Love Story Between Trunks and 18
- a Dragon Ball Z FanFiction -
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball, the glorious franchise it is, is not in any way a property I control. I can only wish to supplement its mystique with stories such as the one herein. The same is in regards to related characters, symbols, plot elements, etc.
With that said, I hope you enjoy the story!
Note: the following story contains numerous instances of foul language and intense emotional situations. Reader discretion is advised.
The following is a part-humorous, part-dramatic retake on the various love stories that have been written about Future Trunks and Android 18 falling in love with each other, and also offers an innovative perspective on the way this story can be written.
Trunks felt satisfied. He had just mercilessly killed the two maniacal terrors who had been terrorizing his world since he had been a small child.
Androids 17 and 18 were now quite dead, and he had seen to that personally. He had savored every moment of exacting his righteous vengeance. They'd killed his father, his mentor, and millions more, and now they, themselves were no more.
Cell was still out there, somewhere. In fact, Trunks had just pondered about this and thought to himself that he felt Cell was indeed out there, no longer in his larval state and now terrorizing the Earth's populace. But instead of dealing with Cell immediately after he had killed the androids, Trunks instead chose to let Cell continue running wild, not dealing with him right away and enabling Cell to kill more victims in a world without the Dragon Balls.
Truly, this made perfect sense, considering Trunks had also let the androids make the first move when he'd returned from the past, sitting down for a warm drink with his mother before he went out to destroy them. [Seriously, go back and watch Episode 179: Free the Future, the guy sits down and doesn't get moving until he hears over the radio that the androids are wrecking havoc. This, and waiting for Cell to absorb his victims before taking action, are two of the many things about that episode that don't make much sense].
With a smile on his face, knowing his world would now be safer that Cell was still on the loose, Trunks made his way back to Capsule Corporation.
As he landed, his mother was waiting for him.
"Trunks, did you finally kill those f*ckers?" Bulma asked him, as her gritty attitude forged by years of emotional and psychological abuse from the androids would have likely prompted her say had the full breadth of her character not been more curtailed by the way she was originally presented on screen.
"Good as dead," Trunks said. "Now, Gohan, father, and the others can finally rest peacefully."
"Come inside and finish your warm drink from before," she said, motioning him to come inside.
As they sat down for a while and talked about frivolities, they heard a knocking at their door.
"I'll get it, Mom," Trunks said as he got up from the table, taking more initiative to answer the door in this seemingly unimportant instance than he did in taking care of the androids after he'd returned.
Trunks opened the door, and lo and behold, he was surprised by whom he saw.
"Holy sh*t!" he justifiably said, startling the woman at the door.
Android 18, her clothes tattered and inspiring many a fan art picture and fan manga page, looked as though she was emotionally drained, tired and weary to an extreme.
"Excuse me, but I … I'm not sure where I am, and I was wondering if you could help me," she asked of Trunks, who became perplexed.
"You're in a city that you helped destroy a few years back," Trunks said, wondering how she could even still be around. [Assuming that Trunks was as smart as he was made out to be in the series, he would have surely searched the area in which he had battled the androids after the fight to find physical evidence that they were truly destroyed, since he would not have wanted them to get away, knowing that they could have taken advantage of the fact Trunks could not sense their power. The mere fact that 18, and sometimes 17, appear in these sorts of stories in a surprising fashion to Trunks at all would mean that they would not only have been able to survive the energy blasts from the now MUCH stronger Trunks, (especially 18, as Trunks had fired upon her at point-blank range), but that Trunks had carelessly not checked the scene to make sure they were truly destroyed, or that the quite intelligent warrior was somehow mistaken with regards to the evidence, which is highly unlikely, noting that Trunks' blasts likely would not have been able to destroy the androids without a trace as he had not powered the blasts up over an extended duration].
"Destroy?" she asked, suggestive of either the idea that she was being facetiously insincere or that she had completely forgotten her many, many years of psychotic destruction and murder that she had thoroughly enjoyed. "What are you talking about?"
