Chapter 26: Unstoppable

Thanks to those who pointed out it's Honour Trip that I got writing the androids as Seventeen and Eighteen/19 and 20 from. So that's that. Thanks, American Vigor (as opposed to the British 'Vigour', which is what my spell-checker is telling me to write). Incidentally, if you're reading this and haven't read HT, I'd recommend it.

The air warped and reality split open as Break's time machine appeared several feet off of the ground. She jumped out, putting the vehicle back in its capsule, and after pulling her jacket on to shield against the cold air, began flying towards the city. Seeing a population centre like this—full of life, even at night—brought hope to her heart. In her time, there just wasn't anywhere like this left, but here they were all over the planet. It occurred to her that she'd never seen, or felt the presence of, so many people in her entire life. Her thoughts were brought back to reality by the sight of a pair of burning buildings that the emergency services were already swarming over. Her first instinct was to help, but the authorities were doing a good job on their own, and she had no doubt that the battle had already begun, in which case it took priority. There must have been a slight fluctuation as she traversed the timestream—she'd meant to arrive the day before the androids' arrival. Still, the fact that the destruction was this limited meant that, at least, they'd managed to move the fight away from the city—maybe they were even still alive.

Seeing damaged rock formations off in the distance—an easy-to-find sign of a superhuman battle—she headed for the desert, landing in the middle of the crumbling rock. There was a body (Dr. Gero's) a few metres away, and she walked over, crouching down and examining it. It's an android…But this isn't Seventeen or Eighteen…more androids? Have I changed things this much just by coming back in time to warn them? I should have been more subtle! Well, at least they managed to beat this one. They seem to have gone in that direction…but where—ah, I think I can sense them. They all seem to be alive, at least, but they're spread out. That group there must be onto something—they're not moving. She took off again, swallowing nervously. She knew she'd stand no chance against Seventeen or Eighteen. It had been proven time and time again. She had to hope that the others had found a way.

"So. Who gets to fight Goku?" Seventeen asked. "I know you want to kill him as much as me."

Eighteen shrugged. "If you really want to fight him, go ahead. I'll take Raditz. Just remember not to kill Goku too quickly. Let me get a few hits in once he's beaten."

"Heh…" Goku grinned nervously. "Wow, hearing them talk about who gets to kill us…it's so creepy!"

"Yeah, it's easily the second strangest conversation I've ever heard," Raditz replied.

"Second?"

"I worked for Frieza for several years. You…don't want to know."

"If you say so." They turned their attention back to the androids, who were beginning to advance. "Okay," Goku readied himself for battle, "here they come!" Who'd have thought…after Piccolo…the saiyans…Frieza, Cooler…it's the Red Ribbon Army that produces the greatest threat to Earth…

The tension was abruptly broken as Raditz ran out of patience and charged the androids. Eighteen stepped up to intercept him, but his first kick launched her across the room, right through the wall and out the other side of the mountain. Seventeen jumped past Raditz, heading for Goku. The younger Super Saiyan jumped back, avoiding the android's first few punches. They met head-on, and Seventeen fought Goku back into the lab's entrance.

Raditz turned to the other fighters. "You might want to get out of here. This mountain is getting in the way."

"What?" Yamcha gasped, before turning and running, followed by Zarbon and Gohan. Raditz gathered all the power he could, then flung it out in all directions, completely demolishing the mountain and Gero's lab.

Raditz hovered in the wreckage, seeing Eighteen waiting for him in the air. "Hey!" she called down to him. "Are you done flailing around, beating up rocks?"

"Oh, a comedian too." Raditz charged up at her, attacking first, but she caught his fist. He twisted around, elbowing her in the back of the head, and she used the forward momentum from the attack to spin downwards, kicking him in the stomach with both feet. Raditz staggered away through the air, holding his stomach with one hand. "Not…bad."

Goku finally connected a punch to Seventeen's shoulder, but the cyborg didn't flinch, grabbing Goku by the shoulders and headbutting him. Goku grunted in pain, ducking away and raising his guard to fend off the next volley of attacks. He jumped over a low strike, kicking Seventeen away and pursuing his foe. Where did he get so strong? Seventeen wondered. I might have to use full power in a minute…but then it'd be over far too quickly…hmm, decisions, decisions…

"Look at them go," Zarbon said. "They seem to be evenly matched."

