"Go ahead — I'll let you." Goku gave a quiet nod.
This is about Krillin's future.
Android 18 is Krillin's wife.
If 20 doesn't activate 17 and 18, Krillin ends up alone forever.
I just hope those two Androids aren't bad people.
If they're anything like the Androids from Trunks' future...
Krillin might be single for the rest of his life.
So I can't say anything to Krillin right now. I'll just have to wait and see once those two appear.
"Goku — what do you mean?" Krillin asked, going a little tense. "There are still more Androids sleeping somewhere? So the two Androids Trunks warned us about weren't these ones?"
"That's right. The Androids Trunks was talking about should be 17 and 18." Goku grinned and nodded.
"But... even so, we shouldn't just let them be released." Krillin said, genuinely worried.
"Don't say it like that, Krillin." Goku patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "History has already changed in a big way — let's just wait and see."
Krillin: "..."
"Alright — since you've already made up your mind, Goku, I'll leave it alone." Krillin didn't push back.
With Goku here, there's nothing to be afraid of.
"Goku — I don't know how you found out about Androids 17 and 18, but that confidence of yours is frankly a little alarming." 20 gave a cold laugh. "I hope you don't come to regret it."
"Off you go." Goku said pleasantly.
20 went quiet.
A brief hesitation.
"I see — you want to follow me back to the lab... so you can destroy 17 and 18 before I even wake them up." 20 suddenly landed on this concern, and narrowed his eyes at Goku.
"I won't do that. You have my word." Goku shook his head.
"Then... you are not following me!" 20 gritted his teeth. He could hardly just take Goku's word for it.
What if they get to the lab before me and destroy 17 and 18?
"Alright — go ahead, but don't hurt any innocent people along the way." Goku said firmly.
"You said it yourself — I hope you don't live to regret it!" 20 gave a cold snort, immediately launched into the air, and flew from the scene at full speed.
The group turned and looked at Goku.
"Goku — are you really going to let him go and release those two Androids?" Krillin was still uneasy and asked again.
Why does my heart feel like it's beating faster than usual?
That's strange.
"I really am." Goku nodded again and gave Krillin a distinctly mysterious smile.
Krillin: "????"
Krillin stared at Goku, thoroughly lost.
Goku — that smile is genuinely unsettling.
What's gotten into you?
"Uncle Krillin — Dad has his reasons. Trust him." Gohan smiled the same cryptic smile.
Krillin scratched his head and felt even more confused.
I can't shake the feeling those two are keeping something from me.
20 picked up speed and made straight for the laboratory.
After flying a short distance, he checked his energy scanner and found that Goku and the others had not followed. It struck him as odd.
Is Goku genuinely fine with me releasing 17 and 18?
Fine by me.
You'll regret it when the time comes.
20 accelerated.
Goku — you're going to regret this.
You're the one who told me to go. You're the one letting 17 and 18out.
I want to see how you plan to deal with what comes next.
20 soon arrived at a large mountain range and flew straight into the laboratory built into the mountainside.
Beep — beep — beep!
20 punched a code into the keypad at the heavy metal door.
The thick metal door ground slowly open.
As he stepped inside, 20 let out a quiet sigh of relief. The tension in his chest released.
Even if Goku comes now, it's too late to stop me.
I'm activating 17 and 18 right now.
20 drew a slow breath — cold sweat running down his face and forehead.
"I would never activate them unless I absolutely had to." 20 — Dr. Gero — muttered under his breath, voice low, fists clenched. "But there's no other option. Goku is simply too powerful."
With that, 20 crossed to the sleep capsule holding Android 17 and peered inside.
"I wonder if the modifications were completed properly." Dr. Gero murmured, and pressed the activation button on the capsule lid, flipping it open.
Android 17's eyes blinked slowly open.
"Android 17 — are you awake?" Dr. Gero asked immediately.
17 stepped out of the capsule and looked around in every direction. His eyes found the remote control clutched tightly in Dr. Gero's hand.
17's heart gave a small jolt. He quickly stepped forward with a friendly smile. "Hello, Dr. Gero."
Dr. Gero blinked — and then burst with elation. "You... you're greeting me?"
