In which 17 spends quality time with Trunks
Where am I?
He noticed something light and round over the top of his head, floating above him and following his every move. Was that a…halo?
He didn't even understand what was going on. The last thing he remembered was a reformed Cell appearing out of a cloud of smoke, shooting an energy beam at his chest and...
OH.
He looked down. His wound had closed up completely, his clothes back together like nothing ever happened. That was of course impossible, unless…
I'm dead.
He looked around, noticing he was standing in line with a bunch of small clouds which he assumed were dead people's souls, which were all being filed and managed by some business suit wearing blue and red ogres. He wondered why he was the only one in the crowd with a face and a body and why he couldn't stop himself from walking in line with the rest of them, as if pulled by an invisible supernatural force. Everyone seemed to be heading towards a tall red and green pagoda at the end of the path, going in one by one like cattle for the slaughter.
And what an apt metaphor, given his situation.
"Well, well, looks like they'll let anyone in here these days" he heard a familiar voice chuckle sarcastically to his right side.
Years of pain and trauma caused a particular voice-triggered reaction in his brain, making him jump and tense up immediately.
He screamed, dashing to the opposite side and putting up his fists. There he was.
17 floated in the air in a sitting position, his arms crossed smugly. He too sported a similar looking halo and for some reason had kept his real body. What was HE doing here? Why HIM of all people? He probably died when Cell blew himself up, didn't he? So he must've gotten there only a couple of minutes earlier.
Trunks grit his teeth with an audible crunch.
"I have to say the same" he spat, his frown as deep as he could muster. Then he relaxed a little and gave him a sly smile. "I thought androids had no souls, what are YOU doing here?"
17 chuckled at his retort, shaking his head. "Well, see, that's a mistake on your part. I never said I'm an 'android'. I said I'm an 'artificial human'. A CYBORG, to be precise."
"A toaster by any other name…" Trunks added in a low voice.
17 rolled his eyes at that, landing next to him.
"I really don't get what your problem is, kid. I think we interacted like...what? 2 times?"
"You are the bane of my entire life!" Trunks sneered, keeping his distance.
17 lifted his arms in front of himself defensively.
"Ok, testy. 2 times too many for you, I suppose. I'd hate to see how you handle public workers"
"You know very well what I'm talking about! You killed everyone I love!"
"No, I didn't" 17 pointed out, getting a little confused. This kid was really out of it.
"In MY timeline you did!" Trunks insisted, forgetting that the an-cyborgs from this time didn't know he was from the future, or that they themselves were the reason he came to the past in the first place.
17 groaned.
"Really? Alternate timelines? Do you actually plan on holding me accountable for something that an alternate version of myself might have done in another world? Do you even listen to yourself? I mean, for all I know, I could be reincarnated as a donkey in my next life, would you still consider me a villain?"
"You don't need to worry about that, you're already an ass" Trunks retorted, his eyes narrowing at him.
17 clapped at his line. Give the kid some credit, he was getting better at smack talking.
An ogre with a megaphone gestured for the line to keep moving, forcing the pair to stop what they were doing and follow the group, walking by each other's side. They avoided looking at one another, staying silent for what felt like forever. They finally reached a large room inside the building, which was also tended by a bunch of ogres with checklists, who guided the souls inside a much larger purple ogre's office. They looked ahead, seeing the line thin out as they were getting closer to his desk.
"Alright, moving on from the school yard banter." 17 changed the subject, proving to surprisingly be the more mature of the 2 "That still doesn't explain this place. Where are we, anyway?"
"I suppose this is the afterlife" Trunks mused, looking around.
"You know, I expected my afterlife to have a lot more rainbows and singing cherubs" 17 said to himself, realizing he never really gave much thought about what was going to happen to him after he died. Considering that he was technically immortal and technically the strongest being in the world (both things that were retconned during the same day, it seems) he never even imagined he would DIE in the first place. This was a little unnerving, to be sure.
"Next!" a glasses-wearing dorkish ogre gestured for them to move to the front of the line.
