-Seventeen-
Oh man, this is a bad idea.
Seventeen warily moved down the hallway towards his sister's room, a cup of black coffee in one hand, just how his sister liked it. He made sure that each of his footsteps didn't make a noise as to not warn Eighteen of his presence until he was good and ready.
I seriously hope she's sobered up by now.
She'd come back drunk last night, so drunk that he was certain she would have died had she been a normal human girl. That in itself wasn't the problem. His sister was usually a social drunk, she became looser, a little bit more bubbly, and overall an even more fun person to hang out with.
The problem was that she had been angry too.
He'd only ever seen it once before. It'd been back when they'd still been human, when she'd gotten wasted after her boyfriend had dumped her for being too cynical and emotionless around him. The man had felt like she never really cared about him and only used him for money and the occasional booty call. Seventeen had later found out that the man had been completely right, Eighteen hadn't cared about him, she had only wanted him for an occasional booty call and some free meals. He'd found out from his sister telling him directly, an uncomfortable conversation to be having with your sister if ever there was one, but she told him that she hadn't been mad that the relationship was over, she was mad that he had dumped her. She'd lost boyfriends before, tossed them away like they were nothing more than a loose hangnail, but she'd never been dumped before.
Seventeen shuttered as he recalled the night. She'd done some truly cruel things that night, most of which he was certain would have landed her in prison had they been caught. Seventeen still questioned what became of the man she'd left naked in the snow cuffed to a stop sign. He'd also questioned how she'd managed to get him like that in the first place.
These are probably not questions I want the answer to.
Seventeen nodded to himself, concluding that was the correct answer.
He was standing beside the door now, his hand posed to knock against what had before been her bedroom door, but now had a stop sign plunged through its splintered frame so that there was a big red 'STOP' projecting from her closed door. Seventeen momentarily questioned if she'd intentionally done that. It seemed like something she would do while angry drunk.
Seventeen breathed a shaky sigh as he prepared for what might come once he knocked on the door. She'd been really mad when she'd gotten back from wherever she'd been. He'd heard something massive hit the house, rattling it so much his drink had fallen off the counter in his room. When he'd walked over to her room to see what was going on, Eighteen had managed to nail him with a car tire so hard that it sent him crashing back into his own room. She promptly shouted 'stay out' before slamming the door and driving the stop sign which he was certain he'd seen at the end of their street directly into the door.
Later when he'd been certain the girl was asleep he'd gone outside to see if he could find what had struck the house earlier. He'd been surprised to see that she'd thrown what appeared to be an orange slug bug directly into the corner of the house that contained her room. She'd chosen to nap in the back seat over her own bed. Made sense since the bed was currently occupied by a three thousand pound vehicle.
So that's where the tire came from.
Well, that mystery was solved.
Now it was time to figure out the rest.
His knuckles nervously tapped against the door. "Eighteen? Are you awake?"
He waited with wide, anxious eyes listening for a response. For several seconds there wasn't one, and then he heard shuffling, groaning, and the sound of a creaky metal door slowly opening.
Well, she's awake now. Let's hope she's slept off most of the booze, or at least enough that she doesn't want to hit us with the rest of the car.
Seventeen nervously thought to himself as he heard his sister struggle to make her way to the other side of the door. He wondered if he'd just accidentally woken up the beast as he heard her stumble and slam against the door. She was still clearly drunk, and he couldn't decipher yet if she was still angry.
Seventeen didn't know if he could take on her sister if she were still angry. The two of them would only on occasion come to blows if they grew annoyed enough with each other, sibling bickering and all that. They rarely went so hard to actually harm each other, but when they did get serious it was usually him that came out on top if some other variable like Blondie didn't get in the way first. They'd never been able to tell the exact reason, if it was due to a difference in power or a difference in skill, but for one reason or another, he was often the better of the two in straight combat. However, with her mad? Seventeen questioned if he alone would be enough to stop her.
Finally, the door opened.
Seventeen had to resist the urge to laugh.
His sister looked like she'd just plowed through a building, bus, and then a plane before laying down to rest. Her clothes were shredded to the point that it would have been considered scandalous had they not been related. Oil and other debris had collected in her hair, shirt and body so that she looked like she had just gotten gravy poured on top of her. Her eyes were only half open, it was clear that she didn't want to be awake. Despite not needing sleep, when they got extremely drunk it still helped to rest until the substance had passed completely.
"...ugh, wha-do you want Seventen?" She asked leaned against the door frame. Her words were still slurring slightly, her body language was relaxed.
The sober twin breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't angry. She was open to talking again.
"I was wanting to ask if you knew what happened last night." He slowly reached out to hand her the still steaming drink. She took it slowly in her hands as she listened to the question.
"...huh?" She tilted her head at him squinting. He pointed a single finger towards the front of the slug bug currently lodged in her room.
He watched his sister slowly bring the cup to her lips, taking a slow, careful sip of the hot, bitter drink before her eyes widened.
"FUCK!" She shouted abruptly.
Seventeen lowered his stance, eyes wide as he prepared for the worst. Maybe he had been too quick to assume she wasn't mad.
He watched as her eyes focused, her stance shifting so that she was no longer slouching against the broken door frame. She looked much more like herself now, aside from her torn and soiled clothes.
She turned back to him before promptly rolling her eyes. "I'm not gonna attack you relax."
"Oh thank god." Seventeen had not wanted to fight right now. He was still half way through BloodSouls 3 and he couldn't assure the disk's safety if they were to come to blows right now.
He watched her take a slow sigh, her gaze trailing off as she was obviously recalling the night's events. Eventually, after taking another sip of the coffee her lips parted to answer. "I came to a realization that I didn't like. I found out something about the two of us that I thought was stupid and I hated it but-"
Seventeen wore a bright grin as he interrupted. "Then forget about it! If ya didn't like it don't think about it. Life's good sis, nothing to worry about here-"
"Can you just shut up and let me talk!?" She snapped.
Seventeen quieted moments later, he mimed zipping his lips shut and locking it before tossing the key away.
"What I was gonna say before I was rudely interrupted," She glared at Seventeen harshly, "was that I thought it was stupid and I hated it but it was true and I couldn't ignore it even if I wanted to."
Seventeen tilted his head in confusion but didn't dare to speak. He'd already thrown away the key!
"I realized that what we're doing now...all this destroying and killing...I'm pretty sure that if we keep it up that it won't end well for us." Eighteen's expression was serious as she stared into her brother's eyes, telling him that what she was saying was the truth.
Seventeen's eyes were wide with shock, his mouth agape.
Had Eighteen just told him that it what the way they'd been living for over fifteen years without consequence was somehow bad? The Android stood dumbfounded by the statement, staring at his sister as if she'd just sprouted a new head from her shoulder and started talking out of it.
"Don't look at me that way."
"..."
"Well? I want your input!"
