I am very pleased that more individuals are reviewing. My thanks. Also, Dreamwraith, you're going to get your wish...
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18 looked around nervously, feeling for Goku's ki. Right now she couldn't sense it anywhere, but the house below felt like him. He must have been here a short while ago. She wanted to be as unthreatening as possible, as she still remembered the look in his eyes as he had eradicated 17 so easily. Even though she hated to admit, even silently, that she was in a bad situation, she knew when she was outclassed.
Landing, 18 walked over to the door, raised a hand and stopped. Did it make any sense to knock?
"Go ahead," a voice said from behind. 18 whirled around and saw Goku standing behind her, watching her. She still couldn't feel his ki; he must have been hiding it very well.
"Why are you here?" he asked, moving forward to stand in front of her in the doorway, folding his arms.
"I don't know where to go," she stammered. "I don't have anywhere to go. I used to have a home, but I don't remember anything from that life anymore. Then when I was an android, I never had a home; I followed Gero on his rampage. I don't have anywhere to live."
She stopped suddenly, surprised at how much she had said. Goku, however, seemed thoughtful. For an instant their eyes locked, and it wasn't long before 18 lowered her gaze. His was piercing, seeming to slice through her to the soul. But after that he nodded, as if to himself.
"I don't mind you living here." Goku's eyes didn't look threatening now. "And I do have a second room. Feel free to stay as long as you want."
Turning, Goku opened the door and held it open for her. After she reluctantly walked in, Goku gestured to her room, then flew straight up to the second floor. 18 glanced around, now what was she going to do? She hadn't expected it to be this easy. What she had expected was for Goku to be angry, but he seemed collected and calm. Shrugging, 18 looked around the house, exploring.
Just an hour later, 18's look around the house was complete. She had made her room something that she liked, just a few little touches here and there. It had all the standard comforts that a capsule house did, so she would be fine. Now what to do?
Flying up into the second floor, 18 looked around. One side of the room had a door, but the other side was far more interesting. A giant computer stood on one end of the room, bent around a chair in the center. Sitting down in it, 18 saw readouts and ratings galore. Most of it puzzled her, but some of it looked familiar. Near her right arm, a miniature globe of energy floated above. There was a panel below. 18 tapped it and was surprised to see the image light up and change. It had to be a readout of Earth.
After changing the globe back to the way it had been, 18 looked back to the door. Stepping almost to it, she looked out. A small balcony stood out there, showing a wonderful sunset. Goku sat, hovering cross-legged, meditating with eyes closed. She hesitated; she wasn't really sure what she intended to say. For a second, emotion overcame her, and she couldn't speak. After everything that had happened, he did something that she never would have expected from anyone, much less someone she tried to kill.
"I'm sorry," was all she managed. Goku didn't even turn.
"You're sorry?" His voice was blank. "You think you can apologize for slaughtering billions of people?"
"No," 18 gasped, a bit surprised. "That wasn't me. It's not my fault, I-"
Goku raised a hand and cut her off without moving his head. He stood up and turned in one motion.
"You can't apologize because no apology is necessary. Think of the monster who did those things as a totally different person. You weren't in control of yourself at all. I have forgiven everything you have done already, so you don't need to apologize."
"Oh." This surprised 18 even more. Goku sat back down, no longer floating. 18 moved out onto the balcony and sat down beside him. For a long while, neither spoke. Finally 18 broke the silence with a question.
"What happens to me after this? Would the humans on Earth accept me as one of them?"
"No." Goku's answer was stark and bitter. 18 glanced over, as she hadn't heard his voice ever hold that sort of emotion. "They won't. They have never forgiven me for being a saiyan, and the other saiyans just killed a mere 10% of the planet."
"But..." 18 stumbled, still uncomfortable talking so easily with someone so deadly. "You just saved everyone. Won't they forgive you for that?"
Goku smiled and shook his head. He flicked something nearby, a TV she hadn't noticed in the wall lit up.
"... man who has saved our world so many times! You've all heard it, but we all need to hear it again! Let's all give a hand for... Hercule!"
Goku flicked it off again, inwardly blessing the great timing. 18 turned to him, shocked.
"You mean he's taken credit for it? All the work you've done, and he gets all the credit?"
Goku nodded sadly, his eyes reflecting a deep pain again.
"This has happened before, hasn't it?" 18 voice grew softer.
"Yes," Goku almost whispered, "every time. After I killed Frieza and sacrificed myself for all the Nameks. After I killed Trunks, King Kold and Frieza. After I finished off Android 19. Now after Cell. Every time."
"That much?"
"Yes," was all Goku said. She couldn't find anything to say, so she just remained silent, watching the sun go down. When it had set, Goku got up and left, going to his room. 18 waited a while longer, then went to hers as well. Not that she needed any sleep, technically, but right now she felt very, very tired. Then there was a true rest, for the first time in a long time.
