AN: I don't own DBZ or any of the characters.
May contain some similarities to the original anime.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
- Plato
SEVEN: TRUNKS.
This time he remembered one of his most vivid and worst pain lessons he had ever endured. Vegeta was twelve years old. Usually Frieza would throw some energybeams at him, sometimes he would make Zarbon or Dodoria do it, and all he had to do as endure them until he no longer felt the pain or the need to scream. He usually ended up in a coma for a few days, or healing in the infirmary for about a week.
But this, this was entirely different.
He should have known it would be different the moment Frieza summoned him to come to the lab in the private area of the base. When the Prince arrived, he found only Frieza and Zarbon standing near an operation table.
"There you are, Vegeta," Frieza spoke.
"Ah, there the monkey is at last."
Frieza laughed at Zarbon's remark, but quickly composed himself. "Lay down on the table, Vegeta. We're going to try a different approach on you this time, since you're my favorite Prince."
Vegeta silently obeyed. He didn't say a word, for he knew that he would need every ounce of energy in him to keep him alive this time. He felt the cold, metal table through his armor. He learned the hard way to always obey and never be disrespectful to Frieza.
"It's just an experiment, still. And since you've been doing very well on controlling your pain and emotions lately, I figured you would be the best to test this on!" Frieza happily said.
"If you don't mind me asking, Lord, but what is it?"
"It's a drug called Nerothyrosis, it shuts the organs down and makes your veins feel like they're on fire." The alien excitedly explained.
"Just temporary," Zarbon added, seeing the Prince his face. "It might last a few hours." The green creature bound Vegeta to the table.
"That's what it's supposed to do... but since you're the first one we're trying it on, it could also result in something entirely different."
Maybe dying was better than living like this, the Prince thought, rather die peacefully than live in a constant war with myself.
With much excitement Frieza ingested the fluid into Vegeta's veins with what was probably the longest needle he had ever seen. The fluid needed no time before kicking in, since Vegeta immediately felt like he was on fire – everything was burning inside of him. His body started trembling, blood started to stream out of his mouth.
"I think it's working Zarbon," Frieza spoke.
He found himself lucky he had been strapped down, for he had gone mad with pain. He slowly felt his kidneys shut down, because the stream of blood had stopped going there. His fingertips, heart, stomach and all other organs still felt like they were on fire. It basically felt like someone was slowly and painfully cutting out all his organs with an old, rusty kitchen knife. He felt like he was about to die.
Maybe I am?
He didn't know how many hours had passed by the time the pain had crawled away and he had stopped screaming. It had felt like dying over and over. The only organs that kept working throughout the process, were his heart and lungs, keeping him alive (barely).
By the time Frieza and Zarbon unstrapped him, he had no energy left in his body. His armor was soaked with sweat, his throat dry and sore, his mouth filled with dry blood. Nappa was summoned to take him away. According to Frieza all he needed was some rest. What Frieza didn't know though, was that the pain haunted him for the rest of his life. The memory haunted him in his nightmares, never leaving his mind.
I'm a prince, Vegeta thought to himself, I'm supposed to sleep in a palace not a spacepod. Vegeta pushed the door of the pod open with his left leg. He felt like he was suffocating with that door closed.
"Hey, you okay there?" Nappa opened his door too and looked at his prince.
"Yes, Nappa. I am fine."
"Nervous eh, boss?" Raditz' voice sounded from his spacepod.
"Nervous for what?!" Vegeta yelled.
"Traveling back to Planet Vegeta, warning your father about your plan and all."
"We still have a month before that will happen." The last time Vegeta had been home, was twenty years ago and he couldn't help but feel slightly excited to at last return to his home.
"Tell my mother I said 'hi', if you happen to cross her path!" Raditz called. Raditz hadn't seen his mother in almost a year. Guards of the royal palace where to stay in the palace at all times and therefore none of them got to see their family very often. Since Raditz was Vegeta's comrade when purging planets, he only got to see his mother and his father when they were off duty. Vegeta was the only one of Frieza's entire unit that had no permission to visit his home planet, on whatever condition.
