Chapter 14: Aftermath: New Alliance
The longest day of Robbie's life was finally drawing to a close, and the rigors of leadership were beginning to take their toll. All he wanted at the moment was a soft place for him, along with his new protégé, to lay their heads, and it soon appeared over the dark horizon.
Robbie and Eighteen flew low over the silent waters of the ocean, only a few meters above the placidly lolling waves. Out of habit, he stole a quick glance behind to see if she was still there. Of course she was, holding station a short distance behind. She met his glance, then quickly dropped her eyes to the obsidian waves beneath her. Robbie's slightly paranoid curiosity was satisfied, so he returned his gaze to the front and continued on, musing over the day's events.
It had only been a few hours since the foursome had lifted off from the blasted ruins of Bridgetown, but it seemed like months, judging from the aching in his bones and the throbbing of his head. The choices he had made and the commands he had given were nowhere as easy as they had sounded in his own mind. Nor did they seem as sane. With each passing mile, Robbie grew more and more uncertain of his choices.
The first problem came precisely at the point of his highest euphoria, and it was also the one he should have seen coming.
Who the fuck do you think you are! That had been Seventeen's reaction to the order to split them apart. Eighteen had chimed in with her own I'll rip your balls off you fucking monkey! Naturally, Robbie's first reaction was to smash them both into space dust, but he somehow restrained that unproductive instinct and managed to muster up the last quality that Saiya-jins were known for: diplomacy. Well, as diplomatic as a weary, pissed-off Saiya-jin could be.
"Listen up you tin-plated assholes!" he roared, "I have been more than patient and beyond merciful. If you insist on trying my patience any further, we'll just finish this little fight where it should have been finished. Either of you want to go another round?"
Seventeen stepped forward, murder in his eyes, and Robbie nearly snapped. His new Super-Saiya-jin power, previously dispelled, began to flow back to the surface once more. But before he could reach the full transformation, a voice called out. It was Eighteen.
"Stop," was all she said. Seventeen halted and even Robbie stopped to listen. She was standing at Seventeen's side, eyes downcast. Her usual cocky stance was replaced with something else: the posture of total dejection. Robbie immediately knew that something important was about to happen.
Her words were nearly spoken in silence, but apparently Seventeen heard them because his head snapped immediately in her direction.
"What?" He replied incredulously.
"I said I'll go." Her voice was flat and without inflection. They were the most joyless, lifeless words he had ever heard.
"How can you do this?!" Seventeen shot back. "I won't let you go…"
"I know," Eighteen replied, "but I have to. Do you want to die here?"
"What the hell are you talking about? How many times have we survived? How many times have we escaped the people trying to kill us? We can win. We've always won!"
"We won't win this time. We can't, because we don't deserve to. Dammit Seventeen! I'm tired of fighting, and I'm tired of watching people die! I'm through with this shit. Do whatever you want; I'm leaving."
"And what about me? You'll just leave me behind? After all I've protected you from? What'll keep these bastards from killing us once they get us apart?"
"If they wanted to kill us, they could do it at any time, and Saiya-jins aren't the type for that kind of deception. We're alive because they want us alive. That's all."
"Shit…" Seventeen said, clearly exasperated. He hung his head, unable to digest what his sister was saying. She was willing to walk into the night with this monster, willing to go off alone, where no one could protect her. This had happened too many times before…
He couldn't go through with it, but his sister's heart was set, and he would have to trust her. Still, it did little for the iron swords piercing his heart. He had no options, but his ego would not let him simply leave her, so he gathered his courage and strode confidently up to the Saiya-jin, pushing his way through the residual energy surrounding him, coming to within inches of his face. His eyes were cold and hard like obsidian and his voice dangerous as he spoke.
"Before I let her go, I want your word."
"My word on what?" The Saiya-jin responded.
"That you won't touch her." Robbie was immediately taken aback, and more than a little unclear on what he was talking about.
"I don't know what you're talking about. The purpose of this trip will be training together, and I will be sparring with her. If you want me to say that she'll come back alive, then the answer is yes."
"That's not enough!" Seventeen's hand lashed out and grabbed hold of what remained of Robbie's tattered shirt.
"What?"
"I know how you Saiya-jins are. You're animals! You…You'd better not hurt her." Robbie still had only a vague idea of what the Android was talking about, since Robbie had every intention of kicking the crap out of her if they trained together. Still, he saw that the young man was in earnest. In spite of his ignorance of the situation, Robbie decided to agree. He would have plenty of time later to figure out what the hell he was babbling about.
"Okay, you have my word." The hand at his collar relaxed, albeit unsteadily and reluctantly. Seventeen stared at him for a few seconds more, then broke contact and fell to the ground. He turned around and walked back to where his sister was standing, and embraced her again. Robbie, for his part, felt even worse than he had felt before. But he was also left wondering just what had happened in their pasts to make them like this.
