Chapter Text
The blonde android hurdled through the air, her trajectory roughly following the narrow pillar of tower that supported the Lookout. Downward she flew towards the heavily forested earth below, hair and torn clothes whipping in the air. The sky extended in all directions to the horizon, beautiful crystal blue without a single cloud. A stunning vista that was lost on the distraught woman.
“Why? Why why why WHY!” She screamed into the wind, but her voice went nowhere as her velocity shoved it immediately back into her throat. “Nothing you do makes sense Krillin!”
She kept replaying in her head the events that transpired up in the Lookout in the last half hour. Waking up healed but surrounded by people who she had beaten senseless not even 2 weeks ago. The blackened sky and the gigantic green dragon. The first wish to revive the dead victims of Cell. The attempt to bring back their beloved Goku. And then his wish. The wish to remove the bomb in her and her brother’s chests.
And then the reasoning. So she could live a better life without fear. And because he liked her.
They had stared at her when she ran out from behind the column, when she confronted him about where things where at between them. She had said she wasn’t mad at him to his face about the whole affair, but it must have been adrenaline in the moment because now she was...she was...
Feeling far too many emotions for her memory-stunted and only recently reactivated cyborg brain to handle at once.
The ground and the trees below were coming up fast and she leveled out her flight path abruptly, angling off towards the far distant glimmer of water on the horizon.
I need to find my brother.
Krillin watched the others take off from the Lookout, one by one going their separate ways, until it was only himself, Piccolo, Dende, and Mr. Popo. He was still trying to recover from the events of the last hour. The damage of Cell had been undone...at the cost of Goku not coming back. His best friend, the anchor of their entire extended and adopted family. Pangs of guilt ached in his chest, and he shook his head to try and rid it of the intrusive thoughts.
If only I-
It was his choice...
But if only I-
This is Vegeta’s fault, the arrogant bastard! He allowed 18 to be absorbed, even openly blocked Trunks from slowing down Cell.
Images of a smashed remote and startled ice-blue eyes played across his mind’s eye.
Dammit! And what did that get you? An angry outburst and a cold shoulder off into the sky.
He had to know if his gut feeling about the androids was right. That they were redeemable, despite their destructive capacity, despite their homicidal programming. That he had not misplaced his heart to a certain blonde android.
“Krillin. Are you all right after all that?” The deep voice of Piccolo carried across the Lookout, and the bald man startled. “You look…troubled.” The tall Namekian turned his head and nodded in the direction that Android 18 had blasted off from.
“Y-yeah, that obvious huh?” Krillin sighed, before a wild thought popped into his head. “Say, you and Dende can…see everything that happens down there while up Here, right?”
“Yes, it’s a Guardian’s duty to know what’s going on down on Earth. Why do you ask?”
Krillin was silent for a long moment. “Do you have a way of…of replaying what’s happened in the past?”
“Let’s walk and talk.” Piccolo turned with a flourish of his cape and gestured Krillin to follow as he walked towards Dende, Mr. Popo, and the central building of the Lookout. “Yes, we can do that, Mr. Popo can show you the Pool of Memory. But what do you hope to see?”
“What the androids did after our first fight with them but before they showed up at Kame House…I want see if they did anything, well…evil…”
Piccolo raised his eyebrows. “A bit late to be having second thoughts now, my friend! They’re both very much alive and still stronger than everyone except myself, Vegeta, and Gohan.”
Krillin felt like he was going to be sick. “Argh! I just need some closure, Piccolo…”
“Master Krillin, you’re still here I see. And you look troubled. How can we help?” Dende addressed the bald man as Piccolo and him reached the Guardian of Earth and his attendant under the eaves.
“Krillin would like to utilize the Pool of Memories to clear his conscience.” Krillin only nodded to confirm Piccolo’s words.
“Ah! Of course, Master Krillin. Right this way!” The younger Namekian led them further into the central complex of the Lookout, through spotless white marble corridors and doorless archways, until they reached a larger, domed room. In the center of the room was a shallow pool, dark and with a series of rectangular steps around it. Light streamed into the room as narrow beams at many different angles, refracting off the water and creating a subtle prismatic effect.
“Step down to the edge of the Pool, and kneel, Krillin.”
The bald man breathed deeply, and descended to the pool, Dende right behind him until they were side by side on the lowest step.
“Place the palm of your hand on the surface of the water and tell me what from the past you want to see.”
“What Android 17 and Android 18 were doing after they defeated us on the northern mountain road but before they arrived at Kame House.”
Dende nodded, closed his eyes, and also placed his palm upon the water. Immediately, the room grew dim, the sunlight beams winking out, the refractions dissipating, and the Pool begin to glow a dull white. A few moments later, other colors joined the white and an image started to form. A familiar landscape: the mountain road near Gero’s lab.
Three figures, blonde on black, black on orange, and orange on green, took to the skies. The image sped up, showing them getting into a pink van, its contents all over the ground and its original owners standing agape in shock as the androids drove away.
Yes, they carjacked a van and vandalized its contents. But they didn’t use violence…
The image showed the van driving through the mountains, the androids with bored expressions on their faces, particularly a certain blonde. Suddenly a large gang of thugs on motorbikes surrounded their van, heckling and harassing its occupants. The black-haired android drove the van erratically, causing many of the bikers to crash out around them. The gang’s leader was persistent, however, and eventually smashed the driver’s window. The pink van screeched to a halt, surrounded by bikers brandishing all sorts of weapons. The androids stepped out of the vehicle and proceeded to be assaulted by the bikers, but they didn’t do anything until the leader swung an axe at the blonde’s head and nicked her hair. She blasted the ground underneath her, cracking the road and terrifying them.
She looked like she wanted to murder them, but she held back…
The image in the pool flashed suddenly, the lights of police cars appearing on the scene. The bikers scattered, and the police surrounded the androids, guns drawn. The twins just stood there, still looking bored, as the cops handcuffed them. Suddenly, the green giant stepped out of the back of the van, and the officers swarmed him and tried to handcuff. He simply stretched his giant hands and broke them. The blonde picked up and tossed a cop car into a hill, then snapped her own handcuffs, her brother during the same. The three got back in their van and drove off, leaving the police dumbstruck on the side of the road.
“I’ve seen enough, Dende.”
Dende lifted his hand off the surface of the pool, and the darkness abruptly left the room, the pool instantly returning to black. He motioned for Krillin to stand. The short man shook his head, sighed, and turned to the others.
“They committed a bunch of petty crimes, grand theft auto, reckless driving, speeding, vandalism, resisting arrest...but they didn’t kill or seriously harm a single being over the course of those three days. And they easily could have, especially those bikers...”
“Did you see what you wanted to see, Master Krillin?” Dende led Krillin out of the room of the Pool of Memories and back out into the open space of the Lookout, Piccolo and Mr. Popo in tow.
“Yes, yes I did. Thank you Dende. I think it’s time I took off back to Kame House and gave Roshi an update.” The bald warrior turned, waved, and moved to take off into the sky but was interrupted by the booming voice of Piccolo.
“Krillin! You’re a good man. Remember that. Go get some rest!”
Krillin raised his hand over his shoulder without turning, and took off towards the horizon.