Gohan staggered forward, his aura flaring weakly. His one eye burned with fury, but also with fear.
"Don't… don't you dare mock him."
Eighteen tilted her head, lips curving into something almost sympathetic. "Why not? Pride was all he had left. Without it, he's just another corpse waiting to happen."
Piccolo moved beside Gohan, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the cracked street. His jaw clenched, voice low and venomous.
"They won't stop with Vegeta. If we fall here, the Earth dies with us."
Krillin swallowed hard, his knuckles trembling as he forced himself to stand taller. "Then we don't fall. Not yet." His voice cracked, but the determination in his eyes was real.
Tien raised his hand, fingers curling into a claw as ki sparked between them. "We buy time. That's all we can do."
Even Yamcha, pale with fear, nodded and tightened his stance. "Better to go down fighting than hiding."
Seventeen sighed as if bored. "How noble." His smile spread wider. "How utterly useless."
The street cracked as the Androids stepped forward.
Then chaos erupted.
Goku charged first, his aura blazing, fists crashing against Sixteen's massive arms. Each strike sent tremors through the ground, but Sixteen absorbed them with grim calm, shoving Goku back with sheer weight. Goku darted around him, throwing flurries of kicks and blows, but the giant's patience was endless. His fist came down like a hammer, and Goku barely twisted aside, the impact splitting the earth into a jagged scar.
Gohan hurled himself at Eighteen, rage twisting his face. "You'll pay for everything!" His punches came fast, desperate, every blow fueled by grief. Eighteen blocked with casual grace, her counters precise, cold, surgical. His fist clipped her cheek — she smiled through the blood.
"Good. Anger makes you strong. But it also makes you sloppy."
Her knee drove into his chest, ribs snapping audibly. He gasped, spitting blood, but still swung again.
Krillin and Tien double-teamed Seventeen, blasting at him from both sides. For a moment, the Android vanished under the storm of light — but when the smoke cleared, he was already behind them.
"Cute."
His heel drove into Tien's spine, folding him forward into the dirt. Before Krillin could react, Seventeen's hand closed around his throat, lifting him effortlessly.
"Always so desperate to matter," Seventeen said, his smirk widening. "Always the weakest link."
Krillin clawed at his grip, gasping. His aura sputtered, sparks of blue ki flaring from his hands. "I… I'm not weak…"
His Destructo Disc formed, spinning wildly in his palm. With a roar, he hurled it at Seventeen's head.
The Android tilted his neck a fraction. The disc whistled past, cleaving a skyscraper in half.
Seventeen's grin sharpened. "Not weak, huh? Then die strong."
His grip crushed down. There was a sickening crack. Krillin's body went limp, eyes wide with shock as his head lolled to the side. Seventeen tossed him aside like trash, the body rolling into the dirt.
"Krillin!" Goku's scream tore from his throat. His fists blurred, rage making his blows wilder, harder, but Sixteen caught him by the chest and hurled him through a collapsed tower.
Tien forced himself up, blood spilling down his chin, fury blazing in his third eye. "You bastard!" His hands slammed together. "Tri-Beam!"
The blast tore through the street, engulfing Seventeen in a pyramid of blinding light. The ground collapsed into a smoking crater.
Tien dropped to one knee, his energy nearly drained, chest heaving. "Hah… got you…"
From the smoke, Seventeen stepped out, clothes scorched, hair singed. His grin never left.
"No," he said simply. "You didn't."
His fist drove through Tien's chest. The warrior gasped, eyes wide, blood bubbling at his lips. Seventeen leaned close, voice cold.
"You always thought sacrifice made you noble. It just made you predictable."
He wrenched his arm free. Tien collapsed into the dust, lifeless.
"Tien!" Yamcha's voice broke, rage and terror twisting him as he fired a barrage of blasts. Seventeen swatted them aside like sparks.
Piccolo caught Yamcha's arm. "Fall back—"
Too late. Eighteen appeared behind them, her hand spearing clean through Yamcha's chest. His breath hitched, blood spilling down her arm as she whispered in his ear.
"Pathetic. You never belonged here."
She let him fall, his body crumpling beside Tien's.
Gohan roared, his aura flaring so violently it cracked the ground. He charged Eighteen, fists a blur, tears streaking his face. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you for this!"
For the first time, her smirk faded. His blows hammered her back, each one heavier than the last, her defenses cracking under his fury. A final punch slammed into her stomach, doubling her over.
But before he could finish it, Seventeen caught his arm. With a vicious twist, the bone snapped. Gohan screamed, collapsing to his knees.
Eighteen straightened, wiping blood from her lip. She stared at him for a moment — something flickering in her eyes. Regret. Pity. Then it was gone.
She drove her boot into his face, snapping his head back, blood spraying as he collapsed beside the others.
Only Goku and Piccolo remained standing.
