Disclaimer: I own nothing
Cold Day in July
Breathing heavily, Gohan glared hatefully at the three androids in front of him, slowly, painfully, moving into a slightly lower fighting stance as he struggled to gather his chi. His body ached from the beating he had taken - three against one was never a fair fight - however he refused to give up as long as there was breath in his body.
The androids didn't move to attack, didn't even take their own fighting positions. They knew, just as well as he did, that they didn't need to.
He glared at them, their faces forever burned into his memory.
Android 18, slender and graceful with short, neatly styled blonde hair and clothes that looked fashionable even in the midst of heated battle. She was the most easily bored, and thus the most likely to cause widespread damage.
Android 17, cold and cruel, with his longish black hair and his customary red bandana. He found amusement in everything, and was always playing, even in the midst of heated battle.
And finally, Android 16, the one whose design had given Dr. Gero the final push he needed to give his androids the strength that was necessary in order to defeat a super Saiyan. He was tall and muscular, dressed in black pants and a black sleeveless shirt, and his lavender hair, parted on the side, was cut just a bit shorter than his fellow android's.
Dr. Gero had spent years studying the Z fighters, the strongest warriors in the universe, but he was never able to duplicate the awesome powers of a Saiyan. When the androids first arrived they spoke, acted, and even thought, as one being despite the fact there were two of them. They were strong, but not stronger than the Z warriors. They called themselves 14.
And they were losing the war.
The tables were turned however, when one dark night Dr. Gero snuck into Capsule Corp and kidnapped the one-year-old son of Bulma and Vegeta. Once he had the child he disappeared into the night and did not attack again for several years, along with his androids. The Z fighters searched everywhere for Trunks, but to no avail. Bulma threw herself into her inventions, attempting to do the impossible and create a time machine that would allow her to go back in time and save her lost child. Vegeta eventually, reluctantly gave up his search and locked himself in the gravity room for months on end, refusing to speak to anyone, refusing to leave, not even when Goku, who had been sick for nearly half a year, dies of the heart virus. Not even when, in his grief, he reached the level of the legendary super Saiyan.
Four years after the abduction of the young Demi-Saiyan the androids returned. This time they acted as two separate beings, calling themselves 17 and 18, leaving the implication that there were at least two other androids in the lab, 15 and 16.
At first the Z warriors fought together as a team; even Vegeta joined in, his silent, angry presence promising doom for the two machines. Had they continued to battle together, they would have won. But then something happened to tear apart their carefully constructed teamwork.
A smirking 17 took it upon himself to reveal to them that by experimenting on the young child stolen from Capsule Corp, Gero had managed to do enough research to make 14 into 17 and 18, the two formidable foes that they found standing before them that day. He had laughed mockingly in Vegeta's face, telling him how cooperative his son had been, how he had been kept so near-death and in so much pain that he became a super Saiyan, further improving on their technologies.
And then he told them that the boy was "no more."
Vegeta had flown into a rage, attacking them all by himself. He fought bravely and skillfully, but was killed quickly. Once he was gone everyone else lost hope. They had always counted on the strength of the Saiyans, fist Goku and then later Vegeta, to bring them victoriously through battle. Watching the proud Saiyan prince die made even Gohan lose hope.
One by one the strongest fighters the earth had ever seen were hunted down and killed until only Gohan was left. Then the androids disapeared again.
Gohan had trained hard, pouring everything he had into it. When his mother tried to stop him he left home, living in the wilderness as he had when he was a child being trained by Piccolo, or stopping for a night at Capsule Corp and a few hours in the gravity room. The loss of so many loved ones brought him so much pain that, on the day of his twentieth birthday- spent alone- he finally reached the level of super Saiyan.
Eleven years after Trunks had been taken the androids returned one final time, never to leave again. 17, 18, and a lavender haired twelve-year- old that bore a striking resemblance to Vegeta.
He called himself 16.
It was once again a gloating 17 who let Gohan know for sure that the young 16 was the "half Saiyan brat" Gero had kidnapped. He had made him into an android after his "studies" had killed the boy, who, according to Gero's records, had lasted longer under testing than either 17 or 18 had when they were still human.
Gero, oh so unfortunate, was dead, as was android 15, who Gohan was glad to have never met. 16 had killed them both.
16 had been programmed to age only until his eighteenth birthday, as had been his fellow androids. Whatever he'd had of human compassion, of the Saiyan pride his father had been so fond of, was gone. Dead. Gohan was glad, for his sake, that Vegeta had not lived to see what his son had been made into.
Now, nearly a year later, beaten and broken, it was hard for Gohan to remember that 16 had ever been anything other than a cruel, coldhearted android.
