Over three years later, I reread this story and was like, "Crap… I want to know what happens next." After constantly reminding myself that this is actually my story and I was a lazy ass to leave it like this, I'm attempting to continue this. I don't know if there are any DBZ fans left or at least the readers who have enjoyed this, but I would like to apologize profusely for my disrespectful actions. I can't make any promises at this point (Hell, I shouldn't have made any since the day I started writing any fanfiction!), but I would like to give it another shot.

Also, I realize that it's been a REALLY LONG TIME and I will have to research some (actually, a lot) things in order for it to not only be somewhat canonical, but to just generally make sense overall. Don't get me wrong, I love Trunks. He will always be my first anime love (oh how the purple hair just slays me every time), but I would really like to write and expand on his character in the most reverent manner possible.

I would like to give a million thanks to everyone who has enjoyed and reviewed this story, as well as a huge apology to leaving it hanging. If any of you past readers do return, please enjoy the next chapter. Any new readers… I hope you all enjoy this as well.

Note: From my understanding, Eighteen (as well as Seventeen) were originally humans that were altered with android parts by Dr. Gero. With Shenlong, since Krillin's original wish of making them human failed, he instead wished that that bombs inside their bodies were to be removed. Therefore, I'm still under the assumption that Eighteen does not have any external ki that can be sensed by others. If I'm wrong, please disregard my error in the story and just let it pass, lol.

All summaries, explanations, disclaimers, extra notes are in the previous chapters and continually apply to the rest of the story.

Containing Thy Self- Chapter Nine

World Tournament- Designated Meeting Spot- 9:44 AM

Bulma tapped her white booted foot impatiently, with arms stiffly crossed and a narrow scowl to match. She purposely had her rigid body turned away from her oldest best friend, not so much because she was angry at him, but more so for the fact that he did the very thing she feared happening.

Goku didn't really understand the possible destructive act he might have just committed, although it did essentially apply to a good majority of the unsuspecting group in tow (Hell, she had a lacking moment of foresight herself); however, with the physical appearance of the one person who could innocently spark the rampant emotional fuse that's probably been waiting to explode and still no clear signs of 'OH, DUH' recognition, the older woman had to forcefully separate herself for a moment's thinking.

'Okay, think Bulma Briefs. Thank Kami for Vegeta and his quick thinking. I thought I was the genius, damnit! Eighteen has made her appearance and while CLEARLY is no longer an evil android hell bent on destroying everything that comes her way, Trunks doesn't know that and I'm such a moron for not mentioning that earlier. Actually, knowing Vegeta, he'll probably just give my poor boy some vague, obscure warning because he's an asshole like that! And Goku knows that I'm pissed at him but he doesn't know WHY and I can't just explain it to him in front of everyone because even if I pulled him into privacy, he would do a terrible act of acting innocent about it to the others because he's so transparent with all his actions and words! Okay, deep breaths… count to three… turn around and let's work something out.'

Turning on her heel with a bright smile (pearly whites showing, of course) plastered on her clearly strained expression, Bulma greeted the rest of the troupe a little too enthusiastically. "Well then, is everyone super excited about the tournament!"

Most of the group saw through this, mentally wondering what issue had come up (probably Vegeta being a stick in the mud or Bulla forgetting her toy, or maybe even Trunks discovered some sort of imperfection in his otherwise, self-enthused, perfect features and was throwing a fit), until the graying short man spoke up.

"So it's true?" Bulma perked up in attention, waiting for the further clarification. Krillin cleared his throat (uncomfortably?), starting up again. "Trunks from the future… well, not so much the future… the other timeline, I suppose... is here then?"

The blue-haired intellect nodded slowly, eyes widening at the clear indications of her friend Krillin's uneasy look.

He sighed, a little heavily, fully understanding the trouble with the current situation. "Well… Bulma, it's inevitable. We," gesturing towards himself, Eighteen and his blonde-haired daughter, "could separate from you guys, but…" The man trailed off awkwardly, scratching his no-longer-bald head.

"Oh…" Gohan sort of muffled a gasp, eyes darting back and forth between the discomforted conversing (but not really) pair. "Oh! Bulma, Krillin… Eighteen! I'm so sorry; I can't believe this didn't come to mind until just now!"