Sixteen loomed over them, his voice steady, almost mournful. "Surrender. Your deaths are inevitable. Resistance wastes data."
Goku spat blood, aura sparking weakly, but his eyes burned with unbroken fire. "If you think I'll stop fighting… you don't know me at all."
Piccolo stepped beside him, jaw tight, cloak torn and tattered. His voice was steady. "We don't surrender. Ever."
Seventeen sighed. "Then we'll put you out of your misery."
They advanced together, a wall of steel and malice.
The battlefield was painted in ash and blood. Krillin's body lay crumpled. Tien and Yamcha were broken shells. Gohan's breaths came shallow and ragged, his arm twisted unnaturally, his one eye still glaring with hatred even as it dimmed.
And still, two stood.
Goku, hunched and bleeding, aura sputtering but alive, his teeth clenched through the agony. Beside him, Piccolo, cloak torn, chest heaving, his Namekian blood dripping thick and dark onto the shattered concrete.
Seventeen stepped forward, casual as a man on a stroll. His smirk didn't falter. "This is dragging on. I'm almost bored."
Eighteen's eyes flicked to Goku, then Piccolo. Her lips curved faintly. "Finish them, then. Make it quick."
Sixteen said nothing. His shadow stretched long in the broken light, his blue eyes unreadable.
Goku spat blood into the dirt, then raised his head. His golden aura snapped back to life, wild and defiant. "No… not quick. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"
He roared, the air trembling, his hair blazing gold once more. Every muscle in his body screamed, but he surged forward with speed born not of strength, but of will. His fists collided with Seventeen's smirk, snapping his head to the side. The Android staggered, surprised for the first time in hours.
Piccolo moved with him. His fists blurred, every strike sharp as a blade, his ki whipping into thin, deadly beams. He caught Eighteen off guard, a blast scorching her shoulder, tearing skin and fabric. She hissed in pain, her perfect mask cracking into rage.
For a heartbeat, the impossible happened: the Androids stepped back.
"Piccolo," Goku rasped, sweat and blood dripping from his face. "We push together. One last time."
The Namekian nodded, his jaw tight. "Then let's make it count."
They surged. Together.
But inevitability doesn't break.
Eighteen intercepted Piccolo mid-strike, her boot slamming into his ribs. Bone cracked, green blood spraying from his mouth. She twisted, grabbing his arm and wrenching it back until it tore free at the shoulder.
Piccolo's scream echoed through the ruins, cut short as her fist caved into his chest, snapping ribs inward. She whispered in his ear as he staggered.
"You fought well. Better than most. But you were always in our way."
Her hand speared through his torso. The glow in Piccolo's eyes dimmed as her arm pulled free, his body collapsing with a wet thud.
"Piccolo!" Goku's roar shook the sky, his aura exploding around him.
But Seventeen was already there. He appeared in front of Goku, faster than his weakened body could react. His knee drove into Goku's stomach, folding him in half.
"You've carried this world on your back for too long," Seventeen said coldly. "Time to let it break."
He grabbed Goku by the hair, dragging his battered face upward. The Android's smirk was inches from his bloodied eyes. "Any last words, hero?"
Goku's breath rattled. His body trembled, blood spilling down his chin. But his eyes… his eyes still burned.
"You'll never… understand…" he rasped. "Why we fight… why we keep standing… even when it's hopeless…"
His lips curled, the faintest smile breaking through his blood. "Someday… someone stronger will rise. And they'll end you."
Seventeen's smirk faltered — just for a moment. Then his grip tightened.
"Not today."
His hand shot through Goku's chest. The Saiyan's scream tore the heavens apart, golden light bursting in a final, furious blaze. His aura shattered, his hair fell limp and black, and his body sagged in Seventeen's grasp.
The Android ripped his hand free and let the body fall. Goku hit the ground with a hollow thud, eyes glassy, his fire extinguished.
Silence fell.
For the first time, none of the Z-Warriors stood.
The ruins were grave markers now.
Eighteen wiped Piccolo's green blood from her hand. Her smirk returned, but it was smaller. Tighter. She didn't speak.
Seventeen looked down at Goku's body, his grin fixed but his eyes unreadable. He muttered almost too softly to hear. "So much fire for nothing…"
Sixteen stood still, his gaze locked on Goku. His lips moved quietly, almost like prayer. "You were… remarkable."
But then the silence shattered with a weak, broken roar.
Gohan, bleeding and barely alive, dragged himself forward. His eye glowed with fury, his broken arm dangling at his side. "No… no, I won't let it end here!"
His aura sputtered to life, small and cracked, but alive.
Eighteen sighed, stepping toward him. "Pathetic. Still crawling."
Seventeen smirked. "Let him. I want to see just how long fire can last before it burns out completely."
