A/N: Have I lost all the readers for this one? Haven't gotten a review for it in a while. :/
Chapter Forty-four - Temporary Victory
"I don't... this is..." Storm said as 15 punched Videl in the gut and then elbowed her in the back of the neck, stunning her. "These three were built by Gero so why... why are they attacking five of the Masters? And why do they have orders to kill 17 and 18?"
"A falling out has occurred, I would expect." said Tao. He watched as 17 darted away from the battle then, at Pan's request. "You two, I suggest you find somewhere a little safer to watch from if you wish to continue to observe. I'm going to go see if I can get some more information."
Storm nodded as Tao took off down a side road. She turned to Zukina then, as she'd been oddly quiet for a while, and found her with her eyes as wide as saucers and a look of complete confusion on her face. "I shouldn't be surprised." Storm thought at the sight. "She's been a loyal little Imperial soldier her whole life, and she's a Sai-jin. Everyone getting their assess kicked out there is a Master and one of them is the Sai-jin Princess." Storm's attention was drawn back to the others as the fighting stopped for a moment and conversation resumed. "Whoa, the top three Masters sent these three? And they've got permission to kill Mistresses Videl, Pan, and Bra? This is..."
"It... it can't... can't be..." Zukina said softly, voice barely over a whisper.
Storm glanced over at her and she still looked as shocked and confused as before. She reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder then, seriously concerned about the Sai-jin's mental state. This wasn't like her at all. "Zukina?" she asked, quietly. "Hey, are you ok?"
"I... I... his... his voice... the attack... it's just... it makes no... no sense."
Storm blinked. Out of all the things she'd expected to hear that hadn't been one of them. "What?" she asked. "Who's voice? Who's attack? What are you talking about?"
Zukina turned her gaze to look at Storm. "He... he sounds like..." she shook her head a little then, trying to clear it. "The one who called himself 13 sounds like... my brother. And that attack he used earlier, Deadly Bomber, that's one of... Zukin's attacks." She turned her gaze back toward 13 just as the Android launched in to resume his fight with 18. "But he... doesn't look anything like him. And... and he's a machine so... how... why...?"
XXX
15 grinned. "It's cleaning time, all the trash must go." he said. "Filthy half-breeds. 14, let's get rid of them! I've got the 'Princess', you take the other one."
Pan's eyes narrowed as the two Androids lunged her way. "Shit!" she thought. They were both charging right at her, Bra, and her mother. There was no way Bra or her mother could fight against either of them, she'd have to try and protect them both and she already knew how hard that would be from trying to protect 17. "I can't believe father and grandfather would do this!" she thought, firing off a blast of ki at 15 to stall him some before slipping out and around 14's punch for her head, grabbing his arm, and then pitching him at the little purple Android just as he was recovering from her attack.
"Mom, Bra, you have to get out of here." she said, glancing toward them. "I can't deal with both of them and keep you safe at the same time."
Bra shook her head. "No, I can fight." she said.
"Bra, this is no time to be stubborn!" Pan yelled as the two Androids charged in again. "Suppress yourself as low as you can and get out of here! Mom, take her and go!" she cried, blocking a punch from 14 while lashing a kick out at 15. Bra attempted to protest again but Videl wasn't going to argue with her daughter on this. She'd gotten a taste of 15's power already and knew that she was way over powered, which meant that Bra was in even worse shape. So she grabbed Bra's arm and took off down one of the roads. 15 ignored them and turned his full attention to Pan.
Pan followed her friend's power level for a few moments, until it suddenly dropped off and she lost it. "Good, they're gone." she thought. "With any luck these two lost track of her as well." With no one left to have to protect but herself Pan would be able to devote her full attention to the fight. "You can't win." she said, dodging around a punch from 15. She knew his shorter limbs and slower speed would make him easier to dodge than the big guy. He had a longer reach than her and was a little faster, dodging him was going to be the hard part.
15 laughed as he and 14 continued their assault, Pan doing her best to dodge what she could and, just barely, blocking the rest. Completely unable to counter attack. "Funny." he said. "I was about to say the same to you." Suddenly he grinned. "I'm so glad it's you and the 'Princess' we get to kill. Maybe after this the Masters will learn that breeding with filth only produces more filth."
