By now everyone listening to 18's story had taken a seat around her. Videl and Gohan were on either side of her, Hercule, Bulma, Goku, and Bardock by the trees on the right, and the others sitting by the trees on the left. Krillin had his legs crossed, elbows on his knees, and head in his hands. Yamcha noticed that the short Human was staring at 18 rather intently. He also recognized that stare from a few years ago on the lookout, when it was him staring at Hotaru... Smiling to himself he shook his head and turned his attention back to 18.
"So, what happened next?" Gohan asked.
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March 28th, 5 years ago, about 50 miles southwest of North City:
Mijima groaned and rolled over trying to get the sun out of her eyes. It didn't work though. "Damn... stupid fucking sun..." she muttered putting an arm over her eyes. She heard faint laughing nearby and lifted her arm a little, turned her head, and looked. "Neophia?" she mumbled. "Oh... shit." she groaned sitting up and rubbing her head.
Bits and pieces of the celebration the previous night finally drifting back to her mind. That would explain why she felt half dead. She'd spent half the night partying and drinking. "This is a hell of a hangover..."
"Considering how much you drank I'm suprised you're conscious." Neophia said laughing again. "Didn't think you'd be up for a while yet."
Mijima rubbed her eyes and tried to unfog her mind a little. "What happened? I remember dancing..." she shook her head as colored lights swam passed her eyes. "Shit... I didn't do... anything stupid, did I?" she asked looking over to the other girl and finally noticing she wasn't in the cave she'd set her room up in.
"Almost, but Gainin and I saved you." she replied. "Treenk tried to get you to go off with him..."
"Ugh... that pervert."
Neophia laughed. "Ya. I got Gainin and he went and got you." The girl stood and walked over to her and handed her a thermos of coffee. "By then you were passed out so we just laid you here in my room."
Mijima nodded and took the coffee. "Thanks." She paused in lifting the thermos to her mouth as a loud scream sounded through the mountains again.
"Sounds like Dawn's conscious again..." Neophia said softly. "Autoro's been at her all day... I've never seen him like this..."
"As much as he hates Kataki these days he hates Dawn more." Mijima said as the screams faded away. "Where's Kataki being held?"
Neophia laughed. "Gainin said that'd be one of the first things you asked. I'll take you to her, but... you might want to get dressed first."
Mijima looked down and groaned, her shirt and bra were missing. "I take it Treenk has them?"
"Probably."
A few mintues later they were walking toward one of the small wooden shack-like cabins that had been built. It hadn't taken long for Mijima to grab a new top from her clothes pile and then get her missing items back from Treenk, who was most likely still laying on the ground after the low blow he'd received on Mijima's way out. "So, this is it then?" Mijima asked as they stopped. Neophia nodded. "Wait out here."
"Ok."
The blonde opened the door to the cabin and walked in closing it behind her. The sight before her was rather shocking. "Gainin?" she asked suprised. "I didn't expect you to be here..." Across the room Gainin stood scowling at Kataki who was chained to the wall. It was obvious by her appearance, the bruises and dried blood, that Autoro had already come by earlier.
"Just thought I'd say... hi." he said, not taking his eyes off of her. He shook his head and turned. "She's all yours." he said walking passed Mijima and then out the door.
She watched her brother go and then turned her attention back to Kataki. "Autoro's rubbing off on him more than he thinks." Kataki said, wincing a little.
Mijima sighed and shook her head. "He's just... lost."
"So, why are you here?" Kataki asked, that same look of distaste on her face as always.
"Look, I know Autoro's an ass." she said crossing her arms. "But you knew that before the two of you got together. It's not mine or Gainin's fault."
"He was changing before that... whore." Kataki said. "And before I got pregnant with you two brats. Besides, anything that's part of him I want nothing to do with."
Mijima remained silent for a long moment just staring at her mother. The other woman averted her eyes after a moment of constant eye contact and she had a feeling Kataki wasn't telling her the truth. "You're lying, I can tell."
