Status: Daily Updates

The Bond

Gero's Demise

Rilan delivered one final punch, sending Android 20 sailing down into the ground. By now, 20 had lost one hand, and his hat, revealing beneath a see-through tank in which his brain resided in. Rilan powered down as he gazed down at the old man, a smile on his face.

"You know, after all the crap we were told about you androids, I would have figured you to put up more of a fight," Rilan laughed, slowly lowering down to land on a bluff above 20 as he picked his way out of the rubble, "How sad that it was over estimated. I was looking forward to the challenge."

20 looked wildly around, as if trying to think of a way to escape. Rilan laughed, placing his hands on his hips.

"Pathetic!" he cried, "It's over and yet you still persist. I think your wiring is malfunctioning!"

"Stop!"

Rilan looked up to see a familiar figure coming down. The boy from the future, the sword clad across his back, his light purple hair flipping in the wind. He landed beside Rilan and glared down at the Android.

"Took your sweet time," Rilan snapped at him, "I thought you were going to come back in time to actually help us. Your lucky we had it covered," he looked down at 20 and grinned.

"This isn't right," said the boy, "That is not the android from my time, and neither was the other I found back there."

"Wait what?" Rilan hissed.

"That's Dr. Gero," said the boy, pointing accusingly down at 20, "I don't know why he turned himself into and android, but he's the one that created the ones that destroyed my time!"

"So wait," Piccolo joined them, his eyes narrowed with anger, "You're telling me that something has changed? Why do the two androids look different? Why is one Gero?"

"If I knew that, do you think I wouldn't tell you?" the boy growled, "I don't know what happened. Either it's just their appearances that changed, or there are two more somewhere."

"He mentioned something about an android 17 and 18," said Tien as he joined them, Lercron just behind him, "Would that be them?"

"Yes!" cried the boy, a look of alarm hitting his young face, "Those are the ones from my time!"

"Crap," said Rilan, "Well, he said that they weren't activated yet- so there's still hope-" however he cut off when he looked back down to see 20 was gone, "Shit."

"We can't let him activate those androids!" the boy yelped, "Quick, Tien, Piccolo, Lercron, you three go look for him, Rilan, come with me, we can try to find his lab before he gets there- I have a good idea where it could be."

"Since when are you giving the orders?" Rilan asked indignantly, "We should all try to find Gero-"

"No," snapped the boy, "We need to make sure those androids are NEVER activated, not by Gero or anyone else!"

The authority in his voice reminded Rilan a bit about Bulma, and just as this thought arose, he looked up to see her plane, the familiar yellow shape going along above them.

"Hey!" Bulma waved out the window, "Did you guys get them?"

"Start looking," Rilan looked at Lercron, Tien and Piccolo, "Good luck."

"To you as well," said Tien before he, Lercron, and Piccolo went down into the ravine to start their search.

Rilan jumped into the air and flew up to where Bulma's vehicle was hovering. He saw that Yajurobi was in there with her.

"Here," the man said, passing Rilan a small sack, "More sensu beans, our last three."

"Thanks," said Rilan and looked over Bulma, "What do you think you're doing out here, its dangerous."

"Oh stop it," laughed Bulma, "We're fine! It looks like you guys took care of business anyway!"

"Not quite," said Rilan, glancing at the boy as he flew up to hover beside him, "The kid says he made a miscalculation, there's two more androids."

"It wasn't a miscalculation," said the boy irritably, "How was I supposed to know-"

"Anyway," Rilan interrupted, "I'm not sure what's going to happen from here. Goku got the virus, and Gohan and Yamcha got him to his house. Katima got it too, and Vegeta and Krillin followed them. I'm guessing they're all there now. You should go back home, Bulma, it looks like things are going to get nasty."

"And miss all the action?" Bulma laughed, "Hell no! I'm sure even without Goku and Katima and the others you can show those androids who's boss."

Rilan smiled. He liked how much faith she put in him, even if it was false, "Bulma, thinking that my family could be in danger will distract me. Please, just take Trunks and go home."

Bulma sighed and rolled her eyes, "Honestly, you just have to pull the 'Trunks' card on me," she reached back and produced the child, who squealed happily at the sight of his father's face.

