-An Awkward Pairing-
Android 18 came into reality and followed Trunks closely. The two made it miles away, not looking back once. They finally landed in a forest-like area.
Trunks was surprisingly calm with 18, as they landed.
Trunks: "Alright, come down here, into the woods."
Android 18: "What? Why are we landing?! We should keep going!"
Trunks: "Calm down, we need to suppress our energy and that's extremely difficult to do while flying at 70 miles an hour. We'll lay low for a bit, and then we'll head onward."
Trunks pulled a tree out of the ground and laid it on its side, providing a place for the two to sit and rest. Needless to say, it was a bit strange…
The two were silent for some time, before 18 finally spoke.
Android 18: "You should've left me. We could've taken him on. We didn't have to leave those two behind!"
Trunks responded intently, but cool-headedly.
Trunks: "I could've taken him on my own, to be perfectly honest. But if he managed to maneuver himself in a way that allowed him to sync with any one of you three, his power would've increased too much for me to handle. He can absorb ki-based energy like another Android Gero built, number 19. That means it would be strictly hand to hand combat. That'd be tough."
Android 18: "Okay, but what if he absorbs 16 and 17, genius? What then?"
Trunks grew angered.
Trunks: "Look, I'm not here to explain to you my plan of action. I'm here to ensure you stay out of his hands! If something happens, believe me, I'm more than ready. Way more than ready."
Android 18: "Okay, sorry, Jesus…"
The two grew silent again briefly. Trunks spoke.
Trunks: "I'm sorry, I just… You're clone was a lot different than you, but I keep forgetting she's not you. I can tell you're different."
Android 18: "How's that?"
Trunks: "By the way you're concerned for them back there. The 18 I knew wouldn't have even batted an eyelash before either ditching them or diving in head first. You showed reluctance. You're more human than she was."
Android 18 was silent for a moment, then responded.
Android 18: "I'm not a human… I'm a… Thing."
Trunks looked at 18, almost concerned for a split second. Suddenly, he felt a massive power surge.
Trunks: "Woah!"
Android 18: "What?"
Trunks: "I just felt something huge! An android power level, and it just grew. One or both of them has been synced to him."
Android 18 grew concerned and confused.
Android 18: "How can you sense him? He's an Android, he doesn't give off any energy…"
Trunks explained.
Trunks: "True, but 16 taught me a trick to sensing non-life energy. See, Androids give off more electricity the more energy they have. I can't sense him as accurately as say, another Saiyan, but I have a good proximity. And whatever his power was before, it just exploded. It happened towards the Southwest, but it's not coming in this direction."
Android 18 became angered and upset over the thought of her brother being synced to Android 13.
Android 18: "That idiot! Why did he stay there? We all should've just pulverized him, and now he's that monsters' body armor!"
Trunks looked stern.
Trunks: "C'mon, let's keep moving. My Z-Gear says we're about 3 miles out from a small town with a hotel and a few restaurants. We can walk it and be there by 9:00pm."
Android 18: "Or, we could fly there and be there in a minute."
Trunks: "It's safer if we walk, trust me."
Android 18 was aggravated by Trunks' plan, but she obliged. The two walked for around an hour and a half, without saying anything to each other. Trunks seemed to be focused on the path ahead of him, but Android 18's mind wandered.
Android 18: (To herself) "An… I'm sorry… I promise that hick pile of junk will pay for this! And Trunks… What am I doing here with him? I could be off on my own fighting 13, I bet I could take him, or at least do some damage. What's the point of this?"
Android 18 spoke out.
Android 18: "Hey! Exactly why are we going through all this trouble? Why don't we just lure him out and turn him into scraps? This all seems a little cowardly to me, and I'm no coward!"
Trunks responded without looking at the girl.
Trunks: "It's not about being a coward, it's about being smart. I already explained that if he catches us off guard and syncs with you, it'll be a lot more trouble for me to take him out. Also, if we focus on staying away from him, he'll be more worried about going on a wild goose chase looking for you and be too distracted to kill any innocent people."
Android 18 looked on in aggravated acceptance.
Android 18: "Fine! We'll do it your way."
Trunks: "We're here."