-?-

Fear.

The concept itself was hardly new to him, he'd seen its effect written across the faces of his numerous victims. The large eyes, gaping mouths, the screams; these were all expressions of fear that he was more than familiar with.

This was, however, the first time he was experiencing it for himself.

The creature without a name sat quietly in the corner of the poorly lit room, his tail curled defensively around himself as he listened to the rampage going on above him. Up the dull grey ladder and out the secret hatch Dr. Gero had never revealed to anyone, he could feel the tremors of Seventeen's frenzy.

Why is he here?

He'd missed the Android's arrival as he'd been asleep at the time, curled up in his makeshift bed composed of old blankets and pillows he'd stolen from his victims. That had soon changed however as a massive crash had startled him awake.

"Where is it?!" He could just barely make out the voice of Android Seventeen as he threw what sounded like one of the incubation pods across the room.

He jumped when he heard it explode against the wall.

Where is what?

Dr. Gero's final creation stared unblinking at the secret door leading down to what had been his birthplace, and was, for the time being, his home. If that panel gave, if a stray blast or a single violent, accidental stomp tore through that barrier, it could mean the end for him.

He knew that the power gap between him and just one of the Androids was so vast that it was hardly comparable. If one of them got a hold of him and decided they didn't like him, which he knew was likely given his less than pleasant appearance, they each held the power to vaporize him.

"Nothing? Not even… what type of… some sort of blueprint?" The words were muffled, barely audible through the thick layer of steel dividing them.

Blue... print?

The term was foreign to him, having learned what little he could of language through those he ingested. The very concept of language had been entirely alien to him up until he'd accidentally stumbled upon his first humanoid victim: they had been passed out, leaning against a tree with a mysterious, foul odor on their breath, as well as an empty glass bottle in their hand.

Swallowing him had been by far the easiest and most significant kill up until that point. Before, he'd been little more than a predator amongst the vast stretch of woods, hunting deer and other life to sustain himself, just as a wolf or mountain lion would.

But afterwards?

Afterwards, suddenly he could understand the concept of planning, higher level brain functions were abruptly available to him, and he hadn't known why.

Immediately, he sought another victim like his first. That one had taught him the concept of words, even if not how to use or understand them.

The next had taught him the concept of family.

Then, he learned of toys from a small boy he'd swallowed.

Each victim would teach him something more, something new about the world that he hadn't known before. As they each became a part of him, a piece of their knowledge would be shared along with their energy.

It was fascinating.

He listened intently as Seventeen moved to the back of the lab, where he knew Dr. Gero's other computer sat, before hearing a terrible metallic tearing noise echo off the walls of the thoroughly destroyed lab.

"RRAH!"

He jumped as the entire structure rumbled from the resulting explosion. He could feel his outer shell trembling as he remained huddled in the corner of the sublab.

Finally, he could hear the Android's rage subside. His feet clicked to the exit, before a whisk of wind told the unnamed creature that the threat was over.

He let out a breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"Blue… print."

He repeated the term, his yellow, glowing eyes narrowing to slits as he tried to decipher its meaning. From what he could gather, it had sounded like the Android had been after something called a 'blue-print'.

His head turned to look at the 'posters' he'd placed up on the walls of his home, or at least, that's what he'd thought they were. He'd learned the concept of 'decoration' from an adolescent who'd wandered too far into his woods, and had assumed the pictures lying around the lab had been of a similar nature.

"Blue…" His eyes scanned over the contents of the large sheet of paper he'd gathered from the upper lab and brought down here to hang up. He could not yet read the words as letters had yet to be taught to him, but he had been able to understand who they were about.

There had been multiple pictures of Androids Seventeen and Eighteen lying about the lab, diced and outlined by white lines depicting what appeared to be internal components. There were lines branching out from specific locations with little boxes filled with unintelligible information.

"Blue…" Slowly, he began to crawl over towards the picture depicting Android Seventeen. It's background was blue—a color he learned the name of after absorbing a young girl who'd shot him multiple times in the head—with grid lines spacing the portions of his body.

Is this what he wants?

But why? What value did this have to the Android? And why had he been so upset over it?

"...Hmm…"

He couldn't tell just what, but something had happened, and he intended to find out just what.

