Ahh, the magnificence of the vast space. And now, as we approach planet Namek, admire its beauty, its
wild nature...huh, wait a minute. This is only metal. A planet sized ball, 100% made of cold, lifeless metal.
What's going on here? What happened to planet Namek and its inhabitats?
Well, for now, let's leave them in their unknown fate and move to Earth. Right now, in the flat of a lovely
suburb, we can see Eighteen resting on a sofa watching tv. She's in her underpants (imagine her like Bulma
in her underpants in that episode she was travelling to Namek with Gohan/Krillin doing their image training).
With her one hand, she's lazily pressing random buttons on the remote control. With her other hand, she's
drinking a can of coke. When she finishes it, she easily crashes it with her one hand only and throws it high,
annihilating it with a small energy ball. She enjoys a peaceful life, with no financial problems. Right after
the Cell Games, she busted into the office of some tycoon (a short, fat, middle aged guy, imagine him like
the one Cell absorbed at Ginger when he was found by Piccolo) and threatened him into signing a check for
an enormous amount of money. Then, she ''politely'' asked him to develop amnesia and forget the incident.
Also, she occassionally takes up jobs that require physical strength, thus, earning some extra cash.
The door knocks. Mumbling curses, the female android gets up and stretches her arms, revealing even
more qualities of her gorgeous body.
Krillin is on the other side of the door, holding a bouquet of flowers. While waiting for the android to open,
he's smiling, recalling their first date.
Flashback...
Roshi's island. Krillin is sitting on the shore, drawing circles on the sand and gazing the waves. It's been a
while since Cell Games, but he hasn't got over the rude way Eighteen treated him at Kami's Lookout. He
hasn't seen her ever since and doesn't know her whereabouts. Roshi walks to him.
-''Are you still thinking about her?'' he asks.
-''You bet'' the bold monk answers.
A few moments of silence.
-''Hey, i know how to make you happy'' the old master suddenly says. ''Let's go to a brothel together. Isn't
it a great idea?''
-''Not interested'' Krillin sighs.
-''What? Come on, lad, you can't be like that over a robot, there are so many real chicks...''
-''She's not a robot'' Krillin yells while standing up. ''She IS a real woman, in both body and heart''.
Without waiting for an answer, the monk enters the house.
-''Darn, why do i always have to open my big, stupid mouth?'' Roshi wonders in his head. Suddenly, he
hears a female voice behind him:
-''Hey, old man, isn't here where i can find that Krillin guy?''
Roshi turns around and sees Eighteen, with her arms crossed. He freezes. Under other conditions, he'd
have tried to ''pat pat'' that hot chick or something, but, knowing about her strength, and with her intentions
not being clear yet, he won't dare doing such a thing.
-''Eigh...err, i mean, you're that robo... i mean andro... i mean...''
-''Call Krillin'' Eighteen impatiently interrupts him. ''I want to talk to him''.
Roshi is initially too scared to call. Then, he realizes that, if he doesn't do as he was said, the android might
get angrier, so he collects himself and does so:
-''KRILLIN'' he yells in a mix of surprise and terror.
-''Look, master Roshi, i don't want to discu...'' Krillin says as he comes out of the house, only to pause at
the sight of his love interest.
-''Eigh...Eighteen...i mean, you're really here'' he mumbles.
-''Do you all guys here have speech problems?'' Eighteen abruptly interrupts him. ''Anyway, don't answer,
you can answer me tonight, in the restaurant''.
Krillin gets shocked, in a pleasant way nonetheless. At first, he's about to start mumbling again. But, then,
he remembers the chick's comment about the speech problems. Not wanting to make himself more
ridiculous, he tries to collect himself and sound serious.
-''Err hem...so, you want us to go out tonight''
-''Don't think high of yourself'' Eighteen shouts. ''I just feel i owe you one after everything you did for me
when that Cell creep was alive. So, i'll take you out and treat you dinner, to repay the favor. But, after that,
we're even, GOT IT?''
Krillin nods, gulping.
Back to the present...
Ahh, nice memories. Krillin and Eighteen did go out that night indeed. And they had a really good time.
Krillin even saw her laugh for the first time (well, maybe she had drunk a little, but Krillin wants to believe
it was because of him she laughed). And, then, despite what Eighteen had initially declared, they did go out
more times. And they got along together.
The shrimp's memories are interrupted by the door opening and a half naked Eighteen showing up.