Using one hand to remove his thick-rimmed glasses and the other to vigorously rub at his closed eyes, Gohan groaned. "He just came back from his time… JUST RETURNED after defeating the enemies…" In which his eyes quickly glanced at Eighteen, who tactfully evaded the gaze by staring at the grayed stones inlaid within the pathway. Replacing his glasses on the bridge of his nose, he gave a hard stare to everyone. "This isn't going to work out."

Among the few that didn't quite grasp the seriousness of the situation, Goten piped up out of curiosity. "Wait a minute, wait… hold on guys. Some of us ain't getting this." Raising his hands, waving them in a gesturing circle, he continued, "You can't just leave us in the dark. Something happened before which is why all of you are getting bent out of shape about it? And if it doesn't get resolved, something even worse is going to happen?"

"More like somebody is gonna flip a lid and go all gung-ho crazy on our asses if he returns now." Startled by his sudden but comprehensible comment, a good portion of the group turned their gaze towards Yamcha, who shrugged almost carelessly in response. "Either we gotta split or let it happen."

Eighteen, who clearly had enough with the tension practically building a stone fort around her, firmly grabbed her husband by the shoulders. "Krillin, let's just go ahead. He's entering the tournament, right? We can sit in the audience still and since I don't have any ki, he won't be able to sense me, whether he was actively looking or not."

The physically shorter significant other stared back at her dead-panned blue eyes and placed a hand on her own. "This is why I married you."

Receiving a barely audible snort in response, although the corners of her lips were being tugged upwards, Krillin raised his hand to the others. "Alright, we will go ahead and get ourselves some seats. Catch ya later!" Tossing a wink, he followed his blonde-haired family to disintegrate with the rest of the oppressive swarm of people.

Bulma sighed in relief, picked up her daughter who has been tugging relentlessly on the skirt of her dress for the past five minutes, and straddled her on her left hip. "Well, I suppose that's one way to do it."

"Umm…" Goten spoke up once again; clearly displeased and only more confused by the way his eyes were narrowing. "Some of us still don't understand…"

Goku, possibly because Kami decided to shine his guiding light on him at that moment or maybe the situation had to actually end before he could understand the danger he threw offhandedly in the beginning, suddenly slapped the sides of his face with his hands. "HOLY CRAP!"

While some of them sighed (should they really be surprised by now?), Bulma raged.

Kicking him in the side, although obviously with no physical effect, she started yelling at a level Chi-Chi would be proud of (actually, the dark-haired wife of the oldest Son was nodding proudly from the side at this action). "THINK, GOKU! WHY CAN'T YOU EVER THINK!" Vigilantly supporting her daughter fully on one side, she used her free hand to give him another smack on the arm (that should be stated, at this point, is pretty much like smacking a steel pipe). "Why didn't any of us think?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" The oldest Son cried out fearfully, cowering at the ever-growing rage of his blue-haired friend.

"I hate you!"

"Don't hate me please!"

"What's all the commotion?"

Everyone swung around, only to see a flame-shaped, dark-haired man and a taller, but younger purple-haired man standing next to each other, watching the scene with mild interest or disinterest. Mirai was scratching the side of his face with a finger, uncertainty crystal clear in his blue eyes. "Did something… is something wrong?"

"Well, actually-" A hand slapped over Goten's mouth, as Gohan wrapped his other arm around his brother's shoulder. Forcing a smile to Mirai, he stated hurriedly, "Nothing, nothing! Father said something silly and you know your mother, reacting like it's something ridiculous when it's really nothing new." He chuckled, tightening his grip while Goten gagged. "Excuse us for a moment, I need to teach my little brother a few things about manners."

Trunks watched this scene with a constricted expression, his cobalt eyes darting between the disappearing Son brothers and his alternate counter-part who was standing idly at the side with nothing but confusion written all over his face. While he didn't particularly get the entire story, he had a guess or two (deriving from his mother's stories in the past and things his father had briefly mentioned) at what was happening.

His frown deepened.

Another reason added to the list of why that bastard shouldn't be here.

World Tournament- Unspecified spot- 10:12 AM

Dragging him deep into the crowd, Gohan moved quickly and smoothly, somehow managing to navigate around the pedestrians like liquid. When he deemed themselves to be far enough out of a Saiyan's hearing range, he released his choke-hold (here, Goten gasped for a breath or two) and spun him around, hands gripping the shoulders tightly. "Listen and listen well. No talking back or interrupting until I'm finished."