"For you, a boiling cauldron and spear toting imps are far more appropriate" Trunks turned it against him again, assuring him he will not let his grudge go no matter what.
"Glad I have you to keep me company then." 17 smiled.
"Oh, please! There's no way for me to go to Hell. Face it, you will rot in there alone and miserable FOREVER, while I wait for Goku and the others to revive me with the dragonballs. Have fun getting your just deserts baked in the fires of Tartarus, you obsolete model bastard" Trunks smiled smugly, feeling that there's a silver lining to all this. He was finally going to see at least one of them get what's coming to them.
"You go to Hell" King Yemma smacked his judge hammer on the desk at Trunks, who stared up at him in shock.
17 snickered into his hand, barely keeping himself from falling on the floor with laughter.
"This must be a mistake!" Trunks yelped, trying to bargain his way out.
"There's no mistake here. You qualify for a trip to Hell" King Yemma insisted, looking at his file once more.
"What for? I've strived my entire life to be a good person! I took care of my mother and ailing grandparents ever since I was little, I donated my things to the needy, I saved old people and children from wreckage, I sacrificed myself to protect people from…well… from HIM!" he pointed at 17 accusingly, who shrugged it off like he accidentally ate the last slice of pie "There's absolutely nothing I could've done that could incriminate me-"
"You committed first degree murder" Yemma stopped his rant.
"Scuse me? On who?"
"Frieza"
"…"
Trunks felt at a loss for words. Was this a joke?
"Frieza was a heartless intergalactic dictator who destroyed planets and slaughtered millions, including his own kin!" Trunks defended himself, trying his best to explain the situation "He was barely a step above THIS guy!" he pointed at 17 again, who in the meantime started playing a game of paddle ball on the side. 17 hand-waved the accusations and kept playing, trying to stave off the boredom that Trunks' speech was inducing in him.
"Murder is still murder. You cannot go to Heaven given the circumstances" Yemma insisted.
"But that's insane! There's no way to stop someone like that in any other way! By this logic, everyone I know will go to Hell when they die!"
"Indeed, they will" Yemma nodded. 17 laughed again, missing the ball. Darn it, he was close to a new personal record.
"And you are going to join him" Yemma pointed at the cyborg who raised an eyebrow at him.
"What did my evil clone do this time?" 17 asked, sounding a little peeved.
"No, not your clone. YOU" he pointed at him, shaking his head disapprovingly at the commentary. Evil android clones…of all the terrible jokes…
"You killed your creator, dr. Gero" Yemma explained.
17 opened his mouth to object, but heard Trunks snicker from the back and decided against it.
"Alright, fine. Send me to Hell, whatever"
The giant ogre judge shook his head.
"Kids these days. You are all alike" he sighed.
17 and Trunks frowned at him in unison.
"Excuse me for my rudeness, but are you insane?!" Trunks erupted at him, his fists clenched by his side.
"Yes, how can you even insinuate that I have anything in common with this pansy?" 17 nodded, approving of the saiyan's comment.
Trunks narrowed his eyes at the statement, turning to face the cyborg.
"Oh, you're one to talk, girly boy!"
"This coming from the guy with long silky pink hair"
"It's lavender, thank you very much"
"You would be able to tell apart 15 different shades of pink, wouldn't you?" 17 smirked, cornering him.
Trunks grimaced, not knowing how to reply to that. He always thought about dying his hair anyway. Blue looks nice, right? Yea, he should try that when he got home. Still, he was not about to lose this argument.
"Colorblind? Oh, wait, my bad, of course you are, look at what you're wearing!" Trunks pointed at the mess of orange, green, blue, black and white, with a dash of a red logo for good measure.
"It's called –fashion-. Look it up before wearing your pajamas out in public" 17 replied eyeing the saiyan's spandex suit like it was an oversized ballerina costume.
"Still better than having a scarf that's trying to eat out my chest" Trunks didn't let go.
