Final Farewell-Divine Intervention
---------------------------------------
Chapter 8: Final Farewell/Divine Intervention
---------------------------------------------

The sounds of the battle were deafening. All of the Z fighters, Seventeen and Eighteen included, were giving it their all in an effort to defeat the droids in time to stop Dr. Gero. Although not even Seventeen and Eighteen knew it at the time, Goku sensed a radical change of heart within the two. Eighteen had changed over to the "good side" long ago, but Seventeen had remained a loner. Now Goku sensed his feelings were starting to awaken. This was apparent by the intensity in which he fought and killed the droids. He wasen't killing for fun as he might have before, but he was killing to protect which he holds dearest, his sister.

Unfortunatly for Goku, he was wrapped up in his thoughts just long enough for one of the droids to barrel into him, knocking him flat on his face. Before Goku could move, the droid raised his hand and flung a Destructo Disk right at Goku's face. Goku turned around in time to see the yellow blade come flying his way. Just before it hit, a figure dressed in blue jeans, a black shirt, and a white long-sleeve shirt appeared in front of him. It was Android #17.

Seventeen pulled his leg back and kicked the disk with everything he had. Incredibly, the disk shattered into shards of Ki energy which harmlessly flung off into the air. Goku gaped at him. Seventeen turned to him and offered his hand. Goku blinked up at him before taking his hand. Seventeen looked...well, about seventeen. Like a normal teenage boy. For the first time, Goku saw that the Android looked frail, like a piece of glass that would break the first time its hit. Only the Z fighters knew that this "harmless teenager" was stronger than any human living on the planet. Seventeen pulled up, helping Goku to his feet. Goku looked at the Android boy, a look of gratitude on his face, "Thats the second time you've saved my life Seventeen..." The Android could almost see a glint of a tear in his eye. Seventeen then realized what the others had been trying to get him to understand all this time.

Love is truely the greatest power on Earth. Its stronger than any blast or attack, its stronger than any fighter, Goku or himself, or Vegeta, name it. Seventeen then truely realized Goku cared for him just as much as he did his other friends. Seventeen smiled then, for the first time in life, a smile not of contempt or cockiness, but a smile of happiness. Seventeen and Goku, backs to each other, then began to fight harder than they had every before.

*****Just outside the lab..

Gero stood at the entrance to his lab, watching the battle completly undetected. Not that he was invisible or hiding, he was in plain view. Except the droids were keeping the fighters so busy they didn't even notice him. He looked at the timer, 8 minutes left. "Ahh Goku...why bother fighting it? In less than 10 minutes I'll have realized my revenge. Then I'll move onto other planets and rule them. And when I'm done with them, I'll just blow them up too.." he said with a smile..

****Back at the battle..

Krillen and Eighteen were now fighting as a pair. Krillen and Eighteen fighting harder than ever before. After all the efforts of the Z fighters, the droids were now down to 35. Suddenly, without warning, 6 droids jumped Eighteen and Krillen. Too startled to react, they could do little as the droids beat them down to the ground. Suddenly one of them blasted them both with a point-blank range Ki blast. Stunned and injured, Eighteen and Krillen fell to the ground in a heap. The Androids lined to, both hands outstretched. As Krillen opened his eyes, he saw 6 glowing balls of evil power about to erupt and destroy him and the one woman he truely loved. He suddenly felt her hand close around him..

"Krillen..." she said. Krillen closed his eyes and prepared for the blasts to hit. They both knew neither one of them had the energy to move. Holding each other close, Krillen and Eighteen prepared to die together. Goten and Trunks saw what was happening, but were powerless to help as they had their hands full. "Krillen, Eighteen, RUN!!" Goten screamed. Eighteen laid her head on her husbands chest, glad at least they would go together..

"TRI BEAM....FIRRREEEEEE!!!" someone screamed from above. Krillen immediently knew who it was...Tien..

