Piccolo applauded in his mind. Kera had her energy under control again as well as in their peak times when they had still trained in the forest and on the plains. She had defeated No. 19 with an ease that made him marvel. With that, one danger had already been averted. Now all they had to do was incapacitate the bearded android, who had unfortunately just made his way to safety.
Piccolo flew after Vegeta and Kera, who scanned the vast rocky plain with their eyes. Krillin, Tien and Gohan followed him.
'Well done,' Piccolo sent to Kera in thought. He felt a smile as she flew a few yards ahead of him.
They were going lower. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. This android could be anywhere. They swarmed out to cover a larger radius. Piccolo cursed inwardly. They should have insisted on another battlefield. It was hopeless.
Suddenly he felt himself grabbed from behind. A hand placed itself over his mouth. He felt his energy drain away. It had to be the android! Mentally, he called out to Kera who was only a blink of an eye later at him, tore the cyborg off him and placed herself in a defensive posture next to him in the air.
"Are you okay?" She didn't look at him, but fixed the android, who was standing only a few steps away from them on the rocky ground, looking up at them angrily.
"It's all right. I'll take care of this scum now."
With a fluid movement, he removed his turban and cloak and let them fall to the ground.
"You don't stand a chance. I've sucked your energy!" the android shouted towards them.
"Well, but only a small part, I'm afraid." He grinned and let his aura light up. The android took a step backwards and seemed surprised. Searching, his eyes darted across the sky until they seemed to have found a spot that suited him. Grinning snidely, he raised his arm. Piccolo braced himself for an attack, but the expected energy beam shot past several yards beside him.
"Shit!" yelled Kera and was gone the next moment. He now turned around as well and saw what the energy beam had hit. A plane. He had heard it earlier, but had not given it any further significance. The elderly android had brought it down with his energy beam.
Kera and - Piccolo blinked - the boy from the future sped towards the fireball of the explosion and caught two figures, landing with them in an open area. He joined them. Vegeta, Krillin, Tien and Gohan also landed.
Kera was just helping the fat one again, what was his name? Yajirobe? to his feet, while the future boy gently set Bulma and the baby down on the ground.
"Trunks, you came after all!", Piccolo greeted the newcomer.
Vegeta's head snapped around to Piccolo. Only then did he realise that he had just revealed the boy's name. His gaze wandered to Kera, who seemed completely unimpressed by the news. He wondered if she had already drawn her own conclusions.
"Vegeta, that was your wife and son on the plane. Why didn't you save them?", Trunks snapped at the older man instead of a greeting.
"You stopped us. Now the android is gone!" was Vegeta's reply.
"Vegeta, are you out of your mind? It's your wife!" Kera was just as angry as Trunks.
The purple-haired boy just shook his head. "Those androids aren't the ones I fought in the future."
Exclamations of amazement were the reaction to this statement. "Then who are they?", Piccolo wanted to know. Trunks shrugged his shoulders.
"I think I recognised that guy when I flew over you guys," Bulma spoke up. "It was Dr. Gero."
"I thought he built those android." Piccolo still doubted the woman's statement.
"I am pretty sure. I met him once at a congress. He has his lab in a cave in the mountains near the northern capital."
"Then that must be where the androids I know from the future are!" exclaimed Trunks.
"What do they look like?" demanded Vegeta promptly.
"A black-haired boy and a blonde girl. They're both wearing red scarves."
Piccolo started to say something, when he was interrupted by a snide sound coming from Vegeta's mouth, who also started up at the same moment, leaving them standing. He could only shake his head at this hotheaded temper. A glance at Kera showed him that she thought the same. Another noise stopped him from speaking again. Now it was Trunks who had groaned in annoyance and now also flew after Vegeta without another word. Saiyans really had an unpredictable temper.
"Good, then let's leave now and find that lab. Maybe we can get there in time and prevent those androids from making an appearance at all." There was agreement in the group about his suggestion.
"And how do I get back home?" asked Bulma. Piccolo didn't feel like worrying about that too, but Kera helped him.
"Gohan, can you please take Bulma and the baby away?"
"And me!" shouted Yajirobe.
Gohan didn't seem thrilled, but willingly he clasped Yajirobe under his arms, who in turn held Bulma, and flew off with them.
"All right, then. Let's go find this lab then." The four of them set off north.
