I totally forgot that it was Wednesday today, so I'm sorry that I haven't replied to your reviews or responded to PMs or have been very active. Also, because I forgot, there might be some extra errors in this chapter (I didn't get to edit it as much as I would've liked to).

Chapter 9: Consequences

Dr. Gero sighed and looked over at his two "star-pupil" android-cyborgs. "I can't believe these two. They've been acting up lately, but it's never been anywhere near this extreme. I'll just have to readjust their chips again..." He turned to face me as I continued to struggle. "Only after I take care of you, of course. If this fails again, I'm going to completely trash this whole experiment."

I think I may actually have started to loosen the ropes a little. Maybe my struggling was working! If I could just wriggle my wrists out of here, then maybe I could completely free the rest of me.

Gero smiled menacingly as he looked down on me. "Oh? You're freeing yourself up a bit? Clever boy. Well, I know how to fix that."

His arm reached out behind him and the door leading into this room burst open. Nobody was there though. Suddenly a chair came flying into the palm of his outstretched hand. The door slammed behind him, a creepy grin filling his leathery face.

I noticed through my peripheral vision that Videl was beginning to creep over closer to where I was, but she was making such subtle movements that Gero didn't seem to notice. He was very fascinated with me and his little chair maneuver, and I didn't even want to give him the chance to blink in her direction.

"How did you do that? With the door and the chair?" I asked, stalling time for Videl to do whatever she was trying.

He looked back at the door then down at his hand, which was holding the chair. "Anything is possible with the right...modifications." I didn't want to even know the details of that. "Let's get you situated in this chair, okay? You're getting too close to struggling your way out of those ropes for my comfort."

The chair was immediately slammed into the ground and with a quick push, I was then shoved into the chair. I looked around for another android as another set of ropes were tightly wound around me. But all the movement seemed to come from Dr. Gero. Perhaps in this universe he wasn't fully human either. I wouldn't doubt it with his talk of "modifications."

He then tugged on the Anti-Saiyan rope a little too tight for my liking. I felt my chest tighten as it almost seemed like a boa constrictor was wrapping itself around me. "Tight! Tight!" was all I could manage to say.

"Tight?" he asked innocently. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you wanted it tighter!" He laughed cruelly and tugged on one of the ropes even harder. Now it was really constricting me. I even feared he would cut off my circulation, or possibly my oxygen.

Whatever plans Videl had of sneaking around in the background fell through as soon as she shrieked. "You're hurting him! You're hurting him! Can't you loosen it a little?!"

He looked over at her as if he were surprised that she spoke up. "How rude of me to forget about you, Miss Satan. Would you like to have a seat too?"

She shook her head as she stepped up beside me. "You seem to know who I am, which means that you probably know who you're messing with. Free Gohan now or I swear that I will-"

"Videl," I managed to breathe out. I struggled in the ropes' tight grip, but managed to find the space I needed for speaking. "I know what you're capable of in my timeline, and I'm sure that it's a similar situation here. You're a tough girl without a doubt, but please stay out of this. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Videl balled her hands into two tight fists. "Oh yeah? Do you remember what happened last time when you told me not to help? You needed my help! This old man is no big threat. Sure he has a few tricks up his sleeve, but don't we all? I'll give him a good fight. Just you watch!"

She was just as stubborn as her father. And just like her father, the words she spoke seemed to be more of an attempt to convince herself to fight more than convincing anyone else.

I sighed and felt the ropes tighten again. "Videl-"

"Your little girlfriend seems very eager to die," Dr. Gero commented. "And if that's how she wants it, then I say, let the girl have her death wish!" His hands began to flow brightly with two ki orbs forming in his palms.

"DON'T DO IT!" I screamed at him with all my might. "She doesn't know what she's asking for! She's-" I looked over at the girl whose brow was furrowed in complete concentration. "She's not who you want. Your battle is with me."

The man looked at me and laughed. "You? You?! You're in no condition to fight! Look at where you are now! Just look!"

I yelled out loudly in frustration as I struggled under the Anti-Saiyan ropes. This Gero must be more of a madman than the Gero in my timeline was. The ropes did not budge all throughout the course of my last attempt to break free. I wanted to give up, and I let my head slump forward.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, examining the cold, hard floor. "What's the point in all of this torture and pain just to turn me into a cyborg? Why do you need a cyborg? Why do you need androids?!"

