Chapter 054 - The Ultimate Android
"Hey, come over here!" Gohan called frantically from behind the small ledge.
Corset and Trunks quickly dashed over towards him, Bulma lagging behind them running as fast as she could. As soon as she'd reached him Corset spotted what he'd seen and gasped, taking a step back almost reflexively! It took a second for her to realise it wasn't alive – it was the biggest bug shell she'd ever seen! "Gross!" She quivered trying to swallow the lump in her throat, "W-What came from that thing?"
"What is that?" Bulma shrieked standing behind her daughter and holding onto her arm. "... Is it dead?"
"Whatever it is, it's huge," Trunks slowly approached it and looked it over. Gohan even went so far as to touch it, much to Corset's discomfort. She wasn't too keen on getting any closer to whatever that was supposed to be; it gave her the creeps and sent goosebumps all over her!
"It's not dead, "Gohan realised, "It's actually an insect moult."
"An insect? Is there even a cicada this big?" Bulma asked moving slightly closer to it now.
"No, there's no insect like this," Gohan shook his head.
"... It's probably what came out of the time machine," Trunks muttered.
"It must have grown up and then eventually shed its skin," Gohan added.
"... S-So there's a gigantic bug running around somewhere near here?" Corset asked nervously.
"How did it even get here?" Trunks ignored his sister's obvious discomfort, "Did someone send it back into the past or did someone come here with it?"
Corset began to look around; they were a little ways off the forest surrounding this clearing but she couldn't help shake off the fact there could be a nasty, huge bug crawling around near them. Her overactive imagination was playing tricks on her again; was it going to suddenly jump out and attack them?
"... It's still wet."
She turned to Trunks, recoiling when she saw purple goo dripping from his hand. "I can't believe you just did that! Trunks, that's gross!"
"Not too comfortable around this are you?" Gohan laughed at her. "It's ok; it's only a bug shell. It's not gonna come to life and attack you."
"I don't care, it's still gross," Corset grumbled swallowing the lump that had gathered in her throat, glaring at Gohan with annoyance. She didn't like being poked fun at and did not appreciate his joking nature!
"It hasn't been long since this thing came out of its shell," Trunks mumbled.
The hairs on Corset's neck began to stand on end. "W-W-What? What did you say? You mean it's still around here?"
"... Level with me," Bulma was beginning to grow jittery, "You've got a bad feeling about this, right?"
Gohan and Trunks both nodded.
"We'd better get out of here!" Bulma decided quickly turning. "You guys are gonna be at Kame house, right? I'll call you if anything happens. Corset look after yourself and your brother!" With that she dashed off to her jet, picking up the egg shells on the way.
"... Is she ok?" Gohan asked.
"I can't blame her for wanting to leave so soon..." Corset muttered under her breath.
"We'd better head back to Kame House," Trunks decided, a playful smirk appearing on his face. "Not much point in sticking around here... Besides I think Corset'd rather leave here before the bug finds her and gets her!"
Corset glared at Trunks, "D-Don't joke about that!" She fumed embarrassed.
It didn't take the trio too long to head back to the small island in the middle of the ocean, though there was news waiting for them upon their return.
"We're back," Gohan announced as he opened the door, "Hello, Master Roshi."
He didn't wander in very far; from what Corset could see everyone's attention was on the television, no one had even turned around to acknowledge their return! Either they hadn't heard Gohan or they were being rude and ignoring them! Fortunately it was neither reason as Krillin soon acknowledged them.
"You guys, come listen to this news story," he ordered turning away from the screen. "Tell us what's going on."
"News story?" Gohan echoed curiously.
Corset walked past Gohan and settled down on the floor, eyes glued to the screen. There was a news reporter standing in what looked like a big town or city; clothes strewn all across the ground, which sent alarm bells ringing in the girl's mind.
A scream alongside the sound of gunshots in the background caught the news reporter's attention and he turned, "Gunshots, we're near gunshots!" He cried. "Members of the investigative team and the police must be shooting at something!" he began to commentate over the noise which quickly died down. "... What's going on? Everything's gone quiet... We'll see if we can get a closer look and see what's happening..."
As he turned back around to the camera his face went white.
Then the screen suddenly went on the frizz.
"W-What just happened?" Yamcha gasped. "Quickly, turn to another channel!"
The channel was changed. The screen showed a funny angle; the camera was clearly on the ground as what appeared to be the ground was almost up the wrong end of the screen. Not too far from the camera screams could be heard.
They soon stopped.
"... It stopped," Krillin mumbled grimly.
Corset felt disturbed watching this. Something terrible had just happened in that town...