Without waiting for her to say anything, Krillin enters and offers her the flowers. She ignores them. At this
point, Krillin realizes she doesn't look pleased at all.
-''What the nuts?'' she cries. ''I don't remember calling you''.
-''Oh, come on, babe'' Krillin says, trying to sound cool. ''Don't tell me you're ashamed. It's not the first
time i see you in underwear. I've even seen you fully naked...''
-''That's not the point'' she yells. ''The point is you can't come here uninvited''.
Krillin lets the flowers fall on the floor. He feels his heart breaking into tiny pieces.
-''Lazuli, why are you doing this?'' he asks. ''After Cell Games, we'd really come close to each other. I
thought we had progressed. But, lately, i feel like we take steps backwards''.
-''I think you got the wrong message in the first place'' Eighteen goes on, still angry. ''Just because we
have a good time whenever we meet and we have had some sex doesn't meet we've become a couple.
And, of course, it doesn't mean you can violate my personal space''.
Krillin remains silent for a few moments, not knowing what to say. Suddenly, he hears a voice in his head.
It's Dende, calling him via telepathy. Krillin gets a shocked expression, something Eighteen notices.
-''What's the matter?'' she asks.
-''Dende called me and the rest of the warriors'' he answers. ''It seems something bad has happened to
his home planet. I have to go''.
He turns around.
-''Wait, i'll come too'' Eighteen says. ''I have also strength, i can definitely help if it's a new enemy''.
-''Okay, we'll leave our personal matters for later'' Krillin says, in a serious expressions. ''But, sooner or
later, we have to finish this discussion...''
-''There is no discussion to finish'' Eighteen interrupts him. ''To me, everything is clear as a whistle''.
Krillin sighs. He decides not to say anything else, for the time being. They have to focus on the emergency.
Gohan is about to open the door, when he hears his mother's voice.
-''Where do you think you're going, young man?''
-''Err, Dende called'' he answers. ''Something's wrong at Namek and i have to go with the others to
investigate''.
-''No way'' Chichi shouts. ''Let the adults solve that. You're a kid, start acting like one. Go back to your
studies''.
Gohan unwillingly returns to his room. After a few minutes, he realizes he can't focus on his books. Why
does he feel so uneasy? Both Freeza and Cell are dead. 99% of the universe is powers even Vegeta, as he
was when he first invaded Earth, could manhandle. What are the chances his comrades will meet some
new formidable foe there? Yet, he can't rid of this feeling of uneasiness.
Dende, Mr Popo and Piccolo stand on the edge of the lookout, waiting to greet the visitors. Soon, the team
arrives. Vegeta, Tenshinhan, Krillin and Eighteen. Chaozu was forced by Ten to stay home, while Yamcha...
well, he didn't want to come, being Yamcha and all. Without losing any time, Dende starts explaining:
-''...and i can no longer sense any life force coming from my planet. It's as if they all disappeared''.
-''Hmf, fine, come all to my place'' Vegeta says to the other Z fighters. ''Bulma and her father had a space
shuttle for cases like this one. Even though i don't know why i bother taking you with me. If, by some unlikely
coincidence, we encounter a power that can threaten me, you won't be of any help''.
The others, especially Piccolo and Tenshinhan, feel insulted, but this isn't the time to pick a fight.
Tha spaceship lands on Namek. The ground is sleek metal everywhere. Nothing else! It seems the whole
planet is just a lifeless, grey, metal desert. Even Vegeta can't hide his shock.
-''It seems there isn't anything to find'' a close to desperation Piccolo says. ''But we have no better plan than
start investigating. Let's split into groups...''
-''Split into whatever you want'' Vegeta interrupts. ''I'll go alone. I don't want weaklings to slow me down''.
He takes off and gets lost in the horizon. Piccolo sighs.
-''Fine, now we're four'' he says. ''Let's split into two groups of two''.
The fighters awkwardly look at each other for a while. Eighteen can see sorrow in Krillin's eyes.
-''Fine, i'll go with you, Krillin'' she sighs, answering to what the monk wordlessly asked, just with his eyes.
The two of them take off. Piccolo and Tenshinhan, who don't know what's wrong between Krillin and the android,
look at each other in confusion. Finally, they shrug to each other and take off, towards a different direction.
At some spot of the metal desert that covers the whole planet, we suddenly see the metal getting softer,
turning into clay and giving form to a creature. Then, the clay becomes metal again. A metal, faceless
humanoid has emerged from the ground. It stands there, as if waiting for someone. Finally, when he sees
two flying figures approaching, it soars and stands in their way, forcing Piccolo and Tenshinhan to stop abruptly.