He leaned forward a little closer, making himself at eye level with his younger brother, waiting for Goten's dutiful nod, "I can't possibly explain the entire situation to you right this second and I know mother or I didn't bother to go into any major details, but there are… issues between Eighteen and Trunks."

"In the past? Like a romantic involvement?"

The older one snorted, almost laughing at the impossibility of the idea. "The very opposite, actually. To put briefly, Eighteen… was a bad guy, along with her twin brother. Once upon a time, there were two androids who gave devastating, murderous onslaught to the entire Earth, rendering the planet into nothing more than an apocalyptic wasteland with very minimal survivors. That's the world Trunks lives in."

Goten's eyes widened, his jaw dropping just a bit. "You mean… everything is destroyed? Everyone is dead?" Blinking, he slapped a fist in the palm of his other hand in comprehension. "Oh! When he first got here, he said something like that!"

Gohan nodded curtly. "The only people left of our group in his world are himself and Bulma. The rest of us are either dead or were just never born. However, in our time, we managed to overcome all this and, as you can see, Eighteen is clearly no longer evil. Plus, it was seventeen years ago when it happened."

Goten nodded, understanding the acceptance of previously evil guys to join the Earth-friendly fighters for peace and love (no, not really).

"On the other hand, in Trunks' case, he just killed Eighteen and her brother just before coming here... well, and Cell too. If he were to see the very thing he struggled against for over twenty years and finally destroyed, right here and now… how do you think he will react?"

"Go bat-shit crazy and kill everything in sight?"

"Well, not quite… actually, yeah, something like that. That's actually very likely."

The younger one appeared thoughtful for a moment. "So… how come I was never told any of this before?"

Gohan seemed taken aback by the question, quickly realizing that he never actually came up with a reason to not tell it.

He just simply never did.

"I guess… we didn't think it mattered. Also, it would be hard to explain that a woman we consider part of our group while you were growing up, was previously an android ready to kill everything." He sighed as he released his brother's shoulders, mentally knocking himself in the head for a poor excuse. "I'm sorry, Goten. I don't really have a decent explanation. To be honest, I haven't really told Videl about the androids either. Just about Cell since her father was involved and all."

Goten nodded again, his contemplative expression still evident. "Alright, I get it. Trunks is cool… I don't want to see him lose his sanity." He heaved a sigh, shrugging his broad shoulders. "Well, it can't be helped. I feel bad for Krillin, but what must be done, has to be done."

Gohan knocked his brother on the head lightly, chuckling. "Listen to you, trying to act like the big man on campus." Letting his hand rest momentarily on top of that thick head of choppy black hair, he made an apologetic smile. "In all seriousness, I'm sorry that I never said anything. If you want, I can tell you the whole story at a later time, since it's only fair for you to know about what's happened in the past. Actually, I'm surprised that our Trunks has never mentioned it."

"Well…" the younger one trailed off, arms crossed over his chest and one hand raised to tap a finger against his chin. "He talked about these 'bedtime stories'," in which Goten makes the quoting sign with his middle and index fingers, "his mom would tell him before, mostly because I think Bulma was obsessed with the idea that her son is… was a grand hero." He shuffled his feet nonchalantly, the treads in his sneakers scraping against the rough pavement. "But… it's not so much that I didn't really believe them, but I think Trunks'… uhh, his earlier fascination with them was a little strange."

"Strange? How so?"

"He just… hmm, he just had this idea that he had to become this hero, you know? Like it was implied that being this guy was his destiny. And now that he has met the man of the stories, he feels like… less of a man?"

"No, I get it." Gohan's handsome features slowly formed into something resembling disappointment. "It's obvious that Bulma didn't intend to put ideas in his head but knowing her, she probably went a little overboard. It doesn't help that Vegeta likes to pressure people as well."

He exhaled heavily, closing his eyes. "Trunks was visually and physically molded into something before he was even born. It's not his fault, of course, but it's obvious that he feels inadequate."

The black-haired, muscular Son brothers were silent, mulling over the said statement.

"Oh well!" Goten exclaimed, waving a hand casually. "Let's just let it go. I don't think it's really a bad thing. They may be the same person but it's clear that they are very different from each other. Our Trunks will get over it soon enough, methinks."

Gohan arched an eyebrow, briefly wondering if his brother knew something else that he wasn't saying. "If you say so…" Trailing off, his eyes darted from his brother to the direction of where the rest of the group was waiting. "Okay, let's go back. Remember, I'll tell you everything later but say absolutely nothing now. Videl won't say anything and I'm sure our Trunks probably understands what's going on."

