A rain of white, glowing hail hurtled into the earth with earsplitting volume, shaking the ground violently. Juuhachi-gou's target charged along the ground, at an alarmingly fast speed, darting from side to side to avoid being hit by the blasts. Turning in a full backflip, Tayhei quickly spun around to face the sky and lifted a small hand in the air.  A gleaming disc of energy spun from her palm and floated above her head as it grew larger. With a shout, Tayhei flung the disc in the direction the ki blasts was falling from, and then Juuhachi-gou disappeared, appearing moments later to the left of Tayhei.

Juuhachi-gou tried to escape the disc, but it trailed her relentlessly.  She darted about in mid air; trying to shake the disc and out run it. Eventually, she grew tired of out running the disc and turned to block it with a ball of her own energy.  The disc slammed into the ball and was flung backwards into the reaches of the atmosphere.   She followed it with her eyes, then  smirked at Tayhei, who was panting tiredly next to Bulma's body.

"If that's really the best you can do, you might want to re-think that challenge you assembled towards me."  The cyborg gently brushed her blond bangs away from her eyes.  "You and I both know you aren't going to win the war."

Juunana-gou landed softly beside her.  "And you aren't going to win the battle either." He promised.

His female counterpart took a noted step towards the cave.  "Just give us the access code and we'll make sure you death is a short and....almost painless one."

They smirked at one another then turned back to Tayhei with identical grins on their faces.

Tayhei stared back at them with her fists clenched tightly, and turned her head to spit the blood the had accumulated in her mouth, never letting her eyes leave theirs. She was breathing hard, and her body was aching from the physical abuse that it had been enduring for the last hour.

So this is the rush that Trunks often spoke of?

The feeling of holding power in your hands and knowing what to do with it.  The surge of adrenaline that rose up from her heart and into her movements.  A familiar feeling of fear was also there, more predominate that the others.  She was nobody's fool;  the jinzouningen were ten times more powerful than her, even if she had reached a new height in power.

Idly, she massaged her aching neck and concentrated on her opponents, noting that the twins appeared to be relaxed, and even enjoying themselves.  Tayhei had never really given thought to the fact that the cyborgs were supposedly unbeatable, she only knew that they were very powerful; but now, seeing the unscathed after the punches, kicks, and blasts that she had thrown, she was amazed.

She wiped away the drop of blood that was sliding down her forehead and assumed a fighting stance once more.  Heels digging into the ground, she began to power up again.

"There's no way I'm giving you the access code."

They laughed loudly, and Tayhei became so angry that she actually saw red.  Of course, the tint the world had taken might have been tributed to the trickle of blood that was pouring from a cut near her eye.  She had never taken such a beating, and she had never been so frustrated with herself.  The jinzouningen were actually laughing at her now, as if she were the sideshow in a cruel and unrelenting circus.  Her normally mild and peaceful nature had been corrupted by this fight.  She no longer wanted peace for Earth and safety for mankind, she just wanted to rip their heads off and grin while they screamed in agony.

"Well, well, well.  It seems as if you are actually wanting to be punished for your insolence!  We are the rulers of this planet, girl, whether you like it or not!" Juunana-gou stated with his head held high.  "Now give us the access code and get out of our sight."

She stood her ground and stayed determined to beat them.  If they got the access code to the underground city, everything would be destroyed!  She may not know the people that lived there, she may not even have cared before, but she did now.  There was no chance that access code would ever leave her lips.

Juuhachi-gou put a hand on her brother's shoulder.  "Niichan, maybe we should just play with her a little while longer.  If nothing else, she IS a good laugh."

Tayhei glared icily at her.  If it were possible, she hated the female cyborg even more than the male.  Call it female rivalry, but ever since she first saw that girl, she had hated her so much it hurt.  It wasn't that the cyborg was annoying, or that she was so pretty, but the fact that they had so many things in common.  While Tayhei lacked Juuhachi-gou's enthusiasm for killing and violence, their sense of humor and grace was nearly identical.  In some strange alternate universe, she and her could have been great friends.  But this was no alternate universe, and Juuhachi-gou was not her friend, but an enemy.  And if she didn't take a chance and get rid of her now, who knows what the future might hold?