No one said a word during the flight. With each mile it grew colder. When they finally reached the northern capital, they hovered indecisively far above the city and looked around.
"Whoa, it's cold." Shivering, Krillin wrapped his arms around his torso. "Aren't you guys freezing?"
"Don't be such a baby!", Piccolo barked at the shorter man, who scowled at him. "We should split up and search the hills." He gestured to the range of hills that rose behind the town.
"Here." Krillin held out his open hand to them. "Bulma gave me the Senzu Beans. There are two for everyone."
"All right, then. Take care of yourselves then," Tien said and set off. Krillin followed him.
Piccolo smiled at Kera and was about to fly off as well when she grabbed him by the arm and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before floating past him. Despite the threatening situation, he had to smile. This woman actually managed to rattle him. He shook off the thought and went in search of Dr Gero's laboratory.
Only a few minutes passed before he felt the flare of Krillin's energy and made his way to it as quickly as possible. Tien and Kera were already with him. They were standing on a narrow ledge, which when they landed turned out to be the entrance to a cave.
Krillin pointed inside the cave. "I saw that Dr Gero. He disappeared in here."
"Well, get in there!" Kera dashed forward and was about to smash the thick steel door when Piccolo stopped her.
"Wait!" Kera stopped in mid-motion and turned to him in wonder. "We're too late. Dr Gero has already activated the androids."
"How ...?" put in Kera, but then she nodded. "You heard it when you landed."
Piccolo nodded. He looked up at the sky. Two figures approached, landing beside them a moment later. It was Trunks and Vegeta.
"So you've found the lab already. Convenient."
Kera went up to Vegeta to tell him what they had already found out, but he simply pushed her aside, raised his hand and destroyed the massive iron door with a beam of energy.
Protectively, they all put their arms in front of their faces and waited for the dust to clear. Through the fading smoke they saw the androids for the first time, a young woman and a young man. Trunks' description matched the two of them.
Dr Gero was standing behind the androids. His eyes were widened in fear. "I command you ..." he stuttered.
The black-haired young man turned to Dr Gero. "What do you mean, 18?" He glared at the blonde.
"Kill him," she replied coldly.
The man shot forward like lightning and thrust his hand through Dr Gero's torso. A puzzled expression spread across the defeated man's face.
"Why? I created you." His voice was a mere rasp.
"Because we like to do what we want and not what you want," the black-haired man murmured into his creator's ear and then simply dropped him.
They all watched the scene in horror until Trunks roared angrily. Piccolo cursed, grabbed Kera's arm and pulled her back with him. Not a second too soon, Trunks fired such a powerful energy ball at the androids that the entire lab and the mountain above it vanished into thin air.
Vegeta, Tien and Krillin had also made it out of the radius of destruction in time and saved themselves on the next best rock. But unfortunately they were not the only ones who had been spared by the explosion.
The two androids now landed on the debris of the laboratory as well. The man carried a large elongated capsule with only one arm and placed it beside him. With a wave of his hand, he motioned 18 to approach the thing.
"No!" Trunks tried to stop her from pressing a button on the top of the capsule, but Vegeta held him back.
"You've already wasted your energy, boy." Vegeta looked at him dismissively. The pod opened and from it emerged a tall man with red hair.
Piccolo heard this one greeted as 16 and after a few words flew away with the other two androids without giving the group another glance.
Kera didn't look after the androids, but watched Vegeta, who stood beside her with his fists clenched. It bothered him that the androids had not paid attention to him. He had wanted to fight. Had wanted to prove his strength and superiority. But they had simply flown away.
She tried to address him, but he grumbled and rose. She let out a resigned sigh. It was typical. Now she had to fly after him again.
'I'll be right back,' she sent a quick message in her mind to Piccolo before following Vegeta. She stopped in front of him and faced him in the air. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find those two androids and finish them off. I am the prince ..."
She interrupted him. "Yes, I know that. Are you really going to risk your life to prove something to yourself?"
"Are you telling me you don't feel the urge to fly after the androids and finish them off single-handedly?" He came very close to her, his face only an inch from hers. She could feel his breath on her skin. Yes, she knew exactly what he meant. And she was sure that if she hadn't spent a few years as Sitara, she'd be flying after these guys just as much now. "Feeling the adrenaline of being involved in a fight to the death and proving yourself. Prove that you're the strongest."
