Chapter Three
Golden
Trunks stood at the base of the mesa, focusing all his energy into a tiny ball. He'd perfected the "bullet" technique when he battled those androids for the final time. When all the energy was gathered, it came into a ball with a diameter roughly the size of a quarter. He shot it at an intended target and it went through them like a speeding bullet. But then about two seconds later, it exploded with the force of a mini atomic bomb. He'd defeated the androids that way. He aimed his finger like a gun at the mesa and shot the ball of energy into it. Then he flew backwards about a hundred feet to allow the blast to take place. There was a low rumble that echoed off the surrounding red dirt mountains and mesas, and then, as expected, the mesa exploded, a shower of red dust and debris flying everywhere.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at the sky. Clouds were gathering overhead, like a big rain was coming. He plopped down on the ground and leaned back on his hands. He felt light-headed; not from the heat or the effort he'd just put into the energy blast, but Marron.
Marron.
She was beyond gorgeous. His mother seemed to think so, too; she'd commented on the "lovely young girl" he was talking to in the store yesterday. She was petite and slender, with innocent- looking china blue eyes. Not someone you'd see on an average day. There was something almost angelic about the girl. But he did see one flaw: scars.
She had several. Down her arms and legs. Not scars that were ugly and obvious, though. Tiny little slits lined up in rows, cut with surgical precision. They were very light and faded, like they'd been
sliced with a razor blade. He'd seen something like that before when his mother, who was a scientific genius, had dissected one of the late Dr. Gero's numerous androids they'd come across over the years. It had scars just like that. They were cut to add microscopic computers and tracking devices and numerous other things. Could it be? Was she one of those cold-blooded monsters?
Trunks shook his head a little to clear his mind of the thought. She couldn't be. Not looking like that. He nearly kicked himself for being so gullible, knowing perfectly well looks can be deceiving. He'd learned that the hard way battling those androids years ago. They were small, but extremely powerful.
But still. If she was up to something, it would have shown by now. So she could be okay. But Gero was dead and he didn't recall someone activating another android or he would have known about it. When he searched the lab for anything that could be potentially hazardous, he never saw her. So where did she come from?
Someone else could be running things now, Trunks thought. He stood back up, turning to face the cliffside the lab was located in. He cringed at the thought of someone else creating as much hell as Gero had put the Earth through. He'd stop it. He wouldn't let that person, whomever it was, get that far.
Then he saw something golden in the distance. Something was glistening in the late afternoon sun just ahead on another rock formation. He squinted his eyes at it, trying to get a better view. But the sun was beating down on it too hard, and it made his eyes sore. He decided to go to it himself. He levitated off the ground some and glided his way across. As he got closer, the figure began to take shape. Marron.
Wait, what was she doing out here?
"Hey!" Trunks called over to her.
She turned, and for a second, her eyes went wide, as if she was caught doing something wrong. But then they softened as he neared her.
"Trunks?" she looked him up and down. "What are you doing out here?"
"I could ask you the same."
Marron stretched her arms up over her head. She glanced up at the cliff where Gero's old lab used to be and looked back at Trunks. "Um, just roaming around, I guess."
"All the way out here?"
Marron cocked her head to the side and studied Trunks fully for the first time. Those eyes she couldn't quite get over, framed by light lavender hair, pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands coming loose. His black tank top was torn and grit-streaked. Even his baggy gray pants were tattered. He looked like he'd been running around in the heat and rolling in dirt all day.
"Yeah," Marron finally answered. "I kinda live out here."
Trunks raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Are you serious? Where?"
Marron decided to be truthful. Maybe Trunks could actually help her out of the situation she was in. She pointed to a cliff; the exact one where Gero's lab was located.
"Wait--you live… in Gero's old lab?" Trunks asked hesitantly. So she may be an android after all if she came from there.
Marron nodded.
"So you're an android."
Marron's heart dropped as she heard his tone changed from caring to almost cold. She wasn't one of Dr. Gero's killing machines. She was just caught up in a horrific situation she had no control over.
"Don't look at me like that." Marron dropped her head and turned away from him.
Trunks stepped closer to her. "No, wait."
Marron turned back around. His eyes were full of concern, not hatred.
"If you're an android, why aren't you, you know, trying to fight me?" Trunks asked.
Marron's eyes began to fill with irrational tears as her head began to fill with the gruesome thoughts she had collected.
"I'm not here to cause harm. I'm one of Gero's… unfinished projects."
Trunks dropped down to the ground and Marron followed suit. She hugged her knees to her chest and turned her head away from Trunks.
"But when I defeated the androids he let loose, I came back to the lab to destroy anything he had left. I even found Cell. I never saw you." Trunks explained.
"I was still on the lab table. My body hadn't been completed so I was left out. He died before he finished me."
"But then who finished you?"
Marron was silent for a beat.
"Phoenix Redco, one of Gero's colleagues." Marron answered finally.
"So, he has other projects going on?" Trunks asked.
Marron shook her head no. "He only finished me. That's all he wanted. He mostly just messes around with chemicals. Trying to make some miracle drug to keep him alive forever."
Trunks stared at her. This man could be keeping her captive here. "What is he making you do?"
"Love him." She answered vaguely.
"Do you?"
"That man is sick."
Trunks boldly took her hand in his. "Come with me."
He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her waist. Then he shot into the air, headed back to Capsule Corporation, where he lived. He could already tell she was suffering from abuse. He didn't need to ask. The darkness behind her eyes was enough. He could handle Redco coming after him. If he was human, he'd easily win that battle.
Big mistake, Marron, Redco thought as he watched the two fly off into the distance. He'd gotten home just in time to see that whole little episode.
How dare she? He was the one who gave her life. That boy could have destroyed her when he raided the lab a few years ago. But he hid her, wanting to keep her.
Redco knew exactly who that boy was. He was the one who killed Android 17 and 18. Trunks Briefs, his name was. His mother was also in the scientific field. But no matter.
He was going to get his Marron back, killing anyone and anything standing in his way.
Big mistake.