"What is that thing?"
It didn't matter which one of them had said that aloud as that was the question that was on all of the minds of the saiyan/human group as they stood and stared out of the main window. Before them, a large grey…thing…looked like it was trying to swallow a planet whole. Though they didn't have a view on the other side of the unfortunate world, they had a good idea that the grey ameba-like creature had already covered it.
"Well, that place is lost," Trunks finally said, tearing his eyes off the spectacle and moving towards a chair.
"How can you say that?" Videl demanded, looking at the oddly colored saiyan. "You don't know how long that thing's been trying to eat that planet. It's probably been like that for weeks"
"True, but it could've been doing that for barely five minutes too," Trunks countered.
"He's got a point Videl," Tien agreed. "And it's not like we can go around saving every helpless planet we come across."
"We can at least try," the Satan girl argued.
"We can have a look around," Gohan suggested then. "We can always leave if there's nothing we can do."
"And if there's something we can do?" Trunks asked.
"Then we do it."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
"Quit your bellyaching," Gohan said humorously. "A little bit of exercise won't hurt you."
"That's what you say," the young saiyan grumbled.
Any resistance to the idea ended soon after that, the main opposition being put to rest quite easily. Altering their course, they headed towards the doomed-apparent planet.
"Sixteen, try shooting that thing when we get close," Gohan said, looking over the pilot seats that were currently occupied by the android and Tien.
"Understood," was the giant's reply.
Minutes drug on as the ship closed in on the grey anomaly. The closer they got to it, the more detail they could pick out. To say it was an organism was wrong as a more mechanical design became noticeable. But with the way it moved and acted, one couldn't deny some sentience to it.
It was then that Sixteen activated the ship's main weapons and opened fired, twin purple lasers flying towards the thing. Everyone held their breath as they watched the beams make contact, an explosion of flames erupting.
Before anyone on board could do anything, the grey thing retaliated, several yellow laser beams flying back at them.
Sixteen immediately took evasive maneuvers, dodging as each beam roared by them. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Even though they dodged a few of the beams, the ship was soon being torn apart by the barrage, eruptions rocking the ship. The control room was soon bathed in a red light as an alarm went off.
"Sixteen, get us out of here!" Tien cried out as he braced himself in his chair.
"I can't!" the android shouted back. "Two of our engines have been taken out! The ship can't take too much more damage!"
That was when Gohan took charge of the situation. Somehow managing to keep his position slightly behind the pilot seats, his hands gripping onto the tops of them, the saiyan thrust himself towards the control panel and grabbed the thruster stick. Easing it forward, the ship began making its way towards the planet, despite only using one engine.
"Gohan, what are you doing?!" Tien demanded.
"I'm getting us out of this," the saiyan replied calmly. "We're gonna make it to that planet before the ship is torn apart."
"Are you crazy?!" Goten yelled. "There's no way our ship can make it through the atmosphere!"
"Do you have any better ideas?"
That not only silenced the younger Son, but everyone else in the room. "We'll make up a plan once we're out of this deathtrap," Gohan finally said.
No one protested that decision.
A headache greeted Videl as she awoke. Above her, a green sky hovered, looking down at her sprawled form. Slowly, the dark headed girl pushed herself into a seated position, taking note of the blue grass surrounding her as well as the green waters. If she hadn't known any better, she would've said she was on Namek again.
That, though, she was sure she wasn't. An emergency stop on a planet being consumed by some metallic creature had ended badly as the ship tore itself apart after breaking through the atmosphere. How the Satan girl had survived, she didn't know. The fact that she was now on a doomed planet didn't help matters either.
After awhile, she stood on her feet, albeit wobbly. It took a moment for her to regain her balance, but once she did, she immediately spotted two of her comrades; Trunks and Tien.
There was no sign of anyone else.
Slowly, she approached the men, who were standing at the shore line of the island they were on; looking out towards the horizon. The sound of the blue grass crinkling underneath her boots alerted the two to her awaken presence as they turned their heads to look at her.
"Videl, glad you're awake," Tien greeted her, followed by Trunks nodding his head.
"Thanks," the girl replied. "Where is everyone?"
"Separated in the crash," the bald human answered, turning his gaze back to the horizon. Videl soon stood next to him.
"I hope they're alright," she spoke. "Especially Erasa. She's not fit to handle this kind of situation."
"As long as she's with one of the others, she'll be okay," Trunks said. "Right now though, we need to worry about getting another ship. That's what Gohan or Goten are probably thinking, so we'll meet up sooner or later."
