"THAT UNIVERSE IS BEYOND MY REACH."

Gohan had heard that sentence before, but Tora was right there, not in his universe nor in his world, wasn't he? He died there, protecting him, his soul should be in this universe's Otherworld, shouldn't it?!

And yet, deep down, he knew something like that could happen, he remembered when Tora made a wish to the Dragon, over three and a half years ago, and how his first and second wish were denied, even if the second one concerned the Time Machine, which was physically present in their world.

'I don't think you're a lie,' he'd told his friend when they found the other Time Machine.

Even Shenron couldn't do anything, Tora had called it all a 'sinful prowess', but he was pure of heart, Gohan was certain of it. This was wrong, unfair. This was..

"Unacceptable!" Vegeta shouted, eyes dangerously narrowing on the Eternal Dragon who had refused to bring back his heir. He was enraged, even more so than before, and he was about to blast the damned creature, the white celestial platform, and then the whole planet, but he (thankfully) didn't have the energy to do so. It was actually a good thing he hadn't healed after Cell toyed with his desire for vengeance. Piccolo and Tenshinhan promptly went on high alert and got closer to the angry Saiyan; it was simple survival instincts to be able to intervene should Vegeta be able to act on his anger and sudden surge of blood-thirst.

Gohan looked back at Vegeta, then faced Shenron and asked, trying to understand what was wrong.

"Tora-san's soul has got to be somewhere, and he hasn't died before, so why can't you bring it back?"

"Perhaps if we talked to King Enma, maybe he got lost?" Yamcha offered, surprised he even thought about it, but not that convinced himself about souls getting lost on the way. No idea how to get there without dying a third time, though…

"THE FATE OF THE ONE YOU CALL TORA IS BEING DISCUSSED BY THE GODS. ALL THOSE KILLED IN THIS UNIVERSE HAVE BEEN BROUGHT BACK. I SHALL WAIT UNTIL THAT FATE IS DECIDED BEFORE HEARING YOUR NEXT WISH." Shenron replied as his whiskers waved with his mouth. Shenron being patient was a new one for those who knew him a little better.

"The gods?" Piccolo pondered about the weird answer, trying to dig into Kami's memories to make sense of that statement.

The Cyborgs, reunited, had stuck around when Seventeen had seen his 'crush' and understood the resurrection somehow hadn't worked for her- or him. He had an 'oh' realization moment, when he combined the fact that everyone used male words about Trunks, and that according to Sixteen, Trunks wore a 'compression-type of cloth'. No wonder he was pissed about Cell calling him a princess. Cell found out, because he and Eighteen knew. Trunks had to be trans, like a few people he remembered meeting back when he and his sis were still human, and that clothing Sixteen had seen was probably a binder. 'Alright, hot dude it is,' he mentally corrected himself to his understanding of the situation, so as not to accidentally out him. He was nice like that, after all.

"We gotta look for Sixteen," Eighteen whispered and pulled on Seventeen to get going, but she kept glancing at the others, the situation far too strange to not pique her curiosity. And the nice Baldie guy was there too, and glancing back in her direction with a sad puppy face for some reason.

"I saw Lilac on my way with that weird horny guy," Seventeen spoke up, and then everyone looked. Eighteen tried to hush him and get moving, ignoring the 'horny' pun about the ogre, but the other Cyborg didn't budge.

When everyone questioned, Seventeen had a nonchalant shrug. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was your Trunks-guy only because that big red-skinned giant dude said the name. Trunks Brief, 'Trunks is a baby that's still alive', or somethin' like that, whatever that meant. Some 'accounting' issues, papers flying everywhere, a whole lot of confusion because 'death got canceled' . Then I was put in some sort of lobby and I popped out here."

Except for Gohan, all of them knew the 'giant with red skin' was King Enma, and the educated guess that the Otherworld got into a little administrative crisis was because they resurrected a few dozen of thousands of people in one go, some of which were probably already processed. The couple of hundred Namekians was probably a drop compared to the number of people Cell killed over the past couple of weeks.

Piccolo approached Dende and Mr Popo to talk to them about getting in contact with King Enma to see if they could find out more. If the Dragon was being patient, they should make good use of that time.

