Goku's head snapped toward the distant plume of dust where Gohan had disappeared. His voice tore from his throat, "GOHAN!" a shout raw with panic.
The echo rolled across the broken landscape, but there was no answer, only the settling rumble of collapsed mountains. His fists clenched, knuckles whitening as his jaw tightened.
"Damn it…" he muttered under his breath, the edge in his tone unlike his usual calm. His eyes narrowed on Android 21, the easygoing light in them gone, replaced by something cold and sharp.
Her smile only widened under his glare. "Worried? Don't be, I can't be having my snacks dying on me. wouldn't want that to happen, do we~" her voice linting with cruel amusement "you're welcome by the way~" she teased.
Goku didn't reply. His stance shifted, feet bracing, his aura beginning to crackle with raw, golden energy. Lightning snapped into life around him as the ground trembled. In a single heartbeat, his power spiked, his hair flaring into gold, eyes blazing teal. The air shook with the force of his ki.
"Super Saiyan Two…" he said quietly, almost to himself, before fixing her with a steady glare. "If you think I'm letting you do that again… you're wrong."
Android 21 tilted her head, watching the golden arcs dance around him. She let out a small, mocking chuckle. "Super Saiyan Two? Oh, how amusing, Goku…" She gave a slow, deliberate shake of her head. "Cute. But it won't be enough."
Her own aura flared in response, the pink-and-black storm roaring back into existence, matching his pressure and then pushing beyond it. The air between them distorted, the grass beneath their feet burning away to ash.
Neither moved for a beat.
Then-
Bang!
The space between them vanished in an instant, their fists colliding with a thunderclap that sent shockwaves rolling out for miles. The ground caved in beneath their feet, fragments of stone whipping through the air.
Goku twisted, driving a knee toward her side, but she caught it on her forearm and countered with a backhand that sent him skidding across the battlefield. He flipped midair, landing on one knee, only to blur forward again, his speed doubled, fists flying in a relentless flurry.
Android 21 weaved through his strikes with unnerving ease, her own counters landing just hard enough to sting, her smirk never fading. "Faster. Harder. You'll have to try much more than that," she was playing with him, still enjoying the fight, toying with him.
Goku gritted his teeth, the arcs of lightning around him flaring brighter."Oh, I'm just getting started."
They vanished again, colliding midair in a storm of blows, each impact shaking the sky, each clash throwing light across the shattered horizon.
Their fists met again and again, each blow ringing out like steel on steel. Shockwaves tore through the air with every trade, the ground beneath them splintering into jagged craters. Goku's strikes were relentless, jabs, hooks, maybe even a spinning backfist, but 21 met them all with equal force, her smirk never faltering.
"Not bad," she said between impacts, her voice playful even as the air shook around them.
Then, just as their punches met in another deafening collision, she suddenly dropped low, her knees brushing the cracked earth. Goku's next strike cut through empty air.
She tilted her head up at him, giving a sly, knowing grin. "Oops. Missed me. try again!"
Before he could move, she brought two fingers to her forehead, her smirk deepening. "Or not, see ya in a second." And in the blink of an eye, she was gone.
"Instant transmission..." Goku muttered before letting his eyes dart across the battlefield, straining his senses so as not to get sneak-attacked. But sadly, the efforts were for nought, as a pressure tugged at his leg. He glanced down just in time to see a pink and smooth tail coiled tightly around his ankle.
"Wha-?!"
"What a catch!" he heard her say before she wrenched him upside down and swung him through the air like a ragdoll. Once. Twice. A dizzying blur of rotations before she suddenly hurled him skyward with enough force to rattle the clouds.
"And ready for take off!"
wrenched him upside down and swung him through the air like a ragdoll. Once. Twice. A dizzying blur of rotations before she suddenly hurled him skyward with enough force to rattle the clouds.
"Alright… aaaand, alley-oop!" she called, and with a playful underhand toss, she launched the blazing sphere straight into the sky after him.
The ball of energy soared upward, a streak of pink-white light cutting across the heavens.
For a brief, breathless moment, everything went silent.
Then the world lit up.
A blinding flash swallowed the sky, followed by a rumbling roar that rolled across the land. The shockwave hit seconds later, slamming into the earth and flattening what little remained of the nearby forest. The ground quaked under the sheer force, dust and debris scattering like leaves in a storm.
When the glare finally bled from the sky, only a single column of smoke remained, twisting into the upper atmosphere like a scar.
Her eyes traced the fading trail, spotting the faint, flickering silhouette of Goku still moving far above.
