Trunks glared fiercely at Freeza. Not taking his eyes off of the monster, he bent down and
gently placed Goten on the ground. He was going to make Freeza pay. For what he did to
Goten. For what he had done to his father.

From a distance, Bulma watched dumbfounded as her son changed from a normal child into a
Super Saiyan. She could feel Chi Chi's body tense.

"Trunks is...." began the older woman.

Bulma's mind raced to the only person that she could think of who could be have fathered another Saiyan by her.

"Goku's child," finished Chi Chi.

The housewife pulled away from her friend's embrace. She gave Bulma a harsh, betrayed look.
Bulma quickly looked away.

"Chi Chi, I promise nothing has happened between me and Goku," explained Bulma.

"Not yet, you mean," snapped Chi Chi.

Tears flooded Bulma's eyes. She had always thought that Goku was handsome, but she never had considered actually having an affair with him.

"So that's why Trunks never wanted to talk about his father," muttered Bulma to herself.
"Chi Chi, I'm so sorry."

"Save it," snapped the raven-haired woman.

Bulma let out a ragged breath. There was no point in trying to talk to Chi Chi now. She
would have to try to work things out after the battle.

Closer to the action, the Saiyan and Earth warriors stared disbelieving at Trunks.

"Trunks is a Super Saiyan too?" croaked Krillian.

"That means...." trailed off Yamcha.

Everyone turned towards Goku. The Saiyan was blushing and looking incredibly nervous. He
had never thought of Bulma like that before.

"So much for the pure and innocent Kakkarot," stated Vegeta.

Piccolo sweatdropped. Were the others really too dense to pick up the similarities between
Trunks and Vegeta's kis? Piccolo was about to set the group straight when he heard Trunks
let out a scream. The group turned to see Trunks begin his assault.

The Super Saiyan rushed towards his opponent in a blind rage. He began to pound ruthlessly
into Freeza, screaming the entire time. Freeza vainly tried to dodge the enraged child, but
Trunks seemed to be everywhere at once. With a sickening crack, the bridge of Freeza's nose
shattered. The alien screamed in agony and retreated. He held his hands over his face,
blood pouring down the front of his face.

"My beautiful face," the alien whimpered.

Trunks hovered a few paces away, panting heavily. He wiped the sweat from his brow.
Smirking, he renewed his attacks.

Once again, Freeza was bombarded by a merciless onslaught of kicks and punches from the boy. Freeza lashed out desperately, trying to fend off the angry Super Saiyan. Two ki blasts
slammed into either side of the struggling alien. Nappa and Radditz had come to aid the
child. All three Saiyans powered up for another round of ki blasts. Freeza gathered his
energy into a shield. The attacks shattered the barrier and ripped into Freeza. The alien
felt two ribs snap in his chest.

Freeza began to sink towards the ground. Trunks dove after him. Freeza waited to the child
was almost upon him before releasing a surprise ki blast. The attack hit Trunks point
blank, sending him flying backwards. The boy flipped mid-air and charged at Freeza once
more.

The dark lord cursed under his breath as Trunks attacked him once more. Striking the child
hard in the stomach, Freeza retreated a few feet. He was not going to be defeated by a mere
infant. Once again, he clutched the talisman of Nodimaet in his hands. This time he
channeled all of his energy into the amulet. With a rush of ki, the medallion amplified
Freeza's power to fifty-times his normal level.

Trunks studied his opponent warily. He was beginning to feel winded. And now Freeza had
gained more power. The image of Goten's unconscious body flashed through the small
semi-Saiyan's mind. Trunks growled menacingly, revealing his sharp canines. He held his
hands out in front of him. Closing his eyes, Trunks concentrated his energy into a
tremendous ball of ki. With a shout, he released the blast towards Freeza.

The attack struck Freeza full force, driving him backwards in the air. However, with his
new surge of power, the alien deflected the energy.

Trunks stared at Freeza in shock. His attack had done little damage. Gritting his teeth,
the youth charged at the enemy.

Choatzu rushed towards the battle site, a bag of senzu beans clutched in his right hand.
The small emperor paused in mid-air. Ahead he could see Freeza fighting a small,
gold-haired boy. Choatzu blinked. He thought Goten had been knocked out. Shrugging off
his confusion, the tiny warrior sped onward.

As he landed, Choatzu trotted to Piccolo's side.

"Here you go Piccolo-san," squeaked the emperor as he handed the bag to the Namek.

Choatzu caught sight of Goten, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.

"Tien. If Goten's down here, who's that?" asked the confused warrior.

"That's Trunks," explained the taller warrior.

"Oh my," replied Choatzu.