Pan's eyes narrowed as she deflected a kick from 14 and then suddenly smashed her fist into 15's face. She went to charge after him but 14 slammed an elbow into her face and drove her back again. Before she could recover he followed up with a knee to her stomach and, while still hanging over his leg, he thrust his elbow down into her back. 15 returned to the battle then and smashed a flying kick into her head that sent her surging down the road. Pan saw two women scramble out of the way as she finally pulled to a stop.
Her eyes widened and she ducked under a huge right hook from 14 and then surged in and came up pounding her own left fist into his stomach. The blow made him lift a couple feet into the air but he countered with a powerful backhand that smashed into the side of her head and spun her around. Her eyes widened then as she saw 15's fist surging for her face. She reacted quickly, caught his arm, and then twisted and pitched him into 14 before firing a blast of energy at the two of them which impacted and exploded a second later.
"This is harder than I'd thought." she thought as she fired off a quick volley of shots into the dust cloud her last blast had formed, all of them impacting and detonating in quick succession. "I've not really had the time to get used to this form yet. Keeping it going in an actual battle situation is... not as easy as I'd expected. If I was dealing with just one of them I'd have a better chance, it wouldn't be nearly as hard to keep up with 14 if I didn't have to worry about where the hell 15 is at. And not being able to sense them is making this even harder yet."
As she ended her barrage she shot up into the air above the buildings, brought her arms up above her head, hands crossed, and gathered golden energy in front of them. "Masenko!" she cried, thrusting her arms down and firing the attack just as the dust cloud below settled enough to show the two Androids were still there. 14 suddenly lunged up at the attack, arms outstretched, and caught it. Pan scowled as she tried to force more power into the attack but then caught 15 charging at her out of the corner of her eye.
Letting up on the Masenko she whirled on him and fired a ki blast right into his chest, then spun and snapped her foot down into 14's face as he charged up at her. "Looks like that year I spent with living with Piccolo is about to pay off." she thought, bringing two fingers up to her forehead and quickly gathering ki at their tips. As 15 righted again and saw her he scowled, but she smirked. "Special Beam Cannon!" she cried as she suddenly turned, brought her arm down and fired the attack toward 14, who'd started charging at her again.
The Android's eyes narrowed as it saw the attack coming and it served to the side, but not quite fast enough. The beam hit it in the left side of its abdomen and punched a four inch wide hole clear through. Pan had been hoping for a head shot but she wasn't about to complain. Any damage she could see felt like progress to her. She spun back around then to find 15 again and her eyes widened. The Android had spread his limbs apart in an X shape and a ring of energy had formed around him.
"Hell's Halo!" he cried, thrusting his arms and legs forward.
The ring surged toward Pan at incredible speed, energy arcing through the space in the center, convincing her that going through the middle of it was a bad idea. So, instead, she shot up higher to go over it, but 15 shifted positions so that his limbs were pointed her way again and the attack changed course. "He's guiding it." she thought. With that realization she changed tactics and started flying backward and down as it quickly closed the distance left. A moment later she charged through a window, flew through the building to the other side, and then out the window over there. As she emerged from the building she heard a loud explosion from the other side and grinned.
The grin vanished a second later, however, as the energy ring suddenly surged out of the building, a round path of destruction trailing through the building behind it. She didn't have time to do more than curl up into a defensive ball before it hit. Her screams sounded, echoing up and down the street, as soon as the energy in the center of the attack touched her. Then, suddenly, the ring shrank down to the size of a marble before exploding savagely. Pan came surging out of the dust cloud, backward and down, a moment later. She slammed into the ground with a enough force to blast out a crater a full block in diameter.
Groaning and grimacing in pain she started trying to push herself back to her feet once more, but cried out in pain again as 14 suddenly appeared above her and pounded a large fist down into her stomach. Her aura sputtered for a moment but then her foot shot up and kicked the Android in the abdomen, knocking him off of her a few feet. Then she thrust her arms up, slammed her palms into his chest, and fired a thundering blast point blank into him that drove him up another fifty feet and gave her the chance to get out of the crater.
Grimacing in pain as her arms and legs continued to feel like they were burning, she glanced around for some sign of 15 and found him, standing on the roof of the building she'd flown through, smirking. "I am really starting to hate his face." she thought, flexing her fingers, trying to get the numbness out of them.
"What's the matter?" 15 asked. "Is the half-breed having trouble?"
"What does it matter to you..." she called out, panting. "If I'm a Hybrid?"
