Android Saga[6]

After the dust settled, Trunks could see both Androids on the ground, damaged and at death's door. His father had defeated the Androids that were stronger than their future counterpart, all on his own.

"Incredible, Father!" he exclaimed, smiling. He had never had the opportunity to talk with his father or witness him in battle. Right now, in his eyes, his father was the strongest man in the world.

He quickly descended to where his father was, in case he needed any help.

Vegeta looked at both Androids on the ground and smirked. He was happy that they had helped him reach new strength, albeit the gain was small. But it's little by little that he would become stronger. There was still a long road ahead.

He approached them and took them both in his arms, planning to take them back with him.

"Maybe Bulma can rewrite Gero's program... It feels like I'm relying on her for everything these days," he thought to himself, making a mental note to take her on a date to reward her for all the effort.

But for now, he could focus on this. As he was lost in thought, Trunks appeared beside him.

"F-Vegeta-san! You're okay, thank God," Trunks sighed in relief when he saw his father well. His clothes were torn, and his gear and clothes from the torso up were gone.

But his body only had a few bruises and cuts. Nothing serious.

"You don't need to keep it a secret anymore. Everyone would know you're my son just by looking at your face, and you already called me father before." Vegeta said, his face showing a somewhat warm smile. He was trying to encourage the boy to speak more freely with him.

"Ah, yes that's true... Father, I'm glad you're okay," Trunks replied with a smile, though he was still a bit shy since he didn't notice his blunder before. He was worried and ended up calling him father.

"Hmph, was there any doubt about that? Here, take this one," Vegeta tossed 17 towards him, and although Trunks fumbled a bit, he managed to catch it. "Take them to Bulma's ship. She will probably want to take a look at them."

He started walking back, planning to have Bulma examine the Androids to see if they had any bombs inside their bodies too. He also wanted to find out why they had become so strong in this timeline. He was certain that he hadn't intervened with anything to cause such a massive change.

"Maybe it's a ripple effect... Well, it's not so bad, too," he muttered to himself, thinking aloud. He turned around to look at Trunks.

"Trunks, why did you come back this time?" he asked, already knowing the answer. But maybe this Trunks was a little different from the one he knew.

"I came back to help in case it's needed and, if possible, to find a way to defeat the Androids from my time," Trunks explained, lowering his head as he continued speaking, a bit low this time almost whispering.

"And if that didn't work, I planned to bring Goku-san with me to help fight the Androids..." As he finished saying that, he could feel the intense gaze his father was throwing at him.

Looking at his father, he saw a mix of disappointment and anger in his eyes. He was about to explain himself when both of them snapped their heads in the direction of the lab.

They could sense strong energy coming from there, something they hadn't felt in this area before.

"W-What is this strong Ki?!" Trunks had beads of sweat forming on his face. This was the strongest Ki he had ever felt besides his father's.

"...Who is this...? It feels like I already know this one, but it's not Cell," Vegeta pondered, intrigued by the energy. Who could have a Ki that resembled theirs but wasn't Cell?

"Trunks, take 18 to Bulma too," he handed her over to his son and started flying towards the lab.

"Wait, Father! You've already fought today, take a rest first!" Trunks shouted at him, holding onto 18. But Vegeta was already heading towards the lab, not listening to him.

Trunks took both Androids and flew to Bulma's ship.

While in flight, Vegeta contemplated the situation.

"Another change in the events. Interesting. Things are becoming more interesting," he smiled. The stronger the opponent, the more he would grow as well.

Back at the lab, everyone was finding it hard to breathe. The newcomer was exerting immense pressure on them, except for one person who was still innocently smiling. Then he noticed.

"Hm? You don't want to fight, right? With your power, you could have struck everyone down in one go. Yet you're holding yourself back. Why is that?" Goku asked, tilting his head.

".... Because he told me to only hold you... not to kill..." she answered, looking at them, she continued, "I prefer researching. Fighting is not my area, but the other one."

"The other one? Are you talking about the twin Androids out there?" Piccolo asked, trying to gather more information.

"17 and 18? No, the other one I'm referring to is Cell," she replied, with an expression that indicated she wasn't lying.

"So there's more... Problematic since we didn't find Gero here, then..."

"Yes, he went to complete him. That's why I have to stop you here. Sorry," she spoke warmly, as if she didn't want to do it but felt compelled to.

"Is that Cell guy stronger than you?" Goku asked, his excitement building.

"...Yes, he is. Much stronger," she put back her glasses, adjusting them on her face.

"Yes!!...No wait...It will be bad if he starts to involve innocent on it too...Mm, what should we do? What if this guy starts a killing spree..." Goku starts to think, a rare thing for him.

"You Saiyans truly like to fight, huh..." She had a strange expression on her face. It had changed from her usual smart and meek look to something more hunger-driven. However, no one noticed these changes.

"Of course, we like to fight. It's in our blood. Android 21," everyone turned around to see Vegeta approaching them.

"You out of everyone here should now this."

"...Prince Vegeta?..... So you know my name..." Android 21 looked at him, and he looked back at her. Now he understood why she felt familiar. He didn't know how he had memories of her, considering it shouldn't have happened in the timeline where he received these memories. Her appearance wasn't canon, after all.

