Wow, I really picked up on this fic, didn't I? ^_^ I guess I just got back into the swing of things. Thanks for reviewing so much! I can't believe how much you guys seem to like this fic. I'm so pleased... Thank you for all of your support.
*
I felt energy coursing through my veins as I flew over the rivers lining the forest. Being an android, I had every physical feature a human did--blood, hair, flesh--as well as emotional traits. I could feel pain, sorrow, happiness, anger, anything a human could. But I could feel them ten-fold. Everything I did, felt or experienced was to greater effect than a human could ever know.
Imagine how I felt when I saw him again.
I wanted to set free the energy that was bubbling inside of me. I wanted to destroy something, breathe the soot from the air as buildings crumbled and fires raged. I wanted to hear screams. I wanted to feel like I was in control, to break free from whatever was holding me back, whether it be my brother or Trunks, or neither. I didn't care. I'd never felt like this before, and I loved it. Nothing could touch me.
I found what I was looking for--a town just on the outskirts of a city my brother and I plundered often. I was in luck, for the town was still very much intact, and to me it seemed as though it was begging to be demolished; I never did like peaceful settings such as this.
Landing in the hills overlooking the town, I narrowed my eyes, watching the humans going about their business. They seemed so happy--they didn't deserve to be happy. Why should I have suffered so when mere _humans_ were happier? It bothered me. I found that latly everything bothered me. So confusing was my world and the role I was to play. I stepped into the shade of a nearby tree, keeping my eyes on a young girl who was carrying groceries home from the store down the corner. She was wearing a dress I fancied, with long sleeves to cover her arms against the fall breeze. Light brown bangs dusted her perfect face, and the rest of her hair ran down the length of her back, tied back in a thick braid that swayed to and fro as she walked. As I watched, she tripped, spilling her groceries about the sidewalk, skinning her knees. Hopelessly trying to gather her purchases, she looked about for help--it came within moments. A young man her age came hurrying over to her side of the street, kneeling down and placing the food back into the bags as the girl blushed and focused her attention to nursing her knees. The man helped her to her feet, still holding the groceries in one arm. I scowled as the two headed down the street together, one of the girl's hands placed greatfully on the man's arm. It wasn't fair. It wasn't. I clenched my fists. Why should she have what I couldn't? The one I loved hated me. But then again, I reminded myself, I hated him in return. I didn't know which feelings to follow. All I knew was that I needed to tire myself out, and this town would make a satisfactory warmup. I tossed my hair over my shoulder, preparing to spring into the air and decend upon the humans, when I felt a strong hand grip my wrist and fling me back, hard, into the trunk of the tree I had been shading myself under.
I went flying, caught totally off-guard, and landed against the tree, sliding to the ground.
"I don't think so."
I opened my eyes to find Trunks standing before me, glowering down at my figure as I lay sprawled on the grass at the base of the tree. I didn't have time to respond properly. My heart was beating against my chest, and I felt lightheaded. I forced the feelings away. This wasn't right. He was denying me what I wanted.
"Has my mercy taught you nothing?" He threw the question into the open, where it lingered and seemed to cling to the very air I took in. He motioned to the town down the hill.
I was too stunned to say anything. My eyes were wide as I stared at him. The sunlight bathed him in warm light, his lavendar hair playing gently against his face as the breeze blew from some unknown direction. His crystal blue eyes were so haunting--I recalled vividly the memory of them being so close to mine. He looked no different than he usually did. He was beautiful.
Trunks brandished his sword, clutching it tight and tensing as he glared deeply at me. He had skillfully toned arms and shoulders; just looking at him assured one that he was indeed strong. He wasn't overly bulky, as I had come to judge his father, who had posessed far too many muscles for his own good. Trunks was a different kind of strong--he was home to emotional strength as well as physical strength.
I realised that all the while I had been staring at him. Trunks hadn't moved, but was eyeing me in heated confusion, as though he expected me to lunge at him. The thought had barely crossed my mind. I merely wanted to take his presence in.
