Title: Past: Alive, long and true
Author: Bexi
E-mail address: Madmangabexx@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13 because of mild violence and strong language, with references to drug use and of a mature material in some areas.
Genre: Angst, humour, action with little adventure
Summary: When Android 17 is found and brought back to Bulma's, his and 18's deadly past is revealed. How will 18 react when she learns the truth about what happened with Dr Gero?
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own any DragonBall Z related characters, they are property of whoever created them and I have no right, or legal matter, to say that I own them. I am merely borrowing them for the short space of time that my fic is up. Any characters that are not recognised as DragonBall Z characters are of my own.
Series: This fic takes place after the Cell saga, but before the World Martial Arts Tournament. So Trunks is 8, Goten is 7 and little Marron is whatever age she is then.
Feedback: Please, I love to receive feedback from all you readers out there who feel that certain things may not piece up together. Constructive criticism is also appreciated if helpful to the fic.
In arrows = Character is thinking to themselves.
PAST: ALIVE, LONG AND TRUE
By Bexi
Chapter One: Surprise Discoveries
The radiating sun was scorching hot, the rays blazing down onto the dry, sandy ground. It hadn't rained in such a long time, sometimes when the evening drew near the blistering temperature dropped. The odd shower of blissful rain was a present, and no water was for miles. The last watering hole had been approximately four days ago, so by the time it took him to return he would have most likely died of dehydration (if possible). So he keep up the quickened pace and persistently walked the distance that he would need, each step becoming harder to take than the last. He had wished many a times that he could just take off from this wretched hellhole and fly away to his freedom, but he was far too weak to do so. He wondered to himself several time, the sound of his own voice echoing through his mind was what kept him sane -- yet on the same lines of worry for this theory.
I'm far to weak to fly, but can put myself through the sheer torture of walking miles on end for days with nothing but a cacti for comfort!
He had ceased on speaking, knowing that it would take up too much energy to do so. What was the reason if there was no one present to converse with?
He groaned mindfully, he couldn't tolerate the inferno any longer, his legs growing more and more weary with each passing second. The blistering rays beaming down onto his back. He couldn't raise his head too high, as a great wave of pain would radiate down the back of his neck. Every muscle in his body ached, even the small tendons in his hands. His eyes grew tediously heavy, but sleep was the least thing on his mind at the moment. All he wanted to do was escape from this desert area, go to a place where the grass would grow freely and streams would flow.
After a struggling battle against himself, he gave up to the messages his body was sending his brain and collapsed to his knees. He dearly enjoyed the feel of the warm sand between his fingers and the excess pressure that was taken off his feet and legs. He rolled up the long white sleeves that had slipped down the last time he had pulled them up and then scooped a handful of soft, silky sand as he just let the bronzy grains slip through his fingers. For a brief moment he had completely forgotten about the sun's heat wave.
It was times like this where he just wanted to give up, just to forget about walking and all the troubles that had been caused. But he couldn't give up -- he WOULDN'T give up -- his pride wouldn't let him. He had spent so long in search for his sister and now was no exception; he was doing this for her and her alone. He wouldn't let himself quit, he wasn't a quitter. He was filled with determination to find her and then things would be the same again, they could go back to being as they were before Cell came into the picture.
Cell!
The thought of Cell made his blood boil.
Cell! If it weren't for Cell, I wouldn't be in this situation. I would still be terrorising Earth and Goku would have died by my hands. All of them would have been killed … slow and painfully! I can't see that happening anytime soon. Everyday I can feel them growing stronger and now I can feel new levels -- who they are generated by, I don't know. He sighed, closing his bright blue eyes. Just where IS my sister? I've been searching for so long now.
By the day he grew weaker, and he didn't know what would happen if he didn't get out of the sun.
The radiating heat was beginning to go to his head as he was initiated in an inner conflict between his head and his heart. His heart was constantly informing him to keep up his search for his sister, that he WOULD find her eventually … but his head told him to forget her, that if she cared about him then she would be searching too and they would meet in the middle.
He didn't know what -- or who -- to listen to. All these voices rushing through his head all at once. He gripped his head and dropped closer to the floor in pain.
