Good Looks and Super Power!? Number 18 Has No Blind Spot

Number 18, "He doesn't know the danger he's on. Okay, I'll fight him." She uncrosses her arms and steps forward. "Just a warning, but I won't hold back because you're a woman. But you're not really a woman, are you? You're an Artificial Human." Number 17 and Number 18 stare at Vegeta, but Number 16 looks away when a small bird catches his interest more than the upcoming fight could. Number 18 and Vegeta prepare for battle, and Number 18 attacks first, but Vegeta blocks the punch. They each throw punches and kicks, but no significant damage is dealt to either of them. Vegeta barely dodges a punch to the face, then Number 18 attacks again and Vegeta once again narrowly escapes. Number 18 actually goes through his Super Saiya-jin aura as her fist misses and meets solid rock. Vegeta grabs her arm and flings her into the air. She's stopped when she runs into the cliff-side (well, she sort of stops herself, but she hits it all the same). Birds flee from the battle. Number 16 admires them as he watches them fly off. Number 18 levitates above the highway, staring down at her opponent as rubble flows freely onto the street, thanks to her collision with the rock wall.

Vegeta leaps into the air, jumping right in front of her. He swings his fist, but he meets only air. He rushes to her new position, throws a punch, hitting her right in the face. Number 18 is thrown back by the force of the hit. Number 17, "I'm surprised. He's much stronger than Dr. Gero told us." Number 16 pays him no attention, and actually, he's ignoring the battle, too. Number 16 takes more interest in nature than fighting, it seems. Number 17 continues his musings to no one in particular. "Vegeta's pretty good."

Number 18 stops herself in midair. The fight stops for a moment. Vegeta stares at the Artificial Human and she glares at him, obviously angry. She brushes her hair aside, sweeping it behind her ear. "Hmph." She suddenly takes off and Vegeta follows her. Number 17, "Number 18's playing around again."

Gohan flies home, now holding everyone on his back, Yajirobe first, then with Bulma and Trunks sitting on top of Yajirobe. Yajirobe, "Flying like this makes me look bad." Gohan, "Could you please endure it just a little longer, Yajirobe-san?" Bulma, "Is complaining the only thing you can do?" Yajirobbe, "That's easy for you to say. I'm starving. I want something to eat." Bulma, "You're so low-class. Isn't he a bad man..." She holds Trunks up to look at him again, and once again, Trunks relieves himself on Yajirobe's face. Bulma laughs nervously. "Hey! That wasn't funny! That was worse than anything I've done!" Gohan, "Could you please calm down up there?" Yajirobe, "Let me down! I want off!"

A man in a small rural town stands outside, tending his animals. He suddenly looks up into the air and sees a young woman and a glowing man fly by overhead. Number 18 turns and smiles at Vegeta. Vegeta, "Did you think I'd let you get away?" He throws ki blasts at her, which she easily dodges, but the man on the ground isn't quite so fast. He and his animals flee as Vegeta's assault lands a bit off target. The Artificial Human and the Saiya-jin speed past, coming in low enough to the ground that the force of their fly-by creates a fissure. On one side is the dazed man and half his animals, and on the other is the other half of the animals. "What am I supposed to do?"

Trunks, Piccolo, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan rush to Son Goku's home. Kuririn, "I hope the Artificial Humans haven't started to follow Gohan and Bulma." Trunks, "Father..."

Cars run down an eight-lane highway. In one particular truck, two men sit back and relax when a crashing sound is suddenly heard from the roof of their trailer. One man leans out the window to see what's going on. "What's that?" On one end of the trailer stands Super Saiya-jin Vegeta with his arms crossed. On the other end stands Number 18. They simply stare at each other for a while. Vegeta, "What's wrong? Have you given up trying to get away?" The man driving the following car watches the two figures on top of the truck. "This can't be happening."

