Chichi gasped. The new gi she had been working on fell to the kitchen floor. Bulma and Mr. Satan rushed to her side.
"What is it?" Bulma asked, placing an arm around her.
"I-I'm not sure," Chichi stuttered. "Goku…something's wrong." She bit down on her thumb.
"Just try to stay calm," Mr. Satan said. "You're just feeling anxious. It's no surprise considering what's been going on."
Chichi didn't say anything. All she did was reach down and pick up the blue fabric at her feet. Bulma and Mr. Satan watched her for a few moments and then retreated to outside the kitchen to where Yamcha was waiting. It had been decided that Yamcha along with Eighteen would stay behind to help the noncombatants evacuate incase things went south.
"This could be bad," Bulma whispered.
"What do you mean?" Mr. Satan asked.
Bulma leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath. "When Vegeta died fighting Buu, I got a similar feeling."
Yamcha thought back to when that had happened, and remembered how out of it she had been at the time. "This can't be good then," he muttered.
"Wait." Mr. Satan threw a quick look inside the kitchen to make sure that Chichi couldn't hear them. He leaned close to Bulma and whispered, "Please tell me you don't think Goku is dead."
"I really, really hope he isn't," Bulma said.
"We have a new problem." The three of them turned to see Eighteen coming towards them. "Goten and Trunks are gone," she said.
Bulma banged the back of her head against the wall. "Damn it," she muttered and peeked into the kitchen one more time. "We'll keep an eye on Chichi. Will you go get them?"
Eighteen shrugged. "No problem, but if those two throw a tantrum I may have to knock some heads."
"Do what you need to," Bulma replied. "But just so you know I want a shot at them too."
Silence hung in the air and remained there for a few moments. When Gohan finally spoke, it took all of his willpower. "Don't try to feed us that crap! Tell us where my dad is!"
"Gohan, shut up," Vegeta ordered.
"No, I'll answer that," the Master said. He pinned Gohan with a cold stare. "Your father is dead boy. From here on out, I'm Son Goku."
"I don't believe that!" Gohan shouted. "Where is he?"
"Gohan."
The young Saiyan felt a strong grip on his shoulder. He looked back to see Piccolo with a strained look on his face. He shook his head.
The sense of despair in Gohan's gut became larger. He reached out and tried to detect his father's ki. There was no energy to be found, only the clone staring at him.
Something inside of him snapped. "You bastard, you killed my father!" Gohan's energy exploded outward. The shockwaves sent Piccolo spiraling backwards into Trunks. The Master took up a defense stance as Gohan rushed him.
"That idiot!" Vegeta shouted and charged after him. Piccolo, Krillin, and Trunks followed suit.
Gohan was right on top of his target when an orange blur blindsided him. Pain shot up and down his spine as he tried to regain his equilibrium. "N-now what?" he stammered. He looked up at his attacker.
For the briefest of moments the despair in his gut began to disappear. Between him and the Master, was his father.
Then that despair returned ten fold. It wasn't his father who had attacked him, but the second clone, the Servant. Even worse he was wearing his father's gi.
"Welcome back," the Master said to his underling. "Back to full strength? That didn't take long." He looked at Vegeta and the others. "Gero was just as thorough with our recuperative abilities as he was with everything else."
The others were just as speechless as Gohan was. "Just how did he get his hands on Son's gi?" Piccolo asked.
"Wait," Krillin said and pointed at the Servant's chest. There was an insignia on the left side of the uniform. "The gi Goku was wearing didn't have any markings on it."
"Okay so he didn't take it off Son's dead body," Piccolo said. "How did he get it?"
"That doesn't matter!" Vegeta shouted. He turned his attention to the Master – or as he preferred to be called, Son Goku. "You killed Kakarrot? I hope you're ready to experience hell before you die!" Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan 2, surrounding himself in a brilliant golden aura and blue lightning.
The Master smiled and braced himself for Vegeta's attack. Unbeknownst to either of them though, the Saiyan prince's transformation had set the other clone off. Gohan completely forgotten, the Servant charged straight at Vegeta.
Vegeta grunted as he shifted from an aggressive stance to defensive. The clone's ferocity had shot through the ceiling since their last encounter, and that was more unnerving than seeing him in that orange gi.
The two warriors clashed. Gohan watched as the pair exchanged blows, his brain trying to bring his body up to speed. Unfocused, he didn't notice "Son Goku" charging at him. Piccolo did, however. The Namekian dove between them and blocked a blow that would have taken Gohan's head off.
