Spirit - Another Dragon Ball Fanfiction

Chapter 102: 17's Sacrifice

Jiren didn't elaborate.
"Details?" Yamcha asked.
"Jiren's wish?" Khai wondered aloud.
"I knew it." Belmod said, looking upset, "Jiren... You still..." Universe 11's God Of Destruction had his eyes closed and a disappointed/sad frown on his face.
"Lord Belmod?" Khai asked.
Belmod opened his eyes and looked towards the fighting stage. "Let me tell you all the reason for Jiren's obsession with strength. Jiren's parents were killed by an evil-doer. He was rescued by the man who would become his teacher. Jiren strove to master further strength and the right path with his teacher. One... Two... Three... Jiren gained new companions. And then, the evil-doer returned. He fought alongside his companions. Jiren thought they could win. But the enemy was too strong. One by one, Jiren's companions were killed. Even Jiren's teacher died in the fight. Jiren tried to rise again, but none of the other surviving students would stand with him. The weak could do nothing but obey the strong. Jiren was alone. Abandoned by those he trusted, Jiren's grief was immeasurable. That's when he realized that trust is worthless. And he also realized that strength is justice. Strength is absolute. Winning would bring companions. Winning would bring him everything. Emotions mean nothing there. I was drawn to Jiren's thirst for strength and his solitude."
"I see." 17 said, "So your wish is..." He didn't finish. "And here I thought you were just a killing machine. You're a pretty human guy, too."
"That's enough out of you, Belmod." Jiren said. He fired a Power Impact, which 17 blocked.
Suddenly, Yamcha appeared between them.

"That's enough!" Yamcha shouted, sweeping his hand to the side.
17 lowered his arms, confused. "Huh? Yamcha?"
Yamcha's gaze remained on Jiren. "You think trust is worthless, and strength is absolute? Strength alone didn't get me this far. It didn't allow me to grow powerful enough to fight on par with people who can take on the power of freaking gods. I got this far by not only training my hide off, but also by trusting my friends..." Yamcha glanced at Marorizu, Goku, and everyone else. "My family." he said. "You think winning will bring you everything? You're wrong."
Jiren folded his arms. "In what way?"
"Winning might bring you companions. It might bring you the Super Dragon Balls themselves. But you know what? You'll still be missing one key thing."
"What will I be missing?"
 Yamcha struck a hard stare at Jiren. "Us."
Jiren looked confused as he lowered his arms. "What?"
"Don't you see? You'll still be alone. Still faithless in others. When everything is all said and done, if you don't change, you'll have nothing but your own misery to keep you company. But you refuse to change. Refuse to trust others. You only trust yourself and that'll be your downfall. You won't beat us, because you don't have an 'us'. And if you win, no matter how strong you become, no matter what you wish for once you get the Super Dragon Balls, at the end of the day... You. Will. Still. Be. Alone." 

"So what?" Jiren asked, "What if I remain alone?"
Yamcha chuckled a little. "Heh." It quickly turned into a laugh. "Heh heh heh... Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Something amuses you?" Jiren asked.
Yamcha stopped laughing and took a deep breath. "Oh- oh, man! Whew! Oh, jeez, sorry about that outburst. It's just..." Yamcha's laughing expression vanished, replaced by a grim one, "you're not the only one who's got ghosts from the past haunting you. You don't have the patience for the full story, so let's just say that when I was... um, younger... I was a lot like you. But you know what? At some point you're going to have to stop trying to live regretting the past and grow up!"
"Silence!" Belmod ordered, "What do you know of Jiren?"
Yamcha's eyes narrowed. "You're so stuck in the past, you're too scared to look towards the future."
His eyes suddenly widened as he dodged a punch from Jiren. "Looks like I hit a nerve there!" he thought aloud.
Jiren charged after him and grabbed him by the face, slamming Yamcha through three pillars of Kachi Katchin. Then he punched Yamcha into a boulder, leaving a crater. Yamcha bounced back, however, throwing a punch which Jiren met with a punch of his own. But while the Pride Trooper's arm remained steady, Yamcha's arm- his entire body, in fact -was trembling from the effort.
Nevertheless, Yamcha pressed on. "Do you think that you can just continue on with your life after you win?" he demanded, "Do you think you can just spend the rest of your days crying to yourself while you shut out everyone else?!"
Jiren grabbed Yamcha's arm with his other hand and tossed him away, and Yamcha skidded to a halt face-first across the ground. 

"Ridiculous." Jiren said as he leaped onto the other half of the fighting stage, "Strength is absolute. Strength forgives all. Even the past."
He charged up a Power Impact, but this time with both hands. Then, he fired it at Yamcha, Marorizu, Goku, and Vegeta, all of whom were unable to do anything. The orb became enormous and rumbled through the part of the stage they were on. It was about to hit them when suddenly it stopped- because Android 17 had used his Energy Barrier to hold it back, and he was still doing so.
"You... What are you doing?!" Vegeta asked.
"At least save yourself!" Goku exclaimed.
"No... 17, don't... don't do what I think you're about to do." Yamcha begged.
"That's crazy, 17!" 18 shouted from the stands, "You're not strong enough! Run!"
The orb closed in, breaking through wall after wall of 17's barriers.
"Seventeen!" 18 yelled.
17 glanced back at his immobile teammates. "Hey, Son Goku! Vegeta! Yamcha! Marorizu!" The Power Impact broke through 17's last barrier wall, leaving just his own round shield to block it.
"I gave up on the cruiser." 17 remarked, "You'd better thank me."
Suddenly, a green barrier of energy surrounded Goku, Vegeta, Marorizu, and Yamcha.
17 glanced at them all. "Hopefully you all got some rest." he said, turning his attention back to the Power Impact, "Sacrificing myself for others... I like how human that feels."
Then, as the Power Impact finally broke through 17's last barrier, he shouted in defiance and in a blinding flash of light, he was gone and so was Jiren's attack.