Trunks didn't know whether he wanted to continue this conversation, especially since he was wondering how she had found his home at all. If she was truly lying about her amnesia and was just putting on an act, then this might have meant she had known where his home was beforehand. This could have been likely because she would have been able to deduce this from her background information on him and her knowledge of his affinity with Capsule Corporation. If so, it wouldn't have made full sense for her to have not done away with him in his home while he was sleeping, unless her overconfidence or her desire to keep him around for purposes of amusement had gotten in the way, that is. There also was the possibility she had followed him home, which would have suggested she was consciously out for revenge. And if she did have amnesia, what were the chances of her coming to his doorstep, of all the doorsteps in the world, especially since his was not very close by to where their battle had been? [Because of this, and this alone, Trunks and his mother would have no true reason to believe 18 if she appeared to have amnesia in a situation like this, although in many incarnations of this delectable love story in which there are similar beginning circumstances, Bulma, and sometimes Trunks as well, decide to believe her enough that they come into close contact with her, putting Bulma's safety at high risk].
"You can't just forget about the millions of people you killed! You mean to tell me that you not only survived my blast, which was powerful enough to kill Cell in his second humanoid form, but that your android brain is even susceptible to this sort of thing?" Trunks asked of 18.
Indeed, it was uncertain what parts of 18 were still human, and if her brain was still human, for the most part, then this amnesia could have been possible. Trunks was finding it hard to believe that Dr. Gero, who had the technological know-how to craft the androids from their original human bases in the first place, would have enabled them to be able to be susceptible to memory loss. Then again, they had reportedly had the mental willpower to kill him, which involved mental actions he hadn't adequately planned for. Trunks just wasn't sure what the case was.
"What … what kind of person are you, accusing me of that?" 18 asked of Trunks.
"You're a damn android!" Trunks said. "Stop with the act already!"
She ended up in tears, the poor thing. "Listen, buddy, I don't know what's going on here. I'm just a poor woman who doesn't know what's going on," she said as she got on her knees and sobbed in her arms.
And in these moments of teary eyes, Trunks managed to find at least a hint of compassion for the mass-murderer who had killed his father.
"18, what are you doing? You're degrading yourself," he said.
"18 what? You said the number 18. What are you referring to?" she asked, teary-eyed.
Trunks felt this was getting weird. If this was an act, would she really have gone this far? Why go through the act in the first place when if she still had vengeance on her mind, she could have done other things? She could have tried to blow up the Capsule Corporation compound that Trunks lived in while Trunks was sleeping, although he suspected she would have known that Trunks, unlike before, was probably strong enough now for this not to work. Or she could have snuck through the window and killed him another way, as indeed, he wouldn't have been able to sense her and Capsule Corporation no longer had the security it once had, with the crevices in the side of the building and all. Her being at the doorstep now, then, if indeed the case was that she was putting on an act, didn't make full sense unless she wanted to enact a plan of revenge through gaining Trunks' trust and doing something later while he was sleeping, as a one-on-one confrontation would not have worked, as she had learned from before.
Or maybe she really had amnesia. One of the two.
"Trunks, what's …." Bulma began to ask as her voice trailed off.
"Holy sh*t!" she justifiably said, staring at the woman at the door.
"That's what I said," Trunks said.
Bulma saw 18 sobbing.
"Oh, you poor thing!" Bulma said. As is typical of Bulma in this sort of story, she was overly caring and overly trusting, reaching down to help 18 stand up.
"Mom, watch out, she might shoot you in the heart or something!" Trunks said, truly fearful for his mother.
"Trunks, can't you see she's hurt and that we totally have to believe her?" Bulma, who would normally be more logical, asked.
"Even if she isn't faking this whole thing, Gero could have programmed her to be extremely believable and to simulate all of this as a back-up defense plan," Trunks said. "Anything she does from this point forward could be done under the premise she's a sleeper agent and she doesn't even know it. Am I really going to let myself get romantically involved while what I just mentioned could very well be a possibility?" Trunks asked.
"Don't worry about it, Trunks. No matter how doubtful any of this may be, no matter how much any of this might be putting the whole world at danger, let's help her out and give her a place to stay," Bulma said. "If we help her remember everything, now that may be dangerous. We'll have to be careful."
"I can hear everything you just said," 18 said.
"F*ck my life," Trunks said, as he walked into the Capsule Corporation compound and closed the door.