"Why are you constantly hindering me?" I spat, abruptly discovering that I wanted to be left to my thoughts. "These people don't know you. They mean nothing to you. What does it matter if they die?"
"That's just it. It _does_ matter if they die, whether I know them or not. Their lives mean something, maybe not to me, but I've got to protect them from mosters like you." He growled, tightening the hold on his sword.
I scoffed. "You're willing to die for people you don't even know...?" We'd been through the conversation many times before. It was somewhat like a play to me, and I was acting out one of the leading roles. We had no audience but eachother. No applause except the satisfaction that went to the victor of the brawls that followed.
"You know the answer."
"Don't play with me!" I snapped, clenching a fist. "Do me a justice and give in like all the others--give in to your fears, give in to the terror you live in each day. Give in to the destruction and the hatred; why do you contstantly come back to protect those who will die in the end, regardless of what you do? You're only preserving their lives so they can continue to exist in misery. Misery I've created--gladly created. And I'd create it all again if given even a moment's opprotunity!"
Trunks didn't seem to have an answer right away. He paused, still eyeing me. "I can never give in, I can't stop fighting you. Not until you're gone. Not until whatever's left of my world is safe."
Me anger took the best of me, and I took a swing at him with my leg, knocking him in the shoulder and sending him off-balance, but he regained footing and came at me quickly, swinging at me with his blade as I dodged swiftly, the sharp edges coming too close to my face for comfort. He took off, trying, as he always did, to lead me away from the people of the town so as to ensure their safety. Usually I played along with his game. But not this time.
Instead I went the opposite direction that he was going--turning on my heel and making a mad dash down to the small city. Trunks seemed to sense that I was no longer following him, and he stopped dead in midair, apparating feet behind me and trying again to graze his sword across my figure, yet I was too fast. Gathering an energy wave in my hand, I flung it at the nearest building--the grocery store the girl I had seen earlier had visited--and it hit before Trunks could stop it. The store crumbled, bricks and wood shattering as the energy wave tore it apart. People in the streets screamed, dropping what they were doing and fleeing in the opposite direction. Without success Trunks blasted his own energy ball at me, but I proved again to be too agile for him; I ducked, hitting the energy with the back of my hand, deflecting it into yet another building that seemed almost to deflate instantly.
Trunks seemed horrified at what he had caused, and came at me with another series of swipes from his sword. "Why?!"
"Why?" I laughed, jumping back each time as he aimed to hit me. "Because humans have no purpose! They're like buildings: easy to knock down. Why won't you fall over, Trunks?!" I taunted, continuing to duck his sword and kicks. He became frustrated, and sheated the sword, trying a different approach--or perhaps it was a repeated attempt to lead me away from the city. I answered the attempt by sending another building to the ground--this time a bank. More people scattered, some fleeing past our fight. Amoung them was the girl from the grocery store, who was being rushed along by her lover. I tore off after them, taking into the air and leaving Trunks to chase after me. I wanted her dead. She had what I didn't.
The girl screamed as she caught sight of me just above her. Her lover covered her with his arms, looking up at me with sheer terror in every inch of his face. The girl was crying now, clinging to the man as I stared down at them.
"It's unfair!" I cried, glaring fiercely, gathering another energy wave in my hand; the man's eyes widened, and he let out a gasp as I threw my arm back, ready to blast them into oblivion. Suddenly they were gone--it happened in a blurr. My eyes cast around for them, and landed on Trunks, who had just set foot on the roof of a house down the street. The humans were with him; he had obviously ducked in to save them just in time.