Goku got up and glanced at the clock. It was 2:00. But that was fine with him, he usually only needed four hours of sleep every night. Reflecting on that, Goku realized he'd slowly needed less sleep every night. A long time ago, he had been a late sleeper. Then on Namek, he had needed around eight hours. Before he had gotten sick with the heart disease, he had needed six hours. Now he only need four. How far would it go? He wasn't sure.
Floating around the house so as not to wake up 18, Goku moved over into the house. He wasn't sure at all about this new development, but then again, he'd set himself up for it. 18 really didn't know anyone, Goku smiled bitterly, he'd killed most of them. Fairly ironic, now, that compared to one of the ruthless androids, he was the killer. Going into the bathroom, Goku took a quick shower and then changed into his new gi. Walking out, he moved back up to the computer upstairs.
Drumming his fingers on the arm pads of the chair, Goku brought up the diagram of the house on the screen. He added the few modifications he'd made last night to it, then set about planning what to do next. He still hadn't made that metal alloy that he wanted to cover the house with. First he had to get a container of something strong enough to not melt while the other metal did. That would be difficult, but not impossible. Maybe he could find something that would work over in that old warehouse a few blocks down.
Squinting, Goku noticed a small amount of matter floating around in the air. Tapping a few more buttons, Goku started scanning what it was. Smog residue? That thick? He winced, that was pretty bad. Doing a bit of quick figuring, he wondered what the ozone layer must be like. Goku blinked, why did he wonder when he could find out?
Moving to the globe, he turned on the map and then the ozone layer. The map showed the single city that was left with people in it, Goku tapped a few buttons and his house was added as well, a glowing dot nearby the city. The ozone layer was in very bad condition. In fact, there was only one part still intact, and even that looked frayed. All the rest was just gone. If any part of that shifted, they would have direct radiation coming down on them!
Well, now he had something to do. He was sure the radiation wouldn't hurt him, but it would totally destroy the plant life everywhere on the planet. If he built some sort of shield around his house, he could save as much as possible. In his mind he could almost hear the planet's screams, not only from the mistreatment but from the hate that ran over the surface.
Getting out of his seat, Goku floated out the door to the balcony and sped off to find some materials. He would need some sheet metal; maybe there would be some in that airport...
18 woke up at around 8:00. She felt much better now. Before things had seemed far greater than her, but now it all appeared manageable. Getting up out of bed, she pulled on her usual jacket and walked out of the room. Noises drifted from outside. 18 glanced out to see what was going on. Goku had a very large sheet of metal that he was measuring. Stepping back, looking satisfied, Goku held up one finger. A bright red beam flared out from it, only about a foot long. He began slicing along the sheet of metal.
Looking around, 18 saw two stacks of metal, one curved and pointed at one end, one set just flat and rectangular. Even was she watched, Goku blew a flame onto the metal he was holding. When it started glowing, Goku bent it into a curved shape and tossed it into the pile.
Stepping out, 18 watched as Goku took the huge, bent pieces of metal and started fitting them together. In a short while, she saw that he was creating a huge dome out of the strips of metal. Welding the strips together with his finger beam, now a bright blue, Goku got a twenty-foot section of wall done, then grabbed it and flew it over to the other side of the house.
Flying lightly, 18 flew around to see what was happening. Goku felt the energy levels rise and saw her. He waved with one hand and then went back to his work. Taking the entire twenty-foot piece, he attached it to the two other sets he had already gotten set up. After welding it together with the others, he flew up to where she was.
"What is this?" 18 asked, gesturing to the partially finished wall.
"A giant dome," Goku said, looking at it from above. "It's only about one-third done. It will surround the house when it's complete."
"But why?"
"I'll show you; follow me a second."
Flying down, Goku landed on the balcony and walked it. Tapping a few buttons, he brought the map of the planet up on the screen.
"That's Earth," he explained, hitting another button. "And that large glowing dot is the last human city. We're a short way away, the blue dot. Now here's the problem."
As Goku hit another button, a large, shifting, translucent mass appeared over the Earth.
"That would be the ozone layer," Goku said. "As you can see, almost the entire thing is gone, except for a fairly small section that happens to be hovering right over us. If any part of it shifts, all the plant life around here is gone. It already looks a bit frayed, and energy from the planet is still eating it away."
"Is that 17 and I's fault?" 18 asked sadly. Goku shook his head.
"No, actually that's just humanity's fault in general. They weren't careful enough with their carbon dioxide, too many trees were destroyed, that sort of thing. It doesn't really matter what they did, the hateful ki running throughout the entire planet is destroying it itself. You guys helped more than hurt by taking out so many of them. If not for that, it wouldn't even be here."