Sure enough, Trunks woke up the next morning and realized he was still alive. At least this meant the damn android hadn't killed him.
As Trunks got up out of bed to get to breakfast, he noticed that his door was not open and that it had not been unlocked, suggesting once again that she had not, in fact, killed him.
Although in hindsight, he realized, he probably should have insisted that he be at least in the same room as his mother to protect her during the night if 18 decided for whatever reason to try to act out her malicious and malevolent tendencies. He searched for her ki signature, as minuscule as it was, and found it, to his relief.
He opened his door, and 18 was not standing there ready to try and kill him, once again to his relief.
He then walked down the hall and saw 18 open the door to her guest room, stepping out with the obligatorily skimpiest of outfits, to the delight or disgust of many a DBZ fan.
Her elegant form was so elegant, so seemingly perfect in all its ways, that it made Trunks momentarily forget that she had killed millions of people, encouraging him to go over and say hi.
"18, today feels like a good day to forget everything about the past myself and to develop romantic feelings for you beyond mere physical attraction, despite the fact I should never emotionally cave in to loving you in the slightest, even if your personality has changed, because you are, in fact, the person who murdered millions of people on this planet, you killed many of my loved ones, and you're probably highly psychologically unstable," Trunks said in as delightful a way as possible.
"Good morning to you, too," 18 said.
The two of them walked to the dining room, where Bulma was in the middle of making pancakes.
"This morning I'm thinking about putting the two of you through a seemingly innocuous situation designed to further the plot along by enabling the two of you to develop feelings for each other even though that is nowhere within the realm of my intentions," Bulma said to the two of them as they each took a seat at opposite ends of the table.
"Honestly Trunks, I can't understand why you feel this animosity for me," 18 said from across the table, keeping her distance from Trunks as he sneered back at her.
"You know why," he said.
"That nonsense again," 18 said. "Well, I'll tell you once again, I didn't do it!" she said in an angry way, enough so that she flipped the table with ease, to her own surprise.
"I'm … I'm quite strong, aren't I?" she asked.
"Yes, and it required substantial strength to terrorize this world. Now do you believe me?" Trunks asked.
Bulma whispered in Trunks' ear.
'The psychological shock could be very damaging to her, you should stop this, now!" she softly said.
"And what do you care?" he whispered in kind. "She killed Dad!"
"Just do it, mister," his mother said.
"Fine," he begrudgingly said.
The two of them went off into the city to do some grocery shopping. Trunks, of course, did not fly, since he knew 18 would be walking and he wanted to keep her in sight. He also wanted to be ready to stop her if need be.
As they walked, she commented on the buildings.
"It's a shame they're so dilapidated," she said to Trunks as he grunted in disgust. "I could really spruce them up a bit with a bit of woman's touch."
Without saying what he thought in his mind, he briefly looked away from her.
'You already did, in a needlessly destructive manner, you f*ckin' b*tch,' Trunks thought to himself.
As the two of them continued to walk to the store, a man who just happened to be packing heat jumped from out behind a car and pointed a gun straight at 18.
"Young man, get away from her!" he yelled, with his gun pointed at the android, not firing his bullet right away so as to increase the dramatic tension of the scene. "She's one of the androids who have been running around destroying the place!"
The truth hit 18 like a ki blast to the face.
So it apparently was true. Now, she believed it. It wasn't just Trunks who thought she was an android. Apparently, he wasn't being delusional. She really had done bad things, and she felt strong remorse.
Trunks could see the mix of fright and sadness in her face. It was the same expression Gohan would often have when he knew the androids were about to attack. This was very different from the iniquitous and bellicose grin she would often have during her escapades. This looked genuine.
The man continued to point the gun at her, and had his hand on the trigger.
"Die, you filth!"
As he pulled the trigger, 18's face lit up with fright. If she really was consciously faking this, Trunks realized right there and then that the fright wouldn't have felt so human – unless she truly had the ability to make it so.
For all he knew, her actions were still part of a subconscious back-up plan instituted by Dr. Gero. But he couldn't risk the psychological shock this might cause her.
Faster than the eye could see, he caught the bullet that fired out of the gun and grabbed the weapon out of the man's hand.
18 looked at the scene in astonishment, while the man looked on in fright.