"...So what's going on here?" Krillin turned to Trunks. "Bulma said you guys found something along with the other time machine and to ask you guys about it. She was the one who also told us about the news report, said she'd picked up on it on her way back home."
As Trunks and Gohan explained to the others what they'd found, Corset kept her eyes peeled to the television screen, hoping maybe she might be able to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that caused this. Unfortunately all the television stations kept on cutting back to their studios!
"... We are still unable to contact our correspondents! We may have to assume the worst..." One reporter announced.
"So this is the thing that came out of that skin?" Krillin asked.
"I think so," Trunks nodded, "It was around the same area."
"It's horrible... What's going on out there?" Master Roshi mumbled.
"... I'm gonna go check it out," Trunks decided.
"Wha-?" Corset stumbled to her feet, "Trunks, don't!"
"Don't leave," Krillin stood.
Trunks smiled at the group, "Don't worry about me. I can become a Super Saiyan, remember? It's the androids I need to be careful of."
"I'll go too!" Gohan decided.
"G-GOHAN!" Chichi bellowed horrified, "You're not going!"
"Stay here Gohan," Trunks replied. "I'll be fine by myself. You guys stay here and protect Goku in case the androids come."
'Like we'll last long against them...' Corset grumbled to herself.
"I'm off," Trunks walked out the door onto the sandy shores, Corset anxiously watched half wanting to go too but half wanting to go to sleep! All this flying and fighting she'd done today had begun to get to her and she needed to rest. Reluctantly she kept quiet not wanting to boss her brother around. In any case he was pretty strong in his own right so as long as he didn't bump into the androids...
From out of nowhere a powerful and bizarre ki suddenly skyrocketed, almost bulldozing its way into her head! Corset was stunned; this didn't make any sense…
Changing her direction from the stairs to the front door, she dashed outside the house along with everyone else who could sense it, glancing out to sea. It was the strangest energy she'd ever sensed, so many different characteristics attached to it which made it all the more confusing and difficult to identify.
"What is this?" Krillin spluttered. "I've sensed this ki before!"
"It's Freeza... and his father!" Gohan cried.
"... Goku... Piccolo... Even my dad!" Trunks added.
"I feel it too," Yamcha agreed. "This is impossible - Freeza and his father are dead!"
Gohan flew up to the window looking into the room his father lay in. "... Dad's still in bed!" He exclaimed.
"It's coming from Ginger Town," Krillin gulped. "That's where those news reports were…"
"I'm going to check this out, I have to know if this is what came from that shell!" Trunks cried, taking to the sky.
"Wait up! I'm going too!" Krillin cried tearing off after him.
No one else dared to follow.
Corset clenched her fists by her side, a bewildered look on her face. She had no idea what was going on anymore! 'I don't get this at all...'
Tired and in need of a rest she soon wandered up the stairs of the small house and entered the room Goku was in, stifling a yawn as best she could. She could still sense the bizarre power level that seemed to have essences of almost every fighter she knew, yet her body was trying to deny her sensing the fight, crying out for some sleep. She wasn't sure how long she'd been awake for or what time it was now.
She looked over at the ill-stricken Goku and frowned. He still looked pale, although his breathing seemed better than before.
Once again she tried to stop a yawn but failed. Enough was enough; she grabbed a futon and blanket from the corner of the room and set it out before tucking herself in. Whether she was wearing the same clothes or not didn't matter; she had no other clothes to change into! Corset rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. It had been a long, long day.
When she awoke it was to the sounds of loud voices coming through the floorboards downstairs. It sounded like Master Roshi and Yamcha were having an energetic discussion about something or other, Corset unable to make out their words. She slowly sat herself up and rubbed her eyes, a little annoyed she'd been woken up!
"Oh, you're awake."
One blue eye opened and she realised Chichi was in the room beside her sleeping husband, rinsing a cloth into a small tub of water.
"How long have I been asleep for?" Corset asked wiping a little more sleep from her eye and trying to flatten her bed-hair down.
"About three hours."
Corset groaned almost silently; was that all the sleep she'd had? Part of her wanted to march downstairs and yell at the people who'd raised their voices and woken her! She resisted the urge, still feeling tired as she pushed herself from the covers and rose to her feet, stretching before letting her arms drop to the side. Chichi had gone back to nursing her husband, apparently wiping the damp cloth over his forehead in a bid to keep his fever down. Corset watched for a couple of seconds before opening her mouth. "... So how is he doing?"
"He's getting better," Chichi smiled, "His fever's going down still but he's a lot calmer than he was before. I think the medicine's working."
Corset breathed a sigh of relief; at least they still had Goku with them. He always seemed to be able to make a difference so it was a relief he was getting better from his illness.
