The Capsule Corporation building looked so empty and deserted. He didn't want to look at it. It looked as if something was lost there, and would never be returned. Trunks didn't know how to comprehend it.
When he entered, he saw Bulma, Chi-Chi, and Pan all sleeping on the couch. Pan was in Chi-Chi's lap, seeming to cling to her in fear. Trunks let them be and continued on to the laboratory.
It was deserted. Trunks looked around, but couldn't seem to find any trace of a time machine. He decided to check with Bulma to see if she knew where it was.
He reentered the main room, and looked at her face. Technically, this wasn't really his mother, but he always thought of her to be so beautiful. Her fair face and how her hair matched her sparkling eyes. Trunks loved her always, it didn't matter which Bulma, past of present.
He slowly shook her, and her eyes opened to look at him. She didn't look surprised. She thought that she may be seeing one of the Z-Senshi sooner of later. She was always willing to help.
"Trunks, not my Trunks, but Trunks," she said breathlessly. "How are you?"
"I'm all right, but not everyone else is."
Trunks helped her up and she rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes.
"There was something I was meaning to tell you Trunks. You see, I built a new time machine…"
"That's great!" Trunks exclaimed. "Now I can go back to my timeline!"
"Well, it's not that simple. You see, I sent Krillin and Yamcha in the time machine to retrieve Tien, who as you know left in your time machine…"
Trunks looked down in shame. It was his fault Tien had gotten away. He was so lazy, and felt so guilty.
"Now you see, the time machine I built was designed to travel through the Room of Spirit & Time. But there's a problem. It was knocked down by one of the Muk-jin…"
"Oh my god! NO!" screamed Trunks. "How will I ever get back to my world? And what about Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien? Why didn't they take the other time machine here?"
"I don't know, Trunks. I'm as confused as you are. But you need to do something for me. You must go to the wreckage of the Lookout, and try to find a way into the Room. I think that may be the answer to our problems."
Trunks and Bulma embraced, and then he left, winking at the only Bulma left in his life. For his real mother had already passed on.
--- --- ---
Piccolo and Chibi Trunks landed behind a large boulder. They scanned the area and saw nothing. It seemed as if the field was empty. Trunks curiously rounded the boulder and began to search the field. The grass was extremely high, making it very hard to make out anything in the field.
But they had sensed the power here, and Trunks would find it. He knew it was weak, but he also knew it was their only chance of defeating the Muk-jins.
"Got him!" screamed a voice in the background. Trunks's head turned faster than a bullet, to see Piccolo's smiling face standing over a body clothed in orange. Trunks walked over, and looked down at his fallen comrade. Gohan's face was masked with patches of blood. It looked as if a bomb had exploded near Gohan, and this was what was left of him. No normal being could withstand the pain he had felt.
"Gohan…" whispered Trunks, pulling him near. He wanted Gohan to hear. Gohan's eyes began to twitch, and they opened ever so slightly, so Gohan could see Trunks.
"Get up, Gohan. There is no time for rest. No time to recuperate."
In the background, Piccolo nodded. He looked on as the two men bonded. Yes, Trunks could be considered a man now. After all he had been through, and how he had grown. It just seemed right to Piccolo. Gohan's lips began to tremble.
"I c-cant. I'm too weak," he managed to sputter out. Trunks shook his head.
"You don't understand Gohan! You must! There is no other way!"
Gohan just shook his head and began to drift off again…
"Goten is dead! Get up Gohan! Your brother has been murdered.
With that, Gohan's eyes shot open, wider than before. He looked at Trunks in his deep blue eyes, trying to detect a lie. Gohan saw nothing.
Piccolo looked on intently as Trunks reached down to help Gohan off of his feet. But Gohan swatted his hand away, and righted himself on his left knee. Using his right arm, Gohan managed to push himself off of the ground and stand. He was hunched over, and weak. He shouldn't have been standing, but under the circumstances, it was the least he could do.
"G-Gohan…" stammered Piccolo, amazed at the boy's valiance. He was then deafened by a scream that shook the ground. Rocks began to rise up from the Earth's surface, surrounding Gohan and filling the air.
All around, for miles away, the trees began to shake and the wind blasted its way through them. The Earth's animals tilted their heads to the source of the great power.
And it was Gohan, standing there, surrounded with an aura made of pure gold. His hair had sprung from his head until it could stand no more, and touched the ground. He was the last Saiya-jin to attain it, the mythical stage of Super Saiya-jin 3.
Many say it was a stage not triggered from anger. But Gohan knew it wrong. For his other style of fighting, known as Mystic, was very strong, but wasn't fueled by rage. And all of them knew that Gohan's true power came from his rage, as he had done when he defeated Cell.
