Cpt. 7: Nightmare On Elm Street
(A/N: Big chapter because I lack impulse control and tend to keep writing instead of stopping to continue in other chapters.)
It was dark, so dark that you could barely see your own hand in front of your face and it was quite, completely mute, not even the sound of silence was present. As dark and as quiet as it was, it was also cold, nearly freezing and every inhale would feel like knives. Suddenly a loud blood curdling screech could be heard, but when looking for the source, none could be found and then the sudden sound of distant conversations that were barely audible started in the background.
The metallic stench of blood started to fill the air and an overwhelming amount of weight started to pull down with such force that it was making it nearly impossible to move. The distant chatters became louder and slowly started to become screams of horror that echoed all around. The desperation of the begging and pleading from the invisible voices were creeping closer and closer, and with it; the feeling of dread and anxiety.
Just as it seemed things would only get worse, it stopped. The screams, the cold, the darkness and the weight, everything, it stopped. It was now bright as if standing in an asylum white room. Although the quietness remained. It was the type of quiet that would drive anyone insane.
"Help…" A deep and raspy voice called out.
Turning towards the voice, 18 was met by a scene that made her eyes widened. Standing there with a wicked grin was Cell and he was holding 17's served head.
"18… help… me" 17's served head spoke which caused Cell to chuckle.
"Yes, yes! Help him, 18. Come closer!" Cell said as he slowly started to approach.
"No! Stay back!" 18 yelled as she started to back peddle which was now impossible as she felt her back hit a wall.
"Aww, don't be like that… We're going to have a great time. I mean, just look, your brother seems to be having fun." Cell's chuckles of amusement became full blown laughter as he tail expanded and started inching its way towards 18.
"AHH!" 18 yelled as she quickly sat up. She woke up in a cold sweat. Her breathing was rugged and her vision was still blurry with sleep. She clutched the sides of her head and started trying to calm herself down which proved difficult with the image of 17's served head fresh on her mind.
After a few minutes she managed to compose herself. "Dammit…" she murmured while moving her hands to her face.
Her nightmares were getting worse and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She rarely slept due to her enhancements, but that didn't stop sleep from eventually taking its course. There wasn't much she could do besides sit, think, wait and sleep. The only real escape she had was when Bulma would eventually come to get her for another round of testing during which Trunks would almost always be present for.
Speaking of Trunks; She plotted all sorts of ways to kill him and his mother to keep herself amused, but eventually that got tiring when she ran out of creative talent to come up with anything fun. Ripping someone's spine out in different ways loses its touch when it's been done hundreds of times.
Eventually she just started playing around with different scenarios. In these hypothetical situations where things were different, she imagined living a normal life as a regular person. Things like picket fences were never really her fancy, but it was something to think about. In others she ruled over planets and had loyal subjects that would bend to her will. It was silly to even think of such things, but it kept her from going crazy in the room she was stuck in for what seemed like eternity.
She looked over to the digital clock that sat on a little nightstand by her bedside and it read "7:45 AM". She let out a sigh while getting out of bed, she slipped on her slippers and headed off to the bathroom for a shower.
As the warmness of the water hit her face she began to think about the last few months. It was hard to believe that almost 7 months had gone by so quickly and even more so, smoothly. Sure, she and Trunks bickered every now and again, but that was to be expected and was tolerated. Their spews of words rarely escalated to violence and if they did reach that state it usually ended quickly when Bulma stopped the two, which 18 used to get as many sly remarks in as possible.
Unlike her son, Bulma wasn't completely insufferable like she thought. The blue haired woman wasn't overly chatty if asked questions that were trivial in nature and not anything related to science. She and Bulma had a very few conversations, all of which were surprisingly pleasant to the point of talking about things such as the fundamentals of life and such.
It was weird to converse such topics with someone that wasn't her brother, especially someone who she considers an enemy. Hell, her and her brother rarely discussed such topics even with how close they were, although they did start to drift apart as the years carried on.
Although talking to Bulma was tolerable, she couldn't say the same for her actions. It was little gestures of kindness that only served to make 18 uncomfortable; like the time Bulma had offered her food or drinks, which was odd since she knew she didn't need either. When questioned about it, Bulma waved it off as her forgetting or just trying to see how different her digestive system behaved from an 'unenhanced person'. Bulma decided to say 'enhanced person' when referring to 18's body.
On the technical side of things, 18 is just a cyborg, but when taking a closer look at her DNA, everything had been modified to a scary extent due to all the chemicals she was injected with. Of course 18 wasn't all too interested in the science side of things, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't interesting to understand her own body more than before. Things took a turn towards the weird when Bulma brought up her reproductive organs, the way Bulma was so casual about it was certainly abnormal with all the talk of pregnancy and babies.
After showering and getting dressed she looked in the mirror. All her wounds were now healed and she looked more alive even though she felt more in the grave than ever.