"So that'll turn Earth into a wasteland?"
"Yes." Goku stepped back out onto the balcony and started flying back to his pile. "I don't think it can hurt you or I, but it could be lethal for most of the humans in that city. 150,000 isn't a very large genetic pool, and this could wipe out maybe half that number. But my concern is the fauna and flora. The ecosystem could get fried, and I don't want that to happen. My idea is to build a radiation proof dome, then create a miniature ecosystem."
"Makes sense." 18 nodded. "Can I help?"
"Please do," Goku nodded in return, "I think you understand the procedure. Any help you can give is great."
They worked together for almost an hour. It didn't take 18 long to get the procedure down as well as Goku. It did take a while to learn the single-foot finger beam, but she managed that as well. A sort of synergy sprang up and working as a team they finished more than twice what Goku had done before. By the time they ran out of sheets of metal, they had the dome almost completely done. Only one 20 foot section remained to be placed.
"We'll need to find some more sheet metal," Goku said. "I usually raid the city for those. You can come with me."
Flying out into the city, both of them scanned around for more of what they needed. It didn't take a very long time with two of them looking. Down in an old factory, there was a bunch of sheet metal underground. Unfortunately, it was completely submerged, and they couldn't take it out, so Goku blasted off the entire factory and they moved down into it to collect the metal.
"This whole city is weakened pretty badly," Goku explained. "Don't put very much power into a blast if you want to destroy a building."
"Is that 17 and I's fault too?"
"The android's fault," Goku said firmly. "But yes, it is. Watch out though. Even our small disturbances can knock them over; they're barely standing already. See what I mean?"
One giant skyscraper slowly tipped over and fell, rumbling with a terrible roar while it plunged down. Goku tossed aside sheet metal until he found a type that was the same as the ones they had already built the dome out of. Looking back, he smiled. The building had fallen on 18, but he hadn't been worried. Now 18 was holding up all eighty stories of solid metal and concrete.
"What should I do with this?" she asked, taking one hand off to brush back a strand of blond hair.
"Toss it back there at our shield. We'll see if it holds."
Turning, 18 threw the entire thing like a missile towards the metal dome. Goku winced; he hadn't meant that hard, but now they'd see if the dome could hold up. The giant skyscraper crashed into the dome. Both 18 and Goku held their breaths a moment, and it splintered against the wall of metal. The entire building was destroyed and both of them let out the air they had been holding.
"This should be good enough." Goku carried the sheets across his back. They both flew back to the house, landed and started measuring the sheets of metal. It took them only a short amount of time to form the final 20-foot piece and add it to the dome. The entire thing was now complete. Goku smiled, seeming proud of himself.
"You did well back there," he said, glancing over at 18. She just nodded. Goku flitted back down into the house and found his plans for the alloy. He had planned to cover the house with it, but with the dome in place, he'd just cover the dome. That would mean he needed more, but that was okay, there wouldn't be any shortage of resources.
18 flew off into a city and came back an hour later, carrying a giant metallic bin over her shoulder. From what he could see, it was intended for use with heavily radioactive materials. It would work. Goku nodded, then they tossed all the girders he had chosen into it. Floating above it, Goku drew in a deep breath, then blew it out in a stream of fire that started melting the metal to scrap. 18 tossed more into as it got smaller.
Taking another breath, Goku saw that the tub was almost completely full. Concentrating his energy, Goku blew out a wide band of blue fire that melted all the scrap into a slowly moving liquid. Lifting the tub carefully, Goku flew it up over the dome.
"Freeze this as it comes down," Goku instructed 18, who floated down below. Goku began to pour the liquid at the top of the dome. As it slowly flowed down, 18 used a bit of ki to remove all warmth from her breath, then blew on it and froze it into its place. When the tub was done, Goku threw it aside, demolishing a building. Landing on the metal, he quickly floated off again. It may have been hard, but it was freezing cold as well.
"So are we done?" 18 asked.
"Not quite," Goku shook his head. "We need to make it stronger first. I intend to do that by tempering it with high and low temperatures alternately. The process was more acidic than I thought, we'll need another of those bins. This was only the first load; we'll cover the inside too."
They continued working, and finally got the entire project done by noon. Goku had a quick, if large, lunch by taking stuff out of the abandoned stores and then they both headed back to the house. As soon as they were back, Goku left to go train some more, but returned a while later after he'd finished. Landing, Goku went to his room and closed the door. 18 went to hers.
Sitting on her bed, 18 started thinking about 17, her brother. He had defied Goku, threatening Earth. Why did Goku care that much for everyone on the planet? They had been nothing but cruel to him, why did he protect them? She couldn't answer the question, so she moved on. But 17 had gotten one choice, and one chance. He could follow his own way, or Gero's way. Of course, being the arrogant idiot he was, he had chosen Gero's way.
