To her justice Eighteen could have encouraged Cassie's mistake.
If Cassie thought that she was a Z-Fighter and the others followed her mistaken belief then who was she to argue?
After all wouldn't it be easier to keep up the pretence than to tell them the shocking truth about herself?
That she was an android.
Something that was no longer human.
Changed and twisted by a scientific genius and madman to exterminate the warrior known as Son Goku who in a possible future had exterminated the human race and reduced the world to a smoking ruin?
Eighteen had changed since the day she and her brother had stepped out of their cold storage caskets but would that make any difference to her new friends if…?
Better to live the lie.
What would her new found friends say if they learnt the truth?
Eighteen tried hard to content herself with this new twist of events and let Cassie Faris and Linaly go on thinking that she was a Z-Fighter not a…monster.
It was impossible.
She knew it even before she made the attempt but she still tried to live out the charade as if it were true.
What Eighteen knew however was that the girls had been kind to her and that she owed them the truth.
This had all flooded through her confused mind much earlier in the day.
It had been just after the bikers attack and Cassie's misled proclamation that she had guessed that Eighteen was a Z-Fighter.
The sun had been going down.
Sinking deep past the horizon and burning into the peaceful ocean.
So lovely.
It had made Eighteen forget for a while about her dearest late brother Seventeen…about Dr Gero…Cell…
And Z-Fighters.
Particularly THAT Z-Fighter.
The one who had changed her forever.
Shown her the way.
The short one with the domino spots on his forehead and wearing an orange GI.
Eighteen closed her eyes as she stopped herself from thinking abruptly.
She had to let go of that.
That kiss had meant nothing.
She'd just meant to tease him but as she'd done it she'd felt something strange.
Eighteen had realised then that she liked Kuirin.
She'd giggled inwardly at the look of shock on his face followed up quickly by the dreamy ecstasy.
There was again!
Eighteen tried her hardest in one effort to forget about Kuirin.
After all she'd never see him again…right?
She believed not but then why was there a part of her that mocked her with a 'don't be so sure!'?
"Eighteen?"
Eighteen's eyes flicked open.
She was lying on a bed in a room of Cassie's large caravan by the sea.
Cassie had lent her some clothes earlier to change out of the bikini.
Eighteen was now clad in an orange crop-top short denim trousers which ended with stylishly frayed edges sandles and a few gold rings which held back her fine blonde hair.
Something long and a little curly was lowered near to her face and moved slowly from side to side tickling her nose.
Cassie giggled as Eighteen sat up.
"Will I have to do that whenever I want your attention?" she asked flippantly as she regarded Eighteen in the dimly lit room.
Eighteen's response was non-verbal but immediate.
She thrust herself upward throwing Cassie off and landing on her grabbing her wrists.
She never did know why she'd done that.
Cassie responded easily rolling side-ways so that Eighteen found that their positions had been reversed and that Cassie was now grinning down at her playfully rather than the other way round.
Eighteen guessed she ought to have felt annoyed but…
But…instead she felt as if for once she was actually having fun!
Just as gamely as Cassie Eighteen flipped up and had quite a struggle on her hands to keep up as Cassie resisted quite well for a full blooded human.
In the end Cassie was beneath her once more breathing hard.
"Why don't…you and…I go for….a chat?" she suggested between gulps for air.
The air was refreshing after the tussle they had had just now.
There was quite a cool and pleasant breeze playing across the grass as Cassie and Eighteen sat on the front lawn bench.
The sea a short distance away was dark but sparkled quite prettily.
There were little stars in it!
"It's quite late." Eighteen said not knowing why sitting down on the bench.
She supposed that it was just something to say.
"Does that worry you?" Cassie asked blandly as she dropped down to sit by her.
"Not really." Eighteen shrugged it off.
They sat there in silence for a while longer.
Cassie the one who had invited her an almost total stranger back to her place after only knowing her for a few hours.
Eighteen the guest who had previously decided that she was unworthy to live among the 'normal' people and had for some reason found herself suddenly wanting nothing more than to have friends.
"You know you never really answered my question on the beach today." Eighteen said after a while.