-Eighteen-

She froze, her eyes pools of white as she stared at her own reflection. She'd merely intended to take a shower after having been flung into the dirt. It had been mere happenstance that her eyes caught themselves in the bathroom mirror.

No…

Her pale blue eyes.

No, no, no…

She'd completely forgotten. She hadn't had time to put in her black contacts when she'd rushed out of the hotel. Something about thinking she was about to fight for her brother's life for the second time in a month had made them slip her mind.

...Could he have not noticed?

It had been dark out. It was entirely possible he couldn't make out her eyes clearly at all.

He sure didn't mention it if he did notice…

She frowned, biting her bottom lip in thought. If he hadn't, she should simply return to her previous contacts and behave as if nothing were different… right? He hadn't shown even a flinch of acknowledgement during their conversation, that meant he'd been unaware, right?

Something in her mind didn't trust the idea completely.

Unfortunately, she knew it was impossible to know what he had or hadn't noticed. She would need to wear the black contacts again, and simply act like she hadn't slipped.

She sighed, rubbing her hands into her eyes as she released an aggravated groan.

"Damn it, Eighteen." She quietly cursed.

Despite having an ever-replenishing energy supply that fueled her body at one-hundred percent at all times, she couldn't help but feel absolutely drained from the last hour.

I might actually take a nap after this.

The idea sounded pleasant.

A moment later, the wig had been pulled off her head and tossed to the window, bouncing off harmlessly as she removed the rest of her clothes.

The warm water felt refreshing as she closed her eyes. She leaned against the wall before her, letting her soaked, clumped strands of hair hang before her sagging head.

She let out a sigh she hadn't known she'd been holding.

-Days later-

The edges of her salmon colored tracksuit, the jacket zipped all the way up to her chin, bristled as the wind tore past her petite form. It was an outfit the old her would have never even dared to wear out in public. Far too… girly for the queen goddess of death to parade around in. It would have messed up her whole atmosphere!

"..." She shook her head at the thought.

But now that she was 'Videl', a seemingly normal girl with a normal, human skill set; she found a silent delight in wearing simple and cute clothes. And, while especially feminine… she did admittedly enjoy the white line that trailed up the sides of her legs.

When she had been 'Android Eighteen, destroyer of anything-she-damn-well-pleased', she had to make sure her clothing decisions were stylish. The entire world followed her and her brother's exploits. How pathetic would it be if the destroyers dressed in baggy sweatpants and a shirt two sizes too big? No, the world could never know that those were her comfy clothes.

But Videl? She could wear normal-people clothes.

Eighteen found that she liked normal-people clothes.

She turned her head with the wind, finally used to the long locks of obsidian hair that trailed behind her.

Maybe she liked having long hair. Slightly.
It was… bouncy… and fun to play with.

Below her, the clouds were racing, each unique shape desperately attempting to pull ahead of the other as she rode the roaring currents. She wondered if people realized how fast clouds actually move up close. Probably not, she figured, since they would only ever see them crawling across the sky from down below.

Huh, never thought about that.

Of course, she wasn't here to go cloud watching. No, far below the clouds, past any vision a normal, unenhanced eye could see, was the ruined remains of Gohan and Seventeen's fight.
While the battle had been relatively contained compared to their typical rampages, what had been damaged had still been several blocks worth of homes and businesses.

The minutes before Gohan got here…

She acknowledged. She quietly wondered how many Seventeen had managed to slaughter before Gohan had arrived.

She blinked, frowning as her brows came together.

Never thought about that before.

It had never mattered.

The woman shook her head, ridding her mind of the thought as she focused on the young man she'd tracked down after noticing something strange over the past month.

Trunks, for whatever reason, had revisited these exact ruins multiple times a week ever since the fight. She'd focused on his energy signature several times when she'd been away, simply interested in seeing what a different, and still somewhat significant power level was doing on the Earth. Before, she'd been curious, but ultimately felt that engaging would be foolish, and risky.

Now that she was already planning to return to training with them, she figured, why not? It couldn't hurt to just ask, could it?

What is he looking for?

Her brow arched curiously as her eyes narrowed on the boy. He was lifting a cement wall with a little bit of effort, his eyes darting underneath before frowning and dropping it back down, the white brickwork shattering upon impact.

