A Wonderful Life

By: SomeRandomPerson648

Chapter 47: Past and Present

A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry I took way too long. Originally I had planned a whole chapter before this, but scrapped it last second because I thought it was a little to bland. Anyways, enjoy!


The day was slow and uneventful for West City. The weekend allowed nearly everyone to stay at home and rest from all their hard work

All except Bulma, who was busy analyzing DNA samples. It had been a while since she was able to be hands on with her work, and frankly it was relieving to get out of her office

Inside the main laboratory she sat in a chair, in front of her was a computer with two green and pink blood samples

"Wow, this is amazing! I can see parts that are related to the others but I also see plenty of Majin in there too!" Bulma exclaimed as she observed the structure of the pink sample

"Interesting, and it seems that my blood is very similar to Cell's as well. Then again we are composed of practically the same people." Android 21 said as she observed the result as well

Both 21 and an oddly reluctant Cell came over to help Bulma in her research. Cell's blood would be used to create a more potent version of the Senzu Pills while 21's blood was purely for speculation

"But how was the Army able to collect blood from Frieza too?" Bulma asked

"The Army was able to extract blood in the same way that Dr. Gero did, by using a small ladybug drone. Though we weren't actually able to sneak the drone into Namek like he did." 21 explained

"Hm...and did you use those samples to make the drone copies as well?"

"Well the diary said that wasn't the case exactly, we were only able to replicate the appearances. In fact some of the drones were modeled after pieces of Dr. Gero's research that we salvaged."

Bulma simply sat back in amazement by the information

"That old man really could do everything. It's too bad he wasn't clever enough to help the world" she commented

"Yeah..."

"And I'm just asking but are you still in touch with the army?" Bulma asked with suspicion

"Not at all, ever since I returned I've been locked out of the system and they even relocated their bases. Even then I wouldn't want to stay in touch after all the things they had done." 21 responded with a small sigh as well

"That's a shame, guess they're still a threat as long as they're still active."

As the two women spoke Cell stood idly by. He had been rather quiet since they got here, which was very uncharacteristic for someone like him. Instead Cell spent his time spaced out, wrapped in his own thoughts instead of in the present, which was something that both women took note of. The feeling of nostalgia emanated from from the room, but not in a good way. As much as Cell wanted to ignore it he simply couldn't, and instead recalled memories of the painful years he spent

But things were different from back then, though the feelings of anger and sadness were something he couldn't shake

"I have to know why he's like this." 21 thought as she spared a glance. It hurt her to see him in such a state, and yet she was unable to help him

"No I can help, I just need to find out how." She thought

"Hey? Are you listening?" Bulma asked as she noticed 21 had spaced out

"Oh right, sorry." She apologized before returning to her observations


In Satan City a calming atmosphere settled over the city, virtually no problems arose from this new era of peace

Except for one

Right beside the corner of a building sat Krillin, alone on his police bike. He still wore his police outfit along with a white helmet, and he even had a small fan at hand to keep him cool under the sun

Although he didn't like it, Krillin also had to patrol on the weekends occasionally, however he simply had to take a small break from the blazing sun

"Man, if only I was at home with Maron and 18..." Krillin complained

Krillin knew that he had to work if he wanted to support his family but that didn't stop him from complaining. Just the thought of spending time with them warmed his heart

"Heh, I just can't help it, I love them to death." He confessed outloud

To him his family was everything and after everything he had been through, the countless battles and world ending threats he faced head on, he deserved to have something for himself

He was glad to have his family, people he could love and that could love him back, and to think he didn't have that at one point

"Look at me now, working 24/7 to support 18 and Marron, I never would've imagined it." Krillin sighed, now recalling the dates and the time spent with 18

Though they had their problems, Krillin never stopped loving 18. And luckily 18 changed from the sexy but deadly Android, though that did have it's kinks

As Krillin was stuck in thought he was then surprised by a hot pink van that turned the corner aggressively, pulling him back to the world

"What the?!" He exclaimed as he turned his bike back on and immediately drove in to pursue the van

The small police bike was able to catch up to the pink van, and once it did Krillin turned on the police lights

But rather than slow down the van sped up, narrowly avoiding passing cars along the way

"So it's gonna be like that huh!" Krillin exclaimed as he began to speed up as well

The two vehicles soon outpaced all of the others cars and trucks that flew by, forcing the van to weave through a small amount of traffic

