Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

Everyone Plans Ahead

A myriad of shrieks and loud rumbling made Android 21 sigh in frustration and leave her office. The first sight that greeted her after opening the door was a handful of soldiers flung across the hall like rag dolls. The one persistent bruiser that kept up with the approaching threat shook with an expression of pain decorating his body as a bright beam pierced his chest, leaving a hole in the middle the size of a soccer ball.

"Bardock, was it? I thought my sensors picked up your signature." Android 21 sighed and entered her office again, picking up her lab coat off of the chair on the other side of the desk from her own chair and slipped her arms inside of its sleeves as she walked out to greet the unexpected guest.

Something that came off as even more shocking than the first signs of hostile arrival was when a looming, stoic figure of a man that was not Bardock at all stood before her office. This man, in fact, held the collapsed Bardock in his hand by the Saiyan's waist while the unconscious body sprinkled blood all over the floor. Then again, this amount wasn't simple to notice in the excess that this man's arrival had caused.

"That face..." Android 21 placed her index finger on her lips, pinching her lower lip and slightly dragging it down as her ocular scanners assembled the general array of the man's features and compared them to the archives of the entire world's records. "There aren't any records of someone like you around. That shouldn't be possible. And yet... Even if your face isn't one I can find, it feels strangely familiar."

"I am Son Gohan." Future Gohan declared. "Just because you can use your advantages as an Android, doesn't mean you should neglect your very ordinary memory."

"Son Goku's boy? That's ridiculous!" Android 21 spat metaphorical venom in her visitor's eyes. "Unless..."

"Correct, like the version of Bulma's son, Trunks, you have likely met already, I am from the future. Unlike Trunks, however, it wasn't Bulma who sent me back in time, it was you." Future Gohan explained. "First of all, you must convert this man. Beings of flesh and bone die easily. He may very well kick the bucket on us if you don't hurry."

"That's... Bardock?" Android 21 leaned back in disgust. "Why should I trust Son Goku's son asking to heal Son Goku's father? Son Goku is one of my mortal enemies. He may not have killed my husband, but he decimated most of the Rainbow Brigade. He's just as much at fault for ruining my husband's life's work as Chayote is."

Future Gohan took bold and wide steps forward, he moved inside of Android 21's office, dragging the bleeding body of a version of his grandfather from this timeline in his hand until he stopped in front of an ivory coffin-like structure hanging vertically in Android 21's office. Future Gohan allowed his eyes to scan the object before pointing to it.

"Activate No. 16. He will be a useful asset in your takeover and we can use his pod to convert Bardock as well." Future Gohan demanded with a strict look at Android 21.

"Don't presume to be in any position to boss me around! My son isn't ready yet." Android 21 stepped up to the tall and bulky, half-cybernetic assailant that had mopped the floor with her security, dragging the half-dead body of the father of one of her worst enemies. "I can see plenty of mechanical parts on you. That means that I can eat you up and upgrade myself at any point. If you truly are from the future, as you say, then your parts will be simply delectable and they'll kick me up to a level of power beyond anything that anyone willing to resist me saving the world can offer."

"You lie." Future Gohan stated. "Android 16 has been ready for deployment for over twenty years. You recovered his body not too long after your conversion and had been tinkering on 16 since the Tournament of Doom. Let him out, we need a pod to salvage Bardock and convert him to a soldier loyal to you."