Vegeta attacks Number 18 with a barrage of punches. A good kick to the midsection throws her off the back of the truck and straight into the windshield of that following car. The car slams into a wall and explodes. Number 18 stands in the middle of the highway and Vegeta jumps off his truck to attack her again. He tries to punch her as he lands, but misses. Another car comes up right behind her and swerves out of the way, careening into a wall, as well. They switch over to the other side of the highway. Number 18 lands on top of another car. The driver hears something on his roof. "What's that?" Number 18 smiles at Vegeta, arms crossed, riding away. Another driver suddenly sees Vegeta and tries to stop. Vegeta powers up and the force of the car slamming into Super Saiya-jin Vegeta causes the automobile to explode. Vegeta flies after Number 18 and again tries to hit her, and again, he misses. His fist goes through the roof, narrowly missing the frightened driver. Number 18 flies away, laughing at Vegeta. He stares up at her, then jumps off the car. The shaken driver never regains full control of his car and we have yet another wall incident. Vegeta pays it no attention and follows the Artificial Human.

They return to the original street. Number 17, "They're back." Number 18 brushes her hair behind her ear. Vegeta, "I don't know if you rickety puppets get damaged..." Number 18 puts her hands on her hips, apparently satisfied with her hair. Vegeta stretches out his arm, fingers up and palm facing out. "...so I'm going to have to blow you to bits, so that I'll never have to see your smirk again." A truck driver rounds the corner and studdenly stops right behind Number 18. He honks, but she makes no move to clear the road. "What do you think you're doing out in the middle of the road like that! You idiots, if you don't move, I'm going to run you over!" Vegeta, "This is your last chance to laugh." Truck driver, "Hey, can't you hear me?!" Number 18, "Try it." Truck driver, "Hey!" Vegeta blasts Number 18, but she dodges it and the only thing Vegeta hits is the unfortunate, but annoying, truck driver. Number 18 lands behind him, and once again, she fixes her hair. Vegeta turns around. "It looks like you're faster than I thought." They stare each other down in silence.

Maron windsurfs near Kame House. Muten Roshi lounges on the beach, magazine in hand. Maron, "Hello!" Roshi, "Hey, hey!" He stares at her breasts, then her thigh. "What a babe! And so bouncy! This is great! It's been too long!" A fountain of blood shoots up out of Roshi's nose. Maron, "Hi! Cute turtle!" Roshi, "Hi!" Maron, "I wasn't talking to you." He suddenly stops waving. "I was talking to the turtle. Turtle-chan!" Roshi, "Turtle-chan?" He looks over at the turtle, who's waving back to Maron. "He's so cute!" Roshi, "Why, you..." He hits the turtle with a snot ball. Umigame suddenly stops and Roshi laughs at him.

Thick smoke continues to billow up from what's left of the highway and truck. "You weren't serious with that attack." Vegeta, "Of course not. If I really got serious, I'd blow up this planet." Number 18, "Did you know that I wasn't serious either?" Vegeta, "Oh? Go ahead. If you're not serious now, you'll regret it." Number 18, "Okay, I'll do it." Before Vegeta can even react, she's flying at him. She head butts him in the face, and Vegeta loses a step. She lands a few feet away, leaving Vegeta with a small, but bleeding injury to the forehead. Blood runs down through his eyebrow and dribbles down over his eye. He suddenly sees red. He blinks it out and powers up.

Vegeta lunges forward, socking Number 18 right in the gut. What he didn't count on was her knee, hitting him in the gut as well. They're both completely still for a moment, Number 18 smiling and Vegeta wearing an expression of disbelief. He finally opens his mouth, groaning and coughing up blood. She withdraws her leg and Vegeta starts to fall forward. She catches him with the tip of her forefinger and pushes him back to his feet. Vegeta finally comes out of his state of shock, but he doesn't even have a full second to be pissed off before shit hits him in the side of the face, throwing him straight into the cliff face. He doesn't just hit it, either. He goes through it. Number 17 smirks. The other four Z Senshi land between Number 18 and the other two Artificial Humans. Trunks, "Are you okay, Vegeta-san?!" Number 18 doesn't even turn to meet the new arrivals. Vegeta finally climbs out of his hole. Trunks, "Vegeta-san!" Vegeta, "You stupid bastards. Did you think you could fight these Artificial Humans?" Number 17, "Hmm, the help's arrived. I don't think that Number 18 could take them all on herself. Oh well, do you want me to fight them, or do you want to fight them, Number 16?" Number 16, "No. I won't fight them." Number 17, "You won't fight them. You lazy bastard. Why were you made?" Number 16, "I told you. I was created to defeat Son Goku." Number 17, "Okay. I envy your easy-going attitude." He walks over toward the other group.