"And where are we gonna look?" Videl asked. "If this place is anything like Namek, I really doubt we'll find some alien base here."
"That thing swallowing the planet probably might have one," Trunks replied. "After getting that close look at it, I really doubt that it's a living creature."
"Shall we get started then?" Tien said.
Compared to the situation of Trunks, Tien, and Videl; Goten, Sixteen, and Erasa's was a lot less favorable. At the moment, the blonde girl was hiding behind the young saiyan's body as he and the android stood in fighting stances.
Before the three, a small group of robots stood. Big and bulky, their white metal exteriors gleamed from the sunlight. They seemed to have a normal body construction with arms, legs, and a head; but there were obvious differences. Their "hands" as it were looked more like three fingered talons as well as their feet. A big red circle glowed in the middle of their faces.
To top it all off, they weren't very friendly.
"These friends of yours?" Goten asked Sixteen.
"Not that I'm aware," was the giant's reply.
"You'll protect me, right Goten?" Erasa asked fearfully.
"I'll try, but you're gonna have to take a few steps back. I can't really fight if you're gonna be hugging my waist the whole time."
Almost immediately, Erasa pulled back her arms, which were holding onto the saiyan as if for dear life. With a slight grin of his face, the saiyan said "Alright Sixteen, let's show these guys what we're made of."
Not waiting for a reply, Goten launched himself at the mysterious robots, his android comrade performing the same action. With each holding an arm back, they threw a punch at the same robot, each blow landing simultaneously.
Neither hit made even a dent.
Suddenly, the red circle of the robot began to flicker for a moment, becoming full soon after. That was when the middle of its chest opened up, revealing a small cannon that was glowing bright yellow.
With a startled yelp from Goten, the saiyan jerked himself out of the line of fire, Sixteen doing the same just as a yellow beam fired from the cannon. A scream from Erasa told the Son boy that the beam had flown quite close to the girl, missing her by mere inches.
Suddenly, one of the robots appeared right behind the saiyan, ramming its shoulder into his back and sending him flying towards Sixteen. In response, the android caught his flying comrade in his arms. That, however, left him wide open for attack as another robot appeared right behind him and slammed a fist into his back, sending him flying towards the ground, landing on top of his ally.
The robots weren't done though. As Sixteen slowly pushed himself off of Goten, he noticed one of them leaping high into the air, aiming to squash the two warriors underneath its bulk.
Reacting, Sixteen threw out one of his hands and fired an energy blast; the beam making contact with its target. To the android's dismay, however, the attack didn't destroy the robot, merely stopping it up in the air for a moment before it fought its way down the blast, intent on smashing the fighters.
Fortunately, Goten and Sixteen didn't stay in that spot for long, both using a burst of speed to disappear from sight, just as the human android gave up on his attack. The indestructible robot landed soon after, its intended mission unfulfilled.
Reappearing, both fighters stood in their original spots, Erasa immediately crawling up to hide behind them once more.
"That wasn't how I expected that to go," Goten said, staring down their metallic opponents.
"I must agree too," Sixteen replied. "They're much stronger than I anticipated."
"That other one even withstood your ki blast. Doesn't leave us very many options."
The android looked towards the saiyan. "That blast wasn't made of ki."
That caught Goten's attention. "What?"
"That blast. It wasn't made of ki. It comes from the central core of my body."
"Is that so?" the Son boy murmured as a plan began to form. "Okay Sixteen, new plan. I'm gonna try something on these buckets of bolts. I want you to stay with Erasa and make sure nothing happens to her. Got it?"
"Understood."
Concentrating, Goten focused his ki into his fists. Hopefully this idea of his would work. If not…well that would be one less option to choose from.
Letting out a war cry, the saiyan warrior charged the robots once more. Drawing back one of his fist, he raced towards the first robot he and Sixteen had attacked. At the last moment, he swung his punch…
…and like a knife cutting butter, his fist tore through the metallic body, pieces of the robot flying in different directions in the saiyan's wake. A small explosion occurred soon after, alerting Goten to the fact he had one less opponent to worry about.
Not hesitating, Goten ran towards the next robot, swinging his other fist, and obtaining the same result as last time. However, this time his robotic opponents had begun moving around, trying to become less easy targets for the warrior.
"Oh no you don't," Goten muttered under his breath as he used a burst of speed to disappear from sight, reappearing as he tore through another robot with his fist.