Trunks was patiently waiting in a line she didn't remember joining, her senses giving her strange feedback as she realized she was seeing and hearing with her core self and not with ears or eyes. She heard megaphone orders being shouted by the strange demons in suits that kept the line going, welcoming them all to Otherworld and that they'd be well taken care of. She was but a tiny cloud-like shape amongst many others who chatted around a whole bunch of subjects she didn't- couldn't make sense of. It was loud and crowded, and she loathed both these things. Her senses picked up on the presences of all these little souls, she did her best to tune it down but it was futile. She was bare, and her senses were raw. She felt caged and free at the same time, and that felt heavy- overwhelming.

After a moment that was both quick and felt like it lasted an eternity, she arrived in a room with a desk that was impossibly big, behind which sat a large red demon of sorts with black hair and beard, that was big enough to actually use the desk as intended. He was boringly flipping through a book, and the guide had her wait for her turn and gave her a number. She tried inquiring about Cell, about Gohan, about her mother, about Sixteen, about where she was, but no answer came from her surroundings, even if the sound of her voice came out for some reason. Trunks saw it all, because despite not having any eyes, she could see the whole room. She knew she was dead, but everything was so confusing. She tried moving, but she wasn't in control of anything anymore, until her number was called, she was guided towards the desk.

"Name, date of birth, place of birth?" The deep voice of the red demon bureaucrat echoed.

"Did they succeed? Did Gohan win? Is Cell dead?" She wished to speak, and the sound made it through again. It felt uncanny to have no body but still have something that worked to give her perception and speech.

"Yes, Cell has been processed already. Now, please answer." Enma sighed in boredom.

She could be at peace with that knowledge, that her initial mission was a success. Eighteen might have been saved, but she was no threat to Gohan or Vegeta anymore, so she'd be disposed of quickly. As for Seventeen, he died with Cell. One timeline without Cyborgs, in peace. It was the bare minimum for success, but it was a success.

"Trunks. Trunks Brief. November 21st, 766, West City's Capsule Corp medical facilities, Planet Earth." Trunks tried to say something else, but couldn't. The answers came forced out, with only the bare truth. She would have never mentioned the planet, she was compelled to do so by a force she couldn't comprehend.

King Enma flipped through his book lazily, glancing at the soul an instant, then looked back at the book with a raised eyebrow.

"That can't be right," Enma now looked annoyed, his deep voice thundering in the room.

Then a bright flash of light filled the room, with smaller ogres of all sorts of shapes running around and promptly guiding out a whole bunch of other clouds. Light glew on her cloud shape too, but something blocked it. She felt heavy.

"Ah, someone wished all these good people back to life!" another ogre, with square glasses, red skin and a black tie said, quickly taking notes of the canceled deaths and making sure those leaving and those staying moved in an ordered line.

Then out of another door, yet another one with blue skin was guiding another person who Trunks immediately recognized as a very alive Seventeen, full in his attire and everything. 'Wait, Seventeen is brought back to life, but not me?'

"This one appeared on Snakeway, King Enma!" the new attendant stated. That surprised a few of the ogres rushing around. 'Someone alive in Otherworld? Strange!' 'Remember that one guy though?' and other rumors were came to Trunks' senses.

"Ah, yes, this one died on Kaio's planet. Take him back manually, get the Guardian to sign the paperwork," Enma waved him off and out of his office, the two did so as asked, while other ogres started to pile up other papers.

"Trunks Brief is a baby with a different birth date, and is still alive, but you are speaking the truth. Something is wrong, clearly," Enma grumbled and picked up his phone. "Wait here. The accounting department is going to have a field day..."

Seventeen looked at the tiny cloud shape with a 'uh?' expression on his face, recognizing the name, before being pushed out of the office by the attendant that had announced his presence, and they left through the door she came in through.

"Don't bother, I'm taking over this one traveling soul, Enma," a female voice stated, and a flash of yellow and white blinded Trunks' senses.

An instant after, Trunks was in another office of sorts, with tables and chairs and paper everywhere. If she was to give a name to the place, it would be a sort of library. Scrolls and books up as far as the eye could see on impossible shelves. Well, 'eye'...

"Trunks Brief, and Bulma Brief," the same voice stated, and Trunks tried to find its source, quickly. While in the line she was able to sense most of everyone, dead or alive (were the ogres alive?), this one she couldn't sense. Her fight or flight response kicked in; this felt exactly like the Cyborgs.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

"You've given me so much trouble with your sins against time, geez," the blame was heavy, but the tone was light, warm even. Trunks finally localized the voice's owner, and it was a woman with a round face, yellow eyes, long pale orange hair, very long and pointy ears that reminded her of someone she once knew, and a yellow and white open dress of sorts with a fabric belt and loose pants, accentuating her hourglass figure. She was sitting on one of the desks, covered with piled up scrolls and books of sorts, and beckoned the soul to come closer.