Her heartbeat accelerated. She swallowed. It was as if her blood began to sing. She wanted this fight. She wanted to feel what Vegeta was describing. For long seconds she stared into his dark eyes, then took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Quickly, she placed a kiss on his cheek. "Take care."
Vegeta flew off and Kera landed beside the others.
'Are you okay? Piccolo's voice chimed softly in her head.
'He is and always will be a stubborn one,' she answered him. She saw a faint grin on Piccolo's lips before he turned to Trunks.
"Were those the androids from the future?"
Trunks nodded and looked down at the ground, embarrassed. It annoyed him that they hadn't managed to stop the androids. "The black-haired one is 17, the blonde one calls herself 18. I don't know the third one though."
"They called him 16," Piccolo knew to report. "So our time has indeed changed if the third android doesn't show up in your future."
Another curt nod from Trunks, which faded into a shrug. Time travel wasn't easy to explain.
"We have to fly after Vegeta," Kera spoke up. She felt torn. She knew that the fight against the androids would probably be futile unless they acted thoughtfully, but the urge to fight and stand by Vegeta's side drove her forward.
Piccolo regarded them for a while. "All right, then. We'll take a look at these androids. We need to find out what their intentions are."
She smiled gratefully at him and took to the air first. Kera didn't look behind to see if the others were following her. She concentrated on Vegeta's energy. He was many miles away. He must have flown very fast. He must have found the androids because he was no longer moving.
She sped up her flight and finally recognised Vegeta, who had landed on a narrow road. To his left rose a sheer cliff wall, to his right the road was blocked only by a thin metal plank against the abyss.
Vegeta did not turn to face her, but she knew he had sensed her presence. Five steps in front of him stood amdroids 17 and 18. The third android stood a little apart and seemed uninterested in what was happening in front of him.
"Ah, there's Sitara."
Kera fixed the black-haired man and was confused for a moment at his statement. Then it came back to her. This Dr Gero had been observing Kakarrot and its surroundings with robot insects. So also the fight against Raditz, where she had appeared at the end.
She had to grin. "That's some outdated information you've got there."
17 shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter. We're stronger anyway."
Kera growled. This arrogant behaviour was getting on her nerves. She took a step forward. Vegeta reached out to stop her.
"My turn now!"
She hesitated, but then nodded. A few steps behind her, Piccolo, Tien, Trunks and Krillin landed. She didn't turn around. Even so, she knew Piccolo was watching her. He wanted to know what had happened in the short time he hadn't been beside her.
"We were just setting up some rules," 17 continued. "18," he pointed at the blonde, "fight Vegeta. If any of you interfere," he pointed at Kera and the others behind her, "I will interfere too and it will not end well for you." A spiteful grin played around his lips. His eyes looked as cold as an ice glacier.
Vegeta moved into fighting stance while Kera took a few steps back and stood next to Piccolo. "Attack me then, poppet."
Kera couldn't help herself. She rolled her eyes. Vegeta's overbearing nature had once again gotten the better of her.
18 followed Vegeta's prompting and attacked him. Her very first kick made him stagger. He tried not to give in and tried to hit her with his fist, but 18 dodged with ease.
Kera and the others watched the fight between the two with growing unease. Vegeta seemed to be more and more put on the defensive.
Piccolo growled. "This doesn't look good."
"You really think so?" Kera was worried. She wanted to intervene, but Piccolo held her back.
Vegeta had the rock wall at his back and had his arms crossed in front of his torso to muffle the blows that were coming at him. Sensing a reprieve, he put his arms down to counter-strike, but 18 lunged for a kick and hit his upper right arm. Kera saw the arm break and Vegeta cried out in pain at the same moment. 18 grabbed him around the neck and rammed his head against the massive rock wall.
Trunks leapt forward and drew his sword, but Kera was quicker and went for 18. She only caught 18's hair and yanked her backwards by it.
Too late, Kera saw that 18 spun as she fell and brought her fist down on Kera's nose. Kera couldn't dodge and took the full impact of the punch. Her head was thrown backwards. She had to let go of 18's hair, bounced back several yards and came to a skidding halt. With the back of her hand she wiped the blood running from her nose.