"Because..." he drew out the word. I almost got mad at him for answering the question at that, but he eventually continued the phrase. "Because I want world domination, isn't it obvious? With these androids already, this area alone is almost compeltely in my control. With the success-" He glared at the sleeping android-cyborgs. "Or at least what was the success of those two mechanically modified humans, I wanted to experiment some more. And you, my boy, were the perfect candidate."

"But you're plans are beginning to fall through," Videl boldly taunted.

He glared at my girlfriend. "Are they though? The twins may have rebelled, but this is only slightly larger than some of the mistakes they've made in the past. They aren't yet perfected, but they are clearly still under my control. And as for Gohan...can we just take a moment to determine who's handling the ropes?" He let one ki orb die out so that he could grasp onto one end of a rope. "Literally."

The doctor dropped my rope and began to pace around a bit, still holding onto the one ki orb. "I'm at a loss for what to do... I could begin the procedure right now and exterminate the girl later..." An evil glint met his eyes. "Or I could kill the girl now and watch you squirm because you can't do a thing. Yes, I think I like the latter."

"NO!" I screamed as his ki orb grew twice its original size. "DON'T YOU DARE!"

Videl's confidence began to wane as she realized that the large energy ball was for real, and was not in fact just some sort of trick. "Gohan...?" She was nervous. She didn't know what to do, and unlike the twin androids, Gero was not going to let her off easy.

Although he claimed that struggling was futile, I did not give up. My wriggling around in the little space that I could create grew more and more frantic as I feared for Videl's safety. I tried to allow pure energy to course through my body and burst the ropes apart, but they refused to give way. These darn Anti-Saiyan ropes...

But who was Gero to know a Saiyan anyway?! Who was he?! He claimed he used the DNA from the Gohan of this universe, but how much could he really understand about Saiyan DNA. The events in this timeline obviously proved very different than of my own, so I doubt he knew what a Saiyan was truly capable of. Even if that Saiyan was only a half-Saiyan.

I felt like I was channeling my inner Vegeta honestly, but I kind of needed to in order to get the strength and the power I needed to break free. I felt the warm energy fill my body as a familiar glowing sensation began to take place. It had been a while, and it wasn't so easy for me to do anymore, but I could show Dr. Gero what it really meant to be a Saiyan.

But the ropes binding me to the chair were too restricting, and I couldn't quite muster up the strength or energy to become a Super Saiyan like I wanted to. And it was too late now...

The wrinkly scientist launched his large ki blast toward Videl, and I could do nothing to push her out of its course this time. I shouted her name, but it did nothing. She had already begun to run out of its way, but Gero had calculated for this to happen and changed the trajectory of the blast. She couldn't have even dodged!

"VIDEL!" I screamed once more as the female in her late teens fell to the floor with no sign of life. "VIDEL!"

"At least she's finally out of the way now," Gero commented. "You know, Gohan, I was getting a lab set up for your procedure, but you had to complicate things. Now they'll have to bring all the equipment down here."

I was in a frantic and emotional state. I hardly processed anything that Gero had said. My thoughts were turned completely to Videl. It was true that the Videl of this timeline was not the one I was most acquainted with, but it didn't change the fact that she was still Videl. And I love Videl! Seeing my girlfriend on the ground in a pitiful, and most likely dead state wrecked me. I wanted no more but to make the doctor pay for everything that he had done.

The motivation, the anger, the hatred, the frustation. There was no time for any of this to fester inside me for long. I quickly exploded into a raging fire that wasn't afraid to burn down the whole facility if it meant justice. Seeing Videl motionless, lifeless, and beaten up on the floor gave me the extra push that I needed to erupt into my Super Saiyan state. It had been so long since I've powered up like this.

It was believed (even by me for a little while) that I couldn't become a Super Saiyan anymore because of my mystic powers. That wasn't true; it just wasn't as effective. But today, right now, I needed the raw energy that came from this transformation.

I let the heat settle in my bones as I glowed steadily; the signature of a Super Saiyan. I felt my hair rise with a radiant light as my emotions began to peak. Pure energy began to course through my veins, giving me more power. This newly focused energy was something that I've always had inside of me, but once I set it free, it shows no mercy.

