"Son Goku! How far do you intend to lead us? This is far enough!" Finally losing patience, Androids 11 and 12 descended, landing on a desolate, rocky plateau devoid of any sign of life.
"Here? Fine." Goku touched down lightly, his feet crunching on the gravel. "Then let's dispense with formalities. Are you two fighting together, or one at a time?"
"You're certainly arrogant, Son Goku. But arrogance is often a precursor to a fall." Android 11 drifted down to stand before Goku, his expression unnervingly calm. "We shall resume our previous engagement."
"You want to face me alone? That's not a wise tactical decision." Goku's smile was faint, almost pitying. "But if you're so eager to meet your end, I'll oblige. Hah—!"
Explosive golden ki erupted from his body. He didn't transform further; Super Saiyan was more than enough. He became a blur.
He appeared in front of Android 11, his fist already in motion. The punch connected with a sound like a thunderclap. Android 11 was hurled backward, skidding for over a hundred meters, plowing a deep, smoking furrow through the bedrock.
"If that's all you have, this is going to be a very short fight." Goku watched impassively as Android 11 pushed himself up from the rubble at the end of the trench, a flicker of genuine disappointment crossing his face.
"Impressive strength. But do not underestimate me!" Android 11 roared. He flickered, closing the distance in an instant, his own fist lashing out—only to pass through empty air. Goku's image wavered and dissolved; it had been nothing but an afterimage.
"What?!" Android 11 gasped.
Goku materialized directly behind him. "Your predictive algorithms are too slow." His fist, wreathed in golden energy, drove into the back of Android 11's skull with concussive force.
BANG!
Android 11 shot forward like a missile, crashing into the side of a nearby rocky hill with enough force to trigger a minor avalanche of stone and dust.
"How… how is he this powerful? Android 11 is being utterly dominated! We are the ultimate cyborgs created by Dr. Rocco!" Android 12 stared in shock from the sidelines, his data processors struggling to reconcile the sensor readings with reality.
---
In the underground lab, Dr. Rocco trembled, not with fear, but with exhilaration. He leaned close to the monitor, his beady eyes wide. "Incredible… absolutely magnificent! Fight! Explode with power! The stronger you are, the more perfect my creations will become…"
Beside him, Dr. Gero watched with equal intensity, though his own eyes held a more calculating, inscrutable gleam.
---
Android 11 emerged from the settling dust and rubble. With a guttural electronic snarl, he shot toward Goku like a living cannonball, intending to crush him through sheer, brute-force momentum.
Goku didn't even shift his stance. He contemptuously raised his right arm, palm open.
WHUMP.
The sound of the impact was a dull, meaty thud. Goku stopped the full-force charge with one hand, his arm not yielding a millimeter. The shockwave from the arrested momentum flattened the stones around his feet.
A triumphant grin split Android 11's face. His hands clamped around Goku's forearm with crushing force. "I've got you! Now… I'll take your power for myself!"
Goku immediately felt a powerful, draining suction from the points of contact. His prodigious energy was being siphoned away at a staggering rate.
"With your level of absorption? You're dreaming." Goku snorted. His free left hand formed a knife-edge. It swept down in a golden arc.
SHINK!
Both of Android 11's arms were severed cleanly at the elbows. Wires, hydraulic fluid, and dark synthetic blood sprayed from the stumps.
"Hmph. So you're not a pure android. You're a cyborg—a pathetic hybrid." Goku's sneer was icy. Before Android 11 could react, Goku drove his still-captured fist forward in a short, brutal punch that struck the cyborg's chest plate.
BOOM!
The impact cratered the ground for dozens of meters around them. Android 11 was driven into the pit, his systems screaming in overload.
Goku looked down at the twitching wreck. He raised his foot and brought it down decisively.
CRUNCH.
The cyborg's head was pulverized into sparking scrap metal. Goku then turned his gaze toward the sole remaining observer: Android 12.
"I-impossible… Completely outmatched…" Android 12's courage—or his programming—finally broke. He spun on his heel and shot into the sky, fleeing at maximum speed.
"Running? I don't think so." Goku vanished. He reappeared directly in Android 12's flight path. One hand shot out, seizing the cyborg by the throat. His other fist, glowing with condensed ki, punched straight through the armored chest, shattering the power core within. He then hurled the lifeless shell high into the air.
"Goodbye." A pinpoint Ki Blast lanced upward, engulfing the body and reducing it to atoms against the blue sky.
---
"As expected of the most formidable super-warrior I have ever witnessed! Your power exceeds even my most optimistic projections!" Dr. Rocco, watching Goku dispatch his creations with such casual brutality, felt no fear. His excitement was fever-pitch. "In that case, Dr. Gero… it is time. Deploy Android 19—our collaborative project. We require more… granular data."
"Understood." Dr. Gero's voice was flat. He turned to the obese, pale figure standing silently in the corner. "Android 19. You will engage Son Goku for field testing."
"You wish for me to act as disposable cannon fodder for your experiment?" Android 19's voice was a cold, synthesized rasp. Possessing a degree of self-awareness, he naturally rebelled against a knowingly suicidal order.
"Hmph! Do not forget who created you. Who granted you 'life.' Now is the time to contribute to our glorious scientific pursuit. Or… you are familiar with the consequences." Dr. Rocco raised a small, ominous-looking remote controller, his expression sinister.
Android 19's glowing red eyes fixed on the controller. After a tense moment, he let out a grunt of pure resentment. "Acknowledged." Without another word, he powered up his thrusters and shot out of the lab, heading for the surface.
"The more powerful they become, the more troublesome their willfulness," Dr. Rocco muttered, frowning at the controller. "The control firmware will require significant reinforcement."
---
"Next step, find their lab," Goku mused, checking the electronic tracker Rittsuo had given him. Suddenly, the device beeped again, and a new directional arrow lit up. "Huh? Another cyborg signature heading straight for me. Heh… they want my combat data. Don't think I don't know what you're up to—I've read the manga!"
He cast his senses out, scanning the area for hidden surveillance devices but found none. On the horizon, however, a distinctly rotund figure was approaching at high speed. A smile touched Goku's lips. "Now that one looks familiar. Finally, someone from the original storyline! What was his number again…? 19? 20? Ah, well."
The figure landed heavily in front of him, sending a cloud of dust billowing out. The obese, pale android regarded Goku with blank, red eyes.
"Son Goku," it stated flatly. "I will be your opponent now."