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Recruitment Saga: Part 2
Trunks wasn't the least bit surprised when an odd blue man appeared in front of him. He remembered that the Goku of the Past told him that King Kai was quite strange-looking and Trunks certainly agreed with what Goku had said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, King Kai." Trunks said, giving a bow to the king.
What surprised Trunks was King Kai bursting into laughter. It took him a full minute to recover from his laughing fit before he responded, "You too, Trunks. Anyway, we better not waste anymore time, right?" After finishing his sentence, he began to giggle a bit, much to Trunks's annoyance.
After King Kai had calmed down once again, he moved the index and middle finger of his right hand to his forehead while stretching out his left arm and placing it on Trunks's shoulder.
Within a flash, the two of them had vanished.
When Trunks next opened his eyes he saw he was in a peculiar new area, "So, this is King Kai's planet." He thought to himself, taking some time to gaze around at Other World for the first time since his temporary death when the Z Fighters fought Cell.
"Trunks! Little bro!" A familiar and very welcoming man yelled out, catching the hybrid Saiyan's attention immediately. He turned around and saw his mentor for the first time in years standing right in front of him.
"Gohan, is it really you?!" He questioned, unable to control his excitement.
An adult Gohan with one arm nodded, "You did it, little bro. I knew you could do it."
"So, you're Trunks!" Another fighter called out. As Trunks moved his eyes and focused on the owner of the voice, he gave a simple smile.
"Goku." Trunks said with deju vu by his side. "It's an honor to meet you."
"Likewise. Wow, you're so strong! It's incredible! How did you get so powerful?" Goku asked a question that had been on his mind for some time now.
"He has royal Saiyan blood, destiny foresaw that he would be strong." A third fighter said, this one Trunks was very eager to hear and meet. Trunks looked around and saw the Vegeta of his timeline staring at him with a smirk, "Trunks, how is your mother? Is she well?"
Trunks couldn't believe what he was hearing. His father actually asking if his mother was okay? Perhaps being dead this long could really change people, "She's just fine." He smiled.
It only took a few minutes for the remainder of the deceased Z Fighters to find their way to the new power level they had sensed, and they were certainly shocked at what they saw.
"So, you're that little baby boy all grown up! Wow, how long have we been dead for?" Yamcha laughed, only to receive a hush from Tien.
"Your power is enormous, you must tell us how you got so strong." Piccolo requested in a tone of voice that made it sound like an order.
Trunks nodded to his mentor's mentor, "Of course. I have to ask though, did you lot ever... watch me fight the Androids?"
"After I died, I found out the dead fighters here refused to watch the attempts at destroying the Androids." Gohan began explaining to his little brother. "It was too much for them to see their loved ones get beaten. I felt the same way after you nearly died one time after fighting the Androids."
Trunks merely sighed at what he heard, "Very well. That is understandable. It's a shame though, if you were watching me when I wasn't fighting the Androids, you might have figured out how I grew so powerful."
"Enough with the suspense already!" Vegeta snapped. "Just get on with the damn story!" Trunks smiled at his father's rash attitude, at least he hadn't changed too much. He remembered how he disgusted his father's arrogance, but began to tolerate it when he realized it was just who he was.
"Mother knew we had no chance of defeating the Androids in this time, but she knew there were others we could save in other times." Trunks began, only to recieve a few confused expressions from several Z Fighters such as Yamcha and Krillin. "She began working on a time machine."
"A time machine? I didn't know Bulma was that smart!" Krillin responded. The bald fighter was about to continue talking, but a glare from Vegeta told him to shut up.
"After the time machine's completion, I traveled back in time to the point where Frieza and his father were about to land on Earth." Trunks continued. "I had no idea Goku knew the Instant Transmission technique, so I ended up fighting and killing Freiza and King Cold."
"Those two were much of a challenge when I fought them." Goku added, recalling the fight that never happened in the alternate timeline which Trunks visited.
"After Goku landed, I warned him of the Androids that were going to reveal themselves in three years time. I knew he would also end up dying from the heart virus, so I gave him an antidote that would prevent his death." Trunks explained further.
"I see." Piccolo said. "So, Goku survived the heart virus. But that still doesn't explain how you got so strong." He growled; he wasn't in the mood for the suspense.
Trunks sighed at Piccolo, but decided to continue on, "I went three years into the future so I could help the Z Fighters fight the Androids in case Goku wasn't enough. However, the unexpected happened." Trunks extended his story. "The timeline had somehow shifted, which resulted in two more androids. One of these being Dr. Gero, who had turned himself into one of those machines. Although father destroyed one, Gero suffered the same fate as this timeline when Android 17 and 18 were awoken and mercilessly killed him."
Vegeta grinned, ever since he died he had wonderful dreams of getting his revenge on the Androids. He was glad his dream came true, even if it was an alternative version of himself. He remembered how he never got to see his son grow up because King Yemma decided to send him to Hell, despite the fact he died protecting his family. It was only one year ago when Kakarot and the others convinced Yemma to send him to King Kai's planet.
Vegeta snapped out of his thoughts when heard his voice being said by his only son, "Vegeta, my father, decided to chase after the Androids and fight them alone."