Seventeen pointed a finger towards his mouth, raising an eyebrow in a questioning manner, silently asking 'I can speak now?'.
Eighteen rolled her eyes. "Talk dumbass."
Seventeen took a second to take a deep breath in, and then out.
"Sis." He began in a calm tone, wanting to keep the conversation low. He could see this growing into a big fight if he wasn't careful. "We've been at this for like, Fifteen or Sixteen years now, we've been killing, and destroying, and doing whatever the hell we please for that entire time and we're still living like kings." He motioned towards the massive, lavish house they'd acquired only a month ago. "We're more in the clear than we've ever been with Blondie dead. Now we literally don't have anyone that can pose even a minor threat to us, and you're telling me that we should quit!?" he stared at her incredulously, was she kidding? She was making absolutely no sense right now.
Eighteen closed her eyes, clearly gathering herself before speaking. "Seventeen, we can't keep doing this. Last night I spoke to...someone, and I realized something I never thought of before."
Seventeen blinked. His sister had spoken to someone about them? When? Last night? Who? His fingers curled into fists. Who the fuck was filling his sister's head with nonsense?
And why was she listening to it in the first place?
Eighteen continued, "I realized that if we keep destroying everything, if we keep killing at the rate that we have, eventually there won't be anything left to destroy, eventually, there won't be anything left to kill...but each other."
Seventeen blinked. Had she just said what he thought she had? Had she just told him, that if they don't stop doing what they want, that they would eventually kill each other?
The Android crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall, a snide grin spreading across his face. "So, just to reiterate. You're telling me that if we don't stop doing whatever the damn hell we please, then one day you and me are gonna go at it and kill each other?"
He watched her slowly nod, her serious expression never faltering.
Seventeen nodded, slowly blinking as he acknowledged her statement. And then the man couldn't stop laughing. He couldn't help it, it was so damn funny. He knew she had to be playing a trick on him now. There was no way she was being serious. He folded at the waste holding his stomach from the laughter. It took him thirty straight seconds of snorting before he straightened and wiped a tear from his eye.
"Man sis, I didn't think you'd be joking today, but I gotta say you set that one up perfectly. You had me convinced that you were being serious and everything."
"I am being serious Seventeen. This is not a joke."
Seventeen stopped laughing immediately, his eyes meeting hers in a serious glare. He was studying her, watching the way she was watching him. Being siblings they'd learned how to detect when one of them was lying to the other, for Eighteen, he could usually tell that she was lying if he managed to stare her down. The way her eyes wavered for a second was usually the way he could see past her false words.
Silence filled the hallway as he glared at her. She didn't blink, her eyes didn't waver.
Seventeen took a step back shocked.
She's actually being serious right now isn't she?
He couldn't believe it. What the hell type of talk did she have to completely go against everything they'd learned to accept as a natural part of their lives? What the hell could she believe to actually think that the fifteen years they'd spent having fun was wrong!?
Who the fuck did she talk to last night!?
Immediately Seventeen was pissed. "Who did you have this stunning revelation with Eighteen? Did you go to a shrink while drunk again? Because you know that they just say whatever they need you to say so that you won't kill them-"
"I didn't see a shrink Seventeen! I'm not stupid! I know that!"
"Then who did you talk to!?" The younger brother roared. It was only by a minute and a half, but that still counted right?
"It doesn't matter!" She roared back matching his volume.
"Well I think it does because you've somehow done a complete 180 and now you're trying to tell me that we need to be a couple of goody two shoes and clean up our act? What, you think we should go out and have a public apology too!? Gee sorry guys I guess me and my sister were sorta jerks for the past decade and a half, but we could all get in a circle and sing Kumbaya to make up for it?"
"I'm not saying that either Seventeen!" Eighteen snarled at her brother.
"Then why don't you tell me what you're saying Eighteen, because right now it sounds like you're thinking like a filthy human again and that shit isn't going to fly around me!"
Eighteen took a deliberate step forward, slamming her forehead into her brother's. "Are you threatening me right now Seventeen?" Her words were seething with venom.
The harshness of her tone made Seventeen take a step back in surprise.
Damn it. I did exactly what I'd set out not to do.
He took a deep breath to compose himself. He needed to calm the situation before things got out of hand. This was is sister. He loved her, even if she could be ridiculous at times. He didn't want to hurt her.
"No,er yes, but-look I'm sorry." He finally stammered out. He watched the dangerous look in her eyes fade away, easing as he watched her come to the same realization.
"Um, me too." She awkwardly let out as she looked away embarrassed. "I didn't explain it very well I think."
Seventeen nodded as he relaxed. Even if he thought she was being ridiculous, he concluded that he should let her explain herself, sure, she wasn't making sense now, but maybe if he let her explain herself…
Seventeen was internally rolling his eyes. How in the world could she be right about this? It made no sense! Not even a little bit!
Stop it Seventeen, maybe there's a shred of sense there. Just hear her out, and then make your decision.
He sighed before saying calmly. "Maybe you could explain it to me. I might understand a little bit better then."
Eighteen nodded, slowly taking a sip from her coffee as she did. He watched her consider her words, her eyes narrowing as she planned out how to explain what she was telling him. Finally, her lips parted, and she spoke. "It's...it's like if you were to get drunk every night and then push everyone away and like-er- well, imagine you have a daughter and you used to be a super important guy, no that doesn't make any sense either." She was holding the side of her head with her free hand now, eyes squinted, clearly still recovering from the hangover.
Seventeen waited patiently for his sister to say something that made sense.
"Look." She said in an exasperated tone. "It took me almost a week's worth of time to figure all this out and I'm hungover. I'd do a better time explaining things if you gave me a couple of days to figure out how to put it into words."
Seventeen nodded grinning humorously at his sister's frustration. "Sounds good. In the meantime, you think it might be a good idea to move house? Your room is kinda…" he trailed off looking over her shoulder at the vehicle currently leaking oil all over her bed. There was a person shaped stain in the sheets. Seventeen began to piece together how his sister had gotten oil all over herself. "Well, there's a car in it frankly." he said bluntly.
Eighteen nodded absentmindedly as she looked at the vehicle. "Yeah…believe it or not I actually don't know where I got it. I vaguely remember drunkenly thinking that I needed a slug bug to be around to punch things, so I...stole one so that I could punch things with the slug bug?" she shook her head clearly exhausted. "I dunno man, it was a weird night."
Seventeen let out an easy laugh. It felt good to see his sister making jokes again. "Alright, sounds good. You salvage whatever you can from uh, your slug bug adventure, and I'm gonna grab some stuff from my room. Maybe we could go to that one mansion in the east that you were looking at before? You know, the one you saw that fat guy lounging on a lawn chair before? I remember you thinking he was gross. Maybe we could kill him to make you feel better." Seventeen turned to walk back to his room when suddenly a hand was holding his elbow. He looked over his shoulder and saw Eighteen staring back at him, a seriousness to her gaze.
