Chapter 41: A grim situation

When the pair of Androids had finally caught up, the fighters defending Earth had already reached their intended target: A canyon in the middle of a desert wasteland. Not much that could be hurt by their battle here, Goku figured. The group of fighters hovered in mid-air, awaiting the arrival of their two opponents. Tien let out a surprised cry as he used his third-eye to scan the distance, only to spot three figures now coming in, instead of two.

The three figures then grinded themselves to a halt, stopping their flight just a few feet away from the fighters from Earth. The new addition to their group, a man with a long grey mullet, looked at them menacingly. Goku again took his place as the leader of his group as he hovered himself forward to get closer to the three evil Androids. "Who are you? What are you doing here?!" Goku asked.

It was the new addition to the group of Androids that answered. "Let me introduce myself and my partners here. That's 14, 15 and I'm Android 13. We're creations of ." He said, his voice drenched in a thick southern accent. "And what's your business here?" Goku followed.

"Remember the ol' Red Ribbon Army, Goku?" 13 demanded. Goku nodded with a serious expression on his face. "Yes, I do. And I destroyed them, all those years ago." He said, true to fact. 13 then chuckled. "Well, you did come close. But you failed to destroy my creator, Dr. Gero. Ever since you been a kid, he has spied on you. He has analyzed your powers to use them against you. We are the results of his labour." 13 explained. Tien and Gohan looked at each other briefly.

"Goku! You should know that Gohan and I have fought one of these Androids before. I think he's telling the truth." Tien said.

"Well, if it's me you guys want, then come and get me!" Goku announced as he dropped into his stance. The three Androids responded by smirking as 13 hovered out in front of his comrades to also drop into his stance. "We'll dance. 14, 15, take out the rest, Goku's mine!" 13 said as he dashed forward.

Goku was surprised by the sheer show of speed in front of him. The Android had closed the distance faster than Goku had been able to register. He cried out in pain as he was caught flush on the chin by 13's knee. The attack caused him to flip over backwards before smashing into a rock wall that shattered into thousands of pieces, covering him in the rubble.

Yamcha and Tien looked down in shock as Goku lay covered below. But their attention quickly shifted as 14 was now upon them, forcing them to go onto the defensive. Yamcha flipped over backwards to avoid 14's first strike, but this left him open and powerless to avoid the following uppercut that smashed into his gut and sent him falling to his knees, clutching the spot where the Android had hit him.

Tien now attacked 14's exposed back, but he was left puzzled as the Android seemed to disappear, only to reappear behind him. The elbow strike produced a sickening crunch as Tien was hit in the back of his head, causing him to skid over the rocky surface for several yards face-first before coming to a halt. His hand twitched as he lost consciousness.

Yamcha had recovered whilst 14 struck Tien down and the scarred human braced himself before locking in on his target. "Kaio-ken… Times two!" Screamed Yamcha as he flung himself at 14 with bulging muscles. "Wolf-fang… Fist!" Cried out Yamcha as formed his right hand into a claw and showed off some flashy moves. A trail of red energy started to follow the hand made into a claw as he swung it down in an arced motion.

For a moment, it seemed as though his attack broke through 14's defenses, but the Android was simply too strong. He blocked the attack by throwing up his forearm at the last moment, before roundhouse kicking Yamcha to the body viciously. The scarred human let out a cry of agony as he was thrown onto his back and almost whited out.

Then, out of nowhere, Gohan appeared in front of 14, his eyes filled with rage and his hair swaying from the energy that was rushing out from his aura. "Leave…. my ….. friends… ALONE!" The boy brought out as he threw the index and middle fingers of his right hand forward, pointed at 14. "Dodonray!" He shouted and a thick beam of highly concentrated orange energy shot out.

14's smirk changed into an expression of shock as the beam raged towards him. It moved faster than the Android had expected and reached him quickly, impacting in his chest. An artificial cry of discomfort sounded as a massive explosion engulfed 14 and hid him from sight. A complete rock formation was blown apart, its pieces scattering all over the battlefield.

Goku, who was in the process of crawling out of his crater, looked up in awe as he witnessed his son's outburst of power. Goku's power sensing abilities were second to none and he was amazed to find that his son of only five years old wasn't all that far behind him in terms of raw power. But it had to be unlocked by rage, just as Goku had noticed during their sparring match a while ago. In terms of potential, Gohan actually seemed to be stronger than anyone else Goku had ever seen before.

Gohan floated over the massive crater his attack moments earlier had created, panting heavily. He was too exhausted to do anything when 14 suddenly shot out of the smoke, his skin charred and part of his ponytail burned off, but still intact and ready to fight. The massive android then backhanded the small half-Saiyan boy to the ground.

Gohan roared in frustration and hurt as he was flung over the surface until he came to a stop after crashing into a rock wall with a thud. 14 then laughed maniacally as he dashed forward, intending on ending his opponent's life with an energy-charged fist with which he came in, already cocked back and ready to strike. Gohan was still in the process of crawling back to his feet. His eyes widened as he saw 14 approaching and as he realized that he was powerless to stop him.