Why wouldn't the voices go?
"Stop it, leave me alone!" he screamed in agony. "It's not true, my sister cares for me as much as I do her. She wouldn't give up just like that; she's not like that! She wouldn't do that!"
If she cares so much, then where is she? Why isn't she searching for you now? The voice was filled with mockery and hatred. She doesn't need you anymore … she never did. And never will!
"Stop it! You're lying, I know you're lying!"
He tried to stand but the pain was intolerable, causing him to fall back with each attempt.
Am I really the one who's lying? I think that I'm very much telling the truth. All she did was mock you. She never took you seriously -- and now she's happy … understand? She's happier without you around then she was with you.
"You don't know what you're speaking about! She wouldn't throw all we've been through. On Earth, with Dr Gero, before the whole incident happened!"
She doesn't even remember most of that; Dr Gero disabled most of her memories … remember? She knows nothing of what happened before you were released. You, on the other hand, can remember; you have all those horrendous memories. Not her, you! You don't want to make her life any worse by revealing to her what happened, do you? That is … if you ever do find her again.
"I will find her; I know I will find her! All I have to do is keep looking, the more I look, the closer I'll get to finding her." He began to get more agitated by the voice, he refused to believe what it spoke of, but it was so convincing.
If she wants to found, that is! You're a disgrace to her, you give her a bad name -- like all the people you knew. You wonder why nobody wants to be near you, it's because you are a disgrace to them all. This is your punishment! You can keep saying that your sister cares for you, by there's no use in lying to yourself -- you know the truth. You're just living a lie; a big fat lie … and now you're caught up in the centre and can't get loose!
Did you ever wonder why she never helped you when Dr Gero constantly hurt you? She did nothing to help or stop it. She saw that you were hurt and what did she do to help you?
Nothing!
Absolutely nothing, she sat and watched you being hurt day after day. She probably took pleasure in seeing her sibling fall. The voice became even more loud and harsh with each word spoken, causing more surges of pain to gush through his head.
"No … no, that's not true! She couldn't help me! If she could, she would … but she couldn't help me!" He was trying to hold back the salty tears, but couldn't stop the odd ones from falling to the ground as he dug his hands into the sand, watching his pride fall with the tears.
Couldn't … or wouldn't? You're just making this harder on yourself. Stop putting yourself through so much pain … you're better off without her like she is you.
You can start a new, get stronger and fulfil your destiny. Make the Earth pay for all that has happened to you, make the Earth pay and all it's people fall! Kill all who stand in your way … including your sister.
"No! I will not kill or harm my own sister. I won't listen to you! The less I here, the less you'll say." He held his head tighter than before; he refused to heed what the voice had to say. He would endure any pain that came along, if only the voices would go.
You are not the person you're thought to be! You are nothing! Nothing but a worthless and feeble nobody. No wonder your sister left you … you are weak -- no matter what you say. You stand no chance of surviving the world out there. You will perish and fall, and none would be the wiser. You ARE a disgrace … to your family; your sister … even Dr Gero would be ashamed of you now. You can't even take the pleasure in destroying yourself as the Earth dragon removed your self-detonation.
You have failed … nothing but a failure. A meaningless coward … worthless and weak. They all laugh when you fall and watch then you lie.
"No," he murmured, defeated.
Yes. Your overconfidence was your downfall. You were too confident of your powers, you believe everyone should fear you … when in reality no one should be afraid of you. You aren't even human, why should the human race fear something that isn't human? You are just a creation of Dr Gero, remember that!
I think that you have finally come to your senses, realised that what I speak of is the truth. I speak no lie … no matter what you believe. You were never needed by anyone, not your sister or Dr Gero. The only reason you are still functional is because the Saiyans and the other Z fighters believe you to be dead. If they were aware of your presence, they would have come and destroyed the remainder of you years ago.
I think I'll leave you now to ponder on how useless you are!