Furious, I gathered waves of energy in both my hands this time, apparating just in front of the house and blasting it to bits, the whole structure collapsing as I jumped back to avoid getting hit by the rubble. Again they were gone. I cast around for them once more, my eyes narrowed, my ears alert for any sounds other than fleeing humans. Constant screams drowned out any chance of me finding them, so I merely started blasting house after house, building after building. Children were crying, dogs were barking, people were abandoning their houses in attempt to get away safely with their lives. Car horns honked, fires blazed, smoke erupted from demolished houses. If a car got in my way of a house, I simply made sure it became a mountain of ash. I wouldn't give up until I found that girl. She needed to understand. She needed to know how much pain her happiness caused me. There was no sign of Trunks or the humans I was after.
I landed safely on one foot as I touched down. All around me lay the remains of the little town; what was left of crumbled buildings here and there marked the graves of those who hadn't been able to make it out in time. Somewhere a dog was still barking. Glass shattered abruptly from a house that had just burst into flame. None of it mattered to me. My biggest concern was dirtying my recently washed hair.
There was a whizz of noise and I spun around just in time to see Trunks' sword swing at me from practically nowhere. I didn't have time to duck; the blade cut deep into my shoulder, and I stumbled back, watching as Trunks landed in front of me, his sword raised again.
"Where is she?" I demanded, my thoughts still on the girl as my shoulder began to sting fiercely. She wouldn't get away--I wouldn't let her have another chance at happiness, not when my chances were so few.
"They're both safe," he spat, his teeth clenched. "You've demolished another city, ended more innocent lives. You've even killed children," he lectured, staring coldy at me. "You deserve to perish."
"Forget about innocent lives!" I choked. "Don't you understand that you're nothing to me? Nothing! Stop haunting me! I want the girl dead!" I brough the subject of the girl back to distract myself from what I felt like screaming at him. "I want her dead, you hear me?! I don't care about you, this has nothing to do with you!" I winced--the wound in my shoulder was bleeding profusely. I put a hand to it, cringing as I felt ash mix with blood. I was slowly losing feeling in the battered limb. Trunks refused to move.
"I won't let you hurt them." he announced, his sword at the ready again. "I'll finish you off!"
"Don't you understand, you fool?" I all but screamed, tears in my eyes once more. "She has what I can't have! She has _happiness_!"
Something came over Trunks again, quite a bit like a few days before. He fell quiet, all but looking away from me as he fought to determine if I was playing the bluff. His crystal eyes bored into mine, and he narrowed them.
"I don't trust you." he said flatly, abandoning the look of silent surprise. He began walking forward slowly, his sword poised to kill. All the while those eyes of his never left mine. "I don't believe any of it. You can't have happiness--not after what you've done. You're a monster."
My shoulder was still bleeding, and I was beginning to feel the effects of blood loss. My head spun as he neared me, and my vision blurred. I fought to stand up. Suddenly the tip of Trunks' sword was under my chin, pushing my face up to look at him. We were face to face. I could almost smell him; it wasn't an unpleasant smell. Almost positive he could hear my heartbeat--which was loudly pounding what little blood my body had left--I tried to back away, but he only moved closer, threatening to cut me again with his blade. All the while he didn't utter a word, didn't lecture me in the few moments we stared at eachother. I felt my legs weakening. His silence was too much for me. I'd have to act fast if I wanted to get away alive.
I lashed out, flinging a series of short, blinding energy waves at his face as I turned and fled in the opposite direction, stumbling slightly as I leapt into the air, taking off. I didn't look back. I didn't want to. Still holding my injured arm, I flew faster than I can ever remember flying, wanting nothing more than to escape those eyes. I had long since stopped crying; in fact, I couldn't ever remember starting. I flew over lakes and trees, mountains and fields, until, exhausted, I fell from the air, coming to land sharply on the ground. Struggling to stay conscious, I pulled myself into a sitting position against a nearby boulder, burrying my face in my hands. I was hopeless. I couldn't keep fooling myself.
For the first time in my life, I felt guilty for what I had done.
*
Hmm... I'm not sure if I'm happy with how 18's turning out to be. She seems quick to cry these days; I imagined her more tough. What do you guys think? Should I re-write this chapter, or leave it as it is? What do you think, Has-Bei?