Just as Krillin was about to pass the van from the left the van suddenly turned to the right, leaving Krillin shooting straight towards a semi truck

"Crap!" He yelled as he narrowly avoided hitting the truck, but in doing so he lost all speed in his bike

"Guess I gotta cheat a little." He said as he abandoned his bike and began to fly in the direction of the van

Krillin was easily able to find the van and catch up to it, he was now floating just over the van planning on how to stop it

He decided to fly further than the van and stop just in front of it with his hands outstretched

"Hope this works." He thought while he braced for impact

Luckily the van decided to turn violently, which caused it to lose all of its speed and stop just in front of Krillin's face

"Thank Kami!" He praised as he walked over to the driver's seat window and asked to roll down the window

The tinted windows then rolled down to reveal the culprits, Android 17, with 18 in the passenger seat and 16 sitting in the back

"Hey officer, what seems to be the problem?" 17 asked in cheeky manner, to Krillin's surprise

"Eh?! What're you guys doing here?!"

"I thought it would be nice to go out on a drive, you know, for old times sake." 17 responded

"It was his idea to 'relive the past' and try to outrun a cop." 18 commented with embarrassment

"And what about your wife? And 16 aren't you supposed to be working with Bulma?"

"Mrs. Bulma found 17's idea entertaining and allowed me to travel with 17." 16 responded in his usual tone

"And Sarah thought I should get out more...so I did. Just don't tell her about the felonies." 17 said with a wink

"And 18? Where's Maron?" Krillin asked

18 seemed a little bit embarrassed to be seen, but was still rather unaffected by the encounter

"She wanted to stay over with a friend of hers, so I let her. She's old enough to make her own decisions now." 18 redirected

Krillin seemed exasperated by the encounter, just when he thought things would change

Even so he couldn't help but chuckle by how odd the scene was, and it was all just harmless fun. Right?

"Geez, you guys are lucky I'm letting you off the hook. But I still need to write you a warning." He said as he opened a pocket to bring out a notebook with a pen attached, making 17 sigh

Indeed as things had changed they ultimately stayed the same. Krillin on the other hand was just glad to be a part of these odd situations, as much as he didn't want to admit it


Within the building of Capsule Corporation walked the youngest version of Trunks

The day was especially slow for him, Goten told him that he had to harvest the crops from his farm, also something about a haircut? It didn't really matter, what did was that Trunks was extremely bored

His options were very limited, his dad was training on some other planet, his older self was busy with work somehow, and even the two Majins were doing something else

Although he still was able to do other things like play video games and stuff, they wouldn't exactly be the same without someone to do them with. Then again there were 14 and 15 but they weren't really much fun to begin with

Such was the dilemma of this teenager, boredom of the highest degree. In order to entertain himself he decided to walk through the halls of the building, hoping to find something

But he was also hoping to see that girl again, the one he saw break into the treasury with that small man with acne and that ninja furry. Something about how pretty she was stuck with him, that and the fact that he doesn't exact know many other girls outside of school

"I should really get out more often." He admitted as he continued to wander the halls

It was then that he passed the server room when he heard a strange noise coming from inside. The noise caught his attention, maybe something was up with a server? Whatever it was it sure beat walking around

Trunks casually opened the door and entered the room to see a surprise. There stood the same trio from before with a brown bag full of USB drives

"No don't put that one in Shu it's already full!" The small blue man ordered

"I'm sorry boss but it's hard to tell when all of them look the same." The ninja dog responded

"We should've taken the time to label these at least." The girl said

"Shut it this saves time, you never know when someone's gonna check these rooms unexpectedly." The small man said

"Hey! What're you guys doing here?" Trunks asked, making his presence known

"Ah Crap it's the purple haired kid!" The ninja said as the three panicked, but only the blue man was able to realize something

"Wait a second! Look! That Goku kid isn't with him anymore! Nows our chance to enact our vengeance on his friend!" He exclaimed

"You'll regret pickin on the Pilaf Gang! Sick' em Shu!" He ordered and the dog dawned his sword

"Hyah!" He exclaimed as he rushed forward and attempted to slice Trunks with his sword, only to have it blocked by two fingers

"Listen guys I don't really want to hurt you-" Trunks began but was cut off by more slashes from the sword, all of which were easily blocked

"Grrr! We need to use more extreme measures. Mai! Fill him with lead!" The leader barked as the girl pulled out two pistols from underneath her coat