"So it was sinful," Trunks whispered against her will. She ended up approaching as asked, but a sense of worry and sorrow overtook her. How the woman didn't answer her initial questions didn't even matter, she just didn't question it.

"Yep. But most importantly, you died. Because of that, your soul ended up being accounted for in the wrong timeline. Counting you dead there would've caused an accounting balance issue." The woman spoke, crossing her legs the other way around. Up close, Trunks saw the gold diadem, the small ball shaped earrings, the elegant golden buttons keeping the off the shoulders dress closed, the white boots with heels.

"They tried wishing me back to life, didn't they? I felt.. something trying to pull me." Trunks feared the Dragon couldn't do anything to or about her, this only confirmed it.

"They are trying yes, I haven't denied the request.. yet," she added with a little mischief, tapping her nails on the wood slowly.

"Why? Who are you? Where am I?" Trunks was getting agitated, she hated being toyed with.

"Girl, you'll find out in due time. Call me Lady T in the meantime."

"Alright, Lady T, what do you want from me?" This person knowing she was a girl didn't sit well with her, but she figured that in her state, there wasn't much she could do about her gender. At least she didn't have to hide anymore.

The woman chuckled at the defensive and hostile display of this little harmless cloud.

"You will find out in due time. But tell me, what do you want?"

"What I want doesn't matter, does it?" She got more aggressive, but also more cornered, trying to find a way out of this strange place. Silver chains surrounded the cloud shape and held her in place.

"Tu-tu-tu you're not going anywhere, my fierce little tigress. But that's what I love about you," was the praise given, playful and awfully honest, and Trunks displayed even more will to fight.

"You said you're not letting the Eternal Dragon bring me back. So let me join the afterlife for good so I can rest, and find them.." Her voice broke. She didn't want to express her wishes so openly to a complete stranger who clearly had power and decision over her.

"That is out of the question. You can't rejoin your mentor nor anyone else, because you died in a world, a time that isn't your own." She saw right through the despair of the spoken. "And it's not what you truly want, anyway, is it?"

If she could, Trunks would have broken down crying. She was stuck in this idiotic situation, being toyed with, she had no agency and hated everything.

"Stop playing with me and destroy me already!" She tried being intimidating, it only came out as desperate.

"I am not your enemy, Trunks. Just tell me what you want." Lady T was unfazed by the attempts at display of strength, the lashing out, the soul had no body to draw energy from.

"Let me go, so I can…"

"So you can do what precisely?" the singing voice added, and the chains disappeared.

"So I can go to the first universe..." Her true intentions spoke against her will. She was that bare, what sound she made were her inner thoughts, with no filter.

"The first universe, what do you mean?" The woman probed and jumped off the desk, leaning forward over the little cloud. She knew the answer, feigning ignorance, but she was curious.

"There's another Trunks.. who was killed by the same monster. I have a way to save that person, give that Trunks and that Bulma a second chance."

"The one you call 787-Trunks? He, too, committed grave time crimes, but he had the decency of dying in his own world, and he did get to join his mentor. His mother has been mourning him, such a tragedy." A scroll reached her hand, and she opened it, showing the contents to the soul who had no understanding of the symbols and moving shapes she saw.

"That version of Mother doesn't deserve being left all alone, after all she lost already…" Trunks begged. And truth was, her mother also deserved her daughter back. The soul was distraught, confused, in pain. Lady T witnessed the naked anguish and fears, the golden eyes set on observing every instant of the turmoil of the abducted soul.

"What about you?"

"Trunks saved that other world, and then his own world, his actions aren't sinful. I don't care for myself, but he.."

"What about you, the Trunks that was born a girl?" Trunks stayed silent. The woman inquired again, her eyes piercing through the bare soul. "Do you really want to be processed and be set to rest with such a meager victory?"

If she still had her body, she'd be taking the words as a challenge and fight. No, she wasn't done yet. But was it fair? Her actions had been deemed sinful, after all.

"Are you a Trunks that submits to Fate, to how things are and just takes it?" Lady T insisted.

Her memories of the talks she had with Gohan (both versions of him), came vividly.

"No! I will fight, because 'it's the right thing to do'. Let me be the one to pay the price for such sins, but I need to continue! Let me go!" She asserted. Gohan had reminded her of hope, and that was her only weapon.

