Cyborg Gothic
Part 4
"Hey, look" Seventeen called out "A house!"
Indeed it was a house and it was in the middle of some woods for some reason. Goku had friends thus he didn't strike me as the hermit type. My only theory was that he lived out here in order to be far away from his legions of adoring fans.
"Is this the place, Sixteen?" Seventeen then inquired of the android.
Hopefully we had found the right place as taking that van off road had not been a fun thing. I couldn't suffer from motion sickness any more, and I had no stomach so I wasn't able to vomit. Yet I'd had still found it very unpleasant.
"Yes" the hulking android answered from the back of the van "This is Goku's place of residence".
I muttered a short thanks to whatever deity there was for cyborgs that we finally gotten here. Not that other parts of the trip hadn't been fun, but I'd decided to go for with Eighteen, and that required some time alone. Which weren't going to get until this mission was over.
"Okay then everybody out" I said.
Our little group didn't have a leader, but no one seemed to mind me taking charge when I wanted to. I was the most powerful in the team so it kinda made sense for to be in command.
We all climbed out of the van, and I was grateful for the chance to stretch my legs after spending so much time sitting down. Apparently I was still organic enough to get muscle cramps.
"Come on there's no way this is his place" Eighteen was now saying "I mean, look at it"
Goku's house wasn't much to look at. It was more of a hut than anything else. But it was a peaceful place so I could see the attraction in living in these parts if a person was into that sort of thing.
However what really mattered was that smoke could be seen rising from the chimney. This suggested that either someone was home or that they had been here recently, and therefore might return soon as it was unwise to leave a fire unattended.
Also it could mean that Goku had left in a hurry as wasn't coming back. So now I was thinking that maybe it wasn't that important after all.
"Son Goku is not here." Sixteen's announced "I cannot sense him".
Since I was in no rush to kill anyone I didn't mind hearing this news. I just hoped that we wouldn't leave too soon. I really didn't want to get back in the van.
"What do you mean he's not here" Seventeen asked of Sixteen "You said he was here. We followed your directions".
Well being told to go north hadn't been much help, but we had gotten here and Sixteen was in no way responsible for any delays.
"He was here" the android explained to us "Very recently. However he has now changed location. He is heading east".
Which meant if we hadn't stopped off at that bar then we'd would have caught up with him. Still I didn't regret stopping for a drink as it had been interesting to discover that while I couldn't eat I could at least get a nice buzz going from booze.
"We should leave now" Sixteen suddenly said "It is no longer safe here".
Unless someone had fired a nuke at us there was nothing to worry about. So far no one we'd come up against had been anything more than a passing amusement.
"Run away if you want" Seventeen replied with a snort "But I'm not leaving until I know for sure that Goku isn't here".
It would be embarrassing to later find out that he'd been in bed taking a nap, and that we could have easily killed him in his sleep.
"I advise escape" Sixteen urged "This power level heading towards us is much stronger than yours, Seventeen".
Hearing that made me want to ask a question.
"How does compare to me?" I inquired.
The android took a moment to answer.
"17 and 18 are in great danger" was all he said.
He seemed very certain considering that he hadn't even seen the supposed danger yet. Still I wasn't worried. After all I'd defeated Vegeta with ease and that meant we had only Goku to be concerned about. Perhaps I was over confident, but given what we cyborgs could do I had every right to be. However there was a voice, this one my own, in the back of my head that was warning me all about being overconfident.
"Relax Sixteen" I said to the red headed robot "If anyone does bother us then we'll face them together, and if we are being hunted then there's not sense running because whatever it will just keep chasing us. Better to face it here than to be taken by surprise later on".
I couldn't tell if Sixteen found my words to be reasonable or not as he had now stopped talking. So I figured that I'd let Seventeen look around while I hung out with 18.
When I got inside I figured that if she did want to start something romantic with me then she was playing it cool, as she seemed to be far more interested in acquiring new clothes than in paying attention to me.
