Chapter 16: Allies and Enemies
The two 17's went toward one another quickly and started to power up. As they did, a light engulfed them both. I had to shield my eyes as the intensity of the light grew brighter.
"Gero, have you gone mad!" Vegeta cried, shielding his eyes as well. The power the two androids were giving out was incredible. It was no wonder that they were able to open HFIL.
"Myuu, Bebi was defeated, so don't revel in your win yet." I cried.
"Another filthy Sayjin for our robot-mutant to destroy. Well, well, well, did you at least have fun playing with my Bebi?"
"Oh yes, we all had a great time." Mirai said, stepping up to stand next to me.
"What's this? Cloning technology on such a pathetic little planet?" he asked himself, looking from Trunks to Mirai No Trunks.
"No, time travel." Trunks said. This whole time we were talking over the combination of the 17's. It was too late to stop them, but all this took mere minutes.
Finally the light the 17's emitted died down, and a tall figure with long black hair stood. The hair was covering his face, and as he looked up I saw a slightly different 17. He looked scrawny, but I felt the depths of his power just by looking in his cold eyes. I was scared for 17 as well as scared of him. We had become good friends over the past 14 years. It all started with blackmail, too…
1st P.O.V.
14 years ago
Codie had just turned two years old, and his eyes were pink. I thought for sure by now someone would have made the connection, but no one had, and for that I was glad. Cell's eyes were the same shade of pink, and usually Sayjin genes are dominant, so his eyes would naturally have been black. But this wasn't natural.
I had just finished paying a visit to Goku (AKA sparring session), and was flying home. In my line of view appeared the figure of a young man, an ageless man also known as 17. If he had aged, he'd probably be as old as me, but he and his sister had the misfortune of meeting a doctor by the name of Gero.
What's he doing here? He usually hangs out in the urban areas, and we're way out in the forest.
I stopped to see what he wanted.
"Hello, Katie." He asked. His tone was low.
"Hi 17. What are you doing out here?" I asked, already suspicious.
"I have a… proposition for you." he replied.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes. It has to deal with my dear little… nephew."
"Nephew?" he couldn't know, could he?
"You see, by certain standards, Cell and I are brothers. His son would naturally be my nephew, no matter how unnatural the birth had been."
"You know about Codie." I said, taking a defensive stance instinctually.
"Is that his name now?"
"If you make one move against him-"
"Now why would I want to harm my own nephew?" 17 asked playfully. I just looked at him a moment, trying to figure him out, but his face was set in stone, I couldn't read any emotions from him. One reason why it had been so hard to fight him back about 24 years ago.
"Who else have you told?" I asked in a shaky voice.
"No one. 18 probably felt it too, but I haven't told anyone."
"Felt what?"
"Well you see, Gero, though 18 and I hated him, was a genius. He made it so an android of his creation could sense the Ki of other androids of his creation. Even when Cell was in HFIL, I could sense him. Once his soul was destroyed, I couldn't sense him anymore, until a year ago, that is. It took me the better part of this year to locate the source. Once I found it, I decided to use it to my advantage." He explained.
"Blackmail. How inventive."
"You catch on quick." 17 smirked.
"Fine, what do you want?" I asked. I could probably get him anything he wanted since I'm connected to the Briefs' fortune, but I knew it wouldn't be that easy. It never is when it comes to androids.
"Power, like anyone else. I need help, though, to surpass my limit. I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines and watching everyone else fight. Even my dear sister has surpassed me. Nothing I do has increased my power, not even one damn power level."
"You want me to teach you how to fight?" I asked, skeptical. He was a gifted warrior.
"No, I want you to help me gain power. Sayjins are great at that." he sneered, still smiling.
"Fine, but we keep this between us, okay? No one else finds out about Codie as long as you get results."
"Perfect." He smirked, "Lets say, noon tomorrow, there." He pointed at the ground. We were between West City and Goku's home, so it would stay secret at this location. But I didn't like it.
"No, too risky. How about the islands?"
"Fine, tomorrow noon. And say hi to my nephew for me." then he headed off toward West City.
Great, now what? What a mess you've got yourself into, Katie. For shame.
I teleported home and met with chaos. Kanji and Andy were playing tag with Trunks in the hall.
"Katie, help me! Get them to leave me alone!"
"Sorry, uncle Trunks, but you're on your own. I'm busy."
"No!" he cried as the monsters picked up speed.
"And try to take it outside!" I called after him. Once he was out of earshot I started to laugh.
Then I ran into another infamous Bulma vs. Vegeta fight. They were in the lab as I passed by, and this time Vegeta had, yet again, broken the gravity room.
"Vegeta, if you don't stop yelling at me, I'm make you sleep on the couch tonight!"
"No, don't do that!" I heard him hiss. I suppressed more laughter as I made my way pass them.
Finally I found Mirai and Codie, the two boys I wanted to see, in our home at Capsule Corp. Mirai was trying to give Codie a bath, but he was having too much fun in the water to pay attention. They were both soaking wet.
"Hey boys!" I greeted.
"Maa mam maa!" Codie called.
"Hey, did you and Goku have a good workout? I hope so, because I'm having a good workout right now." Mirai asked as Codie splashed him again. I smiled, seeing how happy we were. Mirai didn't care that Codie technically wasn't his son, but the son of his own murderer. He didn't care that in some twisted way this meant I had been unfaithful to him.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." I went over and shut the door.
"Katie, what is it?" Mirai asked as he attempted to wrap Codie in a towel. Codie's tail was flailing in the air like an angry cat, though he was giggling his head off.
"17 knows about his nephew." I stated.
"What, how?" Mirai said as he hand Codie over to me, "What happened?"
