Bulma watchedin a panic as the purple gas began to lazily approach Roshi, who was looking about trying to figure some way out of the mess. "What is that?" she demanded. "He did what you wanted and now you're going to kill him?"
"Oh no, my dear," the new voice that had spoken moments ago stated, chuckling slightly. It seemed to come from everywhere, with each word vibrating Bulma's very being. "The very last thing I want to do is kill him. I am in need of that body and harming it would ruin all my preparations."
"What… who is talking?"
"Me," the voice said and suddenly lights began to glow on the wall to her left, Bulma turning…
…and staring at the massive brain that floated in the sealing dome in the wall.
"Oh my god," she whispered.
"No, not god. I'm not that arrogant," the voice said. "Just the rightful ruler of this world. Of course, as you can see, I have suffered greatly because of the powers of this planet refusing to acknowledge my greatness. Which is where Master Roshi came in." Bulma turned, seeing the old man looking about wildly, head twisting about as the gases got close. "Half a century ago I presented to the close minded fools of this world my plans to bring us to a new golden age. With the aid of my Bio-Men and Bio-Warriors we would be able to craft a society where people wanted for nothing. They would be mindless, obedient drones, doing all that we commanded. Wars would be fought with not a single human being killed but rather through gladiator bouts where the greatest of the Bio-Warriors would determine what was right and wrong. Crime would disappear as the Bio-Men patrolled the streets. And why would one want to break the law when everything was given to you?
"But those short-sighted fools only saw the negatives. Yes… it takes 30 humans to gather the organs and body parts needed to create a single Bio-Man… and to create a Bio-Warrior takes 100 that amount! But this planet is overpopulated as it is… eliminating 90% of those that waste their lives on it would be nothing in the grand scheme of things! But they didn't care! They called me mad and a fool! So… I decided that I would do it myself. I would make the world the shining beacon I knew it could be.
"Only… even the Earth rebelled against me. The ice storm suddenly came upon this laboratory on the eve of my great experiment, trapping me inside. I would have died had Kochin not removed my brain. For the last 50 years I have worked to perfect my methods, to create even more powerful Bio-Warriors… and the entire time I have let my knowledge swell! Tapping into pieces of my mind that you could not even fathom!"
"So what?" Bulma said, glaring at the brain. "You think that by… defeating Roshi you can prove you were right?"
"Oh no no no… Roshi was always meant to win. My Bio-Warriors were merely a test to ensure that he remained the world's strongest man. You see… I have come to realize that power only respects power. And that power… must be total. I can not hope to rule this world if I am merely a genius… I must have a body to match."
On the screen the gases crept closer.
"I will take Roshi's body and alter it with my Bio-Warrior process. Turning it into the ultimate vessel to place my brain inside. Then I shall stake my claim upon this world and do what I should have 50 years ago: bring about my glorious-!"
The fortress trembled and Bulma turned towards the screen to see that a hole had been blasted into the room Roshi was in… and Goku, Krillin, and Kayos were flying in.
"Who are they?!" Wheelo demanded. His earlier confident, collected nature had disappeared in a flash in the face of the new arrivals, leaving his voice snarling all around Bulma.
While Wheelo wasn't happy Bulma was quite pleased now that things had truly shifted to her side and thus allowed herself a chance to be arrogant. "Oh, them? Just Master Roshi's students, Goku and Krillin." She looked right at the brain and said, "who are stronger than him."
But rather than be startled Dr. Wheelo instead grew angry.
Angry… but not at her.
"Kochin," he said in a low voice, "what does she mean that those two are stronger that Roshi?"
"Well… I don't-"
"Did you or did you not tell me that Roshi was the world's strongest man?"
Kochin shifted. "You see sir I did research it-"
"50 years ago?" Bulma asked with a dark smirk. "You realize how far the world has evolved and changed in fifty years? The entire world changes in 50 years! We've learned so much! Advanced so much! And you based your entire plan on 50 years worth of outdated knowledge?!"
Bubbles drifted up from Wheelo's brain dome.
"Kochin," he said darkly, "who is the world's strongest man?"
