Age 767 – Alternate Timeline
With unchanging icy eyes, Seventeen ripped his arm out of Gero's chest. The doctor's body jerked forward; his blood was now gushing out. He crashed to the floor without even a grunt.
His vision blurring, Gero could only make out the mangled bits of the emergency controller. As darkness began to cover everything, a final thought entered his mind. Fools…they have no idea the horror that awaits them… A flicker of comfort was the last thing Gero felt before everything ended.
Seventeen stared at the corpse at his feet with a mixture of satisfaction and disgust. "Good night, you stupid old bastard," he snarled. The madman who had turned him and his sister into cybernetic monsters was no more.
Only the monsters remained.
Unbeknownst to either of them however, was what else remained. Deep underground, protected from the Artificial Humans, a secret computer called the Antithesis, long forgotten by its creator continued to fulfill its programming.
To create the perfect clone of Son Goku.
Time passed. The computer's security systems slowly decayed until a random virus infected it, causing a sharp increase in Antithesis's intelligence and processing power. The conception program was completely rewritten, information from the Supercomputer was absorbed by Antithesis and added to its databanks, and new properties were added to clone's make-up. The mysteries behind the anomalies in Goku's DNA were unraveled and used to make the clone more aggressive.
The Saiyan characteristics in his genes were resequenced making the clone even more driven to fight than any of his kind had ever been. Next, Antithesis created an uplink to the Supercomputer and installed a receiver in Cell's program. The bio-android would awaken to the world before the clone; in the meantime, Antithesis could use it to gather data and continue to improve the Goku clone.
Finally, twenty-one years after Gero's death, Trunks killed Cell and brought peace to his beleaguered world.
Age 776
An explosion lit the sky as Vegeta blasted the Servant at close range. Smoke billowed in front of him for a moment, giving Vegeta a chance to catch his breath. It didn't last long; the clone charged out of the smoke and grabbed his throat. Vegeta choked and tried to pry away his fingers, but his grip didn't falter. The Servant smiled viciously and squeezed harder.
Feeling the cartilage begin to snap, Vegeta changed tactics. He raised his arm up and brought it down elbowing the Servant's face. The clone grunted and released his neck. Vegeta tried to take advantage of his dazed opponent, but his strike hadn't done as much damage as he hoped. There was a sickening crack as the toes of the Servant's boot connected with his chin, sending him reeling back.
Snarling, Vegeta spat out a glob of blood. What the hell is with this guy? No matter how hard I hit him, he doesn't slow down!
The Servant rushed in again, but suddenly Trunks grabbed the back of his gi, snapping him back like a seatbelt. The youth then shifted around to the fore of his opponent and, with all the strength he could muster, smash kicked him. The clone went spiraling toward the earth.
Vegeta took a deep breath and rubbed his bruised chin. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked his son.
"Sorry," Trunks said as he pulled off his ruined coat. "It took me a while to get up after that last blast. I've never fought anyone this strong before."
"I guess it can't be helped," Vegeta muttered. "We've had more time to train than you since the Cell Games."
The aftershock of released ki interrupted them. They both looked down to see the Servant closing in.
Trunks cursed and held up a hand to fire an energy blast, but Vegeta grabbed his wrist before he could.
"Hang on. I have an idea, but I need you to run cover for me," he said quickly. "When I give the word, you get the hell away from him as fast as you can, got it?"
Unsure what his father was planning, Trunks just nodded. Charging his aura, the youth moved in to intercept the clone.
Vegeta gathered his energy. His lips turned into a tight smirk. "Now for a special spin on an old classic."
"I've done it!"
Bulma's sudden outcry echoed off the computer lab's walls causing the others to jump. Yamcha was the first to recover. "You cracked open Gero's file?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course," Bulma said, spinning from her terminal to face them. "Don't tell me you doubted my skill."
Mr. Satan stepped forward and looked at the display. "So, is there anything in here that's gonna help us?"
"Let's find out!" Bulma turned back to the computer and began to browse through the directory. "This looks like a good place to start," she said, opening a file labeled "BASE."
A moment later, she realized she had actually opened a Pandora's box.
The terminal display froze and the built-in speakers began to emit a high pitch buzzing. Everyone jumped again, and this time Bulma joined in. "Oh hell!" she bit out.