"Hey, little man," Rilan took him and held him for a moment, "You're hair is coming in! Look at those gorgeous locks, just like your old man," he examined the tuft of lavender hair, "Interesting color though, how did he get that when both his parents have blue hair?"

"Could have skipped a generation," said Bulma, smiling at her husband and son's bond.

"Okay," said Rilan, kissing Trunks' forehead, "Daddy will be back, gotta save the world," he handed the babe to his mother and turned to the boy beside him, "Shall we?"

The kid was looking at Trunks with wide eyes, as if the sight of the child disturbed him.

"What's up?" Rilan snapped his fingers, "Do you want to stop the apocalypse or stare at babies?"

The boy flinched and nodded, "Right, follow me."

*scene change*

Where is this? Katima wondered.

Before her lay a valley of shadows, the sky above barely distinguishable between the land. It was hot, and her brow dripped in sweat. She felt like the ground underfoot was rolling, making it difficult to keep her footing. She heard a voice murmuring in her ear, but no matter how many times she turned around to find the source, she found nothing.

"Katima… Katima…" the voice kept repeating.

Slowly, she recognized it.

"Vegeta?" she called, looking around wildly, "Where are you? Vegeta!"

"I'm sorry…" Vegeta's voice whispered.

Katima stared into the darkness, "Why?" she asked.

"I couldn't say it…" he breathed before his presence vanished all together.

Katima let out a small wail, "No," she called, "Don't go!"

She began to run across the rolling ground, often tripping, but each time she got back up. She could see a figure ahead of her, and she knew it was Vegeta, but the prince continued to walk away from her, no matter how fast she ran or how much she begged for him to stop.

"Please!" she cried, "Where am I?"

*scene change*

Vegeta gazed down at Katima's face as it twisted and flicked as she dreamed. Her fever was still there, but it had gone down since he had given her the medicine. Any time any of the Earthlings came in to offer him water or food he would shout at them to get out. There was a battle going not, not just inside Katima, but inside Vegeta as well.

Still, even after years of being with her, admitting to himself that he cared was something couldn't do. But it seemed now, as he watched her cling to life, his heart began to ache. Why? Why had everything come to this? When he first met her, observing her ignorance to what she was, but the way she held herself, her tail waving out behind her, not protectively curled to her waist like his had been…

Katima had held both pure innocence and power in her stride, how she stared down Vegeta and Nappa, how she boldly declared her allegiance with the Earthlings even after Vegeta offered her a spot by his side where she would be safe. The fire that had been in her eyes as she stared Vegeta down. Even then, he had found it difficult to keep his eyes off her.

A Saiyan woman- something that should be extinct, along with the rest of his proud race, but there she was, ready to fight him even if it meant death. How she bravely offered to duel him, how she walked forward with no fear…

And that kiss- Vegeta's first kiss with anyone- that had sealed their fate forever. He remembered how shocked and disgusted he was when she did it, how confused when he could feel her pain when he hit her. And all she did was laugh at his ignorance to it.

She had been willing to give her life to kill him, to save her home. Perhaps it was then that Vegeta had begun to admire her. There was such fire in her, such life, this she displayed every time that they kissed, each of these moments as passionate as when they had been trying to kill each other when they first met.

So… he had to think… was it love?

Was this what it felt like?

No, he wasn't even close to admitting that to himself yet. Yes, he cared for her, and now that he thought of it, wasn't sure what he would do without her. But love… that wasn't yet a word in his vocabulary.

But it was in hers.

Again, he found himself thinking of when she had went Super Saiyan. Of the look on her face when she said that she loved him…

Vegeta reached out and grabbed Katima's clammy hand, grasping it tightly,

"If you die, I'll kill you," he muttered.

*scene change*

"All of these mountains look the same," Rilan muttered, looking down at the peaks as they grew closer and closer to South City.

The boy seemed to be raking the landscape with his blue eyes, "It has to be somewhere. I know it's near South City."

"How are we going to find it just based off that?" Rilan demanded, "We can't sense the androids."

"It's our only option!" the boy snapped, "If we don't find it, then 17 and 18 will be released on your world."