"Do you think that they can win?" Gohan asked.

"No," came the reply. "It's like I feared—the androids are just too tough." The three observers looked around to see Break, landing on the ground near them. She was accompanied by Tien, Krillin, and Nail, who she'd met up with along the way—the Super Saiyan energy being given off by the fighters wasn't hard to track down.

"Are you sure?" Tien was doing his best to follow the fight. "They seem to be doing okay."

Break shook her head. "Even if the androids are fighting seriously—which I doubt—they have infinite energy. They can just stay on the defensive until their enemy gets tired. You can't beat them without a significant advantage to overcome that." It was chilling—seeing the monsters that had haunted her life born again.

"Should we help them?" Gohan asked.

Break frowned. "I don't know if we can…"

Eighteen stood up straight and took a direct punch from Raditz without flinching. "I wonder how long you'll last?" she mused. "You must realise sooner or later you're outclassed." She swatted his hand away, and they jumped back a step from each other.

"Say…you don't come with an instruction manual, do you?" Raditz asked with a mocking smile on his face. "Excuse me, is this Tech Support? I'm having problems with my combat android. She appears to be an arrogant bitch." This got him punched halfway through the forest, but he laughed as he picked himself up. Well, I'm starting to make up for all of Frieza's 'monkey' jabs…Unfortunately, though he may have won the war of words, the actual battle was another moment entirely. Eighteen rocketed towards him, a high kick snapping his head back and knocking him to the ground again. "You're…getting stronger, aren't you?" he coughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but humouring you by holding back was dragging on a bit..." she shrugged. "I was getting bored."

Goku was experiencing similar problems. Seventeen was now blocking every one of his attacks, and when the android went on the offensive, Goku felt like his defences were being tested to their absolute limits. Before long, a vicious elbow got through, doubling him over, and Seventeen followed up by taking hold of Goku's Super Saiyan hair, swinging him around several times to yelps of pain, and throwing him away into the horizon.

The assembled fighters were unsure of what to do. "I can't take this any more!" Gohan was shaking.

"Please, Gohan! Think!" Nail put a hand on the young half-saiyan's shoulder. "Your father knows what he's doing. He wouldn't want you to get yourself killed. Let's face it, nobody stands a chance better than those two."

"But…we must be able to make some kind of difference!" Krillin argued. "Even if it's just slowing the androids down for a few seconds!"

Seventeen was repeatedly shoving Goku's head down into the sharp, rocky ground, drawing blood from small cuts all over his face. Gohan finally snapped. "I don't care!" he shouted. "I'm coming, Daddy!" He flew full-speed at Seventeen.

"Damn it!" Tien growled. "I guess we've got no choice now! Hyah!" His Kaioken aura burst into life as he followed Gohan. He was followed by Krillin, Yamcha and Nail. Zarbon and Break stood behind, deliberating. "I think we're out of our league here…" Zarbon said. "Come on, there's no point dying like this!"

I'm not letting it happen again! "Do what you want. Hrrr…" Veins stood out on Break's neck as she summoned her inner power. The now-familiar golden light appeared around her as she powered up to Super Saiyan. As always when she transformed, reason slipped away. There was only the coming battle. "YAAAH!" She charged in with no further thought, unslinging the Power Pole on her back and making straight for android Eighteen, who was driving another punch into Raditz's gut. Eighteen jumped, somersaulting over Break's head. Raditz's daughter saw the movement, lashing out with her weapon and catching Eighteen by surprise, knocking her back to the ground. The android stood up, dodging a second swing. Almost gently, she knocked Break into the air, appeared behind her and hit her back down. Break skidded along the ground, ripping up her trousers and cutting gashes into her legs, but she stopped herself, stood up and charged back in, firing a barrage of energy bullets at Eighteen, who just laughed. She flew straight into the path of each one, knocking them out of the way with a simple wave of the hand, then dashed right up to Break and kicked her to the floor. Break fell out of Super Saiyan, fighting for consciousness and losing. I tried…father…

Meanwhile, Gohan and Nail launched themselves at Seventeen from opposite sides. Seventeen let go of Goku, turning and blocking both attacks. He punched to one side with each hand, using his full power straight off the bat and instantly taking the fight out of both of them. He turned back to Goku, but the time bought by the other two had been enough. Raditz used Instant Transmission to jump over to Goku, grabbed hold of his brother and teleported them both away. Seventeen scowled. "Where did they go? What was that?"