The old man glanced at the screen. "I… suppose that in the time since we last began to this plan… it is possible that those two men have managed to surpass Roshi." He looked back at Wheelo and grinned. "But that merely means that you will have an even STRONGER body to use!" He tapped some buttons on the keyboard. "Let us start with some Death Spheres… as a warm up!"
~MC~MC~MC~
"Mr. Piccolo?"
Setting the three Dragon Balls he'd collected down Piccolo took a calming breath. He managed to get his task done easily enough and would have gone after the fourth one… expect Tien and Chiaotzu had called him to inform him that it was closer to their current location so even though they were currently still going after the third it would still end up quicker for them to retrieve the last Dragon Ball rather than Piccolo wasting his time trying to nab it.
'Which is fine… except now I have to play nursemaid to the runt,' he thought to himself as he turned and looked at Gohan who was shifting nervously from foot to foot, head bowed just as Piccolo supposed his mother had taught him. That was at least a relief… Gohan wasn't at all like all the other children that he'd seen during his years. He could be a bit of a crybaby at times and far too emotional to be sure but he was polite and he didn't scream and throw tantrums and demand everyone pay attention to him.
So Piccolo sighed and said, "If this is about your dad I'm sure he's fine. Krillin definitely has gotten stronger since we last saw him."
And wasn't that a pill to swallow?
'Before he went on that little trip he would have had no hope in trying to match me in strength,' Piccolo thought to himself bitterly. 'Now, even with him suppressing his energy… I know he's closed the gap.' Piccolo was still stronger than the little bald monk but it wouldn't be the utter decimation that it once would have been. No… Krillin would still lose but not as quickly and as cleanly as Piccolo would have preferred. 'Goku and I are pushing ourselves harder but… we need to get better, faster. The others are getting not just stronger but smarter as well.'
Tien with his new abilities to work with Chiaotzu, allowing them to swap moves and skills and energy almost instantly. Krillin and his new energy conserving style. Even Kayos with his magic. All of them were learning NEW ways to fight rather than merely refining their skills and Piccolo would NOT be left in the dust-
"Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan said, making Piccolo yank himself from his thoughts. "I didn't want to talk about my daddy."
"Hmmmpf. That would be a first for all of you." He began to walk away from the vault, not bothering to see if the boy would follow. 'If his question is so important then he'll chase after me.'
And sure enough… he did.
"I was just wondering… my mom and dad say that you wanted to take over the world."
"Why the past tense?" Piccolo asked. "I still want to take over it."
"…why?"
'So, its going to be one of those conversations,' he thought, mentally rolling his eyes. "Listen kid, if you are trying to talk me out of it or appeal to my better nature then just forget about it. The world belong to me, its just that you stupid humans haven't realized it yet. I am going to rule and that's that."
"But… why?"
Piccolo frowned. "I just told you why."
"No," Gohan said, shaking his head. "You told me that you want to rule the world. But why would you? Who would want to rule the Earth?"
It was the… disgust… in his voice that made Piccolo pause.
"What do you mean?" he said slowly, wondering just what the kid was getting at. He stopped walking and turned, looking down at Gohan with a critical gaze.
"I wouldn't want to rule the world," Gohan stated with a shrug, causing his shield to bounce a bit. "There are so many people… they can't agree on ANYTHING! They fight about religion and government and what toppings to have on a pizza! And they aren't all going to accept you, even if you show that you are the best for the job! People fight because they like to fight! And not like how you or my daddy fight… they like to fight because they're bored or they just want to cause problems. You'd spend all your time dealing with people trying to make you stop ruling the world."
Piccolo blinked at that. The kid… made a good point. Hadn't that been the downfall of his own father? Hadn't he been forced to focus so much of his time and energy on making sure he kept the throne once he'd gotten it? Sending out 'children' to deal with Goku and his pals, to make sure they didn't interfere?
