"Pan, wake up!"
The young girl groaned as she groggily opened her eyes to see 16 and her mother's concerned faces. "What happened?"
"Whoever that was, they took off with Trunks, Ocarin and 18," 16 reported. "For some reason, he left you behind, but he had struck you with some kind of poison. Luckily, it is gone from your system."
"So, where's Trunks and Ocarin now?" Pan asked.
"I am unsure, but they are no longer on the planet," 16 replied. "Bulma is preparing the ship."
"Then we have to go find them."
"No, you are staying here," Videl immediately told her. "You are not gallivanting across the galaxy. Not again."
"But I want to help," Pan pleaded. "I have to help Trunks. I have to get him back here."
"16 can go. You don't need to and that's final."
Pan frowned and crossed her arms in a huff. 16, realising this was a sensitive moment, quickly left the room and headed outside, where Bulma was going over the final inspection of her spaceship.
"It seems to be in good order," she reported to the Android. "How are you going to find him?"
"The chip from the Big Gete Star has recalibrated my senses to expand beyond Earth and into the universe," 16 said. "It was a recent upgrade because I was afraid of utilising its power too much."
"Well, as long as it works and you can find Trunks, that's all that matters," Bulma said and she patted the side of the ship. "She's ready to go. Bring Trunks back from whatever trouble he's gotten himself into."
"I will."
The Android stepped aboard and set about preparing the take-off, his senses roaming the wide spectrum of the universe for any sign of Trunks or Ocarin's energy signatures. His senses did pick up a familiar signature and he looked over his shoulder at Pan.
"You should not be here," he said.
"I know, but Mom can't stop me," Pan replied. "Let's go before she notices I'm gone."
"I should not be doing this. Your mother will be upset with me. She would have me disassembled."
"I have to help him, 16. He'd do the same for me."
16 nodded, a small smile at her determination. "I understand. I know your strength and you have proven yourself, but I have to agree with your mother on this matter."
Pan frowned and she looked out the window at the clear skies before them. "Okay, so why are we in the sky then?"
"Oh. I must have started the trip without realising," 16 said, but the way he said it made Pan think he'd intentionally taken off with her inside. "We must find Trunks and time is of the essence, so I have no choice but to take you now."
Pan smiled and jumped onto the seat beside him. "Thank you, 16."
-X-
How long had it been?
Trunks hunched against the wall of his cage. Every now and again, 18 would show up and taunt him and Ocarin and then go about on her merry way, but he never saw Frost or any of his crew, save for the one alien who gave them food every now and again. Trunks tried asking questions, but received no answers and so he was confined to waiting for the trip to end, constantly thinking things over.
Why would 18 do this to him? Why would she throw in with Frost? Regardless of his own personal feelings on the Android, Trunks thought they were making progress, albeit extremely slowly. She proved she could be bargained with and she had kept to her end of the truce, resisting the urge to murder and he thought that maybe, just maybe, she could rehabilitated and she would regret all the destruction she'd caused. In truth, she'd been simply biding her time, looking for an opportunity to be rid of him and now she finally had one and was taking it.
It was a fact: 18 would never change, no matter what. Trunks was a fool to believe she could and once he was out of this current mess, he would deal with her for good.
-X-
18 stared out the window, watching the stars flit by as the ship raced through space. In the past, in her downtime between mayhems, she would sometimes stare at the stars and wonder about the unknown in the universe, if they were alone in the cosmos. She never thought that she would actually get to travel the stars, but three weeks later, she was getting bored of the same view. At least she got to amuse herself by beating up Frost's men in training sessions, making them so scared of her power that she was sure they wouldn't dare try anything against her.
She was looking for weaknesses, trying to determine the strength of her opponents. She didn't know anything about Frost's employer and every time she asked him, the Arcosian would simply allude to him being a galactic conqueror, so the best she could do was guess. It wasn't like she trusted Frost or he trusted her. He wanted his prize; she wanted to eliminate a seemingly powerful threat, her true reason for throwing in with the lizard.
