Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ My Beloved Monster ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

"You're suppost to be humanoid!" Gero yelled at 21. "Look at you! You're a circus freak! This is not your physical appearance at all!"

"Doctor?" 21 gasped, backing away from its creator slowly.

"I can't believe this…" Gero roared, storming away from his creation and out the bunker. 18 shimmied away from him as he passed her and pushed open a door. "My ultimate android… Already an ultimate failure…"

"Doctor!" 21 cried desperately.

The door slammed loudly, and the sound rung in both the android's ears. 18 looked at 21, who looked absolutely horrified. The creature suddenly fell on its hands and knees and lowered its head to the ground. She thought she heard it sobbing uncontrollably.

Even though she was scared of the thing…

…She felt so sorry for Android 21.

*******

It was a rather strange sight to 18. The creature was on the floor, sobbing into its hands. She doubted any tears were shedding, Gero's androids didn't cry tears like humans did. To prove her doubt wrong, the creature wiped its eyes with its wrist to dry the tears. She frowned.

Okay, now this is just sad…

She walked up to it and knelt by its side. It looked up at her with the saddest pair of eyes she had ever seen. It reminded her of a neglected child…, which was what the beast was for the moment. 18 hesitated before putting a comforting hand on its shoulder.

"Don't worry about him." She said softly. "He didn't mean it. The old man tends to over-react. I'm sure you're just what he wants you to be."

21's face didn't change at all. It squeezed its eyes shut, letting more tears flow down its speckled cheeks.

"Who are you?" it asked, its raspy voice choking back more sobs.

"I'm Number 18." She introduced herself. "I guess you could say I'm your big sister."

21 looked away, blinking several times.

"Sister…" it mumbled.

"Here." 18 suddenly offered it her water bottle. "Have a drink. You'll feel better."

It stared at the bottle for a minute, as though it had no clue what it was before it finally wrapped one of its three-fingered hands around the bottle.

"Thank you very much." It sniffed, then it sipped gingerly at the water. 18 watched it as it drank like a bird at a fountain.

Is this the design Gero wanted for it? He said he wanted it to be humanoid, but it looks humanoid to me…

After it felt it had enough to drink, 21 handed the bottle back to 18.

"Thank you again." It said with another sniffle. "I do feel a little better."

"Sure." 18 nodded, taking the water bottle back.

About a minute passed as the two just stared at each other, not knowing what to think. 21 had a million questions racing through its head at a dizzying speed, while 18 simply wondered what expectations Gero had for the monster. After a while, 18 blew a sigh out her nose, and stood up.

"Well, we can't be on the floor all night, especially in the bunker. You're going to freeze to death. C'mon, let's go upstairs."

The creature just blinked at her in more confusion as another tear trickled past its beak. It wouldn't move. 18 groaned and held out her hand.

"C'mon, get up. Stand on your feet."

21 nodded in understanding, and put its hand in 18's. Gripping his palm tightly, 18 helped the monster stand on its feet by pulling it up to its full height. When it was upright, 18 half frowned at it.

"You're dripping wet…" she dryly commented.

"That isn't a problem." 21 insisted. Suddenly, its body fiercely shook itself all over, flinging any leftover water off its body. 18 shielded herself with her arms.

"Hey!" she laughed with a smile. "Cut it out!"

When it body stopped shaking, it shook its head a couple of times then slapped its ear for any water that was swishing around its head. Then, it looked at 18 as she lowered her somewhat wet arms.

"That's really something." She chuckled. "Comes in handy, huh?"

The corners of 21's beak seemed to turn up as it closed its eyes pleasantly. 18 blinked at that.

"Hey, alright! You're smiling! That's a good sign."

21 stopped smiling and gave 18 a questioning look, as though it had no idea what she was talking about.

"Whatever." 18 shrugged off the find. "C'mon, let's go upstairs and find you a place to sleep." She began walking for the door of the bunker. 21 began to follow her, but then stopped in hesitation. As she opened the door, she looked back at him.

"Hey, let's go…"

"But…" 21 protested in fear, "…what if we find the doctor again?"

18 understood that the creature was now afraid of Gero, and would probably be happier out of the old man's view.

"He probably went to bed." 18 suggested. "Now come on, let's go."

"Well…" the thing seemed to bite its leathery lip in more hesitation.

18 rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Fine. Stay down here if you want. I'm going back to bed."

She began walking away down the hall, heading for the iron-rung ladder. Just as she put her first foot on the bottom rung, she heard footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder, and found 21 following her. She smiled at it.

"I think there's room for you on the couch…"

*******

Both 18 and 21 climbed up the ladder to the first floor of Dr. Gero's lab. They walked together to the living quarters. It was something of a family room, only there was no TV. There was just a radio with three stations that worked from the high location. A rug covered the iron floor, and sitting on it were two easy chairs and a very soft couch. To one side of the room was a desk filled with hundreds of papers and blueprints that Gero had made by himself. There was no one in the room, and the lights were currently off. So, 18 switched the room light on, and one light from the ceiling flickered on. 21 took in the sights of the room curiously as 18 walked in and stretched her arms in the air. Then she remembered that she was wet.