"Oh please, you WISH you had a fluffy comfy bandanna like mine" 17 smiled, twirling the end of the clothing article around his finger for emphasis.
Trunks bit his lower lip. Darn, the guy was right. He did want one. He will have one. One day, that scarf will be his!
"Yea, well, you still look like a girl." Trunks mumbled, feeling defeated. You win this round, tin can, but the war will be mine!
"IF you're done" Yemma interjected, feeling like this argument could go on forever if he didn't. "GO." He smacked his gavel against the desk, a trap door opening underneath them.
The 2 were taken by surprise as they fell through the floor all the way to the world below.
Trunks smacked face first into the reddish pink ground, taking a few seconds before he dared lift his face to look around. Truth be told, he was a little scared of the idea of seeing the horror that is Hell. He still remembered his mother's stories from when he was young: burning fires, demonic creatures, torture devices, flesh melting acid spewing forth from above…he'd rather just lie down and wait for it to be over.
He felt a poke on the top of his head and he looked at the source.
17 floated upside down above him, his arms crossed and his face full off disappointment.
"You do know you can FLY, right?" he told the saiyan who was still spitting out dirt.
Darn. He was losing face all day, wasn't he? It almost felt like he was back home.
He grabbed the cyborg by the shirt and threw him head on into the ground, burying him up to his ankles.
"You do know that I'm way stronger than you now, right?" Trunks retorted, feeling a bit better.
17 picked himself up, looking a bit surprised. When exactly did that happen? He realized the guy looked a little different since he'd last seen him, but it wasn't anything spectacular. He was slightly buffer and his hair was longer, but that seemed to be it. Did his hair give him super strength?
"Are you related to Samson?" 17 asked, getting a weird stare in return.
Trunks shook his head, feeling a migraine take over. He couldn't believe his world was being terrorized by this guy. He would probably hit himself in the face with an energy blast by mistake. Looking to the side, he noticed something was off.
"What is this place?" he asked, realizing they were in the middle of what looked like a theme park, complete with a blood fountain, evil looking carousel, a demonic roller coaster and blood and flesh themed snack food stands.
Hell became very commercialized over time, didn't it?
"This really isn't what I imagined Hell would be like" he grimaced, feeling both queasy and disappointed at the same time. He turned to look at his partner, who was sporting a smile as wide as his face. Of course HE would like this.
"I...I'll be right back. I need to test out the bumper cars" 17 whispered absently, entranced by the world around himself.
Trunks grabbed his arm, stopping him from leaving.
"As much as I would love for you to get lost and never show your face again, I fear there's more to this place than meets the eye." Trunks looked around, getting a bit nervous. Something didn't feel right, and it wasn't the pink blood gushing bunny mascots, either.
"Y- you! What are YOU doing here!?" they heard a familiar voice from the side, both of them frowning in unison at it.
Dr. Gero backed off, hiding something behind himself, looking nervous. He looked up at their heads and smiled, gaining back his composure. He started laughing maniacally, pointing at them.
"Oh, how the wheel has turned! I see my latest creation fixed my previous mistakes! Oh, it'll be grand seeing you spend eternity in here with me!"
17 closed his eyes, smirking.
"Yea, you might be right. I'm already starting to like it here. You know what the best part of it is?"
Dr. Gero looked a little flustered, not liking where this is going.
"I get to do THIS forever and ever" he answered his own question, kicking the doctor in the face and sending him flying like a football all the way into the blood fountain on the other side of the park.
Gero picked himself up, spitting out the tainted water from his mouth. That bastard...he was going to get what's coming to him when his latest invention was completed and the evil android clone was done…wait, where is it? He looked to his side, his eyes going wide. The open circuitry had filled with water, malfunctioning. Gero cursed loudly, smacking his arms against the water pool he sat in. Now he had to start all over again. This was going to set him back a couple of years. Damn it!
Trunks smiled. Maybe they did have something in common after all: a burning hatred of the same old bastard.
Just then, an ogre wearing a carnival employee outfit walked up to them, smiling.