"You! What are you?" he asked, backing up. "Are you another one of those androids?"
"Obviously you're not from around here, or maybe it's just that I haven't run into you," Trunks said. "My name is Trunks. I've been fighting the androids for years."
The man didn't seem to understand.
"Then why did you stop my bullet? Better yet, how did you even do that?"
"Let's just say I'm a very skilled martial artist," Trunks said. "As for her, she's not an android, even though she looks like one of them."
"Fine, then. I'm going to completely believe you and come to terms with this so that I can let the two of you further your romantic relationship," he said as he walked away.
18 looked at Trunks, seeing him in a new way.
'He saved my life,' she thought to herself, not consciously knowing that the bullet would not have been able to truly hurt her even so.
"Trunks," she said as he turned to face her.
She ran to him, giddily.
"That was so … charming," she said as she gave him a hug.
It was a feeling for Trunks like none other he'd ever felt. The mix of emotions he was feeling, ranging from anger over the whole of this situation to gladness that seemed to be genuinely happy, was much to bear.
It was also the first time a woman other than his mother had ever given him a hug, which made it all the more awkward for him since the woman who was doing so was none other than 18. He'd been so busy fighting the androids that he had had no time for girls in any which way. It was always training this, training that. But he had had to do it. And now, he seemingly got the princess, although this wasn't the princess he had expected.
"18, it was nothing, really," Trunks said. "Besides, you really are an android."
She looked at him solemnly.
"Yes, I've figured as much," she said. "You must have said to him I wasn't just so that we could further our romantic plot and so he would go away."
"Very much so," Trunks said.
"So, my name is a number?" she asked.
"Blame the guy who robbed you of your mind and turned you into an android in the first place," he said.
"Sounds like he is a real crank," she said.
"You better believe it. And rather, he WAS a real crank. That b*stard ain't around anymore," Trunks said.
"Oh? What happened to him?" she asked.
"Let's just say a certain someone and her brother had their way with him," Trunks said.
18 smiled, then paused, perplexed.
"Brother?" she asked. "Where is he, Trunks?"
Trunks froze, unsure of what to say.
"I … um …."
"You killed him?" she asked.
Trunks looked into her eyes.
"He killed many of my loved ones, and yes, I did."
She looked deeper into his eyes.
"Did you try to kill me, too?"
The two of them were still embracing each other, although they were doing so largely because they had frozen in that position, unsure of how to react to the other's comments, or too stunned by what they were hearing to move.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Trunks said. "I thought I had."
Instead of moving away from him, she kissed him.
It was a passionate kiss that caught Trunks completely by surprise, so much so, in fact, that he briefly returned it without fully realizing what he was doing, withdrawing with a modicum of force which he knew would not send her hurdling off into a building since she was, after all, the strongest woman on the planet.
"It sounds like you were being heroic," she said. "I was a horrible person, wasn't I?"
Was she still? Trunks wondered. Was this really the same person, in mind and spirit, as the killer of the previous day? And even if she had truly become a different person, should she still be considered as she had been considered before, as the rampant killer she had been? Or was that person truly dead, with this kinder, more sincere person in her place? Could she be considered the same person now as then and be held accountable for crimes she didn't remember committing, or even if she was considered a different person now should she still be held accountable for crimes that at one point some incarnation of her had committed?
It was a tough moral and philosophical chain of questions that Trunks seemingly ignored, because he then kissed her on the lips, held her in his arms, and flew with her back to Capsule Corporation.
Much time had passed, and days later, another knocking was heard at the door.
Trunks answered the door, and lo and behold, it was another android.
His black hair waved in the breeze as he looked at Trunks menacingly.
"Where is she?" he asked, sternly.
Trunks was once again taken aback.
"Am I really that bad a shot that the both of you survived my blasts physically unscathed?" he asked aloud in a frustrated tone.
"Yes," Android 17 said. "I'm here to add some more conflict to the story at the beginning of its last third. Also, I'm here to make things much more awkward."
18 walked by the door and saw him.
"So, you're my brother," she said in a tone that shocked 17. "This guy's the prick, right dear?" she asked of Trunks.
There were no fewer than three elements of what his sister had said that had made 17 feel surprised.