"Oh." She groaned. "I have got to change PJ's now. Here, you go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I'm changing my clothes." She began to walk out of the room, but 21 put a hand on her shoulder and gripped it tightly.

"Don't leave me alone." It begged sadly. 18 could feel its hand shudder on her shoulder. It was shaking in fear. She turned back to it with a warm smile and gently took its hand off her shoulder.

"I'll be right back." She promised. "Just sit down on the couch and wait for me."

21 stared at its feet in reluctance, but soon nodded its head and turned to go to the couch. 18 then left it in the room, and walked to her bedroom. She peeked in to see that 17 was still asleep, and she crept in quietly. She opened the closet door, and picked out a cotton nightdress to change into. She walked to her bed and quietly took off her wet PJ's to put on the nightdress. She was in deep thought as she pulled the cotton fabric over her body.

So, Gero was creating the perfect warrior through 21?

And he used the DNA of the world's greatest fighters to create it?

But 21 didn't come out as he expected it would…why?

Why did something go wrong? Did he screw up somewhere?

That's not likely…

Maybe he's missing somebody…

Or maybe some of the genes didn't splice…

Well, the only way to find out is to ask him…but he hates it when we pry at him like that? He'll just threaten to "push the button again" or something…

Oh well. Whatever.

I don't think I should let him get away with treating one of his creations like that…

He had a great idea going, and he's probably going to try and throw it away.

She paused as she pulled the collar of her dress over her head and flung her hair over her shoulder.

No, I won't let him do that.

21 has every right to live, even if it was a mistake.

She nodded as she etched that thought in a stone somewhere in her mind. 21 was a fellow android, and she was not going to stand back and watch should Gero decide to destroy it.

End of story. Bye-bye. See you later.

She took a blanket from her bed, and walked back to the living quarters. 21 was on the couch, completely sprawled out on it and resting the side of its head on the farthest arm. It appeared to be asleep. 18 smiled and quietly approached. She looked at its face to see that its eyes were closed and relaxed. Indeed, it was asleep. She covered it with the blanket and tucked it in. Its eyes fluttered open instantly.

"What?" it wondered with a sleepy moan. "Number 18? What are you doing?"

"It's okay." 18 assured. "It's just a blanket. Now go back to sleep."

21 nodded, and closed its eyes again.

"Man, you are a light sleeper." She admired, walking over to one of the easy chairs and settling herself in it. She curled her legs under herself and leaned her head back with a tired moan. Just as she was ready to doze off…

KRA-KOOOOOOOOOOM!

"EEEEEEEEEEK!" 18 screamed in surprise.

"AAAAAAAAA!" 21 flinched in shock, sitting upright on the couch. "What was that?!"

18 sighed in annoyance before thumping her head with her hand.

"There's a thunderstorm outside, I completely forgot…" she growled. "Great!"

"…" 21 was too scared to comment. The loud booming sound completely took it by surprise. 18 smiled at it.

"Don't like thunder either, eh?"

21 shook its head.

"None of us androids do." 18 admitted. "But, that's not going to stop me from getting any sleep. Good night, 21." She resumed lounging in her chair, but 21 was much too scared to even think of sleep. It didn't like the loud noise from outside, and desperately hoped it wouldn't come back.

An hour went by, with more booming rolls of thunder. 18 had finally gone to sleep, but 21 found sleep hard to capture. It kept waiting for more thunder to sound, and whimpered like crazy when it heard any. It couldn't take it! The sound was just too scary!

It looked at 18. She was peacefully lounged in the chair, too deep in sleep to notice the thunder. 21 wondered how she could ignore the sound if she was so afraid of it. It sighed in helplessness. 18 was very kind to him, and she was very brave. She wasn't afraid of Dr. Gero. She even called him an "old man" when 21 was well aware not to call the doctor that at any time. Even though the android wasn't what Gero wanted it to be, 18 bravely took pity and was kind to it.

21 folded the blanket off its body and stood up from the couch. Not wanting to wake 18 up, it got down on its hands and knees to crawl to her chair. It raised itself on the arm of the chair and stared at 18's face. It noticed for the first time how beautiful she was. It felt its face grow hot with embarrassment. It shouldn't be thinking such things!

But…it wanted to thank her for her kindness. Words just wouldn't do.

So, he reached for the blanket on the couch, gathered it in one hand, and covered her up to her chin with it. It smiled to itself, happy to find a proper way of thanking her.

It continued to stare at the sleeping 18, growing unaware of the thunder outside. Finally, 21 fell asleep on the arm of the chair, next to his brave and kind friend.