Pacific Dragon
~ Lady Eldaelen ~


Previously:

"Please tell me I'm wrong in thinking that's an-"

"That's an android."

"-Android."


- Start -


Ignoring the still-throbbing pain in his neck, Krillin swung his legs over the edge of the bed and waved off the Med Tech writing up notes in his file.

"We need to go back to the Command Center," Krillin groaned as the world blurred spectacularly out of focus, "at the very least so we're all together."

Yamcha followed suit, easing off his bed just as gingerly. Chi Chi sighed, but let them both continue, shadowing their slightly unsteady steps.

.


\\ Authorization override accepted
\\ Hope Four Admin Log accessed
\\ Start video playlist: autoplay set, audio transcription included

\\ Authorization check: Son Gohan verified

\\ Dad died last night. He'd been sick for a long time but hid it until it was too late. It was a natural death so the dragonballs won't even work. I… I've never felt more alone…

\\ The Dragon has been configured for a new pilot. I've started training in it alongside Vegeta and the Renegade. He's changed since Dad's death. More driven, more focused, if that's even possible. Bulma and I worry about him.

\\ They're all dead. We were ambushed, but not by something from the Rift. Androids. Biologic machines. They took out the Tornado like it was paper. All three pilots were dead before the Jaeger itself exploded. Vegeta ditched the Renegade but even in Super he didn't stand a chance… I couldn't find anything to bring back for Bulma to bury. I kept her from going anywhere near where we fought, which was fairly easy to do with so many other destroyed areas to attend to. The androids managed to get the other warriors when were were looking for survivors. Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu, Krillin… Um… I'm not sure why they spared me. All this happened two days ago, actually. I was battling the one they called Eighteen and she knocked me out and, well, I just made it back to the Base. I don't know what's going to happen now.

\\ The Jaeger program has been disbanded. We brought Hope Four back to Bulma's lab at Capsule Corp, the risk of the androids destroying the Base with so many other people inside was just too high. It was hard to see the place dismantled… The weirdest thing is that I'm positive the androids already knew where the Base was. And where Capsule Corp is, what goes on there. They don't ever attack it. We're still trying to figure that one out.

\\ File deleted.
\\ File deleted.

\\ Trunks wants me to train him. I'm not sure that's such a good idea, at least not for Bulma's sake. I know what I've put my own mother through. It seems unconscionable. I also don't feel like I'm capable of training anyone. I mean, I couldn't save them. I'm not strong enough to stop the androids now. More often than not I can't even properly protect myself.

\\ File deleted.

\\ We had a meeting last night. Bulma, me, my mother, Dr. Briefs -even Roshi, who we all thought was dead. His island's been deserted for years. Apparently he was out searching for his sister. She had some… cryptic ideas. We're going to build a time machine. And I'm going to train Trunks to keep him preoccupied.

\\ Progress is continuing on the modifications to Hope Four. We're targeting the winter for the trip. I'm hoping by then that Trunks will be able to ascend. He's got Vegeta's drive, but he's so unsure of himself and I feel like I passed that on to him somehow and it's going to hold him back. He can't afford to doubt himself, not in this.

\\ Lost my left arm last week. It, um, complicates things somewhat. We haven't told him yet, but Bulma and I decided that he's going to make the trip now. Trunks is, I mean. I need to dial down his training, too, at least restrict it closer to home. It'll give him more time to spend with Bulma in the labs, familiarize himself with the equipment. And it gives me some time to adjust to the missing arm… but I don't think we'll have enough for either.

\\ Authorization check: Trunks Briefs verified

\\ Gohan died yesterday. He, uh, his death pushed me into Super and I don't know what to do with that. I found this file after Mom explained their plan and said I should learn as much about the Hope Four as I could. But it's so hard, this was Gohan's machine, I can feel him everywhere… All of his notes are pretty bland and scientific, which isn't how I remember him. This log, this log feels more like a little piece of him… Mom says I'm going to fry the equipment if I don't calm down. She, uh, thinks we can still make the schedule, assuming the androids' current level of activity doesn't change much.

\\ Almost got myself killed yesterday, which would not have been beneficial to our plans. Mom wants me to lay low until the trip.

\\ Leaving tomorrow. Nothing but hope.

\\ Authorization check: Bulma Briefs verified

\\ This is Bulma Briefs. Trunks Briefs, my son, died a week ago by an unknown assailant. He returned from his first trip where he said he successfully warned the past not only about Goku's heart condition, but also of the android threat. A second trip was immediately planned and executed and when he returned, he'd gained enough power to defeat our androids. Then… I'm not sure where we went wrong…

.


