The sound of clothes rustling and heavy breathing echoed around us as Trunks, Nimbus and I flew through the air, our passengers doing their best to stay comfortable as they could as we headed to our destination.
'We're almost halfway there.' I thought with a frown as I saw the ground below us slowly changing from the grassy plains near the ocean to being covered in snow, gesturing for Trunks and Mom to look at me before pointing down.
As both nodded, I tilted my body downwards and began flying towards the snowy mountains, ignoring Yajirobe's nervous shaking as Trunks and Nimbus followed after before I sighed in relief as I saw a cave on the side of one of the mountains.
With a hum, I turned towards the mountain before landing outside the entrance with a grunt, rolling my eyes as Yajirobe fell off of me with a relieved groan before nodding as Trunks and Nimbus slowly descended down besides me.
"I thought we were heading to the village?" Trunks asked with a frown and I simply nodded while gesturing towards the cave.
"I know, but they are not exactly dressed for a snowy terrain." I answered while gesturing towards the humans of our groups, who all smiled despite the fact that they were shivering constantly.
Well, all except for Gramps, but the old man didn't count as he simply chuckled while sitting down in the snow.
"Y-Yeah, just…give us a minute and we'll get dressed. Yaji, here's yours." Bulma spoke with a slight stutter as she tossed a capsule to him, the swordsman nodding as he went to walk before blinking as I caught him by the collar.
"Next to the cave entrance since Mom and Bulma are getting dressed inside the cave. Trunks, use ki to keep him warm and make sure he doesn't peep."
"Oi! Just because I spent a few years with the old pervert doesn't mean I became one!"
"Why me~?" Trunks groaned as Yajirobe simply huffed at my words and walked to the outside of the cave, leaving me to roll my eyes as I sighed and sat down next to Gramps.
"Didn't think it would be this hard, huh?" He began and I looked at his amused smile before snorting as I sat back while using my hands as support.
"Not at all. Then again, we are flying to the far northern side of the world where the Androids awoke & started their rampage so I'm not surprised that it is this hard."
"Hmm, how much longer do you think it will be?" He asked and I looked at the light snow covering the mountains before humming as I looked in the direction we needed to go.
"Considering it's only been four hours and we still have about 11 000 or so kilos between us and the village, I'd say another four to five hours of flying and we'll be there."
"Think you can handle it?"
"Do you know who you're talking to, Gramps?" I asked with an amused smirk, the man chuckling as he nodded before we turned to see Mom, Bulma and Yajirobe now fully dressed in thick coats with winter clothing underneath it.
"Glad to hear it. Now, I'm sure your mom is tired of having to fly with me so I'll take Yajirobe on the Nimbus."
"Uh, I'm good with Gohan."
"Nonsense! Come and let us fly, dear boy~!" I simply watched as Gramps picked a groaning Yajirobe and placed him down on Nimbus, shaking my head before turning to Mom as she walked towards us.
"Ready to fly first class?"
"I was hanging halfway off of Nimbus. Anything after that is first class." She spoke and I chuckled at Gramps' disgruntled grumbling as she climbed onto my back, throwing the safety sash around us both before turning to Trunks as he picked his mom up as well.
"Okay, Trunks, Nimbus. We've been flying slow and I want to get there before nightfall so we're going full throttle."
"Wait, whaaaaaaaaaa~?!" I watched as Nimbus simply responded by shooting up like a bullet, my ki coming out and coating both Mom & I before I rocketed after the cloud, hearing Trunks coming after us as we began racing through the sky towards our destination.
'Hah, hopefully we can make out the village in all this snow.'
"…Well, I guess we won't have to worry about finding the village." I spoke with a sigh as I looked at the ruined state of the village, the houses having already been covered in thick layers of snow while the ruins of the Red Ribbon Army HQ in the distance was nothing but the first couple of floors of the building.
"Looks like the Androids didn't spare a single soul." I heard Mom speak as we watched the tattered clothes flying through the air, shaking my head as I gestured for everyone to descend.
'This just makes me even more determined to both get the Androids out of the way and to make sure that we get the Dragon Balls.' I thought with a sigh before shaking my head as I looked around.
"Where to now?" I asked Bulma and the woman frowned as she took out her notepad to read the notes King Kai gave us.
"Find the Red Ribbon HQ and head north-west from there. There was no distance given, but knowing how the Androids are…"
"It's most likely that they left the destruction visible for all to see." I spoke with a smile and she nodded before I began walking, Gramps pulling him and Yajoribe from Nimbus before the swordsman gave me a disgruntled look as Mom and Bulma sat down on top of it.
"You can try and argue with them or you can walk. Besides, you trained under Kami when the Saiyans first came to us, right?"
"That was over 13 years ago."
"Not my fault." I answered with a shrug, Trunks snickering as Yajirobe groaned before dragging his feet while following after us.
"Think they'll be coming back?" Trunks asked as we walked out of the village and towards the headquarters, to which I frowned before shaking my head as we walked into the forest.
