POV - Krillin
They were reunited at Kame House, busy watching the news on TV.
It was not the first time they did so in the last day, hoping to get some new clues on what was going on.
[ "... -it is still unknown the exact number of people missing, but reports are coming indicating alarming numbers of disappearances all over the planet.
Following the mass exodus of inmates criminals and according to the Department of Police of East City, have been already counted at least a hundred thousand criminals disappearing in the last two days, and those are only the ones we have knowledge of.
At this moment, the questions everyone is trying to answer are several. The main ones however are: where did they go? Who is the perpetrator and what is the crime we are talking about? Were they kidnapped or worse? People are already taking sides in the matter, some going as far as supporting whoever or whatever the reason is, but most people are skeptical and justifiably concerned about this situation.
We are now going to interview some of the security guards of the Nicky Town Prison and listen to what they have to say on the matter. As you most likely already know the city prison of Nicky Town was among the first ones to be- ..." ]
The room was silent for a good while as the news reporter proceeded with his interview, which revealed nothing new, just as the dozen previous interview they transmitted on television.
The several people present in the room, both warriors and not, were still trying to come up with their theories on the matter.
Krillin didn't know what to think, really... on one side the people disappearing, or at least those they had knowledge of, were only criminals.
On the other side, they were still people so, in his opinion, it was wrong to hurt them if there was a more peaceful alternative available, especially those already captured and serving their sentences in prison.
It was all so confusing, he didn't know what to think.
Fortunately (for once), no one asked for his opinion... it was Yamcha who spoke first instead.
"Personally, I hope they got what they deserved, they were criminals anyway, good riddance."
"""YAMCHA!"""
Yup. Krillin was better to remain silent on this.
Yamcha, of course, didn't notice the writings on the wall and proceeded to bury himself even deeper.
"What? I just say, nothing happened to those really innocents, right? Actually, the prison guards were all found unconscious, so that means that whoever did... this, follows a moral code at least. Whoever it is, maybe they aren't evil as they seem to be."
Perhaps that was true, but it was ironic how Yamcha seemed to have forgotten his being a former bandit so easily.
It was Master Roshi who answered to him.
"Yamcha, independently from who they were or what they did, they were still people. Killing is not the answer if it's avoidable, especially if most of those criminals were probably just petty thieves and such."
You can say whatever you want about Master Roshi, but when lives were truly at stake, it was one of the few moments he became truly serious...
Well... most of the time, at least.
It was Bulma who spoke then.
"Are we really sure that something happened to them, couldn't they simply have escaped with the aid of someone from the outside?"
Krillin could answer that, at least to make it look as if he was actually participating in this discussion, and Bulma question wouldn't force him to take sides and being reprimanded for it.
"Maybe, but those imprisoned were not the only criminals who disappeared. You were not here yet when they announced it earlier, but among those reported as missing, thousands were still free at the time. I've quickly checked with Yamcha a couple of the locations that were presumably targeted to see if we could unearth some clues about the situation and there were a few traces of gunfight... not much, but enough to make us guess that whatever happened, it wasn't done willingly."
Silence once again risked permeating the room but was luckily broken by the youngest warrior in their ranks.
"Could it be the work of the Androids?" Gohan question was made openly but was most likely intended to the only one there who really knew something concrete about them and their methods: Trunks.
Since earlier in the morning Bulma, along with Little Trunks and Big Trunks (he really needed to find better names to use for referring to them in his own head), decided to wait at Kame House together with them for Goku to recover, since with Gero's lab being destroyed by the Androids and no clues about their weaknesses yet, there was nothing else they could do at the moment, besides praying for the better.
Goku himself did already look better than the day before and was currently on the gentle care of his wife, Chichi.
It was probably the first time he saw Chichi's gentler side, sometimes that woman scared him more than Frieza ever did.