"No." She said with a tension to her voice. There was something there that Seventeen couldn't decipher, a sharpness to her words that didn't make sense to him. It was as if he were a child and she'd just stopped him from stepping out onto a busy street.
"No?" He repeated raising an eyebrow.
"No killing." She said flatly, "I may not be able to explain things right now, but I need you to listen to me, no killing, I'm being serious."
Seventeen blinked once, his jaw slack in disbelief. Eventually, he found the will power to close his mouth and turn back to address his sister. "You...you mean that don't you? You actually don't want me to kill anyone do you?"
She slowly nodded, keeping her eyes locked onto his the entire time.
She was being serious.
"I-, huh, look I-"
"Please." She said pleading with her eyes. "Can you just listen to me this one time? Can you not fight me on this just this once? Call it a favor to your big sister." She looked like she was truly begging for him to listen to her. He was surprised, it was rare for her to drop the sharp glaring look she usually wore. It told him that she was desperate for him to listen.
He felt his defiant resolve slowly crumbling to his sister's puppy dog eyes.
...God damn it!
Seventeen scowled as he pulled away, throwing his hands up in annoyance. It wasn't like he had to kill anyone, but nothing irritated him more than being told that he couldn't do something. He'd gotten used to having near nothing be off limits. He shot his sister one last agitated glare, trying to see if he had the resolve to fight her on this.
He saw her, clothes in taters, her eyes sincere and pleading, her room a mess, a car through her window.
She looked pathetic, like when a puppy fell down a couple of steps coming down the stairs, he just wanted to help her, to make her feel better.
"Fine!" He shouted as he crossed his arms annoyed.
He watched a relieved expression wash over her face. "Thank you Seventeen, I really appreciate-"
"You've got three weeks!" He added as he pointed a finger at her chest. "I'm not saying that I'm gonna go on a killing spree the day after three weeks is up, I do what I want when I want, but that's when I'll stop restraining myself. After three weeks, if I feel like it, I'm gonna blow up a city."
He watched as her sister adopted a contemplative look. He could see it in her eyes, she was trying to determine if she still wanted to fight him on this.
That's the most I'll give.
He told himself knowing that if his sister pressed him for more time, he'd likely fold. It was his sister, even if they bickered constantly, he still loved her. He still wanted her to be happy at the end of the day.
She let out a slow sigh. "Alright, I'll take what I can get. Maybe I'll be able to figure out a better way to explain it to you during that time."
Doubtful.
He inwardly sneered. There wasn't an ice cube's chance in hell that she could convince him to stop destroying, to stop killing. It was just too much fun. It wasn't the act of killing itself that was fun, but it was the sense of power that came with it that was absolutely intoxicating. It was like being the main character in an over the top sandbox game. Like playing GTA but with the invincibility cheat on. Just being able to destroy anything and everything if he so chose to. Sure, he loved his sister and he could come to a compromise if he had to, but he wasn't going to ruin the fun for himself just because she said so. If she wanted to give up their little game they played with the world, that was on her, but he wasn't going to give it up, not for anything.
"If you say so." he shrugged, "So we gonna get to packing or what?"
He watched as she looked over her shoulder with a frown. "Um...no i don't think so."
"But your room-"
"We're in a literal mansion Seventeen, I can just pick a new room."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever sis, that's fine by me. All that means is that I don't have to pack my shit to go to a new place." And it meant he could focus on beating Blood Souls 3. He imagined that in three weeks he'd have gotten good enough to face that damn dragon and king that kept kicking his ass. He'd probably have moved onto that weird spin off series Dark Born made by the same creator. He had no idea why they kept changing IP's even if it was essentially the same game.
He waved a hand over his shoulder as he started to go back to his own room. "Have fun moving your greasy belongings over to another room."
"Have fun jerking off alone in your room!" She called after him with a sneer.
"Have fun washing the car fluids out of your hair!" He hollered back snickering.
He could hear the scowl as she shouted "Fuck you!"
He'd reached his door when he'd shouted out "Fuck you too!" He shut the door behind him as he heard his sister grumbling to herself, stomping her way down the hallway to where there was a clean shower for her to wash herself off in.
The ebony haired Android sat down on his bed as he grabbed his controller. Pressing down on the center button, he prepared himself for the difficult gaming experience ahead of him.
Alright Blood Souls 3, I'm about to make you my bitch.
He grinned. Before pausing and remembering he'd never asked about who she'd spoken to before to reach her crazy conclusion that they needed to stop destroying stuff. He began to rise to his feet, still curious to find out the answer when he heard the sound of a shower turning on in the distance. He sighed, it would be awhile until she got out considering how dirty she'd been. He shrugged and sat back down on the bed. He'd remember to ask when she came to him about her reason for why they had to 'quit killing and destroying stuff'.
He scoffed.
How ridiculous.
-Android Eighteen, three hours later, West City-
She'd donned her 'Videl' outfit as she called it now. She hated the name, but it was the name she'd chosen for herself back at the Blue Dragon the other night. She supposed it wasn't the worst name, but it certainly could be better.
She stood idly outside the Blue Dragon. She was wearing a simple, comfortable hoodie and some baggy pants. She knew that she didn't look particularly fashionable at the moment, but after all the trouble she'd gone through to wash that damn oil out of both her wig and actual hair, she hadn't had the energy to get dressed up.
What am I even doing here?
She was staring down at the entrance to the bar with a distant look in her eyes. She didn't know the exact reason, but she'd wanted to come here. She'd tried to lay in her new bed, sleep in her new room, but it'd been so undeniably boring that she'd felt like going back down to town. She'd lied to herself and told herself it was training, training to get used to not killing people or blow up any buildings. It was like a vaccine in her eyes, expose herself to them in a controlled environment so that when she encountered the disease outside of her disguise, she wasn't tempted to blow them away with a flick of her wrist.
She slowly turned her head left then right and sighed. She'd already stepped inside the bar and looked around. It wasn't too late, only 8:30 in the afternoon, so it wasn't quite busy yet, but she imagined that it was going to get busy soon enough with how many people were starting to come by.
She sighed, partially angry, partially disappointed. She'd entered the bar hopping that she'd find him there. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen his face.
What the hell is wrong with me?
She didn't know why she wanted to talk to him again. It wasn't like their last interaction had gone the way she'd wanted. It was more a desire to converse with someone who could relate to her on at least a base level. Seventeen was busy with his games and she was half worried if she tried to talk about their potential new way of life he would blow up on her again and go back on his word. Three weeks wasn't a long time, but she would take what she could get while she could get it.
Maybe if I talk to Gohan again I'll figure out a way to convince my brother.
She was sober now, but she couldn't figure out a way to properly convey what she was trying to tell Seventeen. She'd spent hours walking around aimlessly, thinking about the matter, trying to find the right words so that he would hear her message, but every time she imagined him snarling at her explanation, telling her that she was nuts and walking away having taken away nothing. Despite being twins, their personalities were hardly similar. Sure, they liked to feel powerful, in that way they were one and the same, but other than that, the way they interpreted information was entirely different.
