4. Hurting Memories
"Who does he think he is?" Leela flew high in the air to prevent herself from banging into something now that she was angry. "Men..." Leela sighed.
WHAM!!
"Dammit!" she called as she held her painful head. She looked up to see what it was she bumped in to. "You?!" she called out. "I'm not in the mood for you." she sighed.
"I can see that." Juunanagou was in front of her. With his arms crossed he smirked at her. "Is that a tear?" he asked.
"No." Leela said. She never noticed her tears falling down her cheeks. They simply came.
"Then what's this?" Juunanagou came closer. He lifted his arm to wipe away her tear with his fingers, but she backed up a bit as a reflex. "Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you, yet. I want to show you something." he laid his hand across her cheek and neck and with his thumb he wiped the tear away. He pulled his hand back to show her the tear. "See? You cried." Juunanagou convinced her.
"Get away from me." she hissed and pushed him away.
"Hey, now hold on, you're not gonna leave, are you? We didn't even have our daily match yet."
"Daily? You weren't around 'daily'. You two are up to something, but I'll figure that out soon."
"Why don't you figure it out now?"
"If it pleases you." Leela attacked him, but as she moved forward to hit him, he vanished and appeared behind her to punch her in her back, hard. She went down with such speed that it was impossible to stop herself from hitting the ground. But Leela didn't even bother. She just let herself fall and prepared herself to feel the worst. But when she was just a few inches away from the ground, Juunanagou caught her.
"Why did you do that?!" Leela questioned him in confusion.
"Because it's no fun when you're not even trying. It's too easy this way." Juunanagou answered.
"What's this? No foul play? I'm impressed." Leela said sarcastic and pushed herself away from him.
"Well, what can I say? I'm just looking for a fight that's worth my skills." Juunanagou answered, obviously thinking highly of himself.
"Than you must be searching for a long time, for you killed every insect worth fighting you in this area." Leela said, only to get him pissed.
"I see one right in front of me." Juunanagou made clear he could bring her down easily.
"Really? A few seconds ago you said fighting me was no fun when I'm not even trying. What made you change your mind?"
"I never said I changed my mind. What makes you say that?"
"Well...THIS!" Leela kicked him in his stomach. He immediately reacted by giving her a punch in her face. He did it with such strength that she fell down. With a hand across her cheek she scowled at him. "I'll kill you." she hissed. "I will let you suffer first."
"Then why won't you get up and prove it?"
"I will make you sorry for what you did to my family." Leela stood up.
"Yes, I already know that. Let me tell you something; I've killed lots of people so you must refresh my memory. Who is your family?"
"I told you about my little brother."
Juunanagou thought about this. "Ah yes, him. You know what? I lied."
Leela looked at him in a puzzled way. "What do you mean?"
"A funny little story; I remember someone murdering your brother, but it wasn't me." Juunanagou said.
"No, you're lying..." Leela knew for certain.
"Am I now?" Juunanagou answered bored. "I simply watched the whole thing. It was pretty amusing actually."
"I saw you, I saw you." Leela began to see memories; vague and not complete. One memory after another came into her mind. Because they all came so fast, it made her feel dizzy and she fell on her knees.
"What are you doing?" Juunanagou asked confused.
"Get away..." Leela whispered at Juunanagou, scowling at him for one second but saw those memories again. She held her aching head; it was physically hurting her to see those loose scenes. It felt as if someone didn't want her to see...:
She saw someone flying high in the air, shooting an energy-ball at Orion, her little brother. She tried to get to him, to push him away so it wouldn't hit him, but she was too late. The ball hit him and she got swung aside by the explosion, hitting the wall behind her and passed out. Leela tried to focus on that particular memory. The flying guy in the air...Juunanagou! But he had purple hair...no wait. His hair was black again.
"Leave!!" Leela screamed at the android. Her memory didn't make any sense! She had two different ones. One was clear, the other was nothing more than some loose scenes, mostly blur. It was as if she was two persons or something! It was hurting her whenever she sought deeper into her mind. The dizziness overcame her. She passed out.
-
-
"Are you insane?!" Juuhachigou demanded her brother to explain himself.
"This is what we wanted, sis." Juunanagou replied.
"No, it is not. We were going to convince her. Make her trust us first, then we would take her here. Not the other way around!"
"Chill Juuhachigou, she's unconscious. What is the worst she can do to us when her eyes are still closed?"
"You'd better have a plan."
"I do. You see, when I told her I didn't kill her brother, she freaked. I didn't get it at first, but I figured she is an android, right?"
"...Right…so?"
"So, she is made. Her creators must've replaced her memory in order get her revenge for human kind; killing us."