"Of course — you're my father." 17 said, not entirely meaning it.
Dr. Gero was overjoyed.
Wonderful.
This time the modifications finally took.
Before, he always woke up furious.
The problem was — I couldn't even beat him.
And now he's greeting me on his own.
"Excellent. 18 — you can come out now too." Dr. Gero stepped over and pressed 18's activation button.
The capsule opened. Android 18's clear eyes blinked open and she stepped out.
18 immediately looked at 17.
17 quietly caught her eye and gave a subtle signal.
18 understood in an instant. She remembered — Dr. Gero was still holding that emergency shutdown remote.
She spotted it in his hand immediately.
I need to be careful. I have to get that remote away from him.
Otherwise 17 and I end up back in the capsules.
"Hello, Dr. Gero — you turned yourself into an Android too?" 18 said with a friendly smile.
"Yes — I wanted eternal life." Dr. Gero admitted with a nod, then turned serious. "To be honest, I am extremely uneasy about you two. Because you run on infinite energy, your power is enormous — which makes you difficult to control. You wouldn't even follow my orders before."
17 and 18 immediately stood to attention, their eyes drifting without comment to the remote in Dr. Gero's hand.
"Goku has grown far more powerful than I anticipated. Both of you — move out immediately and eliminate him." Dr. Gero issued the order.
"Understood." 18 gave a crisp nod.
"Got it." 17 smiled slightly.
Dr. Gero was electric with excitement. He turned and looked toward the lab entrance.
The time has come for a final reckoning with Goku.
Just you wait, Goku.
You're about to find out what 17 and 18 are capable of.
Just as Dr. Gero was picturing Goku being ground into the dirt by both Androids —
Snap!
17 seized his moment, reached out, and snatched the remote straight from Dr. Gero's hand.
Dr. Gero was caught off guard. He turned to stare at 17 with wide, furious eyes. "Android 17 — what do you think you're doing?!"
"This is the emergency shutdown remote, isn't it?" 17 smiled coldly, and increased the pressure in his grip.
Crack!
The remote shattered on the spot, exploding into fragments.
"You — what is the meaning of this?! Are you joking?!" Dr. Gero roared.
"Did you really want to put us back to sleep forever? You miserable wretch." 17's voice was ice.
"You — are you betraying me?!" Dr. Gero's fury rose to his face.
17 simply smiled with contempt.
18 smiled too.
Looking at those two expressions, Dr. Gero felt his blood run cold.
If this keeps going, are these two going to kill me?
Dr. Gero couldn't stop himself from trembling.
I should back down for now.
"Android 17 — I told you. Goku has become far stronger than I expected!" Dr. Gero tried to calm himself, scrambling to find reason. "That man effortlessly defeated and destroyed 19. I barely managed to escape and come back to activate you two. I never intended to keep you sleeping forever — I was worried about your power levels. They're too difficult to manage."
"Android 19?" 17 paused and tilted his head. "You made something like that? I suppose that was the one who converted Dr. Gero into an Android? What type was it — energy absorption?"
"Yes — that's right." Dr. Gero confirmed.
"Why give the newer model an outdated absorption type?" 18 asked with an amused smile. "Is it because an infinite energy type would be too powerful for you to control?"
"We can — we'll put this aside for now. Let me take you both to eliminate Goku." Dr. Gero quickly changed the subject, growing flustered.
You two idiots.
Do you not understand? I created you to provide perfect bodies for Cell.
I put enormous effort into the ultimate Android.
The only problem is — Cell won't be complete for years.
I wonder if I'll live long enough to see it.
"Kill Goku? No rush. Let's sort a few things out first." 17 snorted. "We can kill him whenever we like."
"What — what did you say?" Dr. Gero was beginning to bristle.
"Android 16!" 18 had just spotted the sleep capsule nearby containing a figure she did not recognise. "Is this one infinite energy too?"
Dr. Gero's face went through several rapid changes.
"A big one — not like us at all!" 18 was immediately curious. She stepped closer and smiled. "What makes this one different?"
She leaned in for a better look, growing more intrigued by the moment.