*
I felt energy coursing through my veins as I flew over the rivers lining the forest. Being an android, I had every physical feature a human did--blood, hair, flesh--as well as emotional traits. I could feel pain, sorrow, happiness, anger, anything a human could. But I could feel them ten-fold. Everything I did, felt or experienced was to greater effect than a human could ever know.
Imagine how I felt when I saw him again.
I wanted to set free the energy that was bubbling inside of me. I wanted to destroy something, breathe the soot from the air as buildings crumbled and fires raged. I wanted to hear screams. I wanted to feel like I was in control, to break free from whatever was holding me back, whether it be my brother or Trunks, or neither. I didn't care. I'd never felt like this before, and I loved it. Nothing could touch me.
I found what I was looking for--a town just on the outskirts of a city my brother and I plundered often. I was in luck, for the town was still very much intact, and to me it seemed as though it was begging to be demolished; I never did like peaceful settings such as this.
Landing in the hills overlooking the town, I narrowed my eyes, watching the humans going about their business. They seemed so happy--they didn't deserve to be happy. Why should I have suffered so when mere _humans_ were happier? It bothered me. I found that latly everything bothered me. So confusing was my world and the role I was to play. I stepped into the shade of a nearby tree, keeping my eyes on a young girl who was carrying groceries home from the store down the corner. She was wearing a dress I fancied, with long sleeves to cover her arms against the fall breeze. Light brown bangs dusted her perfect face, and the rest of her hair ran down the length of her back, tied back in a thick braid that swayed to and fro as she walked. As I watched, she tripped, spilling her groceries about the sidewalk, skinning her knees. Hopelessly trying to gather her purchases, she looked about for help--it came within moments. A young man her age came hurrying over to her side of the street, kneeling down and placing the food back into the bags as the girl blushed and focused her attention to nursing her knees. The man helped her to her feet, still holding the groceries in one arm. I scowled as the two headed down the street together, one of the girl's hands placed greatfully on the man's arm. It wasn't fair. It wasn't. I clenched my fists. Why should she have what I couldn't? The one I loved hated me. But then again, I reminded myself, I hated him in return. I didn't know which feelings to follow. All I knew was that I needed to tire myself out, and this town would make a satisfactory warmup. I tossed my hair over my shoulder, preparing to spring into the air and decend upon the humans, when I felt a strong hand grip my wrist and fling me back, hard, into the trunk of the tree I had been shading myself under.
I went flying, caught totally off-guard, and landed against the tree, sliding to the ground.
"I don't think so."
I opened my eyes to find Trunks standing before me, glowering down at my figure as I lay sprawled on the grass at the base of the tree. I didn't have time to respond properly. My heart was beating against my chest, and I felt lightheaded. I forced the feelings away. This wasn't right. He was denying me what I wanted.
"Has my mercy taught you nothing?" He threw the question into the open, where it lingered and seemed to cling to the very air I took in. He motioned to the town down the hill.
I was too stunned to say anything. My eyes were wide as I stared at him. The sunlight bathed him in warm light, his lavendar hair playing gently against his face as the breeze blew from some unknown direction. His crystal blue eyes were so haunting--I recalled vividly the memory of them being so close to mine. He looked no different than he usually did. He was beautiful.
Trunks brandished his sword, clutching it tight and tensing as he glared deeply at me. He had skillfully toned arms and shoulders; just looking at him assured one that he was indeed strong. He wasn't overly bulky, as I had come to judge his father, who had posessed far too many muscles for his own good. Trunks was a different kind of strong--he was home to emotional strength as well as physical strength.
I realised that all the while I had been staring at him. Trunks hadn't moved, but was eyeing me in heated confusion, as though he expected me to lunge at him. The thought had barely crossed my mind. I merely wanted to take his presence in.
