not take kindly to this kind of needless death.

"You monsters!" he shouted, his hair and clothes beginning to ruffle on a "breeze" of his innate energy. "You didn't have to kill it!"

"The obstacle has been removed," the foremost one of the three figures said. On its head was stamped a clear Number '1'. "Next Objective: Eliminate target designate: Goku."

"You know my name?" Goku blinked, before the meaning of the number finally clicked. "Wait a second; you're Androids too, huh? And I guess that number means you were the first one."

"Correct," the skin-coloured one said, "This unit is Android 3. Accompanied by Androids 1 and 2."

"And let me guess: you want the dragon ball."

"Correct. Surrender immediately," Android 2 said, raising one hand, "or be destroyed."

Goku shifted into a fighting stance. "Bring it on!"

"Affirmative." A hole swivelled open in the Android's palm, and a missile shot out on a plume of smoke. Before it reached him, Goku jumped straight towards it, lashing out with one foot, striking the projectile expertly and sending it veering off into the air.

As soon as Goku struck the ground, Android 1 lashed out with a pneumatic 'hiss' from its joint. Goku ducked under the blow, jabbing his elbow into the robot's chest. The metal dented as it fell back, receiving another blow from Goku's foot that caught its head, sending it off in a spray of wires and sparks.

Goku immediately froze, his expression becoming one of panic.

"Oh no- I kicked his head off!" he cried out, "oh man, I just meant to… wait…" he looked down at the mess of wires, "huh, oh yeah. It's just a machine. Like a car or something… weird."

As he turned round, Android 3's fist caught him around the face, knocking him to one side. As it lashed out again, Goku caught the blow in one hand, than lashed out and punched clear through the machine. Android 2 then leapt at him, and Goku turned as it approached, one hand pulled back, then swung forward and hurled a blast of glowing energy into the robot, causing it to explode in a shower of mechanical parts.

"Wow," Goku noted as he saw the metal chunks falling around him, "you guys weren't nearly as tough as those other two. Well, I'd better get that dragon ball…" he hunched down, then jumped up and landed on the branch where the dragon ball…

Wasn't.

"Huh?" he blinked, looking around, "it's gone? Where did it…?"

He looked up to the sky, where he could just about make out a retreating shape growing smaller as it headed for the horizon.

"I guess whoever's behind this didn't just send those three," Goku frowned. "Alright, then… let's go! Nimbus!"

Goku leapt from the tree, landing nimbly on the Nimbus cloud, and took off after the vanishing shape. He'd learned how to fly without it a while ago, but remembering how tough those other two Androids had been, he knew he'd need to save his energy for this one…

***

"So," the old man noted as he watched the movement on the screen, "our friend is on his way here. Perfect. Androids 11 and 12, are you ready?"

The old man and the pretty, extravagantly-dressed girl behind him nodded.

"And I trust we'll be having no more problems from you," the old man said as he approached 12, "my little Android beauty?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm…"

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "You're what?" he demanded.

"I'm… not…" she seemed to struggle to say it, "an Android…"

At the flick of a switch in the old man's hand, the girl collapsed to her knees, screaming as tongues of electricity danced in her eyes and mouth, sparks appearing all over her body. After a few seconds, it stopped, and the old man knelt down.

"What was that?"

"…I am ready to serve, doctor," the girl said softly.

"Excellent. And quite apart from this, 9 and 10 should be in position right about now."

***

The receptionist looked up disinterestedly as the doors into Capsule Corporation swished open. "Hello, welcome to Capsule Corp. How can I help you?"

A young redhead, dressed in a fine, form-fitting black dress, leaned over the desk. Behind her was a tall, pale man in army fatigues. "Hello," she smiled, "we're looking for some payback."

Her eyes flashed.

A second later, the wall exploded outward, carrying the receptionist's burned body with it.

"Thanks ever," Android 10 smiled, "we'll get the rest ourselves."

I know, I know, still no Piccolo, but at least we got a good fight here, right? As you can probably tell, the earlier Androids are pretty much here as cannon fodder, but we'll have some good buttkickings next chapter. And the Androids are going after Goku's friends? Or family? Or both? What will this mean for the unborn baby Gohan?

Next Chapter: Krillin vs. Android 9! Taking all bets!