"And you'd be so focused on that you couldn't do anything fun anymore!" Gohan complained. "Mommy and I have been covering world history and all the emperors and kings… they have to do boring things like sit around and plan for wars or rule on disputes or make up new laws and then GET everyone to obey the new ones instead of the old ones! They don't get to train or read books or watch movies…"
He didn't know about the last two but… once more Gohan was making a good point. Piccolo could see it in his head: him sitting on a throne, ready to enjoy the thrill of being ruler of the Earth… only for people to come in to let him knew this group wanted him to settle zoning laws and another one was complaining about the punishment for jaywalkers. A thousand little petty complaints, swallowing him up like a whirlpool, dragging him down into the drudgery of having to rule.
"I guess if you have a good reason then that's okay but… I wouldn't ever want to rule the world. Its boring. I'd rather just be so strong I could do what I wanted!"
Piccolo considered Gohan for a long time.
"Mr. Piccolo?"
He reached down… and patted the little boy on the shoulder.
"You're a good kid, Gohan," he said simply before walking off.
~MC~MC~MC~
"You okay, Master Roshi?" Goku said, hurrying over to his teacher. We had been forced to blast our way into the fortress, Goku using Ki and me tearing at the walls with magic in order to finally get inside. Krillin had watched our backs to make sure that Wheelo wasn't planning to try and ambush us but it had quickly become clear that the man really didn't care if we got in.
'Considering canon… that is worrying,' I thought.
"Ya think some test-tube grown fighters could defeat me?" Roshi asked with a sniff, powering down. "That's the thing about all these power hungry fools… think you can just jump from step one to one hundred! A warrior who hasn't trained so they understand how to truly use their powers will never be a match for a skilled fighter!"
I smirked. "And it helps that you have been working out again and boosted your power level?"
"Well… yes, there is that," Roshi admitted. "Though… looking at them gases they are still trying to pump in maybe we should move this along, boys?"
I wasn't for sure what the clouds of purple gas would do to us but I decided I really didn't want to find out. "Agreeing with Roshi. Let's get the hell out here!"
Goku nodded and fired off a ki blast that destroyed a wall, the four of us racing through the hole and into another room. "We need to find Bulma."
"And then deal with the guys that took her," Krillin stated. "No good if we have them coming after us again, especially if we are dealing with Raditz!"
"So Krillin," Roshi said as we hurried through the next room, which looked like an inverted golf ball, "you learn what you needed to learn?"
"Oh yeah!" Krillin proclaimed, excited. "I-"
Suddenly the textured surface of the walls around us flickered before turning a steely gray-black… and released hundreds of large orbs, each about the size of a beanbag chair. The slowly pushed away from the wall before blades snapped out of them, the balls beginning to rotate faster and faster until they became whirling death orbs.
"Yaaaaay," I said sarcastically as I fell into a fighting stance.
"Don't worry guys," Krillin said, stepping forward and cracking his knuckles, "I got this."
His aura flared… but not like it used to.
Rather than a crackling violent flame Krillin's ki aura just made his skin glow, so he began to shine like a deep sea angler fish. Flicking out his fingers we all watched as the light grew in intensity when it came to the lightshow, only for the ki to pull away from him into small, inch long circles.
"Destructo Discs!" Krillin called out, throwing out one hand and then the other. The discs raced out and TORE through the whirling orbs, easily cutting through them as Krillin began to send more and more out.
"Amazing!" Roshi exclaimed. "He's barely using any ki but what he does is so concentrated that it is able to tear through those traps like butter!"
"Its not the size," Krillin stated, "its how you use it! I'll never have as much strength as Goku… but I can make what I do have go the distance. Stretch out every tiny bit!"
"That's amazing, Krillin!" Goku cheered. "Man, I can't wait to have a sparring match with you to see how I measure up now."
"Only can have that when we get to Bulma," I said before touching the comm. unit in my ear. "Isco?"
"I nearly have full control, sir," the droid stated. "I am shutting down the traps and setting up a lightening system to guide you to Bulma. I can't access that section of the fortress yet so I'm afraid you will have to fight on your own there but… hmm… one moment sir… I might be able to make a splash myself."
He cut off and I shrugged.
"Well, he says we can make our way to the lab."
"Let's go then!" Goku said and with that he began to sprint off.
Krillin frowned. "He forgot he didn't know which way to go, didn't he?"