15 reached down into his pocket, pulled out his flask, pulled off the cap, and took a few swigs. Closing it again he slid it back into his pocket as he answered. "Because I'm a Sai-jin." he said.
"What?"
"Well, I suppose I should say I was a Sai-jin." 15 corrected. "All three of us were. So it's a matter of some consequence to me, the state of purity of the Sai-jin race. Abominations like you and the 'Princess' are a disease, a cancer that needs to be... excised. Slowly and painfully, one tumor at a time." 15 grinned again. "Hence why I'm so pleased to be the one to deal with you and the 'Princess'. I'll have fun toying with her, dragging the fight out as long as possible, beating her down slowly until she doesn't even have the strength left to move, breaking every bone in her body, before popping her head like a giant pimple." he finished, smirking even more.
Pan scowled at him. "Over my dead body." she growled, charging in at him.
15 laughed. "Oh, but of course." he said, charging in toward her as well, as 14 came up from below. They were still several feet apart when both suddenly pulled to a stop, 15 scowled, and then both turned and flew off in the other direction.
"What the...?" Pan wondered, coming to a stop and watching them go.
XXX
18 scowled as the battle resumed. She just had to hope that Pan could deal with the other two by herself, this one alone was giving her trouble. "What was it I said to Vegeta before?" she thought as she dodged around a kick from 13, countered with a punch to his head that was blocked, and then received a knee to her abdomen. She recovered in time to block the kick he then shot at her head. "'Your arrogance will be your death', wasn't it? Maybe I should listen to myself a little more often."
During their initial short encounter her power and speed advantage had proven not to be as much of an advantage as she'd expected. She could see, now, that he hadn't just been bluffing when he said he was good at winning fights even when out gunned by the enemy. The man had a lot of combat skill and it was more than making up for his lower power, much in the same way her determination and relentless assault had given her the edge over Vegeta. Which put her at a serious disadvantage.
As one of Gero's Androids he no doubt had an infinite energy power core supplying his strength. An unlimited reserve of power to draw upon. As a pure machine he also had no organs to damage, no pain to slow him down. Two things that 18 didn't have. Her power was limited when transformed, the sensible energy didn't last forever and even what couldn't be sensed would slowly fade over time. Plus, she was still organic, could still suffer injuries to her internal organs. Injuries she would suffer as this fight wore on. And the pain would dull her senses, slow her reaction time.
She wasn't feeling any of the pain yet. Her body was still coping with her transformed power at the moment, or at the very least her nano-bots were keeping up well enough that she wasn't feeling it yet. But she figured she didn't have much longer as she could already feel the strain. A minute, maybe a minute and a half, before the pain started. And from there she'd make it maybe five to seven minutes, if she was lucky, before it got to be too much. As she deflected an energy blast and then launched another Destructo Disc that 13 teleported out of the way of she started considering her options.
Staying and fighting it out was the most appealing one to her. Destroying these three Androids, getting them off of their backs, would be the most beneficial in the long run. She wasn't sure if she and Pan could manage that, though. She didn't have time during her ongoing fight with 13 to spare the Hybrid even a glance so she had no idea how she was doing in her fight beyond the fact that neither 14 or 15 had come to attack her yet, which meant that at least she was still alive and fighting. Videl and Bra she didn't know the conditions of at all.
Running and hiding was her other main option. She knew that 17 had already done so himself. In the face of these three there was little choice in the matter for him. He simply didn't have the power to deal with them. If she couldn't beat 13 before the internal damage got too severe she'd have to try and do the same. She couldn't take another five days stuck in bed recovering from her injuries like before. Especially not if these three were still out there, roaming the city and the planet. She was worried they'd still be able to track Bra or Pan's power levels, though.
She shelved the idea of trying to run and hide for now. She'd fight it out as long as she safely could before resorting to that. But she would if she had to. Despite Bra's protests she had still no qualms about dying while taking out Vegeta, but she wouldn't let his lackies stop her before she did. Dodging around a kick aimed for her head she smashed a fist into his chest and then a foot into his stomach. She also considered, for a moment, trying to use the Energy Inhibitor on him but, as he was entirely mechanical, she wasn't sure it'd have any effect. Its main effect on her had been intense pain that she hadn't been able to function through and she highly doubted he could sense pain.
