Chapter 15: Children of the Doctor
Goku awoke and sat bolt upright, startling those around him. With a quick glance around the room he locked eyes with Krillin.
"Get to Master Roshi's. Now!" He ordered before crashing back to the cushioned bed. Gohan and the bald monk turned to each other.
"Are you going to be alright staying here with your dad by yourself?"
"Yeah, Piccolo's ki is coming in this direction, and I don't think the androids know of the lookout."
"Alright." With that, Krillin rushed out of the room. From the other half of the room another voice entered just as quickly.
"Gohan. Could you go get some clean sheets for your little brother? It looks like he's made a mess again."
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Android 18 stepped out of the door leading to the Kame House. "You have to be shitting me, I get Yamcha and Tien?! Why don't you just send in all the weaklings and get it over with?"
Both Z fighters dropped into fighting stances, ready for a battle. They knew that they were likely not a match for the android, but they would try their best to finish him off. Without another second the android launched herself between the two fighters and violently extended both of her arms, knocking her foes to their knees and starting the fight.
Tien rebounded quickly, leaping up and swiping at the android's head. Sadly, he was too slow, he fist missed it's mark and 18 shoved her fist into the triclop's stomach. He doubled over and staggered backwards, clutching at his newly injured organ. He could not believe the power that the androids contained, it was insane.
Yamcha tried to surprise his opponent next, coming from behind and trying an ax handle smash. He had no more luck than his comrade though, hitting nothing but thin air and immediately receiving a fist to the side of his face. Before he could recover the android maneuvered behind him and kicked him into the dazed Tien. Then 18 rose up into the air, gathering energy into both of her hands and aiming for her foes.
"We need to work together Yamcha, otherwise we'll never win!" Tien stated as they rose to their feet.
"Agreed," Yamcha replied, "If we let those blasts hit the island though it'll sink, we can't take that chance if Roshi is still alive, but if we get hit by them we'll surely die."
"Hit those blasts with something big, you use the Kamehameha, I'll use a charged up Dodon Ray."
"Alright," Yamcha said as he dropped into a position to charge his Kamehameha wave, Tien pointed two fingers at his foe, charging energy on the tips of his digits.
"It's futile you losers!" Android 18 yelled down at them. To emphasize this point she combined the two blasts in her hands and launched the massive orb at the island and the two human fighters.
"Shit! Tien our beams can't counter that thing! It's way too strong!" Yamcha shouted out.
"Yeah," Tien had to think quickly, if he didn't then they would all be toast. He had an idea just in the nick of time. "Aim for the furthest part of the blast!"
Yamcha didn't quite understand it right away, but he followed suit as his friend launched his attack.
"Dodon Ray!"
"Kamehameha!"
As the beams hit the blast on it's edge, they dispelled a large amount of their energy into the blast, but the effect was exactly what Tien had wanted. The blast's trajectory shifted and it flew of into the ocean, detonating miles below the sea level. Both fighters stood panting, staring down their enemy for her next move. Android 18 lowered herself to the ground, a perturbed look on her face.
"That was quite irritating, now I'm going to give you both half a minute to apologize and kill each other before I do it for you."
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Mirai and Vegeta were startled as they gazed down and saw a man with baggy pants like the ones that Gero wore, with a yellow vest over his chest. To cover up the long white hair that he had was a trucker hat with a Red Ribbon insignia on it. He was about half a foot taller than Vegeta, but much more muscular. As he tilted his head to look up at the fighters Mirai noticed he had a white goatee as well.
"And who the hell are you to tell us not to blow up this worthless pile of metal?" Vegeta spat, his blast still charging.
"I am Android Thirteen! The greatest of Gero's creations." the man replied, as he did so two more androids came out from the rubble surrounding the area. "These are my accomplices, Androids Fourteen and Fifteen."
The android on his left, Android 14 was a tall man with red fiery hair and a red bandana around his neck. His torso was covered in a long flowing purple trench coat with leather shoulder pads and the sleeves rolled up. The only other thing he wore was a pair of blue jeans and brown boots with steel toes. On his right side, Android 15, was an even taller, bald, and darker skinned. He wore a white tank top, green cargo pants, and combat boots. His defining feature was a pair of sunglasses that hid his gaze.