"Truly an interesting case," the woman nodded and closed the scroll. "I lied, Tigress. I've been keeping 787-Trunks in a room similar to this one since his death, actually, kind of stole him from Enma before he could process him." She chirped happily. "He, his mother, yours, as well as everyone else in the timeline you intruded in.. are waiting for you. Your mission isn't over, 783-Trunks."

Trunks was confused, uncertain. Who the hell was this woman?

"Who are you?"

She lost her sense of self and full consciousness before she obtained an answer, when something descended on her.

An instant after Piccolo told Dende how to go over to Enma to talk things through, a voice spoke from above the gardens.

"That won't be necessary," the woman with long pointy ears, wearing white, yellow and gold caught their attention.

Lady T came with an escort, a cloaked person a little taller than she was, with bright red loose hair down the shoulders, a sort of traditional painted white, red and black mask with triangle shaped ears and hiding the face but letting stern red eyes pierce through. The pair landed on the platform, Lady T with an elegant sound of her heels, while the other was silent. The black cloak moved enough so the keenest eyes saw black boots and gray pants. Everyone quickly guarded up, with the exception of Dende hiding behind Mr Piccolo. They were all startled as these two had no ki they could feel.

"Now now, don't try anything stupid," she warned with a scolding finger.

"Who are you, what do you want?" Piccolo was the first to demand some answers.

"My identity matters not at this point in time, 'Piccolo'," she pulled her tongue at him, then her eyes landed on Vegeta and the body that he made sure was firmly behind him. "Ah, there it is," she stated and clapped her hands with a bright attitude.

Vegeta clenched his fists in preparation, soon joined by Gohan who was ready to fight too, their kis matching their intentions. The Prince only glanced sideways to Krillin, hoping he'd get the message that he needed a Senzu bean right now , but the Monk didn't catch on to the silent demand, too busy trying to put his finger on a hazy memory. 'That mask looks somewhat familiar.' Yamcha also pondered silently.

"Shoo, shoo, Vegeta, Gohan, I've got business with this one," The pointy-eared woman tried dismissing them with hand gestures matching her shoos.

"There's no fucking way, pink bitch!" Vegeta snarled. "Bald man, give me a goddamn bean!"

"See? Told you he cares. " Lady T told her escort who showed no reaction whatsoever, her hand covering her mouth an instant as she quietly laughed at the cute attempts she was witnessing. Absolutely unbothered by the insult.

Krillin yelped, then quickly went through the pouch to retrieve the last bean, the one Trunks hadn't eaten, and tossed it towards Vegeta.. Only for the redhead to have appeared between them, catching the precious item with a gloved hand. Before Gohan could transform, he fell down, a hit having stunned him and just about knocked him out cold, and Vegeta was down on his stomach, a foot firmly placed on his neck and both arms held up in an uncomfortable position, the wrists held together by one sole hand.

"What the-?" Tenshinhan saw nothing happen, the redhead moved much faster than anything he could perceive. Piccolo was just as baffled. Yamcha was wide-eyed, this person barely moved and Gohan and Vegeta, arguably their two strongest fighters still alive, were taken out in less than a blink of an eye.

"I love stubborn men like this," the playful woman giggled. "But really, you are way out of your league here," the serious tone weighed with the previous show of force. "My companion here is showing a lot of restraint, I strongly recommend you do not test our patience."

And she glanced over at Shenron. "Hey Shenron-kun, long time no see."

The Eternal Dragon visibly flinched, which had Piccolo somewhat confirm a hunch he'd gotten from Kami.

"Don't try anything, these two are way too dangerous!" The Namekian warned.

"See? He gets it!" Lady T reached in her fabric belt to take out a small glass vial containing a wisp of sorts and skipped over to Trunks' body, ignoring Vegeta's snarls. A couple of articulations cracked, Vegeta was fighting hard to be set free from the immobile mute. Gohan was trying to summon power again, but he was still too disoriented to try and act.

"I took this criminal soul under custody, but 'Trunks Brief' is more useful to me alive, so I've decided to let it go free," she broke the glass and placed the wisp on the armored chest. "Shenron-kun, you can finish fulfilling the wish now," she added with a wink to the Dragon.

The redhead forced Vegeta up on his knees, holding him by the hair and the wrists, giving him a view over the situation with his heir.

The Eternal Dragon hesitated, this was probably a trap of sorts, but his eyes glowed red anyway, the wisp disappeared, and Trunks' skin regained color, she opened her eyes and shot up with a gasp.

"YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED," the Dragon said, with a little less assurance than usual.