The triangular beam of yellow-orange energy rained down upon the 6 droids just before they fired. The blast completly destroyed them all. Tien, in an effort to avoid being sensed, kept his power level pushed so far down it couldn't be detected, even with a scouter. He smiled down at Eighteen and Krillen, who were looking up at Tien with amazement. Next to Tien, Yamcha appeared. He smiled at them, next to him Bulma appeared. Not using Ki, but the machine she invented they could transport items. "Uh..Bulma, what are you DOING here?!" Yamcha asked, obviously unaware Bulma was going to do that. "Thats MY man, and MY kid down there Mr. Loud-Mouth-Yamcha! I have a right to be here if I want!" she declared. Yamcha blinked and then smiled a bit. 'Yea..thats the same rude, abusive, courageous Bulma' he thought with a proud smile. "Just don't get in the way and get hurt." Yamcha said aloud.

Bulma nodded and took off running for the nearby cliff ledge where she could watch the battle without getting hurt. She produced a capsule and pressed the button. Throwing it down, it exploded in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, a dome of highly tough, transparent material was over her. She smiled to herself. Having logged all of Vegeta attacks and studied the power behind each one, she was able to produce a substance that could withstand any attack up to a Big Bang. She was confident nothing stronger than that would hit her.

Back on the battlefield, the Z fighters had taken care of all but 12 of the droids. Trunks and Goten lined up, both making highly odd hand motions. The 2 droids that were coming after them suddenly stopped, their eyes blinking as they attempted to recognize the attack. The two boys stopped maving their hands and pointed their palms towards them, their thumbs and index fingers touching to make a diamond shape. The droids eyes suddenly flashed a warning.

*Warning: Finish Buster Immident. Immedient Retreat is advised. Repeat: Finish Buste--* The screen was cut off. Goten and Trunks fired. The blasts not only destroyed the two droids, but blew a gigantic portion of the mountain to bits. The Earth itself shook with the power of their blasts. Bulma was rattled inside her dome, but was unhurt. The other Z fighters, seeing only 10 left, picked up the pace. Tien, Gohan, Goku, Krillen, Vegeta, Eighteen, Seventeen, and Yamcha each took one apeice. Goten and Trunks double-teamed one. Piccolo had stopped fighting to look for Dr. Gero. While he was looking, he sensed a high power attack coming his way. He turned in time to see a Special Beam Cannon come zooming towards him. He raised his right hand and grabbed the beam itself! The droid, clearly confused, could do nothing but continue to fire at Piccolo, who was holding the beam like it was nothing more than a teddy bear.

"Allow me to show you how to do this properly" he said with a evil grin. He wound up and fired the beam back at the frightened droid. With no time to react, the droid took the blast right in his face. It promptly exploded his head and the droid fell to the ground in pieces. Looking around, he saw that the Z fighters had just finished destroying the remaining droids. With a little help from Krillen and Yamcha, Goku had beaten the droids into one pile and, using the Kame Hame Ha technique, had swiftly destroyed the remaining droids.

"How much time is left Gohan?" Trunks yelled. Gohan looked at his watch. "Plenty! We still have a half-hour left!" he yelled back. The other fighters began to cheer. Goten and Trunks did victory dances. Vegeta produced the biggest, cockiest smirk he could ever muster. Eighteen and Krillen held each other happily, Seventeen and Piccolo, although not showing it on the outside, were overjoyed.Yamcha and Tien cheered loudly, announcing the downfall of Gero and praising themselves and the other Z fighters. Goku breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Alright then, we have plenty of time to find and defeat Dr. Gero!" He yelled.

"On the contrary Goku, I have plenty of time to defeat YOU!" Gero yelled. Everyone was too busy celebrating to notice Gero had appeared a little ways behind Goku. Goku growled a bit at Gero, "Enough Gero! Stop this! Turn the balloons off now, we don't have to kill each other over this!" he yelled. "Oh your right on that Goku, we don't HAVE to kill each other. I could play nice and disable the explosives...but I won't. You see, I'm going to enjoy watching you all die. And once your all dead then I can go on and make myself master of these other planets!" he laughed. Goku's golden aura flared around him and he charged Gero, slamming his fist directly towards his face.