"Ah, I see King Yemma sent you here as per my master's request! Please, come with me, he is waiting for you!" he said, gesturing for them to follow him.
They looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to do as they were told. Not like they had anything better to do. Well, 17 had a few rides he wanted to try, but Trunks didn't have anything better to do. And he was going to be the one wearing the pants in this relation- err, PARTNERship.
They reached what looked like a public park. Multiple ogres seemed to be enjoying their time off around this place, lounging about and taking lunch breaks.
"My master will be here shortly." the ogre said, leaving them to wait for him there.
Trunks looked around, wondering who the 'master' he mentioned could be. What kind of creature would be in charge of Hell, anyway?
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in" Frieza smiled, walking over to them.
17 looked at the short alien lizard thing with boredom and Trunks frowned.
"You…you look familiar" Trunks said, pointing at him and getting a shocked look in return.
"Oh, really? Might be because you're the one who KILLED ME, you stupid monkey!" Frieza got a little annoyed, his tail smacking the ground.
"But you look different…you're a lot less…metally than you used to be" Trunks mused, realizing why he hadn't recognized him.
"Yes, I was a cyborg when we first met. But this is my true form" the alien admitted.
17 felt a little self-conscious at this and began poking himself. He didn't feel any different.
"Wait a minute, you lost your machine parts upon dying? D…did I become human too?" he asked, a glint of hope in his eyes. He started an internal scan to see if it was true. The program still booted as always. Damn it. "False alarm, my bad."
"So why did you turn back to normal and not him?" Trunks asked, feeling a little perplexed.
Frieza shrugged.
"Don't ask me, I didn't make these stupid inconsistent rules"
"Wait, you weren't the one who summoned us here?" Trunks asked, realizing he was talking to the wrong person.
"Of course not, you fool! Do you think that if I were in charge, I'd let this place look like THIS?" the alien overlord retorted, feeling insulted.
"So, uh, who DID summon me here?" Trunks asked again, getting more and more confused.
"That would be me" he heard a new voice from the side. A tall, reddish intimidating demon walked up to them, looking quite pleased. This guy was new.
"My name is Dabura. Welcome to my humble domain. If you may, I would like to have a word with you" he bowed before the saiyan, then gestured with his head to the black haired cyborg behind him "You as well"
He took them to the side, Frieza listening in intently from behind a tree at what they were about to discuss. Maybe he could find a way out of this literal hellhole.
"I see King Yemma listened to my request of letting you keep your bodies and sending you to me" Dabura clasped his hands together satisfied.
Trunks smiled. "I knew this all had a purpose! I would never wind up in Hell by any other circumstance!"
"Actually, the 'killing rule' stays. You and all your friends will still go to Hell upon dying" Dabura added, raining on his parade. "that is, of course, unless something happens to me and the rules are revoked, but what are the odds of that" he added in a low voice to himself.
"Anyway" he continued "the reason I called you 2 here is because I need your help with something. You see, for the past few days I've noticed a strange creature on your planet that wants to destroy the very order of life itself"
"Yes, he's called Cell, we've been trying to stop him" Trunks interrupted him, guessing where this was going. He wanted him to go back and fight him, right?
"No, not that one. I mean another one"
If he wasn't already dead, Trunk felt like he might get a heart attack. ANOTHER ONE? How much bad luck could one person have in such a short amount of time?
"This one appears to be an alien sorcerer that goes by the name of Babidi. He landed on Earth a couple of days ago and is causing trouble. I already sent a couple of my minions to scout the area but they never came back. I fear he might use his powers to mess with my kingdom. At this rate, the entire afterlife will be in peril!"
Trunks let out a loud sigh of relief. Good, this was something totally different that wasn't in any way influenced by his actions!
"You don't know how happy I am to hear that…err, I mean, that's awful, what can I do to help?" he turned it around at the last second, realizing how it all sounded to the demon lord.
