DRAGON BALL MIRAI
AN: Yeah, okay so I think five months is long enough to wait for an update. O_O Anywho, I think this long introduction will suffice. Enjoy!
Chapter One
Trunks' Point of View
The wind was soft and warm when it brushed through his hair with golden fingers. The sun poked its head above the mountains, scattering its rays across the land and sparkling on the ocean below. The force of his aura sent giant waves rolling out behind him as he rocketed across the ocean's surface.
He pushed himself faster, reveling in the feel of power sizzling in every pore. How he wished he could have had that power all those years ago. Then maybe things could have turned out differently.
Trunks swallowed down the regret, pushing it back to deal with it another time. Right then he didn't want the sorrow…he didn't want to think. He just wanted to fly in the silence as dawn broke across the earth's burnt crust.
A flock of birds soared past him, riding one of the last warm currents of the summer breeze. The trees on the mountains below were scorched skeletons, a grim reminder of a darker time ruled by evil itself. However, the green fingers of life were crawling up the deceased trees, finding root in the soil and ashes. Trunks' heart leapt in his chest at the sight. Life was returning to the world, much as the way humans were slowly and warily emerging. The last four years had been rough, but slowly they had begun to rebuild. He had been up all night to ensure they had made progress on the plan to rebuild West City and the rest of the world, but that was the norm for his days as of late. Once he had defeated the Androids and Imperfect Cell, he had rested for all of two days before resuming his training and helping his mother.
After he'd left with the time machine, she hadn't returned to her plans for building the spaceship. The blueprints were still sitting in a haphazard stack in the corner of her office, gathering dust. No, instead Bulma Briefs had invested herself for the good of mankind. She had set to work on electrical power, rewiring and repairing all the damage that West City had taken the day it had been leveled to a barren wasteland. Trunks wanted to finish the spaceship and travel to New Namek, but it just hadn't been Bulma's priority. He fought her on it in a fit of despair, denying the blunt truth that it was just too late to bring back his mentor. Five years was the limit and the fifth anniversary of his death passed the day Trunks went back in time to warn the past. He wished he could bring that easy smile back. Those friendly onyx eyes that looked down on him with the pride a father has for his son. Gohan the only other person in the universe who had Saiyan blood running through their veins.
He was the only one who knew how Trunks felt.
Unfortunately, that cold night in the rain he'd passed that burden to his pupil's young and inexperienced shoulders. A fire burned in the pit of his stomach and the world turned blurry. Trunks rubbed the tears from his eyes agitatedly, before they could fall. He wasn't a child anymore. He wasn't weak. He wouldn't cry. He was back on the ocean now. Dolphin's leapt above the water in a playful attempt to tag him. He shot forward, leaving them all behind and a giant island appeared in the distance.
He slowed, coming to a gentle halt far above West City, nothing but a speck in the sky to those viewing below. It wasn't the time to mourn or regret anymore. He'd done his job and saved the world, but it still needed him to heal the scars.
Trunks absently rubbed his chest over the scar he'd received when Cell had blasted a beam of energy right through him. He winced, though he could no longer feel the pain it had once brought. It wasn't an injury, nor was it a battle he liked to remember. Trunks began his descent into the city, shoving both hands into the pockets of his pants, his lilac mop of hair fluttering around his ears and neck.
When he finally touched down on the lawn of his partially destroyed home, he sought out his mother's ki. It was bright, but flickering, tinted with weariness. She hadn't slept, which came as no surprise. She was still in the main lab they'd pieced together underground with tarps and slabs of broken concrete walls he'd found in the rubble. Trunks wove through the maze of rubble and tall grass that had been his front lawn since before he could remember and approached the ruins of his home. Ferns nestled against the leaning roof, waving at the fading stars in gentle farewell. He pushed aside the large panel of aluminum they used for a door, pulling the screeching thing closed behind him. The hallways were as they'd always been. Dimly lit, and large cracks ran along the walls and ceiling. Pictures hung crooked, the glass fractured in their frames. Crystal webs were cast along old photos of his mother and Yamcha, his grandparents, Son Goku and his family, and even a small portrait of him and Gohan. Trunks slid his eyes to the door at the end of the hallway, where a pale electronic light was escaping the lab's depths. He stepped inside, his feet nothing but a whisper against the ground.
His mother was leaning over in her chair, her eyes bleary as they scanned the coding on the computer screen before her. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she scripted the code for the main online unit that they were using to send radio wavelengths to other groups of civilization; their latest project. His mother sported a pair of cotton shorts and an old Capsule Corporation T-shirt that had belonged to him when he was a few years younger. Her aqua hair was mussed, attempting to remain in the half-hearted bun she'd tied it back in. There were circles around her eyes. A coffee cup perched beside the laptop, half empty and still steaming. She hadn't seen him come in; such was the intensity of her focus. Trunks placed a gentle hand on his mother's shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise, and he recoiled.