"I get the one on the right, he looks tougher." Vegeta said with a smirk. Mirai turned to look at him in surprise.
"We can't sense their power levels, it would be stupid to just rush in, Vegeta!" He was too late, as Vegeta had begun revving his ki even more in anticipation of the battle.
"Come and get me, RoboFreaks!" Vegeta yelled with a smile on his face.
"Give them Hell, 14 and 15!" Android 13 hollered back. Mirai quickly pulled the energy he had been putting into the Masenko back into himself as he saw the androids charging at them. He launched at his foes as well, shooting down towards the Earth, ready for a fight. Ready, that is, until he heard Vegeta yelling from behind him.
"Get the Hell out of the way, boy! I'm going to take them both out at once!" Mirai dashed off to the side just in time to see the Big Bang Attack, now about twice as big as he was, roll slowly past him at the androids. They dodged the huge, slow blast with relative ease, regrouping and continuing on to the former Saiyan Prince. Vegeta dropped into a fighting stance, ready to take on the challenge, which astonished Mirai.
"Vegeta! That blast has enough energy to destroy everything within a few miles!" He shouted angrily. As he looked at the proud Saiyan begin his bout with the mechanical men he realized that the man had no desire to stop the blast. "Damn it!"
Thinking fast, Mirai sped down in front of the blast, putting himself between it and the Earth just in time to avoid a massacre. Putting his mechanic hand on the huge ball of energy and making sure that the absorber was in contact, he felt the blast beginning to diminish as his own energy reserves slowly began to fill up.
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
"We need to hit her with everything we've got," Tien replied, "Her defenses are too great for regular attacks, I'm going to cover you while you charge up a Spirit Ball!"
"What?" Yamcha questioned, "How are you going to take her yourself?"
"I won't be fighting them myself necessarily." Tien said as he turned to face the android, with a quick charge of his ki he split into four completely identical bodies.
Yamcha smirked at his friend's technique, he was about to give that android hell. All four Tiens walked in unison towards their android opponent, charging up ki in their fists. Yamcha retreated back a few paces and grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, focusing all of his ki through his body to a space just above his hand.
"So, you've chosen to have me kill you, that's depressing," Android 18 stated as she cracked her neck and began walking towards Tien and his clones.
As they closed the gap between the five fighters, the two Tiens on the originals side jumped further out and launched Dodon Rays at the android. She barely batted an eye as she dodged them both in one move. As she did this, the other two Tiens performed the Four Witches Technique, sprouting two more arms out of their shoulders. 18 was shocked by this new development in their fight, she had nothing in her files about Tien being able to do this strange feat.
"Get ready to die!" The original Tien stated as he charged some ki into each of his four hands before discharging all of them at once. "Quadruple Dodon Ray!"
As 18 prepared to dodge the four beams she heard a voice from her right side shout out.
"Dodon Ray!" She was able to dodge the first four beams, but the last one caught her in the left shoulder, cutting through her shirt and searing her skin.
"Damnit! You'll pay for that one, Three-eyes!" As she returned her attention to the fighter she noticed that only one of him was located in front of her now, and he levitated a few yards off of the ground. Turning her head side to side and realized that the Tiens had boxed her in and now all possessed four arms a piece.
Before she could moved a muscle, Dodon Rays began to shower down upon her. The Tiens rotated which hand used the beam in order to keep a constant stream pouring down on their opponent. 18 was barely able to get out of the way of most of the energy attacks, it wasn't that they were that powerful, but Tien aimed them at vital areas; her eyes, shoulders and neck.
Yamcha watched as his ally held the android off, both amazed and jealous of Tien's strategy. Someday he would become the better of the two, he resolved, but today his task was to keep them both alive with the Spirit Ball. The size of his attack was now at least twice the size of his head, one of the biggest he had made. "I'm done, Tien! Get out of the way!"
One of the clones looked over at the former bandit, "Keep charging it up, Yamcha! We need it as strong as possible!" With that he returned his focus on keeping the android at bay and Yamcha once again focused on sending energy into his ball of ki.