"I have no idea…" Eighteen glanced around. "I have no record of this ability. Then again, they're all a lot stronger than records show. Not that it made a difference…" Tien, Krillin and Yamcha were hovering in the air a few metres away. Zarbon was frozen with fear, back near Gero's lab. Piccolo was nowhere to be seen. Everyone else was down. "Hey!" Eighteen called up to the three human fighters. "I don't suppose you know where Goku is?"

"No! And we wouldn't tell you if we knew!" Krillin called down defiantly. "They could be anywhere on the planet by now!"

"Heh. Quite a technique," Seventeen commented. "I guess Raditz has to die too. Can't have him spiriting Goku away every time we catch him." He looked up at the humans. "Well, fine. We're leaving. We'll just search this planet for Goku. If you want to attack us, fine, but you can see how well your friends did." He indicated the beaten saiyans and Namekian on the ground. The humans made no move, and Seventeen smiled. "Smart choice. Well, see you around." The androids took off, heading into the sky in a roughly north-west direction.

Sinking to the ground, the humans breathed out a collective sigh. "Wow, that was close…" Yamcha muttered. They all knew what he meant—Goku and Raditz were actually very close nearby, under an outcrop of rock. They'd had to hope that Break had been right and the androids couldn't sense ki. It had worked, though; and now they had at least a short while to regroup, heal the wounded and plan their next step. Or so they thought.

There was a deep rumble from the ruins of Dr. Gero's laboratory. Piles of rock cascaded down the mountain 'stump'. Something was moving under there. The four fighters still standing stared in horror as a tall humanoid figure pulled itself out of the rubble, jumping down to the ground where they were standing. Zarbon gulped. "That guy just came from the lab…he must be another android!"

"And he doesn't seem to be damaged at all from when Raditz blew the place up," Tien noted. "He must be pretty tough." The figure began to approach, and they saw him (it?) more clearly. The android designated number 16 was massive, sporting green body armour, a red mohawk, and a chin that would make Jay Leno wince. His face was expressionless, which seemed somehow strange—even the completely mechanical 19 had been capable of showing emotion. This one, it seemed, didn't share that trait.

"I don't like the look of this." Krillin tensed up, ready for anything (he hoped). "Get ready, guys."

The towering android's gaze swept over the area, until it came to rest on a location. "Goku located," he said in a deep, but artificial voice. He began to stride, slowly but purposefully, towards Goku and Raditz's hiding place.

Raditz! Tien tried to signal the saiyan telepathically. There's another android headed for you—this one can sense you! Get out of there!

I'm trying! came the reply. But I've lost a lot of energy…I just need a few seconds, a minute or two maybe, then I can get us to safety. But if I try to use Instant Transmission now, I won't go more than a couple of feet!

"All right." Tien's face grew stern. "I'm going to buy Raditz some time. If anybody wants to come with me, feel free. I'm not going to lie, it'll be dangerous, but we don't have to win—just hold it off for a bit." He flew over to the advancing android, putting himself between 16 and the hidden saiyans. "Stop right there!" he called. Within a couple of seconds, he was joined by Krillin and Yamcha. "Heh…thanks, guys."

"Hey, no problem!" Yamcha grinned. "You won't see me running from a fight any time soon!"

"And I'm not abandoning my oldest and best friend," Krillin added. He'd known Goku since they were both young children, and they'd come through too much together for Krillin to run now.

16 stopped, considering his opponents. "Scanners indicate your power levels are insufficient to stop me." He frowned. "Please, do not resist. I have no desire to harm you. I am only programmed to kill Goku. I would prefer to leave you in peace."

"How weird…" Krillin muttered. "I guess Dr. Gero messed up with his personality. But not, unfortunately, with his motivation to kill Goku. Gero had a regular complex about the guy…"

"Well, that's too bad!" Tien raised his guard. "We're not backing down! We'll defend our friend, no matter what!"

"Very well." 16's face hardened further. "Then I am sorry." He continued his slow advance.

"Okay, get ready," Tien told the other two. "I'm sure we can't beat this guy head on, and they know all our usual moves—so let's try and surprise him. Use techniques you've developed recently, or that you don't use often."