"Ooh, I think our little punching bag is done for today." 18 said in cold mockery, putting her hands on her hips. "Pity. Just when I was beginning to have some fun, too. You really need to shape up, blondy. You're starting to become boring."
"He's been like this for months." 17 complained, just as coldly. "I must say, I am rather disappointed."
Gohan spat at them, pulling himself up into a fighting stance slowly, painfully.
Oh, that's good." 16 chuckled as coldly as his companions. "I'm very frightened now. You should know that."
"Why don't you finish him off?" 17 suggested, ruffling the thirteen- year-old android's hair. "You could use the practice." He turned and began to leave.
"17, wait." Android 18 called, stopping him. There was a look in her ice blue eyes that Gohan had never imagined he's see. Concern.
17 huffed in annoyance and glared. "He'll be fine." He assured her in monotone. "Let's go."
"Go, 18." 16 agreed.
With one last, reluctant glance, she followed the dark haired android into the air, leaving 16 and Gohan alone. Gohan couldn't help but to let loose a surprised laugh. He'd had no idea that the androids could feel anything at all, much less care for each other in that way.
"Isn't she a little old for you?" He taunted.
16 frowned. "Do you plan to attempt an attack, or should I just destroy you now?"
"No, no. I'll attack." Gohan promised with forced lightness, amazed by his new discovery. He had to live so he could tell Bulma. He lunged forward and did the only thing he would think of. He grabbed 16's tail, praying it would give the boy some sort of weakness. As his hand closed around the appendage, the android's eyes widened and the ki blast in his hand flickered. Gohan didn't notice this as he tried to pull out the tail, suddenly angry. That.that thing was no Sayian!
"Stop.fool!"
As he yanked out the tail, 16's ready ki blast exploded like a giant bomb. Gohan felt himself flying backwards just before the world turned black.
He awoke some time later, a brown, fuzzy tail clutched in one hand. His other arm was completely without feeling. He lifted his head a little, staring at the prone form of the android. The lavender haired machine was either dead or unconscious.
Gohan could only hope.
With his soulless eyes closed and the longish lavender hair falling into his face he didn't look like an android. A weapon of destruction. He looked like a thirteen-year-old boy who was in need of medical attention.
Gohan picked himself up painfully and hobbled over to the boy, tossing the limp tail away from himself in disgust. He stared down at the helpless boy a moment, raised a foot to crush his head and finish the job.
And stopped. ---------------------------------------------------- The moon is full And my arms are empty All night long How I've pleaded and cried -----------------------------------------------------
"It's been hours, 17, and he still isn't back."
"He's fine. That blonde brat had nothing left in him. Maybe he made a detour to destroy a village of something." 17 leaned back in his chair, flipping through the channels on the television with the remote control, searching for the news. He loved to see himself on screen.
The androids had taken over a small pink house on an island soon after they destroyed Gero and his laboratory. They'd had to chase away an old man and his pets - a turtle, a pig, and a cat - but the place was now home to them.
"We should go find him." 18 insisted.
17 ignored her. ------------------------------------------------- You always said The day that you would leave me Would be a cold day in July -------------------------------------------------
"If I calibrate it to the fourth degree.yeah.and this should go here instead.hmm...and that.there.times the fifty-seventh power.two turns to the right.hmm.divided by pi.ah.no.Mmm Hmm..oh, now, that's much better."
"Bulma!" A voice croaked out.
The blue-haired woman's head shot up and she turned to stare in the direction of the voice. Gohan, the only son of her long-dead childhood friend, Goku, stood, slumped, in the doorway to her lab. He was a wreck, bleeding from countless places, one arm hanging limply at his side. His other arm was employed in supporting the unconscious boy slung over his shoulder.
"Gohan! What happened to you?"
"Androids."
"Is that.one of them? Gohan! Why would you bring one of those things here?" She scolded, clutching a screwdriver in her hand as if she thought it could offer some protection.
"It's number 16." He said by way of answer, sounding completely exhausted. "I thought you might.wanna' see him."
Bulma's bottom lip began to tremble. "Trunks? It's Trunks? It's my baby?" She had known that her son had been made into an android, Gohan had felt obligated to tell her, but there had never been any indication that she hadn't blocked the fact from her mind, until now.
Gohan sighed, glad he had made the right decision. Bulma deserved to see her only son before he was killed.
"Is he getting heavy? Hurry, Gohan, put him on my worktable!" She ordered, carelessly pushing months of work onto the floor. Gohan grunted with effort, dropping the unconscious boy none-too-carefully on the table.
"What are you going to do?" He asked nervously, watching as his father's oldest friend tenderly brushed lavender strands of hair out of the android's face.