The multiple Tiens were tiring out, each of their Dodon Rays became weaker and weaker, not by much, but with time they would barely be able to manage to muster up a beam at all. They kept up as if they weren't running out of ki at all though, hoping that 18 could not sense ki. Sweat dripped down from their faces and dotted the ground below them. So far just a few of their beams had made contact, though none of them in any significant areas. To make sure Yamcha had enough time to get a sizable Spirit Ball formed, the Tiens revved their ki and started launching the Dodon Rays even faster, wishing to do the most damage possible.
18 was beginning to get frustrated as the beams kept lancing into her body, leaving a stinging pain on her body. Finally, after a few minutes of the abuse, she raised her arms to her sides. Immediately a barrier formed around her, nullifying her attackers' beams before they could reach her. She smirked as she saw the Tiens' shocked reactions and subsequent retracting of their third and fourth arms. They were all obviously tired, unable to form the extra appendages any more. She dashed up into the air and shot right passed the first Tien, stopping just behind him and kicked him in the back as he was turning around to confront her. In an instant she was moving towards the one to her right, charging up a ki blast in her hand and discharging it into his chest as she reached him. The resulting explosion blew that Tien into the ground next to the first one she had assaulted.
The remaining two Tiens caught on by this point and frivolously launched weak Dodon Rays at 18, who easily dodged them and dashed in to take them on. In one movement she shot a ki blast into the Tien to her left's face and drop kicking the other Tien into the ground. While the last Tien staggered backwards from his face being blasted, 18 ducked behind him and ax-handle smashed him into the other three Tiens.
"So, what happens if I kill one of you?" 18 questioned as she once again dropped to the ground and began walking towards the four bodies that were piled on top of one another, "You don't seem to be at the original three eye's level of strength, so are you each a fourth of him? If I kill one of you, will you forever lose that fourth of yourself?"
There was no reply from any of the Tiens. An evil grin came over the girl's face, "I guess I'll just have to find that out if you won't tell me."
"Step away from Tien!" 18 heard as she turned around to see a massive white sphere flying at her.
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Mirai held the Big Bang Attack, now the size of a basketball, in the palm of his mechanical hand. He did not want to overfill his arm's reserves and potentially break it, not after Bulma was nice enough to make one for him. The attack had very little energy left in it anyways, it could barely blow up a hill let alone the planet. Looking up Mirai saw Vegeta still locked in combat with the two androids. Time to even out the odds.
As he raced upwards, the blast still in his hand, he noticed that his arm was beginning to spark. Shit! That's all it took to overfill?!
Thinking quickly he brought both hands to his right side and started to push the energy in between his palms. "Kame."
His father's signature energy beam began forming around the remainder of Vegeta's Big Bang Attack. "Hame."
He saw an opening, Vegeta had just punched the larger, more muscular android and sent him flying a few feet away from him. Mirai launched himself up faster, positioning himself between the large android and the Saiyan. "Ha!"
He launched his attack directly at the android's chest from no more than three feet away. The blast was monumental, twice the size of the usual Kamehameha and near Mirai's end there was a halo of sorts circling it vertically. It completely enveloped Android 15, when all was said and done a few mechanical scraps dropped from the sky to the ground far below.
"Heh, that was cool." Mirai stated before rushing back towards where Android 13 was standing watching the fight. He landed on the rocky terrain and dropped into a battle stance. "You're mine."
"Is that so?" Android 13 stated as he got into his own stance to begin the fight, though it was a second too late. Mirai's fist planted itself firmly into the android's face, sending him flying a few yards backwards. He leaned up on his elbow and wiped some dirt off his chin. "No nonsense, eh?" He threw his hand up just in time to catch another one of Mirai's fists. As he did so he formed a ki blast with his free hand. "I like that! Let's tango, boy!"
Mirai barely dodged the blast that now occupied the space where his head used to be. He responded to the attack by lashing out with his foot towards the android's torso. 13 took the hit and wrapped his arm around Mirai's leg, rocketing into the air with his opponent in tow. Before Mirai could do anything, 13 had shifted his position and was now shooting back towards the ground. The impact the two made when they hit the ground was at least fifty feet across.
"There goes leaving the landscape intact." Mirai muttered as he kicked himself free of the android's grasp.