"Trunks!" she exclaimed breathlessly, pressing a hand to her racing heart, the alarm in her glacier-blue eyes fading. "You scared the hell out of me" she reprimanded, settling back into her seat, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I was beginning to wonder where you were." Trunks chuckled and slumped down on the ripped and scratched leather couch across from her desk with a sigh.
"I took the long way back" he replied, blowing a puff of air at the fine locks hanging in his face. Bulma took a sip of her lukewarm coffee before setting the long-running script on standby with a few simple clicks. "So how did it go?" she asked, cradling her coffee cup. Trunks was beginning to feel the effects of his sleepless night and yawned unintentionally.
"Well. The connection to the motherboard was successful and boards two and five are ready for programming. With any luck we'll be in contact with South America by the end of the week" he replied, informatively. Bulma crossed her legs.
"I didn't expect any less" she teased, but Trunks refused to bite. He fixed his mother with a knowing look before quickly glancing away. "And well, you know we could always secure a satellite. It wouldn't take to long to finish building the spaceship…" he trailed off suggestively but Bulma had already closed her eyes in reluctant refusal. Trunks frowned at the ceiling, his eyebrow twitching in irritation. After a long pause he heard his mother sigh.
"Its gonna take a lot more conniving than that to get past me" she murmured softly, a maternal edge in her voice. Trunks' chest tightened and his hands curled into fists.
"The trip can wait." That stroke of finality in her voice pushed past his stoic façade, slipping over the edge.
"You're selfish" he retorted without looking at her. He felt her meager ki flare in that fiesty way she had. "You would chose my safety over the fate of the world." He jumped up, glaring at her accusatorily. He loved his mother, she was the only thing he had left, but she blocked the path to his duty. To something that both he and Gohan knew was the right thing to do. When she remained silent he began to pace.
"What is going to happen if something worse than the androids- worse than Cell- finds the earth? We need the Dragonballs and we need the eternal dragon. The fate of the world is my responsibility now, and I won't let it be destroyed again."
He couldn't understand what was driving his mother to such insanity. He was staring at the same woman who'd sent her own son back in time, and had the gall to stand up to the arrogant enigma that was his father. She had such a forceful spirit that she could make the strongest men in the universe quiver at her feet…but she couldn't let him go on a small trip through space to retrieve a gaurdian for earth? Her face was drawn in dissapointment, her eyes swimming and Trunks felt guilt wash over him. He shouldn't have lashed out like that. He bowed his head and didn't move when he felt her hand brush his hair out of his eyes.
"You've done your job. You've saved the earth, so please," she whispered and wrapped her arms around him. "Please just give me a little time to have you back." "I'm sorry, mother" he mumbled, burrying his face in her shoulder. She nodded, holding him in her slender capable arms, as if he was still a child and not the adult he'd been forced to be for the passed nine years. He exhaled heavily.
"Now why don't you go get some rest. I'll find us some lunch" she suggested, nudging him towards the door. "You sure you don't need me anymore?" he pressed, looking back over his shoulder at her. "Positive" she promised, her eyes still glistening. She winked anyway, passing him a grin. Trunks passed her a grimace before making his way up to his room. Her following laugh lingered behind him.
Trunks closed the door to his room and kicked off his boots, throwing his jacket on a chair in the corner. He moved to the window without a pane and pulled the ripped curtains shut, throwing the room into dimness. He flopped down on his bed, the springs protesting loudly. He hugged the pillow, trying to find solace in his cold sheets as sleep slowly crept in like a shroud.
His thoughts turned slack and succumbed to darkness. The black world wavered around him, shifting into something bright and white. A huge barren room with no walls and no end.
Silence throbbed in his ears and he felt thick and heavy with the increased gravity pressing down on every cell in his body. He was back in the hyperbolic time chamber. He marveled at the emptiness again, amazed he'd been able to spend an entire year inside.
He waited for the air to change as it often did when he had been training with his father. A blizzard or a storm of fire had once surfaced from nothing, achieving in its to suffocate him. Now nothing happened, and the dizzying white abyss remained.
He was gathering the courage to take a step forward when he heard a boom resounding against the particles in the air. First it was distant and then the wave of noise found him, forcing him to slam his hands down on his sensitive ears and the ground beneath his feet to rumble.
"What…?" he whispered, his eyes scanning the nothingness that surrounded him. The boom came again, louder than before, and he imagined it was how an explosion would sound from under water. A huge nuclear explosion that matched the ki attacks of the androids that leveled entire cities. He crouched in his usual defensive stance, a mix between his father's and his mentor's styles.
"Father?" he shouted, expecting to find the arrogant Saiyan in a rage while his power level skyrocketed, desperately attempting to grasp the next transformation and ascend to an even higher level…He strained his ears, waiting.