Bulma smiled to herself, not noticing the note of concern in Gohan's voice. She stroked her son's cheek with the back of her hand and kissed his forehead before turning back to the son of Goku. "Don't you worry about him, your only concern right now is medical attention. I see your mother from time to time, you know, and she would kill me if she thought for a moment that I hadn't taken care of her boy. You really should visit her more often, you know."
"Bulma."
"Not now, Gohan. Come along, we'll get you all fixed up." --------------------------------------- Your bags are packed And not a word is spoken I guess we said everything with Goodbye --------------------------------------
Gohan awoke in a hospital bed in one of the many rooms of Capsule Corp, the foggy feeling in his head attesting to the large amounts of medicinal drugs that had been pumped into his body. He should have known better than to let Bulma "take care of him." He had the suspicion that, ever since Vegeta's death, she hadn't been quite right in the head. Who knew what he had put into his system?
He tried to sit up, and a wave of nausea overtook him. As he blacked out, he saw Bulma entering the room.
He awoke again sometime later in a normal bed, in a different room.
"You're completely healed now, Gohan." Bulma informed him from where she stood, looking out the window. "I made sure you wouldn't wake up until you couldn't hurt yourself."
"My.my arm!" He suddenly realized.
"I had to amputate. I'm so sorry, Gohan."
He sighed, leaning his head back into his pillow and cursing quietly under his breath.
"Would you like to get up?" Bulma offered. "You can't expect to regain your strength by lying in bed all day."
"S.sure." He decided, struggling to sit up. Bulma came over and helped him, putting an arm around him to help him stand.
"Good!" She said cheerfully. "Because there's someone I want you to meet."
"Someone.who?"
"Trunks!"
"WHAT?"
"I reprogrammed him!" She said happily. "Gave him the memories of the life I wanted him to have.everything! He'll be waking up soon, and I'm sure he'll be glad to see his best fried and master, Gohan, waiting by his bedside!" --------------------------------------- Time moves so slow And promises get broken On this cold day in July --------------------------------------
"Maybe he decided to fly solo." 17 suggested, boredly bouncing a basketball in an abandoned toy store.
"16 wouldn't do that, not without telling me." 18 answered coldly, shooting an energy blast at a pile of stuffed animals and watching them burn.
"Hey, I know you think you have some kind of special connection to him, but let it drop. He probably doesn't see it that way. Relax. Have some fun. It's been a long time since we've had time without the kid. He'll show up again when he's ready." 18 turned away from him to blow up a row of dolls. She had taken care of 16 ever since he had first awakened. He reminded her of someone she had known before she had been made into an android. He and 17 were the only family she had. She couldn't help but to worry as much as her programming permitted. "Be careful, little brother." ----------------------------------- Sun's comin' up, comin' up Down on Main Street Children shout As their comin' out to play ----------------------------------
Gohan shifted uneasily as the android began to stir, prepared for the worst. Either Bulma's "reprogramming" hadn't worked, and 16 would attack as soon as he woke, or it would work too well, and the boy would be a useless machine made of flesh.
Either scenario would destroy Bulma.
"Don't ever let him know what he is." She whispered excitedly. "He has no idea, and he hates the androids for what they did to this world.and his father."
"Bulma."
The boy groaned softly.
"Trunks?" Bulma asked eagerly. "Trunks? It's your mommy."
Ice blue eyes opened, blinking in the unexpected light. A slow, weak smile spread onto the face that bore such an uncanny resemblance to Vegeta. "Mom?" He croaked out. "Mom, what happened? Is.Is Gohan okay?" He asked anxiously, trying to sit up.
"He's fine, sweetheart." Bulma soothed. "Look, he's right here."
Trunks' eye fell on Gohan and he smiled hugely. "Gohan!" He sighed, relieved. "I was so worried. That was some fight, huh? Those stinkin' androids always fight dirty. But.your arm! What happened?"
"Go back to sleep, honey." Bulma ordered lovingly, smoothing her son's brow. "You still aren't recovered yet. You need sleep. I'll yell at you for trying to fight those monsters later."
He smiled appreciatively and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep. Gohan stared in horror at Bulma, who sat smiling quietly and stroking her son's hair, humming a gentle lullaby. He now knew one thing for sure about Bulma.
Bulma was insane. ------------------------------------- Head in my hands Here I am standing in my bare feet Watching you drive away Watching you drive away -------------------------------------
"I can't do it!" Trunks exclaimed in frustration, plopping down in the grass. Try as hard as he might, use as much power as he had, he still couldn't reach the level of Super Saiyan.