Rilan sighed and kept looking around desperately. What were they supposed to do?

"Wait," Rilan stopped midair, "Do you feel that?"

Looking down he saw a small spark of light.

"That's Lercron," said Rilan, "I'd recognize that anywhere- he must be fighting!"

"Let's go," said the boy, rocketing downward.

As they got closer, it appeared that Lercron was just down there powering up. A white aura surrounded him, but vanished when he saw Rilan and the boy approaching.

"I'm sorry," he said, his red eyes looking at the ground, "I couldn't stop him- I just saw him go in," he pointed up to a small cave up in the cliff face.

"The lab!" the boy exclaimed, "No! We're too late!"

"We can't be!" Tien landed behind them, closely followed by Piccolo.

"We aren't," snarled Rilan before he took off, eyes locked on the small cave.

"No!" the boy cried, "You'll be killed!"

Rilan ignored him, racing to the cave entrance and landing lightly. A little ways into the cave was a wall of solid steel, with a thin seam cutting it in half. A small computer panel was beside it. Rilan slowly walked forward and examined the panel. Even with his computer expertise, it appeared Gero went lengths to make sure no one could hack it. Fine then. Blasting his way in shouldn't be too difficult.

Rilan raised his hand to blast the door open, but a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned to see the boy, his blue eyes wide in terror.

"You can't!" he cried, "We have to retreat- we have to think of a better way to attack them-"

"Get your hands off me," Rilan snapped, jerking his arm out of the boy's grip, "I don't care who you are or what the androids were like in your time. I've been training non stop for three years. There's no way that they can best a Tygrian!"

"They already have!" the boy shouted, "They killed you in my time! Please, they're going to kill us all if we-"

"Enough!" Rilan growled, "In your time I wasn't prepared. I'm going to end this right here, right now!"

With a mighty cry, he blasted the door in.

Slowly, the dust cleared, and inside revealed a strange lab, with pods and monitors strewn about the walls, but what caught the eye was the android of Gero, looking at them with wide horrified eyes, and the two teens behind him.

"Wait," said Rilan, eyeing them one at a time. One was a boy, shoulder length black hair, a red scarf about his neck, and the other, a beautiful young girl, with chin length blond hair. Each of them had vivid blue eyes, "These are just a couple of kids!"

"Don't be deceived," the boy said, coming to his side, Lercron, Tien, and Piccolo landing behind them, "These are the two from my time. The boy is 17, and the girl is 18."

"Oh, these are the ones you were so concerned about, Doctor?" 17 smiled toward them, crossing his arms, "I suppose to a lesser model like yourself they do pose a threat…"

"Stop stalling and kill them!" Gero ordered, looking back at the two and pointing wildly at Rilan and the others, "Now! Obey!"

18 stretched, her beautiful hair glistening in the light, "Seems like an awful lot of work… I'd much rather wake up 16, that sounds more interesting," she said.

"Wait- 16?" the boy took a step closer, "You mean there's a third?"

"NO!" shouted Gero, "16 is not ready! Do NOT activate him, understand? That's an ORDER! Listen to your creator!"

"You know, you holding this creator shit over our head is really beginning to piss me off," sighed 17, smiling lazily at the doctor, "When will you understand? We're going to do… what we feel like doing… and right now? My dear Doctor, I feel like killing you."

It happened in a flash. 17 jumped up and twisted around in a graceful kick, and when his leg made contact with Gero's neck, the doctor's entire head was slashed off. It landed and rolled to Rilan's feet, where he stared down at it in mild horror. Such power… and brutality! It reminded Rilan of himself before he had met Bulma.

17 jumped forward and smashed the doctor's head under his foot. Gero's body fell, a series of wire sprouting out where the neck had been. Slowly, 17 looked up at Rilan and smirked.

Rilan found himself wanting to take a step back, but forced himself to stand strong. Yes, he was powerful, but Rilan was a Tygrian… He wasn't going to let this kid push him around.

"Well, shall we wake up 16?' asked 18, looking up with a smile from where she sat by a pod.

"NO!" the boy shouted, jumping forward, "I WON'T LET YOU ACTIVATE ANOTHER!"

