Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ My Beloved Monster ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

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.

The next morning, after the storm had completely cleared up and the sun was shining, 18 went into Gero's inner lab to talk to him. She was still in her nightdress, but she didn't care. She had a very important bone to pick with him. Gero was in the training chamber, sparring with Android 19. The fat, glassy-skinned android was maneuvering past Gero's attacks very well, and was able to get through the doctor's defenses with attacks of his own. 18 knocked on the already open door for their attention. Gero looked up for a moment to see who it was, but 19 used the distracted moment to punch Gero into the brick wall.

"Time out…" Gero groaned, peeling himself from the wall. The doctor's android body was able to withstand all of 19's attacks beautifully; he was hardly hurt at all. 19 stopped, bowing to the doctor and ending the match. Gero walked up to 18. "Yes, Android 18, what is it?"

"I need to talk to you." She explained, then she glared at 19. "Alone."

"Leave us, 19." Gero ordered. 19 nodded, not wanting to speak in 18's presence, and hurried to the door. 18 decided to tease the android before it left.

"Hey you!" she shouted at 19, and the android froze. "Where do you think you're going?! You didn't even say 'good morning' to me, 19! I'm insulted!" 19 looked fearfully at his older sister, not wanting to say a word, knowing what she'll do. Gero sighed in annoyance. Whatever 18 wanted to say, he wanted her to say it quickly and leave him alone.

"Say 'good morning' to 18, 19." Gero ordered. Not able to disobey his creator, 19 obeyed timidly.

"G-good morning, 18." 19 said in a barely comprehensible voice that squeaked and echoed in a high pitch. 18 laughed hard.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! And good morning to you too, Squeaky-boy! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

19 ran out of the room, ashamed. Gero narrowed his eyes at the fembot.

"I wish you and 17 wouldn't do that to him."

"We can't help it." 18 smirked. "It's just really funny to hear that stupid voice of his."

"Shut up! You know perfectly well that you and 17 caused damage to his vocal chords in a fight and he can no longer speak properly!"

"Hey, don't put the blame on me. 17 was the one who cut his head off with a steak knife. I was pinning him to the table; I didn't do anything to his voice…"

"What did you want to talk to me about, 18?"

18 relaxed her shoulders, finally coming back to the original subject.

"It's about Android 21. You gave up on him so quickly."

"He's a total failure!" Gero shouted. "He's completely not what I wanted him to be."

"You only think that because he didn't look right. You didn't even test him out yet. You don't know if he fights well, or has special powers, or anything. Doctor, at least see if he has the abilities you wanted him to have. He is your 'ultimate android,' right?"

"Give me one good reason why I should reconsider working on 21." Gero demanded.

18 smiled seductively, and bent down to her feet while not taking her eyes of Gero's face.

"If you do me that little favor, I'll do you a little favor." She offered, gently putting her hand on her bare ankle and sliding it up her leg with her dress. Gero blinked a few times in astonishment as 18 revealed a good deal of leg to him, and not stopping until she had reached her thigh, and she laughed sexily. Gero's nose started bleeding, and he ran to his desk.

"AAAAAAAAAA! The blood pressure!" he screamed, stuffing tissues up his nostrils. Then he faced 18 with determination. "Very well, then. I'll recheck 21's abilities and see if he is worth my attention!" 18 dropped her skirt, and clapped her hands together in satisfaction.

"Great!" she purred. "So, work hard, old man." She left the room, swinging her hips slightly to remind Gero of the deal. His nose bled so hard, the pressure pushed out the tissues.

"AAAAAAAAAAA! Tissue, tissue!" he growled, stuffing new tissues in his nose.

*******

So, Gero slaved away a whole day monitoring 21's abilities as an intelligent life form. The first thing he did was have the android take several written tests that demonstrated his IQ and memory as well as creativity and battle tactics. The results were very dramatic, as Gero showed 18.

"His IQ is 270!" Gero crowed. "Marvelous!"

"That's higher than Einstein, isn't it?" 18 blinked.

"Of course it is!" Gero nodded. "My IQ is higher than Einstein's too!"

"I'm sure it is…" 18 remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Tests of strength came next for 21. A punching machine Gero used frequently was rolled into the training room. Gero had 21 punch it as hard as he could, and the reading came up 788. That was rather hard. Gero had 21 punch as softly as he could, and 21's slight jab came up 115 on the scale. Gero had 21 power up his ki and punch it again. The scale read 999 just before the machine blew to pieces. 21 looked at the ground sheepishly before Gero cleared away the lingering smoke and chuckled.