The night stank of blood and smoke. Goku's corpse still twitched faintly where it lay in the dirt, his chest gaping from Seventeen's strike. None of the Z-Warriors moved to reach him — because none of them could.
The survivors were broken things scattered across the ruins.
Vegeta crawled out from the rubble, coughing blood, one arm hanging useless. His golden aura flickered weakly, but the fire in his eyes hadn't gone out. He spat red into the dirt and dragged himself upright.
"Damn… you machines…" His voice cracked, but his snarl was as fierce as ever. "I'm not done yet."
Seventeen turned lazily toward him, wiping blood from his knuckles. "Still alive? You Saiyans really don't know when to quit."
Vegeta's aura exploded one last time, fire roaring upward. He charged, fist cocked, every shred of pride left in him burning in that final strike.
Eighteen appeared in his path. Her boot smashed into his jaw, sending him spinning mid-air. He hit the ground hard, coughing blood, but pushed himself up again, staggering forward.
"I… am Vegeta… the Prince… of all Saiyans!"
He lunged.
Eighteen caught his arm, twisted, and with a sharp crack, ripped it from his shoulder. Vegeta's scream tore through the night, but she didn't flinch.
"You're no prince here," she said coldly. "Just another relic."
Her heel came down on his skull, crushing it against the concrete. His body twitched once, then stilled.
The Saiyan Prince was no more.
A strangled cry rang out. Chiaotzu hurled himself forward, tiny hands glowing with psychic light. "STOP IT!" His shrill voice cracked with desperation. "YOU MONSTERS!"
He locked his power onto Seventeen, veins bulging from the effort, trying to paralyze him. For a second, Seventeen's limbs stiffened.
The Android chuckled. "Cute trick."
He snapped his neck, breaking free of the hold. Before Chiaotzu could retreat, Seventeen's hand clamped around his head.
"You never belonged here," he said simply.
With a squeeze, the small body exploded in a spray of blood and bone. The remains dropped like a broken doll.
"Chiaotzu!" Tien's voice still echoed, even as his corpse lay broken.
The battlefield was a graveyard now. Only two remained.
Future Gohan dragged himself upright, one arm useless, his one eye glaring with feral fire. He staggered, aura sputtering. His breath came ragged, but his voice was clear.
"You'll… never win…"
He stumbled forward, golden aura crackling back to life. His broken body screamed in protest, but he roared anyway, throwing himself at Eighteen with fists like falling meteors. She caught the blows, but they drove her back, her boots grinding furrows into the street.
"You're finished!" Gohan screamed, hammering her again and again. "This ends with me!"
Eighteen's lip curled, blood trailing from her nose. "No, boy. It ends with you."
Seventeen's boot slammed into Gohan's spine, breaking it with a crack. He collapsed to his knees, screaming, his aura sputtering.
Eighteen's hand speared through his chest from the front, bursting out his back in a spray of blood. Gohan's scream choked into silence.
For a moment, she froze — staring into his single eye, seeing the raw hate, the raw grief there.
Then she yanked her arm free, and Gohan fell face-first into the dirt.
The boy who had carried the last hope of Earth lay still.
The silence was suffocating.
A ragged shuffle broke it. Yajirobe had been hiding behind the wreck of a car, clutching his sword with trembling hands. His face was pale, his gut heaving, but still he stumbled out into the open.
"You… you bastards…" His voice cracked, tears streaking his dirty face. He raised the blade, the edge shaking in his grip. "I'll kill you… I'll kill you all!"
Seventeen tilted his head, smirk wide. "Will you, now?"
Yajirobe screamed and charged, swinging wildly. The sword clashed against Seventeen's arm, sparks flying. The Android didn't even flinch.
"You're not even a fighter," Seventeen said softly. He drove his knee into Yajirobe's gut, snapping bone, then ripped the sword from his hands.
With one swing, he cut Yajirobe clean in half. The body collapsed in two pieces, blood spilling across the cracked concrete.
Silence fell again.
All around them, the Z-Warriors lay dead. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Gohan, Chiaotzu, Yajirobe. A massacre.
The Androids stood in the center of the carnage, their clothes torn, their skin bloodied, but their smiles still sharp.
Eighteen looked down at her blood-soaked hands. For a moment, her smirk faltered. Her eyes lingered on Gohan's lifeless body, on the hate that had burned there even as he died.
"…he was strong," she murmured. Almost like regret.
Seventeen walked past her, smirking wider. "Strong doesn't matter. Dead is dead."
Sixteen remained still, towering over the corpses. His voice was quiet, almost reverent.
"They fought… like warriors. But warriors cannot stop inevitability."
He turned his gaze skyward, his voice heavy. "And now, the Earth belongs to us."
The city was silent. No more screams. No more resistance. Only the sound of wind sweeping ash across a battlefield of fallen heroes.
The age of the Z-Warriors ended that night.
And the age of the Androids began.