With that last piece, the voice became silent, but the words continued to echo throughout his head. The pain had gradually ceased as he slowly lowered his hands, contemplating what had been spoken to him. The voice was cold, harsh and of a certain tone, the words, cutting through him like a razor-sharp knife. Slowly cutting into his flesh, so deep that nothing would be the same. He felt as if he were hanging on a thin piece of thread and was coming undone with each word. The voice had become the last straw, the last fine thread that held Android 17 together, and all it did was sever that fine tread.
"No. It- it can't be true." His voice was devoid of all its earlier pride and glory, that confidence that made Android 17 whole. "But, it makes so much sense, and explains so much. She was better off without me," he said in misery, but of full heart.
He grasped to the sandy grains once more as he pushed himself up, despite the pain it had caused. It flooded his whole body, but he seemed to ignore it -- let it take its toll. Wearily, he walked away, the location was still unknown, but he didn't care at this practically space in time. He just wanted -- no needed -- to get away from this place that had inflicted much pain upon him. All he wanted now was the truth. Was the voice right? He wanted answers, no more lies. He grew sick of wondering them; did his sister want him gone? Was he useless? Was he a total disgrace? He wanted the truth and was determined to get it -- no matter at the cost!
He kept up the slow and steady pace as he wondered about what his life had become. He hated looking back into his past, what he'd known and his sister didn't. Did he do something to cause him to know? To make this happen? He shook his head callously, trying not to think of all that passed … when the time came, he would.
He continued when he roughly fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. Crying out in pain, he seized a handful of hot sand. He was unable to detect what the pain was and how it occurred; it just continued it raging course down his body. When he attempted to stand, the pain increased to a worse level, until it got the better of him and all went black.
*********************
Trunks and Goten were quickly flying back; they were currently late for dinner, and if Goten was late, Chi-chi would go off the deep end. She didn't like people being late, especially if she'd spent along time on dinner, which she did today. She had decided that she would make a special dinner, one that they would remember for along time. She had meat, fish, and vegetables, cheese … the whole lot. You name it, she had prepared it.
"Trunks, we'd better hurry, my Mom'll kill me if I'm really late, and you know how she gets?" he said as he looked back at Trunks.
"Don't worry, Goten, we can always make up an excuse saying that we were rescuing a lost little dinosaur from a T-rex. We can't let it get eaten now, can we?"
"Well, no. But that didn't happen, Trunks."
"Well, it kinda did. We did run into a T-rex."
"You flushed it out!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah well, we saw a T-rex, what else matters?" He hurried a little, just to try and fly fast that Goten.
"Trunks?" the black haired boy said quietly.
"What is it, Goten?" Trunks replied, taking a quick glance at Goten.
"What if our Moms find out that we went further than we were supposed to?" he played up defensively.
Trunks suddenly stopped and looked further back at Goten.
"Goten, they won't find out." He flew back to the black haired saiyan. "Not if you don't tell them." He rubbed his small nose and grinned at Goten. "You can keep a secret, can't you?"
"Yeah, course I can." He too stopped and looked at Trunks surprisingly.
"Just," Trunks began, "just think of this as a secret, Goten. You don't tell your mom and I won't tell mine. That way, we don't get told off," he said smugly, crossing his arms and smiling at Goten.
"O- Okay then. I can do that. We'd better hurry, Trunks, we still have miles to go. We haven't even reached the desert yet!" He started flying off, leaving Trunks behind.
"H- hey Goten! Wait for me!" he shouted, while he began flying again to catch up with Goten.
They flew high over the desert when Goten suddenly noticed something odd on the sandy ground. He stopped and looked at it from the height from where he was, wondering what it could be. Trunks didn't notice that Goten had stopped until he was about to say something to him. He stopped and looked to see where Goten was when he saw Goten looking down at the desert and flew over towards him.
"Goten, why'd you stop?" he asked curiously.
"I think I can see something down there." He pointed down at the sand and Trunks followed where he was pointing with his eyes.
"Huh, what's that?" he asked.
"I don't know." He looked at Trunks eagerly. "Can we check it out?!"
"I thought you wanted to get home quickly?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at the younger boy, smiling.
"I do, I do! But it could be something really cool!"
"I guess you're right, Goten." He looked harder at what the figure was. "We'd better check it out, it could be deadly."