"W-what?" Chichi exclaimed. "What's going on?"
"There was a virus in the data file," Bulma explained quickly as she jumped to another console and began to furiously attack the keyboard. "It transferred over to Capsule Corp.'s server and now it's trying to infect our system!"
"You can stop it, right?" Yamcha asked.
"Shut up!" Bulma snapped causing him to flinch. "Let me concentrate!"
The others were silent as Bulma worked; the only sound in the lab was the tapping on the keyboard. Finally after a minute that seemed to drag on endlessly, the tapping stopped and Bulma leaned back in her chair. She blew out a breath.
"We're good," she said, giving a thumbs up. "I was able to delete it before it could do any damage."
A thought occurred to Yamcha. "Wait, didn't Goku mention that those clones were affected by viruses?"
"Well it looks like this one was infected too," Bulma said. She moved back to the other terminal and typed a few keys. A moment later the display was unfrozen and the buzzing stopped. "Alright, let's try this one more time."
Opening the file again, Bulma began to skim over its contents: fighting specs and personality programming. "N-no way…" she suddenly gasped.
"What now?" Yamcha asked a little wary of another outburst.
Bulma turned around and looked at them with a face full of disbelief. "You guys aren't gonna believe this."
Crossing his arms in front of him, Trunks braced himself as the Servant drove his fist at the center of his chest. With a small grunt and a large effort Trunks managed to keep himself in place. Had he not blocked, that punch easily would've run him through.
The Servant growled and raised his other fist.
"Trunks! Move it now!"
Vegeta's sudden command drew the Servant's attention for a split second giving Trunks his opening. Pushing the clone's fist out of the way, he fired a kiai at his face sending him out of range. Then Trunks gunned away.
Steadying himself, the Servant stopped his flight and looked up at the Saiyan prince.
Vegeta's aura was shinning brighter than ever and he had a single hand outstretched. "Die, you Saiyan wannabe! Big Bang Attack!"
There was a brilliant flash, then an orb of blue-white energy shot out of Vegeta's aura and dropped towards the clone.
The Servant only harrumphed and turned so the front of his body completely faced the blast. Waiting until the last second the clone shifted his weight and shifted out of the way; the energy ball shot passed him, missing by a few centimeters.
"D-damn it!" Trunks shouted. Vegeta, however, smiled.
A sonic boom rippled through the air as the Servant charged towards his attacker. Still smiling, Vegeta clenched his fist. The forgotten Big Bang orb suddenly stopped and burst open.
And out of the explosion, flew hundreds of energy missiles, all of which were on a reverse course.
The Servant felt the spike in ki and spun around. A split second later the missiles struck their target. A huge flash of light lit up the sky.
Vegeta's aura dissipated and he began panting. Trunks floated up beside him. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"I put a lot into that one," Vegeta said, and then gestured at the fading smoke bellow. "I'm sure he's in worse condition then me."
Trunks looked down. He couldn't make out any clear ki because the air was saturated with the energy from his father's blast, forcing him to rely on sight. Finally the smoke cleared and Trunks got a good look at the clone.
His eyes went wide with horror. Vegeta was similarly terrified.
The Servant's arms were slightly raised, his fists clenched, and a red aura was completely engulfing his body.
"H-he used the Kaio-ken," Trunks said, barely a whisper.
Vegeta couldn't find his voice. His reflexes are nearly perfect and when we do hit him, he get's back up. It's like we're fighting the physical manifestation of pure Saiyan spirit.
The red aura vanished, and the Servant ascended up until he was at their eyelevel. He smirked and looked at the silenced Vegeta. "Now just who are you calling a 'Saiyan wannabe'?"
From the sidelines, Krillin and Piccolo watched the battles with shock and awe.
"Th-the Kaio-ken?" Krillin exclaimed.
"He's insane," Piccolo muttered. "At that power level, the Kaio-ken is extremely unstable. It's why Son stopped using it." He turned his attention to the other combatants. "Gohan's in complete control. The Master's energy is fluctuating; he must be more damaged than he looks."
"I hope so," Krillin said looking in Gohan's direction. "We need every advantage we can get."
Both warriors perked as a pair of ki appeared behind them.
