Chapter 10: Mars Attacks
Trunks stared airily into space. He really couldn't imagine how after all this time he had forgotten this girl; but yet, every feeling of happiness, acceptance, love that he had felt towards and from her, all of it remained. In that moment, more than ever, those feelings were magnified by a thousand. He felt soft hair rub against his bare chest. He peered under his brow to regard Chibiusa, her head buried in his torso and hands rested against his rib cage as she lay cocooned alongside him, nestled within his arms. He gazed at her bare shoulders, then passed an eye along her waist to the curve of her hip. She was really there. It really happened. She tilted her head upwards. She looked at him glowingly, and offered a gentle smile.
Trunks stared back, admiring the glimmer of her eyes. Just yesterday those eyes glared accusingly at him because of that unpleasant incident in the past. He couldn't believe he had really attacked her.
"How did I turn into the Oozaru?" Trunks asked suddenly. "I mean, well, I know that it happens when looking at the Full Moon. But what actually happened?"
Chibiusa blinked, clearly surprised by the randomness of his question. "You don't remember?"
"Not at all."
"Well, you asked me where I'm from, so that's when I pointed to the Moon—"
"You're from the Moon?" Trunks sat up suddenly, causing Chibiusa to tumble over, leaving her clutching desperately at the ends of the sofa to prevent herself from falling off completely.
"Hey!" she shrieked. Trunks swiftly caught and lifted her by her upper arm.
"How can you be from the Moon?" Trunks asked. Now both of them were sitting upright, but he continued to gape disbelievingly. "You don't have the mark."
Chibiusa gave him a blank stare. "Well it's simple. I'm half-Earthling and I can transform into a commoner form to protect my identity."
"Commoner? Identity?" Trunks felt his thoughts whirr a mile a minute, recalling his conversation with Goten. No. It couldn't mean… Could it? He spoke slowly, not wanting to ask the question outright, "Do you know someone called… Small Lady Serenity?"
Chiibusa was wide-eyed as she ran a hand through her long waves of hair, distractedly parting some behind her ear. "I'm…Small Lady."
"You're…oh no," Trunks tore his eyes away suddenly, gaping madly at the lime green rug on the floor. "No…" he groaned, now burying his face in his hands.
Chibiusa didn't understand his reaction. "What's wrong? I've accepted that you're part Saiyan so what does it matter if I'm part Moonite? And also, right, so, I guess I should have mentioned I was the Moon Princess but…"
"Don't you know who I am?" Trunks shouted hysterically, pulling his hands away from his face, incredulous as he watched her, searching for a response.
Her voice dropped to a bewildered murmur. "You're Trunks?" She continued to stare. She didn't get it.
Trunks stood at last, roughly pulling on his garments as he made his way to a series of framed photographs in a display cabinet, shrouded with stalks of bamboo and palm leaves. He shuffled back over to her, his expression unreadable as he handed her the small photo. She eyed him cautiously before accepting it. The wooden frame was dusty and the picture itself seemed dated. She saw a pretty woman with blue-green hair and a bright smile, dressed sharply in a yellow suit. Her hand was rested affectionately on the shoulder of a small boy with pale purple hair, his grin mischievous as he stood confidently, hands on his hips. He wore blue tights, strange white armour with shining bronze shoulder pads, accented by a cape and white boots. They stood before what must have been Capsule Castle.
"It's you—and your mother?" Chibiusa guessed, staring at the picture, noticing the way their eyes were similar. "Impressive outfit. Were you playing dress-up?"
Trunks gave her a withering look. "That's Saiyan armour."
Chibiusa knitted her brows, returning her eyes to the picture. What was he trying to show her? What did this have to do with anything? It was at that sudden instant that something caught her eye. She stared closely at little Trunks, his armour, his breastplate. She saw on it an insignia—a series of red arrows forming something like a trident. She recognized it from somewhere. She remembered hearing about it in her studies, during some rambling speech about the royals of other worlds….
Her heart dropped. This was a royal insignia…the royal insignia of…
She raised her head slowly, eye twitching. He stared nervously back at her, his mouth stretched thin. She rasped, "You're thee Vegeta? The third Vegeta, prince of Saiyans?" The photo fell from her grasp, clattering to the floor. She drew her hands frantically over her chest, drawing her knees in and hunching over into a fetal position. "Oh no…"
Trunks shared her frustration as he paced the room. "I thought you were just—I mean, I didn't know you were a princess. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why didn't you tell me you were the Prince?" Chibiusa demanded. She felt around for her blouse, hastily pulling it on.