She lunged at the female cyborg suddenly, reaching out to grab her small throat with outstretched small hands.  Juuhachi-gou easily avoided her and kicked her in the stomach as she whirled around.  The kick hit hard, and Tayhei felt an overwhelming sense of nausea rise in her throat.  She fell to the ground, clutching her stomach in pain.  Weak, painful breaths came from her bleeding mouth as she tried to sit back up.

Without a warning, Juunana-gou came crashing down onto her ribs, effortlessly breaking at least half of them as if they were twigs.  Tayhei screamed in pain and he stood on her ribs, bouncing up and down lightly with his toes.  He jumped off of her and kicked her in the side, causing stars to appear before her eyes and sent the world spinning wildly.

"Tell us the access code, girl!" he demanded.  His dark hair had fallen into his eyes as he said this, and his beautiful smile and turned into an unattractive snarl.  Juuhachi-gou looked on in interest, gently switching her gaze from Tayhei back to her brother, amused at his anger.

Tayhei sneered at him and narrowed her eyes.  "Never!" she screamed.  In an attempt to get him away from her, she swirled the blood her mouth and spit it at his face.

Shocked, he slowly wiped off of his face and stared at his hand, wet with dark red blood and spit.  He looked back down at the broken girl beneath him and let out an enraged yell, causing her already sore ears to ache and ring.

"DIE BRAT!!"  Juunana-gou screamed. He reached out a hand and a brilliant ball of energy formed quickly in his palm.

"NIICHAN!"  Juuhachi-gou howled, running over to stop him.

Juuhachi-gou's cry startled him and the energy disappeared from his hands.  Tayhei let out her breath slowly and felt her heart rate resume to it's normal pace.

Juuhachi-gou angrily grabbed her brother by the arm.  "If we kill her, we will never learn the access code." She informed him.

He tore his arm from her grip and scowled at her.  "She isn't going to tell us, Juuhachi."  Crossing his arms tightly across his chest, he looked down at Tayhei.  "And she spit at me." He complained.

"Poor baby." Tayhei choked from down on the ground.

Juunana-gou angrily grabbed her by the neck and shook her.  "Shut up, brat!  I will kill you if you say so much as one more word." He promised.

The female cyborg suddenly brightened.  "I have an idea."  She pointed to Bulma, who was just regaining consciousness.  "The woman knows the access code and she is not as strong as the brat.  We can make her tell us."

She bent down and picked Bulma up, swinging her easily over her shoulder.  Bulma's head bobbed lifelessly and her turquoise hair hung loosely towards the ground.  A dark cold feeling of fear spread like ice through Tayhei's veins.  She met the male cyborg's eyes and pleaded silently for Bulma's life.  He stared down at her with an unreadable expression and his lips spread into a thin line.

"That has no effect on me, girl.  We will get the access code and will we kill you and the woman." He said in an icy tone, then released Tayhei, throwing into a nearby rock, and followed his sister into the air.

Tayhei slammed through the thick granite of the cave wall, feeling every inch of her body scream in pain as she impacted.  Bright points of white light appeared in front of her eyes, almost like small stars orbiting around her.  In the distance, she saw the jinzouningen flying off with Bulma.

She struggled to stand and yelled, her voice cracking.  "N..no!  YAMERO!  Please!"

Juunana-gou stopped in mid air and turned back to face the girl.  "We will be back in two days with the access code, same time, same place.  Be ready to fight, there will be no mercy this time."  He assured her.

In an instant, the three were mere specks on the horizon, and then they disappeared from her vision.

Tayhei bit back tears and fought to stand up on her feet.  The pain was so sharp that her breath was taken away and she gasped, her eyes widening.  She lay her head back down on the stone and took a deep breath.  The senzu beans were still in the pocket of her jacket;  she just had to reach them.  Slowly, she curled her arm towards her jacket, until she found the pocket and dug out the senzu.  As soon as she had swallowed it, she immediately felt relief and was able to stand once more.

