18 didn't care where she was going; she just needed to get as far away from the complex as she could, as quickly as she could. She noted that she was coming up onto a city, but whereas she would have obliterated the populace, right now, she found she had no real interest in it. Besides, she saw no reason to tangle with Trunks, at least not yet.
She veered away from the city and headed towards the desert, hoping that she could lose the blasted Saiyan if he'd decided to follow her. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed her suspicions and he wasn't alone. She knew she could take the other two, but Trunks was going to be the difficult one. She felt a drop of rain on her head as she flew and suddenly she was blasted from the sky, tumbling towards the outer edges of the desert. She allowed herself to fall and quickly darted for the rocky formations, as the rain started to set in. Trunks, Ocarin and 16 appeared and 18 watched them, hidden from sight. Ambushing was not her forte, but she had no better opportunity than right now.
"She couldn't have gone far," Ocarin said and he charged a ki ball.
18 fired a blast at the trio, forcing them to scatter as she moved to another hiding spot. Ocarin growled in annoyance and she shot out of nowhere and kneed him in the face; the Namekian slammed into a rock formation from the force. Trunks powered up to Ascended Super Saiyan and fired a blast where he thought she was, but 18 was long gone.
"I'm not in the mood to play games," Ocarin growled.
"The rain is not making this any easier," 16 commented as the rain picked up its pace and he squawked when 18 hit him from behind and drove him into the wet ground. He squawked again when she wrenched his left arm with all her strength and disabled it.
Trunks flew to assist and slashed his sword. 18 flipped away and threw a ki blast at the ground, using the distraction to mask her escape. 16 pushed himself to his feet, the Big Gete Star's chip working to restore his arm and improve the flaw.
"She's toying with us," Trunks said. "Testing us to see how she can pick us off one by one."
"Agreed. We cannot let her get the better of us. Perhaps if we try to appeal to her, we can get through to her. She surrendered once before, she might do it again."
"I don't think that's an option," the half-Saiyan said and he withdrew the remote. "She's looking to kill us, so either we shut her down or she wins."
Ocarin concentrated on his hearing, trying to pick up 18's movements through the air. He fired a blast and narrowly missed 18 and she retaliated with her Infinity Bullet move. The Namekian dodged the blasts as Trunks went after the Android and she fired her High-Pressure Wave at him. He floated over the beam and hurled a Finish Buster. The energy ball slammed into 18 and drove her across the desert to slam into a rock mountain. It crumbled in a flash explosion and Ocarin fired multiple ki blasts into the cloud of dust, hoping to finish her off. When the dust finally cleared, 18 stood there, smirking and unharmed. Ocarin growled to himself in frustration.
"I've been hit harder by beings a lot weaker than you," 18 taunted. "If that is the best you have to offer, I'm sorely disappointed."
"Very well. Try this one on for size," Ocarin said and he opened his mouth wide, unleashing a powerful beam of energy.
18 smirked and at the last second, she dodged the beam and flew straight for the Namekian, her fist sinking into his gut. He gagged, the wind knocked out of him and Trunks and 16 flew in to intervene, the former raising the remote. She flew at Trunks and nailed him in the chest with her elbow, seized the remote and struck 16 with a Power Blitz. The large Android crashed into the ground and 18 crushed the remote, dodged Trunks' sword and kicked him in the head. He saw stars and he narrowly avoided the energy blast shot his way.
"Need to end this fast," Trunks thought. "I can't let her keep the upper hand. She's already destroyed my trump card. Damn it, I shouldn't have been so careless."
"18, please stop this," 16 tried to plead and she socked him in the jaw instead. "Please listen to us. We don't have to fight."
"You're a fool, 16," 18 growled. "You really think I want to play hero with you lot? I have no desire to die, but I refuse to bow to you. I just want to be left alone. Is that so hard for you to understand?"
"We can't trust you on your own," Trunks said. "We can't trust you at all."
18 glared at him. She noted that he wasn't in his form that he used against Demigra and Broly and that meant she had the advantage on him, evident by their skirmish so far and the fact she managed to steal the remote from him. If she pressed her attack now, she had a good chance of killing him this time and she would finally be free of him. But killing him wouldn't bring back her brother and the fact that Trunks had condemned her to a life of loneliness brought out her fury and she snarled and kicked Trunks in the stomach.