Gohan, sitting a little further away in the grass with his face buried in his hand, looked up and gave Trunks an insincere smile. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually." He encouraged halfheartedly.
Trunks stared hard at his best friend, making the older boy shift nervously. Gohan had been acting different toward him ever since the last battle with the androids, where he had lost his arm. "What's going on, Gohan?" He asked finally, feeling sad. "Why don't you like me anymore?"
"Anymore...?"
"Do.do you blame me for what happened to your arm? I tried to help, I really did! I just.wasn't.strong enough." He felt tears fill his eyes and tried not to let them show. "I would have done more, if I could have."
Gohan was silent for a long moment. "Don't worry about it." He finally said quietly.
Reassured, Trunks laid back in the grass and watched the clouds drift by. "D'ya think mom's figured out that you're training me yet?"
Gohan snorted softly. "Who knows what she thinks?"
There was silence for a while. "Gohan?"
"What?"
"Will you tell me about my father?" ----------------------------------- You said that we Were gonna last forever You said our love Would never die ----------------------------------
He wasn't ever coming back. She had failed in her promise to take care of him. That damned Saiyan kid had killed him. He had been just a child, young by anyone's standards. She'd thought that goody-goody blonde brat was the type who wouldn't kill children, but it turned out that he was just a hypocrite.
How dare he presume that he was better than them?
She would never forget when she had first met 16. He had been a small, frightened boy of five, with eyes full of pain, connected to what had seemed like millions of machines. Dr. Gero's experiments had kept the boy in almost constant pain, and sometimes his screams had ripped through the laboratory until 18 had thought she would go insane if she didn't get away.
One day the boy had looked at her, eyes filled with pleading, begging her to save him. He hadn't understood why he was being forced to suffer, and he hadn't deserved the torture. 18 had reached out and taken his hand, holding it tightly as she killed him, relieving him of the pain. She remembered reaching up with her free hand and touching something wet on her cheek.
Gero had reconstructed the boy, forming him into a biochemical android like her, just like her, and she had sworn that she would watch out for him. He had suffered enough.
But she had failed him. ---------------------------------- It looks like spring And it feels like sunny weather But it's a cold day in July ----------------------------------
"How do you do it, Gohan?" Gohan asked as the two of them sparred across a cliff ledge.
Gohan stared at the boy. He couldn't help it. With that innocent, bright look in his eyes, it was hard to remember that he had once been a cold-hearted android who had murdered countless innocent people. He had to admit, reluctantly, that Bulma had done a good job reprogramming him.
16 was gone. Now there was only Trunks.
Bulma had shown Gohan the memories she had given her son in one of the rare moments when she was actually willing to admit that the boy had once been an android. Trunks hated the androids, and all they stood for, and truly believed that Gohan was his best friend, and had been training him in secret for years. He "remembered" a childhood where he had been partially sheltered from the trials of the world, without being too sheltered as to seem unrealistic.
Gohan sighed and offered Trunks the first genuine smile he had ever given him. "You'll get the hang of it eventually, Trunks." He encouraged lightly. It was time to forgive Trunks for a past he couldn't be held responsible for. It was what Gohan's father would have done. "Let's try again." ---------------------------------- Sun's comin' up, comin' up Down on Main Street Children shout As they're comin' out to play -----------------------------------
"16 is dead."
"Possibly."
"He wouldn't stay gone this long on his own."
"I think you are right. So, what do you propose we do about it?"
18 smirked. ---------------------------------- Head in my hands Here I am standing in my bare feet Watching you drive away Watching you drive away -----------------------------------
From far away, Gohan glared at the small city where the significant mass decrease in chi attested to another android attack. Growling, he clenched his hands into fists, feeling the power that would turn him into a Super Saiyan well up inside him.
"Let me go with you, Gohan!" Trunks begged, grasping his arm. "I'm much stronger than I was last time! We can beat them, together!"
"Trunks."
"I'm not letting you go without me." He insisted stubbornly, the image of his father. Gohan put his hands on the boy's shoulders, seeing from his eyes that he wouldn't be able to change his mind.
"All right, Trunks." He lied, smiling at the hopeful boy as he knocked him out with a swift strike to the back of the boy's head. "Sorry, bro." He whispered. "I just can't let them take you back."
He would lose this battle. He knew it with a calming sureness that was uncanny. He regretted leaving Trunks, who he had become rather fond of, as much as he regretted leaving his mother, and grandfather, the Ox King. He hoped he could find his father and Piccolo and Krillin and even Vegeta in Otherworld.
Most of all, he hoped Trunks wouldn't be joining them anytime soon.
"Live the happy life you deserve, bro." He said quietly, smiling fondly, as he flew to his death. "I'll be with you soon, dad."
