Summary: After the Cell Games, Seventeen is lost. He realizes that Gero's sole purpose for him was to give Cell power to be the ultimate android. With Son Goku dead, he has no purpose anymore. As Seventeen tries to discover his reason for existence, can he discover more?
This is a story meant to entail the life of Seventeen between the Cell Games and the Tournament of Power, a 13-year gap. This will include how he ultimately became a park ranger, met his eventual wife, and many other elements.
Disclaimer: The Dragon Ball franchise and all of its characters belong to Akira Toriyama.
Chapter 2 – Revelation
Despite being a very useful ability, flying was not something Seventeen enjoyed all that much. Like his cybernetics and perpetual energy, flight was one of the unnatural, inhuman elements that Dr. Gero had given him when the scientist had changed him into a cyborg. While Eighteen chalked up her twin's fascination with driving to being a "male instinct not even science could fix", Seventeen knew that the root cause was that driving was normal. He was never supposed to be able to flit around the sky or produce energy from his hands.
Sure, he could do a quick scan of this planet for Sixteen in a matter of hours and proceed with his life. But Seventeen never asked for this life. From his first activation to now, all he had wanted was some normalcy and even the smallest trace of humanity.
'We're going to do this the old-fashioned way. Normal travel, normal activities, and a normal adventure. Well, as normal as anything can be for me, I suppose.'
As someone equally comfortable in both rural and urban areas, the idea of traveling the world was enough to excite Seventeen. After all, what could be more human than the dream of exploration? Eighteen lacked the same enthusiasm and enjoyment towards nature that Seventeen and Sixteen had, but Sixteen never showed any real interest when the trio went through towns and more industrialized areas. But Seventeen? He could find something to make even the most barren wastelands or overcrowded cities a fun experience.
Resolved with a new spin on the current game, Seventeen descended into the mountain range outside North City. While he doubted Sixteen would be in the metropolis, Seventeen wanted to be thorough in searching for his friend. While Central City was technically closer from the Cell Games, he wanted to get North City out of the way first.
It was, after all, the site of his activation. Even if he didn't have memories of stasis or deactivation, Seventeen was not overly fond of being near the lab, despite it being in ruins. But perhaps Sixteen had returned here first.
The cyborg's thoughts were interrupted by a nearby commotion. The smell of gasoline and the sound of engines filled the mountain range, presumably from some motorcycles. As Seventeen descended and approached the source of the ruckus, he saw a few dozen bikers gathered on the road.
Well, this certainly looked amusing.
Approaching the nearest member, Seventeen tapped the man on the shoulder to grab his attention. "What's happening here?"
The man aggressively slapped Seventeen's hand away, not even bothering to turn to face the young man. "Buzz off, kid. None of your business."
"Tch. How rude.'
"My, my. Antsy, and quite impolite, aren't we? Just thought this whole thing looked like a ton of fun. Can't a kid be curious?" A smirk found its way onto Seventeen's face. Instinct told him this was a race, and Seventeen loved to showcase speed.
"Damn it, kid. Didn't I tell you to-" The man couldn't even finish his sentence once he looked towards Seventeen.
"Y-y-you...you're the kid...the punk from before..."
Before? Had they met? The only time Seventeen had recalled being in this area was when he had hijacked that Lucky Foods truck and raced the…
Oh, that's where they had met before. Well, well: this just got much more fun.
"Fancy meeting you again in a place like this, huh pal?"
"Listen, kid! Nobody who disrespects the Toad Warriors has a right to call me pal! Shove your smug attitude up your ass and get the hell off our turf!"
Seventeen could only chuckle, unable to suppress his smugness. Watching people lose their cool was high-quality entertainment to the young man, and this proved to be no exception.
"Just indulge me, boss man. Or maybe those other bikers want to hear a nice story about how you and your crew got waxed by a bunch of punk kids in a pink food delivery truck."
The color drained instantly from the Toad Warrior's face.
"No, no, no: PLEASE don't do that. Anything but that. Just leave us what's left of our dignity! It's just a race between gang members! One person per gang! Nothing crazy or interesting!"
"A race, you say?"
Now this was one aspect Eighteen could absolutely attribute to "male instinct".
"What's the prize for winning?"