"Well, this is where you come in. I heard a couple of powerful Earth warriors recently passed away and I asked Yemma to deliver them to me. I suppose you 2 are it?"
"Yes indeed, Red Guy. You're looking at the best of the best" 17 smiled, pointing at himself proudly.
Dabura pouted. "Well, you'll have to do. I will transport you there to take care of this menace before it gets out of control"
"You can count on us, your evil lordship" 17 answered with confidence.
"Whoa whoa, who's 'we'?" Trunks turned to him, feeling a tinge of indignation. "Since when are we together in all of this?"
17 looked up at him, faking a broken heart.
"I thought you liked my company, pink hair" he smiled at him, getting a gesture of repulsion from the saiyan.
"No, I don't. I never have and I never will. I hate you from the bottom of my heart. I hate you so much, I get an allergic reaction every time I'm near you or your sister!"
"You know, 'hate' is just another word for 'love'" 17 joked, the saiyan being one step away from lashing at his throat.
"You 2 make such a cute couple" Dabura chuckled, getting a pair of death glares thrown his way.
"What, me and this bastard? Do you know how much this guy has used and abused me throughout my entire life? I will see him and his sister in my nightmares for the rest of my life!" Trunks frowned, shaking 17 like a ragdoll for emphasis.
"Ok buddy, I don't want to know about your creepy wet dreams" 17 said, not bothering to free himself from the grip.
"Ah, I see your relationship is at a standstill" the demon chuckled again, thoroughly enjoying himself. This is even better than riding the caterpillar train! "I take it you're having a hard time choosing between them?"
"What's there to choose? The only way I can tell him and his sister apart is by their hair color!" Trunks pointed out, exasperated.
"Well, my eyebrows are thicker as well" 17 defended himself.
Trunks let go, feeling his nerves break. This was going nowhere fast. Why did the world hate him so much?
"Alright, I'm glad we had this talk" the demon lord smiled "But we are short on time. I will teleport you to the sorcerer's hideout, but you will have to complete the ritual in order for it to work. Now, hold hands"
The 2 looked at each other with wide eyes, then at him.
"Excuse me?" Trunks said, feeling a bit disgusted.
"You will need to follow my exact instructions or else the spell won't work" Dabura insisted, still smiling devilishly. "Now, hold hands".
Trunks reluctantly touched his hand against the cyborg next to him. He was already breaking out in hives, great. 17 rolled his eyes at him, mumbling for him to get this over with.
Frieza walked over to them, confused as to what was going on.
"Good, now, both hands" the demon added, getting another set of even deeper glares aimed at him. 17 didn't seem to care too much, but Trunks was panicking hard, his mind exploding with horrible images influenced by his trauma and the closeness of the encounter. He closed his eyes, trying to save himself from the pain. He grabbed the cyborgs' other arm, turning to face him. Please, end this.
Dabura nodded in approval.
"Fine, fine, now, lift one leg up in the air" he continued his instructions. This was getting ridiculous.
"What is this, some sort of fusion dance?" Frieza asked him in a low voice.
"Oh, trust me, they WILL fuse by the time this day is over" Dabura's eyes glowed maliciously, barely containing his laughter, then turned over to the 2 young warriors still waiting for something to happen.
17 looked up at Trunks' face, completely unimpressed. This was embarrassing, but seeing the saiyan's crybaby expression was even worse.
"Now for the final part of the ritual. Kiss" He told them, giggling like a fangirl.
Frieza looked up at him, them at the pair, them back at him. He didn't want to use this spell anymore.
"Is there no other way?!" Trunks cried literal tears, his eyes still closed.
"If you don't do this, everyone you love will die!" Dabura put some pressure on him, sounding very serious about it.
Trunks inhaled deeply. He will finish this quickly and go back to his family and friends and forget all about all this. He squeezed his eyes tightly and puckered up his lips, launching himself at the cyborg's face like he was a woodpecker at a tree.
17 stood still, his emotionless face not cracking one bit. He placed his hand over his mouth at the last second, getting the saiyan to smack his lips against his fingers.
