Hey guys sorry for being late something came up hope you enjoy the chapter.

The truth.

Bulma flew her plane over the northern mountains, looking outside the cockpit at the mountains below. 'Now where is it?' she wondered. She saw a number of craters, evidence of the fight between 17, 18 and 16. 'What a mess.'

'Bulma.'

The woman looked around. "Is that you Dende?"

Yes, just keep heading up the mountain and on your right you should see wht looks like a lab.'

Bulma nodded as she took the jet up the mountain. She saw a metal floor beneath her, along with other instruments. "That must be it." The jet descended down to the metal floor, and once it landed she got out and reverted her vehicle into its capsule. Once it was put back into her case, she walked around looking for where the blueprints might be. "Now where would they be," she wondered aloud. She walked until she saw a hole with a ladder going down. She glanced down; the ladder faded into the darkness below. "Here it is, might as well get down. Man, Dr Gero must have been mad if he spent his whole life here." And with that Bulma took a step down the ladder and worked her way down.

As she took her steps down the ladder, she decided to try to speak to Dende. "Hey Dende can you hear me?"

Thanks to his Namekian hearing, he did. 'Yes, is there something wrong?'

She kept taking the steps down the ladder. "Kind of, is Trunks alright?"

'Yes he is, the female seems to want to speak to him.'

Bulma raised an eyebrow at this. "Can you listen in for me, I need to know what it is she's planning."

'I will, however please hurry. I worry for you in there.'

"Don't worry I won't be here long." CLANG! She finally made it to the lab's underground basement. Bulma took out a flashlight, turned it on and walked looking around for anything of interest. She saw what looked like the remains of some big contraption. "Must be what's left of that supercomputer," she noted as she kept walking. She then stopped when she spotted something grotesque on the floor. It was a headless corpse with an orange sweater, black buttoned overalls, and what looked to be bones at his fingers.

Bulma covered her nose in disgust. "Gross." The scientist walked around Dr Gero's corpse, trying to ignore the smell. The woman then found what she was looking for, the blueprints to Android 17. "Found you." The woman pulled out her own blueprints to 17 from the past in order to compare. "Let's see now."

Both blueprints looked almost completely identical; someone with regular intelligence would have a hard time telling the difference. Fortunately her IQ was quite above average. "Hmm now, there's got to be…" Bulma trailed off. Then she spotted it, there was a difference between the two. One had has an extra device. Since the design between 17 and 18 was almost identical, they must have a similar device.

"My gosh, this explains everything."

Time travel, when someone goes to the past, they risk creating a new timeline for better or worse. For the timeline Trunks went to it was for the better. She remembered him telling her the androids of the past were different than the ones here. Both 17 and 18 did not kill anyone for when he was around, yet here they killed most of the Z-fighters on sight with no hesitation, except for Gohan when they first appeared. Only the events of a timeline could be changed; people remained the same unless there was a specific reason that they were different. For 17 and 18, Bulma had found that reason.

Bulma shook her head in disgust. "Dr Gero was a sick man." The woman put both blueprints in her jacket and walked towards the ladder. It all made sense now. There was only one thing to ask. "What are the androids going to do now?"

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16 was sitting on a boulder, observing the bird on his finger. He smiled, content to watch nature.. The machine finally can enjoy nature without the computer ordering him to do something he has no desire to do. Desire, that was an odd thing to say about an emotionless robot. Perhaps this was another trait Dr Gero added onto him, after all he was modeled after the doctor's dead son. It could be that whatever good Dr Gero ever had before becoming the insane scientist he was, went into 16.

17 was lying down on his back, waiting for 18 to hurry up with talking to Trunks. "Hey 16 do you know if they started talking yet."

The mechanical warrior kept observing the bird as it fed off of sunflower seeds in his palm and spoke without feeling. "Unknown, however Trunks has regained consciousness. He is in his Super Saiyan state."

The cyborg frowned and looked up at the sky. 'So he's awake huh?' He thought. 'Don't let him go 18, we've got time to make up for.' Indeed for almost twenty yearsthey were under Dr Gero's control, pointlessly slaughtering humans. Personally he might kill Trunks in order to ensure their safety; after all they could still find places to hide. 17 sat up and looked over to 16. "Hey 16, do you know about Dr Gero's programming on 18 and I?"