"Trunks, man …. " 17 began to say.
"Yes?"
"What the f*ck did you do to my sister?" he asked in a tone that made him sound as though he was ready to kill, which in reality, he always was.
"A lot less than Cell would have done," Trunks said. "Speaking of which, he's probably still out there somewhere killing people, and I've still done nothing about it. He probably could have even come here when 18 was sleeping, and then that would have sucked."
17 stared at him, confusedly.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about, but really, man, I saw the two of you holding hands in the park, kissing and all," 17 said.
"Stalker," 18 said.
"18, you're a mass-murdering android. You've hated this guy for years. And Trunks, you've hated her for things too. How the hell are the two of you doing this?"
"With passion," 18 said as she kissed Trunks, making 17 jump forward and try to strangle him. As he began to, 18 punched him in the gut, then kicked him backward.
"What's your problem?" she asked.
17 got up from the crouched position on the ground he'd found himself in.
"I should be asking you what's yours," 17 said. "Your comments earlier suggest you've forgotten a great deal of what's happened in your life, that you've forgotten who you are, your purpose, even. And that b*stard's been taking advantage of you because of this, hasn't he?"
"You're wrong, 17," she said. "He told me everything, and I love him even so, and he loves me."
17 stared at Trunks. "You love her even though she killed your father, your mentor, all of your friends, and millions more? Really?"
"Yes," Trunks said.
"You know, you could have just been an acquaintance, or something. But no, that would have made sense based on everything she put you through. Instead, you took your relationship with her to a whole new level, choosing the one woman on all of planet Earth that made your life a torment, and instead of just forgiving her or something, you decided to completely flip everything and passionately love her? I'm sorry, that doesn't make much sense, even if sis' apparently doesn't remember everything."
"What would you know, 17?" 18 asked. "I'm sure you've never had a girlfriend. We're an epic story of love surviving through the toughest of circumstances."
"More like the most nonsensical," 17 said. "Whatever. I'm not going to throw away my life by trying to kill Trunks, he'll just kick my butt. And there's no convincing you, either, 18. I might as well just magically decide to mend my ways and begrudgingly accept all this, letting the both of you live your lives in peace."
"That's cool, man," Trunks said.
"Wait, you thought I was being serious? Hell no!" 17 said. "In fact, I – "
But he was caught short by a green tail that encompassed him, a green tail that belonged to a being that had suddenly emerged.
The ground shook with the rapidly skyrocketing energy that was spreading throughout the area.
"Oh cr*p," Trunks said. "18, stay by me," Trunks said.
"Wait, is this the monster you were telling me about? You know, the one Gero made to absorb me and 17 because Gero was a d*uche?"
"That's the one."
"So shouldn't I go and hide somewhere and not be in plain sight for him to absorb me in case you fail?" she asked, nervously.
"No, I'll protect you," he said, reassuringly.
"That isn't so reassuring. I've seen how good a job you do of making sure things are done and settled," 18 said.
"This time will be different," Trunks said with a smile.
18 decided to remain where she was.
"Alright," she said as she decided to stay.
Cell, in his second humanoid form now, made himself apparent to Trunks.
"Ah, another step on the way to perfection!" Cell said. "The strength is surging within me! I have to thank you, Trunks, for foolishly allowing me to remain at large while you were messing around with my fellow android."
"Yeah, well, it was convenient for the plot," Trunks said.
"A perfectly acceptable reason," Cell said. "And now, I see that 18 is more than ready to become a part of greatness!"
"I already am," she said as she hugged Trunks.
"Touching, but I had something quite different in mind," Cell said as he appeared in front of 18, ready to absorb her.
In response, Trunks grabbed Cell by the tail.
"Not today, you freak," he said, chopping Cell's tail off.
The monster was enraged.
"You b*stard! I just met you and you ripped my tail off!" Cell yelled.
"That was for Gohan!" Trunks said.
"This is for Gohan; that was for Gohan; everything you do seems like it's for Gohan," Cell said.
"Not when I've got her," he said, motioning at 18.
"You won't for long," Cell said.
This made Trunks take action.
He darted forward and punched Cell in the stomach.
Cell reeled back in pain.
"You were saying?" Trunks said.