"You filthy bitch!" she roared, transforming into a Super Saiyan. She went for the blonde woman again. She just managed to dodge the soaring fist, but her own punch also came to nothing. Thrown too far forward by the momentum of her punch, she was unable to slow down and ran full speed into 18's kick, which knocked her to the ground.
Dazed, she shook her head and slowly straightened up. Piccolo, Tien, Krillin and Trunks ran past her to join the fight now as well. 17, who had been waiting, now made good on his promise and joined the fight.
Kera cursed. This had all got out of control. In the short time it took her to stand back up, 17 and 18 had already effortlessly taken Trunks and Piccolo to the ground. While Kera was still getting up, 17 and 18 had already taken Trunks and Piccolo to the ground. 17 had grabbed Tien around the neck and lifted him. His legs kicked desperately in the air as he struggled against the android's firm grip. Vegeta had also risen again and rushed to Tien and 17, but 18 intervened. She kicked him so hard in the torso that he flew backwards.
Kera saw Vegeta rushing towards her and tried to catch him, but he crashed into her with a force that knocked them both to the ground. The impact squeezed the air from her lungs. Vegeta groaned and tried to roll off her, but he froze in mid-motion.
"Time to sleep!" she heard the android's bright voice.
Then she felt a hard blow against her head as Vegeta's butt head crashed against her forehead and blackness enveloped her.
"Here, Piccolo, eat this."
He felt something being shoved into his mouth. The voice was familiar. Instinctively he began to chew. He swallowed. Instantly his strength returned. His pain was blown away. He opened his eyes and saw Krillin standing in front of him.
"What happened?"
Krillin shrugged his shoulders. "The androids told me to give you Senzu Beans and to keep training. You would have been too weak."
Piccolo slowly straightened up. "What else did they say?"
"They want to kill Goku and then they will figure out what to do next." He handed Piccolo two Senzu Beans. "Come, help me take care of the others."
Piccolo took the beans, turned and went straight to Kera and Vegeta, who were only a few steps away from him. Vegeta's left arm was sticking out at an unnatural angle, Kera's face was covered in blood.
"Here, Vegeta. Chew." He shoved the bean into the Saiyan's mouth, taking a quick glance to make sure he was chewing it, then turned to Kera.
He knelt down, pulled her carefully onto his lap and gave her the bean too. 'Chew well,' he said to her in his mind.
She chewed slowly, swallowed and then opened her eyes. Out of nowhere he conjured up a cloth with which he wiped the blood from her face.
"Thank you," she murmured and squeezed his hand. He helped her to stand up. "Are you okay, Vegeta?"
Vegeta grumbled, but he didn't look over at Kera. Piccolo knew the Saiyan was fine physically, but his pride was hurt, which was probably worse for him than any injury.
"We underestimated the androids," Piccolo said to no one in particular.
"And what makes you think that, Namekian?"
Piccolo turned to Vegeta. "Because they even know about the Senzu Beans."
Vegeta clicked his tongue. "I'll be off." He gave Kera a curt nod and flew off.
"Father!" Trunks ran off, intending to follow Vegeta. Piccolo held him back.
"We need to get Goku to safety and then we should plan further."
"But then what are we supposed to do?" asked Krillin.
Piccolo stared at the sky. "I don't know."
Krillin took a step towards him. "What's the matter, my old friend?"
Jerkily, Piccolo turned to the shorter man. His eyes flashed angrily. "How dare you, maggot?"
Startled, Krillin took a step back. Kera looked up at the Namekian in wonder. "What's wrong with you?"
Without a reply, Piccolo floated upwards. His body was surrounded by a white flicker. He lashed out with his right hand. Golden energy raced towards the group. Kera jumped forward, caught the sphere. For a while the energy hovered over her hand, then fizzled out.
"Piccolo, what is it?"
"You seem to have forgotten that I'm a demon. We'll never be friends! I am the Demon King and you are my instruments." Without waiting for a reply, he flew off.
He glanced at Kera again from the corner of his eye. Her facial expression was full of horror and disbelief at what had just happened. He hoped she would understand. He shielded the connection to her and accelerated his flight. He had to face what lay ahead alone.
Dear Reader,
a new chapter has made its way to you. I hope you enjoyed reading it. When I have published it, it will be Easter. I wish you and your family a wonderful Easter.
Stay healthy and see you soon!
Your Jessica