16 said nothing a the bird flew back to its nest. "Negative, part of my AI was in the computer that Trunks destroyed. All information on both you and 18 was deleted when it was disabled."

"What?" 17 asked with a raised eyebrow. "Then how can you still be programmed to kill Trunks?"

"The programming merely replaced my previous mission to destroy Goku, which is in my own AI. The data I had on you and 18 was only placed once you two were caught by its spy bots when you approached the laboratory." He explained in a monotone voice. "Any data that was added to it was dependent on the supercomputer functioning."

The cyborg then closed his eyes as he sighed irritably. He would like to know how the old man did it; he and 18 were able to resist their programming to obey him, so how could they not resist the programming for world domination? It made no sense. Were he and 18 really that weak? If only the old fool was still alive so 17 could kill him again.

16 frowned as he looked in a different direction. Not where 18 and Trunks were, but somewhere a little farther. The machine looked back down at the animals, hoping that it was nothing serious.

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Trunks stood a yard away from 18 who had a faint, sad look on her face. This only made the Super Saiyan angrier. This was probably some new game that she was playing, waiting for him to fall for it. Whatever it was, he wouldn't buy it. The warrior concentrated his senses on his mother's energy signature over where Dr Gero's lab was, or what was left of it. 'What are you doing their mom?' Surely she knew that the remote was destroyed and would be making a new one.

Dende's voice came to mind.

'Trunks just hear her out, it couldn't hurt.'

The half human calmed himself. His mother must have had a good reason for going there; she wouldn't be doing this if she knew it wasn't important.

18 looked at Trunks, trying to think of the best way to explain everything. The android could still see the anger in his eyes. A sigh escaped her lips; she figured she might as well start. "Listen I know I've done a lot of horrible things."

Trunks growled at that. "Horrible doesn't begin to describe it," he spat. This caused her to close her eyes for a moment. The son of Vegeta raised an eyebrow; this was a new. Just what was she going to say? What was she up to? This was odd; she hadn't even spoken so casually when making fun of how pointless his battles were with her and 17. It was probably going to be a fake apology. 'Whatever it is, it won't last long.'

Android 18 bit her lip as she opened her eyes, revealing a genuine sadness that Trunks did not see as real for one moment. She shook her head and looked him in the eyes. "The things 17 and I did, we-we weren't in control of ourselves, it was Dr Gero's programming. We weren't in control of ourselves." The cyborg looked into his eyes with a genuine apologetic expression, however his eyes were as hard as ever.

The Saiyan glared at her for saying that. "Nice try, but I'm not buying it. I remember what you and 17 said that day three years ago!"

18 thought back and remembered the day as if it were yesterday. The first time Trunks tried to fight her and 17 alone and when he managed to turned blonde. Also she and 17 did answer his question when he asked why they were doing this.

17 spoke with a wicked smile. 'Dr Gero programmed us with the purpose of world domination, but that doesn't really matter to us, not at all.'

18 then spoke after. 'Whenever we see humans it angers us; we hate you humans.'

The biomechanical woman closed her eyes as the memory went through her mind. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked at the angry Saiyan.

Trunks's harmful gaze pierced through 18. "You and your brother also killed Dr Gero, who you were programmed to answer to. If you can resist that, than you should be able to resist the world domination part, but you didn't!" The Saiyan felt the need to attack her, but stayed in order to stall for his mother to arrive. He could feel her energy signature heading toward him; hopefully she would be more subtle than her past counterpart.

The beautiful cyborg felt hurt.18 hadn't felt that kind of pain for as long as she could remember. Something in her heart was breaking. "I'm sorry." A tear started to flow down her right cheek.

The Saiyan's eyes widened when he saw the water in her eye fall down her cheek. The lone warrior looked up and saw no rain, then back down to gaze at 18. His eyes then narrowed back into a glare. 'I get it now, this is part of her act.' Trunks pointed at her accusingly. "I'm not falling for your crocodile tears you evil bitch. I hope you're ready to die!"

