Chapter 9 “For we have crossed many oceans And we labor in between In life there are many quotients And I hope to find the mean.” -Creed, “Wash Away Those Years” Montana ran out of Capsule Corp and after Miura. There was no way she was going to let her friend suffer through this by herself. “And besides,” she thought to herself, “If she does find the androids, she’s in no condition to fight them. Both of us together might not even have a chance. Only with Trunks do we stand a possibility of winning.” Bulma and Trunks had also gone in search of the missing saiya-jin. Montana had taken the downtown area of West Capital to look for her companion. Suddenly, a scream was heard , and Montana ran towards the commotion. What she saw racked her to her very soul. She witnessed Juuhachi and Juunana anihalating buildings, people, and what ever else they could find. Her eyes tearing up, Montana walked towards them. She couldn’t beleive that Juunana was capable of such destruction. At the last moment, Juunana saw her, and flew in the direction of the woman and her infant. He sensed a high power level from this individual and wanted to investigate. Landing lightly on the ground, he approached her. Montana was visably shaking now. Realizing that this wasn’t her Juunana, she finally understood what Miura was going through. At least she had her son, that was some comfort. But to be here with him, face to face, it was almost more than she could bear. The android was 1/2 foot away from her, and he noticed the tears forming in her eyes. But they weren’t the tears from fear, those he knew well. These...he didn’t understand these tears. “Why?” she whispered, “Why are you doing this? You don’t have to be destructive. You are capable of so much more than this.” Juunana cocked an eyebrow. Raising a hand, he powered up a ki blast that would surely finnish her off. He knew that with the child in her arms, the woman wouldn’t dare power up. It may burn the infant. Just as he was about to fire, the baby let out a loud squall. The woman looked down at her child and smiled comfortingly. “Sh, Ethan. You’ll be OK.” Then she looked at Juunana defiantly. “You don’t have to do this, you know.” Confusion crossed the young android’s face. Never before had he not wanted to kill one of his victums. In fact, he had always bragged about that fact to his sister. And now, here he was, reluctant to murder the woman standing before him. She reached out and put a hand on his arm. “My name is Montana. I can help you, if you want me to. You can trust me.” His face softened for a moment. He looked down at the sleeping child in her arms and gave a small, gentle smile. Then, a hard look cast a shadow over his handsome face and he backed away. Glaring at her, he stated, “I don’t know how you are, but you can’t help me. No one can.” And with that, he flew into the air at top speed, escaping the strange woman who he didn’t want to slay. Montana sighed heavily and leaned against a nearby building, fighting to keep the tears inside. She brushed her blue hair out of her face and sighed heavily, watching Juunana’s form grow smaller as he flew away. * * * * * * * Juuhachi watched in disgust as her brother flew away from the woman he had been taunting, leaving them unharmed. “Hmm...” she trailed off, “It seems mt brother is losing his edge. I may have to rectify his mistake.” She flew off in pursuit of her twin, worried that he may becoming soft. * * * * * * * Miura ran. She ran passed the many crumbled constructions and buildings of West Capital, trying to escape the painful news. “There’s no going back. I have to get out off here. Away from everyone.” Her tears blinded her so that she couldn’t see where she was going. Miura lost her way and just started to run in a random direction. She found herself in a dark alley, with only one escape. And it seemed to be blocked by...three large men in lether jackests. “Please,” she begged as they approached her, “Please just...just go away! Leave me alone!” But the men didn’t go away. Instead, they walked ever closer to her. “Maybe I deserve this,” she thought as the leader of the group ran a hand on her cheek. She stood there, shaking in fear. “Now that’s a pretty,” he growled happily, “If only all the other girls were this easy...” “Get your hands off of her,” a voice from behind the mob demanded. Evry head turned to the rear and saw Trunks standing in a fighting stance. “I don’t want to have to kill you, but I will if you don’t leave her alone.” The men ran off, knowing Trunks’ reputation. He approached the crying girl and held her in his arms. She pushed him away violently, sobbing. "NO! GO AWAY!! I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU!!" she screamed at Trunks, as she ran down the ally. He fazed out and appeared in front of her, causeing the distaught girl to crash into him, slowing her escape. “Miura,” he whispered at the girl who had broken down in his arms, “You need to come home.” She hiccuped. “I can’t. I can never go home. I have no home now!” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly, leaning on his chest. “My home is your home, Miura,” he stated gently as he cradled her with an arm. He held the crying girl until she composed herself, and they headed for Capsule Corp. * * * * * * * Juunana was confused. “Why had that girl just stood there like that?” he thought to himslef as he and his sister flew to there next destination. “And why did that brat’s screaming affect me so much? What is wrong with me?” He shook his head to clear it of that line of thought, but his mind continued to show the image of the young mother pleading for him. For his sanity. “Why does she care so much anyways?” he muttered. Juuhachi looked over her shoulder at him and asked, “What? Did you say something?” “No. Its nothing. Don’t mind me.” But in his sythetic heart, he knew that something that girl did touched him in a way he had never felt before. She actually cared for him. He snorted at the realization, but his eyes gave away his true feelings. * * * * * * * Montana sat in the kitchen, nursing Ethan. She had had a hard day. First, Miura running off and then seeing Juunana like that...she didn’t know if she was going to be able to complete this mission or not. As soon as Trunks had brought the younger Saiya-jin back to Capsule Corp., she had fallen asleep in his arms and he had put her to bed like a little child. This mission was also taking its toll on her partner as well. Sighing, Montana looked down at her sleeping child and gave a small smile. “At least I have you, don’t I?” Ethan squirmed in his sleep. Just then, a knock on the door was heard and she put her son down to answer it. “Hello, can I...” she trailed off, because the one person she never expected to be at the door was standing in front of her. “You said you could help me,” Juunana stated. “How?” To stunned to answer, Montana gaped at the android who was before her. “I...um...well, you see...” she stuttered, suddenly afraid. The black haired man cocked an eyebrow at the stuttering woman and asked, “What? You wanted to help me, right?” “Um...yeah. Come in.” He strood into the buildong and surveyed its contents. “Nice, very nice.” Montana went over to the kiutchen table and picked up her son. “Ok, let’s go.” “And just where are we going?” Montana gave him a small smile. “We’re going to the laboratory. I have something there that can help you.” “Oh really? What‘s that?” he asked. “A computer virus,” she stated, going down the steps towards her work place. “It will destroy all non-organinc componenets in your body, leaving you human.” Juunana sighed inwardly. Give up his immortality? It was a lot to ask. And he didn’t know why he was doing it. Actually, that was a lie. he knew exactly why he was doing it. He was doing it for the girl standing in front of him. The only person in his whole life that actually seemed to give a damn about what happened to him. “So, how did you find me?” she inquired as she opened the door to the lab. Juunana shrugged. “I found your ki and followed it to here. So, you’re staying with the Breifs’, huh?” “Yeah,” she answered, “You’re just lucky that Trunks is upstairs.” Montana laughed then, a thing she rarely did lately. The android smiled slightly and followed her into the lab. “I need to ask you a question before we begin,” Montana mumbled. “Why did you come here? I mean, I thought you were supposed to be a bloodthirsty killer?”