"What makes you think I'll see her?"
"I don't know, maybe by coincidence."
"You know how I feel about coincidence."
"Yeah, yeah," Raditz laughed. "It's bullshit."
"I just can't wait to see Frieza's head on a stick," Nappa spoke darkly, "after everything he did to us, that's exactly what he deserves."
Raditz and Nappa continued talking about how they wanted Frieza dead and how they were planning on doing so. Meanwhile Vegeta was thinking about his home, his planet. Frieza promised Vegeta to keep his family alive as long as he obeyed him. Frieza had no clue though, that Vegeta had drastically increased in power – so did his comrades. And Frieza had no knowledge of their 'revolution'.
If everything went according to plan, Frieza would die. One thing kept him worried though; The Ginyu Force. The Ginyu Force was an elite force with the strongest warriors of the entire galaxy.
"I don't care who you kill," Vegeta started, "I kill Zarbon."
That morning, all of the fighters gathered at the spaceships of the Saiyans. Since they only had a month to go, they had to perfect their plan and eliminate all the weak spots. When Bulma arrived in her spaceship, they could begin their gathering.
"I'm sorry I'm late! But I've got this great idea!" Bulma opened the door to her spaceship and invited everyone in. She went to stand by the others in the back of the ship. She had thought about the Rejuvenation Tank Vegeta had once mentioned and made some blueprints. "Look." She showed them her latest version of the Tank.
"What's that supposed to be?" Nappa asked.
"It's a Rejuvenation Tank! I suppose it's not exactly like the ones you have..."
"This looks more like a cylinder. Ours are more the shape of a ball. It looks adequate though," Raditz encouraged, eying his brother. He was dying to talk to him, but Vegeta warned his comrades not to get involved too much.
"You'll never be able to build one, I do hope you know that. You humans are too retarted." Vegeta commented.
"Really Vegeta? Watch me!" She snatched the blueprint away from the table and rolled it up again. "We'll see who's going to be healed with my Tank after Frieza beats you black and blue!"
"Not me," Vegeta chuckled, "I'm going to walk out of this alive, with my partners."
"Heeeeeey, guys," Goku chuckled awkwardly, "let's... not do this... right now."
"Yeah, I kinda agree," Krillin silently said.
It was quiet for a few seconds then.
"So," Goku continued. "Did you bring the blueprint of the palace, Bulma?"
"Yes, yes I did." Bulma went to search through a pile of papers on the corner of the table. "It's... right... here..." She pulled another blueprint out of the pile. "Vegeta helped me with it since he's the only one that knows how it looks like. I tried to make it as accurate as I could, which was hard since he hasn't been in the palace for a long time."
"That's really cool," Raditz mumbled. "It's as if I'm looking at the actual blueprint!"
"Glad to hear that." Bulma took a sip of the coffee she was holding. "Took me a while."
"In exactly a month from now my father is supposed to be done with any meetings, which means that there's no way anyone else is going to see me as long as he stays in the palace – which he normally does," Vegeta spoke.
"So, you transport to your father, tell him everything and tell him to tell my father that he has to prepare an army to fight six months from then."
"And you bring me a sample of the fluid you use for the Tanks. It could really come in handy if you get injured during the battle."
"Hmpf. Fine."
It was right then that they heard a sound coming from outside. The Z warriors hurried outside, followed by the Saiyans. What they found was something entirely different than what they expected.
A boy, around the age of seventeen stood in front of the Saiyan spaceships, smiling awkwardly at the group of warriors. He had a fragile posture, being quite tall and having a strange purplish hair color. He had a sword rapped onto his back.
"Hi... I'm looking for someone." He tried being as nice as he possibly could. "I don't mean any harm." The boy held his palms us, showing them he was unarmed, except for the sword.