It helped that she didn't need to eat or sleep, preventing Frost from acting against her.
Of course, it wasn't something 18 had told Trunks about, despite the numerous times she saw him and taunted him as a cover. It would ruin her element of surprise for whenever they finally arrived at their destination. She knew how bad it currently made her look in his eyes, but she hoped he would understand her reasoning in the end.
The long voyage definitely gave her time to think in the rare quiet moments when she was alone, since Frost barely let her out of his or a bodyguard's sight (she could easily kill them all, but she had a plan and it required patience). It allowed her to reflect on the past and think about the half-Saiyan locked away in the ship's prison.
What did she truly think of him? What did she really want from him? Did she regret her past?
She murdered indiscriminately and for fun, she died and went to Hell to suffer; an experience 18 did not wish to undertake ever again if she could help it. That meant surviving on Trunks' terms and despite their animosity, it was a better outcome than what 18 could hope for.
Yes, he had killed her brother, but in fairness, she killed Gohan, three-quarters of Earth's population and helped with Vegeta's death. Neither was innocent in this mess and even though 18 missed her brother, she wanted to live. She'd been given a second chance and even though it was in the company of Trunks, he was better than the denizens of Hell. Sure, there was hostility and mistrust, but they had their moments together which didn't make the entire ordeal completely unbearable for 18. If she had to choose, she'd choose Trunks.
Her survival depended on doing the right thing, even if it went against her very core, but she had time to reflect on 16's words as well and she could begrudgingly admit that he was right. The older model wasn't even human, just wires and synthetic skin, yet he was more human than her and he was right. She allowed Gero's madness to consume her and it hadn't ended well for her. Why should she let his sick and twisted ways continue to rule her now?
Was it too late for her to make amends? Did she really want to? If she did, would it even feel genuine? Or had she ruined it already with Trunks by 'betraying' him to Frost. She just wanted to eliminate a potential threat to Earth so she could keep living and made a 'deal' in order to do so.
Trunks would understand, right? Right?
"My dear, we have finally arrived at our destination," Frost announced, snapping 18 out of her thoughts.
"Where are we?" 18 asked, walking to a window. A pinkish world, probably the size of Jupiter, was before them and she couldn't help the feeling at seeing an alien world. It was truly an amazing sight to behold.
"We have arrived at Planet Sadal, home to the Saiyans of this universe. Well, it used to be," Frost replied and he turned to a crew member. "Prepare the prisoners for landing. He would want to see them immediately."
This was her opportunity. Once this threat was eliminated, they could return home and hopefully, Trunks would see her reasoning and keep her alive. For some reason, 18 felt upset at the idea of Trunks not believing her and sending her back to Hell. Surely, she could convince him. She had to.
"So, what do you want me to do, then?" 18 asked. "Anything I should prepare for? Or can I taunt the prisoners one last time before you do whatever it is you plan to do to them?"
Frost eyed her with a neutral expression. "I suppose you can. It's not like we can stop you. You've proven yourself to be quite a force to be reckoned with. I believe my employer will definitely agree to your terms."
"Well, I am persuasive. I look forward to meeting him."
Frost waved her off, motioning to an alien to guard her. 18 smiled sweetly at the alien and he quivered, but followed her nonetheless to the prison. She'd come to the conclusion that she, in a way, wanted to make amends and this was how she was going to start. She was stepping away from Gero's insanity and taking the measures to forge a new life for herself.
When they reached the brig, a Saiyan was in the process of linking a rod to Trunks' collar, a second Saiyan doing the same with Ocarin, and they brought the pair out of their cages. Trunks' face was contorted in fury, enraged that he was unable to fight back, but his face twisted even further when he spotted 18.
"Come to watch, have you?" he snarled.