"I've noticed he does that a lot," I muttered.
"Probably because you-"
"Used my magic to do something evil," I finished for him, rolling my eyes as I moved towards the blinking lights above the doorway that had just opened up. "Yeah yeah yeah. Now come on!" I began to jog towards the door, the others following after. "Goku will catch up in a minute, let's get to Bulma!"
"What do you wager we rescue her, return home," Isco said, "and manage to defeat Raditz before Goku returns?"
"Hey!" Krillin exclaimed. "Goku would never-"
"50 zeni!" Roshi exclaimed.
Krillin shot the old man a look.
"What? Sometimes ya have to take a gamble!"
~MC~MC~MC~
Krillin frowned as he followed after Kayos, who was weaving through the hallways. He didn't like that he was following the man and not just because he didn't trust him. Kayos… Kayos was the new guy! And the weakest of the group! What right did he have to be leading them?
'Okay, admittedly he does have Isco to help us out… without him we'd be bumbling about trying to figure out which direction to go in.' He frowned, shaking his head in annoyance. 'But that's Isco, not Kayos! Maybe he's learned some new tricks but right now all I see is some glory hound trying to steal all the praise for himself!'
Kayos sped up and Roshi and Krillin were forced to lengthen their strides, something that was hard on Krillin seeing as Kayos was twice his size! But they soon burst into a strange room, a huge monitor screen on the wall (which themselves looked disturbingly fleshy and organic), tables, and-
"Bulma!" Krillin cried out.
"Krillin?" the blue haired woman said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be training?"
"I'm all done." Krillin's eyebrow twitched. "Wait, THAT'S how you greet me after all these months! And when I come to rescue you?!"
"Well, the latter isn't that big of a deal," she reasoned.
"Not her first kidnapping," Kayos pointed out.
"People who were captured by secret agents don't get to talk!" Bulma snapped at him.
Kayos though smirked. "I wasn't captured, Chichi and Gohan were. Piccolo and I rescued them."
"Chichi and Gohan were captured by a secret agent?" Krillin said, confused by that little piece of information.
Roshi chuckled. "Heheh, it was a whole thing! Haven't gotten the entire story ourselves-"
Lights suddenly swiveled onto the wall… and a massive brain that floated in a dome-like container.
"But… thinkin' now might not be the best time for that…" Roshi muttered.
"…well, hello Dr. Wheelo," Kayos said, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmmm… someone knows of me," a voice that Krillin realized was coming from the MASSIVE BRAIN purred out. "It is good to see that after all this time there are people that know of my genius and skill."
"Oh yeah, totally," Kayos said as he began to walk around the lab, idly touching different bits that lay on the tables. A microscope, a beaker… one point he picked up a clipboard and began to leaf through the pages. "Dr. Wheelo, creator of the Bio-Men. Suffering from delusions of mediocrity."
"I think you mean grandeur," Bulma stated.
"I know what I said," Kayos responded as he walked up to her. "Hmm… nice." He rattled the cables holding her. "Might take Krillin… a microsecond to break these?"
"Nah, shorter than that," Bulma said before she suddenly lashed out with her foot and Krillin's eyes went wide when a blade popped out of her shoe, easily severing first one cable and then another. "He wouldn't need to activate that."
"You… you always had that?" an old man with hardly any teeth in his mouth said in shock.
"Of course I did!" Bulma stated with a huff as she looked over the cuffs still attached to her wrists. "I could have broken out but I wanted to find out more about you, Kochin. And your boss." She glanced at the brain.
"Not much to learn?" Kayos asked as he went back to examining things in the lab.
"Not in the slightest. Its sad, really. There is so much to learn from history but Dr. Wheelo's accomplishments could fit in a thimble."
"You dare mock my work-" Wheelo growled only for Kayos to cut him off.
"Mock? How is it mocking when we are merely stating facts! Is it mocking those that remain planted on the earth to say that gravity exists? Mocking a dog for saying it can't breathe under water? There isn't mockery here, Wheelo… just the cold, hard, scientific facts."