"Fifty-thousand zeni. But that's none of your business!"
Seventeen raised his eyes in intrigue. If he were really going to do this adventure the "normal" way, money would be a nice thing to have on hand. Sure, he could just steal money, and it's not as if he absolutely needed money to go on this adventure, but it would make things easier. Fifty-thousand zeni, spent wisely, could realistically last him a few months. The occasional meal here or there, maybe a new set of clothes. Hell: he could even splurge and sleep in a bed some nights if he wanted.
"How do I join this race, boss man?"
"Hell no, punk! I'm not letting you join after your stunts from last time. Not only did you humiliate the name of the Toad Warriors, but you put damn-near-everybody's life in danger on the highway!"
"Aren't we overreacting a bit?"
"Overreacting? You drove a truck through a billboard and towards a train on the tracks! You're a danger to humanity!"
Seventeen decided to let that last comment slide, even if it did royally piss him off. While he did have a point, "danger to humanity" was something he was supposed to be, but not.
"Call it what you want. The truth is you owe me a big favor for helping your and your buddies evade the cops. I saved you from even further embarrassment there. Not only getting beaten by a punk kid driving a delivery truck, but also getting your entire squad arrested? Hysterical, I tell you!"
Stunned into silence, the leader of the Toad Warriors couldn't find a comeback to that scathing statement.
"Pal, all I want is one race on your bike. And when I win, I want to not only keep the money, but also get double the payout. No off-roading through billboards, no train track showdowns. I'll even give you back your bike in perfect condition! One race, and I'm gone. We have a deal?"
Realizing that he either had to give up his race or his pride, the head Toad Warrior chose the former.
"Fine, but only if you win. Now, have you ever driven one of these before?"
Seventeen only chuckled.
"Never, but it can't be too hard. Handling a vehicle is just like messing with the controller of a video game. And I'm the king of video games."
Sure enough, the race had been a simple endeavor. And true to his word, Seventeen returned the Toad Warrior's bike in perfect condition. There had been some close calls where the leader of the Toad Warriors feared for his ride, but the kid seemed to take great amusement in flustering the other riders by getting in their space and speeding off.
But after a convincing win, no scratches to the bike, and no police intervention, the gang leader was more than willing to hand over the hundred-thousand zeni to get rid of Seventeen forever.
'It's only natural to stock up on supplies before the grind in any game. But even this was way too easy.' Not that Seventeen was complaining. Even the build-up to the game was quite entertaining.
If only Eighteen were here. She'd be so proud of him negotiating his way into free money. Oh well. This would give her something to laugh at when they'd see each other in a couple months.
Nearing the entrance to North City, Seventeen began to finalize the specifics of the game.
'The Game: Travel the World.
The Objective: Find Sixteen.
The Rules: Play as a human. No energy blasts. No super strength. No flying, unless there is no other way to get from one location to the other. The rules are void on days when visiting Eighteen.'
The rules seemed simple enough, and he could add or revise the rules as the game progressed. Seventeen figured that he could probably tackle the individual regions of the planet in two months, give or take a couple weeks. He didn't have a specific route mapped out for his travels, but he could worry about that later. With no worries, Seventeen could just focus on the present. Why rush an adventure when it could be spread out over time? This could be the first real fun in a while!
As he entered North City, Seventeen wondered about what he should do first. Perhaps he would find a meal. After all, nothing personified rebelling against Gero than doing something exactly because he didn't need it. There could be worse things than indulging in human food. He had recalled enjoying some of the meat and other dishes from Son Goku's house when the trio had raided Mount Paozu looking for the Saiyan.
While browsing the streets for a place to get a snack, Seventeen came across a small bookstore. He didn't really have any need for books: his information systems were already incredibly comprehensive. What possible knowledge could he possibly gain from reading? But again, he had the freedom to do things because he wanted to, and that included the things that were absolutely meaningless to him.
Deciding this would be his first stop, Seventeen entered the store. Browsing through the shelves, Seventeen skimmed through a few titles that interested him and quickly found his initial hypothesis to be incorrect. On these shelves existed multiple topics that Seventeen had very little knowledge of. Some specific books fascinated Seventeen, and with an initial spark of curiosity, he dove into the pages.