18 brought her left hand up and wiped her right eye to get rid of the tear. The cyborg looked at the salty substance on her hand. She could cry, who knew? Then her gaze returned to Trunks, whose aura flared, indicating that she had only made him angry. She wanted him to know, but after so many years of torment who could blame him? With her eyes closed the cyborg decided to do one thing.

"Alright then, so attack me."

Trunks got into his stance, thinking this was part of her mocking. "I will destroy you!"

'Trunks wait!'

The Super Saiyan stopped in his tracks when he heard Dende's voice in his head again.

'Your mother is almost there, just wait for another minute.'

18 looked at the Super Saiyan, surprised that he stopped attacking. Why? For what purpose?

Trunks looked upwards and shouted. "But Dende that's what I'm worried about!" He didn't want to risk putting his mother in danger, yet he needed her to be there so she could press the remote herself and shut down 18 during their fight.

The female cyborg looked confused at him and looked up to see no one there. 'Who is he talking to?' she thought as she looked back at him.

'Please just wait for her, she can explain everything.'

The Super Saiyan stopped and growled in frustration. Then he noticed something odd. Why hadn't she dropped her act already? Was she enjoying this? Whatever the reason it only infuriated him more.

18 kept her sad expression as he looked at him. "What's wrong, why won't you attack me?"

Trunks growled in frustration. "I could ask the same thing about you!" he yelled angrily. The lone warrior may not have known Dende long, but if his mother trusted him then so would he.

The cyborg closed her eyes trying not allow any more water out of her eyes, knowing it would only make him angrier. She couldn't blame him; he was doing better than she would if her enemy was trying to say they were innocent.

The Super Saiyan got into a defensive stance, keeping an eye on the android as he waited for his mother. The moment she arrived he planned to attack 18 in order to divert her attention. The moment she arrived, he planned to attack 18 in order to divert her attention. His mother would then activate the shut off switch on 18. After that, he could find 17 and shut him down as Android 16 came to mind. 'He'll be more of a problem, he'll have to be dealt with later.'

18 couldn't help but look at him with curiosity and at the same time with empathy. The female cyborg then heard a humming sound coming from her right, and she turned to see a jet coming from a distance. 18 narrowed her eyes. "Who is that?"

Trunks's eyes widened. 'She sees her!' Trunks charged 18 in panic.

18 turned around to see Trunks coming at her. She had a quick moment to think as he approached her. Instinctively she wanted to block his attack, but she stopped short and allowed his fist to connect with her cheek.

Bulma saw Trunks maliciously attacking 18, who didn't seem to be fighting back at all. 'This confirms it,' Bulma thought as she hastily landed the jet on the island. 'It looks like Dende was right.'

Trunks looked to see his mother, then turned back to 18 and kneed her stomach. 'Press the remote already, mom what are you doing?!' The Super Saiyan punched 18's cheeks over and over in order to distract her, but surprisingly she wasn't doing anything. 'Must be part of her acting.'

"Trunks wait!"

The Super Saiyan looked to see his mother standing with a remote in her right hand. "Press the button!"

Bulma felt the need to once she saw the android however she knew better; she only made another remote as a failsafe in case Dende's hypothesis was incorrect. She looked at Android 18, who was on her knees looking down. Bulma then looked back to her son, other than a few bruises he was fine. According to Dende those came from 16.

The cyborg looked up to see who Trunks was talking to, and she remembered the woman from Dr Gero's data. 18 saw Bulma Briefs take Trunks with her after their battle three years ago. She immediately recognized the remote. Her eyes widened as she saw it and her lips formed a sad smile. 'So I really don't deserve a second chance, stay safe 17.' She closed her eyes waiting, for deactivation.

18 could hear footsteps approaching.

"Mom no!"

"It's ok, watch."

"Are you insane, no way!"

"Look just take the remote and don't press it unless I say so."

"But-"

"No 'buts' mister."

Again more footsteps were heard.

18 opened her eyes and looked up to see Bulma standing in front of her.

