(Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Thanks to everyone that looked at the story, followed, gave a favorite, and reviewed. Hope everyone that looked at the first chapter will continue on because once Gohan regains his memories, he won't be as weak and confused as he is without them. If you have any questions, just ask.)

Summary: AU. Young Gohan gets sent into the future when an accident occurs that involved a time machine, a peculiar purple-haired teen, and the child. Journey through various futures/ time lines as Gohan grows stronger and becomes older. With Androids and other various problems, such as his tail's reappearance, periods of amnesia, and unimaginable terrors, Gohan is going to have to face everything thrown his way, while keeping his "family" in tact. Eventual Pairing later on- way later on. Stronger/Smarter Gohan. (brotherly Gohan and Mirai Trunks).

Chapter 2: The Flickers that Make Him Realize

It has been a few weeks, or at least what the boy thought. He honestly did not know where or who he was; he only received fragments of what he could only describe as memories, and even then, he was totally confused about the flashes of random events.

However, he did discover a place that he felt that he belonged, no matter the dangerous creatures living there. His dark eyes briefly examined the area, observing the rocks, the grass, and the towers of earth all around him. Then, he went back to grabbing handfuls of nuts to throw into his open mouth, continuing to think to himself.

All he really figured out was that he may have been called "Gohan"- oh, and that he was missing a lot of his memory, but he was slowly regaining it. He usually received only flashes of faces, which he didn't fully recognize. Usually, the people's faces he pictured in his head were blurred and not in focus, but there was one that he could pick out more than the others. It was strange, but it couldn't be as strange as a freaky tail!

He slowed his eating and pondered the images he remembered. He still found it hard to think that he was with these blobs of color once, and now none of them were here. He placed down his makeshift bowl with a slight grimace. He was glad that he was able to take care of himself, he guessed.

He had survived, despite the limited knowledge he seemed to have. He went to grab another nut, but he stopped with a cry. He gripped his arms as he felt another pain. Over the weeks, he had felt something that would just disappear out of nowhere, and he had grown to realize that these things that immediately dropped out of existence should not be doing so.

It was bad, but he didn't know why. He felt another slip away, and soon the grip on his arms tightened. He wanted to scream, wanted the flickers of whatever to stop, he… Another died out next to the previous one. He couldn't just sit here!

He hopped up and ran toward the flickers that faded in the distance. After all this time, he couldn't get used to those feelings; he hated when one would leave because he knew that whatever it was wasn't going to show up again. He ran as fast as he could, toward the "flickers" that almost forced the boy to head back.

This would be the first time since he left his little spot since he found it, but he just couldn't forget the agonizing disappearances of whatever they were. He couldn't just sit back anymore; it was by far too distressing. He picked up his pace and rushed to the group of…

A flash of a teen with golden hair appeared, and for once, Gohan shoved off the image in a hurry. He normally would have allowed the memory to remain a bit, but right now, he was focused on another thing. Another flicker was cut off, and it felt like a hit in the gut, even if Gohan didn't particularly remember that feeling or who had hit him in the stomach in the first place.

He finally neared a city, ducking his head to cover his eyes from the rising smoke. He stifled a cough and crept forward. He paused as he saw someone laying down in the street. He approached as if to ask the older man if he was alright, but when he grew closer, his blood ran cold- colder than when he was first introduced to the strange flickers. His body shook, and he backed up, eyes brimming with tears.

He didn't understand it. Who- What- would do this? His brow furrowed, eyes locked on the corpse before him. He didn't know if this was his first time seeing someone dead; all he knew was that he couldn't handle finding another.

As if on cue, he turned to the next flicker, and his eyes found a charred body a ways off. He sank to his knees as he spied tattered forms all around him. It couldn't be… His musings were cut off by a shrill scream for help. That one word was all he needed to get back to his feet and travel the way it was coming from.

He reached the scene just before the person exploded into a million pieces, as the flicker seemed to do the same. He discovered that he could not move; he was fixated by the realization finally sinking in. Of course, he already discovered that the things were connected with the people and their demise, but he had refused to allow himself to believe that that many people were dead.

A tear rolled down his cheek. He was hiding from all this! He was hidden in his spot, safe, while everyone faced this!? Another tear followed after the initial one, and he held the damaged side of a building to his left for support. He had just remained away, and let all of these people die. He knew that when the flickers were gone they were totally gone, yet he never showed up to check it out before.

He should have came down sooner; he should have helped them beforehand. All the "pain" from the dying people he had sensed filled his head, and he hung his head. All of them, dead- because he was too scared to help them. His dark eyes drifted off the ground when he heard footsteps, and he saw a little child, even smaller than himself, scamper away from something that the destroyed building hid from Gohan's view.

The child was wailing for someone, their mother, to come. Gohan's lips pulled down even more when he understood that the child's parents were not able to assist the child. Gohan didn't comprehend the noise in the distance, but he rushed forward to cover the child. He had his arms spread out.

"Stop!" He screamed at the thing that caused all this pain and suffering. He hesitated when his eyes landed on a blonde girl and a boy with black hair. The blonde gave a huff as the boy laughed, glancing to the blonde for a moment.

"Look, sis," the boy said. He continued speaking, but Gohan turned to the youngest in the group.

He knelt down and offered a smile, even the strained smile seemed to be enough because the young one ceased crying and simply held the remains of a blanket. "You okay?"

The younger one nodded, and that's when Gohan noticed a concealed woman in the wreckage, her eyes were fearful, but locked on the youngest boy.

"Run that way," Gohan instructed, pointing toward the direction of the woman.