Within minutes of getting here she'd already discarded her cowgirl outfit in favour of a new ensemble. She now wore a black vest with white unders shirt, blue jeans, black gloves, and matching shoes. She had also looted what I assumed to be the jewellery box of Goku's wife, as she also now had some bling to wear.
"Whoever owned these clothes needs to have their eyes adjusted" she said.
Eighteen had either been speaking to her reflection or to me.
"I think I liked the cowgirl stuff better" I told her "But those jeans do show off your butt. Which is of the good".
The outfit didn't seem to belong with that what else was the wardrobe so I assumed that 18 had put it together from odd bits of clothing she found in draws and such.
"Well, you don't look so bad yourself" she said.
I was filling out my own outfit in way that didn't require any excess eating. I wasn't as bulky as some of the fighters I'd seen, but I now had real muscles and they suited me.
"Flattery will get you everywhere" I replied.
Eighteen then moved towards me and we started kissing. Only then we had to stop as a chill wind seemed to sweep through the room. Something was very, very wrong. We were in great danger.
That was when I heard a voice. I got no words however I detected the tone, it was cold and oh so alien. My mind at once labelled the speaker as a monster and seeing the thing only enforced that description.
It looked like nothing I had ever seen before. It was human, lizard and insect like at the same time, however it had a beak for a mouth rather like a bird. Also it had no skin, but what I guessed to be an exoskeleton. What was worse than that was the eyes, there was no humanity in those orbs.
"Ah, there you are, Eighteen, Twenty One" the creature greeted "I knew you were close by".
It knew about us, but we knew nothing about it. This was bad as it gave the monster a big advantage over us.
"Who...what are you?" Eighteen asked.
I could now see Seventeen and Sixteen, they were just gawking at the thing. Much like how Goku's friends had stared at us upon our first meeting. Apparently this was a normal reaction in this world.
"Ah, how rude of me" the abomination said "Wherever are my manners?".
I so hated polite bad guys.
"My name is Cell" it introduced as its slitted eyes met my human ones "And I am here to guide all of us towards perfection".
Somehow I knew that this perfection was not a good thing.
"I..." was what I started to say.
That was when Seventeen charged the horrid thing only he ended up with what passed for a knee getting driven into his stomach, and before he could register that an elbow met his face.
"Do not be foolish, Seventeen" the thing chided "It is useless to resist, and it is useless to run. I can track Android X no matter where he goes, his power can not be hidden from me. Unlike yours".
That was when I knew that this abomination really wasn't that bright. He'd just told us exactly how he'd found us, and how at least three of us could get away from him. Besides I figured had a good chance of beating this Cell so it was hardly hopeless.
This I proved when I kicked the monster in the head so hard that there was snapping noise, and he was forced to let Seventeen go.
"Everyone who doesn't want to die should run away" I advised "Because I am going to level this entire forest, and you don't want to be here for that".
No one replied so I got ready to fight, then I made one more effort to make them leave.
"Eighteen" I then said "I need you to do me a favour. Take Seventeen and get far away from me. He can't track you if your not with me so leave. Now!".
I didn't wait for an answer. Instead I attacked Cell and sent the monster flying into a tree hard enough that the poor plant was blasted into pieces. Then he went threw another tree before finally coming to stop.
"Impressive" Cell hissed as the creatrue stood up and faced me "It looks like the Doctor Gero made a few improvements to you that I was not made aware of, however it matters not. I will still kill you"
My only response was a slight smile. I said nothing nor did I do anything until the abomination attack me.
Cell was good but for every successful strike he made I landed two or three on him. I was better than the monster, and since it was superior to Vegeta I was finally starting to understand just what I was capable of in a fight. It was incredible. My speed, my strength and my durability were off the scale.
"And I thought you were going to kill me" I mocked Cell when the creature backed off "Looks like your plan didn't work out".
The abomination was bleeding something that might have been blood. Only it was the wrong colour.
"I will destroy you" the monster promised.
When it struck again Cell's fist passed through empty air as I was now much faster than the horrible being, and I was content to duck and weave about for a while as I was buying time for 16,17, and 18 to escape.
