A strong, independent android woman who don't need no bald warrior monk
Chapter 1
In the desert west of WestCity a solitary Hummer blew through the sands and kicked up billows of dust. It had been cruising the land for hours now under the sweltering heat, and its exhaust fumes mixed with the sand clouds to look like one deadly heat wave.
At length the Hummer slowed to stop and the dust settled. Android 18 threw the door open and stepped tiger-like onto the hot sand. She wore jeans and a heavy black bomber jacket which she hadn't paid for, and which would have melted a normal person in that heat; she didn't feel a thing.
Her only thought was: dammit—the car's out of gas. She had been driving non-stop and aimlessly for the past three days. This was the fourth car she had hijacked. 18 knelt and dug her fingers into the sand. She picked up a rock and examined the blood-red crystals in its surface.
What the hell am I doing there? Why am I driving over the country looking for barren places to be alone? At least I could crash out a fancy hotel. I don't have any money, but no one but Son Goku's friends could stop me.
But 18 knew it wouldn't make any difference. 16 and 17 were destroyed; she was the last android. Dr. Gero had created her to kill Son Goku, but she couldn't do that anymore, even if she'd had the desire to do so. She couldn't lower herself to join human society. But she didn't belong with the Z-fighters either. They didn't trust her. They only tolerated her because Krillin had a crush on her.
She stared into the hollow sky: cloudless. Her fingers tightened around the rock in her hand. It shattered and she rose quickly. She sensed who was coming toward her. Her eyes narrowed and she pressed her lips into a sharp line. This was her disguise. This was the mechanical look she always wore among her enemies. No organic being could understand how a cyborg changed, sometimes with her mechanical side in control, sometimes with her human side dominant. Right now she was a robot. Vegeta landed 10 metres in front of her. Yellow spiky hair, green eyes. A super saiyan. The wind whistled.