Goten promptly saluted, one hand lying horizontally to his forehead. "Aye aye, captain!"

World Tournament- Meeting Spot- 10:31 AM

"Well, now that everyone is back together." Bulma clapped her hands together, seeing the Son brothers make their return. "I suppose we should head in and get settled."

Mirai had an uneasy feeling building up, like something was being kept from him. He quickly scanned through his group of friends, looking for any expressions that would give away a sign, but found none. Should he just brush it off?

"Trunks!" Goten called out in a sing-song voice, both of the purple-headed boys turning around in response. "Oh, uh… well, both of you!" He leaped a step to land in between the two, placing a hand on each of their backs to urge them forward. "So what do you think? Think anybody will be worth fighting?"

Trunks snorted. "Please. Unless some evil villain is hiding among all the regular fighters, this is just gonna be another cheap show."

"Well, aren't you a ball of sunshine today?" Turning his head to his other companion, he flashed the famous Son grin. "What do you think, obviously-more-awesome Trunks?"

Mirai sweatdropped at the idea of another nickname already. "Um, well, I don't know. I never this before, so I don't even know what to expect." Lifting a hand to scratch his chin, he pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I hope its fun though. Is that a sufficient answer?"

Goten nodded vigorously. "I like you, obviously-more-awesome Trunks. You're a positive guy, like me." He patted himself on the chest proudly. "You and me, we're a good team. Not like Mr. Pisspot over here."

Trunks rolled his eyes, not bothering to even comment. He knows Goten will get over it in about five minutes or when food gets placed in front of him.

Whichever comes first.

"Alright guys!" Chi-Chi called out, catching everyone's attention. "We split up here so good luck to all of you!" After some farewells, wishes and offensive jabs were thrown, the group split into two, heading their separate ways.

World Tournament- Meeting Spot for Participants- 11:01 AM

The usual announcer went over the rules and regulations quickly, and then explained how the assigning of matches will play out. It was a pretty small crowd, only about half the people present were actually paying attention.

Mirai tried to be one of the few respectful members and listen, but he couldn't help himself for staring at the large, pink… rubber-looking creature. Of course, he has seen some strange things and beings in the past, but he's pretty sure this one takes the cake. It's tall, taller than him, and very round. He looks as if you use his stomach as a launch base, everything would bounce right off of it. And why does he have an antenna on his head?

The balding announcer stepped away from his position to reveal a table with a small box sitting on top. "When I call your name, please come forward and draw a piece of paper. That paper will provide a number which will place you on the chart. After everyone has drawn, you will see who battles who in the first round."

Names were called and everyone was placed in their spots. Once everyone was finished (The time traveler saw Goku doing something with the pink guy, but what?), Mirai saw that he would be against someone named Narig.

"Crap! I have to fight Buu?" Goten exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "How is that even fair?"

"This new enemy had multiple forms, similar to Cell and Frieza, getting stronger as he transformed. Obviously he killed millions of people along the way. It took everyone's strength to finish him off in the end. All of this transpires less than a month's worth of time."

"W-Who was this enemy?" He asked suspiciously, the whole thing sounding a little too surreal. Then again, with all the shit he's been through (not to leave out losing everyone except his mother, traveling through time, finding a stronger enemy than the androids and killed by said enemy, only to be revived shortly afterwards and plus some), really, what isn't possible these days?

"Buu."

Mirai raised a hand uneasily, catching Goten's attention. "You said Buu? You mean… the guy you fought some time ago?"

"Hm, oh yeah." He lifted his hand to point. "That guy over there." The purple-haired man turned to look.

The pink guy.

Of course.

"So… despite the fact that he tried to kill everyone and destroy the world… he's innocent, now?"

"Yep!"

Mirai found this to be very discomforting.

So… yes, I'm sorry. It may have been fairly boring and maybe too detailed and too much deep thought involved. I apologize for that. On other hand, I plan to run through the tournament fairly quickly in the next chapter and move on with the story. I have a few future pieces written so it's a matter of extra details and putting it all together.

For those who were anticipating the meeting of 18 and Mirai… well, let's be honest, it wasn't going to go over well. I don't know if they will meet later on. If he ever does, it won't be pleasant. We all know that.

Thanks for reading!