17 narrowed his eyes, and there was a sudden burst of energy. Rilan was thrown off his feet, sent sailing out of the cave and back into the mountains. He felt several cuts opening on his flesh and he landed heavily on the ground, rolling until he slammed into a pine tree. He groaned, and slowly got to his feet. It felt like he might have broken his arm.

He looked up to see 17 and 18 flying, with the pod incasing this supposed Android 16 inside. They landed in a clearing not too far from him, and he limped forward to see what was about to unfold.

Slowly, the pod opened, and a third android stepped out. He had to be at least eight feet tall, with a strong jawed face, and thick arms. He wore green armor, and bore a spiky ginger Mohawk. He was huge! Rilan stared with wide eyes as he looked down on the other two.

"Hello, 16," 17 said, "Is it better to be outside than in that stuffy lab?"

16 merely stared down at him with serious eyes, remaining mute.

"Did Gero install a voice box?" 18 asked, "Can you speak, 16?"

"Goku," said 16, his voice deep and very mechanical sounding, not very personality related like 17 and 18, "I must find Goku."

"Goku?" asked 17, "Why?"

"I must kill Goku," said 16, looking down at the boy like it was obvious.

Rilan felt his heart twist. Goku? Why him? He was sick right now- he couldn't fight!

"Well," 17 smiled, "That sounds like fun. Sure. Let's go find Goku."

Fun? This 17 and 18 seemed to only want to do what sounded interesting to them. Typical teenagers…

"They're not going to kill us?" Lercron stumbled to Rilan's side.

"No," it was 17 that answered, looking into the trees at them, which made Rilan jump, "What would the point be in that? You pose us no threat. Killing you would be far too easy."

"Are you kidding?" Rilan breathed as the trio took to the sky and slowly flew away, "They… they think we're not even worth killing? What asses!"

"They're evil," said the boy, coming to his side and glaring up in the sky after them, "But this is bad news. Gero used to run the Red Ribbon Army, which were intent on destroying the world. Goku, when he was just a child, stopped them, and destroyed the whole army, or so he thought. He let Gero live- and so Gero concocted a plan to get revenge on Goku- and the rest of the world as well. He must have programmed 16 to kill him. I wouldn't doubt that they have locations- locations of Goku's home, of Kame House, possibly even the Capsule Corp building."

Rilan's eyes widened, "No," he breathed, picturing Bulma and Trunks being torn apart by that huge Android 16, "We have to go there!"

"We need to get Goku to safety first," said the boy, grabbing him arm, "I appreciate your concern for your family, but they're going to go to Goku's home first. That's where he is, and Katima, Vegeta, Chichi, Gohan, and Yamcha. Four of our best fighters are there- we have to get them to safety!"

"You mean five," Rilan smirked.

"What?" the boy blinked.

"Five of our best fighters are there," said Rilan.

The boy frowned, "Mother always told me Yamcha wasn't… the best at fighting…" he said.

"Not Yamcha," Rilan laughed, glad to have a joke in this dark hour, "Chichi!"

*scene change*

Vegeta glared at his boots. Impatience was one thing he had always struggled with. But this was maddening.

Katima's fever was up again, and she was fidgeting in her sleep. Through the bond, he could see a few images from her vivid dreams. It appeared that she was somewhere dark, and that she was running. Her emotions were that of desperation, and Vegeta couldn't tell if she were running from something, or chasing after someone. Every so often he clutched her hand, but it did nothing to help.

"Vegeta!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to leave me be?" Vegeta bellowed, standing up so fast that his chair toppled as he whirled to face the door.

Gohan was there, and he looked a little frightened for a moment, but pushed on, "Rilan's here- he says we gotta move- three new androids were activated-"

"And they're on their way here," the boy from the future stepped into the room.

Vegeta eyed the hilt of his sword, the sword he knew was Katima's. Katima had told him during their year in the forest how this boy, Trunks, was the son of Rilan and the Earth woman, Bulma.

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

"I said I would come back," said Trunks, "Now get her, we need to get going. Moth- er- Bulma has a passenger plane ready outside."

