It seemed odd. So many people packed into one house and there had been little sound since they'd arrived. Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, Bardock, Appla, Videl, Yamcha, Tien, Raditz, Hotaru, Hercule, Bulma, and Chi-Chi were all in at Capsule Corp. Those who'd not been staying there already for the passed few years, ever since the training for the Androids had begun, had arrived the previous day. The reason? It was now May 9th. Sometime today the Androids would finally show up.
"Where's Vegeta anyway?" Goku asked walking into the living room with a large bowl of chicken legs, his third one so far. "I didn't think he'd want to miss any of the fighting..."
Bulma sighed. "I don't know where he went to. He woke up a few days ago from Trunks' crying, woke me up to take care of him, and then left. Haven't seen him since..." As she talked she adjusted the small child in her arms. The fact she had a son had been quite a shock to pretty much everyone, aside from Hotaru at least. And while it was fairly common knowledge in the rest of the galaxy that she was the future queen of the Sai-jin Empire, Bardock and the others had been clueless right up until they met Trunks.
Everyone turned to look as they heard the door open and then close and a moment later Piccolo entered the room. "Just spoke with Kami, our escape plan is ready."
"Hopefully we don't need it..." Bardock said crossing his arms. "We've all trained hard since the warning came, come a long way. We should be ready."
"I don't know..." Goku said staring down into his bowl of chicken. "I mean, we've come a long way, sure. I'm a lot stronger now than I was three years ago... but... I'm not as strong as I could be."
"Don't worry Goku, we can handle these things." Appla said.
"Uh, guys!" Hercule called, getting their attention, as he pointed at the tv.
The show that had been on had just been interrupted by a news report. After a few more seconds the 'This is a ZTV Special Report' splash screen faded away and the news anchor came on screen. "This is Ray Porter with a ZTV Special Report." he began as he adjusted the thick glasses he wore. "About ten minutes ago some sort of attack began in Capital City. A group of nine people have launched an attack against the world palace, and they seem to have some kind of robots with them. We go now, live, to Capital City."
The scene changed to a sky view of Capital City. The camera zoomed down to a view of the courtyard of the palace building. At the moment all they could see was a line of palace security standing there, arms held out, Ki charged and ready. And then suddenly they opened fire. A moment later a small purple skinned man floated into view, the energy blasts hitting him to no effect. After a few feet he stopped and raised his own hand, blue light gathered, and then the energy shot out and slammed into the midst of the security personnel before exploding and taking the entire defensive line with it.
The purple man then continued on through the courtyard and a second later more people followed, walking behind him at a lesiurely pace. A large man in green with an orange mohawk walking beside another large gray skinned man with black hair. Behind them came two normal sized people, a girl with blonde hair and a boy with black hair. Next came a large round really pale guy with a guy in a vest and ball cap beside him. Lastly came an old man with a tall hat and... "TAO!" Goku cried, eyes snapping wide in shock. He looked just the same as he had at the 23rd Budokai.
"Tao?" Appla asked looking at the screen. "You mean that guy you mentioned before... the one you fought as a kid?"
Goku nodded. "He's the one beside the guy in the big hat. I guess... this explains where his cybernetics came from all those years ago."
"That 'guy in the big hat' is Dr. Gero." Bulma said. "I'm sure of it, I've seen his picture in a lot of magazines over the years."
"I'm not sensing any major powers from Capital City." Piccolo said frowning.
"I guess, since they're machines, it's understandable..." Bardock said as the last of the nine left the frame of the image and then a line of robots came into view, walking five by five, side to side, across the courtyard.
"Oh man, more of those things!" Krillin cried.
"You've seen them before?" Bardock asked.
Hotaru nodded. "While you and Goku were dead, the others tracked a Dragonball to a base and those things were guarding it. As well as a 'Genetic Experiment' and an 'Android 10'." she explained. "But they weren't all that strong... of course, those one's were also bigger. These look a bit smaller, sleeker. Probably new models..."