"Guess there's only one way to find out."

She released her energy, allowing gravity to take her as she began to rapidly fall. She shot like a bullet towards the ground, having chosen her landing point very carefully. At the last second, she gathered her energy around her all at once, stopping mere feet away from the already cracked cement. She'd landed just around the corner from where she'd last seen the boy. She stepped onto the sidewalk, lifting one foot back to adjust the grey running shoe to a comfortable position.

Been awhile since I've done this. I never did like exercise.
She knew it would appear strange if she simply appeared next to the boy, asking what he was doing. She didn't want to reveal the fact that she'd been tracking the young man… as well as his mentor.

But, it wasn't unreasonable to just so happen to be out on a run, now could it? Maybe a little odd to be doing it within the remains of what used to be people's homes… but not wholly unheard of, she figured.

A moment later, she was in motion. It took her less than a minute to round the corner and spot the young man, his back turned towards her as he moved towards a collapsed coffee shop.

The 'Busy Bean'...

She allowed herself to run a few more feet, allowing the sound of her feet slapping against the pavement to be known before announcing, "oh!" Her feet slowed to a stop several yards behind him.

She watched the young man turn, his brow furrowed as his puzzled eyes turned towards her.

There was a pause, and she could tell he was trying to recognize her.

She smiled. "It's me, Videl." She raised a polite wave.

She caught a flash of recognition. "Videl!" he announced with wide eyes. "It's been so long!" He flashed a bright, youthful smile as he walked toward her. She took note of his long sleeve shirt, dirtied and torn in places—from moving debris, she assumed. He also had thick workers gloves on, well worn and scratched in places.

"It has." She shook her head. "That's my fault. I was going through some… stuff." She looked away frowning. "But, I have good news." Her eyebrows rose. "I got in touch with Gohan, I'm gonna start training with you guys again. This time, seriously."

His eyebrows rose higher. "Wait, do you mean, like, fighting and stuff?"

She slowly nodded her head.

She watched the boy's eyes light up. "That's great! I never thought I would get another sparring partner."

She laughed at his enthusiasm. "Well, kiddo, you better watch out, or else I'm gonna pull ahead of you and start beating you up right in front of your mentor."

Trunks snickered at her comment. "Eh." He scratched the back of his head, a habit she'd noticed Gohan had too. "I think you might have it rough trying to compare to me." He flashed a toothy grin.

Her eyebrows rose, it was as if he knew something that she didn't. Was there some unbeknownst reason she would naturally not be able to be as strong as him in due time? Or was he just being overconfident?

"Hm, we'll just have to see about that." She shrugged with a subtle, confident smile.

"Well, if you're jogging to stay in shape, I guess you're probably on the right track," he commented, nodding. "Trying to get fit for when Gohan starts teaching you?"

"Something like that."

"Well, word from the wise, training with Gohan can be tough. Trust me, it's no cakewalk."

"Is that right?"

"Oh, for sure!" His eyes widened with sincerity. "I remember the first weeks were absolutely grueling. I was healing from bruises left and right and that was with Gohan pulling his punches."

Her eyes winced. "Oof, that sounds rough."

The lavender haired teen let out a sigh, his hands on his hips. "It was, honestly. But, after those first few weeks, I started to figure things out, and now I rarely go home with more than one bruise after training." He suddenly flashed a nervous smile. "I'm sure Gohan will take it easier on you though, I don't want to scare you off, of course."

"I think I'll manage." She shrugged. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh," The teen turned to look over his shoulder at the debris he'd been clearing out of the devastated coffee shop. "Right, I'm looking for an… arm?"

"An arm?" She repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Not like a human arm, or anything!" He abruptly added, waving his hands out in front of him.

Not a human arm? So he means-

Her eyes flashed wide as she suddenly understood.

"You see, when I came and gave Gohan our energy, I saw that Seventeen's arm was torn off in the fight." His head slowly turned to scan over the wreckage. "Somewhere… out here…"

"Why do you want Seventeen's arm?"

"It's not obvious?" he smiled, his tone still sweet. "It's for Gohan."

Her lips parted, staring at the young man in surprise.

...It made sense when she thought about it.

