5Twin Paths
A/N: Hey guys, so here's a quick story that I thought would make for an interesting one shot, focusing on the creation of Android's Seventeen and Eighteen and going into why there are two very different versions of the twin cyborgs.
I've seen a few explanations as to why the future Androids were so evil, ranging from their programming forcing them to kill everything, to that they started off as neutral before somehow just winding up as psychotic murderers over time for no real reason, neither of which providing a satisfying answer in my opinion.
I am aware that the real reason behind their differences is because Akira Toriyama had to throw them into a role that I believe they weren't particularly suited for, causing the future versions to be laughably one dimensional bad guys with their only real motivation being, 'we hate humans' and 'it's fun'.
Regardless I thought I'd come up with my own reasoning for their differences, so let me know what you think, thanks Literal.
He had found the two of them by mere chance, a simple trip to one of the smaller cities unexpectedly providing him with the perfect candidates for his next project, the work that he had spent so many years trying to perfect.
They were a pair of older teenage twins, one a male with black hair and the other an almost identical female with blonde hair, both having a set of piercing blue eyes that made them quite distinctive.
The two of them were social outcasts, initially being raised in an orphanage from a young age before they ran away at the start of their teenage years, left to roam the streets and get up to all sorts of mischief.
They would survive by committing all sorts of petty crimes, from burglary, to breaking and entering, as well as a few counts of stolen vehicles that were all noted down in the police records.
This sort of behavior only served to isolate them further, as the few people that knew of them saw them as nothing more than a nuisance, meaning they had no parental figures, no friends, no partners and no meaningful relationships to speak of.
In other words the perfect pair of young adults, that if in the unfortunate incident were to suddenly disappear, not a single person would really notice or care.
Which was exactly what he had planned once he had learnt all of this information, having had to resort to less than legal methods at times, as he then watched the two of them go about their pitiful daily lives, waiting for the right time to act.
A month later in an abandoned building they were his, with an ambush whilst they were sleeping ending up with both of them being knocked out cold from his injection, not even sounding a scream as he then loaded them into his vehicle and quietly took them to his lab.
And now the real work was about to begin as he stared at the two unconscious individuals in front of him, barely able to contain his anticipation at the prospect of creating his most powerful Androids yet.
"Android's 17 and 18! Today is the day that you will be born!" Dr. Gero stated with an almost manic grin, readying his tools as he approached the young boy who was clamped down on the first operating table.
"Damn you stubborn brats!" Dr. Gero exclaimed at his two creations, shaking his head in disappointment as he stared at them lying in stasis within their holding pods.
The work he had put into Android's 17 and 18 over the past year or so was now seemingly a waste of time, considering how difficult it had been to manage the two of them throughout their creation.
At first things had gone well, their transformation into cyborgs being quick and their power far exceeding his highest expectations, something he attributed to their bio-mechanical makeup.
However, the very thing that had given them this immense power was also the thing that had caused all sorts of problems for himself, being their wretched ties to humanity.
No matter how much he reprogrammed them, even when he wiped their memories clean and left them with a number rather than a name, they would always display this small part of them that was undeniably human.
And it was this part that would constantly make them rebel, causing them to ignore his orders and at times even threatening to kill him, resulting in a hasty use of the shutdown remote and another month of reprogramming.
It infuriated him to no end, as these two would desperately cling onto their last shred of humanity with everything they had, as if it was something they could not bear to lose.
"You fools will realize that humanity is nothing but a hindrance to you! It will get you killed if you let it cloud your judgment for even a second!" he muttered under his breath before gazing sadly at the pod with the number 16 inscribed on it.
"It is of no consequence, I still have time to enact my revenge on Goku! Which creation I must utilize to do so is not my concern!" he continued as he then walked up to a table with the schematics of two more Androids on it, ones numbered 19 and 20.
There was also his final project that had yet to be completed as well, one that only he knew of down in the basement below, and one that would put these failures towards something truly magnificent.
And in one timeline Dr. Gero continued his work until the day he and Android 19 took to the sky above Amenbo Island, 9 miles Southwest of South City, where he would encounter Goku and his allies, finding himself bested by them before fleeing back to his lab and meeting his eventual fate at the hands of his own creation, Android 17, who along with Android 18 retained their remaining humanity and used it to then live happily in peace.
In another, darker timeline however...
"NO! This cannot be!" Dr. Gero shouted as he hurled one of his tools across the room, watching as it smashed into a computer screen and sending shards of glass everywhere.
His plans for vengeance, the one thing that had kept him going all these many years had been thwarted, all due to some ridiculous heart virus.
He had only learnt of this now when he had been days away from making his move, his final preparations for a goal he had worked so hard to achieve.