"Don't worry about it, 21. It happens all the time."

"I didn't mean to break the machine, doctor." 21 tried to explain in worry. "I was just doing what you told me to do…"

"I said don't worry." Gero assured. "All the androids broke the machine in some point in time. However, 18 did much worse damage than you did."

21 looked over at the wall.

"18…"

"She thinks much too highly of you…" Gero mumbled, picking up parts from the punching machine. "I don't know why…"

21 inhaled a breath and let it out in longing.

He wished 18 was here beside him, telling him that everything would be alright…

He wished he could look into her beautiful face all day…

*******

The tests continued on in Gero's lab. Combat tests were initiated with a metallic dummy that could move on its own. However, all the dummy could do was defend itself against attacks. Gero told 21 that the dummy's weak spot was the sides just under the arms and ordered him to strike there. 21 did try to hit the dummy's sides, but the dummy was very quick to block 21's punches, jabs, and kicks. It followed his hands and feet carefully, raising its arms, hands, and even feet to stop 21 from hitting the vulnerable spot. 21 was getting fed up, but then came up with an idea. It was monitoring his hands and feet, but not his tail. 21 flung a punch at the dummy's face, and just as he expected, the dummy caught it in one hand. However, its side was now exposed, and 21 lashed his tail at it. The dummy instantly shut down, and 21 passed the test.

A similar test involved another metallic dummy, but this one was designed to attack instead of defend. Gero ordered the dummy to attack 21's sides, and then told 21 to do nothing but defend himself. 21 understood and the test began. The dummy was just as quick as the last one and 21 had a very hard time trying to keep its punches and kicks from hurting him. The dummy struck the android's face and chest very hard, making 21 try to seek escape from the attack. So, 21 tried evasion, moving away from the dummy's attacks and trying to get away from the dummy by running away. Gero didn't like that tactic.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted at 21. "Don't try to retreat! Defend yourself!"

"Doctor, I can't…" 21 shuddered, dodging another attack by the dummy and running to the other side of the room. "It hurts so much!"

"It's supposed to hurt, you blockhead!" Gero lectured as 21 resumed blocking attacks with his arms and hands. "What do you think you're supposed to feel when someone hits you?! Pleasure?! You're supposed to feel pain!"

Suddenly, the dummy kicked for 21's side, but the android used his tail for the block. Then, he grabbed the dummy's foot and threw it across the room where it hit the opposite wall and instantly shut off. Gero applauded.

"There we go. That's more I like it. Well done, 21."

21 wasn't as pleased as Gero with the action.

"But doctor, I did not defend… I attacked when I wasn't supposed to… I have failed."

"No, you didn't." Gero shook his head. "You were defending yourself. It's called self-defense, 21. If you attack to protect yourself, it counts as defense."

21 remembered that from the computer's instructions, and nodded.

"I understand. So, I passed, doctor?"

"With flying colors, 21." Gero beamed. "Perhaps I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions about you. You don't look the way you were created too, and I still don't know why, but you still are what I created you to be."

"Thank you, doctor." 21 smiled pleasantly.

"Now, for one more test…"

*******

Gero led 21 into the underground bunker, into the same room with the main computer. Gero told 21 to stand in the middle of the room, next to the computer, and the android complied. Gero then told 21 to gather information from a series of names, describing the person the name belonged too. They were the people 21's cell structure was made up of, and they were the people he intended for 21 to destroy.

"Son Gohan." Gero listed.

21 closed his eyes, and contacted the computer through what was called the "mother link." 21 alone had the ability to communicate with the main computer to gather the knowledge he needed from it with a chip in his computer brain. Information about the one named Son Gohan flooded into his permanent memory, and 21 read aloud his finds.

"Son of Son Goku, now aged 9 years, ki level measured at 900,000 at strongest, half-human half-Saiyajin breed. High level of intelligence for his age, first began training at 4 years old under Piccolo Daimao, scoring high marks in high school studies since 2 years of age, fighting experience is average, weaknesses include the threatening of family and friends as well as threatening to his own life."

"Krillin."

"No living relatives, now aged 27 years, ki level measured at 100,000 at strongest, Tibetan-Japanese breed. Normal level of intelligence, first began training at 6 years of age at the Orin Temple in Tibet, scoring average marks in educational life, fighting experience is above average, weaknesses include threatening to his own life, beautiful women, and those stronger than he."

