Prologue

As the rain fell, the last desperate gasps of air could be heard emanating from the crumpled and misshapen form. Standing over it, 2 figures could be seen. Both were slick with rainwater and dirty with soot... and blood.

"It's a shame, really," the first one, a male, began. "I thought he'd put up more of a fight."

The other one, a female, looked at the now gurgling figure with disgust. She delivered a strong kick to the figure's midsection, causing the figure's badly battered face to spit up blood.

"Speak for yourself, brother," the female started. "He lasted longer than the others."

"So," the male continued, "who's left now? I think we've managed to kill them all."

"No, we haven't," she snapped. "Trunks is still out there."

"So what?" the male countered. "He's far too weak to pose any threat. Let him live, for now."

"17, you idiot," the female returned angrily. "He's still a Saiya-jin! Half-breed or not, as long as he lives he'll be a threat. Don't be stupid, let's—"

The two's attention suddenly fixed on something in the distance. Something was headed towards them.

"What was that?" 17 asked.

"Whatever it is, it's powerful," the female responded.

"I'll go take a look," 17 stated. "Whatever, or whoever it is, it won't stand a chance against me."

"Do what you want," the female replied. "I'll go look for the Saiya-jin brat."

17 leapt into the air and rocketed towards the object in the distance. Watching her brother disappear into the distance, she then leapt into the air and took off in the opposite direction. After a few minutes, a small, purple-haired boy crawled out from under the rubble and ran towards the now still figure on the ground.

"Go... Gohan-sama?"

"No..."

"N... no... no..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Command Decision Tree

18's Story

"And that precise moment," the hooded figure began," is where the timelines split."

"I understand, sir," the young man replied. "What is my task?"

"Luc," the hooded figure responded, "your task is to retrieve 18. Trunks will kill them both, creating an alternate future. We must get 18 before he does!"

"I understand, sir" Luc replied. With that, he disappeared in a swirl of wind.

"Yes," the hooded figure mused, "this is how it begins. She will join us, and the Darkness Quartet will be ¼ of the way to completion! I will succeed where so many have failed!"

"Will you?"

A voice, seemingly from nowhere, echoed throughout the cavernous lair. The hooded figure, obviously unshaken, simply chuckled.

"Jedah, you really musn't keep this up," the hooded figure joked. "By the way, how is limbo?"

"Laugh while you can, you aberration," Jedah stated. "My scythe makes short work of men and gods alike, and it will claim what was stolen from it."

"Men and gods, you say?" the hooded figure inquired. "In that case, I can take my time, as I am neither God nor Man."

"You'll get no sympathy from me," Jedah growled. "You are a fool on a fool's errand. In time, you will fail... and when that happens, I will take you back to where you belong."

The hooded figure sat in darkness, save the glow from the small lava pools in the cavern. Waving one hand in the air, he summoned forth a large crystal orb. In it, a vision of a blonde woman carrying a submachine gun appeared.

As 17 sped towards the approaching object, he thought he felt an explosion of power that was almost on the same magnitude of the one he was headed towards. Dismissing it as possibly Gohan's last futile attempt to take down 18, he continued toward his target. "18 can take care of herself", he thought. "Maybe even take on that little Saiyaling brat she seems so stressed abo--"

Suddenly, nothing.

17 checked his surroundings, thinking that he had overshot his target, but realized that whatever he was tracking seemed to disappear completely. As he hovered in midair, he realized that something was very wrong. For a second, his cockiness dissolved and his good sense (or his sense of self-preservation) took over, prompting hin to turn around and meet back up with 18. Unfortunately for him, that second of hesitation was all it took. A glancing blow to the back of his head knocked him out of the sky, and all went black on impact.

Looking around, 18 thought she felt a sudden burst of power, but shrugged it off. Her mind was focused primarily on finding Trunks. That stupid boy, she thought to herself, how can he be so nonchalant about leaving even one Saiya-jin alive? They had both watched Vegeta and Gohan transform into their so-called "Super Saiya-jin" modes. They had both witnessed the increase in power that both experienced, and they had both seen how difficult it became to accomplish their task: Gohan, in particular, almost got the upper hand on them. If Trunks held even a little of that potential, there's no telling what could happen. What if he somehow managed to conceal his presence from them? What if he was able to become stronger? No matter how improbable the concept was, there was a chance. These humans were a resourceful lot, and Trunks was half-human. No, she decided, better to kill him now before--"

"Before he kills you, right?"

18 turned around to face the voice she had just heard, and saw a strangely dressed young man hovering in midair. She thought to herself, Before he kills me? Who is this? How did he invade my thoughts? Warily eyeing the stranger, she performed a zanzoken, appearing within striking distance behind the boy. Extending her arm, her forceful punch only came in contact with a swirl of air.

"Did you really think that would work?"