Tenshinhan, "Hey, Number 17 is coming this way." Trunks, "Run away, Vegeta-san. What good is your pride going to do when you're dead? Please!" Vegeta, "Do you want me to hit you again? You're in the way! Get out of here!" Number 18, "If you want to run away, go ahead. We have no interest in people that run away." Vegeta, "Don't make me laugh. I'm going to kill you all now, so why would I want to run away? To tell you the truth, I'd rather die than have to rely on these Earthlings', or the Namekseijin's, or Kakkarotto's help." Number 17 walks up to them, clapping. "Nice speech. You've got a nice fighting style." Vegeta, "You rickety puppets have no right to say that. Especially a brat like you." Number 17, "It looks like you value the spirit of a martial artist, but just in case... If any of you try to get into the fight to help Vegeta, I'll have to get involved, too." Vegeta, "These jerks are peaceful cowards. They wouldn't have interfered even if you hadn't said that." Number 17, "Fine by me." Number 18, "Are you ready to continue?" Vegeta, "Of course." Number 18, "Then let's do it."

Number 18 leaps forward, but Vegeta flies up and dodges the attack. She follows him into the sky. He flies up and then jumps off from the rock wall, head-butting Number 18. He jumps up behind her and smashes her in the back. She lands on top of the rock wall. As she sits in the pile of rocks, Vegeta readies a ki blast. He fires it, and this time, she doesn't dodge, as she doesn't even see it until she looks up and it's right in her face. Nonetheless, she's not hurt in the least. The only damage done is on her clothes, and even those escape pretty well off. "Hmph. You've really pissed me off, staying calm like that." Number 18, "You've surprised me, even though you are an alien. I didn't think a natural human could get this strong. Is Son Goku even stronger?" She takes off her ruined jacket and drops it on the ground. Vegeta, "Don't be stupid. He was stronger than me for a little while, but things are back to normal, with me stronger than him again." Number 18, "What? That means he's not strong. Neither are you." She brushes her hair back again. "What did you say?"

Vegeta is, of course, pissed off now. He screams and attacks, but she easily blocks the initial kick and has no trouble with the pummeling that follows. The Z Senshi and Number 17 watch the battle from the street. Ten, "Do it! Finish her off!" Trunks, "He's incredible! I'd never realized that father had gotten this strong. I didn't think he could fight that Artificial Human on an equal level." Piccolo studies the fight silently for a while, then reaches his conclusion. "Vegeta will be killed." Everyone turns to him, awaiting his explanation. "Look. The Artificial Human is slowly gaining an advantage." It flashes back over to the fight, where Number 18 is indeed looking stronger and stronger as the fight progresses. "She's not losing any power at all, but the more Vegeta fights, the more he uses up his stamina." Vegeta tries to elbow her, but she easily blocks it. She trips him, but he jumps into the air. He lands and she hits him in the face with her forearm. Vegeta falls back a few steps. Trunks, "Damn it..." Vegeta screams and lunges at Number 18, throwing everything he has into a single punch - and she catches it. He uses his other fist to try again. And she catches that. Number 18 knees Vegeta hard in the stomach. He's stunned, doesn't even react, before she hits him with a right hook to the face. Kuririn, "What should we do, Goku?"

Goku lies in bed, his breathing ragged, but mostly normal compared to earlier. Yamucha and Chichi watch over him.

Vegeta is thrown against a boulder. He simply sits there, mouth agape in pain, but barely a low groan escaping. He sits up and sees the Artificial Human walking toward him. He suddenly powers up and flies in, trying to slam into her feet first. She jumps up, dodging the attack, then comes in for one of her own. Vegeta turns to see her just in time to get a swift kick to the chin. He flies back, but regains himself and turns around once again. He meets a hard kick to the upper body. He's frozen. The Z Senshi stare on in a combination of horror and amazement at the beating that Vegeta is taking. His left arm goes limp and he grasps it with his right hand. He walks a few steps away, then falls to his knees. The Super Saiya-jin howls in pain.

Trunks, "Father!!" He turns Super Saiya-jin and flies over to Vegeta. He draws his sword in midflight as Number 17 prepares to make good on his threat.