Vegeta wanted to argue, wanted to say that moving Katima was too risky. But he could see how shaken Trunks looked. If Rilan couldn't handle these new androids, there could be problems, as much as he hated to admit it, and his pride was overcome with concern for Katima. He nodded and turned, scooping her in his arms.

"Are you sure that antidote of yours works?" Vegeta demanded as they loaded into the plane, Kakarot on a cot and Katima remaining in Vegeta's arms. He refused to let her go.

"Yes," said Trunks, "It will take some time. I just don't understand why it took so long for them to catch the virus. So much is different from my time- why did so much change?" a look of inner turmoil crossed his face.

The plane began to rise and Vegeta stared at Katima's face, desperation in his chest. Though Trunks had assured him that the antidote will work, the fact that she wasn't responding yet troubled him.

Rilan came and sat beside him. Vegeta glanced at him, "Are the androids as strong as Trunks says?" he demanded.

"Trunks?" Rilan frowned, "When did he start talking?"

Vegeta gritted his teeth- not sure if he had been supposed to say the boy's name, but too late now, and in all honesty, he didn't really care if the time line got screwed up since t seemed like it already had.

"That's the boy's name," Vegeta nodded to the boy that was at the front, talking to his mother.

"He- of course…" Rilan shook his head, "Trunks started growing his hair- its purple- he-" Rilan looked at the grown Trunks again, who was staring at the baby form of himself with narrowed eyes, "He's my son… how bizarre…"

"You haven't answered my question," Vegeta snapped.

Rilan seemed to recover, looking at Vegeta with clouded eyes, "Yes. Vegeta, you couldn't believe. You'd say you and I are pretty even in power? One hit had me on the ground. I had to take a sensu bean to fix my broken arm."

"One hit…" Vegeta chuckled, "Rilan, how dare you compare yourself to a Saiyan," he looked down at Katima, "As soon as she's safe, I'm going to go and teach those freaks a lesson."

"No, Vegeta," Rilan grabbed his shoulder, "You don't understand-"

"I understand perfectly," said Vegeta, "If they truly are as strong as you say, then it will be a fit battle to test my new strengths."

"Even if they aren't energy stealing like 19 and Gero, they are stronger than you could ever imagine!" Rilan hissed, "Vegeta, don't let your pride kill you!"

"Saiyans are a warrior race," said Vegeta, staring down at Katima's face, "If it weren't for her I would have waited back at Kakarot's home for them."

Rilan shook his head, "You know, if Katima wasn't so damn attached to you, I would just say that you could go and do whatever the hell you want. But you have her to think about," he nodded down to her, "She's told Bulma stories of when you died- what happened to her… Did she ever talk to you about it?"

Vegeta looked away. No, Katima refused to talk to him about that except in small bursts. All that he got was that it had hurt her- scarred her inside, much like the death of Vegeta's father had scarred him. She just made it clear that Vegeta was there now, alive, with her, and that was fine, that she didn't want to talk about it. He remembered seeing her curled up in a little ball, the waves of torment coming through the bond.

"It doesn't matter," he finally said, looking back, "Because I have no worries about me dying."

Rilan opened his mouth to argue more, but his son, the older one, strode up.

"We're nearly there- Have you two been to Kame House before? I've never met Master Roshi," the boy said, crossing his arms, "My mother sure has a lot of stories about him," he chuckled.

"Wait," Vegeta snapped, "Kame House is Roshi's place? I'm expected to bring Katima in that pervert's home?"

Trunks looked at Vegeta, "You don't really have a choice, I mean we're going to be safe there-"

"Ridiculous!" Vegeta shouted, making the rest of the passengers look at him, "I will NOT leave Katima anywhere NEAR that dirty old man when she's unconscious!"

Several of the planes occupants laughed which just made him scowl. Bulma looked back at him from the controls with a smile, "Don't worry, Vegeta, I'll keep an eye on her, promise."

Vegeta felt his tension ease a bit. He may despise Earth women, but Katima and Bulma were good friends. He trusted that she wouldn't let Katima fall under that creep's filthy fingers.

"Fine, but if I find out about ANYTHING I WILL kill him," Vegeta vowed.
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Song for this Chapter: Be the One by The Fray