"I'm on my own now because of you!" she shouted as she slammed her fist into his jaw.
Trunks crashed into a mountain. 18 ducked Ocarin's fist, placed her palm on his torso and fired the High-Pressure Wave straight through him. The Namekian cried out as he tumbled towards the ground, his blood pooling around him in the storm.
"Ocarin!" Trunks cried and he flew at 18 with a shout. She took the hit from him and responded with a sharp backhand that whipped his head around. He spun and swiped his sword wide. She floated under the blade and blasted him away with her Power Blitz.
"18, please, I don't want to hurt you," 16 said. "Stop this."
"Your funeral, buddy," 18 coldly responded.
She struck the larger Android with a series of powerful and calculated blows and while he did try to defend himself, she was too fast and after landing a critical kick to his neck, 18 shouted as she charged her energy into her hands and fired a devastating blast that incinerated the rain around it. 16 smashed through several rock mountains and disappeared from sight and 18 turned to her final target: her most hated person.
"That's enough!" Trunks cried as he punched 18.
She shrugged off the hit and snapped him with one of her own. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."
He didn't have the strength to stop her right now. He hadn't had much rest since the battle with Broly and his body was still recovering from the Super Saiyan 2 transformation earlier that day.
"A day ago, you were begging me to spare your life," Trunks said. "You were scared of the power I wielded and now you're trying to kill me when I can easily summon that power."
"Go on, do it," 18 goaded and she slugged him. Hard. Trunks tasted blood and she followed up with a kick to his ribs. He lashed out and she neatly countered with an elbow to his jaw and she smirked. "You can't, can you? That's why I'm going to kill you now while I've got the chance." She followed with another blow to his face. "And that's for lying to me about buying me new clothes, you jerk. And to think that I have actually never lied to you. That hurts."
"Galick Gun!"
18 dodged the beam and punched Trunks into a rock formation. Boulders crumbled to the muddied ground, burying Trunks, but he burst through with a flare of his power and 18 kicked him in the face. His head rang, reminding him of his past failed battles and he spat blood and swung his fist. 18 caught him arm, flipped him to the ground and pressed her boot to his cheek.
"I'm going to kill you for everything you've done," 18 stated. "For killing me and my brother, for subjecting me to that forsaken place, for killing 17 again and trying to make me your prisoner."
"You're upset because you got what you deserved?" Trunks questioned and he shouted, his power actually pushing her away and he quickly stood up, his aura flared around him. "What about all the lives you mercilessly took? All the people you killed! Gohan! You deserved to die."
"Shut up!" She hit him with all her strength and Trunks staggered. He was weak, she knew, and she was going to punish him for making her weak and she kept hitting any part of him she could reach. "I hate you! How dare you make me suffer! How dare you make me weak and scared, like your stupid precious humans! How dare you kill my brother!"
She threw a punch and despite the beating he received, blood running from his mouth and nose, Trunks caught her fist, his eyes filled with fury. "You killed my brother. We're even."
18 screamed in rage and she hit him so hard, he was surprised his jaw wasn't broken. Then, she whipped a kick against his left arm and Trunks felt the bone break. He cried out and fell to one knee, clutching his limp arm. 18 smirked in satisfaction at hearing his cry of pain and she grabbed his golden locks and roughly pulled his head back so he was forced to look at her.
"How does that feel?" she whispered viciously right next to his ear and she smirked when she felt him shudder. "I'm going to make you suffer, Trunks, the same way I had to suffer. And this time, there is no coming back."
"You kill me and then what, 18?" Trunks gritted out. "It won't bring 17 back and you'll be here all alone with only the humans for company. And if you kill them all: you're still alone." She slapped him and he coughed, tried to shake the rain off his face and chuckled at her. "The only reason you begged me to keep you alive is because of Cell. You're afraid of him. Afraid of becoming a part of him for eternity. You're too much of an individual, 18 and you're afraid."