"What I'm going to have to do to beat him is more than just a relentless assault. I'm also going to have to fight on his level." she thought, as he teleported again. She quickly flew up and to the right in the hopes of avoiding whatever attack he had planned, and she smiled as his foot lanced through empty air. "I'm going to have to think five steps ahead, work out some sort of strategy to, at the very least, distract him so Pan and I can get away. If I'm a little lucky I just might kill him in the process." she thought a she kicked him in the back of his head.
As he stumbled forward in the air from the blow she pulled her right arm back and gathered energy in her hand again, while her left hand closed into a fist and began to glow pink. "Shredder Mine!" she called, pitching the attack in her right arm forward. Just before impact with 13 the Android shimmered and vanished and 18 turned around, thrust her left arm up and out, and fired off her other attack. "Power Blitz!" she cried as it surged out and slammed into 13's chest just as he appeared. The sudden explosion of the impact drove him back and 18 surged into and through the dust cloud, energy gathering in both hands.
Emerging out the other side she thrust her right arm forward, first. "Sonic Detonator!" she called as the light blue ball of energy surged toward 13 as the Android pulled to a stop at last. With the attack still five feet away from him she closed her hand and the energy ball exploded and a thunderous roar that shook the ground below them and shattered windows for blocks around. The concussive force of the explosion pushed 13 back several more feet. She hadn't put as much power into it as normal, no reason to since its primary attack functionality, blasting out ear drums and screwing up a person's natural balance, would be ineffective against an Android.
Still, the concussive force was useful. It had taken 13 by surprise, taken him off balance for the moment, and broken his guard. She grinned as she thrust her right arm forward. The pink and gold ball of energy in her hand swelled massively as she pulled to a stop. "Shredder Mine Death Blossom!" she called, launching it. Still fifty feet away from 13, about half way between him and her, the attack suddenly flashed and exploded and the Android found himself facing a hundred Shredder Mines, all charging right for him. He scowled, shimmered, and vanished.
18 smirked, closed her hand into a fist, and then yanked her arm back toward her. As 13 appeared to her right he lashed out with a kick but she quickly brought her leg up to block, then grabbed his ankle with her free hand and tossed him toward the Shredder Mines, all of which had now re-directed and were charging toward them. As soon as she released her hold on his leg she brought up her right arm and charged another large ball of pink and gold energy. "Death Blossom!" she called, firing it just as 13 shimmered and vanished, once again avoiding the on coming wall of deadly attacks.
That was fine, she'd expected him dodge. She just hoped her plan worked the way she was picturing it in her head the rest of the way out, otherwise she'd be in serious trouble. She'd felt the pain start when she released the Sonic Detonator and each attack since then had made it worse. She hurriedly redirected all of the Shredder Mines away from her, up into the sky, as she quickly moved up and back to try and avoid 13. She wasn't as lucky this time and instead of getting away from him flew right into him.
"Shit!" she thought, detonating her Death Blossom and turning around to face him at the same time. She didn't get a chance to lash out a punch or kick before his head smashed into hers. The head butt drove her back but she kept her focus on her two hundred ki blasts from the Death Blossom as she directed them out and around the two of them. 13 had started to chase after her when he caught sight of the energy balls, realized what she was doing, and stopped, keeping his eyes on the attacks.
18 grinned in satisfaction. "Thank-you so much." she thought, directing the attacks to charge in at him. As soon as they started in she brought her hands up in front of her face. "Solar Flare!" Instantly the sky was filled with blindingly bright light. The explosions from the energy attacks started a couple of seconds later and, while he'd been blinded, she had not and could see that they were slamming into him. She'd hoped they would but hadn't counted on it. The fact that they were made her last move that much easier, though, and she was sure her plan would work now.
"Destructo Disc!" she cried, pitching her right arm forward. The golden spinning disc of energy surged straight for 13. Just as she'd released the disc she caught 13 appearing to her left, just on the edge of her vision. She quickly pulled back, yanked her arms back closing her hands into fists, and then began charging energy in them. But the attacks in her hands were merely a distraction, the real threat was surging in at 13 from behind.
The Android raised his own arm, red energy gathering in front of his palm, and smirked. "That was a nice try, but not quite good enough." he said.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." 18 began, smiling. 13's eyes narrowed and he just started to turn as the energy disc reached them and sliced clean through his neck. "It looks like it worked just fine to me." she finished, letting the energy in her hands fade and watching his head and body fall to the ground separately. When she'd pulled her hands back she'd actually been guiding the disc, turning it as it flew and redirecting it to come at him from behind.