It was like hitting a giant blob of rubber. Goku was instantly flung backwards like a toy. Vegeta's aura also flared up and he too charged Gero. This time everyone watched closely. Right before Vegeta touched Gero a green wall appeared and flung Vegeta on his back. Krillen, Piccolo, Goten, Gohan, Trunks, and Yamcha all together charged at Gero. They were all flung back as well. Tien, slightly puzzled, fired a Ki blast at Gero. It connected right in the face..or rather, WOULD have connected right in the face. The green energy appeared again and Tiens blast harmlessly deflected into space.

"Behold!" Gero yelled, pressing a button. Suddenly in the sky, at least a half-dozen large, silver balloon like objects appeared. The Z fighters looked up in amazement. "Behold, my Death Balloons" he declared, "They can withstand any attack you can muster because their energy shields are fed off your own Ki energy!" he cackled with laughter.

Goku, Yamcha and Gohan all three cupped their hands to their sides, Vegeta raised his palm to the balloon, Goten and Trunks made their signature Finish Buster hand movements, Piccolo touched two fingers to his forehead, Tien cupped his hands in the shape of a triangle and Krillen held his hand out as a glowing energy blade started to form. Not having any special attack, Eighteen and Seventeen prepared to fire their strongest energy blast.

"KAAMME HAAAME HAAA!!" Yamcha, Goku, and Gohan yelled as they fired.

"BIIIG BAANNG ATTACKKK!!!" Vegeta yelled as he fired his attack.

"FINISH BUSTTTERRR!!!" Goten and Trunks yelled as they fired their attacks.

"TRI BEAM FIREEE!!!" yelled Tien as he fired his signature move.

"DESTRUCO DISK!!!" Krillen yelled as he flung his whirling energy blade.

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNONNNN FIREEE!!!" Piccolo screamed as his screw-shaped blast erupted.

Seventeen and Eighteen fired as well. All of the blasts seemed to blend into one big white sphere as they reached the balloon. The blue from the Kamehamehas, the red,orange, and yellow from the Special Beam Cannon, the yellow of the Destructo Disk,Finish Busters andTri-Beam, and the red from the Androids blasts all seemed to come together to produce one big white blast about the power of Goku's Spirit Bomb.

All the Z fighters held their breaths as the ball crashed into the balloon. The explosion could have rung the ears of the deaf and cause the already blind to be re-blinded. The explosion shock-wave was so powerful it flattened the remaining mountains and rattled Bulma's "Ki-Proof" shield. For a second there she felt as if it would shatter on her. The Z fighters, who had their eye's closed, slowly began to open them. Then their hearts fell to their feet.

The balloon remained, not even a scratch, not even after all they had done. To make matters worse, Gero announced they now had 1 minute left until they exploded. "You did have 5, but the blasts just rattled the mechanisms and because of that you only have 60 seconds left. Too bad, enjoy it while you can!" he yelled with satanic laughter. Enraged, Vegeta charged Gero again, only to have himself flung back on his face.

"When will you learn? This shield detects incoming Ki and automatically blocks it. And since all of you have a life Ki, none of you can get to me!" he yelled, his voice mixing with his laughter. The Balloons overhead started to glow red slightly. "Just think, in 45 seconds this will all be over. Say goodbye to everything and everyone you've ever loved Goku!" He started laughing. This time, his laughter was cut short.

Faster than light itself, Seventeen appeared next to Gero, grabbing him in a bearhug. Within a split-second, Eighteen was also at his side, bear-hugging, or rather restraining, Gero. "WHAT?! How?! I don't get it, how the hell did you do that?!" He screamed outraged.