"Like," Bulma said as Kayos disappeared from view, moving behind a large cylinder, "how you might have been a big deal in the past but now? You are so out of date its just pathetic. My dad could probably whip up better warriors than the Bio-Creatures you made."
"My Bio-Warriors are-"
"Dead," Bulma said. "Killed by Roshi. Who until a few months ago was retired. And you thought you were going to use them to take out the world's strongest man? If Krillin or Goku or Tien or Piccolo had been here all of them would have died in seconds!"
"And if that was an example of your genius I'm not sure if I wanted to see how you and the Crypt Keeper over there," Kayos said, coming around from the other side of the cylinder, "were ever going to hope to take over one of their bodies. On one hand it would be horrifying… not in a disgusting sort of way but kind of like seeing how they make a hot dog. But on the other hand… there is a morbid fascination. Like a monkey being given a hand grenade. You KNOW its going to end badly but-"
"You will pay for your insolence!" Kochin screamed and Krillin watched in shock as the man's hand blew apart, revealing a Gatling gun. Bullets sprayed from the barrel…
…and Kayos's form just rippled.
"Ow," he said as he faded away, much to Krillin's surprise. He knew of the Afterimage technique but Kayos' had been talking… another magic trick? Whatever it was the illusion was gone just as darkness ripped through the entire lab, leaving Krillin unable to see his hand even if he pressed it to his face.
"What is-"
"Heh, this is a new move Kayos created," Roshi said somewhere to his right. "Blacklight. It leaves you trapped in utter darkness. And he's probably using White Noise to throw any sounds he's makin'."
Krillin slowly nodded at that. "That would be useful. And with how low his power levels are…" Mentally he added, 'and now that I can utterly hide my power levels this would be the perfect move for me to learn… if I can adapt it to use ki…'
"Is this truly the best you can do, Dr. Wheelo?" Kayos taunted, his voice seeming to come from everywhere. "Your pathetic Bio-Men who could do little more than sneak attacks? Your Bio-Warriors that didn't even make Roshi break a sweat. And now the walking, talking, bawking tin can? Couldn't even install some teeth in him? He a brain in a jar too?"
"Kochin is one of my greatest creations!" Wheelo snarled. "An automaton that was built to mimic the brain waves of my dead assistant!"
"Then either he is an idiot or you REALLY don't know how to copy brainwaves because he sucks at research." They heard snickers and Krillin twisted around in the darkness, trying to figure out where Kayos was, but he couldn't even see anything. Except for feeling his feet actually touch the ground he might as well have been floating in space! "Of course we can blame that on the creator, can't we? You were shit at figuring out how to give commands, weren't you? Story of your life, I suppose."
"Show yourself you wretched-"
But Kayos continued on. "The world's strongest man… what is that? What even is that? Just raw strength? Well, I hate to break it to you but you got it wrong there. Roshi isn't the strongest in terms of raw strength. He uses ki to help amplify his strength… in fact most of the most powerful fighters do. Okay, maybe ki? Piccolo has that in spades… he fought in a damn World Marital Arts Tournament! Same with Goku! But NOOOOOOOOO. Your idiot robot picks Roshi. No offense Roshi but Goku and Piccolo have far more ki than you!"
"Heheh, ain't gonna deny that."
"What are you doing?" Krillin whispered.
"Helpin' Kayos play some mind games with this fella."
The documentarian continued on. "But strength isn't everything. Roshi is the greatest tactical mind I've ever met. Of course you want to take the best part of him and put your maggot filled brain in his body so I guess he won't be the strongest anymore. Just the World's Best At Making Disgusting Looking Monsters."
Kochin chose that moment to speak up. "You will play for these insults! We will-EERK!"
Suddenly the darkness disappeared and Krillin turned to find Kayos standing behind Kochin… stabbing him in the neck with some strange silver device.
"There you are," Kayos whispered before leaping back. Kochin turned and aimed his guns at him only to jerk suddenly.
"What… what have you don't to me?" Kochin said.
Then his head twitched and a different voice came out of his mouth.
"Hmmm… what do we have here?"
"Isco?" Krillin said in surprise.
