Chapter 10: The Hunt For The Androids! Humanity's Fate!
The remaining days before the Androids' arrival have been easy-going, per se. The only extent of last-minute training that the Z-Fighters went to was light training. Nothing too extreme, as they feel like they have prepared themselves with a good amount of effort to hopefully contend with the Androids. Only Pan knows firsthand how strong the Androids actually are, so throughout the 3-year training period, Pan has been giving all of the Z-Fighters tips on how much more they need to improve. Mainly so, they don't immediately get one-shotted by the Androids as they did in the future.
The fateful day finally arrived, and everyone was headed to the island that the Androids were to show up on. They arrive on the island at 9:00 A.M., one hour early, just like the show. Eventually, Dr. Gero and Android 19 make their move. The Z-Fighters didn't sense the Androids make their move, so they head into the city to look around the city. Yamcha is the first to find them, like always.
Krillin gives him a Senzu Bean, and Goku leads the Androids out of the city and into a rocky wasteland. This is when Goku would get the heart virus, but this time, he doesn't. Heeding Pan's advice, Goku is perfectly healthy. So, he destroys Android 19, but Dr. Gero escapes. Just then, Trunks arrives.
Trunks is shocked to find out that the Androids are different. Pan was shocked too, but she brushed it off throughout the fight. Out of nowhere, Vegeta shows up. Being more level headed than in the show, Vegeta decides to help search for Dr. Gero. Vegeta is not quite as prideful as he is in the show, so he's not going to be messing anything up.
Bulma does tell them the general location of Dr. Gero's lab, in the mountains just outside of North City. With that, they head off to the given location. Krillin finds Dr. Gero's lab first out of all of them, and raises his energy to signal the others. When they all get to the door, they hear something Trunks and Pan didn't even want to hear: the voices of Androids 17 & 18.
Trunks and Pan curse themselves. Android 17 kills Dr. Gero, much like the anime's portrayal. After Trunks destroys the lab, 17 and 18 stand there, with 16's pod intact. They activate the Android, and they fly out to a highway. Instead of Vegeta fighting 18 alone, everyone, minus Android 16, is fighting. They all lose, even with Videl and Pan getting involved, and Vegeta gets his arm broken by 18 like normal.
Afterwards, they all regroup at Kame House, with Piccolo going to the Lookout to merge with Kami. Kami is somewhat hesitant, as he doesn't want the Dragon Balls to cease their existence without a thorough plan. Piccolo tells Kami that he might have a good idea as to who could take his place as the Guardian of Earth: Dende, a close friend of Gohan, Krillin and Bulma. Kami is put at ease with this response, and so, they become one again. This Namekian is neither Kami nor Piccolo now, simply a Namekian who has forgotten his own name.
After merging with Kami, Piccolo gains access to his knowledge and thoughts. Because of this, he picks up on the presence of something frightening. In Ginger Town, all he sees is clothes lying around on the streets. All of a sudden, Piccolo senses a mix of different energies: Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Krillin, Tien, and himself, all in one precise spot. In a bug-looking mutant.
(A/N: This chapter is definitely a shorter one. My apologies. I hope that the next chapter of mine will be a bigger one.)