Fifteen meters apart, the twins faced each other. C-18 kept her arms hanging down each side of her, her hands clenched into tight fists. Her eyes shone with determination. C-17 had his hands on his hips, casual looking. His eyes gleamed with madness.
- For the last time, sis, join me. I know you want to.
- I know I don't. Why do you do all of this?
He scowled. "Why do I do this? I don't know. It doesn't matter."
- Let's set the rules, he said with a dark smile. I win, you join me. You win, you'll never hear of me again.
She frowned slightly.
- I don't want to lose you. You're my brother.
- Don't try to be nice, it's too late.
He moved one leg ahead, bent forward and clenched his fists.
- Come, he ordered.
She came, opening the barrier of her anger. In half a second she had flown up to him and he blocked her leg one first time. A violent tussle rose a cloud of dust and sand around them. C-17 was mostly on the defensive but he would have to attack soon: C-18 was more powerful and skilled than he remembered.
Her fist hit his face, he fell onto his back. She didn't attack, but stood in front of him, breathing hard. She wasn't tired, but fighting her twin brother wasn't her favorite sport. She cursed under her breathe, noticing her short silky night gown was covered with dust. What a nice way to begin the day.
At least the blood on her feet had dried up.
C-17 got up. "She's stronger." He was angry now.
- How dare you, C-18?!
- How dare you kidnap and aim your gun at my daughter?!?
He didn't even see her punch before it crushed his nose. This time she didn't stop there and he did his best to avoid her attacks. Her speed increased with each blow she missed and he read the rage in her eyes. His heart double beat, he caught her arm and threw her over his shoulder. She fell onto the ground heavily, but rolled backward and sent her feet between his shoulders. Losing his balance, he fell forward and received her knees in his back. Now pinned in the sand under his sister, C-17 growled furiously.
- I'm stronger, he shouted, trying to push her off of him. You can't beat me!
- Shut up!
She hit him behind the head, he tasted the sand.
- You bitch!
- You bastard.
Her hands grabbed his neck through the red scarf and his cold blue eyes widened. "She can't kill me!"
- C-18!
- I have enough, C-17! Ok, I forgot you, but there is no reason to endanger my daughter, or to shoot my husband!
She squeezed his neck and air didn't make its way to C-17's lunges anymore. He wriggled frantically.
- You should have stayed away! she screamed, shaking his head violently. And never have come! I don't need you!
His eyes rolled in their orbits, he wondered if they would roll out before his lunges ignite. He needed air and...
- I forgot you because I wanted to! You're just trouble!
...maybe then he could teach her a good lesson...
- You make me sick, C-17! Sick!
His head hurt too, he knew it would explode soon. Or maybe her iron fingers would cut off his neck before. Her voice was a faint echo from another world, all he knew was the pain he shouldn't know.
Then his forehead hit the sand again. Dusty air drew into him, burning his insides, and he breathed and breathed as C-18 fell beside him. Her face was expressionless and she absently tucked her hair behind the right ear.
"Do I really hate him? ... Could I kill him?"
C-17 rolled onto his back, regularizing his respiration. She didn't look at him.
"He hurt Krilin and threatened Marron but... He's still my brother."
Her eyes moved onto him. There were red marks on his neck, for what the scarf showed of it.
"My twin..."
The sun was up and warm already. She felt it beaming on her skin. The blood on her feet crackled.
- You lost, she whispered.
C-17 closed his eyes. His head was pulsing from the previous lack of oxygen and his neck hurt.
- I'm sorry, C-17.
He remembered Marron's sleeping face. The picture of innocence. It seemed like hours ago...
- I didn't want all of this to happen.
She really had liked him. He wondered how she felt now.
- But I can't go with you. Especially after what you did.
One sure thing...
- You have to go, and never come back.
He had lost her.
C-18 got up. The night gown was a total mess, but it didn't matter.
- Good bye, C-17.
She slowly flew away, before he could see how her eyes were shinning too much.