"Hm…" she tapped her chin, feigning thought. "Pretty sure that wasn't the right basketball move…" Her lips curled into a slow, satisfied smirk. "But it's fine," her tail swayed lazily behind her, "I've got all the time in the world to play with my food." A finger raised to her forehead, and a second later, she vanished.
---
Piccolo sat cross-legged in the shade of a jagged rock formation, the desert wind whistling softly across the barren land. His eyes were closed, his breathing steady, mind sinking deeper into meditation.
He had followed Gohan and Goku earlier when they went to check on the strange new android, curious enough to observe from a distance. But after hearing Goku inevitably turn the meeting into a sparring match, Piccolo had decided there was no point sticking around.
So he'd returned to his "home" in the desert close enough to Kami's Lookout that he could keep tabs on things, far enough that no one would come bothering him.
But then… it hit him.
A pressure so heavy it nearly stole his breath slammed into his senses, a ki signature unlike anything he'd felt in years. Massive. Dense. And wrong. It burned with pure malice, like a black fire searing at the edges of his mind. It dwarfed Majin Buu's power, coiling and twisting in a way that made his skin crawl.
Before he could fully process it, the power spiked again. Another explosion of energy, sharper and more dangerous, eclipsing even Super Buu's terrifying strength.
Piccolo's eyes snapped open just in time to feel another disturbance, Gohan's ki vanishing in an instant. Not fading. Not weakening. Just… gone. so low that he couldn't track it.
The sudden emptiness in his senses was like a punch to the gut.
His head whipped toward the source, and there, high in the sky. he saw a small, tumbling figure hurtling toward the desert. His student.
Gohan.
Piccolo didn't waste a single heartbeat. He launched into the air, vanishing from his meditation spot in a blur. In moments, he was standing on the worn wooden platform of Korin Tower, snatching half the remaining senzu beans (6) from the pot before Korin could even ask what was going on.
In the next instant, he was kneeling beside Gohan's crumpled form in the sand, the young half-Saiyan's body battered and still. Piccolo pressed the bean into his hand, his voice low but firm.
"Eat it. Now."
---
Gohan sat up slowly, the last traces of the Senzu Bean's magic mending the bruises and aches in his body. His breathing steadied, and the pallor in his face gave way to healthier colour. Piccolo remained crouched beside him, arms folded, his sharp gaze scanning Gohan's expression for any lingering weakness.
When Gohan finally met his eyes, Piccolo's voice was calm, but there was a weight in it that made it clear he was already bracing for bad news."What happened?"
Gohan exhaled, his shoulders sagging slightly. "It… it started normal. Dad met her, the android, and she didn't seem dangerous at all. She was calm, smiling, not a trace of anything evil. But of course, Dad asked her to fight."
Piccolo gave a small grunt. "Of course he did."
"They went at it for a while, and she was strong. Really strong. But Dad managed to push her back… I thought that was it. I was even a little worried about her." Gohan's eyes darkened. "But then… she split in two."
Piccolo's head tilted slightly. "Split?"
"Yeah. One half, the good one, I guess, didn't even fight back. The other half… she was different. Her energy felt wrong, twisted. She turned the good half into… into some kind of candy, just like Buu used to."
Piccolo's frown deepened, his eyes narrowing. "She ate her. I see. Exactly like how Super Buu was created."
Gohan nodded grimly. "Yeah. Exactly like that. But it was worse. The moment she did it, her power spiked way past what she had before. It was like… every shred of restraint just vanished."
Piccolo's voice dropped lower, his tone hard. "And that's when she went after you."
"Yeah," Gohan said, his voice heavy. "Before Dad or I could react, her aura turned blood-red and exploded outward. In the next instant, she was right in front of me. No warning. No time to block. I didn't even see her strike, I just felt the impact, and then… I was here."
Piccolo crossed his arms, his gaze drifting toward the distant horizon. "If she's truly like Buu, she'll be looking to absorb or turn us into candy. We need to get to Goku now. He will not be able to hand-"
A deafening boom split the air.
A blinding light erupted across the sky, followed by a violent shockwave that tore across the desert. Sand exploded upward in swirling clouds, the ground trembling beneath them.
Both warriors shot into the air instantly.
"Damn it," Piccolo barked, scanning the source of the light. "That does not look good. Come on!"
Without another word, they streaked toward the growing chaos in the distance.
A/N goku'll be fine right? he won't be broken 20 times over or something... he'll be fine.
comment what you enjoyed, and try to guess how they'll defeat eViL 21.
but that's enought from me.
See ya!