THE END
Cold Day in July
Breathing heavily, Gohan glared hatefully at the three androids in front of him, slowly, painfully, moving into a slightly lower fighting stance as he struggled to gather his chi. His body ached from the beating he had taken - three against one was never a fair fight - however he refused to give up as long as there was breath in his body.
The androids didn't move to attack, didn't even take their own fighting positions. They knew, just as well as he did, that they didn't need to.
He glared at them, their faces forever burned into his memory.
Android 18, slender and graceful with short, neatly styled blonde hair and clothes that looked fashionable even in the midst of heated battle. She was the most easily bored, and thus the most likely to cause widespread damage.
Android 17, cold and cruel, with his longish black hair and his customary red bandana. He found amusement in everything, and was always playing, even in the midst of heated battle.
And finally, Android 16, the one whose design had given Dr. Gero the final push he needed to give his androids the strength that was necessary in order to defeat a super Saiyan. He was tall and muscular, dressed in black pants and a black sleeveless shirt, and his lavender hair, parted on the side, was cut just a bit shorter than his fellow android's.
Dr. Gero had spent years studying the Z fighters, the strongest warriors in the universe, but he was never able to duplicate the awesome powers of a Saiyan. When the androids first arrived they spoke, acted, and even thought, as one being despite the fact there were two of them. They were strong, but not stronger than the Z warriors. They called themselves 14.
And they were losing the war.
The tables were turned however, when one dark night Dr. Gero snuck into Capsule Corp and kidnapped the one-year-old son of Bulma and Vegeta. Once he had the child he disappeared into the night and did not attack again for several years, along with his androids. The Z fighters searched everywhere for Trunks, but to no avail. Bulma threw herself into her inventions, attempting to do the impossible and create a time machine that would allow her to go back in time and save her lost child. Vegeta eventually, reluctantly gave up his search and locked himself in the gravity room for months on end, refusing to speak to anyone, refusing to leave, not even when Goku, who had been sick for nearly half a year, dies of the heart virus. Not even when, in his grief, he reached the level of the legendary super Saiyan.
Four years after the abduction of the young Demi-Saiyan the androids returned. This time they acted as two separate beings, calling themselves 17 and 18, leaving the implication that there were at least two other androids in the lab, 15 and 16.
At first the Z warriors fought together as a team; even Vegeta joined in, his silent, angry presence promising doom for the two machines. Had they continued to battle together, they would have won. But then something happened to tear apart their carefully constructed teamwork.
A smirking 17 took it upon himself to reveal to them that by experimenting on the young child stolen from Capsule Corp, Gero had managed to do enough research to make 14 into 17 and 18, the two formidable foes that they found standing before them that day. He had laughed mockingly in Vegeta's face, telling him how cooperative his son had been, how he had been kept so near-death and in so much pain that he became a super Saiyan, further improving on their technologies.
And then he told them that the boy was "no more."
Vegeta had flown into a rage, attacking them all by himself. He fought bravely and skillfully, but was killed quickly. Once he was gone everyone else lost hope. They had always counted on the strength of the Saiyans, fist Goku and then later Vegeta, to bring them victoriously through battle. Watching the proud Saiyan prince die made even Gohan lose hope.
One by one the strongest fighters the earth had ever seen were hunted down and killed until only Gohan was left. Then the androids disapeared again.
Gohan had trained hard, pouring everything he had into it. When his mother tried to stop him he left home, living in the wilderness as he had when he was a child being trained by Piccolo, or stopping for a night at Capsule Corp and a few hours in the gravity room. The loss of so many loved ones brought him so much pain that, on the day of his twentieth birthday- spent alone- he finally reached the level of super Saiyan.
Eleven years after Trunks had been taken the androids returned one final time, never to leave again. 17, 18, and a lavender haired twelve-year- old that bore a striking resemblance to Vegeta.
He called himself 16.
It was once again a gloating 17 who let Gohan know for sure that the young 16 was the "half Saiyan brat" Gero had kidnapped. He had made him into an android after his "studies" had killed the boy, who, according to Gero's records, had lasted longer under testing than either 17 or 18 had when they were still human.
Gero, oh so unfortunate, was dead, as was android 15, who Gohan was glad to have never met. 16 had killed them both.
16 had been programmed to age only until his eighteenth birthday, as had been his fellow androids. Whatever he'd had of human compassion, of the Saiyan pride his father had been so fond of, was gone. Dead. Gohan was glad, for his sake, that Vegeta had not lived to see what his son had been made into.
Now, nearly a year later, beaten and broken, it was hard for Gohan to remember that 16 had ever been anything other than a cruel, coldhearted android.