The ropes that wrapped around my body broke. The ropes binding me to the chair broke. I was free. I was free and I was going to give Gero a little sampling of just how little he understood about my race. Oh, how Vegeta would be proud. My father probably wouldn't, but at this point, I didn't care. Gero deserved everything that he had coming for him.

"You broke my Anti-Saiyan bonds, you glowing little freak!" he exclaimed in fear. "What are you doing? What's happening?!"

I took one menacing step toward him and let that fear sink into his skull and poison his brain. That was the same fear that Videl had been faced with. A fear that she couldn't escape. As I took another step, the man backed away.

"Gohan, maybe we should-" He cut himself off as he tried to call down more ropes around me, but I moved too quickly and caught them before they even got close to binding me again.

"These silly rope games are not going to work anymore Gero," I spat at him. I let out a loud shout and burned the rope to a crisp, using a large ki attack.

He frantically looked around the room for any help, but other androids or guards were nowhere to be seen. "This is impossible! Where did you get all this energy and strength from? The other Gohan was nowhere near quite like this!"

"Stop comparing me to him!" I hissed. "I am clearly not the test subject that you thought you were receiving. I am not so easily controlled. And I kind of get the impression that your android twins are also tired of your sick acts. You say you want world domination? Well, good luck if you can't even control two little cyborgs and a Super Saiyan."

"I don't see what's so super about what you're saying," he commented.

I nearly fell over out of disbelief. "Is that some sort of joke? Or do you legitimately not understand?"

Gero shrugged and smiled in defeat. "Just trying to lighten the mood...since I'm pretty sure you're going to kill me."

I let myself loosen up a little. My rage from earlier was dying out. My father's face and words echoed through my mind. What would he want me to do? I felt guilty for my extremely violent intentions that I had a moment ago.

I looked Gero dead in the eyes. "I don't want to kill you." He didn't seem to understand. "Everyone deserves a second chance. This is something that my dad believed in a lot, and it's something that I admire him for. That's why I'm offering the same choice to you."

"Choice?" he questioned out of disbelief. "Choice?! What choice do I have anyway?! You'll kill me regardless of what you say!"

I shook my head sternly. "No. You don't understand. I'm giving you the option of living so long as you change your heart, or you can die for sticking to your cruel ways. Everyone deserves a chance."

He squinted his eyes. "I don't buy it. You were so violent a minute ago. You're lying! If you're not going to kill me, then I'll just have to kill you. Clearly, your files belong in my failed projects section."

This was ridiculous! I flat-out have him the option to live, and he denied it to my face! If he wanted to die, so be it. I tried it my father's way first, and for that, I'm sure he is proud, but I know what he would do now. Whenever his enemies deny their chance at mercy, it's game over for them.

"It sounds like you've made your choice," I said firmly. "It's time to put an end to all the injustice that you've caused in this world." I vaguely felt like I was saying some of Great Saiyaman's lines.

I took my fighting stance once and for all, preparing myself to end it here. Finally. I've taken a stance so many times and haven't even done a thing. But now the time has come where I can put my skills to use once again.

Dr. Gero hastily made the first move, a high kick, aimed for my head, but I dodged and grabbed his leg. I flung him to the floor as if he were nothing. This fight was easy compared to what I'd done in the past. Well, it helped that I remembered the past now too.

As he picked himself off of the floor, he began to put his fingers in his mouth to whistle. I think it may have been a way of communicating with the androids. In any case, I grabbed his wrist and pulled it down. "Oh no, old man. This fight is between you and me. No more hiding behind other androids because I am sick of it."

"Such a bold boy," he said slowly as he then formed ki orbs. "I still think that you would be the perfect soldier had you been fully under my control, with a few extra modifications of course."

"Of course," I agreed, preparing myself for the attack. "Too bad that won't be happening."

He let the energy orbs grow larger and their brightness illuminated the dim room. Without anymore cocky words or pointless banter, he flung them at me, one after another after another. I deflected them left and right, letting them crash into the clear walls, creating cracks and holes. I was careful to deflect them away from the area where Videl lay.