She turned on her heel, not knowing where she was heading as she slowly walked down the street away from the bar. Sure, she knew where Gohan lived now, but it wasn't like she could just hang outside of his building without drawing suspicion.
She sighed.
She didn't have an answer, despite all her efforts, despite going through this elaborate plan to find her answer, she still didn't have it. Sure, she'd finally come to the conclusion that her destructive nature would eventually lead to her own destruction, but that didn't mean that all her problems were solved.
She was only half the problem, the other half was Seventeen.
If she didn't find a way to convince him, then it wouldn't matter if she stopped destroying things. He would continue demolishing places, killing people, not to mention find out that she hadn't in fact killed Blondie.
"Uuuuggh," She pinched the bridge of her nose as she made this realization. If she didn't find a way to get her brother to stop attacking cities, he was going to find out she'd spared Gohan when he'd gone off to find some new underpants. That would undoubtedly result in even more questions and Eighteen didn't even want to think about what that would spiral into.
Not to mention I'll be forced back into it…
Eighteen knew that if she told her brother she was done destroying cities that wouldn't stop him from going ahead himself. He was bull headed, and even if he found out that Blondie was still around to challenge him, that wouldn't stop him. He'd go out and do what he normally did even if he was by himself, and she being the concerned sister she was would have to go to make sure that Blondie didn't get the best of him. He'd likely bug her to participate in blowing up a building or two, and then she'd slowly revert back to the way things were. Straight back to the eventual deaths of herself and her brother.
"Fuck me is this a shit show." She mumbled to herself as she lowered herself to a crouch, wrapping her arms around her torso in a self comforting manner. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this much stress. It was like her whole world was unraveling and she didn't know how to stop it.
"H-hey! Let go! Leave me alone man!"
Her head slowly lifted, her eyes turned towards where she'd heard the voice. On the other side of the otherwise vacant road she could see three men surrounding a short, rather chubby man clutching a briefcase to his chest like his life depended on it. The three men were dressed in dark clothes, colors that would easily blend into the darkness that was coming with the later hour. The chubby man was wearing a far more pristine looking suit, it was obvious that he came from money. She watched as one of the men shoved the suited man back into an alleyway. It was clear that this was a mugging.
She grinned.
Oh this is gonna be good.
The woman slowly rose to her feet before positioning herself so that had she a good view of the show.
She watched as the shorter man who she'd decided to call 'chubby' turned on his heel in a feeble attempt to run for it. He got about three steps before one of the larger men caught up with him and kicked out his legs. She decided to call this one 'Baldy' due to the shine that glinted off his head when under just the right amount of street light. She had to stifle a laugh as she watched Baldy trip Chubby to the ground. Chubby hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, the slap of his out of shape body actually prompting a wince from Eighteen. She was grinning with a bright smile as she watched. This was awesome.
Thank you whoever is looking out for me up there, I really needed a good show to make me feel better.
She leaned up against a wall as she continued to watch.
A boot from 'Short-Stuff' connected with Chubby's mouth. She could see blood splatter from his face as he fell back pathetically. Despite this, he still held the briefcase to his chest defiantly as the man she'd decided to call 'Edgy' from the skull bandana he'd used to cover his face tried to tear it from Chubby's hands.
"N-No! You can't have it!"
"We're gonna get it sooner or later so you might as well give it to us now!" Shouted Edgy.
"G-Go f-fuck yourself!"
She raised an eyebrow. She was surprised to see any amount of spine out of Chubby.
Way to deny stereotypes Chubby.
She watched as Short-Stuff stomped on the man's ribcage.
Now prepare to get the shit beat out of you.
She wished she had some popcorn right now, that was the only way that this could get any better.
She watched as the others started to join in, driving their boots into the man's head, stomach and back again and again before pausing and trying to pry the briefcase from his hands again. Much to her surprise, he still denied them whatever was in the case.
They started to kick again.
Not a very creative beat down…
It wasn't long before Eighteen found herself getting bored of their mugging. The girl sighed as she pushed herself off the wall and began to make her way down the road.
"W-Wait! You! There! Please call the police!"
Eighteen paused as she heard Chubby call out. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that he and the other three musketeers had noticed her move from her spot.
Not my problem buddy.
She turned to keep walking when she heard one of the men call out. "Hey bitch! You know you didn't see nothin right?"
Bitch?
She turned to look at him. She could see that they'd all paused to make sure she wasn't pulling out her phone to call the police on them.
Wrong move buddy.
She smiled as she raised a single hand, she gave them a thumbs up before turning back to walk away.
"N-no! Please! Help-urk!" She heard Chubby get kicked in the jaw again as she continued on her way. She waited until she'd rounded a corner before she looked around, checking to see if anyone was around.
There was no one.
Shouldn't have called me a bitch Baldy.
Immediately she rose into the sky and began to make her way back to the alleyway. She wasn't exactly sure how she wanted to do this, but she was definitely not going to let someone call her a bitch and get away with it.
She kept her hands in her pockets as she looked down on the group, letting the beat down continue a little while longer until she stepped in. She knew that straight up killing them was off the table. This was supposed to be a training exercise after all right? But severe bodily harm? She could make an exception for that.
Of Course that leads to the obvious question of how I'm going to not be seen.
She couldn't let her face be seen otherwise it was possible that someone might be able to identify her later. She didn't want to drop the disguise and beat them up as Eighteen otherwise the whole city would think she'd turned vigilante and she definitely did not want that.
Hmmm...what to do what to do…
She idly thought to herself as she watched Edgy pick up Chubby and throw him into the wall.
She smiled.
There we go, some variety!
She continued watching for a few minutes longer before an idea came to her. She had all this long black hair didn't she? It continuously got in her face, why not use that as a disguise.
She frowned.
Not one of my best ideas...probably one of my worse...
She shrugged. She didn't really care anymore.
-Dom, Alleyway-
Dom picked up and pushed the pathetic mess of a man to the wall. "Ready to give it up now Calen?"
Blood was running down the man's nose now, his right eye swollen shut, tears running down each cheek.
"N-not, a-a, c-chance asshole...Urk!" He grimaced as he felt a fist drive into his stomach.
"Hey," Dom grinned beneath his bandana, clearly enjoying this. He reached out a hand behind him. "Someone hand me the knife, let's show him what happens when you don't cooperate."
"..."
"...Guys?" Dom looked over his shoulder.
He found no one.
The man dropped Calen to the ground as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What the fuck? Guys? Where'd you go?" He took a step away from Calen, a frown firmly planted on his face. Where had they gone? Had they heard sirens?
He heard a snapping noise followed by a muffled cry.
His head swiveled towards the entrance of the alleyway. He'd heard it from around the corner.