As the words echoed, in an instant the two strangers had disappeared, the details of their presence promptly fading away from the memories of those who witnessed them, leaving just an impression of 'some intervention' , except from Piccolo who had realized that at least the white-wearing woman was a god of sorts.

Vegeta realized the bean that the bald man had tossed his way was now in his hand, left by the person who had intercepted it to begin with. He ate the Senzu bean and relaxed, feeling that his heir was back was satisfying enough of a result so he promptly left the Lookout before anyone had the idea to engage him further.

Trunks looked around in confusion, tasting the iron in her mouth from the blood she'd spat out when she first died, then reaching to touch her chest, remembering where she was hit, only to realize she was wearing armor. Vegeta's armor. And nothing underneath. She glanced his way only to see him blast away without a glance. She tried piecing together what had happened, her memory blurry, but remembering anguish and a deep desire to claim complete victory over what she had planned to do.

Gohan regained most of his senses finally and got a bright, gleeful expression seeing his friend Tora sitting on the bench, alive and well, even if looking a little disoriented. He jumped in his friend's arms, apologizing for everything, but Tora whispered it was alright, 'I am a tough cookie after all,' and that it was all forgiven.

Then Trunks spotted the two Cyborgs. Her initial prey. She trembled a little, her ki rose, and Gohan thankfully let her go. She stood from the bench and was ready to rush them and finish the job. Krillin quickly caught on.

"It's ok, it's ok, they're good people, Trunks!" He spoke the same words he had said about Sixteen a few days prior (at least from his perspective), and Trunks frowned, but this time, she listened. Sixteen did turn out to be acceptable.

The twins stepped back, Eighteen staying in front of her brother with a frown, ready to protect him; both knew it was futile, once absorbed they each saw how Trunks had a far greater power than when she first fought them. Trunks took an instant to observe them carefully, they both looked afraid but also incredibly human. And she remembered Cell's restraint against her until he killed her. She crossed her arms, toning down the aggressiveness.

"Have they killed or harmed anyone?" she asked with a glance over at Shenron.

"ONLY THE ONE YOU CALL ARTIFICIAL HUMAN NUMBER TWENTY."

"Gero's still dead and in hell, Trunks, because we wished everyone back except for the evil ones. If Seventeen was brought back, that means he's a good person," Yamcha chimed in, and did his best not to yelp at the glare Trunks gave back. Krillin had given Yamcha a little rundown of what he'd found out from the journal Gohan had found in the sublab.

'Then perhaps I am a bad person, which is why it didn't initially work for me..' she doubted, then pushed those fears aside, she had a mission; she was alive, for now. But as she knew she and the baby weren't the same, she had to give them something, especially as she guessed Seventeen did indeed intervene while inside Cell. His eyes were warmer than the ones she knew. Still, the muscle memory of going after the Cyborgs, especially now she was certain she could destroy them, was hard to fight.

Trunks stared at them while Krillin offered them to become normal humans again, but the Dragon said it wasn't possible. Instead, Krillin wished the bombs to be removed, without anyone being able to interrupt the goal of a very empathetic Monk who wished them to be a happy couple and not cause any trouble. The Dragon Balls scattered and the sky returned to its bright clear early afternoon blue.

Couple?

Eighteen looked dumbfounded at Krillin. This short guy with puppy eyes, heartbroken, still went out of his way to give them kindness, removing the bombs in their chest, all while believing they were a couple?

".. Couple?" Seventeen repeated, then eyed back at his sister with a sly smile, quickly seeing an opportunity to be a pest, and even putting an arm around her waist.

"Couple?!" She repeated with a horrified look as the implications and mental image made it through her imagination. "Gross, no, mind bleach! Ohmygod Seventeen don't touch me! EEWW! You're being disgusting!"

"Aw come on Eighteen, you know we match like no one ever could!" Seventeen couldn't help but push the uncomfortable situation just a little further, going as far as to make kissing sounds, which made his twin scream in horror as the mental image got more and more detailed. She promptly pushed her brother off of her with a slew of insults and flew off before he could do even more psychological damage. Seventeen laughed as he straightened himself and rubbed his chest, where Eighteen had hit him, and his eyes landed on Krillin with a smug smile.

"Baldie, you've got my blessings, good luck courting her," he gave the monk a thumbs up from afar.