"Your question?" Cassie asked this quite coyly but she knew exactly what she was talking about.
Cassie certainly was a strange one.
She did things and said stuff that she didn't seem to have any reason for.
If she did then she kept them locked in her mind and wasn't telling.
"You know." Eighteen insisted. "Why go out of your way for me?"
Cassie sighed but there was no annoyance in it.
"Always the questions!" she remarked turning to look at eighteen completely. "You have so much unsatisfied curiosity."
"I hate an unsatisfied curiosity." Eighteen responded coyly.
"You'll live." Cassie responded.
"Oh no you don't." Eighteen moved so that she gazed into cassie's eyes. "I want you to give me an answer to my question."
"Why not just enjoy the question?" Cassie murmured.
"You're impossible!"
"I try."
They sat in silence for a while watching the dark waves of the sea shining in unison with the stars.
"Why don't you try answering MY question?" Cassie asked presently.
Eighteen gave her a look.
"Why not?" she agreed. "Fire away!"
"It's kinda out of left field. But this is it." Cassie turned to face Eighteen again.
Eighteen realised that there was now a quality she had never seen in Cassie's eyes during the short time she'd known her.
Was it…compassion?
Eighteen found it hard to remember what each individual emotion was these days.
"What are you sad about Eighteen?" Cassie asked quietly but there was a strength belying her tone.
"Mmm?"
"You know what I mean. I saw it in your eyes when you asked me your question and I replied. Something happened to you in the past. Something that changed your life. But not necessarily for the greater good." Cassie's eyes shone in the star-light. "What was it?"
Eighteen was lost for words.
"Go in. You can tell me. I promise I wont tell anyone else what you say." Her voice was persuasive. "It'll be in confidence between you and I Eighteen. Just let the words come."
This was it.
Eighteen swallowed as she realised that the time had come.
She had hoped it would be later but that had not been so.
She had to tell Cassie the truth about herself.
She owed it to her.
Cassie watched her and was able to spot the exact point in time when Eighteen lost the struggle to keep quiet and lost.
"Cassie…I'm not a Z-Fighter." Eighteen blurted suddenly.
"No?" Cassie inclined her head to a side inviting her to continue.
The words came pouring out.
Being human in those happy days alongside her brother in those days long long in the past.
The day he and she had stumbled upon Dr Gero's secret laboratory in the forest.
Being captured.
The experiments and enchancements he'd made on them.
What he'd stolen from them forever.
The day she and her brother had been released from their captivity when Gero had been cornered by the Z-Fighters and finally taken their revenge on him.
Fleeing with a fellow android.
Various battles with the Z-Fighters.
The battle with the Kami fused Piccollo in which her brother Seventeen had nearly been defeated.
Although perhaps it would have been better if he had.
For then had come the turning point in their lives.
Cell has arrived and mercilessly devoured Seventeen to make himself one step further to being complete.
The look of terror in her brothers eyes as he had become 'one' with Cell would always stay with her.
It had been nightmarish when Cell had used Seventeen's face and voice to try and tempt her into becoming one with him.
She had been tempted.
Somehow she'd resisted knowing her brother would never order her to lose her freedom…life.
Then came the finale.
She had finally been absorbed by Cell herself.
The last thing she had heard had been Kuirin's desperate screams as she had been 'eaten' by the devilish beast.
Then the story was over and there was sitting next to Cassie trembling back in the present.
Because she'd never left.
Cassie had listened in silence not seeming to react to Eighteen's admission that she was something not entirely human.
It had not bothered her.
Eighteen was not sure how to take this at all.
There was a strange burning sensation behind her eyes.
It was familiar…something from her old life.
Tears?
"Cassie…." She fell into Cassie's arms as Cassie held her close to her.
Comforting her.
Cassie looked into the darkened sky with something like regret in her eyes.
"Eighteen…" she murmured.
Cassie knew what the problem was.
But there was nothing she could do to make it better.
To make the pain go away.
All she could do was sit with Eighteen as she sobbed silently.
This she resolved to do…whenever Eighteen needed her.
