Hello everyone!
I know it's been a while but this chapter has been posted on Wattpad for like a week now (If not longer) so for early updates, check my wattpad out!
Anyway, enjoy this chapter!
"Let them have the Androids. We don't need them anyway," Vegeta said with his arms crossed as he wore his signature angry look on his face. They were all at Roshi's house trying to figure out their next plan for this gruesome situation they were in. Trunks was the most worried of them all because he didn't know what route to take. On one hand, he wanted to save his mother, but on the other hand, he knew that if Cell gets his hands on 17 and 18 then it would be a problem for the entire world. There was also the problem of them having his past self in their possession as well.
"Are you foolish?" Callion questioned with an equally angry look on his face. "If we give Hazel the Androids she'll feed them to Cell like she's feeding a pet."
Piccolo chimed in saying, "Hazel already told us that she didn't want any tricks. Without Bula would mean that we lose both Trunks and Bulma who are critical to the future that may come."
Callion sighed.
"We should just beat them up once they appear to take the Androids," Krillin said from Roshi's couch.
Piccolo looked over at Krillin and said, "She said no tricks. She'll suspect that from a mile away."
Goku also decided to step into the conversation by saying, "Well I don't think we should give anyone up to the bad guys."
"I agree," Callion said as he folded his arms to mock Vegeta who took notice of this action and scoffed. In truth, Callion didn't know what to do and he couldn't think of a plan to save his life but he knew that keeping Cell from reaching his perfect form was a priority regardless of how much he cared about 18. Though he felt like Gohan could take on Cell, he knew that much more preparation would need to be made in order to get Gohan to that level.
He stared at Gohan for the majority of his inner monolog which also caused Piccolo to look over at the child Saiyan.
"Gohan," Callion said. His face was no longer showing anger, it was neutral now. "What do you think we should do?" Gohan was taken back by this because he didn't expect anyone to actually ask for his opinion on such an important matter but he suddenly felt happy to be included.
"Are you mad?" Vegeta questioned as he unfolded his arms and put them down to his side. "He's just a kid," he said while pointing directly at Gohan. Piccolo narrowed his eyes at Callion then looked over at Gohan who was just as shocked as everyone else in the room but the Namekian took a deep breath and just accepted whatever Callion had planned. He knew that Callion looked up to the half-Saiyan because of the power that he saw Gohan achieve, but could Gohan actually achieve it?
"He's a fighter just like you and me," Callion argued as he watched Vegeta step up to him. He was taller than Vegeta, yet still shorter than Goku. "I feel like he should have a say in what we do if he's going to be involved."
The Saiyan prince scoffed and turned his head away in frustration but Callion simply turned back to Gohan and waited for an answer.
"I-" he stuttered while trying to think of something. "I think that we should fight Cell and Hazel so that we can save the Androids," he said while looking down at the ground. "Android 16 is such a cool guy that I couldn't imagine having to give him away."
"Then it's settled," Callion said with the clap of his hands.
"What?" Vegeta questioned with shock in his voice.
Callion turned to Vegeta and the others. "Goku and I know of a place where we can get stronger in a short amount of time. We only have four days, not including tonight, so we can only divide the days up between three groups."
Trunks and the rest of the Z-fighters took a deep breath and smiled as they knew a fight was coming their way. They were both nervous and excited about the challenge ahead of them but they knew they would be ready for anything that came their way.
As Callion was leaving Roshi's house, Piccolo stopped him by holding his arm. The Saiyan turned around and looked at his friend only to see how serious Piccolo was looking.
"What's up?" he questioned.
"What are you planning?"
Callion narrowed his eyes at Piccolo then he relaxed his face altogether and Piccolo slowly let go of his arm. The teen looked inside of Roshi's house and saw Goku and his friends smiling and laughing at each other while having a great time simply being around each other during the small amount of peace they were having.
"I'm planning to defeat Cell," Callion said with a serious look on his face. The wind blew the few strands of hair out of Callion's face and Piccolo had seen just how serious Callion actually was. The teen jumped into the sky and flew away at a cruising speed until he'd gotten far enough not to disturb the friends who were laughing and playing together. The Namekian only watched as Callion eventually flew further than his eyes could see.
Callion reached his apartment and was greeted with 18 in a crop top and some of his shorts that she'd found in his room. She had a happy look on her face as she directed him to the kitchen where he'd seen a table full of regular ham sandwiches and the teen's eyes went wide in shock.