"I... I don't know. As far as I remember this never happened in my timeline, but I doubt the Androids are involved. The 17 and 18 I know of wouldn't pick the criminals as a favorite target, nor they will try to hide their traces. They will just kill everyone indiscriminately:"
With the main topic of discussion returning on the Androids, Krillin thoughts befell on 18 once again... he could barely think straight recently, with the dangerous beauty always in his thoughts since she gave him that kiss on the cheek.
Why did she do that? Was she really as evil as Trunks seemed to believe?
Of course, he avoided asking those questions out loud.
Already the others were outraged by Yamcha statement about the disappearances, surely they wouldn't take Krillin opinion on the matter of 18 any different, perhaps worse.
At best, they would berate him for his stupidity and tell him how all of this was probably some evil plot or scheme conceived to seduce him only to make him suffer later on, for their own evil amusement.
But... Was it true?
... What was his problem anyway? Was he actually falling for a possible mass-murdering robot with blond hairs and blue eyes?
"Well, it doesn't matter if- WHAT?!?"
Just then, the reply of Master Roshi was interrupted, because everyone in the room which was able to feel Ki tensed immediately.
An immense Ki could be felt in the distance, so great it could be easily sensed from half the planet away, even when not actively searching for it, and still appear enormous to their Ki sense.
Wait... was it...?
"W-what is it?" Bulma, incapable of sensing Ki was obviously thrown out of the loop by the tension that suddenly permeated the room.
Also, Little Trunks did wake up and started crying, that certainly didn't color the situation any better for the young mother.
"It's Mister Piccolo!" The happy declaration from Gohan only confirmed Krillin initial suspicions.
The Ki signature was certainly that of Piccolo, perhaps with some little differences, but this power was unlike anything he ever felt... Was it equal to that of the Super Saiyans? No, not even them could dwarf his own power this much.
But how did Piccolo became so strong to eclipse even those two battle maniacs?
It was Master Roshi that answered once again.
"Mhm... this is certainly troubling. The only way for Piccolo to obtain this power would be fusing with Kami."
... What?
"... What?"
Thanks, Yamcha.
Roshi nodded once, while at the same time touching his white beard as he thought about it, explaining to everyone else his previous statement.
"Yes, I recognize this Ki signature, it's Piccolo, but there are traces of Kami's Ki signature too. Kami did probably merge with Piccolo to increase his power by an incalculable amount."
Well, that was new.
Trunks seemed ecstatic by how things turned out.
"This is great! This power, I think that with the help of Mister Piccolo we can finally do it! If we gather my dad and Mister Goku once he recovered, the Androids will stand no chance!"
It was no mystery, that despite the fact that they were all there waiting for Goku's recovery, none of them truly believed he could do it, especially after Vegeta got beaten despite being a Super Saiyan himself.
They had hope, certainly, but it was just that. Or perhaps it became a habit waiting for Goku to solve things, and they just were doing it as they always did.
The fact that now Trunks believed they could defeat not two, but all three of the Androids with the help of Piccolo, was actually a relief.
Though Yamcha was in a bad mood apparently, because once again he had to ruin it for everyone else.
"If you believe Vegeta and Goku will ever do something together that is different from fighting each other to death, you don't know them at all."
It was probably true, while he could see Goku accepting such an arrangement, he doubted Vegeta would ever agree on something like that.
It was Bulma, of course, that came in defense of her... husband, boyfriend? ... Whatever they were, at this point he didn't really care about it anymore.
"Hey! Vegeta can maybe be a little stubborn when Goku is involved, but-"
"Yeah, or anyone else."
"-but he will protect Earth from the Androids just as any of you. Despite how he appears on the outside, deep inside he has a gentle soul."
Yeah, in your dreams Bulma.
Fortunately, Krillin could stop the situation from escalating further. "Master Roshi, why did you say the situation is troubling? Wouldn't a stronger Piccolo be useful to us? Despite what he said yesterday, we know he is not really evil anymore and always helped us in time of need."
"Oh, is not that the reason I said it's troubling. The reason is that without Kami, we don't have the dragon balls anymore."
And there came the collective gasp.
"Oh." "Fuck" "Oh no!"