"Well, this isn't the announcement we were told about, but I say it works." Piccolo said turning to leave. "We should get..." he was interrupted as a loud whine came from the TV and then the image got staticy and suddenly shifted. It was now a view of one of the rooms inside the palace. The camera showed eight of the Androids, a number of the robots, some civilian employees, and King Furry. The blonde female Android was holding one of the hostages.
The man Bulma had identified as Dr. Gero stood in front of the others, the only Android missing from the scene was the large round one. "This broadcast is heading out to all of the Earth and the galaxy beyond." he said, his eyes seemingly locked on the billions of people watching him. "I am Dr. Gero, the new leader of the Red Ribbon Army. I'm sure to those of you not from Earth that means little but those here understand just what that means. Yes, the Red Ribbon Army is not dead, it lives on. And now it controls this planet. My Androids hold far more power than any living creature could hope to achieve, resist and you will be destroyed. That said, I have no intentions at present to leave the Earth. I'm content with just one planet, but if anyone comes here I will not hesitate to spread out into the reaches of the galaxy."
Gero put his hands behind his back and was silent for a moment. "Now, for the next matter of business. Goku, I know you're probably watching this by now. I have something I need to settle with you, namely the near destruction of the Red Ribbon Army! So, you have half an hour to get here. If you're not I'll have one of the hostages killed, and one more every thirty minutes until you do arrive." He turned and looked back to the blonde Android. "As a demonstration of my sincerity... 18, if you would."
The man she held began to squirm even more than he had been at this turn of events. She looked at Gero for a moment and then at the man she held, her arm across his neck. But she made no move to harm him. After several long seconds the purple Android floated over to where she stood and stared at her for a moment. Suddenly her arm moved away releasing the hostage and the man quickly made a run for it. The purple Android raised his arm and blasted a stream of energy through the man's back and out of his chest killing him, still keeping his eyes, hidden behind his dark glasses, locked on 18.
"Hmm, well, thank-you 15. As for you, 18, I suppose I should have just left you and your brother off-line." Both her and the black haired Android stiffened slightly, the purple one and the tall gray one smirked a little. Gero turned his attention back to the camera. "As I said, Goku, you have thirty minutes." With that the screen went black for a moment, and then the signal returned to the news broadcast.
Goku had his hands clenched into fists. "Alright, time to do this." he said standing up. "Let's go." The others all nodded and followed him outside. As they emerged outside the sky overhead began to darken in a small area. And then a light began to flare up driving the darkness away and that's what caught the attention of those below. Looking up they saw an object taking shape and Goku smiled. "Hey, that must be them! They made it!"
A second later the time machine had appeared and it floated down to a landing outside Capsule Corp, the two occupants then emerging and returning the machine to it's capsule. "Goku." Sakura said nodding toward him and the others.
"You're just in time." Bardock said lifting into the air. "The announcement just came, we were just heading off to Capital City to deal with it."
"What?" the boy asked shocked. "Already? It shouldn't have been until around sunset..." He shook his head. "I guess our presence must have shifted things a little."
Sakura nodded. "Apparently. Well, let's get going... and let's hope we fair better here and now than the fight we had last month..." With that the group blasted off toward Capital City. All except Piccolo who took off towards the Lookout.
"What happened last month?" Gohan asked as they flew.
"Hmm? Oh, we had a run in with Android 16." Sakura said. "Did not go well at all. We barely managed to get away in one piece..."
Krillin sighed. "This still doesn't look good."
"Cheer up some Krillin." Goku said looking back. "We've trained a lot..."
"Ya, I suppose..." He sighed again and then looked over to the boy. "You know, we never did get your name before." he said after a moment. "Gohan and I got to talking a few weeks ago and have an idea... You're Trunks, aren't you?"
He nodded. "I am."
"Unreal!" Goku called looking over to him. "Wow, that's strange... we met you before you were even born!"