Bulma looked down into the android's eyes. A minute or two has passed and neither spoke a word. This was the first time she had ever seen either of the androids this close. If she had to be honest right now she was terrified. However after living with Vegeta, she built up some form of bravery with former mass murderers. That wasn't to say she hadn't quite forgotten what 18 and 17 did to her friends and lover, though Vegeta did kill more than either of the androids combined. With the androids it was a little more personal considering the damage they did was mostly permanent, making it harder to trust 18. However after what Bulma found in the ruins of Dr Gero's lab, she knew it wasn't 18's fault, whether or not she wanted to admit she was innocent.

Trunks aimed his right hand at the android, not liking this at all. "Mother get away from it now!"

The cyborg closed her eyes when she heard that word. 'It,' that's all she was to him.

The blue haired scientist turned her head to her son. "Hold on a minute, trust me." She looked back at one of the androids that killed all her friends. Already her suspicions had been confirmed since she was still standing and not dead on the ground. "Um... hi."

Trunks held the remote his mother handed to him, his thumb hovering above the red button ready to press down on it.

'No Trunks wait a minute, please trust your mother on this.'

The Saiyan heard from Dende. He knew his mother, she wouldn't do anything to put herself or anyone in danger without a reason. Trunks placed his thumb on the button ready to press it the moment the android moved the slightest muscle.

18 frowned as she looked up into the eyes of Bulma. 'So she's Trunks's mother.' The data never said anything about her having a child. "You should let him press the button, I know I would."

Bulma gave a confused look and her eyes widened in astonishment. This was hard to believe, but it looked like Dende was right about her. "So it's true."

18 looked down, her hair covering her eyes. "What is?"

The scientist kneeled down to get a better look at 18. She saw tears dropping on the android's knees, and slowly she brought her hand up to 18's right cheek. 18 didn't move as Bulma's finger caught a tear. 'Tears from her?'

Trunks kept watching, trying to figure out what was going on. 'What's gotten into you mother?' Perhaps she wanted to look into the eyes of the killer of her friends. No that wasn't it; if his mother truly wanted her gone then she would have pressed the button herself. 'What is she doing then?'

Bulma did her best to stay calm around 18; she told herself that none of this was 18's fault, but after almost twenty years of living in fear she couldn't help but feel the urge to tell Trunks to press the button. She decided to try to speak to 18 again. "Your boyfriend, 17, is he back as well?"

18 lifted her head up and looked at Bulma in the eyes, trying not to allow any tears to leave her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend, he's my twin brother." The cyborg wiped any tears off her face with her right sleeve. "Look, do whatever you want with me, just leave 17 alone."

Trunks's sensitive hearing caught on to that. 'Is she still acting?' No that couldn't be it, she knew Trunks had the remote. 'Maybe that's why, maybe she's trying to get us to let our guard down.' That must have been it, there was no other explanation. However he needed to trust his mother and Dende, hopefully they could deactivate 18 and 17.

Bulma stood up and brought her hand down to 18 who looked up into her eyes. "Need help up?"

18 slowly placed her hand in the other woman's grip and stood up. The cyborg looked confused.

"Mom what are doing?!" Trunks yelled at her.

Bulma raised her hand trying to calm him down. "Trunks have you ever thought of how 17 and 18 are back?"

Trunks raised an eyebrow at this. "What?"

"Think about it, 17 and 18 are cyborgs so there's no way they could have been recreated by Dr Gero's computer. It couldn't have made them in only a month." The scientist explained.

"Who cares, we have to get rid of it now!" Trunks yelled.

18 looked away with her eyes closed. She did not enjoy being called that but knew she deserved it.

Bulma shook her head. "Trunks listen, do you remember when I used the dragonballs?"

Trunks thought back to when he was revived, and his eyes widened. "Wait, what was your exact wish?" It couldn't be that his mother revived the androids, it had to have been on accident.

The woman gave a frown and explained. "My exact wish was to revive everyone who died in the past year except for the really bad ones."

The Saiyan furrowed his brow, still keeping an eye on the android who was looking away. The lone warrior's eyes widened once he had put two and two together. "No!"

Bulma waved her hands up. "It's true!"