A book on chess, its history, and theory. Seventeen found that, even if the game weren't amusing in the traditional sense, he was quite interested. After all, the cyborg enjoyed tactical games as much as he did adventure. None of this was particularly useful in the eyes of Dr. Gero, but Seventeen quickly picked up the basics and found himself following along for a few pages. Maybe he'd keep this. After all, it was as important to keep the mind sharp as the body.
A guide on various martial arts and meditation techniques. Seventeen, despite his strength, was a fairly inexperienced fighter. That showed against Piccolo during their fight on the tropical islands. The young man had presumed that he and Eighteen had had limited exposure to martial arts during their human lives, but not much. Knowing exactly how Son Goku and his friends fought was one thing, and copying the basics of their movements did help, but it all became meaningless against Cell, who had his own unique style that Seventeen had never seen and had no counters to. And without a complete idea on how to fight, Seventeen had been soundly defeated.
Even when fighting Piccolo on that island, the Namekian had outwitted him and held his own through superior fighting technique and intellect. While the two had been roughly comparable in power, Seventeen had held the edge in both speed and stamina, which he thought would make him clearly superior. Yet Seventeen found the fight to be much more difficult than anticipated, and had he made any crucial mistakes, he probably would have been finished. Yes, this book definitely could come in handy. At the very least, it would help kill time.
A couple of cookbooks. The idea of food fascinated Seventeen. His cybernetics meant that food was entirely optional, and Gero had even figured out how to shut off the cyborg's hunger response. Why would a couple of cookbooks ever be useful? And yet, Seventeen mused, abandoning logic is a key human principle during decision-making. So two books on basic cooking tips and nutrition concepts found their way into his stack.
Just as Seventeen was about to head to the register, two more titles caught his eye. The first was an animal encyclopedia, brimming with vibrant pictures of animal life. The title was both filled with visuals and quite detailed about habitats and other relevant information. The cover made Seventeen think of his friend that the game was directed towards and how much he would enjoy this book. After all, Sixteen loved life and all of the creatures on the planet.
The second was a much smaller title, but it also dealt with animals. However, unlike the encyclopedia, this book only dealt with animals that were somewhere on the endangered species spectrum.
'The Red Data Book. A catalog of animals from endangered to possibly extinct.'
If he could find the creatures in that book, Seventeen would have quite the adventure to relay to Sixteen when he found him. Perhaps they could even travel together to search for some of these rare animals. Perhaps that could even be the next adventure.
Both of those were definitely coming along. After paying for a backpack, some pen and paper, and the six books, Seventeen left the bookstore and was ready to start his adventure. The trademark smirk etched on his face, the cyborg whispered one sentence to nobody in particular that lingered in the streets.
"Game on."
The region around North City was frigid and rugged. Outside of North City itself, there weren't very many large cities or towns dotting the area: life there was pretty unpleasant relative to living in other parts of the world, and unless people had been born in the area, many found reason to leave. Of the major regions on Earth, the North was the most isolated. It was also the least populous region, adding to its quietness.
While he noted that those conditions would suit the mild-mannered Sixteen, Seventeen had had his doubts that he would find his friend here. Sixteen never spoke to other people when they had traveled together, but that didn't explicitly mean that the large man disliked human beings. But while the northern region did not have many humans, it was devoid of life in general. It was not a particularly lush region, teeming with critters and the sound of wildlife. Even now, in the middle of summer, there was snow on the mountains. There was very little green to be seen.
Seventeen could see why Gero had seen this place fit to have his secret laboratory. An area with few people and harsh conditions. No human would willingly search this region forever. Few humans would even see this place as desirable.
However, the lack of people and animals meant that Seventeen had been free to train without a real fear of disturbing others. Nighttime provided its own cover, with the dual-threat of darkness and cold giving people very little rationale for being out in the wee hours of the night. The mountains also had a number of caves where Seventeen could stay away from others and work on basics.
The martial arts book had been quite handy. Seventeen took in the information quickly, learning all he could about various fighting stances, techniques, and counters. He had resolved early to push his body to its limits when training, and that meant using as little of his cybernetic enhancements to improve his basic strength. When he wasn't physically training, Seventeen would use the time to meditate. He took note of a few breathing exercises and would work on sharpening his other senses by trying to pick out things around him with his eyes closed.