"Speaking of Vegeta." Sakura interrupted looking around. "Where is he?"
"No idea. He'll be along. There's no way he'd miss something like this." Bardock replied as Capital City came into view. "Alright, it's time guys. Here goes nothing."
Those in the city looked up and watched as twelve streaks of light flew overhead. Some white, some blue, one light purple, one red, and one orange. They moved quickly overhead and then descended to land just outside the palace where the remaing security had gathered along with the Earth Defense Corps division of the Sai-jin army. "Goku, Bardock!" one of them cheered seeing the group land. He was large and by his red skin, obviously not Human. Which meant he was the Squad Captain, since no Human had yet risen that high in the military and no aliens made up the lower divisions.
"Have your men pull back." Bardock said walking up to the smashed wall around the palace. "We'll handle this. In the meantime, evacuate the city, get all the civilians out."
"Yes sir." he said nodding and calling his men back.
"I'm here!" Goku called out, crossing his arms. "Now let the people go!"
There was silence for a few moments and then a group of civilians came running out of the palace. They were followed seconds later by Gero and his Androids. "Ah, Goku. Finally we meet face to face." Gero said crossing his arms. "How I've waited for this day! Now you'll pay for destroying my work and ruining my funding. It took the entirety of the money I had left just to get my little army up and going."
"Too bad all of it's gone to waste... I'll give you one chance to end this now." Goku said calmly.
"Oh, you will, will you? Well, how nice of you. However, I have no reason to. Bodies made entirely of flesh and blood are frail. They could never hope to match the power of my creations." Gero smiled. "I know that you can't match my Androids. I've studied you, followed you, watched you, learned your secrets and plotted for your power growth. And I adjusted and modified my designs accordingly.
"I have complete data on you... and your friends. Your fights in the Buodkais, spars against Piccolo, and the battle against Zarbon. They revealed everything I need to know. There isn't a contingency I am not prepared for. You stand no chance."
"Is that so?" Bardock asked. "So just how complete is 'complete'? You ended your little rant with Zarbon... tell me, did your studies follow us to Namek?"
"There was no need. I learned everything I needed to by then. When the two of you left for Namek I shut down my monitoring equipment and closed my lab off so I could work uninterrupted."
"So, you didn't even see Slug's attack?" Bardock asked smirking.
"Anything that occured after your depature for Namek I was not witness to and have no knowledge of." Gero replied.
Goku grinned. "Then your data is far from complete."
"Oh? Is that so? Well, I made all the needed calculations to take into account the time between then and now and the gains in power you would make. And then I enhanced my designs far beyond even that to compensate for any unknown means of aid you may receive. I assure you, I am quite prepared. Now, let's get this over with. 19?"
The pale round Android stepped forward from the others. "I have all of your data committed to memory." he said in his mechanical, high pitched voice. "Let us begin."
"Stand back guys, I'll handle this." Goku said taking a step forward. The others all moved aside as Goku braced hismelf and began to channel his energy. "Now, here's one thing you couldn't have planned for..." he said, eyes moving from Gero to 19. With that he let out a cry, a rush of wind and power washing up around him and blowing his Gi and hair about. His hair began to glow and then flashed gold, his black irises faded away and then returned as a teal color. In a matter of seconds the change was complete and Goku took a fighting stance.
"My, you have managed to power up quite a bit, haven't you?" Gero said raising an eyebrow. "An impressive technique, but it wont help you in the end. Even 19, the weakest of us, can still take you at this level."
"It's not a technique." Goku said grinning as he glanced at Gero again. "It's a transformation called Super Sai-jin." His eyes shifted back to 19 then. He was a bit worried still. The others didn't seem to notice it but he could tell. He should be stronger than he was and he wasn't entirely sure why he wasn't. He also didn't like how confident Gero was. It was possible that he had a means to measure his power, which seemed the case by his remarks. If so... his attitude at the power of Super Sai-jin was not a pleasing reaction. Well, only one way to find out. "Get over here and let's see how good you really are."