But no, instead Son Goku had apparently died months ago from some disease, denying him the chance to reap his revenge on that man for destroying the Red Ribbon Army.
Dr. Gero glared angrily around his lab, and his eyes locked onto the two beings he could actually lay some blame on for this whole situation, Android's 17 and 18 lying in their stasis pods.
"Oh yes, you two are the reason my plans were unable to come to fruition!" he declared loudly with a deranged expression of rage, "If you hadn't held so dearly onto your worthless humanity, then you'd have been ready months ago before Goku was dead!"
Dr. Gero gritted his teeth as he then stalked over to their control terminal, initializing their configuration to view their data.
"Well then, since it's all your fault my insubordinate creations, I will make you pay dearly for your transgression!" Gero ranted on, operating the terminal frantically as he continued to yell insults at the unconscious Androids.
He then pulls up a red screen and with a malicious grin he activates the system destruction protocol, the one thing that would effectively kill the twins and leave them as nothing more than lifeless shells.
Dr. Gero laughs maniacally as the holding pods start sparking with red electricity, watching as 17 and 18's eyes suddenly open wide as they begin screaming in agony at their own destruction.
After a few moments the screams die down as Gero stares at the now motionless corpses of his two previously greatest creations.
"There, that is what you've earned yourselves you mongrel children!" he said finally, before walking over to sit down on a chair, staring at the ground with a rather tired expression.
He knew that he was hampering his ultimate project in the basement with this action, but with Goku dead he honestly didn't care, as what was the purpose in any of his creations if the person they were programmed to kill was already dead.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by twin explosions coming from across the lab, throwing the unsuspecting doctor into the wall with a crash, the black headpiece that he wore to cover his brain falling off and rolling around on the ground.
Dr. Gero looked up in horror as out of the flames walked Android's 17 and 18, both of them wearing evil smirks as they glared menacingly at the doctor.
"This can't be possible! I destroyed you with my own hands, there should be no way you're even functioning right now!" Gero cried out in complete terror, backing himself up against the wall as the twins closed in.
"Yes you did kill us in a way! You killed the last part of what made us human!" 17 said in a monotone, "You should be happy doctor, is this not what you always wanted from us?"
"You wanted us to become merciless killing machines, and here we are! Are you not pleased with the results?" 18 said coldly, murderous intent emanating from her and her brother as they got closer.
Dr. Gero just screams in fear as he realizes that these two were indeed the Androids he had tried so hard to make, only now they were still adamant about killing him regardless of his success.
Gero then makes a desperate attempt to pull out the shutdown controller, but before he could use it 18 rushes him and with a kick she rips off his arm.
She follows up by crushing the remote under her foot, adopting a smug expression at the look of pure fear Gero gives her at that.
17 then walks up as well as the two of them then stare down at Gero with looks of sinister glee as they begin to think of how they would make the doctor pay for what he did to them.
"No you can't do this, I created you..." Gero howled out as the Androids took their revenge, his screams of agony echoing throughout the lab as 17 and 18 exacted it piece by piece.
After a while the horrific deed was done, and the twins were left standing in the midst of the laboratory, both of them now coated in a mixture of blood and oil from their murder of Gero.
"So what now 17? We've gotten rid of the doctor, what is our next objective?" 18 asked her brother curiously, her face barely displaying any emotion as she stared at him.
17 just glances around at the wreckage of the lab, seeing the other holding pods containing the Android's 16 and 19 before sneering in disgust.
"First we're going to destroy the rest of this lab! Then we can do whatever we want with this world!" he said with a look of malice, and 18 responds with a hollow chuckle as they both level energy blasts at the remnants of the lab.
And in this timeline the twin Androids went on to destroy the majority of the world, killing millions in their reign of terror and showing that there was nothing left of their humanity, having been replaced with a vile hatred and anger against everything, until eventually they met their fate at the hands of Trunks, where they then spent the rest of their existence in hell for the crimes they had committed.
In the end though it wasn't really their fault for everything they had done, at least not completely as that blame lied mostly with Dr. Gero, the person who tried to take their lives away twice, and unfortunately succeeding in the second attempt.
A/N: So yeah that's my explanation, not really a happy result in the end but then again nothing ever is for the future timeline anyway.
I hope that made sense to you guys, I felt that this way makes the future Androids even more tragic as they had tried so hard to retain their humanity, only for it to be taken away from them in the end and resulting in them becoming what Gero had always wanted.
It also shifts the blame off them somewhat, and not in a lame way like their programming as well as linking it to the only major change between the two timelines which is Goku's death.
Anyway thanks for reading the story, Literal.