Bulma watched the vids and read the log transcripts multiple times until she could get through the bulk of the passages without crying, until she had the most important parts memorized. Then she began what she'd put off doing since they'd discovered that second Hope.

It didn't take long to run the test. The blood from the unknown thumbprint on the future Hope Four belonged to the direct match of a child that would come from Gohan and Videl.

She reread the results, each word cementing the facts deeper in her mind. Then Bulma selected the file and deleted it. As the system wiped the memory, she found one of her father's smoke stashes and lit herself a cigarette.

"Oh, hey, Bulma," Goku greeted, poking his head into the lab. "I didn't think anyone would be here this late."

He crossed the room and rummaged around the couch, withdrawing a data pad from the seam of cushions. "Ah, there it is. Chi Chi says I'd leave my hair somewhere if it didn't grow out my head… What's wrong?"

Bulma blew out a thin stream of smoke. "Nothing."

Goku's doubt flickered across his face and she felt him appraise her, well, not quite like Vegeta, but not like himself, either. She wondered if this was what his opponents saw.

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't be so worried," he said before heading for the door.

"Goku, wait."

.


"Okay, one thing at a time. We will get through this one disaster at a time," Bulma muttered to herself. She took a centering breath before looking over to her father. "Dad, make sure Gohan takes care of our Cell, then you can get them to escort you over there. Don't go alone… Damn, you need to hear this, too."

Her father muted his comm line with Gohan and asked her, "Is this about the other Hope Four?"

"Yes, but-"

"Fill me in later, I've been speculating since it showed up." And he turned back to his monitor, focusing on his own priority of disasters.

.


Bulma held her relief at the sight of Krillin and Chi Chi and Yamcha trooping into the Command Center, slow going that they were. She motioned them to the windows, the quietest place in the overcrowded room. All morning she'd clung to the small comfort that she had already told Goku everything, but now they were running out of time. She called Trunks and Goten over.

"Boys, I need you to go find Grandma and stay with her and the baby. You're both big brothers now. Can you guard them, guard the baby, until I say so?"

Both boys nodded solemnly and slipped out of the Command Center. Bulma studied the faces of her closest friends and took a deep breath. "Listen, it may not be long before this all comes out anyway. You deserve to learn from, well, from someone other than that monster."

.


Chi Chi wasn't sure when during the explanation Krillin grabbed her hand but by the time Bulma sped through the retelling of the alternate future, his steadying presence was about the only thing grounding her.

"Who else know this?" Krillin asked when Bulma finished.

"Just Goku, when he popped into the lab last night for his data pad. The Gingertown alarm went off while he was still there."

"The kids don't know?"

Bulma shook her head, "Neither do Vegeta or Seventeen or Eighteen."

"We have to tell them," Krillin insisted. He stumbled over to his desk and started pulling up screens and fiddling with audio feeds.

"Don't you dare, Krillin. We can't distract them."

.


"You sure you can focus enough energy to completely eradicate it? All signs point to it having the Nameks' regeneration. We can't afford to leave even the smallest bit intact."

"Yes, sir, understood," Gohan affirmed to Dr. Briefs as he paced around Gero's hidden lab. Nearby, Videl coordinated their plans to both the Base and Gero's lab's heads of security.

"They're going on lockdown," Videl whispered when he passed by her again. "Base is on red alert."

"Dr. Briefs, if this attracts Cell's attention… I think I should destroy this level. There's too much functioning equipment, not to mention the andr-"

"Son, you must not destroy that android."

"I'm not leaving it open to activation if Cell heads this way."

"No need to leave it behind at all. Looks like the standard design. That biobed should be locked into the floor, releases are on the sides. The emergency power on the other beds lasted over a week."

"Right, this is getting complicated. I'm going to pull the bed, destroy Cell, and get out of here. Do you want the android at the Base or Capsule Corp?"

"Hmm, I guess we didn't have to worry about this last time… Even though we're in lockdown, I'd rather have it here with us at the Base. Not sure how Bulma'll take having one so close to the kids."

"We'll work that out later."

"The guards here are in place," Videl piped up. "They've secured the route from the level above. We're cleared to take it out and away."

"Alright. Dr. Briefs, why don't you meet us at the north entrance?"

"I'll prep a workspace for us. See you soon."

.