"So, why-" She paused. "Have Gohan and your mom been helping you search?" She had to make sure to maintain the appearance that this was all new to her. Although, the arm revelation was not something she had been expecting.

His lips pulled into a sheepish smile. "Admittedly… no. I wanted to find it as a sort of 'surprise' for Gohan."

Eighteen frowned as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "But wait… was the hand Seventeen lost on his left side?" She knew her brother had lost his right hand. She didn't know when or where, or even how, but she couldn't imagine Gohan would want two right hands.

Trunks shook his head. "Doesn't matter. My mom's a scientific genius." She watched the boy smirk with pride. "I know that if she got her hands on just the arm itself, she would be able to reverse engineer a left arm for Gohan. She just knows stuff. Besides," he sighed, shaking his head. "She's already been trying to figure out how to make an arm for Gohan. She's gone through a few prototypes already. The problem isn't the arms themselves, they're usually really good, it's just that they have to be able to survive Gohan's speed and strength in a fight. Even just one serious punch smashes them immediately everytime."

"And you know that the Androids obviously are able to fight at levels stronger than Gohan is."

"Well," he smirked. "I'd say they can fight at levels close to how strong Gohan is."

She had to conceal the scowl threatening to consume her features as she acknowledged the comment. "Right."

"So, yeah," He shrugged. "That's what I've been up to. I've been at it for the past month and haven't found anything yet." He sighed, his eyes looked distant as he peered down the road. "It's only a handful of blocks and yet I still haven't dug anything up. I'm beginning to believe that it was completely destroyed when he lost it."

"..." She frowned, watching the tired, defeated look in his youthful eyes. "...Want some help?" She wasn't entirely certain what brought on the inspiration to help the young man search for her brother's severed limb. In fact, the concept alone was rather vulgar, in retrospect.

But, something in her appreciated the young man before her, even if it was only a tiny bit. He'd been at this for a month now and still hadn't given up. She knew that must have been taxing to go day after day with nothing to show for it.

A part of her respected him for it. It showed his resilience, an aspect of his strength—one concept she always understood.

She watched his eyebrows raise. "Really?"

"Yeah, why not? I've got nothing better to do." She said as she walked past him, rolling up her sleeves as she prepared to shift through the rubble.

That much was true.

-Two Hours Later-

Unfortunately for the duo, their search had yielded little in terms of Android arms—or anything else of interest, for that matter.

Of course, there had been that stuffed, torn-off dinosaur head Trunks had found and immediately stuck on his head. He'd rounded a corner on her, sticking out abruptly in response to a question she'd asked.

"Hm?" He'd turned to her seriously.

She had to admit the act had made her laugh.

Later, she'd managed to slip behind some curtains without the boy noticing, only to scare him as he pulled them back in his search. He'd jumped literally five feet into the air, much to her bemusement.

Other than those encounters however, their search had been a bust.

"I'm gonna call it quits for today." Trunks finally admitted, his back sliding down a wall as he sat down. "Thanks for your help today, it made it a lot easier."

She shot him a polite nod. "No problem. Sorry we didn't find anything."

He shrugged. "It just means I have to keep looking until I eventually find it."

"But what if it's not here?"

"Well, I guess then I'll have to find that out myself, too." He sighed, before slowly pushing himself back to his feet. "Anyway, I gotta get home, mom's-" He paused, his face blushing.

Eighteen grinned, "Mom's expecting you?"

"Heh..." His hand moved to rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, she's making dinner…"

The Android couldn't help but realize how much Trunks was still just a child at that moment. A kid, with a bed time and a mother who loved him. The thought made her realize just how mature he was for his age. Growing up around Gohan and Bulma, she supposed that made sense.
"Well, don't let me stop you." She waved a hand. "Tell her I said hi."

"Alright, I'll make sure to let her know." The air around him swelled before he was picked off the ground, hovering a few feet in the air as he waved. "Thanks again, Videl. I'll see you at training!"

In a matter of seconds, the boy was little more than a speck in the distance.

-Several Hours Later-

Eighteen had decided to stick around a little longer after Trunks had left, deciding that she would give her own go of things without having to limit herself to the expectations the young man would have of her. Not tiring certainly had its perks, and allowed her to continue her search through the wreckage for far longer than she'd initially intended to stay.