"Why are you constantly hindering me?" I spat, abruptly discovering that I wanted to be left to my thoughts. "These people don't know you. They mean nothing to you. What does it matter if they die?"
"That's just it. It _does_ matter if they die, whether I know them or not. Their lives mean something, maybe not to me, but I've got to protect them from mosters like you." He growled, tightening the hold on his sword.
I scoffed. "You're willing to die for people you don't even know...?" We'd been through the conversation many times before. It was somewhat like a play to me, and I was acting out one of the leading roles. We had no audience but eachother. No applause except the satisfaction that went to the victor of the brawls that followed.
"You know the answer."
"Don't play with me!" I snapped, clenching a fist. "Do me a justice and give in like all the others--give in to your fears, give in to the terror you live in each day. Give in to the destruction and the hatred; why do you contstantly come back to protect those who will die in the end, regardless of what you do? You're only preserving their lives so they can continue to exist in misery. Misery I've created--gladly created. And I'd create it all again if given even a moment's opprotunity!"
Trunks didn't seem to have an answer right away. He paused, still eyeing me. "I can never give in, I can't stop fighting you. Not until you're gone. Not until whatever's left of my world is safe."
Me anger took the best of me, and I took a swing at him with my leg, knocking him in the shoulder and sending him off-balance, but he regained footing and came at me quickly, swinging at me with his blade as I dodged swiftly, the sharp edges coming too close to my face for comfort. He took off, trying, as he always did, to lead me away from the people of the town so as to ensure their safety. Usually I played along with his game. But not this time.
Instead I went the opposite direction that he was going--turning on my heel and making a mad dash down to the small city. Trunks seemed to sense that I was no longer following him, and he stopped dead in midair, apparating feet behind me and trying again to graze his sword across my figure, yet I was too fast. Gathering an energy wave in my hand, I flung it at the nearest building--the grocery store the girl I had seen earlier had visited--and it hit before Trunks could stop it. The store crumbled, bricks and wood shattering as the energy wave tore it apart. People in the streets screamed, dropping what they were doing and fleeing in the opposite direction. Without success Trunks blasted his own energy ball at me, but I proved again to be too agile for him; I ducked, hitting the energy with the back of my hand, deflecting it into yet another building that seemed almost to deflate instantly.
Trunks seemed horrified at what he had caused, and came at me with another series of swipes from his sword. "Why?!"
"Why?" I laughed, jumping back each time as he aimed to hit me. "Because humans have no purpose! They're like buildings: easy to knock down. Why won't you fall over, Trunks?!" I taunted, continuing to duck his sword and kicks. He became frustrated, and sheated the sword, trying a different approach--or perhaps it was a repeated attempt to lead me away from the city. I answered the attempt by sending another building to the ground--this time a bank. More people scattered, some fleeing past our fight. Amoung them was the girl from the grocery store, who was being rushed along by her lover. I tore off after them, taking into the air and leaving Trunks to chase after me. I wanted her dead. She had what I didn't.
The girl screamed as she caught sight of me just above her. Her lover covered her with his arms, looking up at me with sheer terror in every inch of his face. The girl was crying now, clinging to the man as I stared down at them.
"It's unfair!" I cried, glaring fiercely, gathering another energy wave in my hand; the man's eyes widened, and he let out a gasp as I threw my arm back, ready to blast them into oblivion. Suddenly they were gone--it happened in a blurr. My eyes cast around for them, and landed on Trunks, who had just set foot on the roof of a house down the street. The humans were with him; he had obviously ducked in to save them just in time.
Furious, I gathered waves of energy in both my hands this time, apparating just in front of the house and blasting it to bits, the whole structure collapsing as I jumped back to avoid getting hit by the rubble. Again they were gone. I cast around for them once more, my eyes narrowed, my ears alert for any sounds other than fleeing humans. Constant screams drowned out any chance of me finding them, so I merely started blasting house after house, building after building. Children were crying, dogs were barking, people were abandoning their houses in attempt to get away safely with their lives. Car horns honked, fires blazed, smoke erupted from demolished houses. If a car got in my way of a house, I simply made sure it became a mountain of ash. I wouldn't give up until I found that girl. She needed to understand. She needed to know how much pain her happiness caused me. There was no sign of Trunks or the humans I was after.