While it had taken some time to get used to, Seventeen slowly began being able to pick out the distinguished sounds of life around him. The subtle crunch of snow on boots, the soft chirp of what birds were in the area, the roar of a car engine on the road. By blocking out his sight, Seventeen found that he could force his other senses, namely hearing, to compensate. While his cybernetics had improved his human sensory capabilities, Seventeen wanted to improve them even further. He had been caught off guard, entirely unaware that Cell had snuck behind him. He would not make that mistake again.
Seventeen also reviewed past fights, both his own and those in his database. He became meticulous in analyzing how various fighters approached their matches. Which hands they favored, the stances they used, their attack patterns, favorite techniques: all of these were things he tried to note. While watching, Seventeen tried using his improved knowledge and understanding of martial arts to decipher good and bad maneuvers, as well as improvements. Before long, he had gone through his own fights with Piccolo and Cell, as well as some of Goku's older fights. The cyborg wished that he had some sort of training pattern: replaying fights in his head was helpful, but he wanted to re-enact a fight and then put his own spin and try to improve on a particular fighter's approach.
During the days, he would explore the mountains and caves for Sixteen and meditate in a cave or outside. During the nights, he would find an open area to go through some basic training. Seventeen found quickly that, despite his cybernetics, he could only last about two weeks without sleep. After a disorienting experience where he found himself awake in a pile of snow, Seventeen made an effort to get some sleep each day, either through a daytime nap or a light rest in the evenings.
Two months eventually came and went, and despite a thorough search, Seventeen came to the conclusion that Sixteen was definitely not in the North. There hadn't been much to see in the area, and he still felt bad vibes from the area, so Seventeen was more than ready to explore a different corner of the world. As the date for his first meeting with Eighteen approached, Seventeen prepared for his departure.
Seventeen had arrived in Central City early in the morning before realizing that he and Eighteen had never agreed on a time: just the date and place. Figuring that she would show up sooner or later, he sat on a bench and pulled out a book from his backpack. Glancing at the cover, he recognized it as the chess guide.
Hours passed as the city began to awaken. Chatter was buzzing from the heart of the metropolis as lunchtime came and went. But Seventeen sat, absorbed in his book. Lessons on piece movement, value, and opening theory went.
About a quarter of the way through the book, Seventeen heard something approaching from above. It wasn't like the birds from the mountains, and it didn't have the sound of the planes that flew overhead.
Ah: Eighteen was approaching. 'Guess the sensory training really is paying off, if I can hear her approaching from that distance.'
Closing his book and packing up his things, Seventeen stood to greet his sister.
"Well, what a surprise. Thought you'd be goofing off somewhere. I didn't actually expect you to be the one waiting for me."
"Is that any way to greet your favorite brother, Eighteen?"
"You're my only brother, Seventeen. That also makes you the worst brother, idiot."
The two traded blank expressions before simultaneously grinning slightly. No matter what, family was still family, and the twins really got along well despite the petty sibling squabbles.
"As much as it'd be nice to chat out here, it's a little too open for me. How about we go to a restaurant or something to chat?"
Before Eighteen could protest, Seventeen dashed off into the heart of the city.
"Wait for me, you idiot!"
A few minutes later, Eighteen had caught up with her twin outside a café. She hadn't remembered putting forth that level of effort in a while. Had he gotten faster?
Whatever it was, she was slightly annoyed by her brother's antics. The two had been quickly seated and had their orders taken (though Eighteen decided to just have water).
"Why did you insist on going to a café, Seventeen?"
"Lighten up, sis. I just want some hot tea and a snack: what's wrong with that?"
"We don't need food, and we can regulate our temperatures. And you've been out in the sun for a bit anyway. What's the point of this?"
"Does there have to be a point? Isn't it fine to just do what we want? Not everything has to be logical. After being cooped up in the mountains for a couple months, I've come to appreciate fine dining!"
Eighteen rolled her eyes and scoffed in annoyance. Somehow, her brother had gotten more insufferable in the two months apart. "Tea hardly classifies as fine dining. You're such a child, Seventeen. And where do we have the money for this? You're not going to just walk out on me with the bill, are you? Because you're so dead if you do."
"Nope: no need to worry about money! Remember those bikers from the mountains? Funny story..."