She didn't have a concrete reason for why she wanted to try and help the boy—or rather, the boy's mentor. A part of her simply felt it should be important to her that she recover her brother's leftover arm if nothing else. One way or another, the kid was right. That was a delicate and valuable piece of technology, and if the wrong hands found it, it could lead to some difficulties down the road.

It's already dark out.

She thought as her onyx eyes turned to scan the night sky. Perhaps she should return to her home as well. It didn't appear that she was going to uncover anything tonight. She observed the dark grey clouds flash with activity, a few seconds later she heard the boom of thunder reach her.

She could already hear the pitter patter of rain begin to slowly descend upon her.

Yup, definitely time to head out.

It took mere seconds before she was off the ground and shooting through the sky once more, her eyes trained ahead towards her destination.

I wonder if that arm even still exists.

There had been a lot of raw energy being thrown around in that battle. It was entirely possible it had disintegrated entirely in whatever attack Seventeen had lost it in. She'd searched through that debris good and long, using what she remembered of the fight to avoid locations she and Gohan had personally been responsible for to aid her search, and still came out with nothing.

In that case, perhaps it was wiser to look elsewhere for that information.

Her head tilted to the side in thought, her hair bellowing in the wind behind her. She'd never needed the information so she'd never pursued it before but, if she did want information on her own design, where would she go?

Well, the lab, of course-

She froze, her eyes wide with realization.

Seventeen!

The lab would have been the first place her brother would have gone to if he was searching for a way to fix his arm. Would he have found some sort of schematics on their design? Did those even exist? She had no idea. All she did know was that if Seventeen had uncovered those documents and found someone like Bulma to work on him… he could possibly fix himself and pose a serious threat to Gohan once more.

She could see her hotel building drawing closer as the cold, damp winds pounded against her thin frame, her hair whipping wildly behind her.

Her pink form shot pasted her balcony a moment later, her eyes no longer tracking her bed, but on a new set of coordinates.

This is more important.

She told herself as she soared towards Dr. Gero's old laboratory.

The frigid water slammed against her shoulders, her eyes squinting as she stared down at a place she would never forget. Even if she'd wanted it to be erased, it had been embedded into her core programming, so she would forever know it's immediate coordinates.
The place where the old her died.

She shut her eyes as she gently floated towards the cave's damp entrance, darkness swallowing her as she drifted to the massive steel-!

Her eyebrows immediately rose. The last time she'd checked, the head supercomputer had not been hanging halfway out an already cleaved-through door.

She idly questioned if her brother had tried to work the computer, discovered that he couldn't and destroyed it out of frustration. Slowly, she lifted until she could just barely squeeze through the gap provided by what she assumed had been her brother's rampage.

The room was dark, the lights all shattered and hanging uselessly from the cracked ceiling. This was little issue for the Android as her eyes immediately adapted to the lack of light.

Hmmm.

She flew nimbly about the room, careful not to bump anything as she studied it. It certainly looked like his handy work. Both of the large cold, steel tables had been ripped from their positions, despite each being bolted down. One was driven deep into the bottom half of what used to be the main computer.
The other table had been impaled into the center of an old incubation pod the doctor had used to store them when they'd been switched off.

Her eyes glanced down at the pod number.

Seventeen…

Her thoughts drifted back to the second time they'd been released shortly following the first time they'd been emergency shut down for unruly behavior.

She could still remember her brother's first words after stepping out, after having a moment alone for the first time in who knew how long.

"I don't dream in there." He'd said, his eyes cold as he stared back at the pod.

She could remember that look he'd given, the disdain. Of course, he'd been right. It was like sleep, but at the same time, not at all. It never felt like rest, it felt like you were being shut off.
Just, off.

Like a vacuum.

She let a dripping hand rest on the bisected pod. She remembered wondering if one day they annoyed just enough, he might shut them off, and leave them off.

Forever.

The thought had terrified her during her short time under that old fool's thumb.

Her eyes slowly trailed over the folded and broken table impaled into the computer. She could still remember the procedure. She'd been awake through most of it, she believed, sedated to a point that she could feel nothing, move nothing, but awake all the same. She'd been able to feel his hands within her, removing the parts of her he'd decided were no longer needed for his plans. She'd remembered feeling terrified and helpless, pinned to that table by her hands and feet despite lacking even the ability to move a muscle.