Following the direction of the voice, she lunged in that direction. A shoulder smash that should've permanently taken the wind out of his sails only pushed away another swirl of air. As she looked around, a forceful blast of air knocked her towards the ground. Recovering in time, she landed on the ground, then immediately took off in the direction of the blast. She was a little surprised to see the boy hovering in place, as if he was waiting for her. This angered her a little; no one could match her and 17's abilities, yet this kid seemed to be toying with her. Fine, she thought to herself, if he's just going to stand there, I'll play along and make him regret underestimating me! A burst of speed brought her within striking distance again. As expected, the swing came up empty. Looking over her shoulder, she saw nothing. Immediately, she dashed in the opposite direction and fired a large energy pulse diagonally upward. As the pulse disappeared into the distance, she turned around and fired agan. This pulse went diagonally downward, exploding when it hit the ground. 18 dashed into the cloud of dust, and waited.

"Very smart. No wonder the master wants you so badly."

"Who ARE you?" she yelled.

"Unimportant, 18" he replied. "I want to talk to you, so stop trying to attack me."

"How do you know me? Are you one of the humans that follow Goku around?"

"You've killed them all, 18" he answered, "so you know that's not the case."

"Then why do you challenge me when you know I can easily kill you?"

"Because, " he began, "you can't. And since I'm supposed to bring you in alive, I can't kill you. So make it easy on all of us and just come alo--"

Though she couldn't see him, she could sense him... and now she could hear him. Finally locking on his position, she fired an immense energy beam. Luc, to his credit, could also sense her, but unfortunately couldn't see two inches in front of him. The beam engulfed him, striking the wind barrier surrounding him. Knowing that attempting to teleport now would mean certain death, he had no choice but to endure. After what seemed to be an eternity, 18 let the beam dissipate and, just to be safe, rocketed off towards her target. She was confident that even if the beam didn't kill him, it would leave him weakened enough to give her an opening. She would capitalize on that opening and rid her world of yet another worthless human.

Or so she thought.

The first air blade struck her against the left shoulder, startling her and cutting deep into her jacket. Spinning her about 15 degrees away from her initial orientation, she was unaware of the second air blade which barely missed her face, but thoroughly slashed her jacket down her right side. Incensed, she started in the direction of the blast, but was startled by another air blade that struck her midsection; this one came at a different angle than the other two: directly in front of her. The blade cut through her clothing and into her flesh, making her cry out; no sooner than she did, she was enveloped in a swirling pocket of air. So forceful was the movement of the air, she couldn't move in any direction. The dust cloud that surrounded her suddenly dissipated and revealed a very angry (and ragged ) Luc.

"ENOUGH!"

"If you let me go--"

"Ungrateful android! You may not realize it, but I'm saving your worthless life!"

"Saving me?! You're saving my life?"

"Yes, but if you persist, I'll kill you before... no, I'll do you one better: I'll let the master show you."

Try as she did, 18 couldn't move. Luc waved his hand, causing a portal to open beneath her. He then proceeded to lower her into it before disappearing into it himself.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly. There was a figure, cloaked and hooded, sitting on a throne. She couldn't see the figure's eyes (its outline suggested it was a fairly muscular human), but she could tell it was staring at her intently. But something was amiss; she was sensing a power like none that she had ever encountered. The boy had a strange power as well, but it didn't compare to the one she sensed. Hell, her own didn't even compare. She started to speak, when--

"Welcome, Artificial Human 18."

She stopped cold. The voice wasn't a familiar one, but he called her the same thing that that acursed Gero referred to her by.

"Not very polite. I suppose you'll warm up in time. Now, I know you must have questions--"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Luc simply shook his head. "Agreed, master. Not very polite at all."

The figure stood up and walked over to 18. Luc removed the wind barrier that she had been contained in; almost immediately, she lunged at him. The blow came mere millimeters from connecting, but some unknown force stopped her. Not only did it prevent the hit, it prevented her from moving.

"I'm getting tired of being restrained by you, boy. When I break free, I'll make sure your death is excruciatingly slow and equally as painful," she growled.

"Sorry," Luc chuckled, "but I'm not doing anything to you this time."

She tried to turn her head to her captor, but found that she could move nothing but her mouth, and then only barely. The cloaked figure stooped down in front of her.

"Until you calm down, I think it best that you stay this way," the figure calmly stated. "We have much to discuss, and I'd rather help you than kill you."

"Your lapdog said the same thing," she snarled. "He learned better, and so wi--"

She saw a pair of eyes from underneath the hood glow a bright red, and found that she could no longer speak.

"As easily as I silenced you, "the figure began, "I can stop you from breathing. Or, in your case, functioning. No more talking; now you listen. To begin, we are trying to help you: to prevent your untimely death. Cooperate with us, and live. Reject our offer, and die. I will release you now."

18 fell to the ground. She quickly got to her feet and took a defensive posture.

"So if I don't help you, you'll kill me."

"No," the figure flatly stated," we won't do a thing to you. We'll send you back to your universe and timeline and let chuckle 'nature' take its course."

"Nature? Why are you wasting my time? I'm an android, so I'm effectively immortal. You have nothing to offer me."