The explosion of sound hit him again but this time, his eyes sprung open and he sat straight up in bed. He was breathing hard and sweat ran down his neck. His hair was wild around his face and his hands clenched the sheets, his strength ripping right through the fabric. He swallowed, orienting himself. He looked at his watch and was amazed to find that it was nearly afternoon. His mother hadn't come to wake him up and he'd slept right through lunch. His stomach growled in impatience.
Then a force flashed across his mind with the equivelent of the sounds he'd felt in his dream. It was bright and unmistakably Saiyan. He'd learned to differntiate between the power levels of his Saiyan comrades and other lower-leveled fighters. He'd refined his sense of ki enough that he was even able to place the difference in incredibly insignificant power levels between humans. His mind raced in confusion. He shook himself.
Was he still dreaming?
It flashed against his conciousness again, insistent. It was so sharp, like a blade slicing across his senses. He couldn't ignore it and reached out with his mind, appraising it. He sensed danger, panic, and distress.
The powerlevel was remarkabley high, nearly toe to toe with Krillin or Yamcha when he'd last seen them in the past. He blinked and then jerked out of his frozen state of awe, lunging into action.
He hastily pulled on his boots and jacket, insinctively snatching his sword where it was leaning against the wall. He shot out of the room, agilely managing not to break anything. Once he had put a good amount of distance between him and the house, he pushed all his power out behind him and shot after the stray powerlevel at full speed.
His hunger forgotten, he focused soley on this stranger. The ki was wild with anger and fear and he pushed himself faster, alarmed by this display of unique power. Mountains loomed far in the distance, sheltering the ki from the prying eyes in the sky. He wasn't sure how many minutes had passed since he'd first felt he uproar of that powerlevel and his eyes frantically searched the forest below him. He stretched his senses, finally picking up a thick choking smell that he easily identified as smoke coming from the other side of the mountain.
Trunks shot forward, circling around the peak and spotting a huge cloud of smoke drifting across the slope. He could see the fire far below, encasing old buildings in flames. A town had been destroyed. Trunks growled, his eyes flashing. Then in the midst of his anger, he spotted them gathered just beneath the clouds of ash and dust. He descended to get a better look, assessing the situation beneath his feet.
There were two facing each other, a couple others off to the side and one lying face down on the ground. The lone Saiyan ki was emenating from a petite form hunched over, like it was struggling to remain on its feet. The other was huge and appeared unharmed but a closer feel led Trunks to confirm that it had no powerlevel. Absolutely none. It wasn't human. He glanced at the others.
No sense of life. They were androids.
"What are you waiting for? Come at me!" baited the small creature with the unusual ki. It's voice was high and feminine. A young girl. "You've got it" twanged the hulking android and Trunks' blood went cold in recognition of the familiar voice. How could he have forgotten about Android 13 and his lackies? It was a mistake he had a feeling he was going to regret.
The battle against Android 13 in another timeline had been brutal. However, he was confident his recent power-up would make a difference this time. Android 13 had already formed a ball of swirling red energy in the palm of his hand. It was the kind that had nearly rendered Son Goku useless in a different battle amongst glaciers. Even if that girl's powerlevel was remarkable and held the tint of a Saiyan ki, she was going to be destroyed. Her body would dissolve in the face of such power and ride the wind in less than a whisp of ash.
Android 13 hurled the energy at her at a blinding speed. It became an enormous beam the moment it left his grasp, lighting their surroundings in a bright blood red. Trunks noted with alarm that she didn't make a move to dodge.
She smirked before quietly lifting her arms in a feeble block. Her ki faltered like the delicate flame of a candle. She was going to die.
Trunks phased in, jumping hundreds of feet in an eighteenth of a second. He appeared in her path with time to spare before winding up his own ki and knocking the beam of energy to the wayside, where it harmlessly bounced back to the sky.
When the lazer-like light cleared and the dust settled all eyes had fallen on him. Android 13 was smiling, unfazed by his sudden appearance, but Trunks could hear the almost inaudible gasp behind him.
She hadn't felt his ki. She hadn't felt his approach.
That revelation led Trunks to assume she was untrained in ki usage. The androids were attacking an innocent girl who seemed to possess a potential that matched his own, even if she didn't know it yet.
"You have no business here, son of Vegeta" Android 13 announced mockingly. Trunks' clenched his fists, lifting his ki so that the air gathered around him, helpless to the force of his aura. His hair flickered between gold and lavender, straining towards the sky. His skin glowed from within with an energy that resembled sunlight.
"Enough! You will not lay another hand on her" he decreed, his voice echoing across the remains of the town and the forest on the wayside. The ground quaked, and Trunks let out a short shout, pushing past the pinnicle of his base strength, transforming into a monster of light and wind.