Trunks froze on the spot, giving a thoughtful scratch of the head. "I guess for the same reason you never told me: Royal Protocol."
Chibiusa was quickly entering into her own bout of hysterics. "Trunks—I mean, Vegeta—whoever you are, do you know how serious this is? How can we—we're the heirs to our thrones!"
Trunks remained silent as she continued, now on her feet as well.
"What do we do? What have we done?" she cried.
Trunks wondered. What did he really think? They were the royal heirs of two opposing sides. Certainly, their kingdoms weren't at war, but they weren't friends either. It was as Goten said, she was the enemy. And if he truly attacked her once, he might have been the reason why things were as bad as they were now. It was all based on a misunderstanding, but it didn't matter to their families. The relationship that had blossomed between them had to end but when Trunks really thought about it, he was happiest when he was with her. No matter what, he didn't care about everything else, the pressure or politics. If they were at the root of this chaos, he knew they could be at the root of the solution too.
He watched as she sobbed and he calmly approached her. "If it means anything at all, Small Lady—Chibiusa—I don't care."
"What?"
"I still want to be with you. I don't care who we are. No matter what anyone says," He placed his hands on her shoulders but Chibiusa thrust his arms away.
"Don't! You're talking crazy! You well know that can't happen. There's so much at stake! How can we possibly overcome this when we're at the forefront of it all?"
Trunks grinned, offering a sly wink. "That's it. Because we're at the forefront we can overcome it. The two of us can change it."
Chibiusa faltered, catching the hint in his tone. "What are you suggesting?"
He let out a deep breath. "Let's start a new dynasty—the Saiyamoon Dynasty."
"Start a new dynasty?" Chibiusa gaped feebly, uncertain as to whether she had heard it right. In order to start a "new" dynasty, it could only mean one thing.
"Let's get married."
He really said it. Her eyes shone as she stared back at him behind a blur of tears. "Really? Can we really?"
Trunks' grin grew toothier. Without further hesitation, he pulled her into a firm embrace, her face beet-red as her cheeks dug into his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heart. "Why not? We can end the fighting this way. And we're both half-Earthlings so things might not be as impossible as you think. Together we'll turn this universe on its head."
She really couldn't believe it. Get married? They were so young. And they were royals after all; the implications were huge. But she didn't have long to consider it because time was running out. If there was one thing she knew for certain it was that no one made her feel the way he did. In two years, her option was going to be to marry Helios. Helios was a kind person, but he didn't make her heart flutter, not the way Trunks did. So what difference did it really make if she got married now? She had already decided that he was the one.
"You're right," she mumbled into his shirt, her arms reaching around his back to clutch him tightly. "Let's do it."
Goten touched down at the edge of the Golden Kingdom, his senses prickling. He had checked the Golden Hall of Elysion where the masquerade ball was held. He searched the densely wooded area where he and Trunks had played once as kids. The only place left to look it seemed was West City and that great fortress at its centre—Capsule Castle. He walked briskly through the streets, then along a dusty path lined with trees, trying to sense his friend's aura. Yet, as he stepped into a great clearing, seeing the gate before him, two figures appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He recoiled.
"A Saiyan," one of them said, a man with ash-blond hair and a dark suit. He stared testily at Goten as the other came to his side, a stunning woman with long black hair to her waist, dressed in a red and white sailor suit accented with a purple bow across her chest. He recognized instantly that it was the garb of the elite Moonite warriors, the Sailor Senshi. Good looks aside, she didn't appear too friendly.
"Yes. He's the one from that night," she muttered to the man. She directed a steely gaze on him. "How dare you appear on Earth? At the Golden Kingdom of all places?"
Goten glared back. "I can go wherever the hell I want."
"Really?" the man snarled, making a threatening fist at Goten. "And what makes you think you or your kind have free rein over Earth, you little upstart?"
Goten frowned, determined to shove past them even if it had to be by force. Who were these people? "I don't have time for this. Get out of my way." Goten didn't need this kind of interruption, not now. He had to get Trunks and get back home.
"Not so fast!" shouted the woman as she blocked his path, impressively nimble in her high-heeled shoes.
"What are you going to do—kill me?" Goten taunted, a cynical look in his eyes.
"One less Saiyan in the universe? Could only be a good thing," the man sneered, quickly conjuring up a ball of electric blue energy in his hand.
