Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Heroes ❯ Chapter 4

I looked down at my watch. Twelve hours until the androids would arrive. The clearing was bathed in moonlight, just like the night Vegeta and I fought. He still wasn't back and that worried me. I sat around for another half an hour, submersed in my thoughts. All of a sudden, a blast sounded from the direction of Capsule Corp. I jumped up and flew back to the compound. As the dust settled, Vegeta appeared out of the space pod. I bowed as he approached me.

“I assume I have made it back in time?” he asked.

“Yes, Prince Vegeta. The androids will appear in the morning. Much has happened in your absence. You should speak to Bulma.” I spoke to him formally because I didn't know if he was still mad at me.

“Thank you, Corbin. I will do so.” He began to walk past me.

“Have you achieved it, Prince Vegeta?” I asked, quietly. He scoffed.

“Of course, and stand up. You look pathetic down there.” He disappeared into the house. With eleven hours on the clock, I slid into bed.

“WHAT?!” I heard Vegeta scream from Bulma's room as I drifted into a deep sleep.

I awoke the next morning as the sun was coming up. After showering, I got dressed in my lime green shorts, black sports bra, and black tank top. I slipped on a pair of socks, my wrestling shoes, and my mother's necklace. My fingertips graced my father's sword hanging on the wall and I said a quick prayer that all of us would make it through this as I walked to the kitchen. Bulma, Vegeta and I ate the large breakfast in silence.

“You will not tell Kakarrot and his friends that I am back.” Vegeta said, quietly as I put my plate in the sink. I opened my mouth to as why, but shut it. I didn't want to piss him off again. I bowed and left.

The island grew closer as I flew towards it. I was really early, so I found a cliff and watched the city. It was bigger than I thought it would be, about one hundred thousand in population. My watch read 9:15 as I propped myself up on a rock and shut my eyes. After ten minutes had passed, I felt two more fighters arrive and I opened my eyes to see Yamcha and Tien touch down in front of me.

“Hi Corbin!” Yamcha and Tien said.

“Hello boys.”

“Are you ready for the fight today?” Yamcha asked.

“We'll see.” I answered, uninterested. They chatted as I closed my eyes again, listening to the city below. A few more minutes passed and then I heard a plane approach. It landed on the cliff next to me and Bulma stepped out with Trunks in her arms. “What are you doing here?” My voice hinged on freak out.

“I just wanted to stop by and wish everyone luck.” She answered. Before I could tell her to go home, Gohan, Kakarrot, Piccolo, and Krillin arrived. Everyone was here except Vegeta, but I knew he was out there watching. I blocked out all the idle chitchat and began stretching.

“I bet Vegeta's your daddy. Isn't that right, Trunks?” I heard Kakarrot say. I stopped and looked up at the group. How did he know that? I had told him Vegeta was the father but I never mentioned Trunks' name. On top of that Kakarrot and his family hadn't been able to make it to my birthday party. I had barely seen Kakarrot in the last nine months. Gohan's face was full of confusion but Kakarrot's and Piccolo's held a kind of knowing gaze.

It hit me then. The purple haired Saiyan in the Capsule Corp. jacket, the boy from the future; he was Trunks. The baby I had held in my arms so many times was the man that had warned us about the androids. I must have made a noise, because Piccolo looked at me and glared. I shut my mouth and nodded. As I finished up my stretches, I glanced at my watch. 10:15, the damned androids should be here by now.

“Someone's coming.” Piccolo said. A man with black shaggy hair, wearing a stripped orange tunic jumped out of the plane after it had landed.

“Yajorobi, you came to help?” Kakarrot asked him.

“No! I brought you some senzou beans from Korin.” He sounded like he had a mouth full of cotton balls and I had trouble understanding what he was saying. After handing Kakarrot a brown pouch, he waved and said, “I'm out of here.” He jumped back in his plane and took off.

“Guys, I don't think these androids are coming.” Yamcha said, but as the words came out, the sky lit up with an explosion. Yajorobi's plane plunged into the ocean and left the outline of two figures in plain sight. They quickly descended into the city.

“Were those the androids?” I asked.

“I didn't sense any power.” Kakarrot said.

“Maybe we can't!” Gohan deduced.

“If we can't sense their power, how are we going to find them?” Yamcha asked the fear plain in his voice.

“We'll just have to find them the old fashion way, with our eyes.” Piccolo replied.

“Bulma, hold the senzou beans.” Kakarrot said, throwing the pouch to her. “Gohan, go check on Yajorobi.” Gohan nodded and flew off. The rest of us powered up and took off for the city below. We split up and took a different section to search.