"Who are you and who do you want?" Vegeta roughly asked.
"Calm down, Vegeta," Goku whispered to the Saiyan Prince.
"Don't tell me what to do, Kakarot!" Vegeta spat. "I don't follow anyone's orders," he silently added. Vegeta's eyes quickly wondered back to the boy standing on the empty field.
"I'm looking for Goku." The boy pointed at the tallest of the Z Warriors.
"Me? Why?"
"Because I need to talk to you."
"Why don't we just kill him? Even that woman can kill this weakling. I know birds with higher powerlevels." Raditz said as he rolled his eyes.
"I don't know about killing him," Bulma murmured, "he looks familiar."
"He's just a boy. Kakarot, you should go and ask what he wants," Raditz continued.
"But be careful, Goku," Bulma warned.
"I'll be fine," Goku chuckled. He flew over to the boy, not scared or feeling threatened at all. "So, what's your name, kid?
"I... uh, I can't... I can't tell you what my name is, sorry..." He smiled politely. "But, I'm here to warn you, Goku!" The boy eyed the other Earthlings and Saiyans in the background. "But we have to get out of their hearing distance... this is only meant for your ears."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Goku asked, this time serious.
"I'm a Saiyan, like you."
"Prove it."
The boy showed a smirk that Goku found very familiar. The boy took a step back and then placed his feet firmly on the ground. He kept his eyes on Goku while slowly raising his powerlevel, revealing his true power.
Overtaken by surprise Goku stood still, while watching the boy reach astonishing levels. "You can power down now, kid."
"Do you trust me now?" The boy asked.
"Yes, I trust you."
The rest of the group watched in silence how Goku and the mystery boy separated from the group by flying further away.
"Did you guys feel that powerlevel?" Picollo asked the others. "It's amazing," he continued.
"But he's still so young?! How's that possible?" Yamcha exclaimed.
"He's a Saiyan, you moron. Isn't that obvious?" Vegeta snapped. He was very intrigued by this mystery boy. Who was he? Was he one of Frieza's men? Did Frieza send him here to kill him, Raditz and Nappa? But he doesn't look like a Saiyan though... is he a hybrid?
"So, kid, what is it you wanted to warn me about?" Goku asked the mysterious youth.
"It's about something that still needs to happen," he explained, "you see, Goku... I'm from the future and I'm here to warn you about a mistake you guys are about to make!"
"What?!" Goku laughed, "do you really expect me to believe that...? I mean, I don't mean to offend you..."
"Look, I get it... I understand. Vegeta is supposed to transport to his father, but what you guys don't know is that Frieza asked to summon him to his hideout. When Vegeta transported there, Frieza saw him! Vegeta then hurried back to Earth, knowing Frieza saw him... When he tried to transport back only a few minutes later, he couldn't sense a ki on Planet Vegeta. Frieza knew right then that Vegeta had betrayed him and so Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta. That same day Frieza set his coordinates on Earth and traveled here. Vegeta and the others remained here on Earth, not knowing what to do but prepare for Frieza. Frieza though, came with an entire army. Vegeta died, you died, Chi chi died, everybody, Goku. Even you. It's because of the unexpected surprise, that Frieza has a brother, Cooler and a father named King Cold. Frieza alone is in control of 79 planets in your time, Cooler is in control of 256 and King Cold is in control of at least 300 planets... After all of you were killed, Frieza was in control of 139, Cooler of 322 and King Cold of more than 400. They own all of the Northern Quadrant of the universe, Goku. And there's no stopping them."
Goku remained silent. He didn't know what to do or say. He just let it all sink in. "So what are we supposed to do?" He at last asked.
"Vegeta must transport to your father, Bardock! He must get the fluid of the Rejuvenation Tank in order to help Bulma out! Also, Bulma's planning on making a Saiyan Super Battle Armor, making it harder for energybeams to destroy your armor. But in order to do so, she needs the original fabric of the armor. And I happen to know that the armors are made in the palace due to safety reasons."