The sound of bone smashing against bone cleared Gohan's mind. "Piccolo!" he shouted.
"Will you focus!" Piccolo shouted and shoved "Son Goku" away. He rubbed his arm where he had been hit. "I know I trained you better than this!"
"S-sorry!" Gohan said as his mind kicked into battle ready. "I've got this guy."
"Is that so?" asked "Son Goku" with a laugh. "We'll see boy."
Gohan response to the clone's remarks was to transform like Vegeta had. "Good," Piccolo said. He looked up at the others. "Krillin, give us a hand! Trunks, go help Vegeta!"
Piccolo's sudden order surprised Krillin, but he recovered quickly. "R-right!" he acknowledged.
Trunks acknowledged in similar fashion. "I'm on it!" he shouted
The duo split up to attack their designated targets. Piccolo looked back at the clone and held up his right fist. "I haven't forgotten what you did to me during when we first met. Time for some payback."
Thousands of kilometers away, Goten and Trunks were en route to Metro Central. Even at this range the energy was intense.
"Man oh man," Trunks muttered. "The last time I felt anything like this was when your Dad turned Super Saiyan 3 against Buu."
Goten nodded quietly.
Trunks looked back him. "Something wrong?"
"Huh? Um…" The young boy came to a stop. Trunks did the same. "I…I can't sense my Dad's energy anymore. Not even a little."
"What?" Trunks asked. He focused on the distant energy. His father, as well as Gohan and the others were there, but Goku's ki wasn't. He looked back at his frightened friend. "I wouldn't worry yet. I mean there's still a lot of that strange energy that exploded before. We might not be able to sense your Dad with it all around." He smiled his most reassuring smile.
"Are you sure?" Goten asked, his face brightening a little.
"Positive," Trunks said slapping his shoulder. "Now come on! We won't know anything until we get there so let's go!"
"Right!" Goten shouted.
"No."
Both boys jumped at the newcomer's voice. They slowly turned around. Floating behind them with her arms crossed like some kind of dark angel was Artificial Human Eighteen.
"I think it's a little past your bedtime boys," she said in a quiet voice.
Trunks gulped and acted on instinct. He grabbed Goten and shot away at Super Saiyan speed.
The sudden maneuver caught Eighteen off guard, but she quickly gave chase. "HEY! You boys get your asses back here!"
"Son Goku" braced himself as his opponents rushed in. Gohan and Piccolo attacked from the fore while Krillin moved to outflank him. Drawing on the late Goku's experience with fighting multiple opponents, he moved to intercept the blows coming from all three directions.
Fending off Krillin's and Piccolo's assults was easy enough, but Gohan was proving to be a more difficult foe. Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be any problem. However, his body was still reeling in pain after using the Genki-dama, and he had used a large amount of energy in his fight with the original Goku.
The best way to fight Gohan would be one on one.
All three fighters moved to strike at the same time. "Son Goku" saw his opening and took it. In the instant before any of the blows connected the clone released a kiai that stunned Gohan and the others.
It was time to go on the offensive. "Son Goku" turned his attention behind him where Krillin was recovering and attacked. Krillin didn't even have a chance to think about defending himself.
Piccolo cursed and moved in to try and aid his beleaguered ally. Which was exactly what the clone had been hoping for. Just as Piccolo was right on top of him, "Son Goku" snapped two fingers to his forehead and vanished.
"What the-?" Krillin shouted and flinched as he saw Piccolo coming at him. Piccolo grunted and managed to stop himself before he could hit him.
"Where did he go?" Piccolo snapped, his eyes moving side to side.
"Piccolo! Above you!"
In response to Gohan's warning, Piccolo and Krillin looked up, but they were a moment too lat. "Son Goku" smashed into them, a wicked smile forming on his face as he felt bones snap beneath him. Both Krillin and Piccolo went spiraling to the smoldering remains of the forest below. The clone formed an orb of intensely compacted ki and sent it flying after them.
"Son Goku" watched as his blast closed in on its target, but the satisfaction he felt turned to annoyance as Gohan dove in front of the energy missile and, with a swift swipe of the arm, deflect it. The blast shot away at an angle, calculated away from Metro Central, and struck the ground with explosive force.
Piccolo managed to bring himself and Krillin to a stop and they untangled themselves. He glared up at the clone. Gohan held up a hand to stop the Namekian from retaliating. "Please, you guys just stay back," he said. "From here on out, I'm fighting alone."
"Like hell!" Piccolo shouted.