I started to dry off Codie as Mirai took off his shirt. I paused for a moment as I stared at Mirai's sculpted chest. Even now I act like a foolish teen with too many hormones to control. I glanced at Codie as I got back to focus.
"He met me on the way home. He said he could sense the Ki of Gero's other creations, all of Gero's creations could do that. He sensed Cell and found out where the Ki was coming from."
"Does 18 know?" Mirai asked as he went to get a dry shirt.
"I don't know, I was going to go ask her." I called.
"What's 17 want in return for the info?" Mirai asked suspiciously.
"He wants me to help him become stronger."
"You can't do that!" Mirai cried, running back into the room with a red shirt on. Codie just looked at his dad and blinked, "You know what he's capable of."
"If I don't he'll tell everyone. Do you want Codie to grow up like that? To grow up and have everyone loathe and fear him because of his father?" I put emphasis on the end to show that I meant Cell.
"No, but 17 is a monster. He killed you in the alternate future."
"Didn't you say I went out kamikaze?" I asked.
"Who do you think drove you that far? 17 killed many people in his day, and the only reason he stopped was because someone stronger came up to stop him. If he gets more power, it might start all over again."
"I don't think so…" I said, dressing Codie.
"Huh? What do you mean, you don't think so!"
"People can change, you know that. Look at Vegeta and Mr. Buu… and Cell. His tone sounded different. He wants power, but he didn't say anything about wanting to use it to harm. He said he was tired of sitting on the sidelines. And do you think 17 can surpass a super Sayjin 4?"
"Do you think he would have told you it was for evil? …But you do have a point there, Goku or Vegeta could transform into Super Sayjin 4, and then there's Dragonfly-"
"I don't think I can do that again. It was a one-time thing, but it was as powerful as a Super Sayjin 4, if not more so. It did beat Drazark."
"Well, you still have your Angel power." Mirai added.
"See? If 17 goes off, there are people who could easily stop him. Now, don't you look handsome." I said to Codie. He cooed and wanted down, so I put him down and he waddled over to his nearest toy pile.
"I still don't like it." Mirai said.
"I know, but I have to, for Codie."
Later that afternoon I went to pay a visit to Krillen, Marron, and 18. I called ahead first, as is courteous, and luckily they were glad to have me over.
I was amazed to see how old Krillen looked. And 18 looked as fresh as ever, just like her twin. Humans age, a fact I sometimes forget not being counted in that number anymore. Mirai and I still look like we're in our twenties, but we're in our forties. And we're considered 'middle aged Z Senshi', between the ages of the older fighters like Goku and Vegeta, and the younger ones like Gohan and Goten.
Krillen and I reminisced over the good ole' days and then 18, Krillen, and I reminisced over the later good ole' days. Marron was content at first to listen, but after a while she left to talk to one of her friends over the phone.
"Hey Krillen, do you remember how bad I was at fighting when I first got here?"
"Yeah, you were terrible! You couldn't even fire a Ki ball straight." Krillen said, making us both laugh.
"Yeah, but now look at you. Angel powers, a family, and tons of stories no one would believe." 18 said, "You tried to save me from Cell. That didn't work out too well, though, did it?" she said with a wicked, playful smile on her face.
"No, it didn't." 18 just reminded me of why I was here. I was having fun remembering our past experiences, but I had to get 18 alone for a few minutes.
"Katie?" Krillen looked me in the eyes.
"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about Cell, that's all."
"Way to go, 18!" Krillen said, being offensive toward his wife, "Next just remind her of being Majin!"
"I think you just did." 18 said in a monotone voice. Krillen's face, the whole thing got me laughing. Krillen and 18 joined in that laughter after a pause to let the data flow through a second time.
The phone rang, and Krillen leapt up.
"I'll get it, you two just keep on jabbering for a moment." Krillen left the room, and once he got talking I decided to start with 18, "Hey Yamcha, what's happening, Mr. Baseball Executive?"
"They'll be on the phone a while. Krillen says Marron's bad about her phone, but where do you suppose she got it from?" 18 and I laugh at that.
"18, we gotta get serious for a moment."
"Oh boy, what now?" she asked sarcastically.
"I know, serious is never good around here. Have you been sensing Cell? At all?" I asked, hopefully not hinting at too much.
"Oh, that. Yes, I have. Do you know where it's coming from? Cell still gives me the chills." She said, crossing her arms.
"Yes, I know where it's coming from. And so does 17, that's why I came over, not just to talk about the past." I stated.
"So where is it coming from?"
"My son, Codie."
"Nani?"
"When Cell's soul was destroyed, it was implanted in me, I guess. I think Cell did it on purpose, but I'm not sure how it happened, only that it did. Codie is Cell's reincarnation."
"And 17 knows too?" she asked.
"He came to me. He found out, and now I have to help him gain power, or he'll blab it to everyone. I just wanted to know where you stand on the situation."
"17 isn't going to use any new power for evil. He's changed, Katie, believe me."
"I do believe that. He said he wanted to be able to fight, not just stand aside and watch. He was upset because you've surpassed him."
"I won't tell anyone about Codie, but what do you plan to do?"
"Train 17. That's all I can do." I sighed.
"He's stubborn, I'll tell you that." she sighed now.
"You miss him, don't you?"
"Yeah, he never comes around to visit, and I can never find him. I bet he wouldn't have known Krillen and I had a daughter until the party 2 years ago."
"I better go. Tell Krillen bye for me." I said, standing up.
"Yeah, and hey, 17 likes to use his Power Blitz a lot."
"Thanks."
I headed home and got to bed in normal fashion, like everything was normal. I knew that the next day would definitely not be a normal day.