Before the saiyan or humans knew it, Goten had finished off the troupe of robots; their remains scattered around the battleground as smoke wafted off of them. The Son boy himself stood amidst the wreckage, panting slightly as he caught his breath.
"Goten…" Erasa said. "That was…amazing…"
Sixteen nodded his head slowly in agreement. "How were you able to do that?"
A long moment passed before the saiyan stood up straight and addressed his human comrades. "I focused my ki into my fists just before I attacked them. Should've guessed that would be their weak point from the get go."
That made the android look thoughtful. "So you're the only one among us that can fight these things?"
"From what you told me, yeah. Though I wouldn't recommend fighting every group we run into. It's a bit tiring using one's ki like that."
"We need to keep our presence hidden," the android summed up. "Where are we to head to?"
"If I know Trunks and Gohan, they're gonna make their way to a place to get a ship off of this rock. We should head that way too," Goten said. "And hopefully we don't run into more confrontations."
Gohan stood on top of a rocky edifice, looking out towards the horizon. Behind him, on the island below, the remains of a robot patrol dotted the landscape; faint traces of smoke dying off from the initial fight.
Much like Goten's group, he had also run into a patrol of robots. Fortunately it hadn't taken him long to figure out how to take them out as evidence of the wreckage behind him. That had been the third group he had encountered.
Currently, the saiyan warrior was trying to find the location of his comrades. From what he could tell, Goten had been fighting not too long ago. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if there was anyone with him. It was possible Sixteen was with his brother but he couldn't assume that. It was always good not to assume anything in this circumstance.
Suddenly, he jerked his head to his left. Three power levels were over there and moving, one of them definitely Trunks. Focusing a little bit, he soon discovered Tien and Videl's ki signals moving with him. That was good; at least they all weren't by themselves like he was.
He wouldn't have it any other way.
Though the fighter couldn't detect that blonde girl his brother had been hanging around, he assumed she'd be around one of the warriors. She had an incredible knack for getting into favorable situations.
Once he had determined the status of his friends, he soon turned his attention to another matter. For quite some time, he had been having a gut wrenching feeling. Something wasn't right, but the saiyan just couldn't put his finger on it. What ever it was though, hopefully he was the one to run into it; he didn't want it finding one of his more unprepared compatriots.
Apparently, a deity had been listening to his wishes as he heard the sound of a person landing on the island come from behind him. Turning around, the Son boy was slightly perturbed by that feat. He hadn't even sensed the guy's approach.
Looking up at him, a silver metal man stood. He was of average height and lean. His most defining features were that of his chest, which protruded out from his body further than any person's chest should; two oddly shaped shoulder guards; and his head as the metal formed into something that looked like hair. Though the most obvious thing that stuck out from him were his eyes, or more like his eyeballs; a solid blue color emanating from them.
And then a very familiar, very shrill voice came from his metallic lips.
"Well, I never thought I'd run into saiyan garbage again."
Gohan's eyes widen. While it had been a very brief moment in his life, he knew that voice all too well. Just when you thought you had gotten rid of a Tuffle, they always came back for revenge.
Removing the shock from his system, Gohan narrowed his eyes. "So the humans didn't destroy all of you. Pity."
What ever good spirit the Tuffle had been in disappeared. "No, they didn't. They did do a good job killing the rest of my people though, and I can assure you that I will have my revenge on them once I'm done with you."
Gohan smirked. "That's some tough talk coming from a lowly Tuffle."
"Watch your tongue!" the Tuffle snarled. "I am the Tuffle King Baby and I will crush you monkey!"
"And how will you go about that? Your last attempt doing go over well. Just look at yourself."
Rage was clearly written on Baby's face; his hands visibly shaking in anger. "Yes, I had underestimated the Earthlings. I was left floating out in space half dead after the attack. Fortunately, the Big Gete Star found me. Through it I have reconstructed my body, making myself even more powerful than you can dream."
"The Big Gete Star?" Gohan questioned.
That caused the Tuffle to smirk. "That's right monkey. You didn't notice it gobbling up this planet from space? I thought you would since you attacked it."
The saiyan narrowed his eyes. "So that's what that thing is. And I guess you came to find out who was on the ship."
"That is correct."
"And your plans with this star?"
"That's easy," Baby responded. "I will consume each planet I find with it and use the natural resources of it to increase my power. Once I've established my ultimate power, I'll return the Tuffle race to greatness!"
"That's what you think," Gohan said slowly settling into a fighting stance. "Your days are numbered low life; I'll see to it myself."
And with that, the saiyan launched himself at his opponent.