To his delight, Seventeen found that Eighteen saw the motorcycle ordeal to be just as comical as he did. When the waitress arrived with Seventeen's cup of tea and sandwich, she had to wait for the laughter to die down before serving the table.
"I need to remember that for the future. There are so many opportunities to get easy money in the world, and if you can get some goon to pay double so easily, I sure as hell can too. So you still have some money left over?"
"Outside of some books and the occasional meal here or there in the city, I haven't needed to spend a lot. I'd just sleep in one of the caves in the mountains, and it's not hard finding some fruit or fish around the area when I want to eat something. I've still got around sixty-thousand zeni, more or less. As the better twin, I don't burn all my money on clothes."
"Watch it, asshole. I can burn your stack of cash to nothing pretty quickly."
Seventeen learned that Eighteen had also missed Sixteen badly. She had wanted to reflect on their time together, and she found herself returning to the islands where Seventeen and Piccolo had fought, as well as the specific island where her twin had ultimately been absorbed. Afterwards, she had gone where she had ultimately met the same fate. While there, she had run into one of Son Goku's friends.
"I ran into the little old guy again."
"The one with the shiny head?"
"He has a name, you know?"
"I don't hear you using it, hypocrite."
Eighteen's eyes fell, and suddenly, Seventeen's drink was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Why does the little guy make you so uncomfortable, Eighteen? I get that he made the wish for us, but this is so unlike you."
His twin just sank her chin into her crossed arms and mumbled something into her shirt.
"What was that?"
"I said I hate owing people stuff. And I owe him big time."
Oh? Now this was very interesting, indeed.
"Go on."
Sighing, Eighteen looked at her twin and wondered if he could actually help her out.
"Right before Cell absorbed me on that island, Krillin confronted me and Sixteen. The two of us were so focused on watching Vegeta and Cell fight that neither of us picked up on him approaching. I only knew he was there because he dropped something."
"Something? You're being awfully vague, Eighteen."
"Damn it, Seventeen. Can you show an ounce of patience?"
Chuckling, the self-proclaimed better twin leaned back, giving Eighteen a cue to continue.
"I didn't think much of it. After all, we know he's much weaker than either of us, and he didn't even try to fight us on that mountain highway. But then I saw what he dropped. It was an emergency deactivation controller."
"What?"
Some heads turned at Seventeen's outburst. He hadn't even realized that he had abruptly stood in response to Eighteen's recollection. Seventeen sat down again, his expression morphing to a more serious one.
"Tell me everything. Now."
"I was getting there. I was stunned too: how did he get a hold of one of those? You had destroyed the one in Gero's lab, and then the dramatic purple-haired kid blasted the lab to pieces. But no matter how he got a shutdown controller, he had one. And all he had to do to deny Cell his complete form was press a button. Even with my speed, I couldn't have closed the gap on him quickly enough."
Eighteen just stopped, as if she couldn't continue for some reason.
"So how are you here? That makes no sense!"
Eighteen looked up to make eye contact with her twin. The expression on his sister's face was one he had never seen before. She seemed...confused? It was something beyond confusion. She seemed bothered, as if something inexplicable had happened that she couldn't begin to bring herself to understand.
"Seventeen, he destroyed the controller. He told me to run and get away. He had the option of shutting me down and destroying me, of preventing Cell from becoming complete, and he chose to try and save my life instead. And I'm fucking lost as to why, but I'm thankful. Even though he couldn't stop Cell from getting me in the end, how could I not be grateful to him?"
He had destroyed the controller? For what purpose? He could have saved the planet: instead, he took the completely illogical option.
And yet, Seventeen was immensely grateful. When nobody would have shown his sister any mercy, he had.
The mini-monk...no: Krillin. His actions, from the wish to destroying the deactivation controller, elevated the short man in Seventeen's eyes. The very least he could do was refer to him by his name.
Suddenly, it clicked. Why Krillin would have destroyed the controller. Why he wished for their humanity and the removal of the self-destruct devices. And why his sister was reacting this way and so uncomfortable with everything. A wicked grin appeared on Seventeen's face.
'Not yet. I want to keep prying before I confirm this theory.'
"So you ran into him on the island after we went our separate ways. Did you two talk about the weather?"