"Do not touch that — 18!" Dr. Gero panicked.
"The more you say that, the more interested I am." 17 laughed quietly. "18 — wake him up."
"Stop! Don't touch it! Do you want to destroy the world?!" Dr. Gero screamed. "Android 16 is a failed experiment — he must never be activated! Something terrible will happen."
"If he's a failed experiment, why has he been kept all this time?" 18 asked pleasantly. "Android 15 was disposed of long ago, if I recall."
"I wanted to make further modifications!" Dr. Gero shouted furiously. "Don't touch him — he will kill us all."
"You're saying he'll kill us?" 17 smiled with contempt. "Hmph — didn't you say I have the highest energy readings? Forget what he says, 18 — wake him up."
Dr. Gero's expression turned uglier than ever. The rage he had been suppressing surged to the surface.
"You dare betray me?! You're failures — all of you, you and 16 alike! I will take away your freedom of movement!" Dr. Gero snapped, grinding his back teeth together.
"The emergency shutdown remote has already been destroyed." 17 smiled pleasantly.
"I'll build a new one!" Dr. Gero clenched his fists, voice cracking with fury.
Had Dr. Gero stayed silent about building a new remote, 17 and 18 might well have left him alone.
But the moment the threat was out, 17's eyes filled with cold, deliberate killing intent.
17 had no interest in being used as someone's guinea pig indefinitely.
Especially not when the other test subject was his own sister.
Snap!
18 paid Dr. Gero no further attention and pressed Android 16's activation button directly.
"Don't you understand — you must not press that button!" Dr. Gero cried.
Crack!
17 drove his hand forward — through Dr. Gero's back and out through his chest.
Dr. Gero's expression locked. He turned his head with a cold, furious look. "You — what are you doing?"
17 swung a kick up into Dr. Gero's head.
Dr. Gero's head separated from his body and rolled to a stop near the lab entrance.
"You ungrateful wretch!" Dr. Gero raged, still conscious. "Put my head back on! I'll forgive everything!"
17 smiled coldly, stepped forward, and crushed Dr. Gero's head underfoot.
Dr. Gero died.
"Good. Now we can wake 16." 17 gave a faint smile to 18.
18 nodded and opened Android 16's capsule.
16 opened his eyes and stepped out.
"Hey, 16 — welcome back to the land of the living." 17 greeted him.
16 looked at 17. Then at 18. He said nothing.
"Dr. Gero didn't want you woken up. He said you'd kill us." 17 studied 16 with amused curiosity. "Are you really going to do something like that?"
"You're not going to kill someone as pretty as me, are you?" 18 gave 16 a playful wink.
16 said nothing.
"Are you shy?" 18 smiled.
"Can't you speak?" 17 asked.
16 still didn't answer.
"Fine — let's get going." 17 shrugged, walked to the lab door, and kicked it straight off its hinges.
Clang!
The heavy metal door crashed to the ground with a sharp metallic ring.
The three of them stepped out of the laboratory.
"Were you also built to destroy Goku?" 17 suddenly thought of something and turned his head with the question.
16 gave a brief pause, looked at 17, and nodded. "Yes."
"Well, that's something — he actually spoke." 17 remarked with genuine surprise. "We may hate being Dr. Gero's property, but we Androids are always willing to give our mission everything we've got."
"Dr. Gero said Goku's gotten a lot stronger." 18 said with a light smile, pressing her lips together.
"Let's go and find him." 17 called out.
All three launched into the sky.
But just as they did —
A cluster of lights flashed in the distance.
All three turned to look — and their expressions shifted at once.
"Is that — is that Goku?" 17 felt a genuine rush of delight.
"We were just about to go looking for them, and they come straight to us." 18 laughed.
16: "..."
16's brow furrowed.
"What is it, 16?" 18 noticed his expression and asked.
"Goku's readings don't match the data in my internal system at all." 16's expression grew more serious.
"Don't match? What do you mean?" 17 blinked.
"His energy level is far higher than what my data shows..." 16 said, voice low.
"And what does that mean?" 17 smiled easily. "It means your data is too weak. That simple."
16: "..."
16 had nothing to say to that.