Gohan's eyes were now as blue as Trunks's. Narrow and colder, they were, and full of hatred. He looked strangely reminiscent of his father. And Gohan didn't even know his father was once again the strongest being on the planet…
Not that it was a good thing.
Gohan heard clapping behind him. Disturbed, he turned to see the Namek-jin, Piccolo, shaking his head. Trunks simply hung his head.
"Your anger has reached up with you once again, Gohan. And it's a good thing. That Mystic level was a waste, now you know the true depths of power."
"How would you know, Piccolo? You're just a weak Namek-jin now! You are like a father to me…yet you clap at a time like this? My brother has been killed by aliens that utterly defeated me. Do you understand? I want to take his place. I wish I was the one killed, so my baby brother could live. How dare you mock me?"
"That's it, Gohan. Let your anger guide you…"
"HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Gohan. He flew at Piccolo in a rage from the deepest hells, but stopped right in front of him. Slowly, Gohan's hair retracted and he fell back into his normal state. Then he collapsed to the ground.
Piccolo looked a bit shaken, as did Trunks.
"Just as I thought. Gohan wasn't ready for Super Saiya-jin 3. It is a stage meant to be reached by training, and if reached by anger, it can be very hard to sustain…even lethal to the user," explained Piccolo. Trunks nodded as he slung Gohan over his shoulders.
In the distance, a roar erupted. The heavens seemed to tremble from its ferocity. Piccolo turned to Trunks.
"It's time to go."
--- --- ---
No Remeth! I will destroy that inferior beast!!!" Yemeth tightened his grip, and Gremeth looked around at all of his comrades.
"Help me out guys! Get him off! I can take that guy!"
All of the Muk-jins shook their heads.
"Quiet down, Gremeth," said Remeth calmly. "You and I both know that he is incredibly strong, and you stand no chance…"
"He is a Ginyu! He destroyed us! He is weak!"
"Well then Gremeth, explain why he knocked you several kilometers away without hesitation. Explain all of the scratches and bumps surrounding your body."
Gremeth stumbled for words.
"Well then, smart one, what do we do? 5 on 1?" taunted Gremeth. Remeth shook his head.
"Even the power of five of us would not affect that monster. We must merge, as I told you before. And it will be permanent. But at least then we shall have our sweet revenge."
"No way Rem…there's…"
"Enough out of you Gremeth," said Remeth unhappily. "We let you have your fun last time, and you proved yourself a failure. Now listen up everyone."
"What is it? I'm getting sick of standing around! I need to fight!" complained Bremeth. The rest of them agreed.
"Well maybe if you'd listen, Bremeth, I'd explain it to you. HE has informed me that we may use the first wish as we please. HE does want the second though, so don't just blurt out some dumb wish, or you may displease HIM. HE has also given me the words to recite exactly. So Blemeth, if you'd be so kind to hand me the sack."
Blemeth retrieved the sack and handed it to Remeth, who then dumped it onto the ground.
"Now let's see here…two…four…six…hey, weren't there supposed to be seven?"
"When that big idiot sent me sprawling back here, I managed to grab a ball during my little 'flight.' I guess this could help out," explained Gremeth grumpily. He produced the six star dragon ball from his hand and gave it to Remeth.
"You know Gremeth, you really aren't that bad after all," said Remeth as he tossed the ball into the pile. All seven of them illuminated.
"Now let's hear it," said Blemeth impatiently.
"Eternal Dragon, by your name I summon you forth! Shenlong!" shouted Remeth to the orange balls. In a flash of light, the balls all illuminated into a searing white that none of them could look at. Suddenly, a huge eruption occurred from the seven balls and Shenlong, the Eternal Dragon, came shooting out of the balls, in his long glory. His eyes were dull red, eyes that reminded Gremeth of Oozaru Goku's, and sent fear through his body.
Shenlong was finally complete, and he hunched over as usual, in his long snake-like shape, inquiring Remeth.
"What do you desire?" asked the dragon impatiently.
"Shenlong, fuse us five Muk-jin into one being."
"Your wish is granted," said Shenlong. His eyes illuminated and suddenly, all five Muk-jins were pulled together, into one being. A large black cloud surrounded them, and when it finally disappeared, a new creature was formed.
It was just like the other Muk-jin, except a bit larger. But the difference was that it was jet black. Its body was almost invisible against the night sky, no doubt an advantage in battle.
The new being floated away from the dragon.
"What is your second wish?" called Shenlong from afar. But the black Muk-jin was ignoring him. He lifted his arms, checking them out. He seemed pleased.
"I, Shadeth, shall destroy that beast and then avenge my planet!" chuckled the merged Muk-jin known as Shadeth. He powered a black aura around him and laughed to the skies. It seemed to resonate throughout the land, scaring everything that heard it. But one was not scared.
"You'll have to get through me first," said a voice from behind Shadeth.