The operation had lasted hours.

She closed her eyes, doing her best to rid herself of the memories, but knowing they would never fully fade. She knew they would be there, whenever they were summoned, for the rest of her life. She imagined that Seventeen had his own fair share of memories he would be carrying with him for the rest of his life.

Her eyes continued to register the devastated room. The walls and floor were cracked and dented in more places than one. The room had been turned upside down. All the cupboards had been opened, and many of the doors had been torn off their hinges. Judging from the evidence of his tantrum, it appeared to her that her brother had failed to find anything at all.

It's not like you throw a table through a wall because you found what you were looking for.

She winced as she gently placed a hand on an indent in the wall, where his fist tore through the metal. She knew that he must have felt an incredible hate in these moments. She wondered how many of those moments he was thinking about her.

I bet a lot of them.

She sighed from the thought, looking back towards the entrance of the laboratory. It was clear that her brother had already been here, and by the looks of things, been unsuccessful. Regardless, it meant that there was nothing here, whether he found it or otherwise.

Time to head-

'BEEP BOP'

A robot voice sang. The woman paused, looking down at her phone.

A text?

Her eyes grew wide when she saw who it was from.

'Hey Videl, hope you're doing well. I've figured out what your next lesson in Ki will be! Would you be free in the next few days?'

Immediately, her finger moved to respond, clicking quietly against the screen.

'Sure. Free tomorrow if that works."

She waited patiently as she stared for a response, the roar of an ocean falling from the sky still echoing down the walls of the cave.

She'd forgotten that she was thoroughly soaked at the moment.

She frowned when she heard a quiet noise from behind her. It had been so silent, so careful that, had the room not been entirely silent except for the dripping of her tracksuit, she might have missed it.

It sounded like the hinge of a squeaky door slowly being pushed open.

Her head snapped to the side as she looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of movement as the floor... shifted? As well as something else she'd seen. A glimpse of a hand, or she thought it was a hand. It had looked green.

A moment later, the room was exactly how it had been seconds prior. Her eyes remained locked onto the point of the floor she'd registered movement.

'BEEP BOP'!

She resisted the urge to check as she stuffed the device into her pocket and began to slowly approach the shiny, metallic floor panel of suspicion.

Her eyes narrowed.

Something had definitely moved. Meaning something must have moved it.

The Android let her eyes fall shut as she expanded her senses, forcing them out so that she could soak in the life of the world.

What she felt, baffled her. It was like she was sensing the energy signature of dozens… no… hundreds of different people all forced to occupy the same body. What chilled the woman to her very core was the fact that one of these energy signatures was one she recognized.

Gohan?

It was weak, a mere speck within the oceans of other signatures occupying this creature's Ki, but it was unmistakably his.

For a brief, panicked moment, Eighteen pushed out her senses even further, washing over the world as she searched for his energy.

There!

She could feel him. He wasn't at his apartment, but at Bulma's residence for whatever reason. She could sense Trunks with him, likely bugging him as he tried to get done whatever task he was doing.

She breathed a sigh of relief, before feeling foolish that she'd done so in the first place. She could sense it, roughly forty feet beneath the surface just below her. It felt so… strange, twisted even, entirely different from Gohan or Trunks, although its power output was on a similar scale to the latter.

It tasted… corrupted. Like something foul had died and then been left out to rot afterwards. It was almost unpleasant to have it occupy her senses as she focused on it. She could sense that it was nervous, and likely aware of her presence. A part of her questioned if it had seen a glimpse of her and had immediately slipped away afterwards.

Hmmm.

She had several questions.

Her hand aimed downward, firing a single blast that cut through the thick steel panel with ease. Staring down the hole, she could see a ladder leading down to a dark basement area.

A secret underground lab. Of course he had a secret underground lab.

The Android sighed as she lowered herself into the space, her mind focused intently on the energy below. She could tell now that it had slunk away to the opposite end of the room, away from her approaching form.