Just before his severed head and body hit the ground, however, 15 and 14 suddenly surged in, caught them, and took off away from the battle. 18 frowned as she watched them go, but chasing them wasn't an option. Her body felt like it was on fire, the pain was getting to be too much to ignore, now. She glowed for a moment and then a second later was back to normal.
XXX
Avo scowled at the battle occurring nearly twenty blocks away from where he and his brother were floating. He couldn't really tell what was going on from this distance. Not that he thought he'd have any better view up closer. Just by the fact that the fighters kept disappearing when they moved he could tell they were well beyond his or Kado's level. "I think we should stay clear." he said. "There's no way any of those involved in this battle are Tao or that Namek."
Kado nodded. "Agreed." he said. "We still have two more ports to search anyway, before we've checked them all. One of them must have Tao's ship. Come on, let's go."
Avo cast one last look at the on going fight, just as a large ball of pink and gold ki exploded into a number of smaller attacks, and then turned around and followed his brother away from the fight. As they flew away, though, he noticed three others coming in from the distance and flying toward the battle.
XXX
Tao hadn't been entirely sure how, exactly, he was going to locate 17. The man had no detectable energy signature, unlike his sister apparently did in her new state. He'd only been searching for a few moments, though, when he caught a break. His senses picked up another power coming his way at high speed, one that quickly dropped away below his own bottom level sensing ability. But he knew who it was and where they were when their power had vanished and so he quickly headed in that direction. He was just rounding the corner of a building when he saw Bra enter another building down the street.
Even if he couldn't find 17 to get information from him he could try and speak with the Sai-jin Princess. If the on going battle were any indication, she and the others were no longer Masters, so he doubted he had anything to fear, speaking with her. There was always the chance, of course, so he kept his guard up and stayed ready to make a fast retreat if needed as he approached the building and slipped inside. A quick glance around showed that he was inside a bar and hotel. The bar took up the entire first floor and was completely deserted so he made his to the stairs and climbed to the fifth floor. He figured they were going to try and watch the battle and, if so, they'd need height for that.
As he topped the last flight of stairs he heard muffled voices from one of the rooms down the hall and started that way, floating only a few centimeters above the floor in order to avoid any creaking floorboards. "I hate this." Bra said, voice muffled by the walls and the almost closed door to the room she was in. "I hate not being able to help them, especially after the promise I made to Marron. Damn it, why didn't I ever seriously train? I could be at least as strong as Pan, then, and be able to help them!"
"I know how you feel." Videl said. "I came along so that I'd know Pan was ok but... I can't do anything to help. Even with all of the power I have that little guy... one hit and I was in too much pain to think, two and I nearly passed out."
Reaching the door into the room the two women were in Tao came to a stop and considered how best to handle the situation. If he startled them they could react on instinct, with tensions high at the moment that would be bad as instinct would be to send a ki blast his way. He didn't have to worry about it, though. Contact was about to be made for him.
"Who are you?" A voice demanded from down the hall, by the stairs. Tao turned and spotted 17 just topping the stairs. "Tao!?" he cried in shock, eyes widening.
"17." Tao said, giving him a slight nod. "I attempted to follow you to find out what exactly was going on but..." he shrugged. "Bra was easier to track."
The door into the room suddenly flew open then and Bra stepped out, eyes narrowed, but 17 waved her off. "I can't believe you're... wait, you're why Avo and Kado are here, aren't you?" he asked.
Tao nodded. "Indeed." he said. "And I am equally shocked to find five Masters out here."
"We're not Masters." 17 said, shaking his head. "Not anymore."
"17... who is...?" Bra started.
"This is Tao, one of the Earth's Resistance fighters." 17 said. "The only one I know of who's ever left the planet."
Tao smiled. "Not the only." he said. "But the only one who's spent the last few decades gallivanting about the universe."
"Earth?" Bra asked, looking at him. She sighed then, turned, and hurried back to the window to resume watching the fights, as best she could.