'But if that's true, how did I have memories of Cooler too...? It means that I have all the timeline memories of Vegeta?'

Yet he had some memories of this woman. Now, why was she here? Or better yet, why was she already awake?

Vegeta moved closer to her and looked into her eyes.

"I can assume that you know my name because of Dr. Gero's information," he asked her, trying to see if she would tell any lies.

She looked into his eyes as well. His pressure was there, and she could sense that if they were to fight right now, she might actually lose. She looked down for a moment.

She had a somewhat apologetic nature and she wasn't chaotic to the point of wanting to fight anyone at any place. Her orders were to hold them for as long as she could. If she couldn't, she could kill everyone except Son Goku. Of course, she lied and said that Gero didn't want to kill everyone. Dr. Gero's concern is only Son Goku.

When she looked at Vegeta again, she noticed that he was waiting for an answer. She gathered herself and adjusted her glasses, putting herself back into focus.

"Yes, I was input with a database of everyone here, including you," she replied. Vegeta looked at her and saw that at least her eyes weren't lying. But it wasn't enough to rule out the possibility that she came from the future.

That's what he was thinking—that she came from the future and assisted Dr. Gero in building the new Androids.

"Not only the database..." he added, surprising her. She didn't expect someone else to know parts of her origins.

'He is dangerous... Far too dangerous,' she thought to herself.

"Well, let us see..." Vegeta pondered on what to do. He wasn't afraid of fighting; in fact, he would welcome it anytime. However, it didn't seem like the best place for it. Plus, the woman in front of him didn't seem willing to fight right now.

"Kakarot, you want to fight them, right? Gero's new invention, I mean," when Vegeta asked Goku this, he nodded his head.

"Of course, he seems to be strong. I can't wait for this."

"But for that, we have to wait for that geezer to finish his invention," Vegeta said, smirking. Goku was starting to understand where he was going with this.

But so were the others.

"W-wait, don't tell me...?" Krillin exclaimed in a fearful tone.

"Yes, a fair fight, one versus one against strong opponents," Vegeta started.

"A place where strong fighters gather," Goku continued.

"And if he wants to kill you, he will not miss this opportunity, since you're offering yourself up freely like that," Vegeta smirked.

They bumped their arms against each other, saying at the same time,

"A tournament, that is!!"

They were both smiling. It was strange how they both came to the same conclusion.

"You're really smart, Vegeta."

"You're not so bad yourself, Kakarot."

They started laughing for a while.

"When did they become such friends?" TenshinHan asked, a bit speechless.

"Don't ask me," Krillin replied, already giving up. Piccolo just shook his head but smiled too. Gohan laughed, seeing both Saiyans interacting like that. They really love to fight.

Android 21 was the most speechless of them all. They knew that Dr. Gero was going to do everything for his revenge, and yet they wanted to jump at the opportunity just to fight a strong opponent. She thought that Saiyans were indeed a fascinating race.

"So, that's it. 21, let that geezer know. We will host a martial arts tournament. We'll let you know the date later, but he better have his project ready by then. And no killing innocent people," the last part was said with cold eyes and a more serious tone. "If he does, I'll make his life hell. This is a promise."

She gulped a bit and nodded her head. Then the man approached her and whispered for her ears only.

"You were going too, right? Since you may be the strongest one," he smirked when he saw her surprised expression, her eyes narrowing. She gave him a troubled smile.

"You Saiyans have the ability to sniff out stronger opponents too? But unfortunately, I only have potential... In terms of strength, I'm far behind him. Though this ability of yours is a bit interesting and scary," she looked at him, and then he eased his smile into a confident smirk.

"We don't. But I particularly have the ability to sniff out hot women. It may be a defect too, who knows?" She blinked a few times at his comment, then blushed hard after understanding that he was talking about her.

She fumbled with her glasses and started mumbling, "H-h-hot?" Vegeta almost laughed at her reaction. He definitely wanted to fight against her too.

'Yet if she was built at this time, she may not have her Majin form... Should I push her to acquire that?" It's something that he will have to keep an eye on and deal with at the time. But for now, he hopes that this tournament can provide him with a bit of fun too.

"Hey, Android 21, how much time will he need to complete Cell?" Goku asked, curious. He also needs to know in order to plan the tournament.

She pushed up her glasses and with a serious face said, "Based on my estimation, I would say around 2 weeks. He was already almost finished before Dr. Gero started his plan. Cell was to be used as a contingency in case the others, like me, failed."

Everyone nodded. Two weeks is a good amount of time, and they can also train if necessary. They informed her that the tournament would be held in 2 weeks.

They parted ways with Android 21 so she could warn Gero since she is probably the only one who knows where his other lab is. With not much else to do, they searched the lab for more information, found some schematics, and gathered some data to give to Capsule Corp.

They left the lab and went to where Trunks was. He was still accompanied by Bulma and Tights.

"Guys, you're back! Thank God nothing happened after that strong ki appeared," he said, relieved.

"Oh, nice to see you guys here. I'll need your help for a bit," Goku said, and the three of them looked at him, a bit confused, wondering what he needed.