"Just... leave me alone." Kataki said. Mijima frowned but didn't move. She just kept staring at the other. Finally Kataki sighed and slumped over a bit like she was giving in. "After catching him with Luta, he and I got into a pretty bad argument... Things only got worse from that point and as you know we split apart. He... made the threat a few times to hurt you or your brother to get at me so..."
"You acted like you didn't care about us."
Kataki nodded slightly. "A mother, no matter who she is, is still a mother." she said softly. "My one weakness that Autoro could exploit. I figured you were safer with him..."
Mijima didn't get the chance to reply as a loud explosion sounded from outside and shook the floor. She turned and ran to the door quickly throwing it open. She could see smoke billowing into the air not more than fifty yards away. "Neophia, what the hell was that?"
The other girl looked back at her, eyes wide in shock and fear and face pale. "Gainin... Autoro... I... I don't know what caused it but... they're..." she stopped as a loud crack sounded from within the smoke and Gainin came sailing out of it slamming into the shack where Mijima and Kataki were, cracking the wall.
"Damn it, Gainin, what'd you do this time?" Mijima cried as Autoro emerged from the smoke, a look of anger etched on his face unlike anything she'd seen.
Gainin put a hand to his head and shook it a couple of times as he stood. Then he turnead and spat the blood out of his mouth before answering her. "I told him to fuck off, among other things. Look, I've had it with him and everything else. One way or another it ends now."
"You're right about that you little..." Autoro growled. "I'm going to do what I should have done years ago!"
Mijima stood there holding the door frame looking back and forth between Gainin and Autoro. She knew fighting him was a very dumb and probably suicidal move but... Gainin was still her brother. "Neophia, stay back." she called as she jogged over to her brother. "You ready?"
He nodded. The two turned and pressed their backs together and held their arms out. Autoro stopped still a dozen yards away and smirked at them as the other members of the gang gathered on the cliffs around them to watch. Blue and red energy swirled about in front of their palms forming into a purple ball of energy. The energy ball swelled to the size of a softball and still kept growing. A moment later it had doubled in size and the twin called out. "Double Barrel Blaster!"
The energy shot off at high speed toward Autoro throwing dust out as it zipped along. Autoro reached out an arm and caught the blast in one hand defelecting it up into the sky. "You two may be stronger than the other wimps around here but I'm still the top dog." With a roar he surged in toward them, his feet thundering on the ground as he ran.
Gainin took a step back but before he could do anything more he had a fist slamming into his stomach lifting him off his feet. Mijima moved in and threw a punch at Autoro's head but he defelected it with his other arm and then smashed his open palm into her face knocking her through the wall and back into the shack. As she climbed back to her feet she saw Autoro's fist crack across her brother's jaw spinning him around and knocking him through the whole she'd made to land on the floor.
Holding her hands to her sides, she focused and a pink glow began to form around them. She watched as Gainin climbed to his feet holding his jaw and could tell from the way it looked that it was broken. Her brother ignored the pain though and turned toward Autoro again. He lashed out with a right kick but his opponent grabbed his leg with one hand and then slammed his other hand into his shin with a loud crack and a cry of pain from Gainin.
As soon as he collapsed to the ground again Mijima thrust her arms foward. "Power Wave!" The pink energy flared out and then a stream of Ki surged toward Autoro. He brought his arms up and caught the attack with both hands holding it off without trouble. There was a flash of white from his hands and a blast of energy surged toward her pushing her own attack away like it was nothing. She ended her attack and brought her arms up quickly, the impact slammed her back into the wall cracking it.
Another crack sounded a second later followed by another cry from her brother and she saw that Autoro had stomped on his left arm. /Damn... we're not going to get through this.../ she thought. With a yell she pushed off the wall and lunged at Autoro launching a fist for his face.
He grabbed her arm out of the air as she neared and held her up to eye level. "You don't get it, do you bitch?" he growled. "You. Can't. Beat. Me." He emphasized each word with a hard punch to her stomach. Then he let go of her arm and backhanded her off to the side. Despite how much pain she was in, she managed to land on her hands and flip right back to her feet. Her eyes darted around the small room of the shack and then out the door beside her.