Eighteen smiled at him, "You said it detected Ki, thanks to you, me and Seventeen don't HAVE Ki anymore." She looked over at Seventeen, who nodded knowingly. Seventeen looked at Goku and Goku instantly knew what was happening. Quoting 'A Tale of Two Cities', a book he had been given by Bulma once, Seventeen looked at Goku with a tear forming in his eye and said, "Tis a far, far better thing I do, than any I have ever done.." Eighteen looked at her husband, her own tears falling from her face. "Krillen...I love you..my love..please forgive me, but I will not allow him to destroy all that I hold dear.."

Krillen, clearly about to go into shock, screamed for Eighteen and Seventeen not to do it. The two Android twins looked at each other and nodded and held Gero, who was screaming, kicking, and thrashing to try to get away, even tighter. The twins both started glowing, right when the glow became blinding, Seventeen whispered to Gero, "Thanks...Dad..for everything" there was sarcasm and contempt dripping in his voice. Then he took one last look at Eighteen, "I love you..sis...".

Then the self-detonation came. The initial explosion was only a flash of light, like Tiens Solar Flare, but then the Plutonium Reverse Fusion kicked in. The explosion was bigger and more Earth-shaking than even the biggest Spirit Bomb Goku could ever muster. The shockwave of the blast knocked out electronics for 100 miles in all directions. A space shuttle on the way back to Earth nearly crashed into an asteroid because the craft's pilot was blinded by the flash of energy. Way up on Kami's lookout, pillars and stone tiles cracked and crashed. On King Kai's planet, King Kai's house collapsed into rubble and his car exploded into fragments of metal and glass. Screaming that it was the end of the world, he ran for cover under a tree, Bubbles and Gregory hiding under his robe.

Bulma's Ki Dome shattered into a billion pieces and she was thrown out of her refuge and into the dust. The Z fighters, Goku included, were flung into the rubble as if they weighed nothing at all. The entire Earth shook in a violent Earthquake that took almost a full minute to subside. Glass from the buildings as far away as Capital City exploded, leaving people injured from the flying glass shards. All around the world, people felt the effects of the blast in one way or another. The Death Balloons, on Earth, Namek, Yardrek, and all the other places. sizzled, sparked and then fell to the ground, nothing more than hunks of garbage now. The energy from within leaked and poured into the Earth. You could clearly tell where a Balloon landed because there was no dead trees or grass for about a mile outward from the spot.

Back on the battlefield, the blinding light had subsided. The stunned Z fighters struggled to pick themselves up from the rubble. Bulma had recovered and staggered over to the fighters, her leg cut and bruised. They looked around. No sign of Gero, or Seventeen and Eighteen. Everything around for miles had been wiped out. No mountains, no lab, nothing. Just sand, rubble, and a surprisingly shallow crater in the ground that marked where Seventeen and Eighteen paid the ultimate price to stop Gero. For a long while no one said a word, then a glimmer caught Krillens eye.

It was a locket that he had given Eighteen a long time ago. It was in the shape of a heart, one side held his picture, grinning and flashing a "V", the other held Eighteens, smiling with a look of pure happiness. Yamcha, swallowing a lump in his throat, was the first to speak. "Seventeen and Eighteen sacrificed their lives to save this world from destruction.." he said with more than a bit of saddness in his voice. That was all that could be taken. Krillen broke down and fell to his knees crying. Goku also started crying, leaning on his best friend for support. Gohan blinked back tears, remembering how Eighteen had helped him study and how he had learned so much from her, then he too began to cry. Goten and Trunks, remembering how Seventeen was the only one who ever bothered to play video games with them, started to cry also. Bulma buried her face in Vegetas chest and started crying. Even Yamcha and Tien had tears in their eyes. Although he wasen't about to show it, Vegeta was close to tears also. 'I thought those tin cans were uncaring, selfish assholes...instead they gave everything they had and MORE, to save our lives." Vegeta felt a tear well up at the corner of his eye, a tear of gratitute that the "scrap heaps" he had scorned so much had destroyed themselves to keep not only him and the rest of the fighters alive, but his wife, his wifes family, and all the other people on the planet.