17 followed after her and motioned for Tao to come in as well. Of all the Masters, 17 and 18 had been the only ones he'd never been concerned about meeting. 17 he had not met on Earth but he had encountered the Cyborg three times out and about in the universe. He hadn't been overly concerned the first time, wary, but not overly concerned. He'd figured he would be much like his sister and, as it turned out, he'd been right. 17 had let him go when they met each other much in the same way 18 had let him go the one time they'd met after she'd become a Master. He'd even gone so far, one time, as to warn him about Imperial patrols along his intended flight path.
"So, what exactly is going on?" Tao asked as he reached the window as well. He could see some of the fight between 18 and 13 from the window, but Pan and 15 were completely out of sight. Not that it mattered, he couldn't really watch either fight anyway, the combatants were all too fast for him to see. "What's happened that you're no longer Masters and have these three after you?"
"My father happened." Bra said.
17 gave her a glance, rested a hand on her shoulder, then turned back to the battle and started filling Tao in on recent events. "18 had a daughter, born on Earth before we were called back by the Empire." he said. Tao pursed his lips, he didn't need 17 to tell him who the father was. He'd seen her and Krillin together during his last return visit to the planet. "18 recently contacted her, brought her to Saiya, around the same time Frieza set out to destroy the Earth. During her time on Saiya she and Bra..." The Cyborg sighed. "But a little over a month ago..."
"Father ordered her killed." Bra interrupted, jaw clenched. "And sent Trunks to do it. They wiped out the entire Gorneo facility in the process. 18 caught him at it and killed him, then sent a video of everything to 17."
17 nodded. "Pan sent it on to Bra and... we all left. We already made one return trip to Saiya but barely got away."
"18 nearly had him..." Bra said, closing her eyes. "If not for... if she hadn't burnt out so fast she would have."
"Most interesting." Tao thought as a bright light flared to life in the sky. His eyes narrowed then and he turned to look off to his right a little. The wall was in the way, he couldn't see the sky, but he could sense the nearing powers just the same. "I figured they would come." he thought. "We should return to the battle area." he said, turning from the window. "The Cabal is just about to arrive on scene."
XXX
Pan shifted back to base as 18 floated down to land beside her. "Are you ok?" she asked the Cyborg.
"I'm fine." she said. "How about you?"
Pan sighed. "Sore as hell but otherwise good." she said. "Now we just have to find the others and..."
She trailed off there as three streaks of light, two blue and one red, descended to land behind 18. The Cyborg turned to look as well, having noticed the light of their landing, and finally checked her scanner again. She frowned when she saw the readings. These three were the strongest people on the planet, not counting her group. The one in the middle, the strongest of the three, had some sort of shiny yellow exoskeleton covering most of its body, the underlying purple skin only visible around the elbows, knees, and abdomen. He also had a pair of wings sprouting from his back and, while bald, there was something of a crest reaching from the top of his forehead back along his head.
18 figured he was about six foot even, which meant the one to the left of him, the second strongest, was probably around four and a half feet tall. He wore a sort of body armor. White shin and forearm guards and a breast plate. A black body suit was underneath that and he had on white boots and gloves. She recognized the style but she couldn't remember where from. His head appeared to be elongated, reaching out behind him an extra foot and a half or so, but she couldn't tell if it was just the helmet he wore or not. His eyes were pure yellow and what she could see of his face was purple. There also seemed to be two white spikes jutting out from his back.
The third individual, the weakest of the three, was on his right and wearing a blue gi and a white hooded cloak, with the hood up. At first glance 18 thought he was a Namek but, upon closer inspection, realized it wasn't. First of all, the person was clearly female. Beyond that, her ears were box like, reminding 18 of those of a Changeling, her lips were pink instead of green, she lacked the antenna of a Namek, and there were black spots just visible on the top of her head, under the hood of her cloak. She was about five seven or so. She also lacked a nose, and 18 realized then that it was something all three of them had in common.
"So, I was right." the yellow one said, crossing his arms, his voice deeper than 18 expected. He was about to say more but stopped and looked down the road to his right. Videl, 17, Bra, and Tao were walking toward him and the others. "Good, this saves us a lot of time and trouble." he said as the four of them reached him. He turned his gaze to 17 then. The Cyborg was the only Master in the group that he'd dealt with before, even if it had only been over the ComNet. "What brings you to Xentron, and just who were you fighting?"
"It's a long story." 17 said.
"Give me the cliff notes version, then."