"Time to get this over with…" 18 mumbled after a sigh.
[=X=][=X=]
Trunks made a habit of sitting and watching the tests that his mother performed on 18 once a week to keep an eye on her. Ever since she had been awake, Trunks was barely out of her presence, only being away to go out and help the recovering world outside or when night eventually came. When he wasn't watching 18 he'd spend most of his time training to reach the Super Saiyan 2 state, but he was unsuccessful to tap into it so he opted to master the regular Super Saiyan state similarly to what Goku and Gohan did in the past.
"Not to sound like a broken record, but; has anything new come from these exams?" Trunks asked as Bulma started to put up the flash cards she had.
"Yes, actually. Her memory is very strong despite the loss of them and her problem solving skills are exponential." Bulma replied
"I meant something useful to help our situation."
"Oh, right. I tried fiddling around with the codes that the chips are programmed with, but changing anything results in errors, so trying to reprogram her isn't an option unless the chips are fixed, which I'm hesitant to even think about doing. So nothing new has come up in terms of things that we could use, although with all the new stuff I have learned about her power supply, it should make things easier with the progression of EcoPower."
Trunks slightly tilted his head "Um… 'EcoPower'?"
Bulma looked over to Trunks "Well I have to call it something; 'Infinite Energy Source' is quite the mouthful."
"But why 'EcoPower'?"
"Ok, fine, I'm not very good at naming, but the way it seems to work is similar to a solar panel. The body produces heat and that heat is transferred into disposable energy. The disposable energy is used as Ki, but if I can convert it to conduct electricity for power, then that'll be great, but seeing how complex this damn thing is, that'll be a challenge in itself."
"Do you know the limits of the stored energy?"
"Unfortunately not. There's no real way to measure how much she uses or how much it stores because It constantly uses its energy to supply it to the body so she can function."
Trunks fell deep in thought for a moment before speaking. "I have a question."
"All ears." Bulma said while unhooking 18 from the machines.
"Every living person has a ki signature and no matter how small I can usually detect it, but I can't sense hers. Do you know why this is? 16 was purely a machine, so it'd make sense why I wouldn't be able to detect him, but her and 17…?" Trunks asked as he trailed off.
Bulma thought for a moment. "Well, 18, being mostly human, can produce her own Ki, but she can't use it due to the machine's influence, which is why you might not be able to sense her. . Her body was more or less designed to use the machines energy, so she can only use the artificial Ki the machine produces which might as well be unlimited since it takes away heat which is produced by the body. it basically creates its own power source, It's like a rechargeable battery that never runs out of juice."
"Hold on a second; wouldn't there be a problem of overheating?"
"Nope. There's a fail safe to keep her from overloading with energy. Since it's constantly pouring out the energy it's collecting, she doesn't have to worry about getting fatigued like me or you. It slows down significantly when not she's not using her Ki in order to stay at stable levels. If anything, she'll have trouble in the cold, since she won't be able to produce much heat, I'd assume she'll have to rely on the remaining energy that's stored. And when she runs out? I don't know, maybe we'll have to test that in the future." Bulma explained.
"Do you think she can control how much energy that machine gathers?"
Bulma paused for a short moment before shrugging as a response. "Not sure. Can you, 18?"
"I wasn't even aware I had something like that. So, I don't know. Obviously I can control how much power I use, so maybe that has something to do with it." 18 stated after a brief moment of silence.
"Interesting." Trunks said
"Sure is. Even though I know how it works, I'm just not sure why it works. On paper it sounds inconceivable and impossible, but here it is, working like a charm. Maybe it has something to do with her enhanced anatomy. Now then, you'll feel a light pinch." Bulma said as she stuck a needle into one of 18's forearms, to which she didn't even flinch.
"Well, I'll be heading out, I have to go help clear out the rubble since the machines that were used for that are out of commission." Trunks said as he turned to leave. "Love you."
"Alright then. I love you too and be safe."
Just as Trunks was leaving the room he stopped and shot 18 a dirty look which was contrasted by her blank expression.
After Trunks had left the room it was quite aside from Bulma typing on her keyboard and the machines that ran. "So… why are you running these tests again?" 18 asked, breaking the silence.
"It's to check on your organic parts. I want to watch for changes that can't be seen with a naked eye. Neurological stuff." Bulma replied.
"Alright." 18 surveyed the room. "So, why do you have all this medical equipment? You're some type of doctor, right? Frankenstein perhaps?"
"No not like-... wait, how do you know who Frankenstein is? Movies like that haven't been shown in a long time."
"I like reading and I read that book once. Would you have liked to be referred to as, 'Dr. Jekyll'?"
"You read books like that? Hmph, I guess that explains a lot…"
18 paused for a moment "Are you insinuating that you thought I'd be some sort of idiot?"