"Krillin, Trunks, go check the situation and see if Piccolo needs any help. I can't feel other large Ki signatures at his location, so he is most likely fighting the Androids. In that case, even if he is this powerful, it's unlikely he will win against three opponents all by himself. Also, remember that we are not machines, unlike them, we can tire ourselves, as the fight between 18 and Vegeta proved."
Oh joy, another suicide mission.
Well, there was a change 18 was there too...
"Master Roshi! I want to go too! I want to help Mister Piccolo!" Was the predictable protest coming from Gohan.
At that very moment, the entire Kame House trembled as a screaming voice came from upstairs.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
"..."
"Y-yes m-mom."
...
Scary.
"Your mother is right Gohan, we don't know what is going on yet, we cannot risk leaving anyone, especially Goku, unprotected. You and Yamcha will remain here with us, plus I'm sure Tien will join Piccolo too... along with Vegeta, perhaps."
"Yes, Master Roshi..." was the sad voice of Gohan, it hurt Krillin seeing the young boy sad like that, but between dying against the Androids later, and dying against Chichi now, the situation was clear for everyone.
"Trunks, say hello to your father from me if you see him. And tell him to come home instead of training all of the time."
Better if Krillin didn't comment on that.
"Yes... mom." was the sheepish answer from the half Saiyan.
At this point, it was certain that mothers were the greatest weakness of half Saiyan warriors...
Anyway, it was time to go, so Krillin and Trunks left Kame House and quickly blasted to the sky at high speed, in the direction of Piccolo.
Though Krillin couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering in a dangerous direction.
If it came to the point that it will be needed for him to kill 18... would he be able to do it?
...
Only time will tell.
Pov:Jamall
I couldn't believe it—the fight with the Androids was happening already!
Man, thank Dende I decided to take things up a notch by going for prisoners after the disappearances became public. At that point, being sneaky didn't matter as much. Plus, keeping it just to criminals worked out well, considering I left the guards unharmed, just knocked out for safety.
Even though everyone knew about the missing criminals, the way I was taking them out? That was going to stay a mystery. I'd disabled or trashed every single camera in the prisons I'd "visited," taking extra care to leave as few traces as possible.
Honestly, I didn't expect this reality to have such an endless supply of criminals, but now that I was here? Jackpot! It was like Earth's justice system was handing me power-ups on a silver platter. I mean, sure, there were only a few hundred criminals per prison, but with the sheer number of towns and facilities, I was absorbing energy at speeds that'd make the original Cell look like a slacker.
I did need to knock out the guards and disable the cameras, but in the end, the abundance of prisoners made it well worth it. I could feel my power building, my strength growing closer and closer to Piccolo's… maybe just a smidge under him now. And with my collection of moves, he wouldn't stand a chance against me in a real fight.
Not that I wanted one. Piccolo was one of my favorites!
Still, as I was about to finish up my "rounds" for the day, aiming to absorb enough to max out my Imperfect Form, I sensed something big happening—Piccolo's Ki was flaring like crazy. There were no other signatures around, so… he was fighting the Androids! The Androids! This was it!
I wasn't quite ready yet, but this was my chance to catch the action up close. I took off toward the battle, pushing myself to cover half the planet in record time. Along the way, I dropped by every prison I could, scooping up more inmates and pushing my power as fast as possible. Man, Piccolo wasn't holding back either; his Ki was practically broadcasting itself to the whole planet! I cloaked my own energy signature to avoid attention—at least from anyone who wasn't directly looking for me. Even so, I doubted anyone could really be tracking me, since most of the threats were in that exact spot, facing off with Piccolo.
Of course, there was no way Piccolo would win, not against 17 and 18. And if 16 was there, then it was basically game over; that guy was way stronger than Piccolo. But still, if I was quick, I could reach my peak in Imperfect Form within an hour. Maybe even less! Just enough to witness a legendary showdown and reach the next step toward perfection.
...Oh man, that totally sounded like something a villain would say.