She looked in the direction that the jinzouningen had escaped with Bulma and felt something that resembled hopelessness.

Where are you Trunks?
 

Tayhei had no idea where she was, and no idea how she had gotten there.  She was in the middle of a large rock slab, with other large rocks around her also.  Tightly, she closed her eyes, trying to remember how she had gotten there, or why.  When nothing came to mind, she opened her light green eyes.

A figure lay there, with their back to her, unmoving on the hard ground.  As much as she tried, she could not make out who it was.  She wandered around them and faced their other side to get a look at their face.

She stared.  Stray locks of lavender hair had fallen across his face, shadowing his closed eyes.  Time seemed to suspend fully, all the voices and objects around her slowing to stillness.  Vaguely, in the distance she saw the bright red sun sinking behind the horizon, silhouetting Trunks's broken form.

Hesitantly, she took a step towards him and kneeled at his side.

"Trunks?" she whispered, so quietly that she scarcely heard herself.

A feeling a fear crept into her throat when no reply came and his body remained unmoving.

"Trunks." she tried again.

Again, no reply came and her breath began to quicken rapidly with fear.  She reached out a hesitant hand and shook him gently.  "Trunks!"

His shoulder slumped back lifelessly and she let out a small gasp when realization finally set in.

No!  Not Trunks!

She looked up and stared at the brilliantly intense sun, setting slowly in the distance, remembering everything that had happened since the brave warrior entered her life.

"Every morning when I wake up, that's the only thing that gives me determination.  Each day it appears on the skyline, seemingly brighter and more powerful every time.  As the long as the sun rises each morning, I am depended on by the people of this planet.  I am the last warrior, the Earth's only hope.  They will never give up their hope because they can't.  It the only thing they have left.  As long as the sun rises, there is hope."

A tear slipped down her cheek as she watched the crimson sun finally set, leaving her in darkness and obliterating all hope for her happiness.  Destroying all hope for happiness on Earth.  She pressed a shaking hand to Trunks's forehead and gently brushed his hair away from his face.  Hot tears slid down her cheeks against her will.

"Why do people hurt each other, Trunks?  The world be such a better place if we all stopped hurting one another." She whispered between sobs.

She bent down and kissed him softly on the forehead.  An impulse to gather him in her arms and hold him until she died also struck her, but she resisted it.  There was another world out there, a world fallen with destruction and haunted by two evil jinzouningen.  She may not be Super Saiya-jin and she may not even be that strong, but if people could be defeated on determination alone, the cyborgs would have been dead long ago.  She was now the future's only hope; if she never came back, it would be the end.

The jinzouningen appeared behind them, grinning sadistically at what they had done to Trunks.  They said not a word, only stared at her with cold blue eyes and laughed.  With a sweep of the wind, the two of them disappeared, and Tayhei as left alone with Trunks once more.
 
 

Tayhei woke up abruptly, seething with anger and tears running down her cheeks.  Hurriedly, she jumped from her bed, throwing the covers onto the floor and blindly ran out into the Capsule Corporation hallway.  She tried to concentrate on where she was going, but all she could concentrate on was a pair of identical faces with malice written all over them.  Every time she closed her eyes she saw them, forever imprinted in her mind.  Juuhachi-gou's feminine laugh, the midnight darkness of Juunana-gou's hair.

She paused in the middle of the hallway and pressed her hands against her head, trying to stop the images of the jinzouningen running through her head.  Taking deep, soothing breaths in, she managed to somewhat calm herself down and she thought of what would be happening that day.

Today is the day they'll be attacking the underground city.  Its going to be the last time they will ever attack anything, ever cause pain.  They will pay for everything.  I will make them pay!  They have taken away everyone in my life shamelessly....All my fears, all my anguish can be defined by two pairs of ice blue eyes and the hatred within them.

Chapter 17
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