He looked over his shoulder at Calen. The man had his eyes closed tightly, his arms still wrapped around the precious briefcase. He turned his head back towards where he heard the noise when he heard a "P-Please no- NO!"
SNAP!
Dom frowned as he slowly approached the street, confident that Calen was too beat up to try and make a break for it. He rounded the corner and froze.
His eyes were wide with fear as he stared down at the coupled mess that were his friends. Cod and Jen were both on the ground, eyes shut in a tight grimace. It looked like Cod's leg had been violently bent the wrong way. The man was lying on the ground, tightly pulling his leg into his chest in a painful grimace. Jen wasn't fairing much better, the man looked like one of his wrists had been broken, snapped and bent past how far it was suppose to go. His foot also looked flat, as if a steamroller had ran over it.
"Oh, sorry. I was saving you for last because I didn't want to interrupt what you were doing with Chubby back there. I guess if you're done now, I can start on you." He heard a feminine voice, say from behind him.
The man swung around to see a petite girl standing just behind him, a mess of black hair hanging in front of her face, completely hiding her facial features.
"W-What?" He growled as his fingers tightened into fists. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't going to take any shit from no one! "Get lost bitch, before I sink your teeth down the back of your throat!" He watched as the girl tilted her head to the side as if his demand had raised a question in her mind.
"You know what? That's a great idea. Thanks for the suggestion."
The man snarled as he pulled back a fist. He hadn't held back on his mom, he wasn't going to hold back here.
Suddenly there was a blur, and his face exploded in pain. It felt like a baseball sized ball of pure steel had just collided dead on with his mouth going fifty miles an hour. The man felt his front teeth literally hit the back of his throat, at least six or seven of them, as blood began to violently pour from his now bleeding gums. The man staggered back holding his face. It'd been a long, long time since he'd been hit so damn hard. He felt the blood dripping through his fingers as he tried to catch his teeth from falling out of his mouth. He leaned forward, hoping that he could use gravity to get his teeth out from the back of his throat.
"You know, leaning over like that puts your face in perfect 'knee-to-the-nose' position."
What?
He saw a blur rushing towards his face.
Then it all went black.
-Eighteen-
She watched the man fall back onto the ground, his nose now crumpled into his face, blood immediately pouring from the injury. He would live, that much was certain, but Eighteen was less certain of how his face would look once it was all healed. She imagined he'd resemble porky the pig a little bit from how crumpled back his nose was.
She grinned looking down at the man.
There ya go Edgy, now you have a reason to wear that stupid edgy bandana.
She looked between the three men at her feet, seeing if any of them were still conscious, seeing if any of them could even get up if they'd wanted to.
They stayed down.
Eighteen's face had a delighted smile spread across it, even if you couldn't see it from the outside. Her hair covered everything, so that you could only get glimpses of her face if you really looked hard enough.
She felt the rush of power flow through her again. That feeling she'd always get whenever she destroyed a building or blasted a beam through a fleeing man's torso. It was the ability to do all those things, the strength and incredible sensation of pride that swelled knowing that you could fold the world over with your thumb. She felt like how she had when she'd killed those three men back in the van and made it look like an accident. She'd had the power to do that, the power to fool literally everyone and get away scot clean. It was a rush, a revitalizing feeling that left her in a state of euphoria unlike any drug, unlike any drink could give her. She'd tried weed, and cocaine, meth, and all the other hard drugs. How could she not? She was literally an immortal who never had to rest. She'd tried it all several times over during her and her brother's fifteen years of terror. They'd been fun, and they'd certainly left her feeling really, really good.
But this? This feeling right here? There was nothing else quite like it. Knowing that you were the cause of such calamity, knowing that you were special, that you were chosen to wield such a great strength, it was intoxicating.
That was the real reason she and her brother had killed as much as they had, not because the specific act of killing was fun in itself, but knowing that they had the ability to tear a man in half with hardly any amount of effort was fascinating. The world was tissue paper and they were a couple of flamethrowers. How could they not set it on fire?
"T-Thank you -M-ma'am."
Eighteen froze, her eyes wide with shock as she heard the voice behind her. Very slowly, she turned around to face much to her surprise Chubby. He looked like he could barely stand by the way he was limping as he approached her, leaning against the wall to support part of his weight as he did so. He hadn't seen what she'd done yet, he was still in the alleyway, he'd only seen her figure standing above the men.
He had a bright, stupid smile on his face revealing where it looked like a tooth was now missing. He was staring at where he thought her eyes were to be, not quite meeting her gaze but doing his best approximation.
Eighteen dared not to say a word, dared not to make a move. He was going to see what she'd done to these men in a few moments, and she did not want him to start screaming and draw even more eyes to this exchange.
Damn it. I thought he'd be out by now. That's why I left you for last Edgy! Can't you even knock out a civilian right you damn idiot!?
She internally growled at herself for the situation. She wanted to rush forward and connect her elbow with his forehead, drop him for good until someone called the police. But looking at his condition, bruised and cut up in several places, his leg clearly broken in some places, his eye swollen shut and bleeding, she didn't know if he'd make it if she knocked him out right here.
And she could not kill anyone.
FUCK.
She didn't know what to do anymore. He was coming around the corner now, limping feebly as he did so. He was going to see what she'd done, he was going to see that she'd brutalized these men and he was going to scream. She needed to leave, leave before he saw and-
"I-If you h-hadn't come around, I don't know w-what would h-have happened-!" He froze wide eyed as he finally pulled his gaze away from her and to the men at her feet. She was glad her face was covered because if he had seen it in that moment he would have seen her nervous for once. It was like watching someone survey her work after she was done and she already knew she had failed.
God damn it Chubby, why did you have to go and make this harder than it had to be?
She watched the man's lips part, taking a sharp intake of air. Eighteen prepared to rush forward and knock him out if he started to scream.
"T-That's what you assholes deserve!" He spat down on the men.
Eighteen froze.
What?
She watched as he staggered forward, pushing off the wall in a poor attempt to gain momentum before moving as fast as he could, pulling back a foot and ramming it into Edgy's already decimated face. It made a wet slapping sound as it made impact.
"And d-dont you forget it!" He scowled before spitting on the man's cheek.
Eighteen watched stunned as the man's sharp scowl shifted into an embarrassed smile, looking over at her as if she'd just caught him doing something wrong. It was like she'd just caught him with a hand in the cookie jar when he'd not supposed to take one.
Meanwhile I own the whole damn bakery.
She thought to herself as he slowly made his approach. Eighteen didn't know why she was wary of the man. It wasn't like he was any type of threat to her. His ankle looked like it had rolled, his knuckles and nose were bleeding, in all regards he was likely the most vulnerable a person could be while still conscious. She imagined that any passerby could take him down if they really wanted to.
And yet...he's...approaching me.
Eighteen realized she felt something, a feeling rising in her chest. It resembled the euphoria that breaking the thugs had granted her...but it was...different, somehow. She couldn't determine what made it different quite yet. It was foreign, and yet familiar. Like she'd seen it before, but never actually experienced it herself.