"If they do, that's just severe bad luck and nothing else. Besides, even if they do, they won't be looking for us down underground as long as we keep our ki down."
"Do you even know if they have sensors for it?" Bulma asked with a frown and my answer was to simply shrug in response.
"I don't know to be honest, but every time I was found, it was because I flared my ki too high and gave them a beacon to follow."
"Hmm, I don't think that Dr. Gero could have made a way to sense a metaphysical energy that exists in the form of every living object/ being in existence. Perhaps it's more of a thermal sensor that senses the shift in the atmosphere whenever you release your energy."
"So, what you're saying is as long as there's a powerful enough thermal source around me, they won't be able to detect it?" I asked with a frown, the bluenette smiling and giving a shrug.
"I could be wrong, but I could also be right."
"We'll have to test it out, right?" Trunks asked and I smiled and nodded.
"Of course. For now, let's find this lab."
It took ten minutes of straight walking past the HQ ruins before I finally caught sight of a large crater in the centre of the forested area, the others humming in surprise as we all came to a standstill next to the crater's edge.
"Trunks, Yajirobe, stay here and be on guard. I'll go and check it out." I answered and leapt down before either of them could say anything, taking out the Power Pole & using it as a steering stick as I slid down the side of the crater like I was skateboarding.
Leaping up and over the destroyed rubble as I reached the bottom, I landed with a soft grunt before standing up and looking around, frowning as I saw the small shards of metal and technology shimmering in the sunlight under the snow.
"I'm not going to find anything with all this snow." I muttered to myself as I twirled the staff above my head, my ki flowing through it and making it light up with a golden aura before I slammed one end of it onto the ground with a loud boom.
The next moment, all of the snow at the bottom and on its sides were melted away within the blink of an eye, a smile spreading across my face as I saw the singular hatch near the far right side of me.
However, instead of rushing over like I wanted to, the Power Pole extended and slapped the hatch door right off its hinges, which activated and opened five other hatches around it before I rolled my eyes as turrets and missile launchers appeared from the hatches and unloaded mechanical hell on the poor hatch opening.
It took nearly a minute before the last bullet finally impacted the hatch opening, which was now more of a large hole as the turrets and launchers retracted and the hatches snapped shut once more.
Looking back up at the group, I chuckled at the gobsmacked looks before smiling and waving at them to come closer.
"Come on! Time to see what our new home looks like."
"And last one." I grunted as I caught Gramps and placed him down inside of the long metal hallway we all dropped down, tearing off a chunk of the flooring before throwing it up & welding it to the hatch opening.
"That should hold until we can make another door. Now, time to see if we can't find the tech needed to grow some Senzu Beans."
"The only problem is…which way?" Yajirobe asked with a frown as he pointed at the two directions we can go, to which I nodded before shrugging as I pointed at the path in front of us.
"We can't split up so let's go down this one. I'm at the back, Yajirobe and Gramps in the middle and Trunks at the front. Mom, you're Bulma's last line of protection in case something happens."
"Of course." Mom spoke with a confident smile and I smiled before nodding at Trunks, who gave a determined nod as he took a deep breath before leading us down the hallway.
'Man, I never thought that this would be where I ended up in when I woke up two days ago. Wait, has it really been two days? Damn, time really does fly when you're focused on something important.' I thought with a smirk as I continued to follow the group from behind, making sure to keep my senses focused mostly on our backs and sides while I slid the Power Pole back into the holster on my lower back that Bulma had made before we left.
It was a simple holster made out of dinosaur leather with the ends of it lined with some kind of bands that shrink and expands with the staff to make sure that it never falls out unless I want it to.
Back to the matter of hand, I hummed as I remembered that I went to Korin's Tower and forgot to check for one other item while I looked for the Power Pole and the Flying Nimbus.
That item was the Ultra Divine Water I remember Father and Yajirobe drinking in Dragon Ball that boosted their powers tremendously, which would have helped shorten my training by a lot.
There was also one other thing that I wanted to check out, but to get it, I'd need to know where the Lookout was and to find that, I'd have to either ask King Kai or find it myself.
'The latter is going to take me most likely years before I do find it, which leaves me with the first option. Now, do I bother King Kai or should I wait until later?'
"Anytime someone utters or thinks of my name, I can hear it loud & clear. Also, I knew it wasn't the last time you Earthlings would call me, so I was just enjoying a cup of tea and letting these idiots train while I wait for you to call me." I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of King Kai's voice abruptly being in my ear, glancing at the others before blinking as I saw none of them even looking surprised and confused at the voice.
"Don't worry. I assume you wanted this conversation to stay silent so I made sure to only contact you. So, what's up?"
'Um, do you perhaps know where the Lookout Tower is currently? Also, do you know the location of the Ultra Divine Water that Korin previously possessed?'
"Huh, I did not expect to hear the name of that last one being uttered in this day & age. Unfortunately, your luck appears to have run out there as the last of the water was destroyed by the Androids when they destroyed Korin's Tower."