Krillin nodded. "Right. After the battle with Kuriza, we all realised that a few new tricks wouldn't do any harm…" He raised both arms into the air. Razor-edged yellow discs of energy sprung, fully-formed, from each. "Double Kienzan!" He flung the discs at 16, who had been programmed to expect the normal form of this attack, but two at once was unexpected.

16 ducked under one disc, throwing himself forwards over the second. The brief period of time before he stood up gave Tien the opening he needed. Here's another one he won't be expecting…"Dodon Burst!" Jumping into the air over the fallen android, Tien extended all ten fingers, firing streams of short yellow rays from each. They crashed into the ground, the attack covering the entire area around 16, hitting him while he was down. Tien and Krillin smiled in satisfaction, but when the dust cleared 16 was picking himself up, completely unharmed. "Man…I wish these androids had ki to sense…" Krillin grumbled. "I don't know when to celebrate…"

16 looked back up at them. "It seems your power has increased. You have acquired new techniques as well. It does not matter. You are not capable of defeating me." He continued his slow walk towards them.

"Man!" Yamcha growled. "He's not even shooting back! I bet he doesn't even think of us as a threat!"

"Well, we're not—not really." Tien shrugged. "But like I said, we don't have to win. Just last long enough."

"All right," Krillin said, pulling his power to the surface, "let's try for a combined blast. Remember, go for the unexpected."

The three warriors focused their power to its maximum, the android now only a few steps away. Krillin brought his hands together at his side, a blue glow appearing, but then changing to red as sparks started to flicker up and down his arms. He hadn't been able to push the Kaioken as high as Tien yet, but by the same logic that a higher boost could be used for a short amount of time, if the boost was applied to just one attack, not his whole body, it could be even greater. He swung his hands forwards. "KAIOHAMEHA!"

Tien knew the android would be programmed to expect all of his usual tricks—but maybe he could overwhelm it with sheer quantity. Gritting his teeth, he separated into four copies. Each one then focused further as all four of his Multi-Form copies sprouted a second set of arms from their shoulders—the Witch Arms technique he'd last used in the tournament when he'd first fought Goku. Each set of arms formed the familiar triangle, and eight Tri-Beams shot forth at 16.

Yamcha flung his arms out in front of him, dozens of tiny versions of his trademark Spirit Ball—each with almost the power of the full version—forming and coalescing into a brightly glowing mass. "Spirit Beam, HAAA!"

The ten beams sped towards 16. His sensors' report alarmed him—the humans shouldn't have been this strong, and the mix of new techniques was confusing. He raised his arms in front of him, catching the attack with the palms of his hands. He grunted as the combined force pushed him back, his feet grinding along the ground and throwing up dust. Current situation untenable…concentrate power to relevant functions only. Disabling unnecessary motion. Maximising forward thrust. 16's movement slowed, and he came to a halt. He gradually began to move back towards his enemies, pushing their attacks back. It didn't take long for the concentrated nature of their attacks to tire the humans out, and their power faded.

"Well…that was a nice try, guys…" Krillin gasped. "We even worried him a little. But this guy's too much. He hasn't even attacked us yet, and I already know I'm beat."

"Damn it…" Tien looked around behind him. "Why are those two still here?" Raditz! We're running out of time!

I must be more injured than I thought… Raditz answered. I'm trying, but it's hard to focus, especially with a long jump like we're going to need to get out of this android's sensor range…

"Fine." Tien turned back to 16, who was now moving with more speed. "Just a little longer, then."

"I will not be stopped," 16 said as he neared them. "Goku will be terminated."

"He's getting too close!" Krillin warned. "We shouldn't try to take him head-on!"

"No choice!" Yamcha told him, summoning up what strength he had left. He hadn't been able to master the Kaioken proper, not having direct teaching from King Kai, but had refused to let Krillin and Tien leave him behind entirely, and after learning as much as he could from them had come up with his own solution. "Wolf Fang Kaioken—YAAAH!" The red aura was flickering and unstable, but it was there. Tien and Krillin powered up to their own highest levels of Kaioken—times twenty and ten respectively—and joined in Yamcha's charge.