"I didn't know what to make you at all, but I did some calling around and managed to get in contact with this woman named Chi-Chi whose number was saved in that phone you gave me. Anyway, she-" before 18 could finish explaining herself, Callion had grabbed her and pulled her into the tightest hug she'd ever received.
The teen put his face in the crook of her neck and took a deep and satisfying breath. "This is the nicest thing someone has ever done for me," he said as he continued to hug her.
18's eyes were widened from the contact until she'd heard Callion say those words. Her entire body had relaxed and she managed to place a comforting hand on Callion's head and that's when she noticed how long Callion's hair really was. It reached all the way down to below his shoulders and he was beginning to look wild.
"Your hair is really long," 18 said as she continued to play in it and ignored his previous statement. In truth, he appreciated the fact that she didn't press for further details on his sad statement and even created a new conversation he could move on to. "Once you finish eating, I can cut your hair if you'd like."
Callion smiled. "You'd do that?" he said while looking into her blue eyes. She stared back into his dark-brown eyes and nearly got lost in them until he moved to sit at the table. After thanking 18, he began gobbling up the food as if his stomach was an empty void that couldn't be filled.
"She told me that you Saiyan's can eat a lot but I didn't think she was serious," 18 said with a disgusted look on her face.
**Flashback**
"Hey, Chi-Chi right?" 18 said into the cell phone that Callion had given her. It had taken her more than an hour to finally decide to call someone for her problem and another hour to figure out who she was going to call until she finally decided to call the one named Chi-Chi.
"I told you to stop calling me! Damn bill collectors!" Chi-Chi said from the other line.
18 was taken aback by this and had no idea how to respond until she felt like Chichi was about to hang up the phone. "Wait-" 18 said quickly and in a kind tone. "My name is Lazuli, or Android 18, and I was just calling because I have a question."
"Android 18?" she questioned with a shocked tone. "Hey, how are you?" Chi-Chi's tone changed so much that 18 had to make sure she was still on the phone with the same person.
"I'm stumped, to be honest," she responded in a deep breath. "I'm trying to make Callion something for dinner but I have no idea what to make him."
"Make him something for dinner? Wait, are you staying with him?" Chichi said in a shocked but exciting tone and 18 felt like Chichi might have been jumping up and down in excitement. "When did this happen? Tell me everything."
18 smiled embarrassingly. "It's a long story, but can you help me out, please? I don't know when he's coming back and I want whatever I cook to be ready when he comes home."
"Oh I see," Chi-Chi said as she sat down at her own table. "Well from what I've seen, he really likes basic stuff and always leaves the fancy stuff I've cooked for Goku and Gohan. So just make him something basic."
"I see, so what should I make?"
"A ham sandwich will be nice and it won't put too much stress on you," Chi-Chi responded while looking at her nails. She noted that it had been a while since she had gotten them done and wondered when she'd go get them redone.
"Great, I'll just make a few ham sandwiches then." 18 said as she went into the kitchen and began grabbing the ingredients.
"A few?" Chi-Chi said from over the phone. "Do you have any idea how much a Saiyan can eat? You'll need way more than just a few! Twenty sandwiches at the least," she continued on her rant and 18 was shocked to see that a Saiyan could eat so much. Regardless, she wanted to do something nice for Callion because he'd been so nice to her so it didn't matter how many sandwiches she'd need to make.
**End of Flashback**
She watched as Callion gobbled down the food and the smile on his face confirmed how much he liked the sandwiches, even though it isn't much you can do to ruin a nice sandwich.
After Callion had finished eating, they sat in the living room and he turned on the TV. 18 sat on the couch, while Callion sat on the floor. There was a romance drama on TV and it was the most interesting they could watch at the moment, so they sat in silence and watched the movie that was on.
"18," he spoke while continuing to look at the TV screen. His tone was calm and his demeanor was relaxed, but something about him gave off a serious vibe. "I'll protect you no matter what."
Lazuli's eyes went wide in shock. "But, why?" she asked while looking at him and he quickly returned her look.
"Because I really like you, Lazuli."
A/N: Now the story is finally turning to where I wanted it to be, to begin with. A romance between my SI and Android 18 (because she's a baddie and I love her "badass" female character trait that was completely discarded in the anime and manga after the cell saga.)