Age 767, Hours After The Cell Games

A thick, painful silence spread the Lookout, only cut by the echoing scream and cry of an 11-year-old boy, who just heard that he should not be bringing his father back to life.

Every single warrior of Earth was present, though they stood in silence; not because they were happy with today's end result, far from it, but as adults they figured it was only proper that they themselves did not crumble to tears.

One such adult, the ever-stoic namekian, frowned deeply. Not only was he not happy that Goku decided not return to Earth, in fear that just like the recent Artificial Humans incident some old enemies might try to take revenge from him and therefore put his family in danger, but also because Gohan, the little brat that was his first friend pupil and overall closest person to him, naturally did not take these news lightly.

And why would he? Piccolo thought, quite angry with the decision of the earth-raised saiyan. Even though Gohan was the single most responsible and strong 11-year-old there can be, he was still just that, an 11-year-old who has gone through so much, on the cusp of puberty and clearly needed time to sort everything out, truly comprehend the events of the better part of his life. And just when he did have the time and freedom to do that, quite possibly the single most important person to help him through all this decides to stay in the afterlife for good.

Piccolo wasn't one to question his old rival's decisions all the time, but he did get VERY furious with him whenever he acted this tunnel-visioned on topics surrounding his firstborn. He made this clear during the fight with Cell, right before Cell unleashed his juniors entailed by 16's sacrifice and Gohan's infamous rage taking over once more.

He figured that there was nothing to do now that the deed was done, Trunks of the Future was revived and the dragon balls were scattered throughout the planet. The best course of action was to comfort his pupil, and to take the initiative to be a more emotional support to the kid in the future, something he knew Gohan will be needing.

"Kid" Piccolo began,. "You've done well. You know Goku is proud of you." He was very picky with his words, " You've made all of us proud, think of all the lives you have saved, you were the beacon of hope. Your father did not leave you, neither will we." And with that he simply kneeled down and pulled Gohan to him and started rubbing his back to comfort him just a bit more. Gohan's screams were slowly turning into small sobs but they were still there.

Krillin, Yamcha and Tenshinhan all stood by, letting the two have their moment and paying their respects to their long-time comrade; the one that was responsible for stitching them all together.

Vegeta did not share those sentiments at all. After leaving the Cell Games arena with the words "I will never fight again." and learning the rival he was looking forward to beating into the ground will not be coming back, he was numb. Didn't know what to feel or howto feel for that matter. Though he could not deny his new-found respect for the youngest saiyan alive, surpassing all there was and rising to the top after a lifetime of struggles, he himself being one of those struggles. He found that fact quite amusing. "Saiyans are at the top of the food chain, finally." He muttered.

Around 50 meters back, a young adult lady was watching all this unfold from her hiding place where she managed to follow everyone to, thanks to her undetectable energy. Up until a few hours before all her memories consisted of her real name, her brother and the last few weeks with 16 until they were absorbed (or destroyed, in 16's case) by Cell. 18 did not know what to do with her life, now. She watched Cell crush the head of one of the two people she truly related to and was fond of, and did not even know the 2nd was even alive. She figured she might check the Cell Games Arena first but now there are more important things to do.

What was she even going to do after she, hopefully, finds 17? The general idea was to kill Goku, harvest the advantages of being the strongest for the rest of their lives thinking nothing can ever catch up to them anyways. Oh how wrong they were. 18 had no idea how, but the same people that she beat the crap out of (that beating she gave to Vegeta is something she will cherish to the end of times) being so much more powerful mere days later was insane. She and her brother were enough to take care of them before, now they are 3 people who can kill the both of them with little effort.

One such person intrigued her quite a bit. The young Gohan, who saved her life from Cell. She did not know how, she was sure there were some seemingly unbreakable chains that bonded her entity to Cell. And yet he managed to tear them apart, like they were nothing. If they were close she would've thanked him for that, Kami knows he deserves that much.

This train of thought led the blonde to contemplate her future social life. Her only friend was dead and she didn't even know 17 was still alive. The only people Lazu-Number 18 knew was those two and her enemies, who were still unaware of the looking pair of eyes. She wasn't planning on making friends or anything before, content with having only 17 to keep her company. But now with the baldie wishing the bombs in her and 17's chests were gone for good, blonde finally had a blank slate with life.

Baldie wasn't bad in her book, he was clearly romantically fond of her and she even noticed a bit of respect for her as well. Unfortunately for poor Krillin she had no romantic feelings towards him. That wasn't to say she would hate to befriend him or his bunch for that matter, it just wasn't the time and she didn't even know if she wanted to be their friend. And even if she did, would they befriend her? She did try to kill them after all.

18 didn't know them beyond the basics but they, save for the lavender-haired one who clearly despised her, didn't seem the type to just randomly decide since all this was over they might as well just kill her. She figured they'd leave her and 17 for a while and as long as they didn't destroy a city or something their paths may not cross again.

That did not sit well with her. Even though they were technically still enemies they were the only people both the artificial humans could relate to at least on a fundamental level save for each other of course. As long as she didn't annoy Vegeta or anything she should be somewhat successful being around them. And one day, if lucky starts line up and all wink at Earth at the same time, she can even pick one as a romantic partner. An unlikely fate, but one that is still possible. Deeming it the right time to make her presence known, 18 walked out of her hiding spot, just as Krillin started talking about her.

"Well i like 18," Krillin awkwardly began, "But don't you think 17 is the perfect match for her?" This was when 18 was listening and she snapped ,"Idiot, 17 is my brother! Don't expect me to thank you just for removing this bomb!" Her actual opinion was thrown out the hypothetical window on the Lookout as she was too disgusted with the fact that they thought she was a couple with her brother to think rationally. "Don't think just because of this I have gone soft, and definitely don't expect me to beg you for a date or anything!" By this point it was just her anger talking since using words like these or shaking her arms in the air was too uncivilized for her. "I doubt our paths will ever cross again." She tucked her hair behind her ear, and with a final glare she was gone.

Everyone on Lookout, including Gohan who calmed down considerably, was quite confused by this. Though Yamcha predicted what was to happen next, as Krillin was visibly upset that he was rejected by someone he did not even plan to confess anytime soon.

After a pregnant silence, it was Dende who broke the silence. "So, what are we going to do now?" Piccolo was the first to respond: "As planned, I'm going to live here from now on. We have a new Kami to train, and I happen to be the only suitable trainer." Piccolo smirked smugly and everyone, except for Vegeta, found it rather amusing.

"I will be staying the night and going back to the future, there is much to repair now that I can finally finish those two." Trunks said the latter part of the sentence with great hatred in his voice, but nevertheless happy that the twin nightmares that which terrorized his entire life were going to be no more in 24 hours.

Gohan took it to himself to address the elephant in the room. "What are we going to do with 17 and 18 now? They are no longer a threat to us, but they are still very powerful. ." he stated ,"Not to mention we know nothing about their current intentions." Yamcha added, as everyone grew uncomfortable. Then Piccolo began, "It is not like us to pursue to kill those who are weaker than us and are not harming anyone. If they start to cause some havoc then we'll decide."

Everyone agreed to this and after Tenshinhan saying goodbye for good to his friends, everyone except Piccolo left the Lookout. Ready to face a new world, a world without Son Goku in it.