Krilin was putting the second ribbon in Marron's hair, who was drinking orange juice without enthusiasm.
Roshi was preparing some strong coffee - senzus are always good to have at home -. He felt a little weak from the previous loss of blood, but was definitely alive.
The dawn was coming. The sky was a little clearer already.
A wave rolled onto the beach, left it. Beside Marron's quiet sipping and the coffee machine, it was all that was heard. It calmed down Krilin's feverish mind, but didn't appease it completely. For what he knew, C-17 was the strongest of the two and...
Marron looked up at him with scared eyes.
- I'm worried about mommy...
- She'll be back soon.
He put his arms around her, rocking back and forth a little. Marron snuggled up to him, closed her eyes. Her father smelled better than her uncle, and he would never put a gun on her stomach.
Roshi smiled behind his mustach. Such a lovely picture... He turned to the window, sighing.
C-18 hugged her daughter tightly, for a long moment. It was the second time within a week that she feared losing her...
- I love you, she whispered in the child's ear.
- I love you mommy.
Spontaneously, Marron kissed her mother's cheek. C-18 smiled tenderly, cupped the child's face with one hand. "I couldn't stand losing you..."
She looked up at Krilin.
- How's your shoulder?
- Top shape! Senzus really do miracles.
She shook her head at his casual attitude, knowing it was faked.
- I'm up for a shower, she said. This thing isn't worth a penny now...
- You can always buy another one.
She kissed his cheek when passing by.
- Thank you.
Krilin blushed, a huge smile on his face. Marron giggled.
C-17 was still laid on his back, eyes closed. The sunrays were burning already, but he didn't care. "Why am I, if I don't have anyone to be with anymore?"
"I don't need anyone. I'm a cyborg. I do what I want, when I want to. I live on my own."
"But why? What do I have to do?"
"........Nothing."
A sigh escaped his dry lips.
It felt good to not have blood or dust on herself anymore. The fresh water cleaned her body, cleared her mind.
She wondered what C-17 would do now.
Slowly, his left hand began to move. Life was just a joke. A painful one. Very painful.
"She was right..." His fingers wrapped around the grip. "I shouldn't have come." Slowly, he pulled the gun up to his head. It was very heavy. "At least I can make sure I won't repeat the mistake."
C-18 was carefully soaping her feet when a thought crossed her mind.
C-17. His gun.
The soap fell into the water with a little 'splash!' sound.
He had a little moment of hesitation. He wondered what Hell was like. He wondered if a stupid bullet could do it. "It's my bullet, of course it will." It was a dumb logic, but it felt true.
He breathed deeply. "And this is the end of C-17, the weak and lonely cyborg." With a last bitter smirk, he closed his eyes, pressing his eyelids together tightly.
She had only wrapped a towel around her naked body as flying out by the window - those were sure practical -. Her hair was wet but the desert's sun dried it up quickly, burning her soft skin. It didn't matter.
- C-17!!
He was still where she had left him, laid on the hot sand. But he had moved a little. He was now aiming the gun at his own temple.
Around his head, the sand had a dark, sickeningly reddish coloration.
C-18 fell on her knees beside him. She shook her head slightly, part of her wondered how a simple, stupid bullet could even hurt him. And she saw he had pushed the barrel into his head before shooting. His knuckles were still white, for he had held the grip very tightly in the process.
Cool tears began to run down her cheeks, slowly. The heat made their saltiness burn her eyes and face.
- That's not what I wanted, moron...
She couldn't touch him. His face was pale and she read pain on it, endless pain. For a short moment, she wanted to blast that body into nothingness, that corpse that wasn't her brother. Because C-17 would never have ended his life. Not like this.
"How can you tell? He changed in nine years." She hip cupped violently. It was too much for a single hour, even for her.
After a long moment - the tears had stopped coming to her eyes but still burnt -, she touched his cheek with the tip of a finger. The skin was warm because of the sun, but she knew it should have been cold. All that blood out of him...
- Good bye, brother...
She got up slowly, flew back home once again.
End
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