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That was three years ago. I still shudder at the memory. I held Gohan close and shouted my pain out to the world.

I will never forget that night.

They will pay for what they’ve done. What they took from me. What we could have had..could have been.

My thoughts are snapped back to the present as a metallic voice is heard over the radio. I barely made out what the announcers said. But one word rang clear above the garbled speech. Androids. “Destruction in Bridge Town..” the voice continued on. I already heard all I need to know, and I snap the belt of my sword over my shoulder. “I’ll get them this time!” I yelled, parroting Gohan san’s words. Kaasan’s head shot up at my sudden declaration. Worry etched on her face. “To..Torankusu! tyotto matt—.” But her pleas fall on deaf ears.

I fly over to Bridge Town, and vaguely wonder if I’ll be able to find them quickly before they hurt anyone else. Ruin someone else’s life. However, they were easy to spot.

“ROBOTS! Today I’m gonna destroy you for what you did to Gohan!”

“It’s that brat again” Juuhachi gou said coldly. “I don’t like you!” With that, she was gone in a flash only to reappear directly in front of me. My face smarting from the punch I hadn’t even seen her throw. I recovered quickly and launch a blast of my own from where I landed. I barely phased her and she rushed me. I punch this time, but she catches it, milliseconds before impact. “Damn brat! I almost felt that!!” she spat knocking me away like an irritating fly.

Round two.

I pull out my sword and take a swipe at her throat. I only manage to cut a few hairs. She looked on in shock as the golden strands fall to the ground. // I surprised you didn’t I// I thought smugly to myself. Juunana had been looking on quietly the entire time. But now he finally decides to join in the ‘fun.’ I aim the sword right between his eyes. He dodges with ease ; a carefree smile on his face. After missing its target, my sword strikes the ground with a metallic clang. I try again, but now he catches the end. Juuhachi gou, now recovered, sends a ki blast screaming towards me. Several more follow in close pursuit. I pretend as if they hardly hurt at all. “HA! Is that all you’ve got!” I send a punishing blow to Juunana’s artificial face and make Juuhachi pay for that last blast. I finish them both with a huge wave of crackling blue energy. The surprised look on their faces were just priceless. I wish Gohan could have seen it too. Maybe he’s watching from wherever he is now.

“I did it!” I breath finally. A triumphant and bittersweet smile graces my lips. Then the smoke clears. Oh shit! They get up from the rubble and, other than their now tattered clothes, are completely unharmed. “He’s gotten several more times powerful than the last time.” “But his attacks are too easy to read, and attacking like that will wear him out fast,” they say calmly to each other. Speaking as if I wasn’t there. Wasn’t still a threat. I feel my blood boil at their harsh words…their keen observation. //They’re mocking me!!…// “Kono yaro!” I snarled down at them and let loose several ki blast. They look on apathetically and let the blasts hit them dead on. They know my blasts won’t really hurt them. I know it too. Know it’s in vain. But anything to get them to shut up!

I feel most of my energy and earlier exuberance leaves me in waves. “Damn! I don’t have enough energy left to do any damage.” //Not enough to kill them. To make them pay. To avenge my Gohan//

Juunana taunts me again. More ki blasts. But as I suspected, they do nothing. I just fall to my knees, feeling defeated and lost. That was all my energy. Several quiet moments pass. The quiet before the storm. I notice an eerie silence and look up. They’re gone. “No…where are they?!” “Where did they go?!?” I could hear the panic and desperation in my voice. It made me cringe. Losing sight of them could mean death. Juunana suddenly explodes through a wall behind me. Brick and debris fly around us before he backhands me in the face. I’m sent flying back forcibly to the ground for seemingly the hundredth time since the fight began. I don’t even have a chance to recover as Juunana kicked me away from where I’d landed moments ago. I stagger a bit as I finally get back on my feet. I try to run. I try to hide. But it doesn’t matter where I go. They are always right there. //Now they’re just making sport of me!// I run anyway, and stop when I think I’ll have a moments peace. Panting harshly, I try to drag some oxygen into my deprived lungs and wonder if I’ve seen my mother’s face for the last time. Wonder if the androids will be the last thing I ever see. //No..I’m gonna die here…I’m sorry..Gohan// He had so much faith in me…so much hope…

Then I hear ‘her’ voice again. “It looks like he’s out of breath.” Juuhachi finally comes into view now. “Little boy, our energy last forever..we’re still good as new.” I could hear the derision dripping from his voice. //I’m gonna die here!// The cold hand I was sure belonged to death itself clamped over my shoulder. I turn my head to stare wide eyed at the next closest thing; Juuhachi gou. “It looks like you’ve got no more fight left in you…should we finish this up now Juunana? she asks calmly. As if my life was so unimportant, so trivial, //finish this up?! THIS?! How can they be so cold? …How could a machine learn to hate so much?// I just stare at her prettified. I’m almost happy when I’m only smacked back and then blasted into the water. Instead of being killed on the spot. There’s a split second laps of time after I stagger out of the water, before another ball of energy is sent towards me…searing my clothes and skin under it. I lay face down on the ground. Face in the dirt, feeling strangely serene, as the pain from the beating I’ve taken and unconsciousness threaten to swallow me whole. //I’m sorry father….// I imagine him now, wherever he is, turning his face away in shame and disgust at my weakness. I knew he hated that above all else.

Juunana walks over to me. He slides his foot under my chin and lifts my bleeding face. My earlier thoughts return to me. “Why are…you doing this..?” I must have sounded so broken and frail. “We think Dr Gero made us to conquer the world, but we’re doing this just for fun” Juunana answered. “Just looking at humans makes me want to kill them” Juuhachi chimed in. That was the last straw. “I can’t let you do this! Yurasanai!” I yelled with as much conviction as my tired body could muster. I throw a painfully weak punches at Juunana. My heart breaks a little every time I take an ineffective swing at him. I feel the muscles in my arms burning with strain and each punch getting weaker than the last. He doesn’t even bother to block at all. Neither does Juuhachi gou. With astounding ease, she stops all my pathetic attempts with a quick kick. Several other rib breaking blows were dealt. The world spun and I finally powered down. The colours around me dulled without the brilliant shine of the suupa saiyajin power. When I finally landed, Juunana steps on my face. I could never decide who was more cruel of the two. It was an odd thought to have, given the circumstances.

Ironically, it may be my last thought….

So I thought of Gohan.

“Wait…I want to kill him…”

I saw a flicker of light that could only be a ki blast. Most likely the one to send me from this world.

Gohan…I’ll see you soon…