Reprogrammed

Year's Worth of Training

18 fell to the ground, aching all over. Baby was really beating down on her. She may still have as much power as she did before the battle started, but her body was weak and hurting. She didn't know how much longer she could last.

Baby landed on the ground a short distance away from her. "Have you had enough?"

Moaning, 18 forced herself to get to her feet, breathing heavily. "As long… as I'm… still… alive… I won't… rest until… until you die…"

Baby laughed. "How sweet. You're so determine to avenge that fallen saiyan. It's sickening really."

He vanished, reappearing behind 18. She turned to him, only to see him with his back to her. A moment later his elbow flew back, colliding with her face. She went down, her hands covering her nose to suppress the agony. Baby turned to face her, smiling at her pain. He raised his hand and began to gather energy. Sensing this, 18 glared up at him angrily, making the machine mutant chuckle.

"So defiant. I'm actually impressed."

He fired his energy blast. 18 was launched backwards and sent crashing straight through a rock formation. Feeling woozy, she dug herself out from under the pile of rocks that had collapsed on top of her. She staggered to her feet, stumbling the whole way. She was close to unconsciousness now. She felt light-headed. Her vision was blurry. She wouldn't last much longer.

Baby cocked his head to the side, seeming to study her curiously. Then he flew at her and punched her hard in the face. 18 hit the ground with such force that she tore through the rock, leaving behind a deep imprint.

Hearing Baby's footsteps, she peeked her eyes open, seeing him approach. With her whole body shaking, she forced herself to her feet, staring him down. She struggled to speak, but seemed unable to form coherent words. "I… will…" even as she spoke, she began nodding off, "kill… you… for what… for what… you… you did… you did… to… him…"

Her strength finally gave out and she fell forward, unconscious. Baby stood over the fallen android, looking down at her with a smile on his face. "So, she's finally done for. I'm surprised she lasted so long. But I guess the fun's over." He raised his hand, gathering energy. "Time to say goodbye."

He fired. The ground was torn to shreds as his attack blasted everything apart. 18's smoking body went flying through the air and fell lifelessly to the ground. Shattered rocks rained down around her, burying her in a rocky grave.

Baby lowered his hand, a satisfied smile on his face. "Well, that takes care of that." he turned around and looked at the city upon the horizon. "But there's still so much left to do. I've got an entire race to conquer. So many people, so little time. After all, an entire planet is nothing compared to the entire universe." He laughed. "That foolish saiyan. Did he really think that destroying my ship would stop me? I've only been delayed for a while. And once I infect enough people, they can rebuild my ship while I take over the entire planet."

Cackling like a madman, Baby took off, heading straight for the city, and all the people he could take over. Little did he know that the battle was not over. Buried within her rocky grave, 18 still lived. While able to measure her power level with his enhanced abilities, he still couldn't sense her life force.

Rocks shifted as she regained consciousness and began pushing them aside. Breaking through to the outside, she sucked in the cool night air. She felt completely drained. Her body ached terribly, and it was an effort not to lose consciousness again.

She dragged herself across the ground, trying to see where Baby went. She sensed him somewhere in the city below, and it didn't take much for her to figure out what he was doing, not after the way he bragged about his ability to infect people. And as things stood, she was powerless to stop him.