Chapter Twelve



Oob pulled C-17 high in the sky, far away from the little house. The young man flew with a great speed for a few minutes, until he couldn't hold it back anymore: then he grabbed his charge by the neck with one hand and began punching him with the other. C-17, still shocked from his unexpected kidnapping, received the fist without even seeing it. Something cracked and blood spouted out. A few warm drops covered Oob's face and the scent of blood excited his anger. His fist struck again, and again, and again, and C-17 was too weak and too bewildered to repost, or even to react.

It could have lasted forever, but finally the youth gave a final punch. The cyborg hung dully from his grasp like a lifeless and bloody puppet, but his chest slightly expanded and contracted with the slow and difficult breaths. Oob looked at him silently, frowning still but calming down progressively. He didn't turn him lose, for C-17 would only have fallen and it wasn't the time yet.

- Why did you do that? he whispered through his teeth. Why?!

~*~*~

Blond locks wildly slapped the inscrutable face as the woman increased the speed of her flight. She didn't seem to care about it, for she was stubbornly staring at the horizon ahead without a blink, as if she wanted to isolate herself from the outer world.

Within her chest, her heart beat too rapidly.

The woman with no age accelerated some more.

~*~*~

- Daddy? - What is it, darling?
- Was that man really my uncle?

Krilin carefully avoided his daughter's eyes. C-18 and him had agreed, a long time ago, to not tell her about C-17, since he was to remain dead anyway. To make sure there would be no after effects of the drama that had occurred fourteen years ago, they had gathered the Dragon Balls, summoned Shenron and wished that everything related to the dark haired twin would be erased from the child's memory. But even the sacred dragon couldn't guess that the cyborg would find his way back on Earth, back to his niece, and that this return would arise shadows of memories.

- He is, yes, finally spoke the old man, slowly. He's your mother's twin.
- Why did you never tell me about him?
- Sometimes it's better to not talk about some people.

Marron blinked but added nothing, seeing the sadness on her father's face. She wanted to ask why C-17 was so familiar to her, why she thought she already knew that old house, but she felt it would be too much. Sometimes it is better to ignore some things...

~*~*~

Goku, Trunks and Vegeta stayed immobile and silent, observing Oob and his victim from a good distance. The three warriors had crossed their arms and waited patiently for the youngest of their group to finish his first serious fight.


C-17 remembered his last living days. He had met Marron, had loved the child... He had needed her like he'd never needed anything, but she wasn't his. She was C-18's and C-18 was possessive... Then he had fought with his sister, who one day had been everything to him, even though he didn't know it at the time, and she had killed him. Not literally, of course. He was still the one who had pulled the trigger. But she pushed him to it...

And now he was to die again. A faint voice in the back of his mind asked what would happen to him; would he get a second halo or disappear? Or would he go to another After World? And what would happen to Lunch...

- Why?!

Oob's voice seemed to come from very far away... What was he asking?

- Answer, bastard!

But answer to what?! C-17 tried to speak, but could only emit a low wail. Oob's fingers tightened their iron grip around his painful neck. Air now had hard time coming to his burning lunges. A strange feeling of déjà-vu... His body trembled as life - or death? - faded away from him. He had come back to be alive again, to have another chance with them, both of them, but things had changed yet remained as they had been...

- Kof.

Oob opened his hand, liberating C-17 who, empty of vitality, fell with the grace of a potatoes bag. He was seen hitting a huge fir tree, twirling in the air as a puppet before disappearing in the green surface.

- C-17!!

The four warriors jumped when the hoarse voice broke the thick silence. The shout had come from Lunch, who was carried by a still jumbled Goten. Her emerald eyes stared at Oob with a feverish stupor and for a moment it seemed she could jump onto him and strangle him.

She did jump, but only from Goten's arms. She fell just like C-17 had fallen a minute ago, only she had the luck of not meeting a tree right away. However, branches were heard cracking, followed by a dull thud. Goku glanced at his companions, paler under his tan.

- Should we check if they're ok?
- Are you crazy, Carot? The robot can only be dead again and the woman can't have survived either. Let's just go back home training.
- But dad, if they are alive, we...
- I said, we go back home!

The Prince of Saiyans scowled stubbornly before leaving at full speed. Trunks and Goten looked at each other, glanced down and followed their elder quickly. They weren't concerned anyway...

Goku floated still for a moment, doubtful. But he couldn't feel Lunch's ki anymore and he decided to agree with Vegeta: they couldn't have survived such a fall. Slowly, he began flying away.

~*~*~

C-17 heard the typical sound of a good weight falling from a great height onto the firm ground of an old forest. The weight had fallen not too far away from him and even though he felt like dying, it bothered him to not know what it was. Thus he slowly, laboriously, turned his face toward the source of the sound, then opened his eyes. His vision was somewhat blurry, but he soon recognized the blond mass of hair.

With the speed of one agonising, he rolled onto his stomach, holding back wails of pain, then began crawling, laboriously, toward Lunch. She wasn't moving and her arm was oddly placed under her, but his mind was too busy thinking about going up to her to notice it.

It was strange. He didn't even know why he was putting himself in such pain - wasn't he supposed to know no pain? - for a stupid, manipulating, old, dead freak... But he crawled, slowly but surely shortening the distance between him and the motionless body... And finally his fingers felt silky curls instead of grass.

Allowing himself to growl faintly, he threw his arm forward, as to be able to reach Lunch's neck with his fingertips. It took him a moment before actually looking for a pulse, for he was catching up with his own breathe. A metallic taste filled his mouth and he could feel his own heart struggling to keep beating. "What a shame... Beaten to death by some... Moron..." He shut his eyes closed and slightly pressed the tender flesh of the unanimated woman.

He waited. Sighed. Moved his fingers to another point of her neck. Pressed harder.

But there was nothing.

So he moved his hand away, crawled back a little and rolled onto his back, gasping for air. "This is... Dumb." He didn't open his eyes and didn't see his sister landing beside him as he breathed out for the very last time.

~*~*~

C-18 fell on her knees beside a sleeping looking C-17, calling his name a few times. His eyes remained closed, blood covering his battered face. The blond cyborg rose her hand in the air to wipe the red fluid away, but she stopped way before touching it, her stomach revolted by this picture. It was somewhat worse than the precedent time... She bent her neck, letting her blond hair to hide her face away, and her shoulders trembled with a silent cry.

- I'm sorry... I'm always too late...

Only the wind swirling with the highest branches above, replied to her, comfortingly coming down for a gentle caress. She glanced at the other body, that blond woman who had known Krilin as a child... But it wasn't there anymore, so she returned her look to her brother.

He was gone as well.

For one of the rare times of her life, C-18 allowed her eyes to let the tears escape.

The End