"And how do you expect Vegeta to know about this fabric?"
"Bulma does! She needs to describe it to him with every detail, or she's going to have to go with him, Goku."
"Okay, okay," Goku sighed while rubbing his temples. "Let me get this straight... First we have to make Vegeta transport to my father and tell him about our plan, then he has to take the fluid and then he and Bulma have to find the fabric for the armor, am I right?"
"Yes, that's perfect."
"Okay... so, I listened to you and I believe you. Now you have to tell me who you are. My friends are going to want to know whether you are to be trusted."
"I thought you already trusted me! Besides, you can't tell them anything!" The boy seemed torn between two options: Tell Goku basically everything, or keep the timeline from changing any further and don't tell him everything. But mother told me Goku was to be trusted...
"Just... tell me. Now, please." Goku smiled a warm smile to the stranger. "I won't tell anyone. It's your turn to trust me."
The boy relaxed a bit at Goku's smile."Fine, okay," the boy sighed. "My name is Trunks. I'm the son of Vegeta."
Goku's eyes widened in shock. "But that's impossible! How can that be? You just told me that Vegeta has no more than two and a halve years to live! How could you be his sons?!"
"Well, my mother didn't die. Frieza didn't destroy Earth, he just unleashed all kinds of monsters on it, 'his pets'."
"How did he find the time to meet a Saiyan that would want a... child... with him," Goku said, "who is your mother, Trunks?"
"I – uh, I can't tell you anything anymore. I already told you too much! If I change this time too much, I might never be born. You have to promise me that you won't tell anything to Vegeta not even my name! Or I might end up being named Garth or something!"
"Hmm," Goku mumbled, "thank you very much Trunks for warning us. By the way Trunks, how did you come here, to this time?"
"My mother built a time machine for me. She knew that it was the only way to save the Earth."
"You must have a very brave and smart mother then. She would be proud of you," The eldger Saiyan said. His curiousity started to grow more and more as to who Trunks' mother was.
"She's very, smart and brave indeed." Trunks turned his head to look at the others standing by Bulma's ship.
"Do I know your mother?" Goku tried. He couldn't help but ask as curiosity got the better of him.
"Uh... no, no you don't," Trunks awkwardly said.
Goku narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Trunks' tone. Goku wasn't all too bright, but he knew when someone was lying. "Who is it, Trunks! Aww, come one, you can trust uncle Goku!"
"Jeez, Goku." Trunks scratched his head and smiled at the Saiyan. "My Mom was right when she told me you never quite grew up"
Goku followed Trunks's gaze. And then his eyes suddenly widened in realization. "OH KAMI, IT'S BULMA, ISN'T IT!" He then placed his fist into his mouth, to stifle his laughter. It was no help though, as he ended up on the ground, laughing his ass off. "Oh Kami, that is unexpected, kid. Now that's what I call a surprise!"
By the time Goku had composed himself, Trunks was as red as a tomato. "It was just a one-night thingy, and knowing my father, he would never admit any of his feelins..." Trunks silently said. "But I must go now, Goku."
"You're not staying? You could help us fight!" Goku said as he wiped the tears away and jumped on his feet.
"Nah," Trunks said, "You will be fine without me. Just make sure to spend every second training, improving yourself. Don't stop until you become Super Saiyans, Goku. The two of you were born for it."
"What's that? And who do you mean with 'the two of you'?"
Trunks didn't answer his questions though. He took off from the ground and took one last glance at the Saiyans and Eartlings standing by the pods and Bulma's ship as he spoke, "you'll see, Goku. You'll see." And with that the mysterious Trunks flew into the clouds, to not be seen again.
Yesss, so that was Mirai Trunks! I just had to include him into the story! And it won't be long now before Bulma will invite a certain Saiyan Prince to stay at CC. *hint hint*
