Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, I do however, hate disclaimers
A/N: Well, here you have chapter two of my little ficcie. I want to thank everyone who reviews chapter one, I really appreciate it and you kind reviews were great, I hope you enjoy this one just as much.
-D.B
The ground was littered with pine needed – but he paid no heed to them. Out here, the ground was always littered in pine needles. The only way to solve the problem would be to chop down all the trees. And 17 quite liked the extraordinarily tall pine trees as they sheltered his home and obscured it from the eyes of humans who may happen to be passing by his little section of the woods.
17 didn't smile – he hadn't in a long time. He didn't speak, didn't dream happy dreams and didn't think happy thoughts. As he strutted through the forest, clutching his old worn axe, which had become his best and only companion – his mind was blank. He only looked straight ahead. Not thinking, not feeling- just being.
That was the way 17 was now. He secluded himself from everyone and killed anything that got within 50 feet of him. He hated people and he hated things. And the one he hated most of all? His sister and her damn family.
Walking up the front steps of his cabin, 17 pushed the door open with his foot and walked inside. The place was a dump. 17 saw no point in cleaning – no one ever came here and if they did he would send them away. He was happy to live up to his knees in old tree stumps, half rotted animal carcasses and what ever else may happen to be in here. The smell didn't bother him. It was his smell, plus it help keep things away from him.
There was though, one room in the house, which he dare not touch. In the hopes that one day it would be used again. Yes, he hated his sister with a passion, hated everything she had become. But still, there was always the part in the furthest reaches of his mind that thought maybe…just maybe, one day she would wake up to herself and realise that what she was doing was insane. He would always have the room that used to be hers ready and waiting for her. Not a thing had been touched since she had last been here – he didn't dare.
Slumping down onto the sofa, 17 raised his arm and threw his axe at the wall, where it firmly embedded itself. He had no care for the condition of his cabin. He only came here to sleep and cook up meals. He didn't call it his home. He didn't have a home. This was merely where he came in order to replenish his vital bodily needs. Nothing more, nothing less. Home was where you felt happy and at ease – he did not feel that way here. In fact, he did not feel that way anywhere. He was a misfit on this planet. The one being that did not fit in anywhere. Refused to fit in anywhere. He was an outcast – one of only two of his kind in the entire world – and his other half. The one who completed the puzzle, didn't want anything to do with him.
Well screw her. 17 didn't need his sister anyway. He was doing just fine without her. If she wanted to go and sleep with that stupid midget, well fine. She made her choice. Putting him before her own flesh, blood and only remaining link to her forgotten past. He would make her sorry. Make her wish that she had only made the right decision instead of so many bad ones.
Standing up, 17 walked across to where his axe was lodged in the wall. The beginnings of a thought forming in his mind. A thought which would soon turn to an idea, which would soon turn to a plan, which would hopefully lead to his sister's emotional demise. Even if it cost him, it would be worth it. He would be sacrificing something he didn't really care for anyway, it order to take from 18 the one thing that meant everything to her. Her humanity.
Yanking the axe out of the wall, 17 twirled it around in slow circles and smiled sadistically. This was a plan that was guaranteed not to fail.
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18 stood at the big front window of the Kame House watching the sun slowly dip below the ocean. Without realising, a long sigh escaped her lips as she reached up to tuck a lose strand of hair behind her ear – an unconscious habit of hers.
"What's wrong babe?" Krillen asked as he bounced Marron on his knees.
Turning around, 18 smiled at her husband. "Nothing" she replied as she sat beside him on the couch and plucked their daughter from him. The small girl giggled and threw her chubby arms around her mother's neck in an affectionate embrace. 18 returned the gesture, hugging her daughter and placing a kiss on her cheek.
"You've been quiet all day. Are you feeling sick?"
"No" she shook her head, sitting Marron down on her lap, "it's that same feeling from last night. Not sick, just off I suppose"
"Off?" Krillen asked
"I don't know, call it women's intuition if you want. I just feel like something's not quite right" she explained. Marron growing bored climbed off of 18 and back onto Krillen. She was daddy's little girl.
"Have you spoken to anyone about it. Besides me?"
"Krillen," 18 looked at her husband with a raised eyebrow "You know me better than that"
"Well maybe Bulma is going through the same thing, or Chi-chi?"
