Separated From One Another

Chapter Twenty-six: Woefully Unprepared

The wind whipped around you as you gave chase to Android 20, try as he might you were not letting him escape your sight. He kicked off of various rocks on the ground, trying to shake you off his tail with his sudden movements. It might have worked if you were not deadset on hunting him down. You could hear Vegeta shouting obscenities in the distance, whether it was for the android or you was unclear. In your momentary distraction, the slippery android escaped your sights.

Your gaze shifted as Vegeta hovered in the air, whatever he was going to do was sure to be stupid. When the Saiyan raised his arm, ki pooling in the palm of his hand, you knew that he was screwing everyone over. When he threw the ball of energy at the ground your heart dropped, Android 20 rushed out of his hiding spot to stand in the way of the blast.

"Idiot Saiyan!" You snapped, as Android 20 opened up his palms to absorb the ki blast.

Android 20 cackled once all the energy had been siphoned into himself, Vegeta hovering above him with a surprised expression coating his face. Without wasting another moment Vegeta shot off toward the ground to face-off with the android. Android 20 continued hopping away, bouncing off of the rocks. Vegeta hot on his heels.

You lingered behind, still following but keeping your distance. Android 20 had vanished from sight again, possibly to launch a counterattack against Vegeta. You did not want to get caught up within that whole mess. Krillin met up with you, he was still jittery around you. You took notice of other Z fighters in the surrounding area, you kept an eye on Gohan while you snook around.

"This sucks, he's gotta be around here somewhere," Krillin muttered to himself, "But I can't sense him."

There was a split second when Krillin went to move, the rock underneath him giving way, you moved before you could process what was going on. You grabbed Krillin by the forearm, you heart racing inside of your chest. He hung limply in your arm for a long moment before you hoisted him back to solid ground. Your shoulder burned from the sudden burden, cauterization burn throbbing.

"Thank—thanks," Krillin said, catching his breath.

"No problem."

You stood awkwardly next to one another for a long moment before something off pinged against your ki. Glancing over you realized that someone's ki was rapidly dropping, no doubt because of the android. You moved flying in the direction you felt the waning ki, Krillin following right behind you. Everyone else seemed to be converging on that location so it seemed that you were not the only one to have felt the shift. You landed several feet away from the android, everyone formed a loose circle around him.

"So you finally came out of hiding?" Vegeta taunted.

You watched the android closely, his eyes shot around wildly scanning every inch of his surroundings.

"Krillin!" Gohan shouted out, catching part of your attention. "Give Piccolo a senzu bean."

Krillin rumaged around in his gi for a moment before throwing the miracle bean to Picclo who immediately popped it into his mouth. Once he swallowed he dropped in the air so that he was on the same level as both the android and Vegeta. Piccolo discarded his weighted turban and cloak, throwing them to the ground without a care.

Piccolo squared up, "Vegeta back off—he's mine. Don't you dare interfere."

"If you wanna die, be my guest. But you do realize that you will be providing him with more energy, right?"

There was a cocky grin that spread across the android's face, you were almost worried. That is until Piccolo punted the android into a nearby cliff face. Android 20 pulled himself out of the rubble, his eyes twitching as he floated toward Piccolo. It was clear that the android was no match for Piccolo at this point. Piccolo was pummeling the android into the ground, knocking him around like an oversized pinball.