Reprogrammed

Ending the Nightmare

8 thrashed about in her sleep, gasping and moaning as if in pain. Trunks watched over her worriedly, hoping she would be ok. He vowed that he would make 13 pay for this. The fight between the two wouldn't be for sport in the least. It would be a killing. 13 would not live past this day. Trunks would see to that.

"Will she be ok?" he asked the doctor.

"Well," said the doctor, "physically she seems to be ok. Though she could be out for a while." He looked at his medical report. "It's strange though. She seems to have certain qualities that I have never seen before."

Trunks panicked. "Oh no, don't worry, that's normal for her. She… uh… had an accident a while back and had to have a few limbs replaced with mechanical ones and stuff like that."

He laughed nervously, hoping the doctor would accept his story. The doctor raised an eyebrow, but seemed to be satisfied with this. "Well, that explains a lot."

18 cried out in her sleep and grasped at the bedspread, shaking her head from side to side. Trunks looked at the doctor worriedly. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nightmares." The doctor replied. "Most likely caused by her pain."

"Trunks!" 18 gasped.

He placed his hand on top of hers. "I'm here."

She seemed to calm down slightly, falling back into a restless sleep. Trunks smiled down at her. While asleep she looked so helpless, but still oh so very beautiful. Reaching forward, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll be back later." He promised. "After I defeat this guy. Then we can go home."

The doctor was becoming impatient. "Sir, that's very sweet, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. She needs undisturbed bed rest."

Reluctantly, Trunks nodded. "Fine, but you better take good care of her."

"You have my word."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"What do you mean, he's an android?" Bulma shouted.

Trunks placed his finger to his lips. "Shh! Not so loud. We don't want to cause a panic."

Bulma took a moment to collect herself, then nodded. "Yes, you're right. But what are we going to do?"

Trunks raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I thought that was obvious. I'm going to destroy him."

Bulma snorted. "Yeah, that'll go well with the crowd." She muttered sarcastically. "Just be careful. That guy knocked out 18 with a single blow. He must be really strong."

"I don't think so." Trunks replied. "At least not compared to us. He just got her to lower her guard enough to get in a good hit. Anyone could do that if they get someone to lower their defense."

Bulma sighed. "Never mind that for now. The important thing is to defeat him before he hurts anyone. We also have to find out if there are any others. Who knows how many others there could be hiding out."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "Quite possibly, 14 and 15 could be here too. Maybe even 19. Those are the only others ones I saw when I went to the past." He also wondered about 16, but didn't voice it.

"Then you have to find that out and destroy him as quickly as possible." His mother told him. "Just be careful. I don't care how strong you are, androids are not to be taken lightly."

Just then came the announcement for the last match. Trunks turned to the stadium, his eyes narrowed. "It's time. I'm going to end this once and for all."