"Maybe, I doubt it though"
"Well if you haven't spoke to them how could you possibly know?" Krillen asked, knowing he had proved 18 wrong.
"I just do ok." She ended the conversation, "Now unless you want to do it, I have to go and start dinner"
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Several minutes later, Krillen walked into the kitchen, his daughters cup in hand. 18 was chopping Vegetables, but her mind was on something else. Krillen could tell by just taking one fleeting look at her beautiful face. Filling up Marrons cup with juice, Krillen left the kitchen, only to return minutes later. This time, 18 was rummaging through the medicine cupboard and swearing to herself.
"18, what did you do?" Krillen asked as he took 18's hand and watched the blood ooze out.
"I wasn't watching what I was doing"
Krillen shook his head and pushed 18 aside. He quickly found the band-aides and placed one over the cut on her hand, then raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, "All better" he told her, "now why don't you tell me what's really on your mind"
"Maybe later, I have to make dinner"
"I'm not hungry, dinner can wait"
"Roshi will be ready for his feeding soon" 18 made excuses
"Master and Oolong have gone to the mainland for the weekend, you know that. It's just the three of us"
"What about Marron?"
"Her dinner takes two minutes to cook in the microwave. C'mon 18, you have to talk to me. I'm your husband, I want to help you"
"You really want to know?" 18 asked.
Taking 18's hands, Krillen smiled and nodded, "I really really do"
"You won't get mad?"
"Since when do I get mad at the woman I love?" Krillen emphasised his point by kissing her.
"Fine," 18 smiled, she never could resist Krillens kisses, "It's 17"
Krillens face darkened. 17? Why on Earth would 18 give a shit about what happened to him? As far as Krillen was concerned 17 was dead. Sure, maybe he used to have some respect for his brother-in-law. After all, he had made the effort to be at his sisters wedding and even walk her down the isle. Krillen had thought he had changed.
That was however, until that day where he just totally lost the plot, when he put the life of his daughter in danger and then proceeded to abuse 18 both physically and mentally. Krillen knew how much 18 had suffered from that day. 17 had hurt her, given her deep emotional scars that would probably never heal. 17, whom 18 had been through everything with and her last connection to her forgotten past, had unexpectedly turned on her. So why, why would 18 be worrying about him?
"17? Why would you be thinking about him?"
"Because Krillen, regardless of what he did, he is my brother. And something is not right in his world. I can feel it in my bones Krillen, I think he needs me" 18 sighed, as much as she hated what she was saying, it felt good to get it off her chest.
She didn't want to be feeling this way. She wanted to erase her brother from her life completely. He wasn't her family, her family was here, on this island. Loving her. Not far away in the middle of nowhere, probably plotting more ways to kill Marron. 18 knew how her brother felt about her life style. He hated the fact that she had found happiness with a human, and even more so because that particular human happened to not only be a Z warrior, but the best friend of the man they were designed to kill.
She didn't even think of that anymore though. 18 had over come her programming a long time ago. Long before Marron was born or she was even married. She had learned that love conquered all, that that she could be happy and loved no matter what was inside her. Sadly though that was a lesson her brother had failed to pick up.
"Krillen, I just…" she sighed, resting her head on Krillens shoulder, "I don't know. Something is wrong with him, but I don't know if I should go or not. On one hand, I think I should because he's my brother, and on the other hand I think I should stay because of what he's done"
"Ssssh" Krillen rubbed big slow circles on 18's back. "I'm sure he's fine. But because I'm such a nice guy and I love you, I'll tell you what"
"What?" 18 asked, her voice muffled by Krillens shirt
"We won't do anything about it tonight, but on Monday, when Master Roshi gets back, if you still feel like you need to go, we'll leave Marron with Master and go down there. Both of us"
"Really?" 18 asked, lifting her head, her eyes shiny with tears that would soon be shed.
Krillen smiled sympathetically. While his insides were screaming at him not to do this, that going to 17's no doubt disgusting cabin was a stupid thing to do. He just couldn't say no to his wife, he knew she was going to do it with or without him, and giving her the weekend to think about it might make it go away. But it worse came to worse and Monday rolled around. They would go, find out nothing was wrong, and things would go back to just the way they were.
