Gero had remained quiet for a few moments as his mind thought over a few things. Finally he turned his eyes toward Cell again. "Why is it you need to absorb 17 and 18? That seems a bit inefficient..."
Cell smiled as best he could with his beak-like mouth. "17 and 18 were created after work on me began. At first I was to be complete as was, upon 'birth' if you will. However, the computer needed to alter my genetic make-up during incubation to manage the power I held. As little more than an embryo, I would be unable to control my power and so a series of five forms was integrated into my design.
"The first form was my embryonic state. Gradually my power would increase until triggering the transformation into my larval form. That form, too, would grow stronger over the progression of time and would then transform into this, my Imperfect Form. The same method was considered impractical for the remaining two transformations. A means of triggering these was required, however, due to the existing genetic material used to create my being.
"In the end it was decided absorption of specific genetic material, and the integration of two power cores, would be the means of this trigger. By making use of the Sai-jin and Changeling DNA my body uses the sudden rush of power created by this process to trigger the transformation. Aside from this, the ability to absorb any genetic matter was included as well, allowing me to enhance my Imperfect and Semi-Perfect states if needed and even aquire further skills."
"Very impressive." Gero said nodding. "Prior to witnessing Zarbon's transformation during his battle with Goku the concept had not occured to me... even while working on my own projects the possibility of a biological creature reaching such a level of power as shown by Vegeta earlier seemed absurd to me... I suppose different experiences will lead to different conclusions though. Unfortunately my scanners are not working due to that infernal enery barrier they put up, I can't tell how strong you are one way or the other."
"Hmm, yes, that thing is annoying. My own natural ability to sense powers is being blocked as well." Cell said moving back toward the balcony and looking up at the sky. "Destroying it outright is probably possible but something tells me it wouldn't help much."
"I have the same feeling." Gero said. "They went to too much work on it for it to be that simple. That's why I sent Tao, 19, and 17 to West City to look into it. If it comes down to it, however, I will just destroy it and let come what may."
Cell nodded. "So then, 17 was off to West City just now?" The creature smiled. "Then so am I. Where is 18?"
"No idea. She vanished earlier, including from my tracking."
"No matter. She will be mine in time. But first things first..." Cell moved over to the balcony and blasted off toward West City.
"Most unusal course of events... most unusal..." Gero said, deep in thought.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
West City:
Goku and Bardock shot in together toward Tao and 19. The Cyborg Mercenary slipped under Goku's fist with ease and then came up and smashed his fist into the Sai-jin's stomach. His eyes and mouth snapped open in pain. And then Tao spun and backhanded him away through several buildings. Meanwhile 19 had blocked Bardock's kick, grabbed his leg, and thrown him down to the ground.
Goku pulled himself to a stop and looked up to where he could still see Tao and 19 floating. /I need some kind of leg up on these two... ugh... that punch... his power is incredible. It's too risky to use the Kaio Ken, the strain of both it and Super Sai-jin would be too much for my body to take... Damn it, why isn't my power as high as I think it should be/ He panted lightly and then had an idea. It wouldn't greatly help his chance in the actual fight but it could help him dodge... maybe.
He focused for a moment and then his body pulsed once. Opening his eyes he smiled as he took in everything he could now feel. The field may have been supressing his Ki sensing ability but the Perception skill he'd learned from the Yardrat's was working just fine. He could feel someone getting to their feet down on the ground, probably Bardock, the two Androids floating in the air before him, two people fighting in the basement of a nearby building, and several hundred others as well. It was a bit much not being able to filter them all out, he'd just have to focus closely on Tao to keep track of him.
There was a flash of gold from within the city and Bardock shot up at 19 again. The Sai-jin never reached his target, however. 19 surged down at him as well and smashed a foot into his face driving him back down into the street. This wasn't a fight, it was a one-sided beating. Bracing himself for a moment Goku shot in at Tao, golden energy sparking in his wake. As he neared he felt Tao shifting. It was amazing how he could feel even the smallest amount of movement.
Quickly he slipped to the right and Tao's fist missed him by inches. Pulling up higher he managed to get above his kick as well though it came much closer to landing. He let out a gasp of pain as Tao then slammed his metal head into his chest. As the powerful Sai-jin grasped his chest, knowing one of his ribs was broken, he found a metal hand inches from his face. The hand split and shifted until he was staring at the barrel of a gun.
"Super Dodon Ray!" Tao called. Golden light flared up in the dark depths of the barrel and then shot out hitting Goku right in the face. He was flung back and into the air quickly. He felt Tao charging toward him and tried to move to out of the way but still ended up with a foot smashing into his side and then a knee to his back that drove him down into the ground. A second later Bardock slammed into the ground beside him.