Neophia was still standing there looking scared. And then she saw it. The girl had a gun belt on with a pistol in the holster. Mijima ran out the door and grabbed the gun out of Neopia's holster before she could even react. Moving to the hole in the wall she raised the gun aiming it for Autoro's head. "Alright, that's enough!" she panted. "You may be stronger than us but you're not bullet proof..."
Autoro stopped kicking Gainin and turned to glare at her. Bending down he picked up Gainin and then wrapped an arm around him holding him tight so he couldn't move. "Go ahead, shoot!" he laughed. "But you might hit your brother..." Mijima shifted where she stood and tried to get a good aim but couldn't. As she did Autoro raised his free arm and pointed his palm at her. White energy flared to life in front of his hand as Mijima tried to get her shot.
Gritting her teeth she decided the best option was to pull the trigger and hope for the best. Just as he let go with his energy blast she pulled the trigger to the gun. There was a loud bang followed by dual cries of pain. The energy blast had hit her head on and flung her back into the rocks nearly knocking her out. The bullet she'd fired had slammed into Autoro's shoulder shattering the bone and knocking him back and down. He'd also dropped Gainin who slumped to the ground nearly unconscious.
Neophia ran over to Mijima and knelt down beside her. She didn't look good at all. The front of her shirt had been completely destoyed by the energy blast and she was covered in blood. Her breathing was ragged and every breath made her flinch in pain. A couple ribs were poking out through her skin as well. "Damn... that hurts..." she managed.
"Fucking bitch!" Autoro roared as he climbed back to his feet, his hand on his injured shoulder, the arm hanging limply at his side. He started toward her but stopped as he felt a hand grab his ankle. Looking down he saw the badly injuried Gainin glaring up at him. "Die already!" he cried kicking him in the face and knocking him a few yards away. He then started toward Mijima again.
Neophia's eyes widened as she saw him coming. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at the injured blonde girl, blood rolling down her chin now. "Go..." she breathed, wincing. "Get... out of... his way."
She stared at her for a moment and then saw the pistol laying on the ground beside her. She shook her head and picked it up. "No. You saved me twice, this... is the least I can do." she said before turning and aiming the gun at Autoro, her arms shaking wildly. "Stay... stay back!" she called swallowing.
Autoro simply laughed at her. "You going to shoot me? Ha! You can barely even hold that thing!"
"That's far enough." a voice called from above. Everyone looked up and saw an old man standing on the edge of the highest rock looking down at them, long white hair hanging down his back. The man looked to his side as another came into view. "I see what you meant about these two. Yes, they could work nicely."
"Who the hell are you?" Autoro called up.
"My name is Dr. Gero." the old man said taking a step forward, off of the rock, and floating gently down to the ground. The other followed him and Autoro recognized him as the Tao guy from earlier in the month. Gero landed beside Mijima and knelt down pulling a small vial of blue liquid out of a pocket and popping the stopper off of it. "Here, drink this." he said putting it to her lips.
Mijima stared up at him in wonder but decided drinking whatever it was couldn't be any worse than slowly dying so she did. It tasted horrible and felt weird as it slid down her thoat but she felt an odd warmth and tingling spreading through her body. And then a sharp pain washed over her entire body for a second which made her scream. And then the pain was gone, all of it. And so was the tingling and warmth... and her injuries.
"What... the..." she wondered, looking down at her self. She was still covered in blood but her bones were inside her body once more.
Gero didn't answer, merely stood and walked over to where Gainin lay pulling another vial out. Kneeling down he offered it to him too and the boy drank it. A scream sounded from him as well a second later and then he was climbing to his feet, perfectly fine. "Who are you?" Gainin asked. "What..."
"As I said, I am Dr. Gero." he replied. "Tao noticed your auras when he first met you earlier and I agree with his thoughts. The two of you would be the perfect candidates for my Cyborg designs."