Gero stopped producing energy blasts soon after realizing that it wasn't working. He charged at me and began to challenge me in good ol' hand-to-hand combat. His moves were fairly fast, but I was faster. His punches were forceful, but I could block and dodge them all. Any kicks, elbowings, kneeings, or other maneuvers of his proved futile. Regardless of how he attacked, I was clearly superior.

Halfway through one of his series of kicks, jumps, and lunges, I turned the tables and played more offensively than defensively. I began a series of punches and attacks of my own, most of which collided with his body. Punch! in the face. Punch! in the stomach. Hit! after quickly going behind him, to his back. Knock! on his head, causing him to fall to the ground.

I placed my foot on top of his stomach, applying just the amount of pressure needed to keep him from standing back up again. "Don't you get it? You can't win! You cannot do anything! I've made sloppy mistakes in the past that allowed you to have an advantage, but I am on top now." I let him feel the irony as I used his statement from earlier on himself. "Literally."

"Don't do this! Please! I'll change!" he called out in desperation. "Just let me be free, and I won't harm anymore people! I won't use my androids for destruction! I won't try to control the world! Let me live!"

I had given him one chance before, and he refused my offer. I applied a bit more pressure on top of Gero before I could completely crush him. "Goodbye Gero."

But...something kept me from finishing the action. I let my weight off of him and stepped back. I had too much of a conscience. The man was pleading for his life, pleading for a second chance.

He laid on the floor confused as I walked away. "You're really not going to kill me?"

I took a deep breath in and out. "I'm giving you the second chance you begged for. I'm letting you change."

The flabbergasted scientist stood up slowly, one leg after another. "Don't worry. I've changed." Out of nowhere he whistled a high note that hurt my ears and then laughed evilly. "Changed my mind! Now I've got you once and for all!"

A dozen or so androids barged into the room. They had heeded Gero's whistle; his call to draw them all together. Gero laughed and laughed and the androids followed his cackle, though I doubted they knew what was going on. "I can't believe you actually bought that!"

I looked around at the androids, then back to Gero. "These androids are not my problem. If they want to fight me, let them fight me, but they will only fight after their master is not around to give them orders, and they have seen what I'm capable of."

I yelled loudly as I charged one giant ki attack. Gero seemed surprised at how quick I was to charge a deadly blast. "Uh, androids! You should probably-"

"GERO!" I shouted as I let the attack grow larger. "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU! If your androids try to interfere, they should know that they will be destroyed by this blast!"

I let all my emotions fill the large orb growing above my head. Yes. This one was for him. For trying to dominate the world. For torturing human subjects and causing them to become his experiments. For torturing me personally and erasing my memory. But especially for what he did to Videl. I glanced back at her lifeless body. She didn't deserve any of this. She was just sort of my girlfriend...even though, not really.

"Androids!" he yelled loudly. "ATTACK!"

"HYAHHHHH!" I screamed, hurling the large amount of energy at Gero. The blast was a direct hit that was practically unavoidable to begin with. I shielded my face from the blast because I was close enough that it could've hurt me too. A few androids in the vicinity were blown to bits, but what happened to Gero, I could not see.

When the light had dimmed and my attack was over, very few androids remained. Gero himself was nowhere to be seen at first. Until I saw his hand. And his foot. And part of his face. The mad scientist was reduced to chunks of his former self. His reign of terror was no more.

I turned to face the five androids that still remained. "Are you guys still looking for a fight? Or do you wish for freedom? I'm letting you leave. No one is here to control you now."

They backed away slowly before running out the door. I then walked over to where Videl was laying on the ground. She hadn't stirred at all, which worried me. I checked for a pulse. Ever-so-faint, a light tapping of a heartbeat moved against my fingers. I tried to tap her to get her to wake up. Although she was alive, she was clearly in no condition to stay conscious.

Fumbling clumsily through my pocket, I pushed past my school ID and pulled out my last senzu bean. I carefully pressed open her lips and forced her to chew the bean. Due to her natural reflexes, as it fell to the back of her mouth, she swallowed it and its effects began to heal her almost instantaneously.

Videl sprung up and panicked momentarily. I wrapped my arms around her carefully as I hushed her. "Don't worry. Everything is fine now."

"Gohan?" she asked. "What happened?"

"One of Gero's attacks hit you, and you passed out," I explained. "I worried that you were dead, but thankfully, you were only unconscious. I gave you my last senzu bean."