"Ooh, I think our little punching bag is done for today." 18 said in cold mockery, putting her hands on her hips. "Pity. Just when I was beginning to have some fun, too. You really need to shape up, blondy. You're starting to become boring."
"He's been like this for months." 17 complained, just as coldly. "I must say, I am rather disappointed."
Gohan spat at them, pulling himself up into a fighting stance slowly, painfully.
Oh, that's good." 16 chuckled as coldly as his companions. "I'm very frightened now. You should know that."
"Why don't you finish him off?" 17 suggested, ruffling the thirteen- year-old android's hair. "You could use the practice." He turned and began to leave.
"17, wait." Android 18 called, stopping him. There was a look in her ice blue eyes that Gohan had never imagined he's see. Concern.
17 huffed in annoyance and glared. "He'll be fine." He assured her in monotone. "Let's go."
"Go, 18." 16 agreed.
With one last, reluctant glance, she followed the dark haired android into the air, leaving 16 and Gohan alone. Gohan couldn't help but to let loose a surprised laugh. He'd had no idea that the androids could feel anything at all, much less care for each other in that way.
"Isn't she a little old for you?" He taunted.
16 frowned. "Do you plan to attempt an attack, or should I just destroy you now?"
"No, no. I'll attack." Gohan promised with forced lightness, amazed by his new discovery. He had to live so he could tell Bulma. He lunged forward and did the only thing he would think of. He grabbed 16's tail, praying it would give the boy some sort of weakness. As his hand closed around the appendage, the android's eyes widened and the ki blast in his hand flickered. Gohan didn't notice this as he tried to pull out the tail, suddenly angry. That.that thing was no Sayian!
"Stop.fool!"
As he yanked out the tail, 16's ready ki blast exploded like a giant bomb. Gohan felt himself flying backwards just before the world turned black.
He awoke some time later, a brown, fuzzy tail clutched in one hand. His other arm was completely without feeling. He lifted his head a little, staring at the prone form of the android. The lavender haired machine was either dead or unconscious.
Gohan could only hope.
With his soulless eyes closed and the longish lavender hair falling into his face he didn't look like an android. A weapon of destruction. He looked like a thirteen-year-old boy who was in need of medical attention.
Gohan picked himself up painfully and hobbled over to the boy, tossing the limp tail away from himself in disgust. He stared down at the helpless boy a moment, raised a foot to crush his head and finish the job.
And stopped. ---------------------------------------------------- The moon is full And my arms are empty All night long How I've pleaded and cried -----------------------------------------------------
"It's been hours, 17, and he still isn't back."
"He's fine. That blonde brat had nothing left in him. Maybe he made a detour to destroy a village of something." 17 leaned back in his chair, flipping through the channels on the television with the remote control, searching for the news. He loved to see himself on screen.
The androids had taken over a small pink house on an island soon after they destroyed Gero and his laboratory. They'd had to chase away an old man and his pets - a turtle, a pig, and a cat - but the place was now home to them.
"We should go find him." 18 insisted.
17 ignored her. ------------------------------------------------- You always said The day that you would leave me Would be a cold day in July -------------------------------------------------
"If I calibrate it to the fourth degree.yeah.and this should go here instead.hmm...and that.there.times the fifty-seventh power.two turns to the right.hmm.divided by pi.ah.no.Mmm Hmm..oh, now, that's much better."
"Bulma!" A voice croaked out.
The blue-haired woman's head shot up and she turned to stare in the direction of the voice. Gohan, the only son of her long-dead childhood friend, Goku, stood, slumped, in the doorway to her lab. He was a wreck, bleeding from countless places, one arm hanging limply at his side. His other arm was employed in supporting the unconscious boy slung over his shoulder.
"Gohan! What happened to you?"
"Androids."
"Is that.one of them? Gohan! Why would you bring one of those things here?" She scolded, clutching a screwdriver in her hand as if she thought it could offer some protection.
"It's number 16." He said by way of answer, sounding completely exhausted. "I thought you might.wanna' see him."
Bulma's bottom lip began to tremble. "Trunks? It's Trunks? It's my baby?" She had known that her son had been made into an android, Gohan had felt obligated to tell her, but there had never been any indication that she hadn't blocked the fact from her mind, until now.
Gohan sighed, glad he had made the right decision. Bulma deserved to see her only son before he was killed.
"Is he getting heavy? Hurry, Gohan, put him on my worktable!" She ordered, carelessly pushing months of work onto the floor. Gohan grunted with effort, dropping the unconscious boy none-too-carefully on the table.
"What are you going to do?" He asked nervously, watching as his father's oldest friend tenderly brushed lavender strands of hair out of the android's face.
