Piccolo flexed the fingers of his new right hand. There were no obvious flaws in any of the tissue or muscle. Regenerating an entire arm was a real pain. "Now then. I'm going to pay that bastard back by ripping off his head."
Goku's ki had risen sharply in the last few minutes, meaning that the fight with the clone was getting intense. Two additional ki had appeared too. One definitely belonged to Vegeta, but the other wasn't familiar. It felt similar to the clone's energy, however, so that probably was not a good thing.
"I'm out of commission for all of ten minutes, and everything falls apart," Piccolo muttered. He jumped into the air. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt if I mix things up myself."
The air around Piccolo's body exploded outward as he flew away at superspeed, straight for the source of Goku's ki.
Goku braced himself as his opponent closed in. The servent clone let loose with a torrent of punches and kicks. It was all he could do just to defend. Offense wasn't even a considerable option.
As the two fighters clashed, something occurred to Goku. This guy is coming at me with everything he has. When he had exchanged blows with the master clone, it was obvious that he had been restraining himself. This clone, however, wasn't holding anything back.
For the briefest moment, a hole in the servant's assault opened up. Goku saw it and took it. Before he could land a blow, his opponent ceased his attack, dropped under Goku's punch, and renewed his barrage. Goku wasn't able to put back up his guard in time and took the brunt of it. With a grunt, he backed out of the servant's attack range. He panted heavily as the clone geared himself for a second assault.
Goku needed to buy himself time to recover. "I-I don't understand. How many clones of me did Gero make?"
"Only one," the servant said casually. Then he charged again.
Vegeta was having similar trouble with his opponent. He grounded his feet in as the master clone tackled him. Both crashed into a stack of crates and went down in a jumble. The master got to his feet first and smashed his foot down on Vegeta's chest. The Saiyan prince heaved as the air was forced out of his lungs.
"Is this really all you have to offer?" asked the master. "It's no wonder you were killed by machines in my time."
The pain on Vegeta's face vanished, replaced by a confident smirk. "Sorry to disappoint you. Try this instead." The clone grunted as Vegeta's energy exploded outward, sending him flying.
Vegeta got to his feet and jumped after him. The master slammed into the hanger wall. He looked up in time to see Vegeta unleash a barrage of ki blasts. The energy missiles struck their target, disintegrating the hanger wall in the process. Vegeta walked outside where the clone was recovering.
"How was that?" he asked.
The master inspected were the fabric of his gi had torn. "I stand corrected. You're definitely stronger than when you fought Cell."
Vegeta's gaze narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"
"Essentially, my data is out of date," the master said. "I haven't seen any of your progress during the last nine years of this timeline."
"D-data?" Vegeta asked. "If you're from another timeline, then how the hell do you know about the events of this one?"
The master smiled. "Any other questions while we're at it?" he asked. "Like where the clone fighting Goku came from, or how I even came to this timeline?"
Anger was beginning to build in Vegeta's chest. "You son of a… Tell me everything. NOW!"
"Easy, Vegeta," the master said. "I might as well start with both of our origins." He pointed back at the hanger where Goku and the servant were still fighting. "That clone is the one from Trunks's timeline. He was the one who attacked him and stole his Time Machine to come here."
"So where are you from?" asked Vegeta. "You said yourself that you're not from this time.
"No, I'm not," the master confirmed. "I'm from Cell's timeline."
One piece of the puzzle fell into place. Vegeta didn't know much about the mechanics of time, but he did know that Trunks's visits to the past had caused two additional timelines to split off from his own. This time was one of them. In the other, Cell had killed Trunks and stole his Time Machine so he could come to the past.
"Three years after Goku destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, Dr. Gero began working to create a clone from DNA collected by spy robots," the master continued. "Originally, Gero wanted to create a clone of Son Goku. After all, who would be a better match for Goku than himself?
"The cloning process was flawless. However, our design soon became obsolete. Shortly after our conception, Gero came up with the plans for a biogenetic artificial human."
"Cell," Vegeta said.