Eighteen became flustered, and he could see a hint of rose in her cheeks. Embarrassed now, were we?
"I might have beat his short ass into the island."
Seventeen had to stifle a chuckle. That was peak Eighteen. Entirely incapable of dealing with her human side.
"I-I was only stressed about things, and he didn't help, okay! Stop laughing! I hadn't let loose in a long time, and I've been worried about things, so the stress got to me! How do you deal with it? Playing games?"
Oh, she was really blowing a fuse.
"For your information, dear sister, I train and meditate. Unlike you, I can actually handle the human side of things quite well, and training's good for relieving stress and clearing the brain. You should do it sometime!"
"You're not the only one who trains and meditates, asshole! Every morning on the island with the bald guys!"
Immediately, Eighteen reeled back in regret, as she knew she had said too much. The grin just further widened and cemented itself onto Seventeen's face.
"How scandalous, Eighteen! Not one, but two guys?"
"Oh, fuck off. I don't believe this..."
"You have some explaining to do!"
Eighteen groaned as she held her face between her hands. She wanted to throttle her twin and mute that annoying sing-song voice, but she knew she dug herself into this hole.
"After I unceremoniously bashed the short monk into the island, he just laughed it off and took it in stride. I guess he was also going through a rough time. But he offered me a place to stay for the time being. Said there was an extra room. So I've been staying there. He's pretty perceptive and saw how stressed I was, so he lets me meditate with him and train a little."
"Is there all that is? So boring, Eighteen! I never took you to be the domestic type."
"Just because shorty has the hots for me doesn't mean anything. I'm only staying there as long as I want to: I'll leave eventually." Eighteen crossed her arms again, huffing in annoyance.
Bingo. An opportunity to possibly strengthen his theory.
"You sure about that, Eighteen? Sounds like the hots are mutual, if you catch my drift?"
Eighteen's glare could have cut Seventeen in half, but he wasn't intimidated. The teasing had built itself up to this point, but this was something she really needed to sort out.
"You want to repeat that again, Seventeen? Go ahead: if you really want to get your ass kicked soundly, I dare you to repeat yourself."
"Let's pay and get out of here before we talk about how you've got feelings for Krillin. I'd rather not cause a scene." He got up and motioned for the waitress, leaving the bill and tip before exiting. Eighteen followed behind him, but she was shaking in anger.
"Fuck you, Seventeen."
Turning back to his sister, Seventeen had a serious expression on his face.
"Denial is a powerful thing, dear sister."
Internally, Eighteen was seething. 'Don't be a hypocrite and preach about denial, when you're living in your own fantasy believing that Sixteen is alive!'
"The desert. We can talk this out there. And we can finally let loose at full power. How exciting!"
"You're dead, Seventeen."
The malice was more than apparent in Eighteen's voice as she snarled at her twin. Seventeen knew how to push her buttons, but he had crossed the line. To insinuate that she could have feelings for the little guy...how preposterous.
As soon as the twins landed, Eighteen lunged, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks. However, Seventeen knew how his sister fought from previous spars. He had also gone through the trouble of analyzing his sister's fight against Vegeta. Her strike patterns hadn't changed much from before, so Seventeen found himself dodging and deflecting her blows with minimal effort.
"Did I strike a nerve back there, Eighteen? Did I say something wrong? Maybe about a certain monk?"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Eighteen decided to go all-out. The twins were more-or-less equal in strength, so Seventeen wouldn't get off too badly hurt, but he needed to pay for this.
"You know" A sidestep.
"There's nothing wrong" Ducking two punches.
"With liking someone" Blocking a kick.
"Unless you think" Another sidestep.
"Liking Krillin is embarrassing." He grabbed both fists.
Cheeky asshole: he wasn't even trying? What the hell was this?
"Fight back, you ass! Stop patronizing me and actually try!"
Seventeen decided to indulge his sister. His training had really paid off. He could quickly see Eighteen's attacks, and in her fury, her technique was incredibly sloppy and predictable. But Seventeen also realized that his speed has improved, and that Eighteen, while clearly putting effort into the fight, was failing to remotely bother Seventeen with her assault.