19 floated over beside Tao and the two held their palms down toward the ground, blue and gold energy charging quickly. Goku pulled himself up to his hands and knees and shook his head. As he did he noticed that Bardock was no longer in Super Sai-jin. And then he noticed the glow of the attacks nearing. Without even thinking he grabbed Bardock's wrist with one hand and put two fingers from his other hand on his forhead. Seconds before the blasts hit he vanished reappearing several dozen yards above Tao and 19.
The energy hit the ground, bulged, and then exploded savagely shaking the entire city. /Good thing I've got the Perception Field up... I wouldn't have been able to dodge that otherwise. But... now what? Bardock's out and Raditz and Appla aren't back yet! I need to put Bardock somewhere safe.../ He looked around and then felt a small bunch of people off at the edge of his senses. A second later he was standing there laying Bardock down.
That taken care of he had a rib to fix. He moved his right hand up to the broken rib and closed his eyes. Light swam in the darkness of his vision and then turned into the rib. Focusing his thoughts and channeling his Ki through his hand he bound the bone with a band of energy and then fused it. /There, now it wont puncture something important./
Looking up he saw that Tao and 19 were talking. Obviously they thought that he and Bardock had been killed in the blast. /This gives me an opening. No doubt 19 used up a chunk of Vegeta's energy with that shot... I might be able to take him out if I move quickly.../ his thoughts were cut off as the rubble of one of the collapsed buildings exploded and someone shot into the air.
zzzzzzzzzz
18 slipped around 17's fist and it smashed into the wall behind her. Her knee shot up and slammed into his stomach and then she backhanded him away. Quickly she raised an arm and fired a quick series of energy blasts at him driving him back further. Before he could recover she charged after him again. As she reached him she lashed out with a punch but his arm came up at the last second and deflected her blow. He tried one of his own but she blocked it and then smashed her open palm into his face knocking him back again.
As he stumbled back, the ground rumbled and the ceiling began to collapse. In a matter of seconds a pile of rubble had buried 17. It shifted a bit and then he climbed free obviously disoriented by the chucks of concrete suddenly falling on him. 18 noticed another chunk that looked loose and raised her arm toward it. With a quick blast of Ki more came tumbling down onto her brother slamming him back into the ground. He pushed to get up and then dropped back down again passing out.
"That'll hold you for now." 18 said with a sigh. Looking up she raised her arms up, palms open, and charged energy to her palms quickly. There was a flash of blue and the energy surged up through the rubble above her blasting and opening. With that she shot up into the daylight once more. She saw Tao and 19 floating in the air looking toward her and no signs of Bardock or Goku. "Damn."
"So, there you are 18. I thought that was you that kicked me." Tao said frowning. "19, you have a controller system, shut her down."
19 nodded and his eyes flashed. 18 flinched not entirely sure she was actually safe but nothing happened and she smiled. "That wont work!" she called over. "Thanks to Goku and his friends you've been blocked out!"
"Then we'll just have to take you the hard way." Tao responded.
"You'll need to deal with her yourself." 19 said turning away. "I expended a good bit of my extra energy so I'm going to go down and see what the Sentinels have found." Tao merely nodded as 19 descended.
From where he stood Goku was torn between driving the Android back to give Raditz and Appla more time and letting it go so that he and 18 only had one opponent to deal with, especially in his weakened state... /I'll have to let him go and hope the others can avoid him... 18 and I stand a better chance against one opponent than two./
18 held her ground, so to speak, as Tao charged in at her. She was just about to dodge when a streak of gold suddenly came charging down from above and slammed into Tao driving him down into the ground. A second later Goku came flying back up to float beside her. "Where's 17?"
"Out cold for now." 18 replied. "What about Bardock?"
"Same."
The Cyborg frowned. "Things don't look so good then, do they? 19's already gone ahead and entered Capsule Corp..."
"I saw." Goku said as he watched Tao climb back to his feet. "I hate leaving them to try and deal with him by themselves but..." he shook his head. "I'm hoping they get lucky and 19 doesn't find them."
"A Sentinel tracking signal vanished a second ago." 18 said softly. "19's at that location now... chances are..."