"Plenty of room. I could actually keep you around… you are hardly using any space." Kochin's body twitched again. "But no… I don't think I want you as a roommate. Deleting Kochin program."
"NO!" Kochin suddenly screamed before his body went complexly lax. "No…." he whispered, whimpering… and then there was a shrill screeching sound followed by silence.
"What have you done?" Wheelo demanded. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"The doctor won't be seeing any more patients," Kayos said. "Isco?"
Kochin's head snapped up and he began to look over his remaining hand. "Hmm… I don't think this will do at all. I have no desire to have your disgusting flesh on my new form." He reached up, his gun hand turning back into fingers only they were made of metal, silver and gleaming, and grabbing at his mouth, pulling his lips up and down until he was able to widen his mouth enough to allow his entire head to be yanked down over a faceless robotic head. "Ah," Isco said as he set about removing the flesh from his other hand. "Much better… though not by much. Horribly outdated. But I suppose Bulma can upgrade this to work as a good secondary body. Allow me to fight without risking myself." He suddenly spun around and aimed his hands at Wheelo, fingers turning back into Gatling guns. "Now then… I believe this is the part where we send you home to mommy?"
"No… no…. NO!" Wheelo screamed… and the wall around him began to buckle and tremble. "You will not do this to me! You will not ruin my grand design! I will not allow it!"
"What is going on?" Krillin asked, taking a step back.
"I think I taunted him one too many times," Kayos admitted.
"YOU THINK!?" Krillin shouted before turning back to see a massive robotic arm burst from the wall. "It's a machine! A robot!"
"Please," Isco stated, "It is nothing of the sort! It is a metal suit with a brain in it. Please don't-"
"Isco, time and place!" Bulma shouted as bits of the lab began raining down on them.
"You will all suffer!" Wheelo roared, now fully enraged. Krillin steeled himself even as he moved to protect Bulma, Kayos holding out his arms and causing black and white… well, Krillin supposed it was magic… burst from his hands, and Roshi puffed himself back up to his muscular form. Wheelo was already partially out of the wall, revealing a body that was humanoid and most bestial. A sloping head with the brain dome on the top which, when combined with the way the structure sat on its 'shoulders' made Krillin think less 'genius' and more 'caveman'. The top half seemed far too large and bulky when compared to the bottom that he was ripping from the wall, with spindly legs just visible. A single arm had freed itself, the pincer at the end clanging menacingly as Wheelo smashed against the wall, breaking more of the metal away to free himself. He towered over them, at least 20 feet tall if not bigger, and even with his new technique Krillin felt a shudder of nervousness flow through him. "Each and every one of you will suffer! If I need to stitch you all into one single body using only twine and a needle I will! I SHALL HAVE MY PERFECT BODY! I-"
And that's when a beam of energy struck Wheelo on the side, causing him to stagger. Because he was still half-connected to the wall it caused his form to spin around, smashing back into the wall he'd been attempting to pull his encased form out of. Cables and wires and sections of the wall came down, tangling around him.
"Hey guys!" Goku said with a grin as he skidded to a stop in front of us. "This place is really big... Lot of traps too!" He frowned when he noticed Isco's new body. "Hey, who is that?"
"It was one of the guys who kidnapped me," Bulma stated. "But now its Isco."
"It's a version of me," Isco stated. "Nothing can beat my true perfection… certainly not this." He wiggled his fingers. "Though I admit that it does have surprisingly fluid motion. That is a lovely addition. I am undecided on the looks of it… perhaps some paint if I keep it? Red and gold?"
"Too Iron Man," Kayos stated.
"Who?" Roshi asked.
Goku though looked Isco up and down. "Hey, that's great for you! Now you have a way to train with us!"
"Why am I not surprised?" Isco asked with a light huff.
A groan filled the air though not one that came from any human. Rather it was from metal bending and tearing under great force. We all looked past Goku to see Dr. Wheelo struggling to get out of the wall. But while the large metal exo-body he'd built for his brain was powerful it wasn't as swift and nimble as a human body and thus he was having trouble extracting himself from the wall. The blast had driven him back into the wall, and into a section clearly not meant to come apart, so he was struggling to get out now that he found himself tangled up in the cables and shredded metal.