In the air above the group, the battle between Trunks and Freeza had taken a turn for the
worse. Freeza was able to block most of Trunks' punches and had landed quite a few of his
own. With a well-place kick, the alien was rewarded with feeling three of Trunks' ribs
crunch. The boy screamed in pain and backed away. Freeza aimed a ki attack at the boy; the
blast ripped the fabric of his t-shirt and left a nasty burn on his chest. Trunks curled up
in pain. Freeza pulled back his hand, hoping to smash in the child's skull with his fist.
A hand gripped Freeza's arm tightly. The alien turned to see Vegeta grasping his arm.
Screaming, Vegeta used all his strength to tighten his hold on his long-time tormenter.
Freeza shouted as his wrist shattered in the Saiyan Prince's grip. Freeza growled and
placed his palm on Vegeta's stomach, releasing a ki attack. The Prince was flung backward
through the air. The blast smashed Vegeta through a rock column.

"Papa," whimpered Trunks under his breath.

Weakly, Trunks held his hands in front of him. Slowly, golden ki began to flicker and take
shape in his palms. His body ached as he drained more of his energy into the attack.
Grunting, Trunks released the blast towards Freeza.

Freeza was caught off-guard by the attack. He had been too busy gloating over the fallen
Prince. Trunks' attack knocked the breath out of the invader. Grunting in pain, Freeza
returned his attention to the boy.

On the ground below, Piccolo was distributing the senzu beans. He had taken one himself to
heal the wound on his side. Taking Goten into his arms, he slipped one of the beans into
the small child's mouth. Goten swallowed instinctively and winced. Lazily, he opened his
eyes.

"What happened?" he asked as he sat up.

He stretched carefully. Other than a few sore muscles, he felt fine.

"Freeza knocked you out," stated Piccolo in reply to his question.

"Freeza!" shouted Goten, jumping to his feet.

"Don't worry. He's being taken care of," commented Yamcha dryly, pointing skyward.

Goten looked up and saw his best friend in Super Saiyan mode.

"Trunks!"

Above, Trunks glanced down when he heard Goten call his name. A smile spread across his
face when he saw that his friend was OK. The distraction left an opening in his defenses.
Freeza landed a punch directly in the child's face. Trunks' head snapped to the side
violently, nearly breaking his neck. He winced and held his neck, which was throbbing in
pain.

Goten let out a squeak and took off towards his foe and his friend. Piccolo stood quickly.

"We have to help them," he commanded.

The others nodded.

"What about Vegeta?" asked a quiet voice.

Piccolo turned to see Bulma standing near him.

"You can use his strength in the fight. I think you should give him a senzu bean," she
continued.

Yamcha opened is mouth to protest, but Piccolo held his hand up to silence him.

"She's right. We might actually need his help."

"I'll give him the senzu bean," stated Bulma, holding her hand out.

Piccolo nodded. He removed a bean to give to Trunks, then tossed her the bag. Bulma caught it in one hand. She turned and trotted off to where the fallen Prince lay.

"I can understand why you have feelings for her, Goku," piped up Krillian. "Bulma is a
great woman."

"Yeah, she's great. But I don't have feelings for her," muttered Goku.

Yamcha growled to himself and set out towards Freeza and the boys without another word.
Piccolo noted the hurt look on both Goku and Yamcha's faces. Unfortunately, he didn't have
time to clarify Trunks' ancestral line. That would have to come later.

As the warriors went to aid Trunks and Goten, Bulma rushed to Vegeta. He lay among pieces
of shattered rock. He was badly bruised and one of his legs was crushed. He had his eyes
closed, trying to rid his mind of the pain that was shooting throughout his body.

"Here, Vegeta. Take this," whispered Bulma.

Vegeta opened his eyes and looked at her suspiciously. After regarding her for a minute, he
obediently opened his mouth. She pushed the senzu bean into his mouth, blushing as her
fingers brushed his lips. Vegeta swallowed painfully. He blinked in surprise as the
magical antidote took immediate effect. Sitting up, he studied his body quickly; the
bruises were gone and his leg had healed. Turning to Bulma, he smirked sexily. Without a
remark, Vegeta sprang into the air and went to join the battle. Bulma blinked a few times
before scowling.

"You could have said 'thank you'," she shouted after him.

Vegeta quickly surveyed the scene as he joined Nappa and Radditz in the air. Yamcha,
Krillian, Tien, and Choatzu were weaving about Freeza, distracting him. Goku and Gohan were
doing most of the actual attacking. Goten was supporting Trunks as Piccolo gave the boy one
of the senzu beans. Trunks winced but quickly recovered.

"Chibi."

"Hey Trunks-kun," replied Goten, smiling sweetly.

"I'm so glad you're OK," whispered Trunks.

"You shouldn't worry about me. Takes a lot to get rid of me," stated Goten simply.

Trunks smirked at his companion.

"I have an idea," stated the older boy.

Goten looked into Trunks' eyes and smiled. He knew exactly what his friend was talking about.

"Fusion!" the boys shouted simultaneously.















********

Wow! Another chapter in less than two days! Yes, I know the Z boys haven't figured out that Trunks' is Vegeta's kid. I thought it would be a little bit more interesting if they thought he was Goku's kid. Don't worry. They'll figure everything out eventually. Happy 2002!!! ~ladymoonlight