"Yes." Bulma's answer was quick, short and to the point. It was so nonchalant as if it were fact, that 18 didn't know if she should be shocked, offended or pissed.
"I'm going to give you the benefit of doubt; and say you were joking." 18 said in the calmest possible way she could muster.
"You can; but I wasn't. I thought you'd be a barbaric robot only used for one purpose. Which is true to an extent." Bulma responded which made 18's eye twitch. "Don't get me wrong, I only thought you'd be an imbecile because I thought you'd just be a robot only programmed with 'Kill kill kill and kill Son Goku', so it never crossed my mind that'd you'd be more until… y'know."
Bulma's explanation caused 18's brewing anger to subside enough to where she'd let it go, although the annoyance still remained in her tone. "Great…"
"Did you try anything else? Most people would find reading boring, especially Trunks. When I was teaching him to read and write, he hated it, but luckily for him he inherited my brains, so he soaked up the information rather quickly."
"Of course I did. I tried painting, but I am not no Picaso, I tried dancing, but I felt stupid doing the moves and I tried singing, but I don't have the vocals for that. One day I stumbled upon a Library and thought 'why not?'. I tried to get 17 into, but he said it was 'boring' and 'stupid', which I said it was because he needs pictures as he doesn't have the imagination for it. I love fashion and modeling, but it's no fun when there isn't an audience to 'awe' at my glory."
"That's probably because you killed the audience." Bulma simply said as she turned back to her computer.
18 opened her mouth to say something, but when no words came out she quickly shut it.
"And no, I'm an engineering scientist. As for the medical equipment; my father was the leading scientist in bioengineering, so he kept this stuff around. If anything, he's more like Frankenstein."
About a minute of silence passed as only the sounds that filled the room were that of the machines and devices. "So, I get that you want to replicate the source of my power, but these extra tests seem unnecessary." 18 broke the lingering silence.
"Someone's feeling more chatty today." Bulma teased
18 rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Can you just answer the question?"
"These tests are for your wellbeing."
"You're telling me; you've been performing these extra tests to make sure my health is in order?"
"Yes." Bulma confirmed as she removed the needle and placed a band-aid over it. "I want to make sure you're not in any pain or if anything was out of order,"
"Why go out of your way to do that? I get it if you'd want to keep me in mint condition to avoid complications with this 'Eco' thing you're working on, but it seems like you're overdoing it." 18 said as she looked at the small bandage on her arm.
"I want to watch for neurological changes as well as to watch for anything that's deeper than surface level stuff. So in order to make sure nothing is wrong, I have to conduct these tests."
"Alright, I get that, but why?"
Bulma sighed "Remember what I told you about Goku seeking the good in them and giving them a second chance to turn things around, which most of them took."
"Yeah and I also remember saying it was stupid, but what does any of that have to do with this" 18 said as she held up the arm with the band-aid on it.
"Everyone that Goku has fought, he's given them a chance to turn over a new leaf and I'm sure he would have given you that same opportunity. Trunks decided to follow in his footsteps in letting you live in exchange for the information I can gather from you. It would also serve to sooth my curiosity to see if you can change or not. Which I sorta hope you do."
"So… you're saying you want me to change…why? I'm confused, I thought you hated me, so why would you want me to be… good." 18 replied after a short moment.
A small smile crept along Bulma's face. "I don't hate you. I very much dislike you though."
The dumbfounded looked 18 was giving to Bulma said a million words all of which were either 'what' or 'why'
Bulma sighed "Enough people have already died adding more to that won't help. And Vegeta obliterated a city full of people, killed my then boyfriend- who was previously a bandit, killed all of my friends and he was about to blow up the planet. Not even to mention Tien being willing to kill Goku or Piccolo enslaving the world. Even though most of them were bad, they did change. Sure, some more than others; but all and all; I'm failing to see a difference between you all."
A brief moment of silence fell between the two as 18 sat in thought "A bandit and a world destroyer, I must say; you have quite the taste in men, Bulma. If I were to guess; I'd say you like that kind of drama."
Bulma paused for a second. 18 had never used her name before, come to think of it, 18 hasn't called her by any name, not even insulting ones. She'd usually just get her attention with a 'hey' or just by asking a question. She was going to question it, but decided against it.
"And I'm not any of those people, especially the anger issued prince of three Saiyans, so you shouldn't be so quick to think I'll follow suit." 18 continued.
"'Anger issues' is an understatement." Bulma thought to herself as she held back a chuckle. "Of course, you aren't. And four actually, apparently Vegeta has a brother. I only found out about three months prior to you and your brother showing up. Oh and there's Goku's brother who would be number five."
"Goku has a brother?"
"He had a brother. He was killed by Piccolo when Goku sacrificed himself to save Gohan. I'm surprised you didn't know that."
"Well, Gero wasn't exactly the best history teacher. Only thing he screamed was 'Kill Son Goku' and cried about some son he had. The things I do know about the group of misfits are because I read about it in a terminal he had." 18 said while lightly kicking her feet.