16 stepped sideways as the three warriors flew into him, raising his arms in perfectly-timed blocks. Their speed has increased, he noticed. Further errors in Dr. Gero's data. He must not have accounted for an extraneous variable. It is irrelevant. He spent several seconds on the defensive, as the human fighters hammered home attack after attack. Once he had processed their power increase, he was on more familiar territory—he was programmed with an intricate knowledge of their fighting styles. Tien's was direct and smooth, Krillin's was cautious but powerful, and Yamcha's, while somewhat wasteful in energy, was unpredictable and difficult to defend against—at least to anyone without the data 16 possessed. Having acquired all the information he required, and identified exploitable weaknesses and openings in each fighter's technique, 16 chose his moment and struck.

He suddenly spun 180 degrees, driving his elbow into Yamcha's chest. Ribs cracked with the force of the blow, and Yamcha went down, choking and coughing up blood. 16 ducked under a punch from Krillin, taking hold of the short warrior's leg and neatly breaking it at the shin. Krillin howled and fell away to the side, almost blacking out. Tien, realising he was the only one left, raised his hands to his forehead, but 16 identified the Solar Flare technique and countered with short-ranged energy beams from his eyes. The impact threw Tien's head back forcefully, snapping his neck. Tien's body hit the ground heavily, and he lay still. 16 looked down with regret. I had not intended to kill him. Evidently, his power was drained from his earlier efforts, and I overestimated his endurance. The sadness vanished, however, as his primary objective overrode everything. Goku must be terminated. But just as he turned to face the saiyans' location, they dropped off his scanners. 16 looked all around with confusion. They were gone. Out of his sensors' range—which meant they must be miles away. But there had been no energy trail. Dr. Gero's records showed no evidence of such an ability. Another error. What had gone wrong?

Zarbon floated down to the others. He went over to Krillin, dug the bag of senzu beans out of the fighter's pocket, and fed him one. "What happened?" Krillin asked. "And where the hell were you?"

"The android left." Zarbon shrugged. "I guess he's still looking for Goku. And I…I was afraid to die. Is that so terrible? I wanted to help, but I couldn't bring myself to face that thing!" They immediately went to help Yamcha, another bean restoring him, and then the three of them shuffled over to Tien. "He…he can't be…" Yamcha crouched down, staring in disbelief. "Tien! Come on, you always know what to do! You…can't just leave! What about that rematch you promised me? Tien…damn it, we need you, man."

"Hey, it's okay." Krillin patted Yamcha on the shoulder. "The Dragon Balls—"

"We already used them on him!" Yamcha snapped. "It doesn't work twice!"

"Well, there's the Namekian set…"

"…I guess…but that doesn't make it all okay, you know? He just died. I don't care how many Dragon Balls we have, it still means something." Yamcha stood up. "Shoulda been me. Tien's the hero. What have I ever done?" He was on the verge of a breakdown. "When have I ever been useful, huh? WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN ME?!"

"Yamcha…" Krillin decided it was best to just leave him alone, and flew off to give Gohan and Break the last two senzu beans (thanks to his regenerative abilities, Nail was doing a little better, and was starting to stand up on his own). They all gathered around Tien's body. To varying degrees of surprise, after a few minutes it faded, vanishing from existence. "I guess he must have got permission to see King Kai again," Krillin suggested. With nothing else to do, they flew off to Kame House, where Raditz had taken Goku.

When they got there, Raditz had already raided Roshi's fridge to give him an energy boost, teleported back to the city and brought their non-fighting friends to Kame House. Shortly after, the fighters arrived, and told the rest of the story. The room fell quiet as Tien's death was recounted.

Raditz noticed Break, who was standing outside the house, staring off into the ocean. He walked out to her, and they stood silently for a full minute. Eventually, he spoke. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I wasn't able to protect you. You had to grow up without a father. The androids destroyed your world. And now…we've failed again. They're running free. They'll find us eventually…"

"Oh…you know, then?" She turned to face her father, who nodded.

"Goku told me just a few hours ago, actually. I mean, you've already been born, so he decided it was safe." He smiled a little. "But you've grown up strong, Break. I'm proud of you."

She sniffed. Unable to contain herself any longer, she ran over and hugged him tightly. "Dad…"

"Er…" Raditz was still learning about this sort of thing. He had no idea how to be a father. "Hey. Look…if this goes as badly as I think it might…if, you know, we lose…and I'll be honest, if we all die…I want you to know I'm glad I got to meet you. You're a hero, do you realise that?" They stepped apart slightly. Behind them, a soft light began to rise over the horizon as dawn broke.