She took aim and was able to shoot a barrage of incredibly accurate shots all aimed at Trunks' head and chest. However the boy was able to block all of the bullets with his hand, although he left his ki guard low enough for there to be a small bruise on the back of his right hand

"Crap, I gotta end it here." Trunks said as he powered up a little

In a few swift motions Trunks was able to grab the dog's sword and break it before shooting two small ki blasts to disarm the girl

With those moves the 'Pilaf Gang' all took a step back in fear, realizing that Trunks was just as powerful as Goku

"We surrender!!" The leader of the gang yelled in fear, followed by all three of them bowing their heads once again

"Uh...yeah. Just leave this place, oh and leave the drives too." Trunks said, still taken aback by the sudden heel turn in attitude

"Thank you very much!" They said as they all dashed out of the room through the doorway

As they ran away the dark haired girl was a little left behind, and in that moment Trunks impulsively called out to her

"Hey wait!" He shouted, which caught the girl's attention while the other two continued to run away

"Um..." Trunks said whilst sputtering a few words in his nervousness. That was until he decided to pull himself together and throw himself out there

"Hey I um...I know this sounds weird but...can I get your phone number?" He asked with a red face

The girl was caught off guard by the strange request and even blushed a little bit as well

"Sure." She complied as she walked towards him

The two brought out their phones and put the phone's backs against each other, which instantly exchanged contact information

"...Oh and I don't even know your name." Trunks said

"M-Mai. It's Mai." The girl stuttered a little before dashing away with a mixture of confusion and nervousness

"Mai..." Trunks repeated to himself a few times until he suddenly felt the butterflies in his stomach explode

Trunks exclaimed out loud in excitement before he began shamelessly shadow boxing

And thus Trunks Briefs was able to acquire a girl's phone number. The sheer excitement of it made him forget things like how the Pilaf Gang broke in again, or whether or not Mai gave her phone number out of fear

Whatever the cases were Trunks was just glad that he was able to get a girl's phone number for the first time


Soon the day dragged on and yet some were still active, regardless of the calm day

In a familiar dessert three pink figures flew erratically in the air, these being the two Majins sisters and 21 herself

Rather than have Cell train them, 21 requested that she train spar with them instead. The reason for this was just to test their strength, but also because she wanted try her hand at training with them

The two pure Majins used everything they had against 21, who was more than twice as powerful as they were. The two flew around the scientist while she kept her eyes peeled and her senses open

It was then that Prestina dashed in from behind, forcing 21 to turn around and block the strike. Chocolata immediately dashed in from her exposed back only for 21 to swiftly move away from the attack

But before the sisters would crash into each other Prestina was able to grab Chocolata's arm and swing her towards 21 once again, allowing her sister to kick 21 square in the stomach

Taking the opportunity Chocolata was able to stretch her arms out like putty and wrap them around her foe. Prestina quickly took advantage of the situation and brought her hands in front of her

"Final Flash!" She yelled, quickly charging a yellow beam and firing it at the exposed 21 who could only brace for the impact

A strange amount of dust kicked up that surrounded 21, which allowed Prestina to shoot multiple simple energy blasts. But in the midst of the attacks 21 was able to spin wildly in place which forced Chocolata to inch closer towards her

Once the Majin was in range 21 was able to quickly kick Chocolata many times and almost immediately send her flying while also freeing herself

Prestina immediately attempted to dash in to continue distracting her, but 21 was able to block the initial blow

"Alright, let's do this!" 21 thought before she was able to quickly generate a white ball of ki in her hand and slam it onto Prestina, paralyzing her in place

Chocolata on the other hand was able to recover and rush into the fray once again, trading blows with 21. However she was easily overwhelmed and eventually launched to the ground by a blocked kick. 21 followed up and attempted to fly in and kick Chocolata only for her to narrowly move out of harm's way causing the rock underneath her to crack

Once Chocolata recovered she was able to bring in yet another offensive, but she was interrupted by a ki blast from above

Chocolata looked up to see her own sister flying after her. The sheer confusion allowed for Prestina to land a solid blow on her sister. She recovered and the two started attacking each other equally

"What the?! Why's sis attacking me?! And why's she better at hand to hand combat now?" Chocolata asked herself as she was forced to block a quick string of attacks

This went on for a good while before Chocolata was able to turn the fight around and begin to attack in return leading to more and more hits landing against Prestina