A second later, her damp sneakers struck the hard floor. Her eyes widened as they took in her surroundings. Hung up on the walls were images of herself and her brother, schematics detailing the intricate innerworkings of their creation. There was also a seemingly random mess of loose items scattered across the floor. She could see the nozzle of a water hose laying in the corner of the room alongside a small metal doorknob hanging off the remains of what she assumed had once been a wooden door. To her left was a prominent looking glass tube, spanning the width of a few feet and the height of a man. It looked like it could have once contained liquid, but had since shattered and released what had once been within.

Her eyes immediately darted to the corner of the room, where she knew whoever was down here was currently hiding.

"I know you're there." She said, staring straight towards it. The creature had managed to position itself behind a tipped over table to obscure itself. She'd felt their energy spike when she'd spoken.

"Come out. Now." She spoke sternly.

There was a pregnant pause before she heard a crunching sound, then an unnerving clicking noise as the figure behind the table began to shift.

She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine as the crest of what she could only describe as a horribly deformed crown began to rise above the table to reveal an equally disturbing face still lurking in the darkness of the unlit room.

She watched its snake-like eyes latch onto her own.

"What the fuck are you?" she growled, her hand raising to blast it.

She didn't know why she thought it could understand her now that she could finally see its hideous face. But, something about living in a secret underground lab built by Dr. Gero himself gave the Android a clue as to who was responsible for this creature, and she knew what to expect from one of the Doctor's creations.

Upon seeing her raised hand, the creature paused. It's head tilted slowly to the left, almost… confused…? It was as if he was studying her and not understanding what he could see.

"...Eight... teen?"

The Android felt herself shudder at this monster's first words. The voice had sounded strained and gravelly, as if the very act of speech was a struggle.

What the fuck was Dr. Gero making down here?

She'd thought that her brother and she had been the worst of his monstrosities. But this thing? This thing made her want to second guess that fact.

She let energy fill her hand, lighting the room in a scarlet red as she glared at the monster before her. If it was made by Dr. Gero, it meant she had absolutely zero qualms about killing it here and now.

"You know me?" She asked, realizing that the beast had managed to pick her out from her disguise.

Of course, it wasn't like there were many people who knew of this place and also fired energy blasts, but how did this thing know that?

"...No… Seven... teen?" It's voice was strained, clearly struggling to ask its question.

"So you know of my brother too, huh?" She snarled, the ball of energy in her hand growing larger now. "I'd start answering my questions if you don't want me to completely obliterate you. Let's start with your name."

"..."

"Answer me!" She shouted, her voice filling the room as she watched the disgusting creature shutter back. She could see more of it now that it had backed away. It was hunched over on all fours, its body mottled and chitinous like a massive, humanoid bug as it stared unblinking at her.

"No... name." It finally responded.

She raised a brow in response. No name? It hadn't even picked a name for itself?

She took a moment to look towards what she was considering a massive test tube. She could see the word 'Cell' written at its base.

No one ever said Dr. Gero was a very creative man when it came to naming his projects.

She mentally quipped to herself as she watched the creature begin to slowly shuffle closer, as if having waited until her eyes had pulled off of him for just a moment.

"Hold it!" She shouted, re-aligning her hand with what she was rapidly realizing was a large being, likely standing several heads taller than herself if it stood up straight. It paused at her command, continuing to stare at her unblinking.

"Don't move an inch closer."

"But…" It began, his arms and legs slowly moving rhythmically to approach her. "I... need you."

She couldn't decide on whether or not 'Cell' was just terrifyingly creepy or if she just felt that way because he was staring at her like she was a slab of fresh meat. She determined a moment later that it was likely both.

"...What do you mean?" She said, taking a step back as she reminded herself that the power output of... whatever this thing was could barely hope to challenge the likes of Trunks, let alone herself.

"I'll... devour you." It rasped. "And then…we'll become... whole."

"Yeah, fuck that." She snarled before letting the growing scarlet energy erupt from her parm. The light tore through Cell who, at the last minute had attempted to leap away from the attack.

She watched as the beam impaled the monster, completely vaporizing its vital organs and leaving a basket ball sized hole in its torso. A few moments later, it slumped to the ground, dead.

She stared down at Dr. Gero's final creation, a part of her wondering what it meant when it said it wanted to 'devour' her. Another part of her was glad she would never have to find out. She suspected that whatever this... thing had been, it hadn't been fully matured, or perhaps it had been one of the Doctor's 'failed experiments' left to rot away beneath the lab.