Both the two small boys looked at each other happily. They didn't say anything, but the smiles on the faces slowly grew larger.
"FIGHT!!" they both shouted as they flew over towards the thing.
They landed carefully onto the soft grains of sand beneath them and scurried over to what they saw. Trunks walked closer to it and knelt down beside it.
"It looks dead," he exclaimed.
"Is it human?" Goten asked nervously, bit by bit edging closer to Trucks.
"Yeah, well he certainly looks human, so I presume he is. But what would a person be doing this far out in the desert? I've never seen them before."
"What do you think we should do, Trunks? Should we leave him or take him back? Your mom could check him to see if he's alive and help him. But I don't think we should leave him here … it's just plain mean. I was always taught to help a person if they needed it."
"Me too," he said as he felt the person's face. "They're not cold, so I don't think there dead. He looks beat though, so I think we should hurry and get him back to my mom, she can help him."
Goten walked next to the dark haired figure and grabbed hold of their left arm and Trunks did the same with the right. They put the arms around their necks and slowly lifted themselves off the ground, making sure not to drop the being.
"Ready, Trunks?" Goten asked. Trunks nodded and they began to fly back to Capsule Corp.
*********************
Bulma was outside Capsule Corp, waiting impatiently for her son to arrive. She already had Chi-chi on the phone, asking if she knew where Goten was. Bulma had to say that she didn't know where they were, getting an earful off Chi-chi and saying that Goten was suppose to be at home having a special meal. She stood there, thinking of a punishment for Trunks. She figured that cleaning the whole house for a month would be suitable, but then she swiftly remembered when she asked him to give her a hand cleaning the front room. It took her two days by the time Trunks had helped her. So that was out of the question. Mowing the lawns was going to be her next choice, but quickly remembered what happened that time as well. He decided that it would be quicker to burn the grass away, instead of cutting it. She then came up with the perfect punishment for him, no training for a whole month and no going out to do secret training or doing training while out with Goten. He wouldn't be able to go out unattended, but she had a feeling that Chi-chi would probably punish Goten for being over half an hour late, so they wouldn't be seeing each other for at least a month -- if not longer.
She could see them slightly and was about to shout at them suddenly when she noticed they had someone with them. She didn't know who it was, but when they came into sight a bit better she instantly recognised the person. She gasped as the two boys carefully placed the person down on the ground.
"Oh my gosh! Android 17?!" she said, more shocked that scared. "Where'd?"
"We found him in the desert, mom. We didn't know if we should leave him or not, so we decided to bring him here.
"Is he going to be all right? We didn't know when we found him," Trunks said.
"Umm, I don't know," Bulma said, unsure what to make of it all.
"Mom, do you know him?" Trunks asked his mother when he saw the shocked expression on her face.
"Yes, son. You could say that. He's 18's twin brother," she said; as she knelt down to see if he was fine.
"18 has a brother? A twin one!? I didn't know that," Goten said surprised
"She did and he's here," she said finally. "Look boys, could you bring him inside for me? He looks pretty worn."
"Sure," they both said as they walked over to Android 17 and picked him up gently.
They brought Android 17 into Bulma's research area and placed him down gently onto a large white operating table in the centre of the room. Bulma told Goten that he should be going home before Chi-chi gets even more infuriated than she is now and she told Trunks to got and play outside. Both boys reluctantly listened to Bulma and left the room. Leaving her alone with Android 17.
She walked lightly over to the android.
"What am I going to do when you wake up?" she asked the android. "I don't think you're the 'thank you' kind. I'll have to find some way to make sure you don't go around attacking people when you do wake." She scratched her head slightly. "That should be my main priority … but what could I possibly do?"
She walked away from the sleeping android and walked to her computer.
"Think, Bulma, think! How would you stop a deadly android from destroying things?" she said casually, as if it was a normal thing. "I'd better hurry and think of a way and hope that he doesn't wake up soon. If he does then … oh, I don't even want to think about if he does."
She sat down on the black swivel chair and started to type on the computer.
Should I let 18 know that her brother is here? That's the really reason he's here isn't it? I'll have to find some way of disabling him first, and then I'll tell her.