18 sighed. She knew this would be the hard part. The ship shuddered when it touched down on Sadal and she sighed again. Time to begin. With little effort, she punched her fist through an alien's back, spun around and broke her guard's neck with a kick. She fired an energy blast to kill Trunks' guard and a second blast obliterated Ocarin's guard. Both the half-Saiyan and the Namekian looked at her in confusion, but she couldn't exactly blame them.
"What, did you really think I had betrayed you?" 18 spoke, removing the rods from their collars.
"What game are you playing, 18?" Trunks demanded. "You join Frost, you torment Ocarin and me for Kami knows how long we've been travelling and now you suddenly help us?"
"We are in another universe. Someone from this universe wanted you and Frost took you both down easily. I saw a chance to eliminate a potential threat, one bigger than Frost, and I took it. Now, we're escaping, finding this person, kill them and then we can go home."
"I don't trust her," Ocarin said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What else is new?" the Android retorted and she looked at Trunks. "I'm trying to help you. It's not like I could act friendly to you when I had to be friendly with Frost."
Trunks narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't believe her, but at the same time, it made complete and absolute sense to him. Perhaps he'd been wrong about her during the voyage and this was her legitimately trying to help protect Earth. It's what he wanted her to do, right?
"Okay, fine," he said slowly. "Say you're telling the truth and you're truly helping us: how do we get these things off?"
18 frowned at the cuffs and collars. "Actually, I don't know. I didn't get that friendly with Frost; didn't want him too suspicious of me. But, I'm sure we can get the answers out of him if we ask nicely." An alien entered the prison and was met with a High-Pressure Wave. "I'll lead."
"I do not trust this at all," Ocarin whispered to Trunks as they left the prison, watching 18 blast aliens out of their way. "What if she is leading us into another trap? Our strength is neutralised."
"What if she really wants to help?" Trunks replied. "We wanted her to help us, remember?"
"You and the robot. Not me."
"At some point, we are going to have to trust her."
The Namekian frowned. "You are strangely calm about this. Were you not saying the other day how you planned to destroy her for betraying us?"
Trunks sighed, watching 18 effortlessly decimate their captors. "I need to see how this unfolds first."
"Ah, 18, how nice of you to show your true colours," Frost's voice spoke over the ship's sound system. "I did wonder when you would turn on me, but it's not like I expected otherwise."
"You should call your master," 18 sneered. "Between us three, I'm sure he doesn't stand a chance."
"Fortunately, he is waiting to see you. Unfortunately, your fun is over."
Trunks and Ocarin bellowed in pain as shockwaves blasted through their bodies from their manacles. 18 watched, helpless, as they sank to their knees, unable to withstand the onslaught. Unable to do anything, she left the pair and went in search of Frost to end him. She returned to the main command centre and sure enough, Frost was there, waiting for her with a smirk.
"I took the pleasure of having someone greet us on our arrival," the Arcosian said. "I'm sure you two will get along just fine."
"Wha-" 18 started as she felt a sudden presence behind her and turned around.
A red beard and a chartreuse fist were the last things she saw before everything went black.
-X-
As he slowly came to, a thought slipped into Trunks' mind: he was getting real tired of being knocked unconscious. In the past month alone, how many times had he been knocked out?
Realising he was being dragged by his arms, Trunks looked around, trying to get his bearings. Two Saiyans held him, another two Saiyans hauled Ocarin and two aliens were dragging an unconscious 18. Frost led the way up a set of polished-white steps and into a massively spacious temple. The air was heavy to breathe, but nothing that Trunks couldn't handle and he thought about fighting back, but knew it was pointless with the manacles still around his wrists.
"My lord, I have finally returned and while I do not have who you wished for, I was able to obtain a few substitutes," Frost announced. "I hope they are adequate enough for you."
18 groaned, waking up as Ocarin did the same, as Trunks heard the heavy footfalls of Frost's employer and a familiar energy struck him. His jaw dropped as the being stepped into view, a large sneer on his scarred face as he admired his new prizes.
"Bojack," Trunks whispered.