She nodded along slowly before asking another question. "So...what happened to Gero?"

I pointed over to where a few of his remains laid. "I blew him up. He's gone. He's dead. This timeline is no longer threatened by his influence."

I stood up and walked over to a remote that was lying on the ground. It was the remote that Dr. Gero had dropped when he turned off the twins and dodged their last attack. Bending over, I picked it up and examined it carefully as Videl came over to see what I was doing.

Quickly, I glanced at the two androids before pressing the button for their reactivation. They slowly began to wake up. The two looked around the room in a frantic mess with hostile expressions on their faces.

"Where's Gero?" 17 asked me.

Gesturing back to the little bit of him that was left, I said, "There. I killed him after he shut you guys off."

"You did?!" 18 asked incredulously. "I'm glad that we ended up being on the same side. I would hate to have fought you if that's what you did to him..."

Videl crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Are you guys still on our side? What are you going to do now?"

The androids shrugged, and I feared that they would go out of control and try to start blowing things up for the heck of it. I offered a civil suggestion. "Maybe you can get out into the world and just enjoy life for what it is? I mean, Gero won't be bossing you around and making you do any more horrible tasks so..."

18 took a step forward in my direction. "If you're worried about us going on some sort of destructive rampage, don't be. We've decided that we're not cold-blooded killers who cause chaos just for kicks and giggles. Maybe at one point we were but..."

"After what went down with Gero, I don't want to be a part of any of that again," 17 finished. He looked over at Videl as if he still hadn't quite given up on winning her heart.

"What do we do now, Gohan?" Videl asked anxiously. "Are you going to go back to your timeline?"

I nodded, feeling guilty for leaving the poor girl behind. "Soon. But first, I want to finish this job once and for all." I looked over at the androids, who seemed a little nervous at my statement. "Would you guys care to join us in destroying Gero's stuff?"

"Would we?!" Android 17 cheered.

The four of us, an awkward quartet, exited the small holding cell together as the twins led us to various offices of Gero's. Before destroying anything in the first office, I made a PSA on an intercom. "Everyone who is in this building should be aware of the fact that Dr. Gero is now dead. I suggest that you all leave and live peacefully elsewhere because these offices are about to be destroyed."

I clicked the off button and examined the room quickly, making sure we wouldn't destroy anything of too much importance. 18 briefly picked up some documents about other test subjects, but she got mad and slammed them down on a table with a loud shout. "Burn it all! Blow it up!"

FWOOSH! Everything went ablaze with blast after blast. We jumped from office to office, inspecting the area, then destroying it all. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it. In the last area, Dr. Gero's main laboratory, I found the device that allowed for me to travel across universes. This I held on to as we blew the rest of the lab up.

We casually strolled outside all together as if nothing were wrong and we didn't completely decimate the inside of that building. I grasped the small device used for timeline traveling tightly in my hand. Videl looked at me speedily and the two androids kept their distance as we said our goodbyes.

"I was so worried about this, you know," she said quietly. "As I felt myself grow more and more attached to you, I knew this would be difficult. I hardly know you, yet I feel-"

I sighed and held up a hand to silence her words. "I know. We've been over this. It'll be okay, I promise." I placed my hand on her cheek. "I don't want to be what keeps you from finding someone else though." The words were hard to say because she was still my girlfriend after all, just in an alternate universe.

Surprisingly enough, the tough and stubborn girl that I knew and loved allowed a few tears to escape and roll down her cheeks. "But I really like you, Gohan. I wish I could've gotten to know you even better because I think that we..." She trailed off. "I didn't expect it to be this difficult."

I tugged on the ugly metal bracelet that had helped me to find my lost memories and slid it off of my wrist and placed it on hers. "There. Something to remind you of me. But you are going to move on, you know."

"I know," she said dejectedly. "All the time I spent with you was so stressful, but it was also thrilling and fun and unbelievable and dangerous. I'm going to miss both you and this wild adventure."

"If you're looking for more wild adventures and danger, then maybe you should give 17 a chance after all," I joked with a small laugh. It was weird. I shouldn't be telling my girlfriend to give other guys a chance!

She snorted as she looked back at the android-cyborg. "Yeah right. Although, his sister seems to be interested in you too. Are you going to say anything to her?"