Krillin knew Bulma was right, of course she was right, now was not the time to throw a bunch of new information at the rest of his friends. Asking for a pause in the battle to have a sit-down would have been ridiculous. Krillin got the five-second highlight reel of what he'd missed from Dragon's Lead, then settled down to watch whatever was going to happen next. If he squinted his eyes, the sensation of being stuck in a tailspin lessened somewhat, but Krillin was too intent on the vid feed of the encounter to bother.

The fighting was back on and from the very rare pauses, Krillin figured they were past the pleasantries and feeling each other out. Though instead of leaning one way or another, Krillin just thought the whole ordeal looked sloppy. And then Vegeta jumped away, far enough back that when the others paused, he had a decent vantage point. There it was, Goku had Eighteen in hand, he'd been struggling to keep her away from Cell. And Vegeta had been… what exactly?

The slightest hum of appreciation came through Vegeta's scouter. Cell's appearance had changed from when Krillin first encountered it, and he immediately thought back to Frieza's various transformations. If Vegeta was impressed… well, that didn't bode well for anyone.

Krillin winced as he rubbed the bruises on his neck. Beside him, still beside him, Chi Chi pressed a bottle of pills in his hand.

"Here, you can take one now and another in four hours."

"Thanks, Chi Chi." He swallowed a pill dry and watched her study the vid screens for a few moments before his anxiety roiled to a level higher than when he'd stared Cell in the eyes and told it in so many words to go to hell. He recognized the bulk of his rapidly growing concern focused on Goku, Gohan and Goten (and the latter two weren't even near the engagement site), and Krillin suggested, "Maybe you should go."

"I'll um… go find the boys," Chi Chi said at the same time.

"Hey," Krillin added before she slipped too far away from his desk. "The future is going to be different here."

"I know," Chi Chi replied, a small, bittersweet smile on her face.

.


Beaky had somehow gotten uglier, but Vegeta couldn't deny the substantial boost in its power. He wondered if the increase was a direct correlation to Seventeen's max. He wondered if it would be the same with Eighteen.

Kakarott was staunchly still trying to keep Eighteen from engaging with Cell. Vegeta had seen Kakarott occasionally whisper in her ear, but what, he had no idea.

"Come on now, I just want is a good fight!" Cell laughed. "The ultimate fight, with the best of you. And you all know that's not going to happen until I fulfill Gero's intentions and take Eighteen."

.


Bulma told Goku everything. The entire history of the future Hope. The third pilot's identity. The warning Gohan had given her about knowing too much.

"I died from a virus?"

"Yes."

"And the androids killed everyone but Gohan. He was what, nine years old? Ten? Left to fight alone for years?"

Bulma nodded and wiped away the last of the tears she had't been able to to stop.

"Trunks grew up without Vegeta?" Goku continued like he wasn't even really paying attention to Bulma. Just… he was just trying to wrap his head around everything she'd dumped on him. "I had a granddaughter?"

"Goku, I haven't told anyone else. Gohan warned me-"

"Gohan had a daughter with Videl," Goku slowly reflected. At this he frowned and turned back to Bulma, a hundred questions burning behind his eyes.

"I don't know how to tell Vegeta or Gohan or Videl- I don't know what to do with this information!"

Goku swallowed hard. "If I hadn't walked in here, what would you have done?"

"Probably gone through this whole pack of smokes then stare at the ceiling trying to fall asleep on the couch but thinking about a son that's not mine -but is, but not really, and the hell he lived through."

"We can't do anything about that now," Goku insisted uneasily. "Or we can work something out later. But there's a chance some of this stuff could still happen here? Let's focus on that."

"I'm not sure we can compare the two universes anymore. You're still alive, the androids didn't kill any warriors, Goten was born-"

"What do you mean Goten was born?"

"Gohan was pretty thorough in documenting all the major events that happened over there. You died before Goten was conceived. As far as I can tell, he didn't exist in that time."

.


Chi Chi stood in the conference room doorway for a moment and just watched. Goten was fully involved in a game of 'make the baby laugh,' all goofy grin and waggling eyebrows. Trunks, a few steps away, stood with arms crossed and expression hooded, his father's frown etched deeply on his face. He looked up and noticed her, his posture coiling even tighter into protect mode. His subtle movements spurned Goten into action and in the moment it took for him to turn away from the baby, his own warrior's mask had slid smoothly into place.

"Mom," Goten voiced, though Chi Chi saw Trunks form the word as well, a whisper of how intertwined their lives had become. The two took a few steps to align themselves in front of their charges, their new responsibilities.

Chi Chi crossed the space between them briskly and wrapped Goten into a hug. He resisted for the briefest of moments before bringing his own arms up and around her waist. She pulled Trunks in with one hand, his expression wide and disbelieving until he, too, relaxed enough to reciprocate.