Next chap comin up!
If Cassie thought that she was a Z-Fighter and the others followed her mistaken belief then who was she to argue?
After all wouldn't it be easier to keep up the pretence than to tell them the shocking truth about herself?
That she was an android.
Something that was no longer human.
Changed and twisted by a scientific genius and madman to exterminate the warrior known as Son Goku who in a possible future had exterminated the human race and reduced the world to a smoking ruin?
Eighteen had changed since the day she and her brother had stepped out of their cold storage caskets but would that make any difference to her new friends if…?
Better to live the lie.
What would her new found friends say if they learnt the truth?
Eighteen tried hard to content herself with this new twist of events and let Cassie Faris and Linaly go on thinking that she was a Z-Fighter not a…monster.
It was impossible.
She knew it even before she made the attempt but she still tried to live out the charade as if it were true.
What Eighteen knew however was that the girls had been kind to her and that she owed them the truth.
This had all flooded through her confused mind much earlier in the day.
It had been just after the bikers attack and Cassie's misled proclamation that she had guessed that Eighteen was a Z-Fighter.
The sun had been going down.
Sinking deep past the horizon and burning into the peaceful ocean.
So lovely.
It had made Eighteen forget for a while about her dearest late brother Seventeen…about Dr Gero…Cell…
And Z-Fighters.
Particularly THAT Z-Fighter.
The one who had changed her forever.
Shown her the way.
The short one with the domino spots on his forehead and wearing an orange GI.
Eighteen closed her eyes as she stopped herself from thinking abruptly.
She had to let go of that.
That kiss had meant nothing.
She'd just meant to tease him but as she'd done it she'd felt something strange.
Eighteen had realised then that she liked Kuirin.
She'd giggled inwardly at the look of shock on his face followed up quickly by the dreamy ecstasy.
There was again!
Eighteen tried her hardest in one effort to forget about Kuirin.
After all she'd never see him again…right?
She believed not but then why was there a part of her that mocked her with a 'don't be so sure!'?
"Eighteen?"
Eighteen's eyes flicked open.
She was lying on a bed in a room of Cassie's large caravan by the sea.
Cassie had lent her some clothes earlier to change out of the bikini.
Eighteen was now clad in an orange crop-top short denim trousers which ended with stylishly frayed edges sandles and a few gold rings which held back her fine blonde hair.
Something long and a little curly was lowered near to her face and moved slowly from side to side tickling her nose.
Cassie giggled as Eighteen sat up.
"Will I have to do that whenever I want your attention?" she asked flippantly as she regarded Eighteen in the dimly lit room.
Eighteen's response was non-verbal but immediate.
She thrust herself upward throwing Cassie off and landing on her grabbing her wrists.
She never did know why she'd done that.
Cassie responded easily rolling side-ways so that Eighteen found that their positions had been reversed and that Cassie was now grinning down at her playfully rather than the other way round.
Eighteen guessed she ought to have felt annoyed but…
But…instead she felt as if for once she was actually having fun!
Just as gamely as Cassie Eighteen flipped up and had quite a struggle on her hands to keep up as Cassie resisted quite well for a full blooded human.
In the end Cassie was beneath her once more breathing hard.
"Why don't…you and…I go for….a chat?" she suggested between gulps for air.
The air was refreshing after the tussle they had had just now.
There was quite a cool and pleasant breeze playing across the grass as Cassie and Eighteen sat on the front lawn bench.
The sea a short distance away was dark but sparkled quite prettily.
There were little stars in it!
"It's quite late." Eighteen said not knowing why sitting down on the bench.
She supposed that it was just something to say.
"Does that worry you?" Cassie asked blandly as she dropped down to sit by her.
"Not really." Eighteen shrugged it off.
They sat there in silence for a while longer.
Cassie the one who had invited her an almost total stranger back to her place after only knowing her for a few hours.
Eighteen the guest who had previously decided that she was unworthy to live among the 'normal' people and had for some reason found herself suddenly wanting nothing more than to have friends.
"You know you never really answered my question on the beach today." Eighteen said after a while.