"I see…" Bulma said while looking 18.
Bulma hadn't seen 18 as a person, only as a machine meant to cause destruction, but over these last few months, her opinion has changed drastically. She actually started to feel bad for her. The same psychotic android who had killed millions of people and destroyed half the world was gaining her sympathy. She didn't choose to become a bloodthirsty killer, she was taken and forced to become one, she had no say in the matter- neither did her brother.
"So…how do you feel about going by your name?" Bulma asked after a long moment.
"What do you mean?" 18 questioned as she stopped the slow swinging of her legs.
"You know, since you have a second chance and all, don't you think it'll be fitting to go by 'Lazuli' instead of '18'?"
"I guess, but it doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters, It's your name."
"I didn't mean it like that. I meant; it wouldn't matter what I go by as there wouldn't be a real need to go by that name or any name for that matter since I'd still be stuck here with you and your holier than thou son."
"That's a load of nonsense. Your name is important."
"Look, call me what you want, I don't care, but we're dropping this topic. Now can you hurry up and finish so I can go?"
Bulma sighed and decided to let it go. "Yeah, yeah. I'm almost done anyways, but before you leave, I need your help with something."
"And why would I help you?"
"If you do I'll even give you something to help pass the time."
18 narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "I'm listening."
Bulma smiled, "The key to my library. Since you like reading, you can have full access to it instead of being cooped up in that room."
"Oh… Wait, you have a library?"
"Yup, but It's pretty small. I had it built when I was younger, so… it's probably filled with romance novels…" Bulma claimed with a bit of embarrassment. "But, there are a ton of other books in there if you're intres-."
"Fine, I'll help." 18 said as she hopped off the table. "but if I'm going to, I want soaps that aren't scentless as well."
Bulma blinked a few times in confusion at how easy she was to persuade. This was going to be easier than she thought. "Deal."
"So, what is it you need help with?"
"I need help with covering up some of the holes in the roof until they're repaired. Lately they haven't been too big of a problem due to it not raining for a while, but I need access to the rooms. I'd have Trunks do it, but he's been busy helping everyone else or training so there wasn't any time for it."
"Patch work, got it. Not something I'll enjoy, but at least I won't be bored anymore."
As soon as 18 finished her sentence Bulma immediately got an idea. "If you're really that bored, you could always help Trunks clean up outside, it'll make things much easier and quicker. Of course you'll have to wear a disguise of some sort. Maybe you could wear a wig. Ooo, how about we give you an entire makeover? I'm pretty sure that'll be fun."
If such a thing were possible, 18 could have sworn she felt her brain do a factory reset as she tried to find a response. Just what on Earth was Bulma thinking? That idea was horrible and could go wrong very quickly in so many ways.
18 quickly got out of her shocked state enough to form a response "And undo all my hard work? Tsk, please, I'm already playing clean-up by helping you."
"Don't be like that, it'll be a good step if you plan on becoming a member of society and you can be useful in other ways besides the EcoPower. And wouldn't you enjoy the fresh air? Of course I'll have to convince Trunks to bring you along, but I think it's manageable despite how stubborn he can be."
18 gritted her teeth as she was finding it increasingly harder to respond to Bulma as she almost always replied with more logical reasons that she couldn't argue against.
"Let's talk hypothetically for a second and say I was to help, what's in it for me?" 18 questioned.
"You like modeling, right? That can be the trade off; if you help rebuild, then you can shop to your heart's continent for clothes, I'm sure you're tired of the basic clothes I give you, right? This will be an opportunity to see the world in a new light while reaping a reward. So how about it… Lazuli?"
In response 18 just crossed her arms and looked away. Staying silent wasn't a yes or no, it was just indifference, or at least that's the tone she hoped she was giving off.
[=X=][=X=]
After Trunks helped clear out some of the remaining rubbled in cities and towns alike, his outing was coming to an end as his final destination was Central Capitol. It was hard to be back in the death place of his best friend and mentor. He could practically see Gohan's lifeless body in the middle of the street with the soft tint of the neon and the flashes of lighting.
Although Gohan was gone, the fond memories of the old times started to resurface; Ones of Gohan teaching him how to use his Ki and how to not burn down forests by mistake, and some of him learning how to fly and eventually crashing into the ground because landing was still challenging. An interesting one was when Gohan would take him camping in the mountains where they weren't allowed to use their Ki, Gohan said it would make him a better survivalist which it did. Fishing and making campfires all while looking up at the night sky was a nice change of scenery from the destroyed cities.
It was memories like those that kept Trunks going; to one day restore the world so that others may form happy ones like the ones Gohan helped him form.
"Hey, are you okay?" A soft voice called out, which snapped Trunks back into reality as he turned to face the person who just called to him. "You've been looking at this spot in the street for a minute now, are you looking for something?" the voice continued.