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"There, perfect" 17 grinned a grin that was anything but happy and looked up, gazing at his opaque reflection in the window. Scribbling his name across the bottom of the paper, 17 threw the pen he was holding to the ground, neatly folded his paper then placed it on the kitchen counter and walked out the room. He kept going and soon he was sitting atop his cabin.
The sun had long since set. Well, set in his part of the world. He knew that where his sister was, in the tropics, the day was just beginning. But he had no care for what she was doing, no care at all.
Tilting his head up, he gazed at the stars high up in the night sky and sighed. There was nothing left for him here. Nothing left for him anywhere. There was however, something out there for his sister, and that made him sick to his stomach. How dare she live a life without him? What right did she have to be happy when he was so miserable?
Well that would soon change. She would wake up to herself when she realised what she had done. Well she would realise that what 17 had done was her fault. Regardless of how it was put, it would destroy 18, which in turn would destroy her family. Finally 18 would be getting what she deserved.
Letting himself slip off the roof, 17 landed silently on the ground below. Taking one last look at his surrounding he climbed the steps and headed into his house. Shutting the door, 17 locked it behind him, though it would do little good, his sister would just smash it in when she came – which 17 knew she would. He walked through the house, only stopping once to collect his axe and his note from the kitchen counter. Turning, he made his way into the bathroom, where he again, shut and locked the door – though again, it wouldn't do any good.
Stopping front of the mirror – the only one in the house, 17 took a lingering glance at his reflection. His eyes – once so full of life, were now dull and still, the sparkle was nowhere to be seen. His skin, which used to be a healthy tan, was now ghostly white and pale. His hair was dry, broken, and scraggly where it had used to be soft and shiny.
"What happened to you man?" 17 muttered – he rarely spoke anymore, there was no point – no one was around to hear him anyway. There was no need for him to open his mouth when his mind functioned perfectly fine. He blinked, his voice sounded hollow, deeper then he remembered it. Reaching out, he wiped a streak of dust off of the mirror – it did nothing to improve his ghostly complexion.
"Time to get this over with." With one swift movement of his arm, 17 knocked everything off the bathroom counter, paying no heed when things smashed against the cold hard tiles below. Carefully, he placed the folded piece of paper down – it was the only thing on the counter, 18 would surely find it there.
Taking a step backward. 17 sat on the edge of the bathtub. He wasn't having second thoughts; he was going to do this. Pushing the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows, 17 held his axe around the neck, he needed the best grip possible to do this.
He knew it wouldn't hurt. He was an android – something as simple as bleeding to death couldn't hurt an android. Death. That word seemed so insignificant to him – death was something 17 thought he could never attain. Until this afternoon when the thought had struck him like a lighting bolt. It was so simple – how could he have not thought of it sooner. He had blood, he had seen himself bleed hundreds of times and no living being whether it be human, animal or otherwise could live without blood.
Tightening his grip on the axe, 17 pressed it against the skin on the underside of his arm and jerked it back towards him. Blood spurted everywhere and 17 became light headed for a few seconds, swinging backward and almost falling back into the bathtub. A pool of blood was already forming underneath him.
Switching his axe to the other hand, it instantly became coated in warm sticky blood – the flow wasn't slowing down wither, this was really going to work. He quickly repeated the process and slashed open his left wrist. This time, the sensation of being light headed didn't pass after a few seconds, in fact it got worse and worse. Dropping the axe into the bath, he fell forward onto the bathroom floor, sending little droplets of blood flying everywhere.
He could feel consciousness slipping away from him with every second that ticked past and a malicious smile settled on his lips – this would work, this had to work, this was his last shot at revenge.
The pool of blood around him continued to grow, in ran into his eyes and mouth, but he didn't have the energy or desire to do anything about it. He hadn't expected it to feel like this, he felt so powerless.
Suddenly everything around him began to fade, what had only seconds before been clear objects were becoming hazy and white, and soon everything around him faded to nothing. Not long after that, any coherent thought in his mind ceased.
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A/N: Well there you have it. Will 17's plan work, or will 18 be able to get to him in time and save him? Will 18 even come? Find out in the next exciting chapter of "Mind Games"
I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter in a review! I'm going away for a few days, so I won't be around for a bit, but when I come back I promise to have the next chapter ready to go!
-Deadly Beauty