He would have to get his answers from Eighteen, because the day was fading fast, and he wanted to be underway before dark. However, there were a couple of points he wanted to see to first.
"Hey you two," he called to the two Androids, "How are you feeling?" He considered his question in light of what had just transpired and quickly added: "Physically?" It was Eighteen who lifted her eyes from her brother's shoulder and answered: "fine."
"Are you both up for traveling?" He continued.
"Yeah." Eighteen answered, but her words again sounded hollow. Robbie's Saiya-jin mind screamed at him to forget her well-being and get a move-on, but his human heart screamed back just as loudly to take it easy. His thoughts were in outright turmoil and he couldn't tell which one was really his own voice, but he kept his poise nonetheless. Robbie decided it was time to get going, but he had no idea where he was going. He had no doubt there were plenty of wide open spaces to train in on this planet, but he had no clue what would be done for shelter, and he knew Eighteen would freak if there wasn't any indoor plumbing. He motioned Trunks over.
"What now?" The half-Saiya-jin said, exasperated.
"Just wondering where we're gonna go. Any ideas?" Trunks' eyes darkened.
"I was thinking I'd take Seventeen to the place where he killed my father. I want him to see first-hand what the bastard's done. And I thought you could take Eighteen to West City."
"Great! Let's really make them feel like shit!"
"Why the fuck not!?"
"Because we're trying to build a team, moron!" Robbie realized that they had been shouting, so he quickly toned his voice back to deflect the curious glances of the twins. "We can't do that, Trunks. We want their help, and we can't get that help if we go out of our way to piss them off and/or rip their hearts out…"
"…they don't have hearts…"
"Yes they do. And we're going to get them to use them again. We've stopped this madness and saved your world. Don't you see? Your fight's over, but mine's just beginning, and I'm going to need all the help I can get because the android coming to my world is probably way stronger than these two combined. Not to mention the fact that these two could still recover and overpower you if you're alone, allowing this shit to start all over again. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Whatever. I won't kill the guy, but don't expect me to play nice."
"I never said that, but at least try and be civil. It'll only be for about six months, then we'll get back together, link hands, and…"
"Jump to your world. Right?"
"Right."
"Okay, I get your point, but where the hell do we go?" This was a tough question, so Robbie thought hard. Again, his thoughts drifted back to the fanfiction world, where he might have been able to glean an answer from the thousands of crackpot theories his generation had come up with. The answer hit him almost immediately. In most stories he had read, Seventeen always wanted to go to the same type of place.
"Trunks, maybe you and Seventeen should go camping."
"Camping? What the fuck are you on?!"
"Hear me out. The androids hate humans, right? Seventeen does especially, so the best place would be something far away from human civilization a.k.a the woods. Take Seventeen to the mountains, and that way you'll be away from humans and Seventeen can get a little peace and quiet."
"I suppose you want me to take the bastard bird-watching?"
"Wouldn't hurt."
"You piece of s…"
"Nevermind. Listen, just trust me. This'll work out. Try the mountains north of North City, and be sure to stay away from Gero's lab. Or rather, what's left of it."
"Right. That sounds good, but where are you going?"
"I have an idea."
And that was how it went. After a tearful goodbye and many hushed words spoken between the two siblings, they had set off in different directions: one north, one south. An hour later, here he was, flying over the ocean of an alien world with an android femme fatale flying close behind. His obvious question was: how the hell did I get myself into this? But after a moment, not even that seemed to matter. He was bone tired, and just wanted a nice bed to stretch out on. Moreover, he believed his new companion wanted the same.
Just then, a beacon of comfort rose up from the sea to greet their eyes: the island of Master Roshi and the dark outline of Kame House. Robbie had never been so glad to see land in all his life. He looked behind again to see if Eighteen was watching him, then waved to get her attention. When she looked up he motioned toward her and then the island, indicating they were about to land. She nodded slightly, and they both began their descent. A minute later their feet touched the soft white sands of the beach, and the trip was over.
Twilight had just about reached its peak, and night would be coming in less than an hour. The sky above was black as midnight in the east while streaks of brilliant scarlet lit up the west. Robbie's nose was quickly overcome by the scents of salt and the sea, and the only sounds around him were that of the wind and the waves. The tiny island was at rest.
Roshi and his animal friends had abandoned the place and were currently in a submarine somewhere nearby, most likely watching them. Strangely, though, Robbie could sense nothing beneath the waves around them. There were no humans anywhere within ten miles of his location. Robbie was puzzled, but otherwise relieved. The less visitors and eavesdroppers they had, the better.