Cell couldn't believe it.
"You're not supposed to have this much power! How is this even possible?" Cell asked.
"Because I'm awesome," Trunks said. "Also, I went to the past already and we killed another timeline's version of you over there."
This made Cell do a double take.
"I knew it," Cell said. "That's how you got so strong and how you seem to know the intricacies of my tactics. Well, Trunks, I'll bet you haven't prepared for this particular technique!"
Cell, based on plot convenience, let out a ray from his eyes that shone into 18's, causing her to close her eyes and fall to the floor.
Trunks, bewildered, ran to 18 as Cell laughed.
"18? 18, are you alright?"
She didn't respond.
Trunks, still holding her, looked at Cell, the rage building within.
"What did you do to her?" he vehemently asked.
Cell continued to smile, coldly.
"What did you do to her, damn it!" he yelled even more fervidly.
Cell chuckled.
"Why should I tell you? All you have to know is that now, she'll be much easier for me to absorb. Then, we'll be together. Forever!"
This sent Trunks, and his power level, over the edge, to Cell's great astonishment.
The ground shook once more with the force of Trunks' fury.
His hair became more pointed, his aura sparking gold, with blue lightning cascading about the golden specks.
He had ascended to the next true level, as Gohan had done in the past.
He rushed forward and jabbed his right hand straight through Cell's stomach.
The android gasped as he looked down.
"Irony couldn't begin to describe this," Trunks said, steadfastly.
Trunks then pulled his right hand out, making Cell clench his chest.
"You … know I'll just … regenerate and … make you sorry you ever did this!" Cell said as he stepped backward.
Trunks powered up spheres of energy in both of his hands.
"You no longer have the power necessary to be making that kind of threat," Trunks said, as he walked forward.
Cell continued to step backward in trepidation.
"If you kill me, there will be no way to save her from what I've done," Cell said. "There will also be no way to recover 17. Do you really want that?" he asked as he grinned wickedly.
Trunks continued to look solemn, stepping forward and coming to a halt.
"She would understand. This is goodbye, Cell," he said, calmly.
Cell looked apprehensive, knowing he did not have enough time to prepare an effective response.
"Final Finish Buster," Trunks said solemnly as he brought both of his hands together, with the energy spheres becoming one, the beam launching forth from his palms and straight through Cell, then expanding so that Cell was encompassed entirely, the threat he posed becoming no more.
Trunks, after defeating the planet Earth's greatest foe to date, knew it was finally time to travel to New Namek to obtain the Dragon Balls.
But not yet.
He walked over to 18.
He hugged her.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what that monster did to you, but I'm sorry."
She awoke with a startle, looked at Trunks, and pushed him off of her, quickly.
Trunks couldn't believe it. He stared at her, unsure of what to say.
"18?" he asked.
She looked furious.
"You," she pointed at Trunks. "You took advantage of me, when I couldn't truly understand who I was, and then, we …."
Trunks had discerned the gist of what Cell had done to her, to his dismay.
"18, please, I …."
"How could you do that? How could you do that!" she was screaming.
He didn't know fully what to say, but felt he needed to say it anyway.
"I thought that even if this was to ever happen, it would still be alright, 18."
She turned away, angrily. Then turned back at him.
"You can't be serious! This isn't happening!"
She clearly had had it.
And he really felt beside himself.
What else could be said?
"18, I love you! I …."
And while he had said it, the angry look on her face deepened, the scowl of many days remembered showing itself.
Before he could finish, she decked him across the face.
It wasn't enough to send him far back, but enough to cause him to recognize reality.
She looked at him one more time, the expression on her face changing from anger to sadness.
He looked as she flew off and ventured into the distance, a creature who had fully regained her memories of a more horrid time in her life, dealing with the emotional struggle of those sinful and horrifyingly inhuman ideas clashing now with the feelings of warmth and kindness she had developed, especially for her greatest enemy.
Thanks so much for reading this, my first attempt at writing a piece of this particular style, a fusion of humor and drama in the context of a love story.
Please let me know what you thought of this entry!
Also, should I add more to this tale? Please let me know about that as well.
Have a very good one!
In fun and fanfiction,
American Vigor
Entry completed: Sep. 6, 2010