They Came Looking for Us

"Damn, we have to find that guy named Cell as soon as possible." After hearing the details, Krillin spoke worriedly.

"Can we find him? He'll definitely hide his energy and keep absorbing energy from humans..." Trunks was pessimistic.

"No matter what, we have to stop Cell from absorbing Android 17 and Android 18!" Tien Shinhan said firmly.

"So we have to track him down and kill him, or find Android 17 and Android 18 and kill them... I think we should defeat Cell before his power grows any stronger." Piccolo made the final decision.

"Hmph! What a hassle. Let him become perfect, then we'll have one less opponent to deal with." Vegeta spoke with an annoyed expression. "I don't care what the enemy turns into... I'll just kill him!"

"Don't underestimate Cell's power." As the first person to fight Cell, Piccolo knew what he was talking about.

"Do whatever you want!" Vegeta tossed out those words and flew away.

"Hey, Trunks, couldn't you use your Time Machine to go back to the past and destroy the Androids?" Krillin asked.

"That's right. The future in that timeline has nothing to do with this one."

"Then would it be any use to go to Gero's lab now and destroy the unfinished Cell?"

"No, we should still destroy him. At least Cell won't be born in this timeline's future."

"You two go to the lab. Tien Shinhan and I will keep looking for Cell around here," Piccolo said.

"Okay. If we can't find him, let's go to Kame House. We might be able to track him down through the TV news." Krillin nodded, then headed to North City with Trunks.

At the ruins of the lab, Krillin shivered and hunched his shoulders.

"Ugh... Is there really an underground lab? How are we supposed to find it? We might as well turn this whole place upside down."

"Krillin! I found it. It should be here."

Trunks quickly found an entrance to an underground passage.

"Look, this has to be Cell." When they entered the underground lab, they immediately spotted a computer that was still running.

"Good! Let's do it." Krillin started to gather energy for a blast to destroy the place.

"W-wait!" Trunks suddenly noticed the blueprints on the desk.

"Oh? Are they Cell's blueprints?"

"No! Look, it says Android 17 here. If we show this to Mom, we might be able to find out Android 17's weakness!" Trunks opened the blueprints and grew excited. He had dreamed of killing Android 17 and Android 18.

Rumble!

The two of them destroyed the underground lab, then left.

"Trunks, this is great! We found something unexpected."

"Yeah!" After his excitement faded, Trunks fell silent, as if he were considering something.

"Krillin, could you do me a favor and take this to my mother?"

"Huh? You're not coming with me?" Krillin asked, puzzled.

"I want to train with my father."

"That's fine, but I don't think Vegeta will let you join him."

"I don't want to be with a father like him, either. But training through actual fights gets you stronger faster than training alone."

"Okay! Good luck."

Piccolo and Tien Shinhan failed to find Cell, so they had no choice but to return to Kame House.

And so, two days passed, then three...

"Breaking news: The monster has appeared in a large town at location 48 in the Southern District. Half the residents have been killed..."

"Damn it, now he's in the Southern District. Cell, when are you going to stop?" Piccolo gritted his teeth as he stared at the TV.

Rustle! Slam!

Suddenly, something stirred outside. The window swung open, and when Piccolo looked out, his face turned pale. Android 17, Android 18, and a huge Android he didn't recognize had come looking for them.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time Androids 16, 17, and 18 had appeared. Until now, Piccolo had only heard Trunks describe two of them.

Earlier, when they found Gero's lab in North City, Gero had been killed, and Android 17 and Android 18 had already left.

"Hey! Is Sun Wukong here?" Android 17 asked, his hands in his pockets.

Piccolo didn't answer. Instead, he thought, Damn it, they came looking for us now...

"Sun Wukong doesn't seem to be here," Android 16 said, speaking up on his own.

"Is that so?" Android 17 didn't trust his radar function at all.

In fact, Goku was fast asleep in a room on the second floor of Kame House, and Android 16's energy radar hadn't detected him.

"Get up. The worst kind of guests have arrived." Piccolo turned and called out to the sleeping Krillin and Yamcha.

After watching TV for long hours over three straight days, Krillin and Yamcha couldn't take it anymore. Even martial artists needed to rest.

"Get lost. Sun Wukong isn't here." Once he was outside, Piccolo spoke bluntly.

"Oh? Then please tell me where he is," Android 17 asked, still not angry.

"Do you think we'd tell you just like that?" Piccolo retorted.

"How did you find this place?" Krillin asked, unable to help chiming in.

"If you won't tell us, then we'll just have to use force to make you talk," Android 17 said with a smile.

"Is that so? Then try it. There's an uninhabited island across from here. Let's fight there." Piccolo pointed toward the island.

"My, my... What a fool. You don't know when to quit!" Android 17 scoffed.

"You don't need to come. It won't make a difference." Piccolo glanced back at Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien Shinhan, then flew toward the island with the three Androids.

Krillin: ...

"Will Piccolo win?" Though reluctant to admit how weak he was, Yamcha still asked.

"It'll be difficult. There are three of them. Two are Android 17 and Android 18, the ones Trunks told us about, and there's another Android we didn't expect," Tien Shinhan said, sensing that things looked bad.

"What are we supposed to do? Goku's still sick, and Wumian has disappeared again. All we can do is hope Vegeta or Trunks gets here in time to fight." Krillin clenched his fists and muttered to himself.

On the uninhabited island, Android 16 was absorbed in the natural scenery, while Android 18 sat cutely on a boulder, her hands propping up her cheeks and her expression relaxed.

Android 17 rolled up his sleeves, preparing to fight.

Thud!

Piccolo took off his Weighted Clothing, intending to give it everything from the start.

Android 17 stepped forward and spread his hands. "I really don't get it. You know you can't win, so why fight? Are you trying to buy time, or are you just an idiot?"

"Hmph!" Piccolo's grim expression vanished, replaced by the excitement he felt before a fight.

"Fine. Let's begin!"

"You're the only one fighting me, Android 17..."

"Of course! Someone like you shouldn't even need me to get involved."

At this, Piccolo thought, Good! If I only have one opponent, then defeating any one of them will be enough to stop Cell from becoming perfect.

Piccolo curled his hands into claws and began powering up.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

The whole uninhabited island shook as sand and stones flew everywhere.

Piccolo's energy surged. His battle power reached 310 million!

"Something's wrong with Piccolo!" Android 16 realized.

"What?" Android 17 turned to Android 16 in disbelief.