I had been searching the downtown area for ten minutes when I heard and saw the explosion. I flew towards it and found a gas station completely engulfed in flames. I felt a power level drain in the orange haze and spotted three figures, one of them Yamcha. The rest of the fighters arrived as I dropped down to the street to see what was happening. There were two androids, an old one and a fat one. The old one with a trash can for a hat had a hold of Yamcha by the face and before we could do anything to help him, the old man put his hand through Yamcha's chest. Blood poured down Yamcha's body and made a puddle on the street below him. The old man threw Yamcha down and smiled at us.

My mind fogged over as I looked at the blood. I vaguely saw Krillin pick up Yamcha's limp body. The smell of blood wafted to my nostrils and caught in the back of my throat. It had been so long since I had killed something purely for pleasure. The last time had been right before Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta had left me. I flashed back to the last planet we had exterminated. They had finally allowed me to have my own section and at thirteen I was eager to get out on my own. All of a sudden, I could hear the screams of the planets inhabitants as I blasted their building down and caught their houses on fire. I looked up from the blood and could see the fires and the people. My breath came in gasps. I didn't want this anymore. A hand came out of nowhere it seemed and touched my shoulder. I looked back and saw Piccolo. The look in his eyes told me he knew what I was feeling. As I came back to reality, I realized that the screams were real. Everything around us was engulfed in flames. People were screaming and dying.

Kakarrot took to the sky and I followed with everyone, not knowing what was going on. We flew for a while, heading north.

“This is far enough, Goku. We will fight here.” The androids descended to a small island and the rest of us followed. I noticed, as we landed, that Kakarrot was panting heavily. Had we flown so far that he got winded? They started talking again about tracking devices and perfectly engineered androids. `Just fucking kill them!' my mind screamed. Finally, Kakarrot and the fat android started fighting and from the start, I knew this wouldn't take long. After a bit, Kakarrot seemed to slow and his panting was heavier. Before I could say anything to Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin, and Gohan showed up. Immediately, Gohan noticed the difference in his father.

“You're being paranoid.” Tien replied.

“But they drain power, what if that's what he's doing to Dad?” The android fell to the ground creating a large crater and Kakarrot powered up for a Kamahamaha wave. After releasing it, the android raised his hands to the sky and absorbed it all.

“They absorb energy, Goku.” Piccolo yelled.

“You're kidding.” Kakarrot replied, in a breathy voice. The android launched himself from the crater floor and started attacking.

“Something must be sapping his strength.” Piccolo said.

“It's that virus! It's attacking his heart right now!” Gohan exclaimed.

Kakarrot was on his knees, clutching his chest, when the android landed on him and grabbed his neck.

“Let's move in.” Piccolo said and I was immediately at his side, ready to go into battle.

“Stay where you are.” The old android moved to block our path. Piccolo kicked and missed and the old android shot an energy wave into his chest. I was in the androids face in a second but stopped, I felt Vegeta coming. Instead of risking more loss of life, I backed off and went to Piccolo. As I check for a pulse, he bolted up and I looked to the battle field. Vegeta had knocked the android off of Kakarrot and was standing there in his super Saiyan form.

“Vegeta! He distracted me.” Piccolo said. With one swift kick, Vegeta knocked Kakarrot off the battle field and into Piccolo's hand. Yamcha ran forward to take him from Piccolo.

“I gotcha, big guy. I'm going to take him home to get the medicine.” Yamcha said, hoisting Kakarrot onto his shoulder.

“You better take some too. We don't know if the virus is contagious.” Piccolo said. Yamcha nodded and took off.

“Maybe I should get you out of here, Gohan. I mean, the boy from the future did say that you would be the only one that would survive. Maybe you and I should go with Yamcha and your dad.” I heard Krillin say behind me.

“Can it, you sniveling coward. I will not be distracted by your fear. If you want to leave, then go.” I said, looking back at him.

“You're being greedy, 19. You can have Vegeta but the rest are mine.” The old android said to the fat one.

“I was watching your little match with Kakarrot. Tell me android, does a machine like yourself ever experience fear?” 19's face screwed together and he rushed Vegeta. In the blur of movement, 19 had somehow gotten a hold of Vegeta's wrists.

“Until I have all your energy, I'll never let you go.” The android said in a high pitched voice.

“Never, huh? Never can be a very long time.” Vegeta said and put both of his feet on the androids face. As he pushed his feet into the androids face he pulled with his arms. “That's the spirit, never say die!” With one more push, Vegeta tore both of the androids hands off. 19 looked down at his stumps in disbelief and, with a scream, took off running. Vegeta lifted his hand and incinerated the android with one blast.

“He sure took a lot of energy.” Vegeta said looking at the old man. “I'm sure if you attacked me now it would be a quick victory for yourself.” His golden hair vanished. “But then of course, I could be bluffing. Want to find out?” The android seemed to weigh his options but in the end, he took off for mountain range off to our left.

“Baldy, throw me a bean.” Vegeta demanded. Krillin scrambled for the pouch at his waist and threw one to Vegeta. “Corbin come with me. The rest of you are no longer need. Go home.” He said after eating the bean and took off after the android with me close at his side. After a few seconds, I felt the fighters take off after us. `Good, we'll need all the eyes we have to find this asshole.' I thought to myself. We searched the mountain range for a bit before Vegeta grew impatient.