The person who had called to Trunks was a woman wearing a green beanie and a dark blue trench coat of some sort that had a red star on the right sleeve. The khaki brown pants she had on were trucked into the black calf high boots she was wearing. She had a rugged estetic to her, which amplified how beautiful she was. Her hair was long, jet-black and stretched down her back, and the way her dark brown eyes lit up while the shine of the sun reflected off of them was something indescribable. And her smile, it was so lively and welcoming despite the world around them.
"You aren't very subtle are you?" The woman asked with her smile widening a bit.
Trunks felt his face start to heat up as he mentally slapped himself. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to stare… I'm Trunks, by the way." he stammered while awkwardly holding out his hand.
The woman chuckled as she shook Trunks' hand. "I'm Mai, it's nice to meet you in person, Trunks. And please, don't let me stop you, stare all you like." she ended with an added wink.
"Yes- it's, um.. nice to meet you too…!" Trunks cursed himself to no end as an awkward laugh escaped.
"So, Trunks, if you don't mind me asking; why were you just staring at the ground?"
Trunks cleared his throat as he regained composure. "I um… was thinking about someone I once knew and got lost in thought."
"Is that so…? Who were you thinking about?" Mai asked while glancing over to the spot Trunks was staring at earlier, but she quickly backpedaled "Sorry, I'm prying too much."
"No, it's fine. I was thinking about my mentor. He was killed by the androids here a while ago."
"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that… I've lost some friends to them as well, so I know how you must feel. But, luckily for us and everyone else; our heroic Golden Warrior had rid the world of them. Thank you, Trunks."
"No problem at all, I'm just glad I could help."
"And we're all grateful. So… I've been meaning to ask you something if that's okay."
"Ask away."
"How does it feel to fly?"
Trunks thought for a moment, even though he's been asked this question countless times, describing it was still proving harder than expected. "Well, if I were to describe it, I'd say it's like skydiving without the falling part… I'm not that good at explaining it, sorry."
"No no, that's fine. How about all the beams of energy, how can you do that? Do you have some type of laser?"
"No, nothing like that. I can manipulate something called 'Ki', it's something that every living thing possesses and can use if practiced, though it's difficult to learn at first." Trunks explained with a smile of amusement.
"Interesting. What about the Golden form? Can other people also do that? C-could I do that?" Mai asked as she looked at her hands.
"Umm, unfortunately no. That's something only I can do as it's…um… well…" Trunks was starting to sweat about how to explain the Super Saiyan state without revealing too much as he felt she would take it the wrong way. "It takes years to do and not just any human can do it."
"Well, what about the Masked Stranger, was he able to do it? What about the androids?"
"No and no. Although he was able to do something I've never seen before."
Flashes of Monty's aura start to flow into Trunks' mind as he thought back to when he fought alongside him. The purple aura that surrounded him felt so different from the white one, yet the same. Of course everyone had their own special feeling when sensing their Ki, even when in transformations like Super Saiyan, but he wasn't sure what technique or transformation he used to change his aura like that.
"So everyone has their own version of the Golden state?" Mai asked
"Not exactly. I and a handful of people are able to do it as we were born with some special…traits that allowed us to access it, normal humans can't attain it.
"Oh…" Mai said with a hint of disappointment "Wait a second… Are you saying you aren't human."
"Oh shit." Trunks quickly thought. "N-n-no nothing like that, I'm just saying it's like genetics. Yeah, genetics."
"I see… is it hard to use it? The Golden state."
"Well, it's definitely hard to attain, but once you have it, maintaining focus is the harder part as it clouds your train of thought. But I've been practicing it to negate that, so it doesn't effect me that much."
"Really?" Mai placed a hand on her chin as she fell deep into thought.
"Yup."
"Well then can you, um… can you do me a tiny favor, only if it's not too much to ask?" Mai shyly asked
"No at all, ask away." Trunks responded.
"Can you…" Mai trailed off as she felt her face heat up. "Turn into the Golden Warrior form now? Only if you want to! Y0you don't have to at all, I mean, I'd understand if it's too much to ask."
Trunks grinned at the request. It wasn't the first time someone asked to see the transformation up close.. "Not at all." he said as he took a step back.
He slowly inhaled then exhaled as his hair started to stand up and before Mai knew it, Trunks turned into a Super Saiyan. His golden aura flared out and illuminated the area as the wind around him intertwined between the golden fire. Trunks opened his eyes to reveal his now teal colored eyes.
Trunks couldn't resist the smirk that came as he spoke. "Well, whaddya think?"
"Woah…" Was the only thing Mai could say as she stared at Trunks. She unconsciously approached Trunks and started to run her hands through the aura. The golden flames were warm and wove between her fingers as they rose up. She could feel a slight pressure on her fingers that inched up her arms as she continued to inspect the aura.