"Cyborg designs?" Mijima asked confused.
"Indeed. I am the new leader of the Red Ribbon Army. My specialty is robotics. You saw the power Tao has, no?" they both nodded. "Well, that is thanks to my cybernetics. I'm offering to you that same power. Well, truthfully, greater power."
Gainin smiled. "Sounds good but what's the catch?"
"Catch? Oh, there's no catch. I merely need strong fighters to help me defeat someone else who is highly powerful." he crossed his arms as he explained. "We will fight him, crush him, and then the Red Ribbon Army will rule this planet."
Mijima looked over to where Autoro still stood holding his arm and completely dumbfounded. "It certainly sounds better than staying here." she said after a moment. Gainin nodded.
Gero smiled. "Excellent. 13, 14, come here!" he called looking up at the cliff again. A moment later the two floated down into the canyon as well. "My Androids here will be carrying you back to my lab. So, shall we go?"
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Present, Lookout:
"Oh, how horrible." Bulma said as 18 finished her story.
The blonde Cyborg sighed. "My brother and I owe our lives to Gero really." she said. "We'd have died that day if not for him. But... death would have been better than what followed. The process that made me what I am now wasn't exactly pleasant..."
"What was the stuff he had you drink?" Gohan asked.
"He called his Synthetic Senzu Extract." she said. "He said one of his probes managed to steal one and he began to synthesize them." she shook her head. "My brother and I pretty much lived on that stuff during the experiments and operations. Brought us back from near death several hundred times. Because of that stuff he wasn't worried about if something backfired and caused more damage than good, he could fix it in a matter of seconds..."
"Oh... wow..." Goku said softly.
She nodded. "We saw you fighting Zarbon a few months later. Gero was going nuts re-working his designs and re-mapping his equations to graph your powers. He'd not anticipated the Kaio Ken and had to work that in. And then decided that he should acount for anything else that could make you stronger like that... If it hadn't been for that I think we'd all be probably three or four times weaker than we are."
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Capital City:
Cell walked into the room with Gero and the others, frowning some. He'd waited outside West City for a short while until he figured everyone had left and then had gone back to try and locate 17 to no avail. Now he was back with Gero and the others in hopes that they had some means of tracking the Cyborg. "I can't find 17 in the rubble that's left." he said looking toward Gero. "I searched and searched but no signs. I don't suppose you have a means of tracking him?"
"Yes." Gero replied. "But he is no longer functioning. Not dead, no, but unconscious. Which means his systems are in sleep mode. No transponder signal."
"This is not how things should be going." Cell hissed, tail lashing about behind him. "I've waited so long for this moment, only to have it squashed by that Namek..."
"Patience." Gero said, steepling his fingers. "They can't hide forever. Eventually they'll show up again, and then we can take them. And in time 17 will regain consciousness, we'll be able to track him then."
"Any chances for more suprises?" 13 asked.
"Perhaps." Cell replied. "That's why I don't like this."
"Shall we destroy the barrier?" asked 15. "At least with it gone our scanners might be able to find... something."
"They obviously weren't there to stop us from finding the off switch..." Gero said, thinking about the battles in West City. "Only to get the others out. Which means there probably is no switch here." He remained silent for a moment and then turned to 15. "Destroy it."
The small Android nodded and floated outside. Looking up he raised an arm, blue energy charging around his hand. And then it blasted off toward the barrier. A second later there was a flash from the barrier, then several more across the sky and the red light vanished replaced by black with blue like electricty sparking randomly, much like a silent lightning storm. "Scanners indicate a massive time-space anomaly." 15 announced after a moment. "No interference with systems detected but... at this strength the field will take many months to dissipate."
Gero nodded as he turned his eyes to Cell. With the field gone he was getting a clean reading on the creature's power and he had to admit, he was impressed. The creature was as powerful as Tao now, in this first form. It made him curious if it's power could compare to that of his greatest creation, in this time-line anyway. Well, he'd have to wait and see.