17 nodded. "We're not with the Empire anymore. We came here to hide out for a bit, rest up, recover, plan, get some supplies, and so on. Those three..." he shrugged.
"New Androids of Dr. Gero's." 18 said. "Sent by Vegeta to get rid of the five of us."
The yellow armored man pursed his lips then turned his focus to Tao. "And you are with them?" he asked.
Tao shook his head. "No, I just happened to be near-by when the fighting started. I came to see what was up, what with that message that went out after my arrival here."
The man nodded then turned to his two companions. Though none of them spoke Tao knew the three of them were holding a conversation just the same. A telepathic discussion about what to do over this current turn of events. The three of them were the 'leaders' of Xentron, in as much of a sense as a world like Xentron could have leaders. They were the supreme authority of the planet and the myriad of Bosses out there, like Ridic and Ludic, all answered to them. They also dealt with any major threats to world security, and five ex-Masters on the planet certainly qualified as such.
"Who are these three, anyway?" Pan asked 17 quietly.
"The leaders here." he replied back, just as quietly. "Nuova, Pui Pui, and Soki."
Tao listened to them but had most of his attention on the faces of the three members of the Cabal. He couldn't hear their mental conversation but he could see the way they reacted to what each other said. Given the range of expressions he saw he wasn't entirely sure what to expect when, after nearly ten minutes, the leader of the group turned to face them again. He met Tao's gaze first.
"Have you determined the source of the message?" he asked.
Tao nodded. "The new Mate of one of my new Wathor traveling companions." he said. "In the hopes of getting her killed by association with me. The problem has been dealt with, however, and I don't expect it to happen again."
He nodded. "Very well. How long do you intend to stay?"
"I'm waiting on a ship to be built." he said. "It will be a few months, but once it is done we'll be on our way."
He nodded again. "Stay inside as much as possible until you do leave." he said. "If any Imperials do come for you I don't want another fight in my city. If that happens we will have no choice but to... remove the problem."
"Understood."
"Good." He then turned to the five former Masters, once again looking at 17 when he spoke. "And you five? How long do you plan to stay here?"
"We're not sure." said 17. "We're still not quite finished with gathering our supplies yet. Once we've got all of our supplies and I can find a suitable destination we'll be able to leave."
"And everything we just got today was destroyed in the fight." Pan muttered. The bags she and Bra had dropped had been in the blast range of 13's Deadly Bomber.
Nuova opened his mouth to say something but stopped and looked back at the shortest member of his group, Pui Pui, for a moment, then shook his head at something the other had apparently 'said' to him. "Providing there are no more fights in the city we will give you a week." he said, turning back to the former Masters again. "If you are still here after that, or if another fight occurs in the city, we will remove your presence ourselves." And with that he turned, lifted into the air, and flew off, the other two right behind him.
"Remove our presence themselves?" Bra asked, watching them go. "They're strong, but not that strong."
"Underestimating the three of them is the last mistake of many people." Tao said as he, too, watched the three of them leave. "If they decide to get rid of you I would be more surprised to learn that they failed than that they succeeded."
Bra glanced over at him, obviously unconvinced, but before she could say anything another voice spoke up.
"Princess... Are you ok?" asked Zukina.
Bra turned and saw the woman from before, the one that had recognized her earlier. "You're a Sai-jin?" she asked.
Zukina nodded. "Yes, ma'am." she said.
Bra frowned a little and shook her head. "Don't ma'am me, it makes me sound old." she said.
"We should probably get off the street." Videl said. "Those three Androids could decide to come back. What chased them off, anyway?"
"I cut off 13's head." 18 said, smirking. "Apparently the other two didn't want to stick around after that. They scooped up his head and body and took off with them. But you're right, 14 and 15 could still be lurking around out there. We should get inside."
"If I may." Tao said. "I'm not sure where you've been staying but our lodgings aren't far from here and there are some things I'd like to ask."
18 looked toward him and pursed her lips for a moment before nodding. "Alright." she said. "I don't see why not. Besides, I have a few things I'd like to know as well. Pan, could you go get Faith? I don't want to leave her by herself now."
"Sure. Where should I meet you?" she asked Tao.
"Ferri's Ships." he said. Pan nodded and flew off to their hotel again.
"Well, lead the way." said 18.
Tao smiled faintly. "This way, Eclair."
18 froze for a second, then closed her eyes, sighed, and smiled sadly as she followed after him.