Perhaps training without his cybernetics had drastically improved his fighting capabilities, but combined with the tactical side he had been working on, this would be a interesting test. He picked the fight he wanted to recreate, then launched himself forward.
Suddenly, Eighteen felt herself getting pushed back. Seventeen was attacking with a basic series of jabs and kicks, but he seemed to be...playing?
"It's pretty obvious you like him. And there's nothing wrong with liking someone, with liking Krillin. He's done a lot for us: for you."
Seventeen wondered if Eighteen realized that he was essentially mimicking Vegeta's fight with her on the highway. Probably not in this hot-headed state. That and he was continuously pushing her back, instead of tiring out like the Saiyan prince had. While Seventeen couldn't mimic Vegeta's form or lifelong combat experience, he could make up for it with perpetual energy and greater speed than the previous fight. The different circumstances and probable different outcome meant that she likely wouldn't connect two and two together.
"And you can chalk that up to him liking you, but your reaction is completely ridiculous if you actually don't care about him."
Unlike before, Eighteen couldn't just block the assault: instead, she had to focus on dodging and less on being able to counterattack. But Seventeen knew that his stance closed off the possibility of a counterattack, as long as he never relented on offensive pressure. He had already gotten used to her dodging patterns and decided to start varying strikes and creating his own version of a past fight.
Mental simulations were one thing, but playing out an alternative version of a fight in real-time was wholly unique. He was really enjoying himself. But the point of this wasn't to enjoy the fight.
"You're unable to refer to him by name, probably to convince yourself you don't care. But you're also embarrassed about being cold to him. You feel grateful to him for the things he's done, when you never show gratitude to anybody."
Slowly, the blows were adding up. Seventeen couldn't believe it. Just a couple months ago, the twins had been relatively evenly matched. Now, he was holding back and overpowering his twin in speed and strength, recreating a fight she had won and turning the tables on her instantly.
"Stop denying that you're indifferent to Krillin. It's obvious you like him, that you're thankful for all the things he's done for you, without him asking anything of you in return."
With a final strike, Seventeen decisively finished his counterattack, and Eighteen fell to the sand, soundly defeated.
Perhaps he had overdone it. Maybe he could have pretended to show some effort. Eighteen was proud of her abilities, but to be overwhelmed convincingly by her younger twin had to be damaging to her pride.
Eighteen got on one knee, growling. She braced herself to get up, ready to enter a second round, but Seventeen calmly caught up to her and knelt down to get to eye-level with her.
"You know, he won't stick around forever, right?"
Eighteen recoiled in shock.
"What do you mean?"
"Eighteen, if you keep this up, you're just going to end up needlessly hurting him and yourself. He doesn't have to care about you or like you: he chooses to. But just as he chooses to now, it won't stop him from not if there's nothing but pain for him."
"But-"
"Eighteen, listen to me. We're not real. We were taken from our lives and made into machines to kill someone and fulfill an old man's personal vendetta. And along the way, even that purpose got taken from us, and we became power sources for some insect freak. We're not important. We don't mean anything. We don't matter."
Seventeen closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't really want to deal with the truth that he still didn't know what he wanted to do. That he had no idea what to do with his life after this ordeal with Sixteen.
But Eighteen. She had an opportunity. A chance to live a normal life. A family, being with someone who cared about her. Who treated her normally. These were things that Eighteen didn't outwardly express as things she desired, but Seventeen knew that deep down, his sister wanted to be normal and human just as much as he did.
"But in Krillin, he knows of the things that we find least desirable about ourselves. He knows and understands that we aren't human. And he doesn't care. Not only does he not care about your lack of a past, but he's gone out of his way to help us without expecting anything in return. To him, you are important. You mean something. You matter. And you're willing to throw all of that away because you deny that you actually feel something for him? Because you're afraid to confront your feelings and the possibility that you might actually like him back?"
"He's just doing it because I kissed him on that highway! There's no way anyone could actually care for us. We're not real, Seventeen! Humans can't care for us the way they care for each other, so I'm doing myself a favor and saving myself from getting hurt down the line when this all breaks!"
Finally, he had coaxed the answer from Eighteen, who was screaming at him. Unfortunately, she was in tears, forced to confront the harsh reality that she, in fact, did have real feelings for the short martial artist. Forced to confront her feelings, that she actually liked the idea of being with him, but terrified of it not working out.