Everyone was crying so hard they didn't notice the ball of light appear behind them until it was glowing as brightly as the sun. Everyone turned to face it. Goku immediently sensed a Ki much different that anyone else..it was the Ki of Dende, the Kami of Earth.

Dende stepped out of what looked like a doorway and faced the fighters with a smile on his face. Behind him, two figures stepped out. 'They can't be Seventeen and Eighteen, they were Androids and I sense Ki from these two........unless...' he thought. Then he stopped crying and took on a look of total and utter amazement.

Seventeen and Eighteen stepped out from behind Dende. Both wearing the same clothes they had before this fight ever began. Seventeen in his usual black shirt over long-sleeve white shirt with blue jeans, and Eighteen with a white and black striped shirt with denim vest and blue jean pants. The crying immediently stopped for Krillen, who ran forward and grabbed Eighteen in a hug. They fell to their knees together, crying and holding each other. Goku looked at the small Dende and started to open his mouth, but a voice stopped him.

"Goku...you know better than anyone else that has ever lived, that people with pure hearts deserve a chance to live on. Android 17 and 18 sacrificed their own lives to save the very planet they were suppose to destroy, just as Vegeta did once. I will not allow such creatures of pure heart to pass away so soon." the voice said. Goku immediently recognized the voice as King Emma, Guardian of the Dead. Dende smiled at Goku, "King Emma made them human, thats why you sense Ki from them."

Without even thinking, Goku hugged Seventeen and Eighteen, who this time hugged him back. Everyone, Goten, Trunks, Krillen, Gohan, Bulma, Tien, Yamcha, even Piccolo and Vegeta, hugged the Androids. For a long time, they just sat there and cried and held each other. Eighteen, through her tears, reached out and took the locket from Krillens hand. "I'll take that back if you don't mind" she said with a smile as he re-clasped it around her neck. This brought even more crying from the group as any feelings of hate or contempt they had had for each other was swept away in seconds. Smiling, Dende, knowing that the fighters would be alright, stepped back into the doorway and vanished, never letting the most courageous group of fighters ever out of his sight. He smiled, confident that Seventeen would be fully accepted as Eighteen is now.

********Later that night..

Back at Capsule Corp, there was no big celebration party, no feast, just friends. Seventeen was invited to move into Capsule Corp until he found a place to live, which he accepted. Vegeta didn't even argue about it, he just gave silent consent. TV reports showed the blackout was the cause of "Electromagnetic Radiation caused from the nearby planet Venus's solar eclipse". Of course none of the Z fighters believed it. They knew the blackouts were caused by Seventeen and Eighteen when they destroyed Dr. Gero for the final time earlier. Krillen and Eighteen never looked happier. Even Chi Chi had hugged Seventeen and Eighteen for their heroic deed.

But one person was sitting alone on the porch. Seventeen, happy to be human and even happier to be alive, went outside to be alone for a while. He sat and for the first time in his life, thought things through. He remembered Goku choking in the kitchen and him saving his life by unchokeing him. He remembered the panic and fear on Goku's wife's face when she saw her husband choking. He remembered the tears his sister and Krillen shed with each other on the battlefield today. He remembered Bulma crying in Vegetas arms earlier. He remembered the last words he said earlier, "I love you..sis" Then a realization stuck him like a bolt of lightning.

THAT..is what Goku calls 'love', he said. His eyes welled up with tears as he remembered all the kindness that was shown to him since he'd been with the Z fighters. He realized his love for his sister and newfound friends was what prompted him to self-destruct to kill Gero. Seventeen smiled despite his tears and whispered to himself, "You were right Goku...love truely IS the most powerful force on Earth.."


THE END

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At last! Return of a Nightmare is finished. This is my first EVER fanfic, a great feat for me, considering my first had 8 chapters to it. Well how did you like it? Worth reading? Please R&R to let me know!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

-Angel of Death