18 couldn't help but listen to their conversation. 'Dragonballs?' She had no idea what those were, so she searched her data banks for anything related. She found nothing; whatever they were, they had to have been what brought back her and 17. But Bulma's wish was to bring back everyone except the evil ones, meaning she shouldn't have been revived. While her fate was uncertain, she was glad to know that she wasn't a monster, not that it helped the hateful glare Trunks was giving her.

Trunks continued to argue. "There has to be some mistake! How many people have they killed?!"

Bulma shook her head. "There was no mistake, I got into Dr Gero's lab."

His eyes widened at that. "What, mother you know that place is dangerous!"

"Yes but listen, I compared the blueprints I got from you with the ones Dr Gero had in this timeline," she tried to explain. "The designs are extremely similar but I managed to find a small difference." She pulled out two rolls of paper and rolled them out in front of her. "Come here Trunks."

Trunks hesitated for a moment, not out of fear but rather worry, as he looked at Android 18. The lone warrior saw that she was still looking away. If he were to get that close to her then she could swipe the remote from him and kill him along with his mother.

As if reading his mind, 18 started levitating off the ground.

Bulma noticed 18's movement and reached out her hand for 18. "Wait, don't leave please."

18 looked down at Bulma and floated backwards. "I won't leave," the cyborg said simply as she floated backwards until she sat on a rock a yard away from Bulma. The android then looked over to Trunks's hateful stare. "I won't try anything. If you see me move you can press the button," she said. Personally she wished that they would get it over with. She didn't like this kind of attention, however if they wished to keep her longer than so be it. Hopefully 17 wouldn't show up or he may do something stupid.

Trunks glared at 18. 'This has to be some act,' he thought, then looked to his mother.

"Come on, hurry up," Bulma stated as she waved her hands, motioning him to get closer.

The Super Saiyan walked slowly to her, keeping an eye on the android while she was looking down. 'I'm on to you evil bitch.' He made it to Bulma and slowly kneeled down as he looked at the designs of Android 17. "What am I supposed to be seeing?" He may be smart, but he isn't a genius like his mother.

Bulma put her finger over one of the two sheets of paper and placed it on the head of the humanoid design. "Here, this is the blueprints to the Android 17 of the past timeline you traveled to, you can see that there's nothing here."

Trunks was confused by what his mother is trying to say. "What about it?"

The scientist pulled back her finger and placed it on the other sheet of design. "This is the design to the 17 of our time. Obviously the designs are very similar, however there is one difference located here, in the frontal lobe."

Trunks wasn't exactly catching on to this. "So what does that mean?"

"Well you see the frontal lobe is the part of the brain that holds the emotions and personality,"

Bulma explained. "This device controls how the androids think. Let's say Dr Gero placed this in your frontal lobe. Your personality becomes completely dependent on what it suggests, but you would be unaware of this. In other words, it's a mind control device."

Trunks looked at that and then back at the blueprints he took to his mother from the past. On the past timeline blueprints, there's nothing in the head, while on his timeline sheet has one. "Mind control device." The saiyan looked up to see 18 still looking down. He then looked to his mother.

"So that means…"

Bulma nodded. "Android 17 and 18 are innocent, they have done nothing wrong."

Trunks looked over to 18 and then back to his mother. "Well we still can't just let them leave."

Bulma looked back at Trunks. "I know that, which is why Dende and I worked something out, just trust me." She took the blue prints, rolled them up and placed them in her jacket.

Trunks shook his head. "Well we can't risk it, too many people have died already." The Saiyan pointed at 18. "If we let her live, who knows what could happen."

Bulma placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trunks listen, I know this is hard but just think, if we kill them that would mean we'd be killing someone who's innocent. Think about your father, he was in control of himself but I gave him a chance anyway."

Trunks hated the thought of comparing the androids to his father, however he had no choice. "Fine we'll do it your way, for now," he said as he looked over to 18. "Count yourself and 17 lucky this time, android."

18 did not lift her head when she heard that. She wouldn't call this luck.

"That's enough son, let's hurry up." Bulma turned her head to 18. "Excuse me 18, can you tell us where 17 is?"

18 lifted her head and looked at her. "You won't shut him down?"

Bulma shook her head. "Believe me, that's the last thing on my mind."