Suddenly Mai stepped closer and her hands started to brush through Trunks' now golden hair. Despite its sharp and angular appearance, it was surprisingly soft and moved easily as the strands bent to her touch. Her gaze started to drift from his hair to his face as she locked eyes with him. His eyes had a small glow to them and were now an odd shade of teal that seemed to glow mysteriously.
For some reason, Trunks' face started to turn red, but Mai for the life of her couldn't figure out why until she realized what she was doing. She quickly pulled away with her face feeling like it was going to melt off. "Oh my god, I- I'm sorry, I didn't-... I shouldn't have done that."
"N-no, it's fine. It doesn't bother me in the slightest." Trunks stated while trying not to sound nervous. That was the first anyone had ever touched his hair. Usually everyone would be so awestruck at the aura that his hair wouldn't get as much attention aside from the occasional comment about it.
Before Mai could say anything else, someone called them.
"Excuse me, Trunks. I'm sorry to interrupt like this, but before you leave, I was hoping you could help clear out some of the rubble down in East City. I just got a call from my old man saying that the remaining machines they had to clear out the streets just broke down and now they have no way of moving the larger pieces until the machinery is repaired."
Trunks and Mai turned and were greeted by a young man who seemed to be in his mid to late 20's.
"Sure, no problem, I'll get over there as soon as I can." Trunks responded without hesitation as he powered down.
"Thanks, you're a real lifesaver, well, uh, twice the lifesaver now." The man said with a nervous chuckle.
"Looks like that's my cue to leave. I'll let you get back to helping. It was nice talking to you, Trunks." Mai said with haste as she started to walk away, but then she suddenly stopped and turned around. "Oh, I almost forgot… Here, take this." Mai said as she stopped and turned around. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a small card before handing it to Trunks. "It has my number on it. Uhh, bye" Before Trunks could respond Mai had already started to walk away again.
"Well that was… interesting." Trunks thought as he looked at the small card before pocketing it with an awkward grin.
"Seems someone has a crush." the man said as he watched Mai speed walk away. "Guess I can't blame her, you are the Golden Warrior after all."
"Y-yeah, I guess so." Trunks replied as he awkwardly laughed.
It wasn't the first time he's been hit on, it happened so often that it might as well have been a tradition. Although Trunks tried his best, he was nowhere near comfortable enough to flirt back as he had no idea what to say. It was almost comical that Gohan's training prepared him for nearly everything except the fundamentals of dating. Maybe he was inexperienced himself or maybe he didn't find it as important. Sure, Trunks could ask his mother, but that would probably prove difficult as she even tip toped around the topic of sex when he was in his early teenage years.
"So, where's that wearhouse again?" Trunks asked the man.
"Just off the edge of East City. You won't miss it as it's ginormous." The man said
[=X=][=X=]
"Thanks again for helping, Lazuli. This is going by way faster than if I had done it by myself." Bulma said as she watched 18 cover up a hole in the ceiling.
"Yeah, no problem, just make sure you keep up your end of the deal or you won't hear the end of it." 18 responded.
"Of course I will, I'm not running some sort of sham here." Bulma replied.
"Yeah yeah… Hey, can I ask you something?"
"All ears."
"Is there anything you can do about the uh… dreams I've been having?"
"What kind of dreams?" Bulma asked as a skeptical look overcame her.
"The bad kind…" 18 said as she floated down and landed next to Bulma. "I don't usually dream because I rarely sleep, and I've been having the same consistent dream over and over again."
"The screaming nightmare?" Bulma asked while handing over more supplies to 18 to patch the last remaining hole.
18 nodded, "Yeah, but it's changed, and I was wondering if you could do something about it before I have that dream again."
"I don't think I can as dreams are physiologically rooted to your mentality; I could try hypnotics, but I have no study in that field. I'm sure therapy works, so you could always tell me more about it."
"Therapy… really?"
"Well it's worth a shot and since it's just us, we won't have any interruptions."
The whole idea of telling someone her dreams seemed too personal and far-fetched. Sure, her and her brother talked about their dreams every now and again, but since he was gone there was no one
18 thought for a moment before sighing. She decided to tell Bulma about her nightmare as she patched the hole., but she was doing it anyway in hopes it'd help.
"I see…" Bulma simply said as she started to think about everything that was explained.
"Well, what do you think it could be?" 18 asked.
"The short and simple answer is; PTSD. However; the screaming and voices… I'm not sure. It could just be a nightmare, but this seems deeper than that. Night terrors are a pretty tricky subject."
"Is there anything you can do to stop them?"
"Unfortunately not. The most I can do is recommend sleeping more, but I doubt you'd want to do that. Staying awake for weeks or even months on end, can't be good for your brain, even with your enhancements."
"So… there's no way of solving it…"
"No. Not unless we figure out what's causing it. You said that you've never had dreams like that before so maybe something is causing it."
