The Androids Who Didn't Play by the Rules

Boom~

Maybe it was a coincidence. It had to be a coincidence. Vegeta had landed right in front of Dr. Gero's laboratory.

Just from looking at the mountain that had been smashed apart, you could tell how hard Frieza had kicked him.

Vegeta was fine after that collision. A Super Saiyan could take a hit like that without much trouble, but the people inside the laboratory were another matter.

They hadn't been seriously hurt, but they had been buried alive.

It wasn't just Android 17 and Android 18 who got buried. Frieza was trapped even deeper underground.

As for Dr. Gero, who had turned himself into Android 20, his fate of being killed by Android 17 remained unchanged.

The only upside was that he was already buried, so there was no need to worry about his body being left out in the wilderness.

Thud~

Thud~

Boom~!

Android 17 burst out of the ground carrying an enormous hibernation pod. The girl Android 18 came out with him.

The third explosion was caused by Frieza, who blasted the entire mountain to pieces.

Frieza, surrounded by purple energy, hovered in the air with a deeply displeased look on his face.

He, Frieza, had actually been buried alive. It hadn't done much damage, but it was a tremendous insult!

When he saw Vegeta shake his head and get to his feet, Frieza instantly understood what had happened.

That was a little awkward.

What incredible luck!

Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~!

Future Trunks and the others arrived soon after.

Future Trunks in particular burst into a rage the moment he saw Android 17 and Android 18. But unlike Vegeta and Bulma, he forced himself to stay calm. He set Bulma down, then gently placed Baby Trunks in her arms.

"Android 17! Android 18! Prepare to die!!"

Whoom~!

Future Trunks powered up again, bringing his battle power to 300 million. His anger had boosted it a little, and his confidence soaring, he charged straight at Android 17.

Whoosh~

Thud!

"Gwaaaah~~~!"

Future Trunks' misery apparently wasn't over yet. With a battle power of 300 million, he had challenged someone with a battle power of 900 million. The outcome had been inevitable.

This time, Future Trunks didn't vanish into the horizon with a little ding. Son Gohan caught him.

"This is impossible! Android 17 can't be this strong! I should be able to fight him evenly!"

"Hmph! Nothing's impossible. Forget the androids who've just shown up—even the ones who appeared before could beat you with one hand!"

Vegeta was deeply disappointed in his future son. If his battle power wasn't good enough, he could train, but if his brain wasn't working, that was a much trickier problem.

After thinking it over, Vegeta couldn't come up with a good way to fix that brain of his, so he decided to fight the androids first.

As for Frieza having just kicked him flying—did that happen?

Sorry, Vegeta had conveniently forgotten.

"You're Android 17 and Android 18, right? Fight me!"

"I refuse!"

"I refuse too!"

By then, Android 17 had opened the hibernation pod marked "16." A very tall man climbed out of it—or, more accurately, a robot with the appearance of a man.

"It's made entirely of metal. If Dr. Gero could do this, why did he modify us?"

Android 18 tapped Android 16's arm, and it made a metallic clanking sound. She looked puzzled.

Android 17 and Android 18 had originally been ordinary humans, chosen by Dr. Gero for his android modifications. They were still human, but nanomachines inside their bodies altered their thoughts, and they also had emergency shutoff devices and self-destruct mechanisms.

Most importantly, the process of modifying them had been sheer torture. Otherwise, why would they hate Dr. Gero so much?

"Why refuse to fight me? Weren't you made to eliminate humanity?"

Android 17 looked up at Vegeta in the distance and asked, confused.

"Who told you we were going to eliminate humanity? We're human ourselves!"

"Oh, you mean Dr. Gero? The task he gave us wasn't to eliminate humanity either! What I hate most are Dr. Gero's stupid assignments. He actually wanted me to pursue Bulma!"

"Hmph! You're a man. Is pursuing a beautiful woman really so hard to accept? And what about me?! I was supposed to seduce Son Goku and break up his family!"

"Damn that old geezer! Damn those assignments!"

The wind kept blowing. Everyone present was stunned by the tasks Android 17 and Android 18 had described.

Bulma's heart gave a little flutter. Then she pretended she hadn't heard anything and focused on examining Future Trunks' injuries.

Son Gohan pointed at himself, then turned to Uncle Piccolo. "Uncle Piccolo, that female android just said she was going to break up my family? Separate Dad and Mom?"

Piccolo rubbed Son Gohan's head sympathetically, then closed his eyes helplessly.

"If we aren't all imagining things, then you heard her correctly! It's okay, Gohan. Uncle Piccolo won't leave you!"

What a thing to say!

It was as if Android 18 had already succeeded, and Son Goku and Chi-Chi had split up!

Even Frieza had frozen solid at that point. Had the plot really gotten this bizarre?

Instead of a fight, was this going to turn into a young adult romance, or a tale of the other woman stealing someone's man?

This was just absurd!

But everyone had forgotten that, out of everyone there, Vegeta was by far the angriest.

He'd been insulted to his face, and now someone was trying to hit on his woman and cuckold him!!

Future Trunks was completely stunned. A million stampeding grass-mud horses galloped through his mind. All he could think was: I have to leave this timeline. I don't belong here. I have to go. I'm leaving. I have to find Mom!

But did you think that was the end of it?

No. Android 18 first compared her height with Android 16's, then asked, "Big guy, what's your mission?"

Android 16 gazed at the sky with pure eyes. A tear of motor oil rolled down his cheek.

"My mission! My mission is to make movies. Once I become more popular than Optimus Prime, I can spend time with the little animals I love!"

The wind kept howling, and the plot continued galloping wildly down the wrong path~~!

Bang~!

A Time Machine appeared. With a look of utter despair on his face, Future Trunks was about to make a run for it.

Bang~~!

The Time Machine turned back into a Capsule. This time, Frieza hadn't done it. Bulma had been quick on the draw.

"Don't rush off. Even though this timeline has changed in ways that are hard to accept, your future hasn't changed. You need to get stronger so you can save the devastated future!"

Future Trunks froze. Mom makes a good point. I don't even know how to argue with her.

"To make sure you don't give up under your dad's training, I'll keep this Capsule for you. When your dad approves of you and you feel ready to defeat the androids in the future, I'll give you the Time Machine back!"

"Mom!!!"

Moved to tears, Future Trunks dropped to his knees before his mother.

In this world, only your own mother truly cared about you the most.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

"Bulma, you just want to get a good look at how fit your future son is, and how popular he is with the girls, don't you!"

Future Trunks froze, then instinctively looked up at his mother.

Bulma's eyes darted away. Her face was flushed with the embarrassment of having her thoughts exposed~!

Future Trunks~~

Was about to shut down completely!!