'Hah, I expected that. And the first question?' I asked, waiting as the Kai hummed for a while before speaking.
"Currently, it's about 35 000 meters above South City, but unless you're given access by the residing guardian, you won't be able to enter it."
'Wait, Mr. Popo is still alive?' I asked with surprise, shocked as King Kai snorted before responding.
"That demon has lived since Kami was being trained by the previous Kami. He has some tricks to hide himself and the Lookout in the Heavenly Realm."
'Okay, so could you perhaps make contact with him and ask him if I could come train with him?'
"Not sure if he'll respond, but sure. Now, I'll leave you to your little adventure with your group while I see if I can't get that demon to open up the Lookout again." I wondered why he referred to Mr. Popo as a demon, but didn't say anything as I felt his presence vanishing from my mind right as I heard Trunks speaking from the front.
"Uh, we got a closed door here." He spoke up and I looked past the others to see the sealed metal door in front of him, looking at the hinges on the door before nodding as ki gathered on my fingertips.
"Trunks, take the back." I spoke as I walked past the others, Trunks nodding as he walked past me before I formed my ki into a sharp laser, frowning a bit at the sparks impacting my body while I slowly began to cut the hinges off.
I would have tried just a simple ki blast, but tunnels and explosives don't tend to mix well, so I took my sweet time before finally cutting the last one open.
Before the door could fall off, I quickly made a ki hook at the end of the Power Pole while hooking it onto the edge of the door, slowly lowering it to the ground while staring in awe at the sheer technological marvel in front of me.
"Holy shit." Surprisingly, it was Mom that said that and I didn't blame her as we stared at the giant super computer in front of us, dozens of lights flashing around the top and its sides while even more wires were spread out to other computers that were connected to even more computers.
However, it was the glass tank filled with a viscous liquid at the top of the computer that caught my attention, my eyes widening as I managed to make out the name on the computer next to the it.
Project Cell
Completion Status: 39%
'…Holy shit, I just got a new training partner.' I thought in shock as I let the others walk around and look at the stuff while I floated up the computer with Cell, staring at the fetus-esque lifeform sealed inside the large tank, unable to miss the five familiar ki signatures I could feel inside the lifeform even if they were far fainter than expected.
'This is actually Cell, the Bio-Android before he became the monster that he was in the canon universe. A weapon that could absorb the Androids & become the strongest being on the planet if I boost his power.' I thought with an excited smile as I tapped away at the keyboard, my smile widening as I read the entries that Gero had made on the Android.
"Wait, what's this weird-looking thing?" Trunks asked with a frown as he floated up to me, drawing the attention from the others as I simply grinned while gesturing for him to read the entries.
The moment he did, his eyes widened as his head snapped to stare at me in shock, to which I grinned and gave a slow nod.
"Yeah, I think we just found the secret weapon we've been needing."
"What are you talking about up there?!" Bulma asked and I simply typed on the computer to send the files on Cell to the other storage databases, gasps of shock echoing from below as they saw what was sent to them.
"W-What? Another Android made from the cells of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, King Cold & Frieza?! Don't we have enough to deal with already?!" Bulma exclaimed while the others just looked horrified before looking up as I spoke up.
"Bulma! Don't be so negative! We can use this as an opportunity!"
"What do you mean 'opportunity'?! Are you reading what I'm reading?!"
"Yes, and I finished reading the entire file. You do the same." I answered, to which she grumbled as she went back to reading for a few minutes before she looked up at me with an excited grin.
"Are you being serious?" She asked before cheering as I smiled and nodded, confusing the others as Trunks looked just as excited.
"Uh, for us non-scientists/ geniuses, mind explaining why you all are so excited about another potential death machine?"
"Mom, his programming has not even started yet as the computer is still busy creating the perfect vessel. So, Bulma can just destroy the programming that Dr. Gero made for it…"
"And override it with a command to make it a protector of humanity instead! Genius, Gohan! Pure genius!" Gramps exclaimed with a grin, both Mom and Yajirobe looking shocked as I grinned and nodded.
"Precisely! And since it looks like he's supposed to be stronger than the Androids, I not only will have a new training partner but also someone who will help fight the Androids when you guys go get the Dragon Balls!"
"Hahaha! Finally! Finally, things are going well for us!" Mom shouted with a happy cheer, both her and Bulma hugging each other while Trunks, Yajirobe & Gramps danced in a happy circle and I smiled happily at the sight before my smile grew as King Kai's voice spoke up.
"Hey, Gohan. I found Mr. Popo."
"Hello, Gohan. I hear you've been wanting to talk to me."
'Yes, Mr. Popo. Say, do you remember the Hyperbolic Time Chamber that you showed Father?'
A/N: I know that today is supposed to be an off-day, but I couldn't stop myself from writing out this one.
Anyway, this chapter & the few after this are mostly just going to be ones of preparation, planning, training & running from the Androids before we finally get to the good chapters.
Then, we're going to get the battling & fighting & destruction we crave.
Anyway, check out my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories that may peak your interest. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!