Enemies Meet

Bulma looked at the half-grown boy before her, questioning him with a puzzled expression.

"Who are you? Do we know each other? It seems your existence is not recorded in our world. And how did you even get here?"

Gamos stood up, clenched his right hand into a fist, held it against his chest, and then extended his thumb to point at himself.

"I, Gamos, am the Legendary Super Saiyan, and also a great scientist. We came here this time to resolve your Android crisis, and while we're at it, help you resurrect the warriors of this timeline."

"As for how we got here? Hmph, aside from your time machine, the Supreme Kai possess Time Rings that can traverse space-time, allowing travel to any timeline. That is how I brought these two here."

As he spoke, Gamos gestured to the silver ring worn on his hand.

On the index finger of Gamos's right hand sat a silver ring—the Time Ring.

On his ring finger was a rustic, bronze-colored ring, which was the one used to enter the Senzu Bean Planet.

"The Legendary Super Saiyan? A scientist? Those two identities seem a bit contradictory!"

Just as the four of them intended to continue their conversation, the ground suddenly began to tremble, followed by the sound of non-stop explosions.

"What happened?"

Son Goku looked outside in confusion, wondering who was fighting out there.

"It's the Androids. They are slaughtering the innocent everywhere; the cities on Earth have been almost completely destroyed by them."

Bulma gritted her teeth; the mere mention of the Androids made her want to slaughter them all.

"Let's go take a look."

Son Goku took the lead and flew straight out, with Vegeta following closely behind. Only Gamos remained behind.

In a rocky mountain area, a short-haired youth wearing a scarf around his neck grabbed the tail of a giant, spotted humanoid insect and slammed it fiercely into the ground from the sky.

With a loud bang, Cell was smashed directly into a pile of rubble. Before he could even catch his breath, Android 18 in the sky had already prepared countless energy blasts, firing them wildly as if they cost nothing. Cell was battered and bruised the moment he tried to emerge.

"You two have angered me."

Cell lunged forward, forcibly pushing through their attacks to crawl out of the rubble, and charged straight toward Android 17.

The opponent used his tail to deflect their attacks, reaching Android 17 and launching a desperate, frenzied assault.

"Damn you, get away from me!"

Android 17 delivered a side kick, landing it directly on Cell's waist. Cell let out a cold grunt, endured the excruciating pain, and retaliated with a claw swipe.

Rip! The clothes on Android 17's chest were torn, missing his skin by only a hair's breadth.

"Android 17, we have infinite energy. Create some distance and use long-range attacks!"

Android 18 called out from the sky, continuously firing energy blasts of various shapes to provide cover for Android 17.

A punch Cell aimed at Android 17 was struck by an energy blast from Android 18, forcibly interrupting his attack.

Android 17 seized the opportunity, leaping backward to put distance between them.

Then, Android 17 and 18 flanked Cell from left and right, unleashing a barrage of attacks, filling the sky with dust in a display of Prince Tactics.

The situation had reached a stalemate; Android 17 and 18 possessed infinite energy, but they could still be injured.

Cell, meanwhile, possessed regenerative abilities but lacked infinite stamina. With one side having an infinite red bar and the other an infinite blue bar, neither could do anything to the other.

Cell flew higher, ignoring their attacks, and placed his hands back against the sides of his face. With his silhouette framed against the sun's glare, he finally unleashed that technique.

"Solar Flare!"

The blinding, intense light instantly blinded Android 17 and 18. Neither of them had expected their opponent to use such a move.

Seeing his chance, Cell intended to take the opportunity to absorb one of them, which would allow him to turn the tables.

However, Android 17 and 18 had long anticipated such a situation. Although they could not see their surroundings, they immediately increased the distance between them.

The two flew in opposite directions toward the horizon. Just as Cell intended to chase one of them down, they performed the exact same motion.

They placed their hands back against the sides of their faces and shouted in unison, "Solar Flare!"

Cell, who had intended to sneak an attack, was instantly stunned. The blinding, intense light engulfed him, and he let out a miserable scream, covering his eyes as he, too, was temporarily blinded.

Three blind fighters flew through the air, howling. Android 17 and 18 were Androids and had no ki, but Cell's ki was potent; even blinded, he was a living target.

Android 17 and 18 unleashed a frenzy of attacks, filling the sky with free energy cannons. Cell was blasted until he shrieked, eventually falling into a lake, covered in wounds.

Cell's ki finally vanished, and only then did Android 17 and 18 cease their attack.

The two rubbed their eyes, finally regaining their vision.

"That should finally be the end of that monster, right?"

Android 18 looked at the calm lake, unable to help but speak.

Android 17 activated his radar to scan, finding no signs of life, but he still cautiously fired an energy wave toward the surface of the lake.

The terrifying energy struck the bottom of the lake, causing the once-calm water to explode into a massive spray before settling back into stillness.

"He should be dead! But we can't be careless. That synthetic creature possesses immense vitality and regenerative abilities; he's a real nuisance."

Regardless of whether he was dead or not, the problem was temporarily resolved. The two decided to leave and begin training to become stronger, so that if Cell appeared again, they would be better prepared to handle him.

"Let's go."

The two intended to leave, and Android 18 suggested heading to a nearby city to see if any humans had survived; she had been forced to swallow her pride, and she needed someone to vent her frustrations on.

A cat-and-mouse game of slaughter sounded just right—it was incredibly stress-relieving.

Suddenly, their energy detectors began to flash frantically, and a staggering string of numbers started dancing across their field of vision.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep."

The two stared in astonishment at the energy readings they were detecting; the numbers had reached two billion and were still skyrocketing. By the time they hit three billion, the detectors simply displayed that the reading was beyond their measurable range.

They exchanged a look of terror, thinking to themselves, We're in trouble.

It seemed some new horror had descended, though they had no idea what it could be this time.

As Android 17 and Android 18 stared fearfully into the distance, Son Goku and Vegeta spotted them and immediately transformed into Super Saiyans, arriving before the pair in a single breath.

"Android 17 and Android 18, there are barely any humans left on Earth. Did you two do all of this?"

Son Goku pointed at them in fury; he never could have imagined that the Android 17 and 18 who served as Earth's protectors in his own timeline could be so evil in this one.

"Hmph, you two wretches. I actually had a bit of a favorable impression of you before, but you dared to make my Bulma so sad. I won't spare you today."

Vegeta glared at them in a rage, his fists clenching until they cracked.

Just moments ago, while they were traveling, they had seen the cities in ruins, stripped of their former prosperity and left with only a few survivors hiding in corners, pitifully clinging to life.

Looking at these two Androids, Son Goku couldn't bring himself to associate them with the Androids from his own timeline; they were as different as night and day.

Android 17 and Android 18 recognized them as well: one was Vegeta, the first Earth warrior they had killed, and the other was Son Goku, the target embedded in their minds.