The next moment, Goku came flying in from a distance with Gohan and Piccolo and the others.
They had spotted the three Androids from far away and come straight over.
Goku and the group pulled up a short distance from the three Androids.
"Goku!" 17 smiled and looked him up and down.
"Hey, 17." Goku waved.
17: "..."
Who are you waving at?
That greeting — it feels like we're old friends.
"Android 17. Android 18 — you're both awake?" Goku smiled, then turned to look at 16. "And 16 — hello to you too."
"Goku — I was built for the sole purpose of killing you." 16's voice was flat.
"I know, I know." Goku laughed it off. "How about this — all three of you come at me at once. If I win, we call it even. Sound fair?"
17: "..."
18: "..."
16 turned a silent gaze on Goku.
That's a strange thing to say.
If you beat us, we call it even?
"And if you lose?" 17 asked with a smile.
"If I lose, you can kill me." Goku grinned without a care.
"Oh? You're inviting all three of us to take you on at once?" 17 said lightly.
"Not just that — I'll give myself a ten-second time limit. If I can't beat all three of you in ten seconds, I lose." Goku said with quiet confidence, his smile growing.
The three Androids stared at him as though he had lost his mind.
You want to fight all three of us at once — and beat us in ten seconds?
Where does that confidence come from, Goku?
Are you looking down on us?
"Goku — there's no need to give them conditions." Krillin was instantly anxious and leaned in with a whispered protest.
"Krillin — what do you think of that girl over there? The one called 18?" Goku abruptly lowered his voice.
Krillin: "..."
Goku — this is a serious situation. You're asking me that now? I wasn't ready for this.
Krillin had already been sneaking glances at 18. Now that Goku had drawn attention to her, he looked again, more carefully.
"She's a pretty robot..." Krillin said quietly, his face going a little red. "But... she is a robot. Bulma could probably build something similar."
"I heard that 17 and 18 were built from human bodies." Goku said with a smile.
"Built from human bodies?" Krillin blinked.
"18 can have children." Goku leaned close to Krillin's ear and dropped his voice even lower.
Krillin: "..."
"Goku — why are you telling me that?" Krillin's face flushed deeper, and he felt genuinely unnerved.
"Krillin — would you want to be with her?" Goku asked, smiling.
Krillin went redder still.
When did you turn into a matchmaker, Goku?
Gohan quietly looked over at Androids 17 and 18, then held 16's gaze for a long moment.
Dad once told me — Android 16, in the world he came from, was a good person.
And so were 17 and 18.
From the moment they were born, they never harmed a single innocent person.
And in Dad's world, it was 16's death that triggered my Super Saiyan 2 transformation.
He studied the three Androids carefully now.
Setting aside 16, whom he didn't know well — 17 and 18 really were nothing like the Androids from his world.
The ones from my world would never have stood here talking this long.
When they appeared back then, they immediately began destroying cities and killing people without hesitation.
"There's no need for any of that. I'll fight you one-on-one. If you lose — you're at our mercy. If you somehow win — then we're even." 17 smiled. "Deal?"
"No, no — all three of you at once." Goku pointed to an open area a short distance away and gestured. "Come on."
Whoosh!
Goku flew to the open area first and landed.
Gohan and the others followed.
"You're genuinely confident, Goku." 17 gave a dismissive smile. "Alright then — we'll come and humour you."
The three Androids landed in the open area alongside them.
Above — Vegeta hovered in the sky and watched.
"16 — show us what you can really do." 17 had been about to move, then changed his mind and turned to 16 with a light smile.
16: "..."
"Understood." 16 drew a slow breath, stepped forward, and his expression grew more serious.
"Then I won't hold back." Goku grinned, and his energy erupted from his body.
Vast, overwhelming power flooded outward from Goku in every direction.
When 16 felt it, his pupils contracted instantly. His expression shifted again and again.
High above, Vegeta watched with wide eyes.
What's going on?
Has Kakarot's base power gotten this strong?
Unless I'm wrong... Kakarot's base power is higher than mine?
How is that possible?
I trained under Whis for a very long time.
How did Kakarot manage this?
To be continued…
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