No wait! I'll tell Krillin! If he wants to tell her than it's up to him.
She swiftly picked up the receiver on the phone and punched in the numbers. It rung for about 10 seconds before Krillin answered.
"Krillin?" she asked.
"Oh, hey, Bulma. What's up?" he replied to her voice.
"Um, I've got some news that you might find a slight bit…" She trailed off thinking of the perfect word to tell him. "…Disturbing."
"Well what is it, Bulma?" he asked curiously, wondering what it could be.
"Umm, well you know 18?" she said bit by bit.
"Course I do, she's my wife," he laughed.
"Well I've -- I've got something that she might like to know," the woman said nervously. "Whether you want to tell her or not is your business."
"What is it, Bulma? What are you trying to say?" he asked anxiously.
"Okay then, here goes nothing. It's just that -- well, 18's brother 17, is here," she spoke quickly.
"What!"
"Yeah."
"Where? How? Why!?"
"Calm down, Krillin," she continued. "He's at the lab right now and he's kind of unconscious," she said more calmly.
"Unconscious?"
"Yeah, Trunks and Goten found him unconscious in the desert and brought him back. I have to admit, he looks terrible, Krillin. That's why I rung you. I didn't know whether 18 should know about her brother. So I'm leaving it up to you to tell her or not. But I'm almost 100% certain that when he wakes, he'll want to see her."
"Guess I can't keep this a secret from her, can I? She deserves to know about him.
"What are you going to do when he wakes up? Won't he try to attack you or something? You really should have someone to protect you there, Bulma. Maybe you should find Vegeta?"
"He's training outside and doesn't want to be disturbed. Besides, he'll probably destroy Android 17 the minute he sees him"
"Maybe that's the best thing!" he said stuck-up
"Krillin! That's not exactly what I had in mind. You can't see him, Krillin. I guess seeing is making me feel sorry for him. He looks nothing the way he did before … he actually looks … harmless."
"Call him harmless when he's blasting off your head," he laughed.
"Yeah, well. I've come up with an idea that might be able to stop him from destroying things, but I need to work on it.
"So will you tell her?" she inquired.
"I have no choice. I'd best tell her as soon as possible."
"If she cares for you, it won't bother her. I know she cares for you … so don't worry," she said softly.
"Thanks, Bulma. Well I'll see you later."
"Yeah."
She put the receiver down and went back to her work. Typing fast on the keyboard. A small picture came up on the screen, a rectangular chip with figures around it. Bulma sighed and continued typing.
"It says it will only work for a couple of days. It won't be able to contain his strength to long. A couple of days are better than nothing right? But I could make it so it works for a weeks. That's a little better than three days."
She typed then looked at the screen again. She shook her head and pressed another button to remove the picture. Seconds later a similar figure appeared. Same picture, but smaller and slightly larger figures.
"The figures should work. I'm only estimating his strength from 18 and what I've been told. Hope its right. If he's stronger than I'm done for. Let's see," she murmured. "The figures are high, about 350,000,00. Then I've got to add more on to that. But I can't forget the capacity of the devise -- it can't overload. As long as he doesn't overpower the devise we're fine … he might not be looking for a fight, but just in case." She started trailing off, speaking more quietly to herself. "If I carry that, then multiply it by 64, all I have to do is find the square root of the third number. Oh, not forgetting to divide the sixth number by the second. That should give me the fixed rate for one day. Then if I multiply that by 7 I can have the full week, but I still need to do something about the tenth figure and that hidden figure -- it must mean something if it's hidden. If I estimate the hidden number I could be way out of course … but I can't leave it unnoticed. I'll just have to leave that until one of the last figures. For the daily rate, it should be that, but it doesn't look right. That's too low -- way too low for him. That's where I need to figure the hidden one. If I multiply all the figures by 10, subtract them by the second and forth figure, finding the square root of the ninth. Divide that by three, leaving an anonymous number -- which could very well be the hidden value! If it is that, then I can do this for a fixed week. But I can't put do much into the device … this better be right.
"Wait a minute! I completely forgot about the first figure! All than for nothing!"