Goku's eyes narrowed as Tao looked up at them. His mind searched down through his energy field and into Capsule Corp. Down on the lowest level he found only eight people. He couldn't tell who they were but seven of them were together with the eighth standing a short distance away. It could have easily been them. Or not. He growled under his breath, he hated feeling helpless like this.
zzzzzzzzzz
Raditz and Appla rounded the corner and saw the door to Lab 206 before them finally. They hadn't been able to sense out their destination because of the Energy Barrier's interference but fortunately the personnel locator in the Capsule Corp compound was functioning. They'd used that to learn of Bulma's location and then found an employee that knew how to get there. "Alright, thanks." Appla said nodding to the young man who'd led them down there. "You should try and find a way out of the city."
With that the two of them moved down the hall toward the door. Suddenly the ground underneath them shook violently nearly knocking them off their feet. "We need to move quickly." Appla said glancing over to her son. "I don't know how much longer they can last out there."
Raditz nodded as he pushed the open button and the door to the lab slid open. "Chi-Chi! Bulma! Where are you?"
"Raditz!" Bulma asked stepping out from behind a large object of some kind holding the baby Trunks. "Appla! What are you two doing here?"
"Getting you and the children to safety." Appla said. "There are three Androids outside, probably after you and any information on that Barrier Field. Goku and Bardock are holding them off while we get you to safety." She decided it'd be easier not to mention 18 was helping as well, that'd take too long to explain and time was of the essence. Chi-Chi emerged from behind the object as well holding 3 year old Sakura and followed by Hercule.
"You carry the kids." Raditz said walking toward them. "And we'll carry you..." he was cut off as a mechanical voice sounded behind him.
"Stand where you are or I will destroy you."
Turning he and Appla saw one of the metallic drones standing in the doorway. "Must have followed us." Raditz growled.
"No, I'll handle it." Appla said moving between it and him. "We don't know how strong these things are." It raised an arm toward her and golden energy began to gather in front of its hand. "Kaio Ken times 20!" Just as the energy blast surged toward her the red aura flared up about her as well. The blast hit the rush of power and was knocked away. In a flash she charged toward it and it quickly moved it's arm and blocked her attack. She continued swinging her fists and feet at it and it continued to deflect her blows.
"Shit." she muttered pulling back. "Fine then, I'll use my full power, let's see how you do against that you hunk of scrap! Kaaaiooo Keeennn... times 45!" her aura pulsed and flared as her power shot up even higher. With a cry she surged forward and slammed her fist into and through the machine shattering it completely. Landing in the hall she let out a deep breath, her aura fading away. "Alright, let's get moving!" she called back into the room.
The others nodded and moved toward the door. Suddenly the ceiling exploded downward and 19 descended to land before them. "Sentinel tracking signal vanished... but targets aquired!" it cheered happily. "Bardock and Goku have already been eliminated."
"No... Goku..." Chi-Chi said softly.
"Now you will tell me about the energy around the planet." 19 said with a smile.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Lookout:
"We have to do something!" Videl cried worriedly watching what was happening below. It still seemed odd to her to be able to see it so easily, even after Kami explained that it was simply part of the Lookout's nature.
"I know how you feel but there's nothing we can do." Krillin said.
Piccolo glanced over to them and then back down at the world below them. 19 had just descended into Capsule Corp putting Appla, Raditz, Hercule, Chi-Chi, Bulma, and the children in harm's way. Bardock was knocked out and now Goku and 18 were about to face off against Tao and he wasn't sure how well they'd fare. Finally he turned and looked at Kami who stood only a few dozen feet away.
The two of them simply looked at each other for a few moments before Kami finally spoke breaking the silence and drawing the attention of the others. "I've watched you closely over the years... it's not gone completely yet but... the evil in you has faded considerably. What the world needs now is not a weak and old guardian that can do nothing but watch... but a warrior able to protect it." Piccolo said nothing, just continued to stare at him. The others looked back and forth between them confused. Kami continued. "Perhaps we can give it that. I think... the time has finally come."
Still Piccolo said nothing, simply nodded gently. He took the few steps toward Kami and placed his hand on the Guardian's chest. The two stood in silence for a moment. Suddenly Kami let out a loud scream, a bright blue aura flaring up around him and then engulfing them both. "Wha!" Gohan cried, his eyes going wide. The glow soon became blindingly bright, the rush of power emanating from the Nameks like a whirlwind.
And then, as quickly as it came, it faded away. The glow receded down to a small dome and then vanished completely. As it did it revealed Piccolo down on one knee panting heavily. After a moment he stood up again and gazed down at himself. "P-Piccolo?" Gohan started.
"Piccolo..." the Namek said softly. "No longer am I Kami or Piccolo..." he turned and walked to the edge of the Lookout. "Zildar has returned." and with that he lifted off the Lookout and dove toward the Earth and West City.