Bulma started to go over different things that could be the cause of 18's nightmare problem until the subtle sound of cracking could be heard
"What's that noise?" 18 asked as she looked around.
"I'm not sure."
Suddenly, the part of the roof that 18 had just repaired collapsed and fell towards Bulma who helplessly screamed as the rubble made its way down towards her.
[=X=][=X=]
After a long day of helping clean up the Cities and towns, Trunks was tired, so tired that he didn't even feel like training. He was just ready to sleep.
"I'm back!" Trunks called out as he stepped inside of his mother's lab. He looked around and didn't see her anywhere which was odd, usually she'd be in her either tinkering with some project she was working on or figuring out something about 18. Trunks shrugged and thought that maybe she had turned in for the night, it was almost 8'oclock so he decided to go to her room to check up on her.
After a few knocks on his mothers door, Trunks waited for a reply, but none came which prompted him to open the door slightly just to peer inside "Hey, mom, I'm ba-" he cut himself off upon seeing the empty room. Just as Trunks was about to enter the room a loud crash could be heard coming from downstairs and judging by the direction of the sound, it was coming from the storage room.
Trunks practically materialized in the doorway to the storage room and was met by a scene that made his blood boil. There was dust and debris everywhere and in the middle of it was 18 huddled over his mother who was in the fetal position while protecting her head. Without a second thought, Trunks rushed towards the two as his hair stood on end as it took on a golden hue and upon reaching them he landed a kick to 18 which sent her slamming into a wall on the other side of the room.
"Mom! Are you alright?!" Trunks quickly asked while helping her sit up.
"Ow." Bulma said as she rubbed her shoulder. When she opened her eyes she had a confused look on her face. "T-Trunks? When did you get here, wait, where's Lazuli?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Trunks said as he started to pull away to rush towards 18 who was slowly getting to her feet.
"H-hey wait-!" Bulma shouted, but it was too late.
Trunks punched 18 in the gut and before she could fully take in the pain, he unleashed a flurry of blows before grabbing her by the throat, lifting her and slamming her into the ground. The force of the slam caused the building to shake which caused the hole in the roof to collapse more. He pulled a fist back and aimed it at her face, but missed when she tilted her head to dodge, making his fist crack the concrete.
"W-wait you idiot!" 18 quickly sputtered out as she struggled to push Trunks off her, but to no avail.
"Shut your mouth, monster!" Trunks yelled.
"Trunks! Stop!" Bulma called as she ran over.
Trunks' fist stopped just barely an inch away from 18's face as he looked over his shoulder to his mother in confusion "W-what?! Why? She was-" Trunks was caught off guard by a punch to the side of his head, delivered by 18. The punch caused him to slide across the ground though he quickly recovered and was about to rush back in until he was met by Bulma who stood between the two.
Trunks gritted his teeth "Mom, get out of the way!"
"Would you calm down and listen for 5 minutes?!" Bulma shouted back
"You can explain later, I'm trying to-" Trunks stated as he started to make a dash for 18.
"Stop!" Bulma said as she jumped in front of Trunks' path causing him to stop in his tracks.
Trunks' eye darted back and forth between his mother and 18 who was getting up from the ground. Gritting his teeth as he reluctantly watched 18 rise, but he remained on his toes, ready to lunge the second she made a move.
"Someone knows how to jump to conclusions." 18 said as she held her stomach.
Just as Trunks was about to respond until Bulma went over to 18 to help hold her up "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, no thanks to your spawn." 18 mumbled.
"Mom! Are you crazy?! Get away from her!" Trunks said as he rushed towards him, but again was stopped by Bulma who stepped between him and 18, causing him to come to a halt.
"Trunks, you need to calm down and listen! Lazuli isn't trying to kill me, in fact, she saved me from being crushed." Bulma quickly explained.
"I-...what?" Trunks responded with his aura up flaring inconsistently along with his confusion.
"The roof collapsed and nearly crushed me. Luckily for me, she saved me."
"If it wasn't for me taking a few bruises, your mother would be pasted on the floor." 18 confirmed.
"T-that can't be true, why would she save you?" Trunks questioned.
Bulma looked back at 18 who glanced over to her.
"I can't exactly let her die, because if she did, you'd blame me and I'd be killed." 18 simply stated while looking back over to Trunks.
That statement wasn't untrue, if such a thing were to happen he'd immediately blame 18, but one thing wasn't sitting well with Trunks.
"Why?" Trunks asked.
"'Why', what?" 18 returned the question.
"You've said you don't care if you live or die, so why save her if you were indifferent about your life? What changed?"
18's frown started to deepen. "What does it matter? Your mother is fine and alive thanks to me, so you should worry about that before punching someone as a 'thank you'."
"I have to agree, you were pretty quick on the trigger, Trunks." Bulma agreed
"W-what?" Trunks was now doing mental gymnastics to try to understand what was happening.