I nodded and gestured for the two to join me and Videl. They walked over and I began to speak. "17 and 18, I'm going to be leaving now. I trust that you will not disrupt the peace in this world? In my world, although the two of you started out rough, you actually ended up being not too bad."

"What are we like in your world?" 18 asked with curiosity.

I wasn't sure how to explain this to her without being too awkward. "Different, yet somewhat similar. You, 18, eventually get married to one of my good friends named Krillin. You guys even have a kid. As for you 17, I don't really know much. I think you stay out of trouble, and that's the important thing. Rumor has it that you're a park ranger."

18 seemed surprised to hear this about herself. "Krillin...?"

I nodded quickly. "I'm sure he exists in this timeline too. I don't know what he's like here, but in my universe he's...an interesting fellow. If you get the chance, definitely get to know him better."

I looked over at 17. I didn't exactly want to give him permission to date my girlfriend. I just smiled and said, "I hope you find someone too, 17."

The nice thing was, without even pestering me about Videl or saying anything to Videl herself, he said thanks. Then a large grin filled his face as he shouted loudly, "I'm a park ranger! Whoo hoo! And you're just a mom, 18!"

His sister rolled her eyes, and we all laughed. The two initially seemed a little bit surprised at my kind attitude toward them because they had been sent out to capture us earlier, but they seemed to accept my kindness graciously.

I held out the device. "Well, this is goodbye." I narrowed my eyes at the several buttons and the little screen that had all managed to fit onto such a small thing. "Are you two familiar with Dr. Gero's technology."

"We are Dr. Gero's technology," 17 said, hoping to get another laugh from us. He only got an eye roll from his sister.

She sighed. "What he means is, yes we are somewhat familiar with this kind of stuff."

"Then do you guys know how to operate this thing?" I asked, pointing to the device.

18 snatched it out of my hand and began to examine it. "Well, um, you first need to power it on..." Her fingers hovered over several deferent buttons as she tried to figure which one turned on the power. She tapped a green one, which miraculously was the power switch.

"So now what do you do?" Videl asked slowly.

The blonde android narrowed her eyes at the device and answered Videl as she began to examine it some more. "I'm trying to figure that out..." She looked at all the buttons before exclaiming, "I got it!"

17 looked closer at what his sister was doing. "Right now it says that Dimension 412168 is the destination if you look at the screen."

My face lit up, and Videl's fell. We both knew I would be leaving now. Although I didn't want to just leave her here alone, it was time for me to return home to my Videl and the rest of my friends and family. "I bet it's still set to my universe from when Dr. Gero last went there."

18 pressed another button and a line that resembled a laser beam shot out of the device. She dropped it out of surprise, and the beam shot high into the sky. A swirling portal opened above us, exactly like the one that Gero used to travel to my world.

I looked around at the people around me and gave one last smile goodbye. "Goodbye everybody. Now that the portal's opened, I'm officially leaving. Android 17 and 18, don't get into too much trouble. And Videl...keep that device in case anything ever happens again and you need my assistance. I'll...see you in my world."

Those words sound familiar... I recalled my failed attempts from earlier to return to my universe. But this is for real.

I flew up toward the portal as everyone on the ground called out, "Goodbye!" I waved down to them, surprised that they all waved back, even the androids. I flew closer and closer and thought about how the twin androids in this world didn't seem too bad after all. I took a deep breath in and a deep breath out before entering the portal home.

My time in this universe was over.

(At the Red Ribbon Army Complex...)

No one stirred. Nothing happened. Only silence reverberated throughout the building. Although the building itself was still in tact, all of the offices and important rooms were destroyed. The few people and androids who were employed evacuated with odd happiness warming their insides. Gero's reign of terror was finally over. Nobody really liked him all that much.

Supposedly the city had been protected by the androids, but it was now that the human-like machines didn't have to follow Dr. Gero's harsh orders, that it was truly at peace. Local law enforcement could pick up from where they had left off, which was before the mad scientist had taken everything over. Everything would finally return to its relatively normal state.

Kind of bittersweet in my opinion. Chapter 10 (AKA the epilogue) will be out next week and is very short. It will also be the last update for this story! Thanks for reading guys! And thanks for all the support you've shown this story!

-TOW

P.S. I put up a poll asking about what story I should write next. Check it out please!