"Hey!" a young voice rang out. Piccolo let out a sigh as Goten and Trunks dropped in beside them. "What's up?" Trunks asked.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Piccolo shouted. "We told you to stay at Capsule Corp.!"
"Oh come on, Piccolo!" Trunks said, trying not to flinch. "You need us to add a little pizzazz to the fight!"
"A little pizzazz?"
While Piccolo was trying to prevent himself from strangling Trunks, Krillin noticed a third presence appear behind him. "Oh, hey Eighteen."
Trunks's entire body went rigid.
"Hey Krillin dear," Eighteen said in a deadly low tone. "Help me kill these two brats."
As Trunks struggled to get out of Piccolo and Eighteen's reach, Goten focused on the battle over Metro Central. "Hey, where's my Dad? I can feel Gohan's power, but not Dad's," he said worriedly.
The boy's words instantly captured Piccolo's attention, but he wasn't sure what to say. Krillin lowered his head
"He's alright, isn't he?" Goten pressed. Silence. "Isn't he?" he shouted, his eyes tearing up. He began to whimper.
Krillin finally worked up the courage to look at him. "I'm sorry Goten…" The young boy went completely silent. Trunks gasped and his eyes went wide.
Th-there's no way…" Eighteen managed to get out.
Goten broke down, unable to hold back any of his sobs. Everyone was quiet, unsure of how to comfort the boy. Trunks was the first to try and moved to place a hand on his friend's back.
Just as he touched him, Goten let out a scream full of grief and turned Super Saiyan, sweeping Trunks away.
Piccolo gasped and moved in front of him. "Easy Goten. I know what you're thinking, but don't be reckless."
"MOVE IT!" Goten screamed and shot passed him. Suddenly he jerked back as someone suddenly grabbed his wrist. He looked back and saw Trunks was holding him. "Let me go Trunks! I can't just sit here!"
"I understand!" Trunks yelled back. "But if we're gonna fight this clone, let's at least do it at full power!"
The ferocity in Goten's aura vanished as he realized what Trunks was talking about. "Fusion?" he asked.
Trunks smirked.
Gohan rushed behind his opponent and smashed his back. "Son Goku" cried out in pain as he spiraled down, crashing into one of the ruined skyscrapers in Metro Central.
Debris clattered around him as he slowly managed to get up. The clone had quickly realized he was in real trouble.
I can't keep going like this; I've taken to much damage. Making that Genki-dama must have wounded my soul…every time I use my ki, it's a double-edged sword.
"Son Goku" looked out the nearby window and easily able to see his Servant fighting with Vegeta and Trunks. "I'll have to risk it, and do as my counterpart." He focused in on Gohan's ki. "If I don't finish this with the next strike, I'm done for."
Gohan remained still as he kept all of his sense tuned on the clone's presence inside the skyscraper. "What's he waiting for?" he wondered aloud.
No sooner had the words left his mouth the entire roof of the building was vaporized in an explosion of energy. Out of light "Son Goku" charged at full speed.
"Kaio-ken!" the clone screamed and the trademark red aura engulfed him. Instantly his power and speed doubled.
"Oh hell!" Gohan shouted, knowing he would not be able to throw up a proper defense in time. The distance between them vanished; in an instant the clone was right on top of him.
A loud crack resounded through the air.
King Kai shuffled around his study. "Will you please sit down?" Elder Kai snapped. "Your pacing is driving me up a wall."
"I can't help it!" King Kai shouted, no longer able to remain polite towards his senior. "The entire universe is in danger and I can't do a damn thing about it!"
"Easy," Grand Kai said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "This ordeal has been tough on all of us."
King Kai took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
There was an uneasy silence. Thankfully it was broken by the return of Kibito Shin. Elder Kai was the first to speak. "Well, what happened?"
Kibito Shin had a look of confusion on his face. "Goku wasn't at Yemma's Palace," he said.
"Wh-what?" King Kai exclaimed.
"He never checked in," Kibito Shin continued. "And he wasn't anywhere on the Serpent's Road or the surrounding areas." Slowly his words sunk in.
"So," Elder Kai said carefully, "does that mean…"
A smile spread onto King Kai's face. "Goku must still be alive!"