Earth
"Finally… made it!"
Dr. Gero staggered up to the blast door of his hidden lab.
Boom.
The metal gate rumbled open and he slipped inside.
"Damn it where'd he go?" Piccolo hovered over the razed valley, scowling.
For someone who prided himself on brains, getting toyed with by an android had him seething.
"Piccolo, you're being dense. Just level the whole canyon," Gohan said, drifting in with a teasing look.
"Like I need you to tell me!"
Piccolo's face twitched. He raised a palm and gathered a sun-sized sphere of ki.
"If you won't come out die in there!"
KRAA-THOOM!
A towering mushroom cloud roared up. Jagged rock flattened into a plain. Only a single steel structure Gero's lab still jutted from the wasteland.
"Found you." Piccolo blinked to the entryway in an instant.
Goku and the others arrived a beat later.
Gohan glanced around, amused. Cell's really playing possum, huh? Not even lurking nearby? He'd half expected to sense the bio-android; even after Piccolo's blast, there was no sign.
He didn't know Cell was curled under the coastline, deep in the black water off the island.
Tch. If I hadn't bolted for the sea, they would've sniffed me out. Dear Dr. Gero die if you must, but don't you dare let Seventeen and Eighteen get wrecked, Cell fumed, masked by the waves and the lingering interference of the explosion.
Inside the lab
"Hurry. Hurry!" One-armed, Gero hammered keys with manic speed, waking Units 17 and 18.
Hiss.
The pods unsealed.
"Dr. Gero. Long time no see," said Android 17, rolling his neck until it popped.
"How do you feel?" Gero's eyes flicked from 17 to 18, nervous and hungry at once.
"Wonderful, dear doctor," Android 18 purred, hand propping her chin as she slid from the capsule. She stretched torso long, curves unapologetic like a cat waking from a very good nap.
"Good. Then systems are stable." Relief flashed across Gero's face. "There are powerful humans outside. Go kill them."
"As you wish," 17 said, frowning for a heartbeat before smoothing it away. He turned for the door.
18 stayed where she was, perched on the pod's rim, bored. "With Seventeen, that should be plenty."
"Seems your patches didn't take. If you don't want another nap, obey," Gero said, flashing a remote in warning.
"…Fine. Have it your way." 18 stood and sauntered after her brother.
WHAM!
The blast door blew inward. A slab of steel spun like a discus and smashed squarely into Gero.
Seventeen moved with a blur, materializing in front of him and tearing off the scientist's remaining arm.
Riiip ssshhh!
Red "oil" splattered the floor.
"So you couldn't bring yourself to remake your brain and went full mechanical from the neck down instead?" 17 observed mildly.
"You You'll regret "
Crunch.
"Enough. Shut up, you're annoying." 18 stamped his head like a cigarette. What little remained of his organic brain became paste.
Seventeen plucked the remote from the severed hand and crushed it into glitter.
"Let's go, Eighteen. See how 'powerful' these humans are," he said, voice turning cool.
"Hey, junk, get out here!" Piccolo's shout echoed from beyond the wrecked doorway.
"Demon King Piccolo? You're in my files," 17 replied as he and 18 stepped outside. "So you're one of the 'strong ones' the doctor meant?"
"Another pair of scrap heaps?" Piccolo blinked and then
Boom! Thud!
"Watch your mouth," 18 said, having already dashed in and knocked Piccolo across the yard with a single punch.
The siblings rose into the air. Piccolo wiped a smear from his lip and squared up. Off to the side, Goku, Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa watched, ki leashed.
"Son Goku?" 17's eyes narrowed. A command buried in his code pulsed like a thorn. Beside him, 18's gaze slid to Goku, and killing intent spilled sharp and cold.
"Damn that doctor… Looks like we finish the directive to break the leash," 18 muttered.
"Oi, Kakarot," Vegeta drawled, eyes amused. "You ditch some woman? She's looking at you like she wants your head."
"I've never even met her!" Goku protested, baffled.
"Hey, his kid is right here," Gohan cut in, deadpan. "They're androids. Gero hardcoded 'Kill Son Goku' into their mission."
"Oh. Then they're here for me. I'll go first," Goku said, already itching to move.
"Back off. They're my prey!" Piccolo snarled. Seeing the siblings' focus slide to Goku set his temper off again.
He streaked forward, booted 18 away, and snapped a mouth beam at 17.
Seventeen crossed his arms and a green, domed barrier bloomed around him, shrugging the blast without a scratch.
"Hey, hey Piccolo they came for me," Goku complained, launching himself into the fray anyway.
"You have fun," Gohan said. "I'm going to look around inside."
He turned his back on the clash and walked deeper into the lab.
"Sixteen?"
A massive figure stood silent in another pod. Gohan pressed the release.
Hiss.
The hatch rose. The tall android unfolded to his full height. "Son Gohan," Android 16 said. The name was in his data.
"I know you don't like fighting. You like nature," Gohan said evenly. "Dr. Gero is dead. You're free to choose. As for the bomb in your chest that could 'destroy Earth' forget it. This Earth's core has been reinforced. Your charge can't crack it."
"My directive includes killing your father," 16 said after a pause. "I cannot ignore it."
"Then try," Gohan said with a shrug. "He's right outside if you can kill him."
"So Son Goku has surpassed the parameters," 16 concluded, sharp despite the gentle eyes.
"Not stupid. Good." Gohan moved on to three more capsules, labels cold under the dust: 13, 14, 15.
"They aren't complete," 16 warned, frowning.
"I know. I'm removing variables. Those three alone aren't much but when Thirteen absorbs Fourteen and Fifteen's cores, he becomes Super 13. Annoying to deal with."
Memories from another life flickered across Gohan's mind: full mechanical models with "infinite" reactors, a backup computer finishing the doctor's work, battle data uploaded from the Z-Fighters' every move. Super 13's power climbing to brush Super Saiyan Two only beaten when Goku swallowed the Spirit Bomb.
They didn't turn "good." They obeyed code. And they had a ceiling.
"So we end it here."
KROOOM!
All three pods blew at once. Metal rained across the bay.
"Oh if you're uneasy, go to Capsule Corp. Find Bulma. She can remove your bomb. Use my name; it'll open doors," Gohan added, then stamped once.
The floor cracked like glass, falling into a yawning shaft.
Gohan floated down into the dark.
Android 16 didn't leave. After a moment, he stepped off the edge and followed him into the underground.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Your support keeps this story going leave a 5★ review, add it to your library, and feed it some Power Stones!
"Want to stay ahead of the game?Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"