He braced himself to receive the death blow, but to his surprise, it never came. 14's hulking figure was thrown to the side as another figure, even bulkier and more massive then himself, cut across his flight-path and connected with a kick that sent the off-guard Android to the ground. 14 rolled over and flipped forward to get back to his feet, only to turn around and face his new opponent with an enraged expression.

He was surprised to be looking up into his opponent's eyes for a change. Across from him now stood the mighty Saiyan General, Nappa. The former bodyguard of the Prince of all Saiyans stood proud, his armor immaculate and his head bald and shiny as always.

"Now, who the hell are you?" 14 enquired. "Back from the dead. Nappa's the name." The hulking Saiyan said as he cracked his neck from side to side. As soon as he had re-entered the world of the living, Nappa had sensed a great battle going on. He had flown over and had been just in time to be of worth as he had saved the young hybrid-Saiyan's life just now. His constant battling in Hell had made him stronger then he was before he had died. He had broken through his plateau.

But, judging from the powerlevels he was sensing here, he was still behind on both Raditz and Kakarot by quite a lot. "Come and get me." Nappa said tauntingly as he dropped into his stance and charged up his power. Rocks started levitating around Nappa as the ground started to tremble. A vein in Nappa's forehead bulged up as his already sizeable muscles increased in size.

14 didn't seem deterred by Nappa's little show of force however and he dashed forward, attempting to land a right cross. But Nappa managed to block the incoming assault, though the force of the blow pushed him back. Nappa was powerless to do anything against 14's following attack as the Android's fist caught him in his chest and knocked the wind out of him.

Nappa was pummeled into a rock but managed to stay up for now. 14 was already upon him once more, but the large bald Saiyan threw a blast into his face just as he was about to attack again. 14 covered his face as smoke poured from under his hands. The momentary stall gave Nappa the opportunity to flip over his opponent to land behind him. He then hammered 14 into his lower back with a front kick whilst simultaneously loading up a blast.

14 slid forward from the kick but managed to recover. He swiveled around his axle only to find another one of Nappa's blasts hitting him, this time square in the chest. The explosion sent 14 flying once more. He flipped over out of control until he managed to stop himself with a ki-burst. He now once again hovered in the air, looking down at Nappa with pure anger written all over his face.

Then, suddenly, too fast for Nappa's eyes to register, the Android disappeared. He appeared again, now right in front of Nappa. The large Saiyan roared as he was caught by 14's headbutt that crashed into his face, dislocating his jaw. As Nappa went down, 14 kicked him hard in his gut, sending him flying away. Nappa then crashed into a cave, of which the entrance was immediately covered up by the rubble that was now falling down.

Tien and Nappa were now both covered and out for the count. Yamcha stood clutching his ribs in pain, but he could still fight. Gohan was also looking worse for wear… It seemed everything would now come down to the two Saiyan brothers, Raditz and Goku. Goku looked at his brother in concern.

"We're in trouble here, brother." Raditz remarked. "Yes. We're outnumbered… And outgunned. We'll need a miracle." Goku responded. Yamcha then took a step forward. "If you can buy me the time… I might be able to give you just that." The scarred human said. Goku nodded. "If you say so, Yamcha. We need every chance we can get! Raditz, let's go!" Goku said as he went after 13 with a dash.

Raditz simultaneously launched an attack for 15. Now that 13 and 15 were accounted for, only 14 was left to potentially attack Yamcha. But, there was still a five year old boy that could stand in his way.

Raditz was chasing after 15 with great speed, his stature ridiculously large in comparison to his quarry. The Saiyan warrior reached 15 moments later and lashed out with a side-kick, but the smaller warrior was nowhere to be found as he swayed out of the way graciously. Raditz roared as he started spraying 15 with punches and kicks, only to find his best efforts easily avoided by the compact Android.

15 laughed as he decided to counter by hitting Raditz in the gut with a three punch-straight combination. Each one of the punches caused Raditz to be knocked back, partly doubled over. He was still slightly bent over forward when 15 leapt up, his feet now at the same height as Raditz' head.

Raditz looked up with a puzzled look, only to see the bottom of a child-sized boot crash into his nose…

End of chapter

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Goku: 3,500,000 (base)

Raditz: 2,000,000 (base) 12,000,000 (Oozaru, not quite 10x because no control and diminished fighting skills due to clumsy size)

Gohan: 35,000 (relaxed) 1,800,000 (enraged)

Tien: 24,000

Yamcha: 45,000 (90,000 Kaio-ken x 1)

Krillin: 50,000 (100,000 Kaio-ken x 1)

Android 14: 10,000,000

Android 15: 12,500,000

Android 13: 17,500,000

Android 19: Not yet operational

Android 20: 10,000,000 (Work in progress)