AN: I struggled abit on this one but I feel like this ended up being one of my favorite chapters so far. I finally decided to do a chapter that mainly focused on 18 and show some of the changes she has been going through. Let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 7
Keep Friends Close, but Enemies Closer
18 woke due to the slight trembles of her bed. As she opened her still sleep filled eyes and peered around the room she could see various decorations around the room shaking and falling to the floor " What is going on? Is it an earthquake?...No it couldn't be that because this place is floating in the freaking sky.." The curious woman moved herself out of her bed and began walking through the deceivingly large palace in an effort to discover the source of the tremors. The deeper she traveled into the palace the more violent the shaking became " This is unreal! What the hell is going on!?"
After several minutes of walking and searching 18 came upon a large door that contained a spiraling staircase. Without hesitation 18 began to descend the stairs. The walls were dark and bare much different from the extravagant ones of the upper floors. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she walked through the large arch that lead into a massive room where she found the source of the quakes.
Gohan stood in the center of the massive chamber his white robes and purple cape violently whipping around as he pushed his body to its limits. The familiar super saiyan aura surrounded him, accompanied with large amounts of electricity that violently struck the ground. His hair had become stiff and his muscles had began to strain. The guardians power was making the whole island shake as he pushed his limits further and further. 18 looked on in shock at the mans power. It was hard to believe that someone that her and her brother had toyed with for all those years was capable of being this strong.
It wasn't long after her arrival that Gohan collapsed onto his hands and knees, his body racked with pain and his muscles rendered useless. Sweat dripped from His face as he took several labored breaths " I think you over did it a bit if you ask me" Gohan looked to his side to see 18 walking toward him. " Yeah..I think you might be right. How did you know I was down here?" The ageless woman wrapped one of his heavy arms around her neck and helped him to his feet " It was kind of impossible not to. You were making the whole lookout shake. How about you wait until I am awake next time you want to cause earthquakes.." The weary guardian let out a nervous chuckle and did his best to help her help himself back up the stairs " Sorry I didn't really think that one though I guess."
Several moments passed until they finally made it to the top of the stairs and 18 helped Gohan into his bed " Thank you 18. I don't know how long I would have been down there if you weren't here.." The ageless beauty smiled and walked out of the room " Well 18 it looks like you are on your own today." she thought to herself. She began exploring the grounds of the lookout in an effort to become more accustomed to her surroundings. She hadn't really had the chance to explore the place since most of her time went to training with the other two warriors. As she walked the quiet halls of the palace she came upon one lonely door. Curiosity got the better of her and she slowly pushed it open. Her eyes darted back and forth across the depths of the room, shocked at the sight of the many clocks that lined it's walls. "What in the world is this place for? Why so many clocks?..."
18 quickly found herself walking towards the center of the room and in the direction of the large control panel that resided there. After a few moments of analyzing the large panel the young woman reached for the large lever at its side and pulled it. Within moments her vision began to spin and she found herself in a smoking wasteland of cracked streets and crumbled buildings. " what just happens and where am I..." After giving herself a moment to let the disorientation wear off she began to explore the oddly familiar wasteland. A large clearing began to come into view as she walked and then horror began to engulf her. At the center of the clearing was an all too familiar pit that was slowly filling as rain began to fall. " not here..anywhere but here. I've lived this once, I don't need to live it again..." she thought to herself in a panic. 18 approached the pit with caution, frightened at the thought of what she might see.
Once the beauty reached the mouth of the large pit she collapsed onto her knees, the increasingly heavy rain masking her tears as they began to fall. Her fears had come to life as she looked on to see Gohans bloodied and battered body lying at the body. His body had been ripped and pierced by a vicious assault that she remembered all too well. " how can I be seeing this again..." As 18 looked on at the saiyans body she noticed his chest rise slowly. Fear began to rush through her veins in cold bursts as she realized the yet to be guardian was still clinging to life " Maybe it can be different this time!.." In a panic the once ruthless android raced to the bottom of the pit and lifted the bloodied warriors head into her lap "Gohan you're not going to die...not this time."