"What was that?" Android 13 asked, jumping backwards and dropping back into a fighting stance.
"Time to go all out!" Mirai revved up his ki as much as he could, his muscles now bulging out and a vein protruding from his forehead. He looked over at his opponent through the hail of debris that was lifting off the ground from his power increase. His stance, there are so many holes in it. It looks like he just watched a bunch of martial arts movies. He's strong, probably stronger than I am, but his inexperience is to my advantage.
13 rushed in towards Mirai, charging straight through the raised chunks of dirt and rock now in the air. As he pulled his fist back to hit his foe, Mirai pivoted to the right and punched him in the stomach. As the android was shooting upwards, the demi-Saiyan from the future reached with his other hand and grabbed 13 by the leg, spinning him around a few times before releasing him into the air.
Up above Mirai and 13, Vegeta was facing the remaining android in the vicinity, ducking just in time to avoid a devastating punch to the face. He responded by bringing both of his hands together and gathering ki between his palms and shoving the blast into the android's chest. When the blast cleared the android still stood in place, though with much more scrapes and bruises.
"Heh, built to last, eh android filth?" Vegeta said with a smirk. "Well, now I'm going to show you my true power!"
Vegeta revved his ki as the android stood motionless in front of him. When he finally stopped the wind whipped around them both violently. "Time to die."
Rushing in and kicking the red headed android across the face, Vegeta charged some ki in his hand, clenching his fist and delivering a punch to the android's chest. 14 responded by shooting twin laser beams out of his eyes, piercing through Vegeta's shoulder and then pushing the Saiyan off of him. Vegeta floated back a few feet, clutching at his injured shoulder. Before he could fully recover, 14 was on him, kicking and punching at any opening he could find. After a few seconds of being bashed around, Vegeta had enough, bringing his arms across his face in an X formation. When 14's fists came towards him again he caught both of them, bringing them up to face level. Once he saw that 14 was in his grasp he kicked upwards with his right leg, bicycle kicking him in the face, letting go of the android's hand and dragging him along the entirety of the move. 14 was sent spiraling towards the ground, correcting himself just a few feet before contact and racing off to the West. Vegeta saw this and took off after the android as fast as he could.
They passed just above 13 and Mirai, close enough to make the two fighters just back from each other to avoid being hit. The wind the two speeding warriors caused made Mirai's hair blow to the side, as well as 13's. It was not just the android's hair that was affected by the wind though, his hat also picked up part of the gust, finally giving was and flying off of his head.
"No way! It can't be!" Mirai yelled as he gazed at what the hat had been concealing; a light blue dome containing a brain. He had seen the orchestrator of the androids killed right in front of his eyes. "You can't be Gero, there's no way?"
"Heh, it seems as though my rouse has come to an end. Why I ever believed that I could survive in an aged android body with energy absorbers rather then my infinite energy model I do not know," Gero clenched his fists a couple of times, "But with this body I can destroy you all. Then I'll deal with those damned 17 and 18 models. I did notice that you used energy absorbers, where did you get them?"
Mirai let a smirk form from his lips, "You aren't the only genius on this planet."
"Ah, so it was Bulma, eh? She could be useful to me once I take over the planet. Well either that or she will be a huge pain in my ass."
Meanwhile, Vegeta and 14 were locked in combat, neither gaining any headway. Finally, Vegeta had enough. Swinging his arms out to his sides as he jumped backwards a few feet, he charged as much ki as he could into his hands. As 14 dashed in towards him, Vegeta quickly brought his hands together, releasing all the ki he had built up. "Final Flash!"
14's torso dropped to the ground, at least what was left of it did. Vegeta grinned at his handiwork. "That's it for that rust bucket, now just one left."
With that Vegeta blasted off and landed behind Gero, who glanced back at in recognition.
"So, I take it androids 14 and 15 are both no more?"
"That's right, and now your time is limited as well." Vegeta retorted.
"Perfect."
"Huh?"