"I guess I take after you, then," she said, grinning.

"No." He shook his head. "I'm not a hero. I don't think I can ever be." He turned away from her. "I've wiped whole worlds clean, every man, woman and child. No, you're a far better person than I'll ever be."

"But you regret it now," she reasoned. "You're fighting for a good cause. Trying to protect this planet, and your family!"

"It doesn't change the fact that billions of people are dead because of me…" he stopped. "Look, this discussion is pointless. I am what I am. We're here, we're in this situation, and debating morality isn't going to help." He looked more closely at her face. "You do take after me a little in appearance, though, even if your hair is straight from your mother…look." He pointed out over the sea, to the teeming cities just visible from the island. "You see that? Millions of people. Good people, most of them, just…being alive. Blessed, wonderful mundanity. They might grumble, but everyone does that. They're free, they're safe, they're happy. I've been all around the galaxy, and I can tell you how rare that is. That is what you've missed, growing up in your timeline. That is what we're fighting for. And I don't want you to miss it this time. That other you—in there—she's going to have a future. I can guess you've spent a lot of your life running, avoiding direct confrontation. Being beaten today probably hasn't helped. But we're not running again. The next time, we're fighting to the end."

"Do you have a plan?" she asked.

He was wondering this himself. "Not a plan, as such…more of an idea. I've encountered it over and over. Frieza's living metal copies…these androids…according to you, King Cold…enemies even more powerful than a Super Saiyan. This isn't the ultimate power. This is not the peak of the mountain. There are higher levels we can climb to."

"You really think so?"

"There must be! If we just accepted our limits, we'd all have died on Namek! There's no reason to stop improving now." He smiled. "Hey. Shall we train?"

"Really?" Break grinned. "Of course!"

"All right then. Let's take this seriously. We've got to unlock greater powers, but we don't have much time—who knows how long the androids will take to find us?"

Seventeen and Eighteen were cruising down a clifftop road in their stolen sports car—they could have flown, but Seventeen insisted on 'having fun'—when a large figure appeared in their path. They swerved to a halt, almost crashing into the concrete highway divider. "Hey, what gives?" Seventeen grumbled, before noticing that the figure was, in fact, android 16. "What's this? One of us?"

"That is correct," 16 replied. "I am the android designated #16. You are models 17 and 18?"

"That's right," Eighteen replied. "What's it to you?"

"You seek to kill Goku. I am programmed with the same objective. Logic dictates that working together will yield a greater chance of success."

"Gero didn't give you much of a sense of humour, did he?" Seventeen asked, shrugging. "But you're probably right. Hop on in."

"Making use of inferior technology is illogical," 16 commented as it sat in the back of the car, "but my calculations predict that the advantage of two allies outweigh the drawbacks of indulging your personality flaws."

"…Right." Seventeen scratched his head. "Whatever you say. Let's hit the road."

Goku looked out the window, seeing Raditz and Break sparring several hundred metres above them. "Well, they're hard at work already. I guess Raditz knows we're going to have to fight them again eventually."

"There's something that's been bugging me, though," Krillin said. "When was the last time you saw Piccolo?"

"Huh…" Goku tilted his head back and forth, trying to remember. "The battle with those first two androids, I guess. Since then…nothing. I wonder what he's up to."

"It's absurd!" Kami was saying. "Ridiculous! Why would I ever want to re-fuse with you?" He was pacing back and forth in front of Piccolo, as they stood atop the Guardian of Earth's Lookout. His servant, the genie Mr. Popo, was cowering inside. "We separated for a reason!"

Piccolo was beginning to run out of patience. "Look, it's simple! We've been in conflict since we were created from the original Namekian who came to Earth, but we could never defeat each other without killing ourselves. If we joined, that struggle would just become an internal one—we'd still exist, in spirit, and we'd both have the power to achieve our aims."

"It is an…interesting suggestion," Kami admitted. "Usually, a fusion between two Namekians requires one to be the base, and they absorb attributes from the other. Are you proposing we both put our entire essence into this fusion?"

"Exactly," Piccolo explained. "That way, we recreate the nameless Namekian who gave us life. According to what Nail has told me, we'll be at least as powerful as one of those Super Saiyans. We have different reasons, but neither of us want these androids to destroy everything!"