Bulma smiled to herself, not noticing the note of concern in Gohan's voice. She stroked her son's cheek with the back of her hand and kissed his forehead before turning back to the son of Goku. "Don't you worry about him, your only concern right now is medical attention. I see your mother from time to time, you know, and she would kill me if she thought for a moment that I hadn't taken care of her boy. You really should visit her more often, you know."
"Bulma."
"Not now, Gohan. Come along, we'll get you all fixed up." --------------------------------------- Your bags are packed And not a word is spoken I guess we said everything with Goodbye --------------------------------------
Gohan awoke in a hospital bed in one of the many rooms of Capsule Corp, the foggy feeling in his head attesting to the large amounts of medicinal drugs that had been pumped into his body. He should have known better than to let Bulma "take care of him." He had the suspicion that, ever since Vegeta's death, she hadn't been quite right in the head. Who knew what he had put into his system?
He tried to sit up, and a wave of nausea overtook him. As he blacked out, he saw Bulma entering the room.
He awoke again sometime later in a normal bed, in a different room.
"You're completely healed now, Gohan." Bulma informed him from where she stood, looking out the window. "I made sure you wouldn't wake up until you couldn't hurt yourself."
"My.my arm!" He suddenly realized.
"I had to amputate. I'm so sorry, Gohan."
He sighed, leaning his head back into his pillow and cursing quietly under his breath.
"Would you like to get up?" Bulma offered. "You can't expect to regain your strength by lying in bed all day."
"S.sure." He decided, struggling to sit up. Bulma came over and helped him, putting an arm around him to help him stand.
"Good!" She said cheerfully. "Because there's someone I want you to meet."
"Someone.who?"
"Trunks!"
"WHAT?"
"I reprogrammed him!" She said happily. "Gave him the memories of the life I wanted him to have.everything! He'll be waking up soon, and I'm sure he'll be glad to see his best fried and master, Gohan, waiting by his bedside!" --------------------------------------- Time moves so slow And promises get broken On this cold day in July --------------------------------------
"Maybe he decided to fly solo." 17 suggested, boredly bouncing a basketball in an abandoned toy store.
"16 wouldn't do that, not without telling me." 18 answered coldly, shooting an energy blast at a pile of stuffed animals and watching them burn.
"Hey, I know you think you have some kind of special connection to him, but let it drop. He probably doesn't see it that way. Relax. Have some fun. It's been a long time since we've had time without the kid. He'll show up again when he's ready." 18 turned away from him to blow up a row of dolls. She had taken care of 16 ever since he had first awakened. He reminded her of someone she had known before she had been made into an android. He and 17 were the only family she had. She couldn't help but to worry as much as her programming permitted. "Be careful, little brother." ----------------------------------- Sun's comin' up, comin' up Down on Main Street Children shout As their comin' out to play ----------------------------------
Gohan shifted uneasily as the android began to stir, prepared for the worst. Either Bulma's "reprogramming" hadn't worked, and 16 would attack as soon as he woke, or it would work too well, and the boy would be a useless machine made of flesh.
Either scenario would destroy Bulma.
"Don't ever let him know what he is." She whispered excitedly. "He has no idea, and he hates the androids for what they did to this world.and his father."
"Bulma."
The boy groaned softly.
"Trunks?" Bulma asked eagerly. "Trunks? It's your mommy."
Ice blue eyes opened, blinking in the unexpected light. A slow, weak smile spread onto the face that bore such an uncanny resemblance to Vegeta. "Mom?" He croaked out. "Mom, what happened? Is.Is Gohan okay?" He asked anxiously, trying to sit up.
"He's fine, sweetheart." Bulma soothed. "Look, he's right here."
Trunks' eye fell on Gohan and he smiled hugely. "Gohan!" He sighed, relieved. "I was so worried. That was some fight, huh? Those stinkin' androids always fight dirty. But.your arm! What happened?"
"Go back to sleep, honey." Bulma ordered lovingly, smoothing her son's brow. "You still aren't recovered yet. You need sleep. I'll yell at you for trying to fight those monsters later."
He smiled appreciatively and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep. Gohan stared in horror at Bulma, who sat smiling quietly and stroking her son's hair, humming a gentle lullaby. He now knew one thing for sure about Bulma.
Bulma was insane. ------------------------------------- Head in my hands Here I am standing in my bare feet Watching you drive away Watching you drive away -------------------------------------
"I can't do it!" Trunks exclaimed in frustration, plopping down in the grass. Try as hard as he might, use as much power as he had, he still couldn't reach the level of Super Saiyan.
Gohan, sitting a little further away in the grass with his face buried in his hand, looked up and gave Trunks an insincere smile. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually." He encouraged halfheartedly.