That had been a mistake. 18 still remembered Goku vanishing. The next thing her eyes had registered was Goku standing there, having punched 17, who was flying backward, falling apart and burning to pieces. What a small decision to make, and Goku had instantly eradicated him. With a single punch.
That still amazed her. She knew that compared to most, the androids had all been very powerful. She had been just as strong as her brother, with 16 just a bit stronger, but Goku had destroyed both of them like they were nothing. If Goku decided that 18 was a threat, would he destroy her too? She didn't know. But she did know that if so, she was history. She couldn't fly fast enough to escape Goku, and no one on Earth would be very happy to see her.
What went on inside those slanted eyes? 18 knew that her own eyes were different than most peoples', but Goku's were something completely different. They almost seemed to glow, energy flowing off them. When Goku wasn't in a good mood, the eyes radiated pain and sorrow. Those same eyes blazed with an unnatural light when he was angry. Something had happened to him that had changed him; his picture in Gero's files still had wider eyes. What had happened?
18 continued sitting there, contemplating things. Goku scared her, but there was something about him that seemed to contradict her fear. He had been willing to comfort her after she had escaped from Cell. He had rescued them from the biological mess instead of just eliminating them with Cell. But every time she thought of 17, she remembered Goku and the hard look in his eyes...
Landing, Goku let himself down to the ground and sat, his back to a tree. He didn't bother glancing up. She was there, he knew it. Of course, she didn't know he was aware of her presence, but that was alright. The only reason he had gone here was to prove a point. To show her something.
Why, he wondered? Did he think it was going to change something? Maybe he was trying to show her the truth about humanity. For better or for worse, he was here. There was no point in turning around.
Shouts. People yelling. He thought he heard the word 'saiyan' somewhere. Well. Now it really was too late. Opening an eye, Goku watched the swiftly growing mob running across the field toward him. How did they always find him so fast? It seemed like every time he neared the city, he got mobbed by people. For the first time, however, that was what he wanted to happen.
A foolish strike, he realized. They had to run across an entire field. Even if he had used nothing but a gun, he could have killed them all. As it actually was… Goku brushed the thoughts aside. All they wanted was to kill him. They weren't thinking.
Gunfire. Someone was armed this time. A group of them. Raising a hand, Goku sent a flurry of ki that batted the first storm of bullets aside. Pushing his power further, he wrapped it around the weapons. Bending his finger, he crumpled the firearms, leaving them nothing but metal. After a moment of surprise, they came on.
Determination, that was one thing they had. Also known as stubbornness. Even now, they were nearing him. At least they kept their distance once they got within throwing distance. So they weren't complete idiots. Scooping rocks off the ground, the mob began attacking him.
Sighing, Goku allowed the rocks to strike him. Most fell to the ground, a few crumbled into dust. Let them throw rocks. Wherever 18 was, she would see. Maybe this would get across a very important point. In any case, he might as well do something with the time he had been given.
"What have I ever done to you?" he asked simply, amplifying his voice so they could all hear him. They didn't stop throwing. For lack of anything better to do, he began listening to their calls.
"Saiyan!"
"Die!"
"You killed my father!" Instantly Goku zeroed in and located the person who had said that.
"I had nothing to do with it. If I hadn't done anything, those same saiyans would have come after all of you as well."
"Liar!"
"You're a killer!" Well. At least they were responding to him. Small steps.
"If not for me," he told them, "Cell could not have been stopped. You all would have died slow and gruesome deaths. How can you say this?"
They continued, undaunted by logic. But since when was logic ever a match for a mob? Ignorance was one of the greatest powers known to man. Usually, this barely got to him at all. He was used to it by now.
For some reason, this time got under his skin. Not sure why. Maybe because all of his other feelings had been pushed aside while he had been fighting to save the world. In any case, they were annoying him.
Slamming a fist into the ground, Goku drove it in nearly a foot, sending cracks all across the ground. Some of the tension was gone. Getting up, he glanced back at the people, a sad smile on his face. Control had returned.
Raising a hand, he sent ki blanketing out into the area. At the right moment, he tightened. Rocks froze in midair, coming no closer to him. The people gaped, a few more threw rocks. Across the field, Goku glanced at all of them, trying to get as many individual gazes as possible. Somehow, the mob quieted.
Teleporting out, Goku allowed the rocks to drop into the field below. They clattered to the ground, and there was a moment of silence before outrage broke out once again.
Looking below, 18 considered. Goku hadn't been lying. They all hated him. How could they possibly hate so much? Then she remembered Gero. It was possible. She was a living reminder that it was possible. Gathering energy, she flew back toward the house.