Without another word she wandered out of the room and to the bathroom, running the tap and splashing water over her face in a bid to feel more awake and alert.
Heading down the stairs, Corset could now hear what Master Roshi and Yamcha were both saying and could see them through the entrance at the bottom of the stairs. Both looked worried.
"What's all the yelling about?" She asked as socks touched the wooden planks.
Both men turned to face her for a moment, neither saying anything.
"What?" Corset raised an eyebrow confused.
Apparently she'd missed a lot of vital information as she'd slept! Gohan filled her in on the details; about how the new power had started to fight with another gigantic power – who they believed to be Piccolo. The fight had suddenly stopped and no one could figure out why – both powers had seemed to have vanished! From what she could sense right now, nothing drastic was going on...
She continued to stay inside watching the television for any more broadcasts; Gohan had chosen to train outside and she could just about hear his roars as he shadow-boxed. She would have joined him if she'd been able to sleep more; she just didn't feel energetic right now!
Almost a whole day went by with news report after news report telling of sightings of the monster and the latest areas he'd come to. People were dying vanishing completely from existence and the reporters were clueless as to what was going on. It frustrated her; she had no idea what was happening out there. Her brother and Krillin hadn't returned yet – no one had returned to bring them to speed.
Finally Krillin, Piccolo - or the Namekian they assumed to be Piccolo - and Tenshinhan showed up.
"What happened?" Yamcha cried as they sat down. "We sensed the fight – it suddenly stopped!"
"Was that power really yours, Piccolo?" Gohan asked.
Piccolo quickly filled them in on what had gone on up to this point, Corset listening intently. There was a lot to take in and she couldn't hide her surprise at the origins of this monster – cells from Goku, her father, Freeza and his dad; all the strong fighters who'd come to Earth... They all combined to form this monster which'd been created by Dr. Gero.
She was fast growing spiteful and irritated with this now-dead doctor and his obsessive goal.
The monster's name was Cell... and he was absorbing people's life energy, killing them in the process.
She felt disgusted hearing it.
"... So he can sense us whenever we approach him," Tenshinhan was saying, "It's impossible! Every time we got near to him, he runs and hides his energy!"
"At this rate he'll kill thousands more people," Krillin growled bleakly.
"That's awful... We've got to find him!" Gohan protested.
"But how?" Krillin asked. "We can't catch him; if we fly he'll sense us and flee but if we don't fly fast enough and conserve our energy, we won't make it in time."
"Wait!" Yamcha gasped. "I think I may know how we can catch him."
The jets of the large plane roared into life as it took to the sky, slowly moving forwards across the ocean. On board the group of fighters were deep in conversation.
"If we approach him in the plane and keep our energy levels down, he shouldn't be able to sense us," Yamcha smiled.
"Good thinking," Krillin nodded. "I can't wait to find him now! Plus we're all together – we can all gang up on him!"
"Yeah, there's no way he can stand up to all of us at the same time!" Gohan spoke cheerfully. "All we have to do is all jump out of the plane and attack at the same time – he won't know what hit him!"
"You're wrong." Piccolo snapped bringing the confident vibe inside the ship to a stop. "Cell will probably expect us to do something like that. He's smarter than that! Don't underestimate him!"
A small silence fell over the group.
"... Krillin, did you say Trunks has gone to find my dad?" Corset asked.
"Yeah," Krillin answered, "Your dad said something about ascending above a Super Saiyan... Trunks wanted to train with him, as unlikely as it sounds! I told him it would be a miracle if Vegeta actually said yes but he felt it was something he had to do."
Corset looked down at the floor before her, slumped against the wall of the plane. "So he's gonna try and become stronger... Dad won't train him though; I asked him once and he said I was a weakling and he had no time for weaklings..."
"... Harsh, but it sounds like your dad..." Krillin looked a little uncomfortable saying what he did.
"I don't get it; you're not a weakling," Gohan mumbled.
Corset tried to smile genuinely but it came out as more of a woeful smile, "Thanks Gohan but let's be honest here... I'm probably one of the weakest people here in this plane..."
"No, that can't be right!" Gohan was persistent. "You trained under Piccolo and my dad – there's no way you're weak! Plus you managed to get a couple of shots in against the androids, right?"
"I wasn't strong enough to stop them," Corset pouted. "... It's not good enough if you can't defeat them! Piccolo's the only one who right now could probably take them down, right Piccolo?"
"... Maybe..." Piccolo muttered, "Hard to tell... Regardless, we need to track down Cell before he can absorb the androids and achieve his ultimate form! We have to find him and stop him!"