Eighteen remained quiet as she observed the man.
"Sorry about that, haha, I h-hope you don't mind that I joined in for a little bit, that guy especially was a huge prick." He smiled at her.
A silence began from the two of them. Eighteen realized he expected a response from her.
She shook her head no. She didn't mind that he'd joined in, in fact, she'd been rather impressed to see he had a fighting spirit at all. He'd stood his ground, took a beating a lesser man would have done anything to stop, and protected the one thing they'd wanted the entire time. Eighteen eyed the briefcase he still had clutched to his chest with both hands.
She was curious, what was so important that the man would risk his own life over it? She had to know.
She thought about ripping it out of the man's hands and just seeing what was in it herself but thought against it. He was calm right now, he was thankful right now. He thought she'd done this for him.
She snickered at the thought. She'd done this because they'd offended her, not because she'd cared at all for his wellbeing. Despite this, she felt like she should go along with this, less chance of causing a scene.
But she still wanted to know what was in the briefcase.
She aimed a finger at it in a simple gesture, tilting her head to the side as she did so.
She watched him startle, his eyes widening in fear as the hands that had been holding the briefcase loosely before suddenly tightened their grip around the item.
"N-No please! Not you too!"
Eighteen sighed rolling her eyes. She shook her head slowly, making it obvious that she wasn't after whatever was in the damn briefcase. She repeated the gesture, pointing at the briefcase while tilting her head to the side.
She watched his eyebrows furrow, not quite understanding her question.
She sighed.
"...What's in it…" She spoke in a hushed tone, as to not fully give away what she sounded like.
His eyes widened. "Oh! You'd like to see what's inside?"
She nodded.
She watched as the tension in his shoulders relaxed and relief flooded his face.
"S-sure! Here, l-let me show you!"
She watched as he started to adjust the code on the briefcase, unlocking it with a four digit code before opening it. Eighteen raised an eyebrow as he turned the opened briefcase her direction. Inside was a loose collection of checks written out in exact sums of money along side several stacks of money bound by rubber bands.
She frowned, tilting her head still. She could not make heads or tails of it, why was he carrying a suitcase full of loose money in there? There wasn't too much, maybe only around two thousand or so worth of bills. Enough to be significant, but not life changing by any means.
"I-It's my payroll haha." He chuckled with a bright smile. It impressed her that he could still smile like that despite being so beaten up. He was genuinely happy.
Eighteen felt a slight pull at her lips to smile with him.
"I-I own a small restaurant on the north side of town. I only have a handful of employees at the moment since business has been slow. I used to print out all my checks at the restaurant itself, but with the attacks, it's rarer and rarer for people to have their official information anymore."
Eighteen felt her eyebrows furrowing, why was that?
"...Why?" she found herself asking, it didn't make sense, how could her attacking cities cause people to lose their personal information? And how did that translate to him carrying roughly two thousand zenny worth of loose bills on him?
"Oh, well you know. When the Androids attack it's not like you have the time to gather everything you have and run. Most people just make a break for it, grabbing their loved ones and running as fast as they can with only the clothes they have on." He chuckled, "There's been many a time that I escaped with my life in only a T-shirt and some boxers haha. Better survive with nothing but your underwear than not at all am I right?"
She blinked, surprised. She'd never thought about that. When she and Seventeen chose to terrorize a neighborhood, watching all the people run out of their houses like cockroaches, she never thought about the fact that they were leaving everything but their children behind. She wondered how it would feel to know you were likely going to lose everything but the clothes on your back and the people who'd made it out with you. Dropping all the roots you'd put down, just to survive another day.
It was a sobering thought.
It didn't make her feel guilty at all, if anything it just demonstrated how much more impactful her power was. She'd never known about how this part of her power impacted life, it was interesting to hear about.
She nodded.
"With my restaurant so new, I couldn't exactly be picky about who I hired now could I? Alot of my employees don't have proper identification, so I have to pay them under the table with this." He motioned towards the loose bills within the case. "I have to go to the bank every payday to make sure that my guys get paid, otherwise I might lose them and then I'm out a server." He sighed, his eyes brimming with tears. "Usually I hire a security guard to walk with me since I don't have the money to buy a car quite yet. Jade is usually the girl I get, she's expensive, but she's definitely worth it. This morning she called in sick, telling me that I would need to get a backup guard to walk me today. Of course it's not like I have a long list of guards on standby, with so many facilities being attacked all the time, just one good security guard is hard to come by." He frowned. "I'd thought about telling the staff they would have to wait one more day but some of them have families they have to support and rent that is due tomorrow, so it would be bad if I stalled it for a day. I thought I would do it myself, thought it would be okay if I did it alone just this time, guess one of my staff told some 'buddies' that I would be going it alone this time." He sighed, obviously disappointed that he'd been betrayed. "Guess I'll have to look out for which of them did it. Can't let this be happening again now can I?"
She nodded. He would definitely have to, otherwise they would just come back with more guys next time.
He laughed nodding with her. "Oh! Here! It's not much, but I believe that a job well done should be rewarded no matter how little the pay." She watched him struggle to reach around to his back pocket, wincing as he reached into withdraw his wallet. He took out three notes, roughly sixty zenny worth, and stretched out his hand to her.
She stared down at the money with wide eyes.
"Here, take it. I know it's not much, it's chump change compared to what I usually give the guard. If I'd known I was going to run into you, I would have brought more haha!" he announced with a beaming smile.
Eighteen was frozen stiff staring down at the money. The weird feeling she'd had before had returned and it was much stronger now. She was being rewarded, for beating up these men. It was jarring. Usually the reward was what she had taken from the people she'd harmed, it was the act of destroying and hurting in itself that was her reward. To be rewarded from doing the opposite, for protecting someone even unintentionally, was strange to say the least.
It wasn't a...bad strange either, it was still an acknowledgement of power by the people lesser than her. It was still someone seeing her strength and knowing that they were the lesser, but this time they were happy that they were weaker than she. They were grateful for her being stronger, they wanted her to be stronger, wanted her to continue being the stronger one because she was willing to protect them.
In a sense, her power had become his power, they shared it, it was still hers in every way, hers to do with as she pleased, but now there was someone else that could benefit from it, someone else who she could share this feeling with.
She reached out and took the money from the man.
He smiled at her.
"In fact!" He suddenly reached into his wallet a second time, retrieving a card from it and offering it out to her. "Here's my business card. If you can do this to three grown men, then you'd be an incredible replacement for my current body guard."
She looked down at the card.
Calen's Caring Pizza Place…
She cringed. She could tell why his business was slow, his name was terrible.
"Please, take it, I promise I could pay you handsomely if you escorted me to and from the bank every other week. And I promise to shut up if you find my voice annoying." He joked.