After all they were closet thing I had to family now so I wanted them to be safe. However that I couldn't go for the kill, and when I saw an opening my clenched fist smashed into the beak-like mouth of Cell with all the force I could call upon.
"Okay lets ramp this up" I decided
Cell nodded at me.
"Please do" it said.
Hearing that made me smile, and then I kept smiling as I knew it was time to use something speical. Something I very much enjoyed.
"Kaioken!" I heard myself shout.
My next few moves were a lot stronger and faster than before, and that was just the start, even as the grotesque creature moved away from me I struck it again, and soon my other fist met the monster's stomach.
It turned out that this Cell, unlike myself had some sort of digestive system as it could vomit. I then forced the monstrosity to its knees by hitting it in the back. This led to it lying on the ground in its own bodily fluids.
"Had enough?" I asked.
That had been a tough fight, but now the monster could hardly move so it was over.
"Not yet" the thing yelled.
Cell struck out with his tail, which I had totally forgotten about.
"Enough of this!" Cell snarled "I am done with you, Android X!"
As the monster upped its game to the next level my files told me something interesting. I was now ready to use Kaioken x2, and there was no time like the present.
"Kaioken x2!" I heard myself shout.
I'd already been twice as powerful as I normally was, and now I'd doubled that power. However I wouldn't be able to sustain this level for long which meant I need to end his battle.
That was when the creature did something odd with its hands and started muttering some words I didn't understand due to lack of volume. However while the sounds he made were nonsense I understand what he was doing, and I also knew that I could it to.
Soon two Kamehameha waves collided violently and they detonated. I reacted quickly and moved behind Cell before the creature could do anything other than scream in rage.
The creature now looked to be rather worse for wear, so I figured that this was a good time to finish off the monster.
I withdrew the sword I'd taken from that Trunks guy, from the scabbard I'd picked up last night and I aimed the point of the blade right at Cell.
"Behind you!" I shouted out.
Cell took the blade in the gut and it went right through the horrid thing, only when I pulled the sword of the things guts it didn't fall down and die like I had expected.
I was so shocked by this that I failed to defend myself when Cell knocked me aside. However rather than try to kill me the monster did something I did not expect. It raised its hands in the air like it just didn't care.
"SOLAR FLARE!" the monster shouted.
The flash of light blinded me, but thankfully nothing bad had happened while I couldn't see.
"Cell is fleeing" Sixteen informed me.
That was good news.
"Well, no sense in worrying about that thing" I said "It wasn't so tough and I gave it a nasty gut wound. Hopefully it was will crawl off somewhere to die".
Compared to the prince of nothing Cell had been dangerous, but not compared to me at Kaioken x2, and given the way I was growing in power I figured I'd reach x3 before too long.
"We should be worrying about that thing Gothic" Seventeen corrected "What with it being able to do that thing with its tail".
The tail hadn't done anything harmful to me, despite Cell's efforts, so I was very confused.
"What was so dangerous about it?" I inquired.
I really didn't understand.
"Oh right you missed that part" the dark haired cyborg realised "Before you started fighting Cell it told me that was going to absorb us. There was a guy here, that Cell brought along and it stuck its tail into the poor bastard and drank the guy up. All that was left was clothes".
I must have really been distracted by Eighteen not to have heard that happening a matter of meters away. I needed to say more alert.
"Let's just go find Son Goku and kill him" Seventeen then said "That'll keep my mind off the monster".
That seemed like a plan, but I thought it might be wiser to find out more about this Cell. The thing had mentioned Gero so there had to be a connection there. But that lab was gone along with the Doctor.
"Hey Sixteen!" I called out "Did Gero have any other labs or hideouts?".
This time the android actually paid attention to what was going on.
"Doctor Gero had a hidden lab beneath the one we were created in" I was told "It is possible that it survived".
That was good enough for me.
"Okay we should fly back to the lab and check it out" I suggested "It won't take long if we go at full speed. Then we can go Goku hunting".
This plan was agreed upon and soon we took to the skies. Flying wasn't my favourite thing I still disliked heights, but it was worth it in order to be able to cover large distances so quickly.