"Oh, so another one?" Wheelo said but his tone made it clear that he was clinging to the very fringes of sanity. "Perfect. Perhaps I will put a piece of me in each of you. Create an entire army of myself! Then I will find those you love and-"
Goku's smile fell and he dropped into a fighter's mode.
"Oh, you pressed the Chichi Button," Kayos murmured before Goku leapt forward. But rather than punch at the dome like Krillin expected him to do his friend grabbed a steel beam that had fallen and smashed it against the robot, shattering a red circle that was on the top of it. "Ya shouldn't have done that!"
"Where are you… where did you go?!" Wheelo shouted and Krillin realized that Goku had just blinded him, taking out the only way Wheelo had to see.
"Whoa!" Krillin exclaimed as Goku swung with the beam again, cracking it against the robot's head and denting the metal. "That was… wow."
"Heh," Roshi said with a smirk as Goku instantly darted for some cables, snagging them and giving them a yank. Other cables went taunt and Wheelo bellowed out when his arm moved on its own, lifting into the air and becoming ensnared. "We've been workin' on getting Goku back ta using his environment as a weapon. Boy is one of the best fighters when it comes to situational awareness but he needs to relearn a few things."
"Well," Goku said, landing next to them and wearing a dark smile, "I am learning quickly. And from the 'world's strongest'."
Wheelo bellowed at that, his body twitching and spasming, causing more of the lab to crumble
"…roll with it!" Kayos snapped before looking at Roshi and Goku. "Fire on me."
"Wait, what?" Krillin said even as the two powered up some attacks.
"We need to hit him again, blast the bastard good enough to break him," Kayos stated.
"So why are they blasting you!?" Krillin demanded.
"For science," Kayos said with a smirk. "WHITE FLAG!"
Goku and Master Roshi fired, Kayos catching the blasts in his hands, body jerking as he absorbed their ki. Krillin thought for sure that was going to be it for him, the strange man finally having gone nuts and caused his own death, but Kayos instead take a breath and squared his shoulders. After a moment he settled down but ki energy still danced along his arms, twisting and snapping like vipers.
"Alright then!" Roshi shouted, pointing at Isco. "Get Bulma out of her, Isco! We'll finish this!"
"Come along, Bulma," Isco stated. "You benefit from my need to survive." He easily picked her up bridal style and began to run. "Sir… please don't die, I don't want to break in another fleshbag."
"Noted," Kayos told him as he focused on the gathered ki in his arms.
"On three, Master Roshi?" Goku asked.
"On three."
There was no need to ask what move they would be using.
Krillin focused, calling upon all the ki he had been preserving. He had a feeling he'd need it for this; they were only going to get one shot at this before Wheelo did enough damage to free himself and even blinded he would be a threat.
"Oh… this is gonna be good," Kayos purred as all four of them fell into the stance for Roshi's signature attack. Legs braced, arms held slightly back, hands opened as they channeled their ki.
"Ka…" Roshi said.
"Ma…" Krillin stated.
"Ha…" Goku continued.
"Ma…" Kayos declared.
All four thrust out their arms.
"HA!"
Krillin nearly stopped the attack when he felt the power blast out of his palms. He knew that the Selfless Style allowed him to conserve his ki and that he had been working to build up his strength but… but what he had fired was jaw dropping. It rivaled Goku's beam in power! But he pressed on and Wheelo, still struggling to free himself could only cry out as his body was smashed by the four energy beams, tearing off great hunks of metal and leaving him flailing about, bashing himself into the wall again and cracking the dome that held his brain. Fires exploded around him as tech caught on fire and fluids began to leak from his robotic form, causing the flames to grow hotter.
"Krillin!" Goku called out. "Destructo Discs!"
"Right!" Krillin declared, throwing out more of the tiny blades, directing them to hack and slash through the now exposed joints of Wheelo's exosuit form. An arm was completely cleaved off and another disc struck some tubing on his leg, causing Wheelo to suddenly be unable to support himself. He crashed down hard, letting out a scream of fury that ended in a garble of electronic gibberish.