Krillin grabbed his arm. "Wait Piccolo! You know as well as I do that Gohan's our best chance to take this guy down!" Piccolo frowned as he considered Krillins words. "Think of it this way," he continued. "If it's true Goku is dead, then Gohan deserves a chance at revenge."
Taking a deep breath, all the tension left Piccolo's body. He looked back at Krillin and nodded. Then he turned his attention to Gohan. "I'm still your master boy, so I expect you to show me the proper respect."
Gohan flinched and looked back at Piccolo. "S-sorry," he said sheepishly
The harshness in Piccolo's face melted into a smile and he flashed a thumbs up. "Take him apart."
The young Saiyan let out a breath and flew up towards the clone. He came to a top a few meters away and took up a ready stance.
"Son Goku" laughed. "Thanks for your help. I'm surprised that you would be so willing to fight a man with your father's face."
"If you have my father's memories then it shouldn't be that hard to understand," Gohan replied with a smirk. "When Ginyu stole my dad's body that didn't stop me from fighting him. Your appearance is the only my dad. Killing you will in no way harm him." His face darkened as anger crept into his voice. "Besides, I have a vendetta."
"We'll see how that turns out," "Son Goku" muttered. "I killed your father; I overcame his power! How far will your vendetta drive you?"
Gohan's smile didn't falter. "Let me show you something interesting," he said barely a whisper. The air around him suddenly exploded outward. The young Saiyan shouted and a pure white aura materialized around him. His hair stuck up on end and his features sharpened.
At first "Son Goku" thought he turning into a Super Saiyan, but Gohan's hair and eyes didn't change color. He watched in awe. What is it with these people?
Trunks transformed and smashed into the Servant with a flying kick giving Vegeta a reprieve from the assault. Unfortunately, his father wasn't as grateful as he could have been.
"What do you think you're doing?" Vegeta snapped. "I didn't ask for your help!"Trunks flinched, but Vegeta didn't relent. "A true Saiyan would rather fight alone and die than rely on someone else!"
"Enough!" Trunks shouted. A brief look of surprise crossed Vegeta's face at his son's defiance. Trunks gathered his resolve. "I'm not letting you fight alone!" he continued. "I already lost my father once, and I'm sure as hell not going to lose you again!" He took a deep breath. "Besides I'm not a true Saiyan."
Vegeta remained silent for a moment. He opened his mouth to reply, but it was then that the Servant retaliated – against Trunks.
The young man had been too distracted to properly defend himself. The clone broke through his guard with ease and began to brutalize him with a fierce combination of punches. Vegeta growled and jumped into the fray. Kneading his fingers together, he smashed his fists into the Servant's back forcing him away from his son.
Trunks recovered and looked at his father with a stunned look on his face.
Vegeta saw the look and immediately turned towards the clone. "Let's just say I know how you feel," he said quickly. "I don't want to lose my son again too."
Age 753
"Curse it!"
Dr. Gero smashed his hands on the table sending blueprints and other documents into the air. Heaving a sigh, the old man sat back in his chair and looked around the cave he was using as a secret laboratory.
The doctor had come to a crossroads with his research. He had succeeded in obtaining a sample of Son Goku's DNA during the Tenkaichi Budokai. Unfortunately, using the sample to create a practical clone had proven to be a major headache.
The actual conception wasn't a problem, but it would be years before his creation would be fully developed. Chances were that Dr. Gero would die of old age before then.
Then there was the issue of personality. An ambitious clone might try to rebel against him, while a clone lacking that trait might lose control of its power and go on a blind rampage.
Gero took a sip of his coffee and looked back at the blueprints. Son Goku's DNA itself was something of a mystery. There were several anomalies that weren't present in an average human's DNA.
"This is getting me nowhere," he muttered. The doctor continued to stare blankly at his notes trying to think of what to do next. Building Artificial Humans had never been this much of a challenge. Unfortunately that wasn't going any better. Number Sixteen was a failure just like the fifteen before it; the thing was too overpowered.
It was then that a thought occurred to Gero. "What if I used Goku's DNA as a base for an Artificial Human? A machine built using organic material would in theory be able handle the power needed to kill that detestable boy." And why stop there? If I could gather more DNA samples from other great fighters...I could create the most powerful being in the known universe! A wicked smile crept onto his face.
Gero stood up and moved towards one of the lab's terminals to begin calculations. Halfway there he stopped and looked back at the blueprints. He had put months into the work already and it would be a waste just to abandon it.
He decided to put his Supercomputer on the job. In case this new project failed to produce fruit, at least he would have something to fall back on.