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Piccolo landed on the edge of the lookout. He could not sense Cell anywhere, it must be concealing his ki. Mirai and Vegeta had both been in some sort of conflict, but their kis were now stabilized, at a very high level, but stable. They must have been in a fight with one of the androids. On the Kame island Yamcha and Tien were dangerously low on ki, but help was on the way. Right now Piccolo had a more important issue, he needed Goku back in the fight. He still wasn't exactly Goku's greatest fan, but the Saiyan was probably the strongest one on the planet so far. With another juggernaut on their side they'd be able to take out both androids and Cell in no time.
He walked under the entrance door and passed by Mr Popo. "Prepare the room, Popo. One year of supplies and fresh sheets."
Mr. Popo made a quizzical look at Piccolo before remembering that his dear Kami was a part of him now. He quickly nodded and rushed off back inside. Piccolo continued his stride and entered into the room that the Son family had taken residence in. Gohan's head immediately shot up and stared at the Namekian. "Kid, help me get your father, we're going to make him better."
"What?" Gohan gave him a confused look, he wasn't sure how moving his father was going to do any good.
"We're taking Goku to the Room of Spirit and Time."
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
18 was shocked to see the pale bright blue of the Spirit Ball fill her gaze. She had no time to react, it was upon her and smashed into her body.
Yamcha fist pumped as he realized that his attack made contact. There was no way that it didn't work, he had put all of his energy into that thing. Taking two steps forward towards Tien, he collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted. He felt the wind whip across his face as the after shock of the explosion passed over him. For once, he was the one that had secured the victory.
His feeling of satisfaction did not last long however, as a feminine boot stepped right in front of his face. Looking up he saw the angry, battered face of Android 18 looking down on him, her ponytail gone, leaving her hair falling down in front of her face. A massive scowl crossed her lips and a good portion of the right side of her clothes gone. "You die now."
She reached down and picked Yamcha up by his throat, drawing her other arm backwards. This was the end for Yamcha, he had died before and this time was about to be no different. Sadly, it would not be as quick as that damned Sibaman he assumed. 18 looked like she was going to make this as slow and painful as possible. He silently hoped for a savior, while keeping a tough look on his face. He wished that before he died he had made amends with Bulma, he really loved her and regretted ever cheating on her...all fifty times. If he made it out of this alive he would get stronger, he decided, he would learn something to make him just as good as Vegeta. Then he would be a true defender of Earth, then he would earn Bulma's affection.
He saw 18's fist coming right for his gut, lodging it just below his ribs. Blood flew from his mouth as he coughed and choked. She drew her arm back again, Yamcha's life as a bandit flashed before his eyes. Puar was such a good friend, he hoped that the magical cat would somehow find a way out of all this. Her fist made contact once again, he felt something give in his upper stomach, whatever it was couldn't have been good, as he puked blood and bile once again, all over Android 18's arm. Her face contorted into even more rage.
"How dare you?!" She drew her arm back for the last time, aiming straight for Yamcha's head. I'm sorry Puar, Goku, Tien...Bulma, I'm not good enough, I wish I had been better. If I ever had another chance, I wouldn't waste it, I would strive to be the best. He smiled a bit as he knew that his life was about to end, and he waited for her fist to pulverize his face, but it never came.
Instead, what Yamcha experienced next was completely unexpected; he was falling to the ground. 18's hand was still wrapped around his neck, but her grip had loosened just enough so that he could breath a bit easier. As his back hit the ground he heard a female voice shrieking, opening his eyes he saw the source of the noise; 18 was screaming, clutching the stump of her right hand. Behind her a few dozen feet and up in the air was his savior; Krillin. Yamcha barely managed to lift his arm and give his comrade a thumbs-up before his massive blood loss drifted him off into a deep sleep.
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Krillin panted as he looked down at the scene below him. Tien was battered and bruised, his body broken, all for of him even. About five feet in front of him stood 18, howling in pain at the loss of her limb. At her feet lay Yamcha, half grinning and giving Krillin a thumbs up for a second. Both of their kis were faint, they were close to death. What was worse was that there was an even more faint ki inside the Kame house, Master Roshi was in worse shape than either of the other two. This bitch is going to pay for what she's done.
Speeding down to the island as fast as he could while raising his fist back, Krillin resolved to end this as quickly as possible. A foot away from the woman he struck, knocking her backward a few yards and dropping her to the ground. "My name is Krillin, and you have hurt my friends, prepare to die."