The lab trembled and explosions began to rip through it, making everyone looking about wildly.
"Its coming down!" Roshi declared just as a large chunk of the roof slammed down near them. "We need to get out of here."
"One second," Kayos said, grabbing a metal pole. He hurried over to Wheelo's crumpled form, staring down at the enlarged brain. "Never leave a knife to stab you in the back."
"WAIT!" Wheelo screamed but it was too late as Kayos drove the pipe through the cracked dome, piercing the mad scientist's brain. The dome trembled before shattering completely, causing the fluid that had surrounded the brain to gush out onto the floor. Wheelo let out another terrible scream as his remaining arm spasmed and failed but Kayos was already rising in the air, face a cool mask, even as Wheelo's brain seemed to collapse on itself, unable to support its own weight without the fluids to keep it floating.
"That was for kidnapping my friends," he growled.
"Let's go!" Goku shouted, bending down so Roshi could scramble onto his back. Krillin blasted into the air, Goku following while Kayos rose rapidly like he'd been yanked by an invisible force.
It wasn't a second too soon as suddenly the fortress was engulfed in flames, explosions ripping through the entire structure. The foursome landed about a 100 meters away, Isco (both Iscos, the drone and the robot) waiting there with Bulma who was wearing the lab coat Kochin had worn while possessing the body. They watched as the fortress began to cave in on itself even as smoke billowed out of the shattered roof and fires ran rampant. The shrill sound of metal tearing from their fixtures filled the arctic air though to Krillin it sounded more like the screams of a dying madman.
The ice suddenly began to crack around the fortress and the group quickly backed away as fissures formed, the fortress suddenly shifting so that it was listing to one side as the ground gave way and it began to slowly sink. More snow fell from the mountain above it, pouring down upon the structure and filling it up thanks to the many holes within the roof. Like an old bent back man easing into a bathtub the fortress dropped down lower and lower until, after about 10 minutes, it was completely gone, the snows already melting thanks to the fires. They would quickly solidify though, once more sealing away the remains of the mad man known as Dr. Wheelo.
"And so falls the House of Usher," Kayos muttered.
"But that was Dr. Wheelo's place," Goku said.
"…it's a quote Goku," he said.
"From what?"
"The… nevermind." He turned to Isco. "So… we're scrubbing that body head to toe?"
"Oh believe me sir, that was never in doubt," the drone Isco stated. "Bulma and I have already discussed how we are going to upgrade it while we were waiting for you to finish… everything is woefully out of date but the skeleton is there."
"New processors, new wiring," Bulma said, ticking off the points. "Its going to be a big deal."
"But it will allow me to safely join you all in battle while not risking myself… which is the most important thing in the world."
"You are a heck of a human being, Isco," Kayos said.
"No need to be insulting, sir."
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I don't feel like freezing out here." Bulma pulled the lab coat tighter around her form. "Please tell me you brought a capsule ship."
"No but I can keep you warm," Kayos said, putting his hand on Bulma's back. She suddenly gasped as they rose up, a shimmer of magic forming around the two. "I won't be able to fly as fast…"
Isco grabbing his new body and easily lifted it up. "We can't anyway… I won't have you damage my greatness."
Krillin merely shook his head and smirked as the group began to banter.
'Its good to be back,' he thought to himself as the gang began to fly away, never once looking back.
~Two Days Later…~
"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," the old man said as he looked over the ruins of Wheelo's lab. The ice was clear as glass, making it easy to peer down and see within the ruins of the structure. "You always were a vain and foolish man, my old teacher."
He knelt down onto the ice, adjusting his tall back cap, the symbol of the Red Ribbon Army proudly on display.
"If you are still alive in there… if you can hear me… know that this isn't a rescue mission. You have information and data I need. Outdated and as I can clearly see here inferior… but it will save me time in the long run." He scoffed. "That was your mistake, Wheelo… you thought to create new life. I merely seek to take life and… improve upon it."
But even as he said that Dr. Gero began to wonder… if he might not upstage Wheelo.
Perhaps… it was time to create something new himself…