"Alright, you had your fun, teleport us out already!" 17 told the demon lord, who nodded at him and clapped his hands, making them disappear.
The 2 hell residents stood there in complete silence for a few moments in front of the now empty space before them.
"Was all this nonsense really necessary?" Frieza finally asked in a low tone.
"Of course not!" Dabura smiled, a pleased look on his face.
The 2 landed in the middle of the desert, still holding hands. Trunks still had his lips glued to 17's hand, probably too out of it to notice.
17 gave him a few moments, then forced his hands away when he noticed he wasn't coming to his senses.
"Alright, stop trying to eat my face, you sad virgin plunger." He said calmly, pressing his face away from his, getting Trunks to finally open his eyes.
The saiyan recoiled in disgust, realizing what he had just done. He started spitting at his side, trying to get the taste of the non-existent kiss away from him.
"Calm down, tiger, your cherry stays un-popped for another day." 17 mocked him, showing him that he didn't actually do it.
Trunks breathed a sigh of relief. The cyborg saved him for a fate worse than the death he already experienced. He was so happy, he could kiss him!…wait, no, that came out wrong.
"Who are you people?" they heard a voice come from their side and they looked down at the source.
A yellow hairless bug eyed gerbil-creature about the height of a large dog (or one head taller than Chiaotzu) stood before them, frowning strongly. A couple of minions stood by his side, some of them looking like the ogres they saw earlier. They looked stone-faced and donned an "M" shaped tattoo on their foreheads.
This must be the guy they were looking for. Wait, how long has he been standing there, staring at their would be make-out session?
"It's not what it looks like" Trunks said flatly, hoping he didn't get the wrong idea about him. "I have a girlfriend!"
"No, no you don't" 17 corrected him, pointing out his terrible attempt at a kiss.
"You…who do you think you are, coming here before the great wizard Babidi?" the creature bellowed at them, ignoring their little lover's spat.
"The Lord of Hell sent us to stop you, fiend!" Trunks said, gaining back his composure. Finally, back to business.
"Get them, my minions!" Babidi yelled at the ogres by his side to attack.
The creatures did as instructed, charging at the pair, who hit them once and put them out of commission.
"M-master, these 2 are strong" a long-headed alien clad in black whispered to him from the side.
"Don't be foolish! These weaklings can't hope to face the power of my magic!" Babidi retorted confidently.
"Listen to the alien man. He knows what he's saying" 17 smiled. "You have before you the strongest fighter in the Universe". Everyone turned to stare at Trunks. "No, not him, ME!" 17 drew back their attention to himself, annoyed.
"Ha! A puny earthling like you can't possibly-" the taller alien was cut off as a blast of energy propelled him through the air, smacking him face first into a mountain.
"Like I said, strongest in the Universe" 17 smiled again, looking smug.
The yellow gerbil alien looked at him worriedly, realizing he had made a mistake. No matter, this was only a minor setback.
"Well, then, you won't mind lending me your strength as my MIND SLAVE!" Babidi laughed, starting a chant in an unknown language.
17's eyes widened a little, realizing that he may have fucked himself with his statement.
"What did you do, bucket brain?" Trunks berated him.
They watched the sorcerer wave his arms around, a strange colored aura encircling him. The alien fired the aura at him like an energy beam.
"Now you are mine!" he yelled, the wave closing in on him.
"Yea, don't think so" 17 said coldly, moving behind Trunks at the last second and using him as a meat shield.
The saiyan didn't even have time to register the situation before he was hit by the spell. He felt his mind being invaded, a cold malefic emotion washing over him, taking over his thoughts. He hollered in pain, clutching at his head.
17 backed off a little, curious as to what was about to happen.
Babidi looked furious. This was not how it was supposed to go! He wanted the stronger, not the weaker one!
Trunks finally stopped twitching, his body relaxing. He turned around slowly towards the cyborg. He too had an "M" symbol on his forehead now. His eyes looked bloodshot and he sported the most menacingly evil grin imaginable. This power…this dark power…this could actually work in his favor…he cackled at him, straining to contain himself.