She stared at the card for a long time. There wasn't a chance in hell that she would ever take him up on his offer, it wasn't like she needed the money anyway, if she wanted something, she'd just take it, didn't matter if she had the money or not, she could just steal the money if she didn't want to outright steal the item she was after. The only question was then, if she was going to take the card or not.
She studied the man smiling back at her, offering a card for a position under his management.
She took the card.
"Ah, thank you. I promise you won't regret it if you stop by. Address is on the back by the way, swing by and I'll even give you a free pizza with a drink!"
She nodded.
"Welp, I should be on my way. I'll have to stop by the hospital before heading in. I'm sure my employees will be willing to wait a few extra hours for their checks knowing I got jumped on my way to work haha!"
Eighteen frowned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, gesturing to it.
Call an ambulance you idiot, you're bleeding!
She scowled, had this idiot goten hit so hard he couldn't think straight now?
He chuckled darkly, clearly troubled. "Ah yes, it would be a good idea to call an ambulance now wouldn't it?" She watched him pull out a cell phone with a freshly cracked screen. "I unfortunately won't be able to ride in it due to how expensive it is now a days, but I'm sure these men will certainly need it." Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched him begin to dial, he was going to call an ambulance for the men who'd just beaten him up? Where was the logic in that?
She watched a dark smile pull at his lips as the phone rang. "I'm sure they'll get stuck with a huge medical bill with the condition you left them in. Good work by the way, they deserved it." He said in a darker tone.
She raised an eyebrow.
This guy has a bit of a dark side to him doesn't he?
She grinned.
She liked him. He had a physically weak body, but he had a strong personality. She could appreciate that type of person. He kept going no matter how hard he got knocked down. She could respect that kind of strength.
He almost reminded her of Gohan for a second. Beaten, broken, but not giving up by any means. She bet he would take a beating twice as bad as the one he'd taken, pick himself up, brush himself off and go off to work like nothing had happened. He wasn't shooken up by this experience at all.
She put the card and money in her pocket for later.
She watched as he finished the call, telling the person on the other end the street corner and the current condition of the men. She noted how he'd specifically referred to her as a 'mysterious figure, maybe 6'2? Definitely bald'. She watched him hang up the phone and wink to her.
"Not gonna rat out my potential new employee now am I? What type of boss would I be?" He turned his head left and then right. "You should probably go soon though, don't want to be around when the cops get here now do you?"
Her eyebrows were raised. She was genuinely surprised by this man. She could hear the sirens far off in the distance now coming their direction.
Time to go I guess.
Without thinking it through, she lifted off the ground, intending to fly off before the police could arrive.
She paused when she heard Calen suck in a sharp breath. She looked back to him, realizing what she'd done with wide eyes.
… Damn it…
There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was going to freak out now. There were only four people that had ever shown any ability to fly before, Blondie, that Trunks kid sometimes, and the Androids.
She prepared for him to scream.
Damn.
She had really not wanted to knock him out. She prepared to strike out and chop him in the neck. Ambulances were going to be here soon anyway, he should make it.
"A super hero!" He breathed out like a fan meeting someone they admired for the first time.
...What?
"Oh I've been hoping a new superhero would pop up! I've dreamed of someone like you finally coming around and making a difference!" He gushed excitedly. "I mean, we haven't had a legitimate hero in so long! I mean, sure, there's the Golden Warrior, but he only comes around to fight the Androids, he doesn't come and help the little guy like you are!"
She felt like she'd just been splashed with a pool of water and then gotten thrusted into a winter blizzard.
He thought she was WHAT?
The sirens were getting closer. He looked over his shoulder with a worried expression before turning back to her. "You should go now! The police will be here soon, go! Go!" He ushered her with a hand to leave.
Eighteen quietly complied as she slowly drifted into the air, watching him wave to her with an excited smile on his face. She took one final second to pause, studying the man, looking at his bright, happy face, and then to the men she'd brutally beaten. She acknowledged the pocket change she had in her pocket, and the card with the man's name, phone number and work address on it.
Huh.
She turned and flew off.
She'd made someone happy today.
It hadn't been intentional.
But it hadn't been an...unpleasant experience she supposed.
-Gohan-
The Half Saiyan was grinning to himself as he flew towards his apartment far off in the distance. His eyes narrowed as the sun had long since set, the night taking priority as he yawned. He was definitely going to be getting a good night's sleep tonight. Trunks had come at him with a new life to his strikes and had actually proven to be a legitimate challenge in his base form. He was proud of the boy, and looking forward to their upcoming training session as he felt he would actually get some training in rather than spending all his time correcting the boy for once.
He's got so much untapped potential.
Gohan thought to himself excitedly. If the boy was already this strong before he transformed, he would make for a formidable opponent once he finally had become a Super Saiyan.
Gohan was eager to see that day.
He could see his building now, it was only a few blocks away as he zoomed towards it at a casual speed. He began to look about as he neared his window to make sure that no one was watching him. Ever since he'd learned that there were people who couldn't be sensed like the Androids, he'd taken to relying on his vision more than his Ki signature sense.
He paused in his flight as he floated above his building. There was someone sitting on the bench outside his building. Someone...familiar.
Huh, I never thought I'd see her again.
Gohan thought to himself as he recognized Videl sitting outside his apartment complex with a styrofoam drink in her hand. She had the straw to her lips, and she was staring down at what looked like...some money in her hand?
Gohan frowned, why was she in front of his building? There wasn't a chance she could have known he lived here, there wasn't a chance a normal person could follow him home, so was it possible that this was her building too and he'd never noticed? Or maybe she'd just called a ride and was waiting on the bench until it came.
Either way, it's one hell of a coincidence that I'd come across her again here of all places.
For a moment, Gohan questioned whether he should swing by and talk to her. Their last conversation had seemed to go smoothly enough, well, that was until she'd abruptly left without providing so much as a word of explanation. He'd wondered what had happened in that conversation for her to have reacted in such a bizarre way. It hadn't kept him up at night or anything, but he had been curious.
He decided it wouldn't hurt to talk to her and find out if she in fact did live in his building. She was rather cute, and it would be nice to make a genuine new friend if at all possible. Besides, she'd shown an interest in him, hadn't she?
He began to float down. She already knew who he really was, no point in hiding it.
-Eighteen-
...fifty five Zenny left…
She idly thought to herself as she brought the straw back to her lips. She'd gone out and bought a soda with the money she'd been given. It'd been odd, the transaction that is. She'd bought a soda before, hell she'd bought hundreds of sodas before, but it had never been with money she'd earned herself. It had always been money she'd stolen, never with money that someone had given to her willingly.
She stared down at the money in her hand, the money she'd earned legitimately, not through bullying someone, but through saving someone.
She put the Zenny back in her pocket, keeping it separate from the money she had on her person from the dead family she'd taken it off of back at the house. She didn't know why she kept them separate, but she did. For some reason it felt significant that she did.
"Well, I didn't think I'd see you here of all places."