18 got to her feet very slowly. "You have to be shitting me, you're the one that took off my arm? 17 is never going to let me live this one down." Before she was fully balanced though Krillin rushed in again, phasing out of view just before he was in front of her and juking to the left. Once he was in the position he wanted he kicked at the backs of her knees, dropping the android once more.
"You're not going to get the chance to tell him I'm afraid." Lashing out with his fist, Krillin struck her on the side of the face and sent 18 flying towards the other side of the island. Before she could land, Krillin sped right below her, kicking upwards with all his strength and sending her up into the air. The short monk dashed in once again, but this time the android was quicker. She used her good hand and grabbed him by the foot, using his own momentum against him and swinging him towards the Kame house. Krillin barely corrected himself before the roof, but when he looked up two energy blasts were heading straight for him. He quickly fired off two of his own to intercept them, but fell right into 18's trap as she appeared in front of him as he let the second blast go. Her foot extended and sent Krillin rocketing through the house and shooting out the other side.
Krillin didn't let his previous advantage go to waste though, he dodged as fast as he could to the left side of the house. While he was out of view he began charging up a Kamehameha between his palms. He waited around the corner and concentrated on what the space around him was saying to him. He felt a wind shift after a few seconds. Quickly he jumped around the corner and fired the beam off and poured as much ki as he could into it. He did it just quickly enough to see the shocked expression on 18's face as the beam collided with her body and sent it flying back. When the blast had cleared away, there was no sign of 18 anywhere on the island, but Krillin knew that there wasn't quite enough power in that blast to kill her. She must be somewhere in the ocean. Hiding from him, waiting to attack when he let his guard down.
Krillin rushed over to the bodies of Yamcha and Tien, he had to make sure that they were alive still. He kept his senses up the entire time, but could feel nothing change, not the waves, the air or the wildlife were making any signs of being disturbed. When he rounded the corner he saw that there were no longer 4 Tien's, but just 1. Damnit, his ki must be just about out!
That's when Krillin felt something happening in the ocean. Around where 18 must have landed, a ki source was skyrocketing. Androids don't have ki, but this feels so different from anyone else on the planet. It's almost familiar though, almost like the ki I felt earlier today. Shit.
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Gero stretched both of his hands out to his sides. "Prepare to see true power!"
Two pieces of machinery promptly shot out of the remains of android 15 and rocketed towards Gero. A microchip flew at his temple, slowing down just before entry and somehow sliding through his prosthetic skin into his mechanical skull. A motor of sorts did the same, but integrating into his chest. Gero's power began to skyrocket, Vegeta and Mirai couldn't sense it still, but the ground around them had begun to shake slightly and the air pressure had dropped. That's when something else sparked both of their ki senses.
A bit to the Northwest, approximately at the edge of West City, small ki signatures were disappearing. Mirai thought for a moment about what was around that area, when he realized with horror that it was Capsule Corp. His head whipped over just in time to see Vegeta's reaction, as he knew that the proud Saiyan had felt it as well. He was just as shocked to see the concern on Vegeta's face. Gritting his teeth and turning back to Gero he saw the other two parts integrate into his android body. "Go, now Vegeta!"
( ( ( ( ( (((O))) ) ) ) ) )
Hey everyone! Sorry about the wait! There was quite a bit going on in this chapter, hope I didn't miss anything haha!
I have some news as well! One of the reasons that this chapter was so late is because I have started a collaborative story with the great Ultimate Kaiosama! It is the tale of how the universe would change if Tora survived the ambush on Planet Meat. It is looking pretty great so far if I do say so myself, it should be released sometime very soon! I encourage everyone to check it out!
All done with the plugging, now for review-replies!
EGXO – Tien splits his power level between each of the bodies, so theoretically Yamcha could beat one of the split Tien's if it were one on one.
ShadowLDrago – Sorry, that was incorrect, but good guess! Cell is around here somewhere, you'll find out next chapter!
RedHunter87 – Answered via PM
Alright, well that's about it for this chapter. As always, please leave a review after you read, it really does help out quite a bit!
Til next time!