17 looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. He may have fucked himself even worse.
"You will have to do" Babidi groaned. The power boost the spell gave him should be enough. "Trash him!"
Oh, he WILL.
Trunks grabbed the surprised cyborg, smacking him repeatedly into the ground. He smashed into him like a tender piece of meat, barely stopping above tearing him to pieces. This felt great. This felt cathartic. If he knew it would go like this, he would've willingly given himself up to the forces of darkness a long time ago!
He laughed as he punched 17's face in, making sure to leave him a bloody mess.
The cyborg lost his footing, falling on the ground.
Babidi laughed. Seems like the spell was just enough to make the pink haired one catch up in strength to the other earthling. It even seemed to boost the evil inside him to enough lengths as to surpass the feelings of friendship he showed his partner! Good, things were going as planned. He will use this one as his main servant to awaken Buu and destroy the Universe.
Trunks picked 17 off the ground, holding him up by his shirt. He was bruised and battered and couldn't open one eye, but he was conscious.
"Well, I suppose this is where it ends, strongest fighter" Babidi cackled, making a gesture for Trunks to finish him.
"I guess you're right" 17 answered back, using the last of his strength to fire an energy beam at the alien, frying him.
The spell shattered as Babidi lost control, the letter on Trunks' forehead disappearing. 17 breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. Wait, why wasn't Trunks letting go? He looked up at the fighter, who still smiled evilly at him. He smacked him into the ground a few times before he released him, stepping on his head staunchly.
17 held his aching head, his circuits and organic parts damaged by the impact.
"I thought the spell broke!" 17 said, groaning in pain.
Trunks looked at him innocently.
"Oh, yea, it broke, like…" He smacked him once more for good measure. "Now, now it did"
17 looked up at him with his good eye in annoyance, but also a tinge of pride.
The boy was learning.
Maybe there was some hope for him after all.
He managed to pick himself off the floor, checking to see if his teeth were still there. He got lucky.
Dabura sighed, looking at the events unfold from the Hell's View crystal ball. They didn't even bother finishing off the sorcerer. The guy was already back on his feet, running away from them.
"Never send a human to do a demon's job, I suppose" he shook his head. He will have to take care of this himself.
He teleported the pair back to Hell and left.
The 2 looked at the Earth from the crystal ball.
"Well, I guess it's mission accomplished. What do we do from here?" 17 asked, spitting a little blood.
"We need to go fight Cell. If we're lucky, we might still make it in time" Trunks said, remembering the problem at hand. He had to find the demon lord and ask for another chance.
"And rescue my sister" 17 added.
"Hell no!" Trunks spat back, preparing to search for the missing demon. Where did he go, anyway?
Just then, an energy field appeared underneath him. What was going on? He looked at the scene unfolding in the crystal ball. The sky turned dark all of a sudden and a giant green dragon appeared from the clouds. Shenlong! The fight was over, Goku won!
Trunks smiled, realizing what was going on. He was being revived! Hallelujah, his ordeal was finally going to end!
He turned to the cyborg in front of him, smiling.
"I suppose this is goodbye, 17. Not that it hasn't been fun, but knowing that you'll rot in Hell forever while I go back to my loved ones is the best thing I could ever wish for. Today might just be the greatest day of my life" Trunks said truthfully. This was going to be their last conversation. He started fading away, his halo dissipating into thin air.
17 looked very much OK with this. Actually, he seemed happy. Did he hit his head too many times? What was going on?
"It's fine. We'll be seeing each other again soon enough." The cyborg said as he too glowed the same golden glow.
NO.
"Guess we both got wished back, huh? Someone out there loves me" 17 grinned as he started fading away as well.
NO NO NO NO!
"See you on the other side, partner" 17 saluted him as he disappeared.
Trunks felt tears stinging his eyes. Today was the worst day of his life.