Trunks stared hard at his best friend, making the older boy shift nervously. Gohan had been acting different toward him ever since the last battle with the androids, where he had lost his arm. "What's going on, Gohan?" He asked finally, feeling sad. "Why don't you like me anymore?"
"Anymore...?"
"Do.do you blame me for what happened to your arm? I tried to help, I really did! I just.wasn't.strong enough." He felt tears fill his eyes and tried not to let them show. "I would have done more, if I could have."
Gohan was silent for a long moment. "Don't worry about it." He finally said quietly.
Reassured, Trunks laid back in the grass and watched the clouds drift by. "D'ya think mom's figured out that you're training me yet?"
Gohan snorted softly. "Who knows what she thinks?"
There was silence for a while. "Gohan?"
"What?"
"Will you tell me about my father?" ----------------------------------- You said that we Were gonna last forever You said our love Would never die ----------------------------------
He wasn't ever coming back. She had failed in her promise to take care of him. That damned Saiyan kid had killed him. He had been just a child, young by anyone's standards. She'd thought that goody-goody blonde brat was the type who wouldn't kill children, but it turned out that he was just a hypocrite.
How dare he presume that he was better than them?
She would never forget when she had first met 16. He had been a small, frightened boy of five, with eyes full of pain, connected to what had seemed like millions of machines. Dr. Gero's experiments had kept the boy in almost constant pain, and sometimes his screams had ripped through the laboratory until 18 had thought she would go insane if she didn't get away.
One day the boy had looked at her, eyes filled with pleading, begging her to save him. He hadn't understood why he was being forced to suffer, and he hadn't deserved the torture. 18 had reached out and taken his hand, holding it tightly as she killed him, relieving him of the pain. She remembered reaching up with her free hand and touching something wet on her cheek.
Gero had reconstructed the boy, forming him into a biochemical android like her, just like her, and she had sworn that she would watch out for him. He had suffered enough.
But she had failed him. ---------------------------------- It looks like spring And it feels like sunny weather But it's a cold day in July ----------------------------------
"How do you do it, Gohan?" Gohan asked as the two of them sparred across a cliff ledge.
Gohan stared at the boy. He couldn't help it. With that innocent, bright look in his eyes, it was hard to remember that he had once been a cold-hearted android who had murdered countless innocent people. He had to admit, reluctantly, that Bulma had done a good job reprogramming him.
16 was gone. Now there was only Trunks.
Bulma had shown Gohan the memories she had given her son in one of the rare moments when she was actually willing to admit that the boy had once been an android. Trunks hated the androids, and all they stood for, and truly believed that Gohan was his best friend, and had been training him in secret for years. He "remembered" a childhood where he had been partially sheltered from the trials of the world, without being too sheltered as to seem unrealistic.
Gohan sighed and offered Trunks the first genuine smile he had ever given him. "You'll get the hang of it eventually, Trunks." He encouraged lightly. It was time to forgive Trunks for a past he couldn't be held responsible for. It was what Gohan's father would have done. "Let's try again." ---------------------------------- Sun's comin' up, comin' up Down on Main Street Children shout As they're comin' out to play -----------------------------------
"16 is dead."
"Possibly."
"He wouldn't stay gone this long on his own."
"I think you are right. So, what do you propose we do about it?"
18 smirked. ---------------------------------- Head in my hands Here I am standing in my bare feet Watching you drive away Watching you drive away -----------------------------------
From far away, Gohan glared at the small city where the significant mass decrease in chi attested to another android attack. Growling, he clenched his hands into fists, feeling the power that would turn him into a Super Saiyan well up inside him.
"Let me go with you, Gohan!" Trunks begged, grasping his arm. "I'm much stronger than I was last time! We can beat them, together!"
"Trunks."
"I'm not letting you go without me." He insisted stubbornly, the image of his father. Gohan put his hands on the boy's shoulders, seeing from his eyes that he wouldn't be able to change his mind.
"All right, Trunks." He lied, smiling at the hopeful boy as he knocked him out with a swift strike to the back of the boy's head. "Sorry, bro." He whispered. "I just can't let them take you back."
He would lose this battle. He knew it with a calming sureness that was uncanny. He regretted leaving Trunks, who he had become rather fond of, as much as he regretted leaving his mother, and grandfather, the Ox King. He hoped he could find his father and Piccolo and Krillin and even Vegeta in Otherworld.
Most of all, he hoped Trunks wouldn't be joining them anytime soon.
"Live the happy life you deserve, bro." He said quietly, smiling fondly, as he flew to his death. "I'll be with you soon, dad."
THE END