"Your question?" Cassie asked this quite coyly but she knew exactly what she was talking about.
Cassie certainly was a strange one.
She did things and said stuff that she didn't seem to have any reason for.
If she did then she kept them locked in her mind and wasn't telling.
"You know." Eighteen insisted. "Why go out of your way for me?"
Cassie sighed but there was no annoyance in it.
"Always the questions!" she remarked turning to look at eighteen completely. "You have so much unsatisfied curiosity."
"I hate an unsatisfied curiosity." Eighteen responded coyly.
"You'll live." Cassie responded.
"Oh no you don't." Eighteen moved so that she gazed into cassie's eyes. "I want you to give me an answer to my question."
"Why not just enjoy the question?" Cassie murmured.
"You're impossible!"
"I try."
They sat in silence for a while watching the dark waves of the sea shining in unison with the stars.
"Why don't you try answering MY question?" Cassie asked presently.
Eighteen gave her a look.
"Why not?" she agreed. "Fire away!"
"It's kinda out of left field. But this is it." Cassie turned to face Eighteen again.
Eighteen realised that there was now a quality she had never seen in Cassie's eyes during the short time she'd known her.
Was it…compassion?
Eighteen found it hard to remember what each individual emotion was these days.
"What are you sad about Eighteen?" Cassie asked quietly but there was a strength belying her tone.
"Mmm?"
"You know what I mean. I saw it in your eyes when you asked me your question and I replied. Something happened to you in the past. Something that changed your life. But not necessarily for the greater good." Cassie's eyes shone in the star-light. "What was it?"
Eighteen was lost for words.
"Go in. You can tell me. I promise I wont tell anyone else what you say." Her voice was persuasive. "It'll be in confidence between you and I Eighteen. Just let the words come."
This was it.
Eighteen swallowed as she realised that the time had come.
She had hoped it would be later but that had not been so.
She had to tell Cassie the truth about herself.
She owed it to her.
Cassie watched her and was able to spot the exact point in time when Eighteen lost the struggle to keep quiet and lost.
"Cassie…I'm not a Z-Fighter." Eighteen blurted suddenly.
"No?" Cassie inclined her head to a side inviting her to continue.
The words came pouring out.
Being human in those happy days alongside her brother in those days long long in the past.
The day he and she had stumbled upon Dr Gero's secret laboratory in the forest.
Being captured.
The experiments and enchancements he'd made on them.
What he'd stolen from them forever.
The day she and her brother had been released from their captivity when Gero had been cornered by the Z-Fighters and finally taken their revenge on him.
Fleeing with a fellow android.
Various battles with the Z-Fighters.
The battle with the Kami fused Piccollo in which her brother Seventeen had nearly been defeated.
Although perhaps it would have been better if he had.
For then had come the turning point in their lives.
Cell has arrived and mercilessly devoured Seventeen to make himself one step further to being complete.
The look of terror in her brothers eyes as he had become 'one' with Cell would always stay with her.
It had been nightmarish when Cell had used Seventeen's face and voice to try and tempt her into becoming one with him.
She had been tempted.
Somehow she'd resisted knowing her brother would never order her to lose her freedom…life.
Then came the finale.
She had finally been absorbed by Cell herself.
The last thing she had heard had been Kuirin's desperate screams as she had been 'eaten' by the devilish beast.
Then the story was over and there was sitting next to Cassie trembling back in the present.
Because she'd never left.
Cassie had listened in silence not seeming to react to Eighteen's admission that she was something not entirely human.
It had not bothered her.
Eighteen was not sure how to take this at all.
There was a strange burning sensation behind her eyes.
It was familiar…something from her old life.
Tears?
"Cassie…." She fell into Cassie's arms as Cassie held her close to her.
Comforting her.
Cassie looked into the darkened sky with something like regret in her eyes.
"Eighteen…" she murmured.
Cassie knew what the problem was.
But there was nothing she could do to make it better.
To make the pain go away.
All she could do was sit with Eighteen as she sobbed silently.
This she resolved to do…whenever Eighteen needed her.
Next chap comin up!