“Fuck this! I'll flush him out.” With that said, he released an energy blast into the mountains. Before any of us knew what happened, the old man appeared and absorbed it all through his hands. He was gone again in a flash. As we continued our search, we spread out further, looking for the bastard.

Suddenly, I felt hands on my mouth and legs wrap around my waist. I tried to twist and turn in his grasp, but I couldn't brake free. As each second drew past, I grew weaker and weaker. I was weightless and floating when strong arms caught me. I cracked my eyes open with effort and saw ice blue eyes full of concern in front of me. `I've died and gone to otherworld.' I thought with a smile. But then I heard yelling. `Do people yell in otherworld?'

“Trunks is back.” I heard. The voice was Piccolo's. `But Piccolo's not dead.' Suddenly, I pulled a huge breathe of air into my lungs. My hands flew out for anything they could grab onto. I found a small hand with my left and what felt like a hard, muscled shoulder with my right.

“She's alive. Give me a bean.” I didn't recognize the voice. Something small was pushed into my mouth.

“Eat it Corbin, you'll feel better.” I did what the voice told me and swallowed the bean. The pain in my lungs and head slowly abated. I opened my eyes and found myself in the arms of Trunks, the boy from the future. My one hand was on his shoulder while my other hand was gripped in Gohan's.

“Thank you.” I mumbled, looking into his icy eyes. He opened his mouth and shut it, looking very uncomfortable. Gohan pulled me to my feet and I looked around wondering what I had missed. The whole gang was standing around me except Vegeta. He had the android corner and I walked over to them.

“He's mine, Vegeta.” I said.

“Wait, that's not one of the androids. I've never seen him before.” Trunks said, walking towards us.

“What? That's nonsense.” Before any more was said, we heard a plane approaching. Bulma's plane rounded the side of a mountain and came down into the ravine we were in.

“You will all be sorry when I unleash androids 17 and 18.” The old man said and released an energy blast into the ravine. I reached Bulma's plane just in time to catch the baby. As the dust and debris settled, I looked up to find those blue eyes looking at me. He had Bulma in his arms.

“That fucking android has vanished again.” Vegeta screamed. Trunks set Bulma down and flew up to Vegeta.

“Why didn't you help them? They could've died.”

“I have more important things to worry about than that foolish woman and her blasted offspring, boy.”

“Guys,” Bulma voice rang clear through the canyon as I handed her the baby. “I think that android was Dr. Gero. I remember see his face in one of my dad's science magazines.”

“You told us a pack of lies.” Vegeta screamed in the boys face.

“I can't believe the timelines have shifted this much. It was a risk I had to take when I came back to warn you.” He looked around the group. “Wait, where's Goku?”

“He came down with that virus and Yamcha took him home to get the medication. I thought you knew that.” Krillin answered.

“Listen, the android mentioned two more. Perhaps these are the androids you were talking about. I think you better give us a description of these two.” Piccolo said to Trunks.

“Well, they aren't clumsy like the two androids you've seen. They're sleek and quick. One of them is designed to be a beautiful young girl and the other, a young boy with long dark hair. The thing that haunts me the most is their eyes. They have the same cold, lifeless eyes.” Vegeta walked over to Bulma, but as he drew close, the baby started screaming.

“Oh, don't worry,” she said, moving the baby to face away from Vegeta. “I won't let his ugly face scare you.”

“Bulma, will you forget about the child for one minute. Where is Dr. Gero's lab?”

“Umm… I think the magazine said it was just outside North City, hidden inside a cave.” She answered.

“If we hurry we can beat him there. He has to be on foot since no one saw him fly away.” Piccolo said.

“Gohan, take them home and then go to your father. Report back once you know his status.” I said. I looked at Vegeta and we both took to the sky but the boy blocked our path.

“You can't beat these things on your own. We need to wait for Goku.”

“I don't need to wait for anything, let alone that fucking clown. Now get out of my way!” Vegeta yelled and blasted past the boy.

“You know he's your son, right?” I asked after we were away from everyone.

“Of course I know. I'm not a complete idiot.” I felt the boy approaching.

“You're a quick little bastard, aren't you? Let's see if you can keep up now.” Vegeta put on an extra burst of speed and took off. I looked at the boy, smirking in a very Vegeta-like way and transformed into a super Saiyan. I saw his eyes widen and then I was gone, catching up to Vegeta.

 

*******

`She's a super Saiyan?!' he thought to himself. `And on top of that, she's supposed to be dead. The timelines really have shifted a lot. Maybe with the three of us being super Saiyans we don't need to wait for Goku. Maybe we can do this without him.' He caught up to her and Vegeta quickly. `I wonder why she didn't die.'