I landed safely on one foot as I touched down. All around me lay the remains of the little town; what was left of crumbled buildings here and there marked the graves of those who hadn't been able to make it out in time. Somewhere a dog was still barking. Glass shattered abruptly from a house that had just burst into flame. None of it mattered to me. My biggest concern was dirtying my recently washed hair.
There was a whizz of noise and I spun around just in time to see Trunks' sword swing at me from practically nowhere. I didn't have time to duck; the blade cut deep into my shoulder, and I stumbled back, watching as Trunks landed in front of me, his sword raised again.
"Where is she?" I demanded, my thoughts still on the girl as my shoulder began to sting fiercely. She wouldn't get away--I wouldn't let her have another chance at happiness, not when my chances were so few.
"They're both safe," he spat, his teeth clenched. "You've demolished another city, ended more innocent lives. You've even killed children," he lectured, staring coldy at me. "You deserve to perish."
"Forget about innocent lives!" I choked. "Don't you understand that you're nothing to me? Nothing! Stop haunting me! I want the girl dead!" I brough the subject of the girl back to distract myself from what I felt like screaming at him. "I want her dead, you hear me?! I don't care about you, this has nothing to do with you!" I winced--the wound in my shoulder was bleeding profusely. I put a hand to it, cringing as I felt ash mix with blood. I was slowly losing feeling in the battered limb. Trunks refused to move.
"I won't let you hurt them." he announced, his sword at the ready again. "I'll finish you off!"
"Don't you understand, you fool?" I all but screamed, tears in my eyes once more. "She has what I can't have! She has _happiness_!"
Something came over Trunks again, quite a bit like a few days before. He fell quiet, all but looking away from me as he fought to determine if I was playing the bluff. His crystal eyes bored into mine, and he narrowed them.
"I don't trust you." he said flatly, abandoning the look of silent surprise. He began walking forward slowly, his sword poised to kill. All the while those eyes of his never left mine. "I don't believe any of it. You can't have happiness--not after what you've done. You're a monster."
My shoulder was still bleeding, and I was beginning to feel the effects of blood loss. My head spun as he neared me, and my vision blurred. I fought to stand up. Suddenly the tip of Trunks' sword was under my chin, pushing my face up to look at him. We were face to face. I could almost smell him; it wasn't an unpleasant smell. Almost positive he could hear my heartbeat--which was loudly pounding what little blood my body had left--I tried to back away, but he only moved closer, threatening to cut me again with his blade. All the while he didn't utter a word, didn't lecture me in the few moments we stared at eachother. I felt my legs weakening. His silence was too much for me. I'd have to act fast if I wanted to get away alive.
I lashed out, flinging a series of short, blinding energy waves at his face as I turned and fled in the opposite direction, stumbling slightly as I leapt into the air, taking off. I didn't look back. I didn't want to. Still holding my injured arm, I flew faster than I can ever remember flying, wanting nothing more than to escape those eyes. I had long since stopped crying; in fact, I couldn't ever remember starting. I flew over lakes and trees, mountains and fields, until, exhausted, I fell from the air, coming to land sharply on the ground. Struggling to stay conscious, I pulled myself into a sitting position against a nearby boulder, burrying my face in my hands. I was hopeless. I couldn't keep fooling myself.
For the first time in my life, I felt guilty for what I had done.
*
Hmm... I'm not sure if I'm happy with how 18's turning out to be. She seems quick to cry these days; I imagined her more tough. What do you guys think? Should I re-write this chapter, or leave it as it is? What do you think, Has-Bei?