"She hasn't been a treat since she woke up, Trunks, don't you think you could let up just a little bit to not go throwing around accusations?" Bulma continued.
"It would be easy to do that if she wasn't a mass murdering, monster who could snap at any moment. it was only right that I'd assume the worst from the get go." Trunks replied.
"And I get that, but she's trying, Trunks. You can't expect things to get better if you're not willing to allow her to change."
"Mom, you can't be serious right now. Trying to turn the other cheek isn't exactly something I can do. She killed dad, she killed Gohan and she slaughtered millions of people."
"While under mind control." Bulma said as if finishing Trunks' sentence. "And so did your father. He came to Earth just to try to destroy it. Hell, he's probably killed more people than she has before coming to Earth. What I'm saying is; It'd be wrong not to give her the same chance. And not just your father; Piccolo, Yamcha and Tien as well. Nearly everyone she has killed has blood on their hands and weren't good people, but they changed, Trunks and I think she can as well."
To think that his mother was defending 18 was inconceivable, but what was actually getting at him the most was the fact that she was right. 18 wasn't a saint, in fact she'd be considered a hell-sent-devil, but was his father in the same boat. Most would consider his father far worse since he wiped out planets full of innocents, but that was under Frieza's command.
"Frieza…" Trunks coldly thought about the tyrant. That's when it hit him. Vegeta and 18 were basically the same boat. Both were being controlled by monsters to do their bidding and both have committed atrocities.
Trunks thought back to what his father told him about Goku and about how he hit his head as a child and altered his personality. If that hadn't happened, would Goku have turned out the same way? A murdering monster that only knew destruction? Goku was one of the kindest people Trunks had ever met and he couldn't imagine Goku would kill someone out of malice or for fun. But even still, 18 wasn't them and Trunks wasn't willing to be lenient.
"I get it, Trunks, I really do. But if you can't expect change while remaining the same." Bulma said
The room was silent as Trunks looked between his mother and 18. Everything would have been much easier if he had killed her, but now things were getting too complex and he was way too tired to deal with it any longer. The look of certitude on his mothers face caused him to sigh as he reluctantly powered down.
"Fine… if you're so convinced she can change, I won't stop you. But just know this, 18; I will not change my mind about you, I won't forgive what you did and you will always remain the monster you are no matter how much you claim to change." Trunks said and before either 18 or Bulma could respond he turned and quickly left.
"Stubborn as a horse, at least he's not calling you 'android' anymore, right?" Bulma said, trying to make light of the situation.
18 gritted her "Yeah, because 'monster' is a better substitute. I'm going to bed." she said as she started to walk, but she staggered a bit which caused Bulma to rush to her side.
"You should let me take a look at that before you-"
"No, I'm fine. I want to be alone, right now." 18 pulled away and made her way out of the room leaving Bulma standing alone.
Bulma sighed. "Well there goes that plan and it was going well too, no thanks to the roof collapsing." she thought to herself as she looked at the debris still on the ground. "And Trunks…" Another sigh escaped. "I can't really blame him for that, but it would have been easier if he didn't do that."
Bulma looked up at the roof which was now collapsed once again, this time worse than before and decided to get to it later. As she walked the halls back to her room she stopped outside of 18's and knocked a few times before entering.
"What do you want? I told you I wanted to be alone." 18 said as she looked up.
"I know, but…I wanted to give you this." Bulma replied while reaching in her pocket and pulling out a small plastic card. "This is the key to my library. I wanted to give it to you before I went to bed. You can have access to it at any time as I'm unlocking your room door."
"Why? I didn't even finish the last roof, it collapsed."
"Yeah, but there's only one hole remaining and it's not exactly your fault it's still there. Besides, I wouldn't want to go back on my word, even if the job wasn't finished." Bulma sat the card on the nightstand next to the bed before leaving. Just as Bulma crossed the threshold of the door, she stopped and she turned to 18 "Sorry about, Trunks, he's stubborn so he won't accept change that easily and it's going to be a while before he can see that you're trying. Try not to dwell on it."
After Bulma had left, 18 looked at the little card on the nightstand and sighed. "I'd prefer the scented soap, but this'll do." she thought as she picked it up.
[END+++++END+++++END]
Trunks: Threat Level; 12
-Super Saiyan: 60
-Super Trunks: 72
-Grade 3: 96
Android 18: Threat Level; 29
-Maximum output: 29
(A/N: This was supposed to come out a while ago, but I ended up changing a LOT of stuff last minute, so excuse me for the latency… Anyways, I hope you're enjoying this so far, I'll be seeing you in the next chapter, which will come out much sooner.)
Song Name: This chapter had a song attached to it, it's that I accidentally deleted it and forgot what it was, so this is the only chapter (Until I find the song again) that isn't named after a song. It's named after a movie instead. :(