Eventually Prestina dashed backwards but before she could attack she stopped in place and gripped her head a little. After some time she shook her head and looked up to her sister

"What happened?" Prestina asked, but was cut off by a realization

All around the two sisters were many basic ki blasts that 21 collected as the two fought, and now that Prestina came to her senses the army of ki blasts rushed in to assault the sisters

Once the dust settled all that remained were a few deformed puddles that easily reshaped themselves to make Prestina and Chocolata

"Wow, what power. It's no wonder you were able to stand up to Frieza." Prestina huffed as 21 flew in

"Thanks, it's because of our hard work and Cell's teachings that's I've grown so much." She responded as a white ball of ki formed in front of Prestina and slowly flew over to 21

"I didn't know you could do that..." Chocolata stated, a little hurt by how sudden and surprising the earlier stunt was

"Sorry it's something that we wanted to try out, I apologize if it was unfair." 21 said while bowing slightly

"But how did you do that?" Prestina asked

"You see the soul within me can take control of my body and fight for me and it's because of this that we can fight in many different styles at once. But this time the soul took over your body and fought with me." 21 explained as the other two finally understood

"It's something that we wanted to try but Cell's mind is just too strong, and he'd easily be able to take back control from the soul, but it's been growing stronger with me for a long time now."

"Then it's a good thing I had a strong mind too, otherwise I wouldn't've been able to take over my body again." Prestina said as she looked at herself

"I'm just glad we could train with you for a change, it's still weird to train with Cell...especially after what he did." Chocolata mentioned

This comment seemed to catch 21's attention as well as the soul's. Truth be told neither had exactly questioned Cell's past aside from the one time but even then it was hard to with what he had described. Something about the way he spoke on the matter was with a strange sort of intoxication that frightened them at the time

21 and the soul were still determined to help Cell and because of the situation they had to let the detail slip, but now that the question was brought up it was hard to ignore it

"And what happened?" 21 asked, which sort of put both of the sisters on edge a little

"So...you don't know that he fought the team twice?" Prestina asked

"Not exactly, not only was I not there but my memory isn't perfect." 21 explained as she sat down next to them

"He's never told you?" Chocolata questioned

"...there was the one time but I'm a little scared to ask him about anything else, especially since it seems to be a sensitive topic."

"Sensitive?!" Chocolata yelled with outrage

"What do you mean?" Prestina asked calmly

"Um...well you see..." 21 said before proceeding to talk about Cell's tortured past

The two sisters were reasonably shocked by the revelation, this whole time the two had accepted Cell as the villain with his actions. But even then they had to ask themselves how he could act so kinda, at least now they knew

"And that's how it went, at least by what he told me. The only time I found out was when I asked him, and luckily he was willing enough to answer. Still, I'm just glad that he could tell me without worry." 21 finished as the two digested the information

"I wouldn't like to see someone I've grown fond of be distracted from themselves to worry about me." 21 remembered, which sort of contradicted her last statement

"I...never knew." Prestina said with a shook expression

"It took me by surprise the first time I heard it, and I really felt bad for him too." 21 said with pity

"That's true...but that still doesn't erase the fact that he killed our friends in front of us." Chocolata stated, which shook 21 this time

"Huh?" She said before both sisters explained their first encounters with him in return, the time that he fought the fusion of Gohan and Trunks, the time he liberated their home from Turles and even the time he fought the entire Z team head on

The stories were told in detail as well, from the way the two were feeling at points to the way Cell acted, which shocked 21 to hear

Was Cell really like that? So cold and brutal he was able to just kill without remorse? The thought caused 21 to go into a small loop before she was thrown into the present again

"I get that he's changed and in fact he's even helped both of us a few times, even now. But it's still hard to forgive him from the things we've seen him do." Prestina explained to the best of her ability

"To think that he was like that once...even just before I met him..." 21 thought out loud

"But you also said that he sort of told you about it. How were you able to stay with him anyway?" Chocolata asked which made 21 think for a moment

"Well...I guess I just couldn't imagine him acting so cold heartedly, especially since he's only ever been nice to me. And even then he seemed to be lonely, and I wanted to help fix that." She responded

"Why's that?"