With both boys in her arms, Chi Chi squeezed her eyes shut, forced herself to keep it together. They wouldn't see her tears, not here, not now. But as she held her son and his best friend, she mourned for the woman who never had this second child. She mourned for the boy who never had a peer his own age, for the world history that played out so closely to her innermost fears.

.


Cell continued taunting them, Kakarott and Eighteen, with needling remarks that managed to come across as amateurish to Vegeta. At least the ones directed at Kakarott were. Like he was hardly worth Cell's time, with or without Eighteen.

And then, the bombshell. From whatever time Cell had come from, Kakarott got taken out by a virus. Too weak to even fight off a sickness, what did he think he was accomplishing now? He should just give up, Eighteen couldn't be protected forever. She obviously didn't want to be.

"Your son put up more of a fight, you know," Cell said, changing the course of conversation. "Gohan irritated Seventeen and Eighteen for years. A thorn in their sides that just would not be dislodged. And he threw it all away on some damned idea of nobility. Sacrificing himself for the weakest."

Kakarott definitely glanced at him that time. Vegeta frowned, wary at his reaction. It was almost as if Kakarott was expecting him to make the next move instead of Cell.

Cell sneered as it turned its attention to Vegeta. "And rest assured, Trunks was, oh, so weak."

.


It was the first time they hadn't ended up in the desert. Goku had paced alongside Vegeta in flight until the other man had veered off from their usual mountain sparring grounds and they didn't touch down until they were well into the more tropical areas to the south.

"How common is it among our people?" Goku asked when they landed. It had been one of the last moments they'd dwelt on in the drift. Goten and Trunks. Gohan and Piccolo. The Nameks. Their own singular, unspoken conversation separated physically by the distance between the ocean and a Jaeger while fighting Frieza. Telepathy. "Why don't we do it more often and why is it so difficult?"

He knew he was asking essentially useless questions. They'd drifted enough in the last week to cover topics such as these where Vegeta honestly couldn't answer. Goku had let the tug of the drift pull him into the deepest recesses of Vegeta's memories as far back as the prince could recall.

Seeing their home world, walking its streets, breathing the air. It had awakened something in Goku, a hole that he hadn't known needed filling, not until he realized he still had someone he could ask. But that in itself had already led to problems. Vegeta hadn't stayed on planet long at all. He'd spent more time sleeping in space travel, more time on other worlds than on Vegeta-sei.

"It's -I don't know how common it was."

Vegeta's frustration compounded with his own in the drift's infinite echo chamber and they both ended up doubly cross. Goku flopped backwards on the soft sand by the shore where they'd landed.

"You'd think it'd be easier somehow, you know, right after a drift. The boys make it look so easy."

"They aren't talking to each other mentally."

"Really? How do you know?"

"I asked Trunks." Vegeta glanced over at Goku's mildly shocked expression. "We do converse on occasion."

"I know that. Just surprised to hear you admit to it."

"Our cultures are different, Kakarott, but not unrecognizably so."

"Did you know him well, your father?"

When Vegeta didn't answer right away, Goku eased off. "You don't have to say."

"I did," Vegeta reflected after a long pause, "as much as I could in our positions… We had responsibilities and duties. There was mutual respect though, I think… But know my father? Know him like I know Trunks? No. Hell, I know you and your family more."

Goku remained quiet, absorbing the explanation.

"He was still my father, though." Vegeta added softly.

"Thanks, Vegeta," Goku responded.

.


"You know, I really had no idea what to expect, coming here," Cell continued conversationally. "I'm not surprised you've hidden them both away. Though you can't fault poor Gohan for not living up to his full potential with all those role models dead. And your 'royal' whelp, Vegeta? I heard he had to go back in time twice just to train enough to beat Seventeen and Eighteen."

Vegeta's stomach churned and a sudden warning, a near-audible thought to not overreact, not take the bait, preceded a burst of memories. Of babies and family and fathers and sons, sparring with Trunks, fighting against Gohan then with him, the incomprehensibility of Goten's complete acceptance of him as a second father, feeling the weight of a thousand hugs he hadn't given. Emotions he once thought as weakness now had same familiarity that they did to Kakarott, because Vegeta had relived so many moments in the drift from Kakarott's perspective and he finally got it. He finally understood.

"It's a shame, how little fight he had in the end. Trunks wasn't much fun when it came down to it. Though mark my words, the chance to kill him again is an honor I will not waste."

.