19 smirked and then launched in at Goku. The Sai-jin brought his arm up quickly and blocked the punch aimed for his head with a crack, the impact cracking the concrete beneath his feet. He then brought his knee up slamming it into the Android's chest and knocking it into the air. With that he charged up after it. The pale machine recovered quickly and blocked the incoming punch before launching one of it's own. It and the Sai-jin continued to exchange blows and attempted blows in the sky above the city.
"Wow, look at that!" Krillin cried wide-eyed. "They're even!" Yamcha nodded as he tried to follow the fight with his senses. At least, the half he could sense. He didn't much like the implications of Goku and the Android being evenly matched. Epecially since it was supposed to be the weakest of them. A loud crack sounded as Goku's foot smashed into the back of the Android and sent it down into the sidewalk.
Goku cupped his hands at his side and began to gather energy. /I wish there was a way to get this fight out of the city... especially one as large and populated as this one./ he thought as he watched the Android stand up and looking up at him, a determined and angry look on his face. "Ka. Me. Ha. Me. Ha!" He thrust his arms down and the blue energy between his hands flared and the wave then launched down at the Android.
19's expression shifted insantly to a broad smile as the energy surged down at him. With a grin he thrust his arm up at the last second and caught the attack with one hand. Instead of slamming into his hand the energy began to flow into it. "What the... the energy... it's absorbing it!" Appla cried in shock.
Goku's eyes widened in suprise as well and he stopped the attack. "No way!"
19 continued to smile. "I may be the weakest Android but I can absorb all of your energy and become even stronger!"
Goku frowned. "Not if I don't use anymore of it."
The Android's grin widened. "Doesn't matter." Suddenly it launched up at him again. Goku moved out of the way of it's kick and it slipped around behind him slamming its elbow into his back knocking him downward a few dozen feet and charging after him. Goku turned around and backhanded the machine at the last second knocking it away. It came to a stop quickly, faster than Goku expected, and then charged at him again slamming its head into his stomach doubling him over.
It then reached out and grabbed Goku's neck with one hand. The Sai-jin reached up and grabbed the Android's arm with both hands as he felt the unusual sensation of his energy being sucked from his body. "Let... go..." he grunted trying to pry the hand off his neck. The others could already feel Goku's power dropping quickly.
"We have to do something!" Gohan cried.
There was a flash of gold as Trunks transformed. "I wont let this world fall like mine!" he cried launching up toward the Android and Sai-jin. Gero narrowed his eyes and was about to send one of the other Androids up to deal with Trunks when a stream of blue energy zipped down from the air between the Super Sai-jin and the battling pair bringing the Time Traveller to a stop.
Everyone started looking around for the source of the energy and then heard a loud crack. Looking up they saw Vegeta's foot planted firmly on the side of the Android's head for a split instant and then the Android was sent careening away and into the palace building, its grip on Goku breaking. The Sai-jin reached up and rubbed his sore neck.
"You're not doing a very good job so far." Vegeta said smirking.
"Nice of you to show up." Goku said panting as 19 flew back out into the open.
"I think I'll take this from here, you've lost quite a bit of your energy."
Goku floated there for a moment and then sighed. As he did his hair fell back down. "Be careful Vegeta." Goku said floating down to the ground.
Vegeta's smirk grew. "Of course." Trunks stayed in the air a moment longer and then powered down and landed with the others again. Vegeta just continued to smirk.
"We're not after you." Gero said looking up at him. "Goku's the only one we care about. However, get in the way, and I have no problems with killing you as well."
Vegeta's smirk grew again. "I don't think so. You wont be spilling any Sai-jin blood today, or ever." There was a bright flash of gold as he transformed and crossed his arms over his chest. He turned his now teal eyes up from Gero to 19. "Whenever you're ready..."