Juuhachigou looked a bit confused. "I do not follow you."
"It's simple. She saw her little brother getting killed. Trying to help him, she got killed herself. She never passed out; she died. Her creators made her an android and replaced these memories. I didn't kill her brother, but she thinks I did." Juunanagou explained. He found this situation rather funny.
"Uhh..." Leela opened her eyes. "..What…did you say?" she said weakly. Leela pretended to be asleep, planning to get away as soon as the androids would leave, but that was before she heard Juunanagou's words. Leela got up, but she fell right back down due to her dizziness. She decided to sit. She looked at Juunanagou, trying to find answers.
"Hmm, you're up." Juuhachigou kept her guard up. So did her brother.
"I must be right about your memory, 'cuz I never killed Orion." Juunanagou said to Leela.
"But I saw you, it was you..." Leela replied. She wasn't too sure anymore. Maybe he was right? But if he was...then who killed Orion...?
"I know now how you died." Juunanagou smirked. "But you probably don't, that's why you refused to tell me, isn't it?"
"Trust, remember?" Juuhachigou hissed so only Juunanagou could hear her. She turned to Leela. "Look girl..."
"My name is Leela." Leela interrupted, irritated by Juuhachigou's contempt.
"Whatever." Juuhachigou sighed bored. "But now that you know the truth, why don't you run along and let us do whatever we want?" Juuhachigou suggested.
"And let you terrorize the world? I don't think so." Leela answered.
"Than join us. You know, I was there when he murdered your brother." Juunanagou came between.
"Speak up!" Leela stood up fast and grabbed his collar, but she weakened and fell on her knees. "Dammit." she muttered. "As soon as I can stand I'll try again. Just give me a minute to recover." she was still dizzy from the sudden memories that had entered her mind so abruptly.
"Akhila Niyati, we won't give you the time to recover." Juunanagou said. "Unless you agree to leave and never return, or you can always join us and have a pretty good life."
"Uhmm...how about...neither?"
"Unacceptable." Juunanagou kicked her in her side. She grabbed where it hurt as she lay down with her knees up to her stomach. Juunanagou knelt down beside her. "By the way, it was Trunks." he simply said and knocked her out.
"What did you do that for?! Now she will probably never trust us." Juuhachigou complained.
"She would never, believe me. But she cannot turn back to Trunks now she knows he killed Orion." Juunanagou said with triumph in his voice.
"You know how much I hate it when you go changing the plans without discussing it with me." Juuhachigou reproached him. "Hmm, you really messed her up." she smirked. "So tell me, what's in this for us?"
"Well, now we're able to fight one saiyin at a time. You see, I don't think the girl will ever want to work together with Trunks anymore. I figured it would improve our chances of winning."
"Good thinking."
"I know. Have you made a decision about Qiana?" Juunanagou asked curious.
"Yes, I have." Juuhachigou answered. "I was thinking, she did what she was asked to, so now she's like a third wheel. We don't have any use for her anymore."
"And...?" Juunanagou wanted to know.
"Simple; she dies."
"Poor Trunks. Qiana drove Leela away and made Trunks fall in love with her. She did her job very good. It's a shame she has to go." Juunanagou grinned.
"We were lucky she wanted this jewel or else she probably wouldn't have done it." Juuhachigou held a small diamond in her hand, looking at it. "All for this rock. How pathetic." she smiled pleased; "I think I'll keep this."
"Do you think it's worth anything?" Juunanagou asked.
"Of course it does. Especially now that everyone is so poor." Juuhachigou answered. "Qiana would be rich, having this. What is it with these humans and getting rich?" she said a bit irritated.
"What is it with girls and diamonds?" Juunanagou said it in the same way his sister did. "So, what now?"
"I'm bored. How about killing Qiana now?" Juuhachigou suggested.
"Fine, go ahead."
"Go ahead? What are you gonna do?"
"While you go slaughter Qiana, I'll stay with this one here." Juunanagou pointed at Leela. "When she wakes up, I'll slam her right back into nightmare-land."
"You better." Juuhachigou said and flew off in the hope of finding Qiana.
"I wonder what Trunks would say if he found out Leela is the one thing he hates so much." Juunanagou smiled at the thought of Trunks killing Leela solely because she was an android. How cold, he chuckled.
-
-
"What came over her?!" Qiana said shocked. She obviously still felt offended by Leela's attack. Qiana had no idea that the girl would really attack her. She didn't expect Leela would actually kick her ass. But it didn't matter. It was pretty convenient; Leela left because of a fight with Trunks over Qiana. He could give her all the attention, now that Leela was out of the way. And all of this because of Qiana's doing. She was proud of it. Especially now that she could collect what she earned: the diamond Juuhachigou promised her. She would be rich!