Krillin sucked in a breath as he felt Vegeta's power skyrocket higher and higher than he had ever observed before. "Yamcha, watch the board! Do not let Bulma leave!"

And he fought the blackness edging into his vision as his whole nervous system screamed that he was moving too fast. But he had to get to the boys before-

"Let me go, Goten!"

Krillin threw open the conference room door and found Goten struggling to keep Trunks in a bear hug and not bolting out of the room. Both kids were Super, auras whipping the air around the room in a cyclone. Chi Chi shielded the others in the corner, the baby's cries adding to the cacophony.

"Something's wrong! I need to get to my dad."

Trunks broke free of Goten's grip only to barrel directly into Krillin. His momentum pushed them both deeper into the hallway, but in the split second he had while Trunks remained surprised, Krillin hefted the boy inside and slammed the door shut, palming a code into the room's control panel. Trunks let out another enraged shout and Krillin's skin heated uncomfortably as the boy in his arms powered up further.

"You locked us in!" Trunks accused.

"Yes, I did," Krillin said evenly, though the adrenaline coursing through his system for the third time that day wasn't enough to keep the conference room from going out of focus.

Goten tugged on Trunks' shoulder again, trying to impart some sense in the usually more sensible boy. "This is a safe room, Trunks. You can't get out when it's locked."

He emphasized with each tug backwards, "We're supposed to be protecting."

Gradually Trunks relented, allowing Goten to actually pull him out of Krillin's hold without trying to escape. Goten's power dropped slightly, and slowly, ever so slowly, Trunks followed suit. They both dropped out of Super just as Krillin lost his tenuous grip on consciousness. He vaguely heard Goten's hushed near-vow of "big brothers, remember?" as the world swirled into cloudy, empty black.

.


"Krillin!" Bulma shouted as he zipped away faster than she could fully comprehend. She turned to Yamcha, who had jumped up at Krillin's reaction, but remained planted in his spot. "What is going on?"

"Vegeta's fighting."

Bulma whirled around, pulling up more focused views and stats on Krillin's abandoned station.

"This can't be right, Yamcha. We've never recorded his levels this high. Ever."

Bulma leaned over the chair, legs going boneless even as her grip on the backrest turned knuckle-white.

"I'm not ready for this," she choked out, despair creeping into her voice.

Yamcha momentarily rested a hand on hers, before guiding her to sit down. "He'll be okay."

.


"We have to go faster," Gohan said, craning his head around to stare in the distance towards the battle site.

"What's going on?" Dr. Briefs asked, as Videl revved the air car to eke out a bit more speed.

"It's Vegeta."

"Gohan?" His mother hesitantly spoke.

"Ma? What are you talking to me on?"

"A private comm line. Trunks said he set it to just your frequency."

"What is it? Where's Krillin and Yamcha?"

"Krillin passed out, but don't worry about us. We're locked in the conference room. I'm sorry, I just needed to hear your voice. We're okay here. Go where you need to be."

"Two minutes, we'll be at the Base in two minutes." Gohan answered. He glanced over to Videl, who peered at him from the corner of her eye. "Know any other shortcuts?"

.


Videl piloted through the Base's tunnels -most of which definitely weren't intended for an air car- with every intention of them dropping off the android before splitting up, Gohan to the fight, she to see to the conference room. That all changed when they spotted Dr. Briefs ahead of them, high-tailing it to the Command Center from the Maintenance Bays. Videl parked, Gohan hefted the biobed to one shoulder, and they followed the doctor's unexpected path.

Dr. Briefs was just a few steps inside the Command Center proper, Bulma sobbing openly in his arms. The others in the room looked on somberly, though Vegeta's still-spiraling ki said otherwise, like they'd just witnessed a death.

Gohan maneuvered the biobed into a corner of the room before he and Videl inched towards the door, but Bulma stopped them with a sniffle. "Wait, you can't leave until you know what you're flying into."

"Why?"

"Because you might change your minds when you hear about the other Hope Four."

.


- End -


Notes: I don't typically ascribe to the Goku and/or Chi Chi being terrible parents school of thought (though I have read some Go Green Dad arguments that I can get behind). Chi Chi, I feel, gets an especially undeserved bad rap. I like Chi Chi, she's momming the best way she knows how, and all things considered, positively influenced some fairly upstanding people. And I know I use both Firstname Lastname and Lastname Firstname. It's 100% because I think all the Sons sound and read better Lastname first. There ya go.

Only two more updates remain! No joke. This story has an ending and it will see the light of day in the very foreseeable future.

.


062118