The other boy nodded again and rushed in that direction.

"Look, we missed two-" The blonde began; she brought up a hand that faced the youngest boy's direction. Gohan opened his mouth to say something- anything- yet nothing came out, instead it was the oldest boy that spoke.

"Die!" A bright flash exploded from the black-haired boy and struck the boy, lighting both the boy and the hidden woman in a pale light. They exploded, along with a building that caved in on itself.

That was when Gohan reached his feet, clenching his fists in anger. He turned away from the hole in the ground, fury in his eyes. "How could you? They didn't do anything to you."

The long-haired boy just shrugged. "We're just trying to have some fun."

"Yeah, get lost kid," the blonde told the boy, head in her hands while she sat on a piece of uprooted pavement.

Gohan almost shrank away when he heard the other boy say that he'll "kill this one" too. He glanced over his shoulder, regaining his anger when he surveyed the devastated city. No, he couldn't just let them get away with this, so he sprinted forward. He attacked with all his might, drawing on what he had witnessed.

He stumbled a lot, clearly very inexperienced, at least from his knowledge. He threw a punch, which the boy side-stepped with ease. Gohan kept trying to hit him, sending a lousy fist at the older boy's face. He lunged forward for another attempt to hit him, but a pain in his stomach was the end result.

He was bent over a knee, which had roughly connected with his stomach, then he was flying, smashing into a building and eventually coming out the other side. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, holding back the tears that sprang to his eyes from the pain. Footsteps slowly came closer, and Gohan was barely able to reach his feet when he was smashed deep into the ground again. Gohan felt himself being lifted, and an image of that strange face darted into his mind, followed by an image of the strange one punching a younger version of Gohan. Gohan's eyes flew open, and he leaned back and threw his weight into the punch.

He was dropped for a second only to hear a few choice words and watch as the other boy glared and stomped on his chest. The connection made Gohan scream and his body to respond by trying to protect his chest, which was persistently smashed by a foot. He coughed up blood, along with another loud yell. His vision blurred, and he clenched his eyes shut. After a bit, he realized that the pain numbed away, and the foot stopped.

He was lifted up by the neck of his clothing once more, but he refused to open his eyes.

"Well, this little brat sure has some fire to him." The feminine voice seemed to echo in Gohan's skull, much further away than she actually was.

Gohan went to punch again, but found himself back on the ground. This time, his eyes revealed themselves for a second, and he definitely did not like what he saw. The two- monsters- were standing over him, and he knew that they would end him. He didn't want to die nor did he want it to end like this. He struggled to sit up; he refused to stop. They couldn't just go around and kill those people.

He owed the people that- he had to try. With that, he made it to his knees and narrowed his eyes at the two swaying forms above him. Apparently, they were just going to leave him there, since they seemed to be walking away. The older boy stared at him. The emotionless expression was immediately replaced with a smirk.

"Somehow, he's alive." The laughter that followed was cruel, but Gohan barely heard it.

He wanted to stand, but his muscles refused to function. His body could easily be compared to lead. "You can't do this to these people! It's wrong!" He waited for the older boy to come forward. He'd get him when he's closer. However, he wasn't quick enough because the boy said.

"Hey look at this, this kid's got a tail."

"Hm? I didn't think humans had tails."

Gohan went to move away, but the other boy grabbed hold of the tail, and all of Gohan's strength left him. He went completely limp as he was lifted off the ground. He couldn't find the energy to even speak. He had thought before he was lead, but now he couldn't control anything. He was absolutely useless. He just hung there, swaying back and forth.

The other boy chuckled. "Sorry, your 'tail' has come to an end." That was when the pain engulfed the younger one. He couldn't help, but scream at the top of his lungs as he listened to the ripping sound emanating from his tail. He was released only when the tail split from his body.

There was no stopping the silent drops that ran from his eyes. He shivered at the pain still there, and he whimpered out real soft. The tail reached his vision when it landed beside him.

"Why don't we leave him, he may be fun in a few years," questioned the other boy from somewhere above him.

"No, just get rid of him, he's already a pest."

"Yeah, you're right, we'll just find another thing-"

Gohan heard ringing in his head and dark invaded in vision just as a new pain erupted all over his body.

. . . .

A crushing weight prevented him from moving, and after what seemed like hours, the heavy debris was off the young boy. He crawled along the remains of the city, pain shooting up his arms and pins and needles running up and down his legs. He coughed up red, but ignored it. He hoisted himself up in a better position to go down a mound of a broken building's wall.

He knew it was best to not head down head-first, that would be ridiculous. He saw something in the sky, and he reached his feet to study it. Whatever it was flew above the city, so Gohan limped over to hide behind one of the only standing buildings- well half a building. He peered around the side just as the flying object touched down. It was a person, but Gohan thought it best not to venture over.

It was best to stay away, especially if referring to the latest events were any indications. A voice spoke from within his mind. "Conceal your energy," it had said to him. He decided to do that, and for some reason, that voice came with a picture of him bringing down his power level.

He did as the voice wanted, limping away from the figure, only pausing when the figure took to the air again in a flash. When, and only when, the figure was gone from view and a bit after that, Gohan made his way back home- to his secret spot.

(Next Chapter: Familiar Faces Among These Places.

Next Time: Gohan fights both of the Androids again, getting seriously hurt once again after putting up a better fight this time though, and let's say you could guess the rest when you look at the next chapter's name. Chapter 4: There's Still Good in This Future. Chapter 5: Memory and Action.)

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Cruzerblade: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you're interested, and here's the next chapter.