Krillin clearly didn't understand and somehow believed it was a trap of sorts, and Trunks couldn't help a slight smile at the amusing display. She knew the two were related, and only realized from Krillin's confusion that she perhaps never mentioned that fact in his presence. She kept an eye on the Cyborg who was seemingly waiting for her (as she remembered the message Sixteen gave her on his behalf), while she went to give her thanks and say her goodbyes to those whom she guessed she might not see before her departure.

"I have a couple of other things to do before going home. Thank you for all of your help, Tenshinhan-san. Please give my farewells to Chaozu-san, should I not see him before I go."

"Give them hell," the former Crane encouraged his one-time pupil, gave a brief goodbye to everyone else, and took off, while Yamcha teased Krillin to death about his nascent love story, and Piccolo absolutely didn't understand any of it. Dende stayed with Gohan, who was still dealing with Goku's departure- for good, this time, but he was somewhat at peace with it, at least for now. Trunks went to tell Gohan she'd see him later and she promised she'd let him know when she was leaving. Trunks decided she had let Krillin marinate in his confusion long enough, and finally told him Seventeen and Eighteen were siblings and not an item. Who knew, perhaps he truly had a shot at seducing the blonde?

"Hey Lilac, uh, mind if we talk?" Seventeen caught the halfling's attention, he was growing impatient.

After drowning her initial 'destroy him' instinctive reaction from his voice alone, she accepted; they had unfinished business. She approached with murderous eyes, but didn't act on her instincts and when he took off, she followed him towards the Cell Games location.

Trunks noted how Seventeen flew slowly and glanced back at her every now and then, until she got closer and flew more or less near him.

"Long hair suits you."

".. Thanks?"

"I.. uh, I gave a message to Sixteen." Was the Cyborg shy all of the sudden? Trunks glanced sideways. This wasn't like her version of Seventeen.

"Yes, he delivered it." She admitted.

"Sorry I misgendered you," he huffed a little. "Sixteen said you were a girl because he realized you were wearing a binder. Guess he doesn't know why people wear them."

Trunks sighed then shook her head no. "It's- ugh. Forget about it." She couldn't admit she wasn't trans to Seventeen of all people, she didn't want to correct him; if he kept using male language around her, her secret would be perhaps safe from the rest of them. She still didn't want anyone to know.

"Still gotta find those flowers though."

"You know my goal is to kill you and Eighteen, and you're flirting with me?"

"I like a challenge?" The Cyborg chuckled a little dryly. "Is it working?"

"You know nothing about me."

"I know you've got balls. Hey I thought you were going to devour me the first time I saw you, call me a weirdo but I think that's hot, and well, I kind of sort of died, gotta live without regrets right?"

Trunks was suddenly mortified. The Cyborg was bold, and she didn't know what to make of the statements. So instead she inquired about something she theorized during her two encounters with the monsters.

"I attacked you both, and you still.. got Cell to hold back against me... why?"

"Sis and I didn't want that creep to get away with it, but it wasn't very effective eh? Bummer, but hey, it worked out in the end didn't it?" He was strangely bright about it, and when they arrived near the Cell Games location, they descended, spotting Eighteen who was calling out for Sixteen already.

Trunks stayed distant, and observed the two Cyborgs looking for their friend, and thinking things through. She could just kill them right there and then, making sure to get rid of the potential threat, she even started slowly building ki as she remembered the pain they'd inflicted her, how they'd killed her version of Gohan, but she eventually dropped it when her mind told her these two and those two weren't the same. Had Sixteen's absence and Goku's death prior to their release in her world changed them that much? The physical remains of Sixteen had been disintegrated in the different blasts. Eventually she realized the difference between the Cyborgs and Sixteen, and shook her head realizing the ugly truth.

"There's no use, Seventeen, Eighteen." She called after them, and approached them with a stern face, guarding her own hint of sorrow to herself. "He was destroyed. Sixteen was an Android. He wasn't brought back to life because he was never alive to begin with."

The two didn't take the news well, but their pain was restrained and dignified. She saw how the two had experienced loss before. She thought about leaving them alone with their genuine, strangely uncanny grief. For artificial humans, they sure showed humane qualities. She owed Krillin an apology. Then, she had a Brief moment.

"... I still have him," she said, interrupting what else was going on.

"What do you mean?" Eighteen was getting sick and tired of the roller-coaster of emotions and got defensive.

"I copied him. I have a backup of his programs, his personality, his neural network. Capsule Corporation might be able to rebuild him."

This gave them hope, and to Trunks' surprise, the joy and enthusiasm expressed felt genuine. It was worth trying.

And this concludes the Cell Arc everyone!

Are you hyped for the fourth arc? I know I am :)

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