"Is that so?" Luc countered. "Sir, I think--"

"I tell you what to think, Luc, " the figure angrily shot back. "You are right, however, so I won't kill you for speaking out of place."

With a flick of a finger, the crystal orb that hung in midair in the middle of the cavern floated to their position. The figure motioned to 18. "Look into the crystal; you will see the reason that I brought you here," he stated. Reluctantly, she peered into the large sphere, not knowing what to expect. The interior of the orb was cloudy, but eventually two distinct forms started to take shape. One was hovering in midair, the other on the ground. As the figures came into view, 18 gasped in horror; the crumpled, defeated figure on the ground was 17, and the figure hovering above him was--

"Trunks?!"

"Remember the presence you sensed right before my 'lapdog' showed up, 18?" the figure inquired. "That was him."

"But... no, this is a trick. You're lying. Trunks is a mere child, and furthermore, he's nowhere near our level of ability!"

"So it would seem. And yet..."

She watched as Trunks powerdived into the ground, creating a massive crater and burying 17 deep into the earth. Though they were out of view, he could hear the hits being delivered, the muffled screams, and see the ground shaking with each hit. Suddenly, the ground erupted and 17 went flying into the air. A blue and purple blur shot out of the ground and stopped behind 17, who was in no condition to retaliate. She watched in horror as he grabbed his head with one hand, and placed the other on his back. The hand on his back glowed briefly before erupting into a massive ki blast. When it subsided, nothing remained... save his head. She heard him growl "You two are nothing compared to what else is out there, but you will pay for what you took from me!", and she saw him crush her brother's head in his hand. Dropping the crumpled skull to the ground, he took off in the other direction.

"In case you're wondering--"

"Cell," 18 mumbled. "Gero's 'greatest' creation. It must have activated when we failed to kill the brat."

"No," the figure corrected, "it was set to activate when one of you were defeated. You are outside of your continuum right now, so the device that monitors you can't sense you. Indirectly, we caused it to activate. It wouldn't have mattered, because Trunks is currently powerful enough to destroy all of you at the same time without breaking a sweat."

"You lie, "18 yelled. "You lie! How could he become so powerful so quickly?"

"Watch and see..."

The fog swirled, and replaced the initial image with the image of a familiar little boy... with yellow hair.

"Killing Gohan made him finally realize his 'Super Saiya-jin' form, "the figure began. "You actually brought about your own undoing. Good job!"

"I knew I should've killed him when I had the chance..." 18 growled.

"You wouldn't have been able to. Watch..."

Trunks ran to the capsule-shaped device. As he started to climb into it, he briefly stopped; climbing back out, he scratched something into the surface of the device. Having completed it, he climbed into the device and activated it. With a bright flash, he disappeared from sight.

"Trunks was a smart boy," the figure began. "When he came back, he came back one second after you two killed Gohan. By destroying you two, it gave his young self the time he needed to activate the time machine."

"Time machine?!" 18 gasped. "I guess we didn't destroy everything in the Capsule Corporation compound after all."

"No, you didn't," the figure stated. " Nor did you destroy everyone; you left his mother alive."

The realization hit 18 like a ton of bricks. Bulma's information had been hard-coded into her memory, just like all the other Z fighters. Dr. Gero was smart enough to realize that though she had no fighting ability, her intellect (as well as Dr. Briefs) was not only second to his (in his mind, anyway), it was as much of a threat as Goku's strength. She and 17 disregarded it as just 'typical human insecurity', and now they were paying the ultimate price. Her sadness at losing 17 to Trunks turned to blinding rage. They really had caused their own downfall. She turned to the figure.

"How do I stop this?" she asked.

"Swear loyalty to me, and I will show you how to reshape your future" was his reply.

Staring into the sphere, she watched Trunks handily defeat Imperfect Cell with almost no effort. This was her future. This was her fate. No, she thought, I will not let it end this way!!

"Then join my cause, 18, and we will bend time and space to our will."

She turned away from him, hiding the tear trickling down her face. "Stay out of my head," she growled, "and I will join you."

"Fair enough," the figure replied while walking away from them. "Luc, show her to her quarters."

Luc motioned 18 to follow him, but was stopped by a fireball that impacted on his chest, knocking him against the wall. 18 looked at the figure, who held an outstretched smouldering hand.

"And in the future, Luc," the figure commanded, "follow the orders you were given. I said you were to retrieve her unharmed. Did you really think I would not notice what you've done?"

"I understand cough cough, sir" Luc weakly replied.

"The price for failure to follow orders, 18," the figure explained ," is pain. Continued insubordination will result in more pain. I will never kill you, but you will eventually beg me to. Never fail me, 18. Do you understand?"

She looked at Luc's crumpled and charred form. She could take Luc easily, but the power she sensed from the figure far outstripped hers. The figure could easily kill her, but it seems he would be more content torturing her. It was like a game; and she knew that if she were to win, she would have to catch him off-guard. Though she hated doing so with every fibre of her being, she mouthed the words that sealed her contract with this demon:

"I understand, ...sir."