The master nodded. "The spy robots' programming was reset to collect DNA from other great fighters. Still, Gero didn't give up on his clone. He set his computer to finish our creation, his first priority being Cell. Eventually Gero moved on to #17 and #18, his plan being to allow Cell to absorb them and become perfect.
"However, Dr. Gero was killed before he could perfect any of his creations." The master took a deep breath and pinned Vegeta with a chilling look. "Now, this is where things get interesting. Are you familiar with what a computer virus is?"
Vegeta looked incredulous. "Of course I do. I know the Saiyans aren't highly advanced as a species technologically, but we did achieve space flight. Not to mention my wife's company creates the most advanced computers on this planet. I'm surprised you know, considering who you're a clone of."
The master held up his hands. "Hey, relax! I was just asking a question. You see, without Gero to maintain them, the security programs on his computers degraded, and a random virus infected the systems assigned to the clone project. The virus rearranged the priority protocols, and as a result my creation was given priority over Cell."
"If that's so, then why was Cell the first to show up?" asked Vegeta.
"Cell was nothing more than a means to gather more data," the master said. "I doubt he knew it, but the virus had a special transmitter installed inside him. All the information collected by Cell's senses was transmitted back to the computer to be used by me. Even the barrier between timelines couldn't break the link between us.
"When Cell sensed Goku's energy for the first time, so did I. It was a feeling that stayed with me; even in a different dimension I could feel his power. Of course that feeling vanished when Goku died. So when I finally emerged, you can imagine my surprise that I was able to sense it again. And it wasn't just him. I was also able to sense the clone in Trunks's timeline as well. Because we were created before the timelines split there are one of us for each one."
"Well that explains it."
The master noticed Goku standing just inside the broken hanger wall. He was still facing the servant with his back to them, but was close enough to hear their conversation. The servant stood a few meters away with a look of impatience on his face. "You're able to sense energy in different timelines?" Goku asked.
"Thanks to Cell," the master said. "When he used the Time Machine, the Super Computer was able to break down the physics of crossing dimensions. That information was then added to my knowledge. It really isn't that difficult when you understand it."
"Enough talk!" the servant clone screamed and attacked Goku again.
The master shook his head as the two warriors battled inside the hanger. "My servant is useful, but my programming is superior. We both are driven to fight, but I'm the ambitious one; to my knowledge, that clone wasn't affected by a virus. Fighting is all he cares about. I used to be the same way. After running amuck in my time for five years, I decided to give myself a purpose: to become Son Goku by killing the real one. I knew I couldn't handle the job of fighting all of you alone so I contacted my servant right after he emerged from his conception chamber. The physics of the dimensions can be applied to telepathy the same way it can be to sensing energy."
"So you told him to come to this timeline so you could kill Kakarrot together," Vegeta guessed.
"Correct," the master said.
"That leaves one last question," Vegeta said. "The Time Machine in your timeline was taken by Cell. So how did you get here?"
The master smiled. "I think that's enough. I have a question for you now."
Vegeta was taken aback. "W-what?"
"After I kill Goku, I plan on taking his name and running wild across the galaxy. You still have your Saiyan instincts; I'm sure an adventure like that would appeal to you. What do you say? Wanna join us?"
Vegeta was silent for a moment. In all honesty in a secret corner of his mind it did. He smiled. "You would allow me to join you."
"Of course!" the master said, his voice hopeful.
"However, if I did join, then I would be serving under you," Vegeta said.
"Well, yes. This is my operation afterall."
Vegeta's smile dripped with malice. "So just to be straight, you want me, Vegeta, to serve under you, Goku."
A concerned look passed over the master's face as he realized where the conversation was headed.
"What the hell do you take me for?" shouted Vegeta as he charged. He slugged the clone hard sending smashing through a stack of barrels near the hanger.
The master rubbed his cheek as he stood up. "I guess that's a no."
"Maybe your offer does appeal to me," Vegeta spat. "However I will never submit to anyone, especially not to a man calling himself Son Goku."
"So be it," the master said with a touch of anger and attacked.