"All of my life I've felt...helpless in a way. It wasn't until he saved me three times that I felt like I had to repay him. After getting to know him a little I started to like being with him too." 21 confessed

However as she said this 21 felt her heart change a little. From the way she described Cell and the way Prestina and Chocolata spoke of Cell it was almost as if they talked about two entirely different people

"And I guess that's helping too. He's changed a lot from the first time I saw him." Chocolata confessed, remembering the time he even openly apologized to them

"Yeah, I guess he has." 21 responded but trailed off, still taken aback by the earlier realization

It was then that Chocolata stood up along with her sister

"I'm glad that we had this talk, but it's getting kinda late now. It was nice training with you." She said as the two flew away

"It was nice to train with you two." 21 responded

"Is Cell really who I think he is?" 21 continued thinking to herself, now aware of the full picture


Bonus Bit: Identity Crisis


After the long day had passed it was now time for everyone to sleep and regain their lost energy. All except Cell, who meditated in 21's room

Or at least tried to...

Cell had begun to struggle with meditating recently, all due to his steadily declining health. He simply couldn't settle his mind like he used to, at least not with the questions in it

"You're wasting your time...you can do much more." Came another thought which knocked Cell out of his meditating

"I need to find a way to settle down." He thought as he looked over to 21's resting body

With every passing day it was getting harder for him to deal with his problem, and eventually more ideas stacked upon each other and got out of hand. And yet his stubbornness remained, an ill side effect from being not only part Saiyan but part Frieza as well

It was then that a white glowing ball of ki was produced from 21 and soon flew into Cell, which caught him off guard

"Ah, struggling to rest? Well, if that is something you can do." Cell joked, but the soul only glowed oddly in response

"What is happening with me? Straight to the point I see." Cell thought

As much as he wanted to keep this problem to himself he understood that he had to at least confide in someone with it, these ideas that were swirling inside of him had to be told to someone willing to listen. And luckily Cell had someone to listen, but he was just too stubborn to fully admit it

"I'm sorry to tell you but it's nothing serious, I'm just thinking a few things over." Cell said

But just as Cell was stubborn the soul was stubborn as well, refusing to accept no as an answer

"You and 21 are very alike I see. Very well then, I shall tell you." Cell thought

"Before I met you or 21 I had no clue on how to live my life or what to do, I had no idea that I would even live long to begin with. So when I first gained my freedom I did the first thing that came to mind, I got my revenge." He began as

"But afterwards I didn't have anything else to do, so rather than find a purpose or a new objective I simply followed my own whims with no restraint. Now however, I've conformed to a way of living, I've gotten my fair share of revenge and now I'm simply here to support both you and 21." He confessed, forcing the soul glow once again

"The problem..? The problem is that I'm afraid of growing old of this life style. This life that I'm so willing to accept is just, odd. I enjoy it and can never get enough of it but it's missing something. I'm not able to express myself like I used to. I could always try but I'm afraid of what you or 21 would think of me afterwards." Cell explained

"In truth as much as I enjoy this life I enjoy cruder things as well, because as much as I am part human I am also part Saiyan and Frost Demon. I WANT to destroy planets because it brings such satisfaction to me that like nothing else..." He continued which began to scare the soul

"But I want to stay with you and 21, the two of you have been my only companions and as such I want to be by your sides, more especially since 21 made a promise to me. The problem lies in the fact that I yearn for two opposing life styles. And this has sparked many questions...am I really my own person? Am I forever influenced by the sum of my parts?" Cell thought

There was a small silence as the soul tried to digest what was happening, but before it could respond Cell continued

"I deeply apologize if this is too heavy for you. I'm certain that I can deal with this dilemma on my own with enough time." Cell apologized but was met by a strong opposition

The soul began to insist that there was no need for Cell to feel sorry for telling it what happened, and that the entire point of being friends was that friends help each other when they are in need, no matter what happens

"I understand...but I still can't shake this feeling. Like I'm not worthy of your friendship. I'm wanting to live a life that neither you nor 21 would accept, and yet I want to be accepted as well..." Cell thought

With that the soul was at a loss of words (if that is what it used). This strange predicament was something that the soul couldn't just answer, and neither could Cell himself. The need to have two things at once but being unable to have both is tricky, and the true solution is often hard to find

Ultimately the soul simply understood what Cell was going through and confessed it had no idea how to help either. But it assured Cell that it would be there no matter what

"...I thank you, truly I do. I'm glad to know that you will be here." Cell thanked but had a small caveat

"I have but one request. Please, don't tell 21 about anything that we spoke of. If she should know it should be from me directly." Cell declared, and although the soul hesitated it agreed nonetheless