The cyborg then stood up and pointed to her right. "He went that way with another android called 16." She placed her hand down. "They're probably on an island near by."

"Perfect! Can you please retrieve your brother and 16?" Bulma asked politely as 18 tilted her head. "We have an idea and need you three to come with us."

18 thought for a moment. This was going better than she thought, though she regretted that she was unable to convince Trunks herself. She would at least have the chance to start over with her brother. Hell, maybe even 16 so long as he doesn't hurt Trunks. "Alright."

"Ok then, meet us in West City at Capsule Corporation, there we'll settle everything." She explained and looked into 18's eyes. "Can I trust you to bring your friends there?"

18 was shocked, already this woman is giving her trust. Her lips formed a smile and nodded. "Yes we'll get there as soon as we can."

"What?!" Trunks yelled. "You can't seriously trust her, I mean what if she runs off with the other androids?"

Bulma again calmed her son down. "Trunks just calm down. Don't worry, we have Dende remember?"

Trunks was about to object but stopped, understanding that the guardian can keep an eye on them. "Alright fine." The half human looked over at 18. "You better be there android, don't make us look for you."

18's lips went back to a frown at that. She said nothing and nodded to him.

Trunks slowly floated as his mother got into her jet. The whole while Trunks kept his eyes on the android as he allowed the jet to leave first. He stared at her with all the anger he had, and then without a word he flew off to West City.

18 watched him leave with his mother and sighed. The cyborg was fully aware that Trunks still hadn't accepted that she was controlled, but she didn't blame him. She was actually surprised he did not press the button even with his mother protesting it. A sigh escaped her lips as she floated. "I guess I better get them, hopefully 17 will be ok with this."

With that the platinum blonde flew to the direction 16 and 17 went.

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Back at the island where 18's companions are, 16 stood looking straight ahead with a face that lacked emotion.

17, who was lying down in grass, sat up. "Any update 16?"

The silent giant did not turn his head. "Trunks and the human's energy signatures have left, and 18 is headed this way."

The male cyborg stood up and walked next to 16. "Well it's about time, I was getting tired of waiting."

18 came in to view and stopped a couple feet in front of her fellow androids.

17 gave an amused smile. "So how'd that talk with your boyfriend workout?"

His sister rolled her eyes. "We have somewhere to be."

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Trunks continued flying along with his mother. He couldn't help but wonder what his mother was thinking, however he realized he had no choice right now. He found it hard to believe that 17 and 18 were innocent. How could he when all his life he'd seen so much death and destruction caused by them? Perhaps the dragon of Namek made a mistake and they are only acting. But no, that couldn't be it; after all she allowed him to strike her. 17 might have done that, however 18 was never one to play with her prey. She always complained whenever 17 didn't finish off an opponent.

'We'll get out answers soon,' Trunks thought as he continued flying by his mother's jet.

Well that was the chapter. Let me know what you thought of it.

Phantom- Thank you!

Laser355- I'm happy to see another reader of bringer of death, seriously more people should give that story a chance instead of being limited to the multiplier theory.

shadowwriter01- Thank you.

Guest- Not quite, as you can see she only wanted to compare the blue prints she got from Trunks in the past to the ones in her time in order to see if Dende's hypothesis is correct. Good guess though!

Guest- That is true, I know 10% doesn't sound like much of an advantage but there's a way to make sense of it. The senses and reaction time correlate to power levels. So: if your reaction time is 10% faster and your opponent is 10% faster then your opponent has a 21% net advantage. He'll be able to hit you 21% faster than you can react. Also your defense is 10% weaker and his attacks are 10% harder, meaning each blow will be 21% more damaging. In the end he'll be able to do more damage to you 46% faster than if your power's were equal. You on the other damage, will be able to do damage 46% slower than him. The difference between your rates of damage will be almost 100%, which is definitely cause for concern. So you see in the end 10% more power is all you need.

Yeah sorry for the nerdy response I just thought I would give you something to make sense out of it. LOL! Hope you enjoy the story, this came from Bringer of death power level theory.

Nox- Thanks and don't worry after the first saga is over I will hopefully start updating it.

Now I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to what's next.