"I guess that ended well." Tien smiled, only for the Prince of all Saiyans to growl at him and threaten Tien to stay quiet or he would blow his head off.
"Goku had fallen victim to the virus later than expected, so he wasn't present in the battle as he was recuperating. However, despite every single one of us losing to the Androids, they spared us. Krillin gave us all Senzu Beans and we all parted ways so we could get stronger."
"I remember when I fought the Androids." Piccolo began. "When I was only a minute away from dying, I cursed myself for not fusing with Kami. It had been an idea that was playing on my mind at the time but I kept putting it off as I honestly had doubts that a foe stronger than Frieza would appear."
"The Piccolo of the Past actually did fuse with Kami." Trunks responded to Piccolo. "With Kami's knowledge, Piccolo encountered a strange creature that had come to the past through another time machine. I don't want to get into a large discussion about time travel, but this creature known as Cell came back to the past by killing an alternate me from the future. It makes my head hurt talking about it, so let's just say a threat even bigger than the Androids had made itself known."
"I assume I fought this 'Cell' creature, then." Piccolo replied with his arms crossed as usual.
"Yes, and you nearly won. However, Cell was an android and possessed the abilities of the Z Fighters such as the Kamehameha and the Solar Flare, which allowed him to flee." The hybrid continued his tale. Tien only sighed at how his own technique ended up being used against his friends. "Cell's goal was to absorb Android 17 and 18, which would increase his strength dramatically. By this time, Goku had recovered and brought me, father, himself and Gohan to Kami's Lookout, where we would train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
"Of course, it all makes sense now!" Goku yelled, clicking his fingers. "Gee, I should have told more people about that place. I'm sure you and Gohan training in there for a full year would have given you the strength needed to fight the Androids for sure."
"Father, you actually told me about the chamber once." Gohan reminded his father.
"Really, then why didn't you use it?" The pure-blooded Saiyan questioned his only son.
Gohan sighed, "The Androids left the Lookout in ruins and the entrance to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber destroyed. I don't even know if Mr. Popo survived that attack."
Vegeta suddenly pointed his finger at his son, "You, Trunks! Tell me, what happened to this Cell?Who defeated him?"
Trunks smiled at his timeline's Vegeta, "Cell hosted a world martial arts tournament called the Cell Games. Me, you and Goku were nothing compared to him. However, Gohan ascended to a new stage of Super Saiyan and defeated Cell no contest."
"Wow, you're kidding me!" Gohan responded. "I must have been like, eleven years old? And you're telling me I was like twice as strong than you?"
"I'd say three times stronger than me." Trunks corrected. "That reminds me, have you lot ever tried to ascend?"
"Trust me, We tried to." Vegeta replied, while Goku and Gohan bit their lips and couldn't help but smile. "However, the Super Saiyan transformation required some emotional spark. and I assumed ascending required a much stronger spark. We could have used our determination to defeat the Androids as the spark, but that wouldn't do much as we were already dead. I could have used you getting beaten as my 'emotional spark', but I died before I got to raise you and I wasn't as connected to you as I hoped."
"Well, that explains things. I have to take my leave though, my mother is probably worried sick about me and I need to bring the new Guardian of Earth to his new home." Trunks said with a sigh.
"Trunks, before you leave I have to tell you something." Gohan suddenly said quite seriously. He approached his little brother and began to whisper in his ear, "Before I died I left a very young girl in the care of my mother. She's a born fighter and I heard of your plan to begin a new generation of Z Fighters, so I want you to find her and train her."
"I... I see." Trunks replied quietly, although with a smile afterwards. He now had two possible candidates for the next generation of fighters on his mind which meant he was off to a good start.
Trunks looked over Gohan's shoulder, "Hey, Goku!" He shouted, catching the Saiyan's attention. "When I visit again, would you mind teaching me Instant Transmission?"
"Sure!" He shouted back.
King Kai glared at Trunks, "If you need to go somewhere, why not just ask me for help?"
"You can't fool me, King Kai. I saw when we came back here that you got exhausted after using Instant Transmission. Either you haven't mastered the ability or you don't have that much energy." Trunks laughed, joined by the laughs of Gohan and Goku as King Kai became incredibly embarrassed.
King Kai desperately tried to find an excuse, "Well... uhm... teleporting from Other World to Earth is teleporting a long way... so of course I'd be exhausted after that." He sighed before giving up. "Say your goodbyes and let's go to New Namek."
"Father, Goku, Gohan, everyone. It's so good seeing you all again. Even if it feels like you've just met me, I've got to know your past counterparts so it's just like seeing old friends again. Anyway, it's been a real pleasure. Until the next time." Trunks said before waving his hand as King Kai placed his hand on his shoulder and began to perform Instant Transmission.
"Goodbye, little bro." Gohan said with a small tear in his eye.
"You've made me proud, son." Vegeta smiled with pride.
"Until we meet again!" Goku shouted happily.
In a flash, Trunks and King Kai vanished.
Goku walked up to Gohan and put his arm around his son, "Gee, I'm sure Pan is going to have a lot of fun with Trunks, am I right?" He laughed.