"I…do not know. It is a drastic measure."

"Drastic times. You know the saying."

Kami fell silent for a long time. "…I want you to know that ordinarily I would not agree to this. But there is another threat to Earth. More terrible than even the androids. At the moment, perhaps slightly weaker, but with a far greater potential for evil."

"What are you taking about?"

"You'll know—when our knowledge is shared." Kami held out a hand. "Come—let the son of Katas live again."

Well, here we are. The androids are on the loose, the saiyans are looking to climb to higher levels, we're one fighter down, there's a Namekian fusion in the works, and there's an even greater evil running around somewhere (and I'm sure you all know what that is).

I seem to be putting things in my Q&A that aren't really questions, more statements. But they're points I feel like answering, so I'll keep doing that.

Q: nice and awesome as usual but either i didnt read properly or Kuriza didn't come with them to fight the androids

A: No, he didn't. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about him, but he's not really a warrior, just born powerful.

Q: one big hope of mine is that you actually dont just skip from defeating cell to the buu saga but have Vegeta and maybe others (Turles, changed to fit your story? GT enemies changed to fit your story? OC villains like more frost demons... Ginyu's daughter... whatever) do stuff, attacking the Z guys... basically write the 7 or so years fully instead of "yeah then they trained - f*ck it let skip to the confrontation with babidi" or something.

A: Fear not, things will happen during that time period. I mean, I did Meta-Frieza and Kuriza, didn't I?

Oh, and any readers, feel free to suggest what you'd like to see there. It's pretty much open at this point.

Q: I felt like you had some good moments this chapter, though I still feel like the pace covers so much at once that my mind isn't allowed to catch all the details that you really want to paint as an author. Your dialogue for 17 and 18 was good, though, as were some of the other parts with Yamcha and Krillin. Interesting that you're nearly caught up to BoD now. At this rate you'll pass us for good by next week! Crazy, right? I still really like the character of Break, though, and I can't wait for her to return. Interesting that there was no mention of android 16 here as well. Anyway, congrats on the continued success of your story!

A: I do get quite a few comments about pacing. I'm trying, people, I'm just not very good at it. But yeah. Android 16 was a secondary concern, I think, when Goku was standing there, practically begging to be killed. In DBZ, Goku was a distant objective, they probably felt less urgent to get on with it. Also, it's true, with this chapter I will have passed BoD. That's weird. Although they might re-overtake me on Tuesday, but as he said by next Wednesday or certainly Sunday I'll be pretty much permanently ahead. That's what comes of this pace of writing. Not that that's necessarily a good thing. This isn't a race.

Q: 1) How is Gohan going to become a Super Saiyan? When is it going to happen, if at all?
2) I do think Zarbon, or Trunks, should be able to boost their full power to a level that is at least close to matching the saiyans. Could this happen without an actual new form (like piccolo did)?

A: 1. Er. Is it too much of a spoiler to say that it probably will? Because he'd be kind of a wasted character if he didn't. As for how…well, you could be forgiven for thinking that he's awfully close to canon in the android saga at first (once you've seen the next couple chapters), but, well…be patient. It's good for you.

2. Um…maybe?

Q: Hmm, since Piccolo and Nail are *both* training and getting stronger, if all 3 nameks were to merge I take it he would be stronger than the canon Kamiccolo... I think it would be interesting to see Nail or Kami be the "base" for the fusion this time. Especially Kami. But you'd probably have to deal with legions of angry Piccolo fanboys if you did that, haha.

A: Who's the base? The answer is D. none of the above.

Q: nice twist with changing it to gero getting destroyed instead of #19.
for power levels for the characters at this stage could you state them.
and are you using the x50 boost or the 145 million that david is using in BOD?

A: I could state them. But it's easier if I don't. As for Super Saiyan boost (I assume that's what you mean), I'm not putting too much thought into it. Conveniently, Raditz was about the same strength as canon Goku when he transformed, so I didn't have to worry about it (about 150 million either way). For instance, if Goku (5 million) had transformed, it would have made a significant difference (x50 would be 250 million, +145M would have still been around 150 million). And that is part of the reason I've stopped posting PLs.

I would sign off with something witty, but I can't think of anything. So, see you next time.