"Eighteen," Robbie called to the girl standing only a few feet away, "you ready to go inside?"
"Y…no." She said reluctantly.
"Why?" Robbie asked, impatient and ready for sleep.
"I just don't, okay? Go to bed, it's not like I'm going to run off or anything."
"Funny, that's exactly what I was thinking."
"I don't care what you think. I'm staying outside for tonight, and I'm not going anywhere. You don't like it, tough shit." Robbie was briefly inclined to scream something at her, but his weariness weighed on him like an iron hammer, and he decided he would simply let her have her way for tonight. Besides, if they were going to be roommates, they would have to learn a little compromise. In addition to that, Robbie knew from prior experience that if she tried to escape she wouldn't get very far. Saiya-jins typically slept just deep enough to rest their bodies, and as a result were highly alert even when they were in la-la land.
Robbie had discovered this fascinating fact when Trunks tried to take a day off from training by slipping past Robbie's room early in the morning. He was wildly unsuccessful. The next moment, Trunks was eating wall panel as Robbie pinned him against the side of the corridor. All the young fighter could manage was a weak 'good morning,' and Robbie proceeded to laugh his ass off. Much to his pleasure, training started two hours earlier that day.
Therefore he was quite confident that he could catch the female android, but he was also doubtful because of the extent of his injuries. His wounds had all begun to heal and his bones had started to mend, but he wasn't sure how much more energy would be needed to get back to fighting strength. If his body decided to really zonk out, he would be in a world of trouble. Nonetheless, he needed to sleep soon, and it would up to fate to see if he would make it through the night.
"Okay, whatever you want. You'd better be here when I wake up."
"Don't worry monkey-boy," she said grimly, "I will be."
"That's what I want to hear. Good night."
Eighteen didn't even dignify him with a response. She heard a door slam behind her, and she was left alone with her thoughts. Good night…she hadn't had one of those in years.
In the fading light Eighteen sat down on the sands and stared off at the sunset. Night was coming, and an old familiar fear began to gnaw at her. She had always hated sunset. At one time it terrified her, but in her later life it only worked to drive her into depression. Sunlight always seemed to keep her demons at bay, but at nightfall they rose from within and without to attack her. Tonight, she believed, the Saiya-jin would probably leave her alone, but that left her alone with herself, and at times her own thoughts were her worst enemy.
But her immediate thoughts weren't focused as much on her as they were on Seventeen. Just like her, he was alone with a monster, and one that seemed to have even less self-control than her captor. In her worry, she reached out into the sky with her bionic senses to search for his signal. She found it in the last place she expected. Seventeen was only 5.26 klicks north of Gero's lab.
It had been the place where their humanity was stolen from them, and carried a well-spring of other bad memories besides. Eighteen was deeply suspicious that his captor was trying to induce feelings of guilt for what he had done, and she could only wonder if her own captor might do the same. She was deeply worried, and she could only hope he wasn't experiencing the same fears that she was.
Even so, she knew that worrying would do nothing. All she could do was hope that her own words rang true and that they truly were safe from being killed by their victorious opponents. Her own captor seemed to have good intentions, at least as good as a Saiya-jin could have, but she knew from hard experience that appearances could be deceiving. Her father had taught her that. She only hoped the Saiya-jin would not turn out to be the same.
In a matter of days, she concluded grimly, she would know just how good or evil he could be. Would he keep his word and ensure the safety of her and her brother? Or would he forget in the midst of raging anger and just kill her anyway?
These questions weighed heavily on Eighteen's mind as she stretched her thin form out over the warm sand beneath her. Sleeping under the open sky was not her style, especially when she would be so exposed, but tonight it was the only option. Besides, she mused, death could come and take her as easily wherever she went. Her life was as fragile now as it ever was, and she would just have to trust in the unseen and unknown to bring her through the night.
The last glimmers of the day saw a beaten and bloody young android curled up on the sands of a lonely desert island, her battle wounds only beginning to heal. Her wounds of the heart were much less certain.
She slept deeply,without dreams or nightmares, for the first time in ages. At least for the night, she would rest in peace.
A miracle of miracles! I've updated and a month hasn't gone by. A-freakin'-mazing. I'm taking an Intersession course at my school, meaning that I have plenty of time to write and I've been doing just that every day for the past few weeks. I hope to keep moving and keep updating, since this story is about to take a drastic turn. Keep an eye open!
Fireyone233: I love your enthusiasm, but am not to keen on your grammar…j/k. Thanks for reviewing and keeping an eye on my work.
Thomas Drovin: I let you down last time, but I'm trying to make up for it. Here is the latest installment, and I hope you're pleased.
Hopeful Wings: The story thanks you and quivers with pleasure from your huggle. Here's the next installment, and more is on the way.