Goten smirked, his knees bent as he brought up his guard. "Fine, you wanna go? Let's go!" He didn't care what they had to throw at him, he was ready. And he'd been itching for a real battle his whole life. Yet, Goten noticed the way the woman had looked up suddenly, past him, eyes focusing on someone or something behind him.
"Goten?" A voice from behind called. Forgetting his resolve, Goten swivelled around with surprise. Trunks was coming up the path towards the castle gates. He directed a baffled look at Goten before regarding the others.
"There's the villain now!" The woman shouted.
Trunks stepped to Goten's side. "Who are you calling 'villain'? Who are you?"
Goten gave him a dry look. "Just weak Sailor trash. Don't worry, I've got this."
Trunks scoffed, nudging Goten in the arm. "Let's not waste our time on 'trash' then."
Goten shrugged, deciding Trunks was right; it's not like they were a real challenge after all. Besides, his objective was to find the Prince and go anyway. They turned to leave, but it seemed the confrontational duo had something else in mind.
"Who are you calling 'weak trash', you bastard?" the man shouted. Suddenly Goten felt something icy lap across his back. Caught off guard, he stumbled forward. They both spun around to face them. The man had hurled an attack.
"At all costs we must protect the Princess from space-sludge like you!" The woman declared, her finger pointed menacingly at Trunks."We'll teach you to show your face here again!"
Goten's eyes narrowed. It was bad enough that they attacked, but to disgrace the name of the Royal Heir of Vegeta? This was unacceptable. "How dare you insult the Prince? You're dead!"
"Leave them," Trunks insisted, turning his back again as he grabbed Goten to fly. "Let's go home. I have to tell you something important!"
But Goten shoved him off, his attention still on the woman, who now held her hands out, one extended and the other pulled back. Her energies surged and she was surrounded by flames. Instantly, materializing in her hands was a fiery bow and arrow. She brought it down aiming it towards Trunks.
Goten yelped just as she released the arrow. "NO!"
"Goten!" Trunks staggered, turning around as Goten leapt before him, his arms outstretched. The arrow blazed forward with precision, striking Goten's centre. Goten stared blankly, strange gurgling noises emitting from his gaping mouth. The blazing projectile burned effortlessly through his Saiyan armour, piercing straight through to his chest.
"GOTEN?!" Trunks caught his friend by the shoulders as he crumpled to the ground. Trunks plunged to his knees, watching in horror as Goten continued to stare out, his breaths shallow as wisps of smoke drifted from where he'd been wounded. Goten's eyes met with his. Watery. Faint. His eyes rolled back into his skull and his body went limp.
Trunks felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
A tear descended down his cheek as he released Goten's hand, allowing it to drop heavily to his side with a thump. Trunks felt something inside him rile up, a blistering heat as though the flaming arrow had struck him instead. He brought himself shakily to his feet. Trunks clenched his teeth, more tears spilling as he felt all at once the full sum of everything churning and storming internally like the red-hot embers of a lit furnace. A new sensation grew within him: the wild, untamed urge to channel his fury outward. He shut his eyes and let out a monstrous wail.
The man and woman flinched.
"He's going to turn into the Oozaru," the man uttered, exchanging an uncertain glance with the woman.
"Impossible. The tail is gone," she muttered back.
But Trunks gave an intermitted growl; his fists clutched tightly, veins visible along his wrists and neck. Little by little his muscled arms began to swell. Pebbles of the earth began to rattle as the aura around him flared and the ground he stood on shook. Then the rocks began to hover as a current of air picked up. The pair watched with fright as Trunks hollered once more. As if on cue, there came an ethereal shooting noise like a canon exploding, and the wind shot forcefully upwards, blowing his hair until it stood on its ends. Tiny sparks flashed around him like forks of lightening. His hair radiated gold and when he opened his eyes, they were glazed over white, until his irises reappeared, green and pupiless.
Trunks had transformed into something—they knew not what—but he was unrecognizable.
Wasting no time, the sailor-suited woman rushed forward, her hair swishing as she braced to use another attack on her initially intended target. Trunks gave her a murderous glare.
"You killed Goten…" he seethed.
She paid no mind to his words as she yelled out, "Mars Star Power!"
Bursts of fire shot out from her hands, but Trunks stepped aside with agile timing, missing a direct hit. The woman stared in horror as Trunks threw up a hand in response, a ball of golden energy forming in his outstretched palm.
"For killing my best friend—I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
The blast rocketed forth.
"SAILOR MARS!" the blond man yelped, diving in front of the woman just as the blast struck. The force knocked them off their feet and propelled them backwards.