"Don't be ridiculous, Eighteen. Didn't you hear anything I had to say? He doesn't care about cybernetics or anything like that. He's best friends with a Saiyan, for crying out loud, and even Son Goku has settled with a human."
Seventeen embraced his sister, trying to give her support and courage to go face this issue head on.
"To him, you're not unnatural or inhuman. You're just you. If he's really accepted you as you are, then these fears are just silly, aren't they?"
Eighteen choked back her sobs as she tried to stop herself from crying.
"Do...do you really think it could work out? I'm scared that this is all too good to be true, that Gero has us still in stasis and that he'll wake us. That this will all go away. That all of this wasn't real."
Seventeen smiled softly. Even his big, strong, twin sister had her fears. But this wasn't anything she needed to be terrified of. Things would work out.
"Yes: I think this can work. And I think it could be good for you. But you need to talk to him and face this, for your sake and his. It might be impossible to find another person on the planet who knows about us and accepts us anyway. If you two actually care for each other, then don't avoid the subject."
Seventeen broke his hug and stood, offering a hand to Eighteen to help her up.
"That means today, got it? First thing when you get back to Kame House, talk to him. Lay it on the table. You might not like dealing with emotions and the human element, but you need to every once in a while."
Refreshed, and perhaps even a little hopeful, Eighteen took Seventeen's hand and helped herself up from the desert.
"Tonight...yeah: tonight sounds like a good time."
"Same time in two months?"
While Seventeen was curious to hear all about how her sister's relationship would be going, he still had his brother to find somewhere. He had decided on spending some time around East City next.
Both twins felt refreshed after dealing with the issue of Eighteen's feelings, though Eighteen was going to have an interesting time explaining her extremely ruffled appearance to her soon-to-be significant other.
"Yeah: two months sounds good. And around the same time too."
"Then I'll see you then. Oh, and Seventeen?"
"Yeah, sis?"
"Thank you."
"Just let me know when I'm officially going to be a brother-in-law."
"You ass!"
A/N: This was a much lengthier chapter than anticipated. This one kinda wrote itself, and the original plan for this chapter deviated. That's why this chapter, despite being longer than both the prologue and first chapter, got done in a shorter time than either of those. Some things.
Zeni are supposed to have the same value as yen. For those familiar with the American dollar, the generic calculation I'm using is 1 dollar = 100 zeni. So the prize for the motorcycle race was $500, doubled to $1000, and Seventeen has around $600 left at the café when he meets up with Eighteen. The actual calculation is slightly different (closer to $1 = 110, but 1:100 makes the monetary values much easier).
Since Super, people have had questions regarding Seventeen's major power jump. In the anime, he's able to fight evenly with Son Goku in Super Saiyan Blue, though both have admitted to holding back. My personal theory is that the cybernetic enhancements essentially act as a super power boost, similar to Super Saiyan or Kaio-ken. Super Saiyan has a multiplier of x50 to each fighter's power level. By that logic, cybernetic enhancements could serve a similar function, though obviously on a much larger scale.
The Red Ribbon tracking bots that were used to scout information and gather cells for the genesis of Cell existed during the Saiyan Saga when Vegeta and Nappa first land. Gero would have known about the existence of Kaio-ken and possibly taken some inspiration from that technique in modifying Seventeen and Eighteen.
We don't really know if Seventeen and Eighteen had any sort of martial arts training when they were kidnapped. So I've set their martial arts experience at a limited amount. With Seventeen training but not relying on his cybernetic enhancements, he's essentially powering up the human portion of his body, which then gets multiplied by his cybernetics. That, along with his more calculating and tactical fighting style, allows him to overwhelm Eighteen in this spar.
We never get full confirmation on whether Seventeen knows about Krillin destroying the controller, but it made sense for Eighteen to reveal it here. And she's extremely insecure about her feelings, but it's very obvious how much she really does care for Krillin (despite the fandom's tendency to mock and disparage their relationship at every moment, which is really bothersome). Seventeen's my favorite individual character in the Dragon Ball franchise, but K18 is my favorite ship of the fandom, and both Eighteen and Krillin are among my five favorite characters as well.
Please review and give me suggestions! Let me know what you think of this so far!