The mighty saiyan warrior slowly opened his swollen eyes to see a woman he considered to be half of the shadow of death aiding him " wh..wha..what are you.." Gohan coughed a large amount of blood into the blondes blue jeans as he struggled to speak. "Why are u doing this.." 18 couldn't help but begin to sob as he spoke " Because you deserve better than this, you don't deserve to die this way and if I can help it you won't." As she tried to lift Gohan from the pit she became aware that no matter what she did he wouldn't make it out alive, his body had become too damaged and the shock of being moved would only kill him faster. She sat with him in silence for what seemed like an eternity, gently running her fingers through his matted and blood stained hair. " I would have never thought my worst enemy would be the person to comfort me as the life left my body..." Gohan strained to look 18 in her ice blue eyes "please promise me that you will leave Trunks alone..." Blood began to pour from the corners of his mouth as he spoke "please...just don't hurt him. He is..only a child.."
18 did her best to comfort him in his final moments and promised him that Trunks would not be harmed. Gohan kept his eyes locked onto hers as she comforted him " Maybe...maybe I had you all wrong..why do you hurt people when you seem to have such a good soul..." The heart broken woman gave a soft smile as the warrior spoke " Thanks to you I will not be hurting innocent people anymore. Everything you stand for has shown me that there is another path and from this day forward I'm choosing to take it." Gohan smiled softly as she spoke and closed his eyes, letting out his final breath as 18 held him in her now blood covered arms. The longtime protector passed into the realm of other world but this time the comforting look of peace was the final expression on his face. Before 18 realized it she was sitting, still on her knees but in the center of the clock covered room. The evidence of Gohan's body and the blood that had covered her were no where to be found.
Without a sound 18 climbed back to her feet and exited the pendulum room, the visions of the past still strong in her memory but this time they were different. The visions that once plagued her had been put to rest and replace by the presence of peace. 18 walked back down the halls of the palace and stopped at the door of Gohans room. She took in a deep breath and gently cracked the door open, still not entirely sure what she would find inside. The guardian was still fast asleep where she had left him and that comforted look still on his face.
The bright light of the sun began to peek through Trunks's window causing him to raise a hand in front of his face to shield his eyes. His body was still pretty banged up but he could tell his strength had begun to slowly return. The lavender haired warrior grunted as he pushed himself up into a sitting position " jeez my body hasn't been this beaten up since I fought cell...Gohan can really pack a punch." He looked around his room and took in a deep breath. He was happy to be back home but he couldn't help feeling like his home would never experience the peace that the past timeline was enjoying. The Demi-saiyan let out a sigh and pushed himself to his feet. He reached into his dresser drawer and grabbed a loose black tank top and headed out into the main quarter of capsule corp.
Bulma sat in the entertainment room of the house tinkering with some sort of electronic device when she saw her only son emerge from his room for the first time in days " Well look who finally decided to make his way out here" The woman smiled wide at her son " How are you feeling honey? You still seem a bit banged up." Trunks nodded in agreement with his mothers assumption " Yeah Im still a bit sore but I think the worst has passed. I was actually thinking about going out and testing my body with some light training. The young man could tell his mother was not too keen on the idea but she understood that no matter what she said his fathers saiyan blood ran strong in his veins and there would be no stopping him when his mind was made up " Just be careful I don't want to have to spend my evening bandaging you up again."
Trunks agreed and made his way out of the back door. It felt like it had been so long since he had been outside in the fresh air. He took in a deep breath of cool morning air and let it chill his core before letting it out " It feels so good to be back on my feet again.." Without hesitation the young demi-saiyan took to the air and headed in the direction of Yunzabit Heights. He and Gohan had used the Namek like area as a training ground when they prepared for the androids. Within a few minutes Trunks found himself on top of the areas ancient cliffs. The cool wind threw his lavender hair in all directions as he looked down upon the sharp steep cliffs below " Looks like it is time to see what my body can do.."
As Trunks widened his stance and began to gather his power he couldn't help but notice how slowly his body was responding " Wow...I didn't think I was still this bad...At this rate I will never be able start training at full power.." After a few labor intensive moments his supersaiyan state took over his body. " Ah now that feels much better but I'm still in no shape to continue training….I'll still stop by and check how 18 and Gohan are doing up there tomorrow. I still don't trust that walking toaster but Gohan is right, there is something different about her. I still dont get why she just stopped attacking him when we were sparring and her excuse was nothing but bull shit..Ill have to really start watching her"