She turned her head, looking to the walls of this place as she studied them, sensing that the threat was over. She could see a mess of blankets and pillows, mismatched and dirtied sitting in the other corner of the room. She wondered how long 'Cell' had managed to live down here; what it did, how it survived...

And why it'd had such a fascination with her and her brother. She crossed her arms, studying the wall as she tried to make sense of her own blueprint. She could identify all of the words, but could exactly make sense of what they were saying.

Too much nerd-speak.

She quietly determined before heading over and delicately detaching the picture of herself and rolling it up. She didn't know who would eventually find this place, but she certainly didn't want schematics on how to replicate the tortures she'd endured in some stranger's hands.

Carefully, she went to each schematic detailing her and her brother's design,taking them down and stuffing them into her undershirt, where they would be dry. She stole one last glance towards the remains of what used to be called 'Cell'.

"Sorry you were born to be a monster, Cell."

She flew straight up and through the secret hatch she'd torn through minutes earlier. The woman paused as she stared down at the hole.

She raised a hand at its opening. She didn't know if there was still anything of worth down there, but she was determined to ensure nothing would still exist after she was done with it.

She let her palm fill with energy, and fired.

-?-

Cell?

Was that his name? Why had she called him that?

He hadn't dared open his eyes until the woman was gone now that he knew she was hostile. It had been excruciating, to say the very least. Having to mentally deny his healing factor from taking over, to let what was left of his vital organs remain broken and bleeding as he awaited her departure.

But now he was safe, and now he could finally let his body heal itself. He grimaced as he felt pieces of his form behind to shift, his energy straining as he began to regrow his chest cavity.

It appears Dr. Gero did not let Androids Seventeen and Eighteen know of his plan.

They had simply not been informed of their place. A part of him had questioned as much. They'd never come back to offer themselves to be absorbed, so he'd figured that they hadn't known what Gero had designed for them. A part of him had merely assumed that they would want to be a part of him if they knew. Why wouldn't they want to deliver themselves to him once they knew they were to be a part of true perfection? It made total sense to him. Perhaps... she couldn't see the big picture like he could. This had been a good way to confirm that fact at the very least.

He frowned, or at least, did his closest interpretation of a frown when he'd realized she'd stolen what he'd initially interpreted as posters, and what had been clarified as blueprints weeks ago. It appeared that both Androids were after their own designs for one reason or another. What more, it appeared that they were no longer traveling together.

Very interesting.

He thought to himself as he sat, painfully feeling himself reform.

He would have to investigate further. He'd already discovered that Seventeen and Eighteen had lost their previous engagement with Son Gohan after scouting along the outskirts of West City and overhearing it in a newscast. Paired with their separation, and Eighteen's strange new appearance, the son of Gero felt extremely intrigued.

I'll have to go investigate more if I want to-

Pain.

Pain EVERYWHERE.

It was the most intense pain he'd ever felt in his entire life. Like being shot in his head by that terrible hunting rifle he'd experienced months earlier but instead he felt it everywhere.

Please, make it stop!

He silently begged as he let his eyes narrowly peeled open, his vision filled with red as the room around him splintered all at once, the weight of the mountain above coming crashing down on top of his exoskeleton as the explosion ruptured the ceiling.

The last moment Cell felt was his entire body being crushed as his room, the only home he'd ever known came crashing down all around him.

Then, he knew darkness.

Author's Note:

Hello all! I hope this chapter finds you all well, and if you are not well, hopefully it made your day a little better instead. This chapter was a little bit shorter than my typical standard, but I felt overall it was more complete where it ended. I really hope to get the next chapter out in a sooner time frame than this one. It actually only took me a week to complete when I finally got around to it, but my other story took me much longer and pulled away my efforts from this story :/. I considered adding a scene with Gohan showing a little tease as to what the next training session will be, but I think it will be more enjoyable as a surprise :).

Once again, this chapter was cleaned up by Ben Thryss. Without his work, it would hardly read as cleanly as it does.

Not much else to say about this chapter other than please consider dropping a review! Hearing what you guys think about the story make this whole process worth it. I'll also do my best to respond to reviews to the best of my ability as always!

Until next time!