"Piccolo Daimao."

"Member of the Dragon family of Namek and nephew to Kami-sama, now aged 16 human years and 40 Namekian years, ki level measured at 1,000,000 at strongest, Namekian breed. Very high level of intelligence, first began training at birth in the Yunzabit wastelands and Zulmyzulbri mountains, fighting experience is above average, weaknesses include threatening of Son Gohan, Kami-sama, and innocent people."

"Vegeta."

"No living relatives…update: a wife and baby son named Trunks, now aged 34, ki level measured at 800,000 at strongest, Saiyajin breed. Normal level of intelligence, first began training at 5 years old under off-Earth sources, unknown marks of educational life, fighting experience is above average, weaknesses include mentioning of past, insults to his power, and threatening to his family."

"Son Goku."

"Family includes a wife and son, aged 29 prior to death, ki level measured at 25,000 at strongest, Saiyajin breed. Normal level of…"

"What? Wait a minute! What do you mean his strongest was at 25,000? How could everyone else be stronger than him."

21 paused.

"Information on Son Goku is three years out of date. There are no records of his fighting experience since his journey for Planet Namek."

"I see. Continue, 21."

"Normal level of intelligence, first began training at 3 under venerable Son Gohan in the Chinese forests, very low marks in educational life, fighting experience is above average, weaknesses include threatening to friends, family, and innocent people and fighting on an empty stomach."

"Selena Lawless."

21 paused for a long time.

"That name is not in the database."

"Good." Gero smiled. "Now, how about Yamcha?"

"No living relatives, now aged 35 years, ki level measured at 17,000 at strongest, Japanese breed. Normal level of intelligence, began training at unknown age with unknown master at unknown location, unknown marks of educational life, fighting experience is below average, weaknesses include threatening to friends, innocent people, and own life, as well as pettiness of his looks, beautiful women, and impulsive dignity."

"Very good." Gero nodded. "Another passing test."

21 opened his eyes.

"But…what about Tenshinhan? And Raditz? And Nappa? And Freeza? And King Kold? And the Saibamen? And…"

"That's enough." Gero snapped. "You already told me what I needed to know. Now, run along and take the day off. I need to review all of this new data about the test results."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, doctor." 21 graciously bowed, then walked for the door. Greeting him in the stretch of hallway to the iron-rung ladder were 17 and 18. They were lounging on opposite sides of the wall, like sentry guards to the entrance to a castle. 18 was smiling with pride while 17 had his arms crossed over his chest and an impressed smirk on his face. It was the first time ever 21 laid eyes on 17, and he felt rather nervous. Was 17 anything like his twin sister?

"So, you're 21?" 17 asked. "Not bad for a newbie."

" 'Newbie?' " 21 blinked at the word, not recognizing it.

"Never mind him." 18 shrugged. "You did really well today, 21. Even 17 and I didn't do that well during our tests." She smirked. "Even though 17 refused to do a damn thing."

"It was all really boring." 17 recalled. "I wanted to do something more fun. Those dummy Gero used? Hit their sides or whatever? All you have to do is ki blast them, and it's over."

"…" 21 chose not to respond. 17's logic was incorrect by Gero's standards. No wonder why the doctor didn't like him.

"Well," 18 decided, "this calls for a celebration. Let's go find the old man's secret beer stash."

"Yes!" 17 hissed in victory. "I haven't had beer in months!"

Not sure exactly how drinking beer was celebrating, 21 followed them. He was beginning to understand why Gero didn't like 17 and 18.

Suddenly, 18 turned her face to 21, smiling sweetly.

"Do you like beer, 21?"

She looked so beautiful when she was happy… 21 stared down at his feet, blushing.

"I don't think…you two should be stealing the doctor's things…"

"He doesn't care." 17 assured. "He knows we're going to find it somehow. You wanna help us look for where he's hidden it this time?"

"Think of it as another test, 21." 18 encouraged, taking his hand into one of her own and pulling him with her down the tunnel to the lab. 21 walked with her, hesitating his answer. He thought he felt her thumb stroke the back of his hand, and he quickly made up his mind.

"Alright, I will try."

Back in the bunker, Gero couldn't help but overhear the small discussion.

"Gah." He growled. "I didn't like the sound of that. I hope 21 doesn't start running with the wrong crowd like that, or he'll become worse than both 17 and 18…"

He had the test results to vouch for his predictions that 21 could soon be a danger to him…

…With 18 being the bad influence.