She snarled and landed a vicious punch that dropped him face-first into the soaked ground. He was right. She knew that. She didn't want to return to Hell. She didn't want to be absorbed by Cell and lose herself to him, but at the same time, she was stuck here without her brother, the one constant in her life. Without him, life was meaningless and while she could kill off all the humans after she killed Trunks, without 17 by her side, it was pointless. There would be no joy in it.
She had nothing left to live for and she couldn't die to escape her miserable fate.
Something inside 18 snapped at the realisation of the knowledge and she hauled Trunks up and struck him with all her might, intent on taking her rage out on him. "I have no-one because of you! You took away the one person who meant anything to me!"
She punched him across the desert and fired the High-Pressure Wave. Trunks narrowly dodged the beam, his fury having reached breaking point. Ignoring the white-hot pain of his broken arm as best he could, Trunks yelled with all his power, trying to bring it to the fore. He needed it now more than ever to stop 18's rampage – her fist to his face stopped that attempt. She fired away with her Infinity Bullet move and Trunks yelped as he did his best to dodge the blasts. A few hit their mark and Trunks tried his best to ignore the stinging pain and 18 flew at him.
"Masenko!"
He was only able to fire it one-handed and 18 easily belted the beam aside and Trunks noted an eerie similarity between this fight and Gohan's last battle: a Super Saiyan, lacking an arm, fighting against the stronger Android in the rain. Only there was one Android and he had an advantage he needed to utilise, but he hoped it wasn't too late as 18 continued to vent her fury on him and he tried to defend against her attacks, he really did, but with a broken arm, he was grossly outmatched.
"You know, when I kill you, you know who I'm going to kill next?" 18 sadistically smirked. "I'm going to kill your mother and then I'm going to kill that adorable little brat of Gohan's."
Images of his mother, his dear sweet mother who had done everything she could and more for him, flashed through his mind, mixed with the memories of Pan, his last remaining link to Gohan and that drove Trunks to the edge. He snapped and exploded in fury, his power skyrocketing as he ascended to Super Saiyan 2 and the blowback sent 18 flying. She caught herself and realised her mistake.
"Damn it! Still, he only has one arm. I still have a chance."
"That won't happen," Trunks growled. "You'll die here first."
They flew at each other and the half-Saiyan struck first. 18 drifted away and fired a ki blast, but Trunks batted it aside and lunged with the God Breaker. 18 tumbled through the air and crashed into the mud and she shivered in the rain. She slowly stood up and brushed her hair off her face, annoyed she had mud in the strands and she gasped when Trunks appeared before her.
"I could kill you," Trunks said. "And I can easily do that too. I have every right to. You killed people I cared about and I know I can't trust you at all. There is no reason to keep you alive."
"You're a bastard, you know that? I should have just let Broly kill you!" 18 spat furiously, her fear overcome by her hatred. "This is torture! You take away my brother, leaving me alone in this pathetic world-"
"And now you know how I felt when you murdered Gohan, my father, everyone else!" Trunks raged back at her. "I call it justice! If you want to be with your brother so badly, I can send you to him."
She lunged and started throwing wild punches. Due to his broken arm, Trunks couldn't stop them all, but he managed to drive his fist straight into her stomach and that temporarily stopped her. Her hatred overrode the pain and she resumed her assault, breaking past his defences and landing fury-driven blows. She wanted him bleeding and broken at her feet, begging for the mercy she would never give. And if she killed him, then what? She had no-one.
She had nothing and instead of throwing yet another punch, she simply didn't, her rage draining from her as the fight in her went out like a candle in the wind.
"What do I do?" 18 questioned, mostly to herself, in a tone that sounded so hopeless Trunks almost felt sympathy for her. "I have nothing. What do I do?"
Trunks hesitated and he relaxed his powers, reverting to his base form. He knew it was risky to do it while the Android was in such an uncertain state and had attempted to beat him to death just seconds ago, but at least he could think rationally.
"What do you want, 18?" he cautiously asked.
She glared at him, but it slowly softened. "I want to be alone."
Before he could do anything, she blasted off into the pouring rain and disappeared into the night. His body wrecked from the battle and with an arm that needed immediate medical attention, Trunks had no choice but to watch her go. He just hoped he wouldn't regret it.