She slammed her fists down on the keyboard and looked back at Android 17.
"You're more trouble than you're worth!"
She started to think back for a moment to when she made that device to disable the androids completely.
The blueprints.
She still had the blueprints for Android 17.
"Of course!"
She jumped out of her seat and walked over to a white cabinet, opening it slightly. She pulled out a roll of paper and went back to her desk. She unrolled the blueprints and started to examine them.
"That calculation I did was only a small piece of the puzzle. I still have to put all the small details into it. I'm going to be here for a long time … I can feel it."
She continued to look over the blueprints and jot down small calculations on the end and underneath the figures already written.
*********************
Krillin sat inside his home, waiting for his wife to come home from shopping with Marron. He tried to calm himself down, but couldn't help but twitch. Android 17 was back. Was he back to try and take 18 with him? Did he want to destroy their family? Krillin was determined to keep his family as strong as ever. No one was going to come between him and 18, not even 17 himself. He didn't even have a clue as to how 18 would react to the news. Would she be happy or sad? She spent ages looking for him, but gave up and settled down with Krillin. Would she decide to ditch her family to be back with her brother?
Krillin was pretty sure that she wouldn't do anything to endanger her family. He only hoped he was right.
He was about to relax when he heard the front door open and saw his wife and daughter walk in. The little blonde hair girl ran to her dad and hugged him.
"Daddy, daddy," she greeted him happily.
Krillin picked up the small child and held her tightly in his arms. He wasn't going to let no one take his daughter away from him.
"Daddy … you're squeezing me too tight," Marron squirmed as she tried to wriggle free. Krillin saw this and loosened his grip on Marron.
"Sorry, sweetie." He put the child down and walked over to 18, who was putting things away in the kitchen. "Hey, 18."
"Hi," she replied, not looking at him. Instead she was too busy putting things in the refrigerator.
"Um, Bulma rung earlier," he stuttered.
"Did she? What did she want?"
"Ummm, well she. She said that. Umm."
18 stopped putting things away and looked at Krillin curiously.
"What's wrong? You're trembling!" she stated and she rested a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me," she said softly.
"Well, you see." He swallowed and decided to just spit it out. "Trunks and Goten found 17 in the desert and took him back to Bulma. Bulma rung me because she didn't know whether you'd want to know about him, so she rung me and said it was up to me if I wanted to tell you or not, and I choose that I'd best tell you because marriages are all about trust and I really want you to trust me with all your heart so I told you." He stopped and started panting heavily.
"17's back?" she replied in shock. Krillin nodded.
She was silent for a long time; Krillin didn't know how she would react, so he just let her.
He finally spoke up.
"Are you all right?" he asked her sweetly and concernedly.
"Yeah, just the shock of 17 being back, that's all. I don't know whether I should be glad or annoyed."
"Don't worry," Krillin reassured her, "I guess it came to me as a shock as well." He sat down next to his wife and comforted her.
"Where is he?"
"At Bulma's place … unconscious. She said that she'd be able to make a device so he can't go around destroying things." He paused and looked at 18's cheerless face. "Don't sweat. He's not going to be destroying our family. No mater how hard he tries. Nothing will come between us."
She looked at him and smiled in agreement.
"Should I go and see him?" she finally asked.
"It's up to you … you can go if you feel up to it," he said lovingly.
"Will you come with me?" she requested him softly as she laid her head on his chest.
"Sure I will. What about Marron? Should we leave her with Master Roshi?" he asked.
18 sat up and looked at him, placing her hands firmly on her hips.
"It think I'd rather take her to see my brother than leave her with that old man," she said sternly.
Krillin started laughing at her softly.
"All right," he said as he slowly stood up, followed by 18. "Marron! C'mon, sweetie, we're going out!"
The small blonde child ran in thought the front door excitedly, jumping around the house.
"Yeah, we're going out, we're going out! Where're we going?" she asked clueless.
Both 18 and Krillin laughed at her.
"Bulma's, honey," he told her.
"Yay, Bulma's." She ran out the front door and onto the sand.
"Ready?" Krillin asked his wife kindly. She nodded slowly and they both walked out the door.
To be continued…