"I don't know. She can't be that jealous, can she?" Trunks had doubts. Was he supposed to follow Leela and tell her that he wanted her to stay?
"She must be, or else she wouldn't have done this." Qiana said. She watched Trunks who sat on his knees, taking care of her bruised ankle while she was sitting on a chair in the kitchen, faking the pain.
"But still, you didn't evoke it…right?" Trunks thought about what Leela had said: She wants you all to herself! When she finally has you, you will mean nothing more than a victory to her. She will only use you and you will end up getting hurt. Is that what you really want?
"Of course I didn't evoke it! How can you even think about that?!" Qiana defended herself. "She was probably jealous." she tried to make Trunks doubts about her go away. She lay her hand on his cheek, making him look in her eyes. "But then again, who wouldn't be jealous of a girl close to you?" she gave him one of her finest smiles and slowly started to lean forward...
Thoughts were entering Trunks' mind unwillingly fast. It jumped from Qiana to Leela and back. His mind raised questions he could not answer because he didn't know the truth. Did Qiana really evoke Leela to attack, or was that a lie? Leela was gone now, but the true reason of her leaving was Qiana, why? She said Qiana was no good, but all he had seen of Qiana was her kindness toward him. She seemed so innocent. He couldn't be blind to see what was going on between the two girls, could he?
For a moment, time seemed to be standing still while he sought for answers. But he couldn't find them. He didn't know the truth. Who was lying and who wasn't? Qiana or Leela? Who was he suppose trust? Who COULD he trust?
While Qiana was getting closer, he let go of his thoughts, but kept his eyes on the girl who was about to kiss him. Their lips were only inches away when he stopped himself. He turned his face and softly pushed her away by her shoulders. Despite of what he felt for her, he still rejected her.
She pulled back her hand from his cheek. "I thought you wanted this?" she said disappointed and offended at the same time.
"I do, it's just…" Trunks didn't really know why he refused. "I do want this, but not now."
"Not now?"
"I'm not ready." he said, knowing it was a lame excuse, but it was the truth.
"You're…not ready?" Qiana wanted to call him names, hit him, do something to him that would humiliate him, but she knew it would destroy everything she worked on. She would not only loose him but she would loose the diamond as well, which was way more important to her; she could buy anything she wanted with that thing! She didn't really love Trunks, but she did develop a crush on him, though. Instead of calling him names, she chose to please him and save her chances on getting rich. Therefore she said: "I understand, Trunks." she stroke her hand through his hair once and stood up, walking away with fake difficulty, because of her ankle.
Trunks watched her leave. When she was just around the corner, someone opened the kitchen door.
"Trunks. I have bad news." It was Bulma. She carried the small black device which purpose was to destroy the androids.
"Mom, hi." Trunks welcomed her and stood straight. "What's wrong?"
"Well, Heather and I were trying to get this to work." Bulma held up the device. Trunks noticed all the wires hanging out of it. "And then it blew..."
"How is the room where it blew?" he was obviously still confused about what happened between him and Qiana before Bulma came in.
"Still standing." Bulma gazed at him, sensing that something was troubling her son, but she couldn't make out what, so she continued: "But that's not the point here." she said, wanting to ask what was wrong, but waited for him to respond first.
"I know it's not. Listen, you have to keep trying. Until then, I have to try to defeat the androids myself."
"I wish all of this wasn't…wait, what do you mean: yourself? What about Leela?"
"She left."
"I knew there was something wrong! Why did she leave?" Bulma wanted to know.
"Well, a lot happened while you were gone. Qiana sort of took Lee's place."
"Qiana? Who's she?"
"A girl I picked up in town. She was badly hurt after an encounter with the androids so I took care of her."
"She fought them?"
"No, she didn't."
"But you said she took Leela's place, and Leela fights."
"Well, yea, but Qiana didn't fight. She's simply human, you know. She can't fight the androids. She can't even fight at all." Trunks found the idea of Qiana fighting rather funny. She was most likely the kind of person who would cry over a broken nail. "What I meant to say was that Leela left and Qiana is still here. She has nowhere else to go."
"And…?" Bulma asked hopeful.
"And…what?" Trunks knew what she meant, but he tried to avoid it by acting naïve.
"Are you two an item now?" Bulma put the device on the table.
"Not really, no." Trunks walked away, avoiding any other questions of his mother, which were sure to come.
"Hey, where're you goin'? I want to know more!" Bulma said. "And why did Leela leave?"
"We had a fight!" Trunks called from up the stairs, entered his room and closed the door, leaving his mother without any further answers.