Eighteen startled immediately, jumping from her seat as she heard the voice. Who the-!?
She looked up and saw just the man she'd been waiting for slowly descending to the ground, he had an amused smile on his face. Her eyes narrowed, she did not like being made the fool.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm not used to addressing someone who knows who I really am haha." He rubbed the back of his neck with an energetic smile on his face.
She smiled back rising to her feet. She would accept his apology, if only this one time. If he did it again though, there would be hell to pay.
"Oh, hey," She mumbled awkwardly. She realized then that she didn't actually have a plan as to what she'd wanted to say to Gohan. She'd come here thinking that was the hardest part, arriving at his apartment complex, but now she had to actually speak to him.
...damn it…
She didn't know what to say.
"So...what are you doing here? Is this your building?" He motioned with his one hand towards the building behind her.
She briefly looked over her shoulder, acknowledging it before turning back to him. She shook her head. "Um, no, I don't live here."
"Oh...waiting on someone then?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Oh, is that right."
"Yeah,"
"..."
"..."
She frowned, she was doing a horrible job at this.
She watched Gohan's gaze awkwardly trail away before his eyes widened remembering something. "Oh! I uh, wanted to apologize for the other night. I was super drunk and didn't know what I was saying. I honestly can't remember what I said to have offended you, but I promise I didn't mean it." He said sheepishly.
Her eyebrows furrowed. What was he talking about. Offending her? He hadn't offended her. She'd left because-
Her eyes widened.
Ohhhh…
She shook her head. "No it's not like that. You didn't offend me at all, I left for uh, personal reasons."
She watched the man smile at this. "Oh good. I was worried I'd messed up somehow."
"Nope, It was just poor timing."
"Oh good. Glad to hear it."
"Yup."
"..."
"..."
Eighteen blinked, trying to contain her own annoyance at herself.
I'm absolutely blowing this! What the hell is the matter with me!?
She'd come here specifically to speak to Gohan. Not because she liked him, not even because he was strong or she was beginning to notice smart. She'd come here because it was a place to go. She'd come here because it had felt familiar, if at least somewhat because even if Gohan was a man she'd spent most of her life trying to kill, he was still a face she knew second most in her life preceded by only Seventeen, and followed by no one. Eighteen didn't know a lot of people, there weren't a lot of people she'd wanted to know. Gohan was one of them only due to his stubbornness, and now he was the person she had to turn to. She didn't know if there was another person she could actually go to for any type of direction, he was the one who'd started her on this journey, who'd given her the answer she'd needed to proceed with what was becoming the rest of her life. He'd been her answer once, when she'd been lost and not known what to do.
Now she was even more lost than the last time. She didn't know what she wanted to do, what she wanted to be. She had all this power, and had no where to direct it. She was used to being able to channel it through destructive, and murderous desires. It was all she knew, it was a large part of her identity.
She didn't know who she was if she took that part away.
But she did know that Gohan had power like her own, and had found a way to use it for means that were not destructive in nature. If she could learn how to do that, learn how to feel powerful and strong without destroying, maybe she had a chance at convincing her brother.
Who knows anymore? I certainly don't.
The two remained awkwardly quiet as they stood there, not sure what to say, not sure what to do.
Finally it was Gohan to break the silence. "Welp, I'm gonna go in. It was nice running into you again."
"Uh, oh right. It was nice to see you again too." She smiled before performing an awkward wave. She watched as he returned it before stepping past her and towards his building. She watched him as he went, her eyes filling with panic. She needed to do something, anything to get him to stop. She needed his solution, she needed his answer, and he was slipping away.
"Uh, hey Gohan?" She asked timidly, not sure what she planned to say next.
The man paused to turn around, looking over his shoulder at her with a set of raised eyebrows. "Hm?"
Eighteen's mouth was slack jawed as she desperately searched her mind for something to say, for something that she could use to somehow obtain the answer she was looking for. Her mind played through the events of last night, the drinking, the conversation, the-
Her eyes widened.
She had it.
"You told me the other night that you were willing to teach me how to fly." She felt her confidence returning, a devious grin pulling at the corner of her mouth again as she rested a hand on her hip. "Now, was that just drunk you talking, or were you being serious when you said you'd show me."
She watched as the man adopted a surprised expression. It was clear to her that he hadn't remembered the passing comment either until this very moment. She watched him as he frowned, clearly mulling over the offer before smiling.
Eighteen breathed a sigh of relief, she'd done it.
"Sure, I don't mind. I'm actually going to be training a student of mine in a couple of days. You could sit in with us if you want to."
Eighteen nodded vigorously, she wanted that more than anything, more time to try and figure out this massive mess she was in.
He grinned. "Alrighty then. How about we meet out here two days time say...ten o'clock?"
She nodded again. "Sounds good. I'll be here." It wasn't like she had a job to get to. She had all the time in the world.
"Alrighty then, I'll see you then Videl." He performed a modest wave before turning his back to her and continuing towards the doors.
Eighteen waved back quietly. She waited until he was in his building before she slumped against the bench completely exhausted.
She brought a hand to the side of her head, holding it as if the top of her skull was going to fall off.
What the hell did I just agree to!?
Author's Note:
I am nothing if not a man of my word. Here it is! The next chapter to the two part special! I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did. We'll finally be getting into the meat of the story and towards the scenes that I initially wanted to design, the ones that I actually created the story just to write. I just hadn't realized that it would take me until chapter 8 to get to it haha! What's funny is chapter 8 is already technically started, about 8 pages in already actually. Here's another bit of truth that will leave you scratching your heads, The 8 pages I wrote for chapter eight was actually written before chapter 6 or 7 were even started, as I had originally intended it to be the ending segment for the chapter. I had been so excited to write it that I wrote it before everything else haha.
So now chapter eight is already started, chapter 7 is out, and I am exhausted haha, but I doubt that I'll be able to rest any time soon. I'm even willing to bet I'll be continuing chapter 8 some time later today purely from how much fun it's going to be. I'm not going to lie, writing from Android Eighteen's perspective is a lot of fun to write, even more so than even Gohan. She has such a strange perspective on life and how the world should work that it's fun to write for her and get in that mindset of cruelty, but with reason. There's a philosophy to the chaos, a reasoning to absolute madness and I LOVE IT.
The amazing cover art of this story was designed and completed by the wonderful:Upstart Psycho! If you'd like to check out their instagram where you can see all their other amazing work, please look them up saintswakeart. They appreciated the story enough that they wanted to add their touch to the tale, and I absolutely love it! Their commissions are currently open, so hit them up using the previously mentioned tags if you want more incredible artwork!
I don't have much else to say at this point. I appreciate all the support that I've been getting for the story and the reviews I got for the last chapter were great. Tell me which one you liked better! Personally, I enjoyed this one more but only because Eighteen's inner turmoil is so much fun to write at times.
I look forward to your thoughts!
Until next time!