Heat of the Moment

[Android 17]

A long time ago, the cyborg had been just a boy made of flesh and bones.  Born with a fraternal twin, he and his sister had been taken from their parents at a young age, although later reports likened the exchange to more of a business transaction rather than abduction.  Regardless of the circumstance, Seventeen and his twin had been separated permanently before any of their memories became solid.

Years down the road, he had discovered that his sister and he had been the subject of some form of experimentation by guerillas.  Some ‘surprise’ violence had shut down whatever the clandestine operation was working toward, and after that, it was a few orphanages and a suburban foster family in a white-collar neighborhood.

“Obviously the beginnings of every great story…” Shaking his head, Seventeen sat up off the baked earth and brushed away the dust and silicate that had lightly coated him during his rest.  Even the simple motion of planting his palms into the ground and pushing up caused him to grimace in agony.  Although his wounds had started to scab over, his wiry form was still wracked with a great deal of pain—much more than he could recall experiencing in a good while.

The Void was more pleasant than this… He thought as he brushed a gore-smeared hand across his neck.  A few years ago, he’d had his throat slit by a friend under the pretense of sending him into some hellish, pocket dimension in the afterlife. King Kai and his damn training…

Even after he graduated to training with King Kai’s boss, Seventeen had always met his old sensei for lattes and a round of golf with Minoshia.  Would the two of them be concerned with the cyborg no-showed?

They’ll probably relish in it, because I won’t be there to make them look like little scrubs.

With a grin, Seventeen turned his thoughts to the present situation.  After checking to ensure that the bag of coal was still on his person, the cyborg sat up off the ground and tried to determine where he was in the verse.  One of the Koopas had let him know that time and distance in the Omniverse were ‘goofy,’ but the turtle hadn’t been able to more intelligently convey his point.

Once he was upright again and free of ash, the machine-hybrid closed his eyes and tried to let his ki sense provide him with a sense of direction.  When that failed, he let out a groan, secured the bag around his shoulders, and started to make his way up to the top of the nearest hill.  The ascent was simple for the first fifty feet, but after that, the cyborg was forced to lean forward like an ape and scramble his way up the steeper incline.

At the head of the miniature mountain, Seventeen had a better vantage point than in the valley behind him.  Although the shadow of the adjacent volcanic mountain made it more difficult to spot landmarks, his extra-human vision managed to pluck out a little wooden structure in the distance.  While he couldn’t be certain that was the fortified camp of the astronomers, there was probably an intelligible being there who could provide him with directions.

After securing all of his belongings a second time, Seventeen started down the other side of the large hill.  Unlike his trip up, the downward trek was far simpler and comprised mostly of ‘try not to trip and get eaten by a rockslide.’  Fortunately, the lithe cyborg was light on his feet and made it back to somewhat solid ground without doing something stupid.

Twenty minutes later, the machine-hybrid found himself approaching the gates of the complex where the astronomers were camped.  As he drew closer, he was pleased when the gates swung open for him and no one rushed forward to threaten him with pointy sticks and metal cudgels.

“You’ve returned!”  A man—a guard that Seventeen didn’t remember meeting on his first visit—shouted as the cyborg passed over the camp’s threshold.  As the gate closed behind him, the raven-haired warrior waved to the approaching guard and glanced in the direction of the approaching Mr. Peppers.  The oversized astronomer had a mixture of happiness and concern on his face as he approached the lurching, bloodstained man.

“Got your coal,” Seventeen mumbled as he slung the backpack off his shoulders and tossed it toward the astronomer.  The back, which hadn’t been properly sealed, landed on the ground between the two figures and spilled its contents out onto the ground.  “We good?”