-''Hey, watch where you're...'' Tenshinhan starts, only to realize something is wrong with this creature. The
faceless warrior floats a little above them, extends his arm and, with a suppressed burst, forces the off
guard warriors to the ground. Then, it lands in front of them. Realizing that, whatever that creature is, it
is up to no good, Tenshinhan and Piccolo take fighting stances. Next moment, they realize the ground becomes
clay in many more spots, giving life to an army of metal warriors.
The two Z fighters decide to attack immediately. Piccolo kicks one random creature on the guts, whereas
Tenshinhan punches another on its faceless head. Both attacks produce sounds of hits on a metal surface and the
creatures remain totally unharmed. Tenshinhan feels a pain in his knuckles. He pulls back the hand he punched
with and rubs it.
-''Darn, their armors are really hard'' Piccolo monologues. ''I'd better stop being nice and hit at full strength''.
He takes off his weighted clothes and turban. But, while doing this, for moments, he's wide open to an
attack. One of the creatures punches his face. The blow connects and Piccolo instictively leaps back. He's
now looking a little worried, while rubbing his lip.
-''Wh-what are these things? Their aura is hard to sense, but i can tell, from the hit i received, that each of
them could crash Freeza by itself!''
Vegeta is flying, examining the dull landscape. Just metal everywhere. Suddenly, a hit from an unknown
person forces him on the metal surface. Cracks appear where Vegeta fell. The angry Saiyan gets up to see
the ''coward who dared sneak attacking him''. Then, he receives one of the biggest surprises in his life,
when he sees Coola landing in front of him. But, wait a minute, the tyrant is different from what Vegeta
remembers. He's grey, he's... made of metal?
-''Coola'' Vegeta comments, trying not to show his surprise.
-''Vegeta'' Coola answers.
-''Blast it, first Freeza, now him'' Vegeta thinks. ''That damned Kakarrot is so incapable of finishing a battle
properly''.
-''So, you're still alive too, monkey trash?'' Coola continues. ''Well, that is a surprise. But, where is that other
Saiyan?''
-''Huh? Which other Saiyan?'' a confused Vegeta asks.
-''The one who humiliated me on Yardrat, about three-four years ago. I want revenge from him''.
-''Oh, you mean Kakarrot. Well, he died recently''.
-''Darn, i wanted so badly to torture him. Oh well, i can, at least, have my revenge on you, Vegeta. You
betrayed the Icers' empire. If it hadn't been for your rebellion, the Super Saiyan would have never surfaced
and my family would now be alive...''
-''Blah, blah'' Vegeta mockingly interrupts him. ''Do you Icer freaks ever stop whining?''
-''Don't you want to know how i ended up here?'' Coola asks.
-''No'' Vegeta yells. ''I'm only interested in one thing. COMBAT''
With an angry kiai, he turns into Super Saiyan.
-''So, Vegeta can do that too'' Coola thinks. ''Well, it doesn't matter. Soon, he'll realize that Gete Star has
made me many, many, many times stronger than i was when i almost died in Yardrat's sun''.
At another area, Eighteen and Krillin are on the ground fighting, since they've also been attacked by an
army of faceless metal warriors. Krillin receives a hit from one of them and stays down, heavily injured.
-''KRILLIN'' Eighteen yells. With a big leap, she lands next to him and knees. She only now realizes how
much this man means to her.
-''Krillin, please, don't die'' she says, tears in her eyes. ''I'll do whatever you want. I'll marry you, i'll have
your children, just...please...don't...die''.
-''Eighteen, i love you'' Krillin whispers as he passes out. The android stands up and screams at the top of
her lungs. She attacks the metal creatures and starts destroying them, one after another, each with a single
blow. However, she also has to keep an eye on Krillin and, to make matters worse, more and more metal
warriors are showing up.
Coola has grabbed Vegeta's body with his tail and lifted it high. He's now chocking the Saiyan, who's
unable to free himself.
-''So, is this the best the prince of all Saiyans can do?'' Coola ironically asks.
Vegeta feels his rage boiling. He wants so badly to do the same transformation Gohan did at Cell Games,
to take that sparky Super Saiyan form. However, he just seems to lack whatever enabled Gohan to access
that miraculous state that day. Cursing his weakness, he reverts to base and passes out.
-''Good, i'll keep strangling him till he dies'' Coola thinks.