Tempting Fates

by Xenshin

A mysterious figure seeks out someone on earth. A malevolent, ominous force threatens everything...

4. Perpetual

Chapter IV: Perpetual
Welcome to Konatsu! Gokuu is our savior!!

The perpetual twin suns' tender light illuminated auspiciously over Konatsu's yellow surface. Winds of splendor, carrying flakes of the suns' light, soared throughout the sacred holy temple of Konatsu, carrying with its currents an odd shaped leaf. It was a deep crimson pigment with an odd, complex structure. It had finally landed on one's neck. He took it from his neck and let the wind carry it away.

Minoshia wasn't used to seeing people other than his own race, the Konatsu-jin. In fact seeing all of these people he hardly knew made him somewhat uncomfortable. But alas, that didn't stop him from accompanying their guests of honor.

None of the guests of honor, however, could anticipate what a metropolitan city that graced an entirely alien civilization would exactly look like-of course that would be left up to the omniscient.  

"Wow. So this is Konatsu. It looks so much more incredible then I thought!" Gasped the purple haired youth.

"*Sigh* I hope Isabella won't be pissed at for canceling our date…" Goten muttered with both arms behind his head.

"Aw come on. You'll have plenty of chances to go out with her. We're all on Konatsu for cripes sake! Forget about it!" Trunks gave a slap on Goten's back and grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

Minoshia blinked in bewilderment.

Tapion led the way toward the holy temple as the rest of followed. Gohan was amazed at the structural surroundings. Each building's size was ten times larger than any skyscraper he's previously jumped or flown from. The temples in front of him were reminiscent to Roman architecture in the pictures of encyclopedias he read as a boy-but only bigger--much, much BIGGER. The palace itself looked as if it had been carved from the purest of ivory, with long, almost wing-like structures extending all around and towards the heavens above. Surrounding the temples were various types of vegetation followed by a clear as glass moat, spanning would it seemed for miles. It looked like something out of a painting from the renaissance.

"Right here is the holy temple of the goddess, Njanai, the mother of all life." Tapion declared.

"How long did it take to build this?" Gohan asked.

"It's well over hundreds of thousands of years old. No-one truly knows how long it was when the ancients originally built it." Tapion accelerated his walking speed toward the fortress like temple and saw a figure blocking his way.

"Tapion!" The figure called.

"Everyone this is Datcyde, royal guard of the Holy Magistrate, Lady Rezaa."

"Why do you give such mundane titles, o' Legend of the Brave?" Datcyde jokingly asked.

Datcyde's long, color-less hair drooped down all the way to his lower back, covering the official Konatsu emblem, which he bore. His armor was fit for the noblest of nobles and many awards to prove it. Strangely, he was a bit thinner then most of the lower ranking guards but his poise and technique even contested against the strongest of warriors.

"Ah so this is the legendary Son Gokuu I've heard so much about. 'A golden dragon shot from within and vanquished the eternal demon from its mortal coil.' An excerpt from the newly written scrolls, I might add."

Kuririn couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Gokuu's eyes widened with disbelief as he bared witness to a large statue built in his honor: a golden dragon transcending from the fires of a male figure. The actual detail of the sculpture was beyond belief.

"Whoa…" Goten muttered.

"'Whoa' is right…" Trunks added.

"This is incredible! WOW! How did you build this thing so big?" Gokuu was more than simply pleasantly surprised; his expression was ever so astounded. Gokuu raised his head until his face met with the twin suns and placed his hand on his forehead to block the sunlight from hitting his face.

"Wow dad, you certainly are popular around here." Gohan whispered over to Gokuu's ear.

"No kidding…" Goten added.

"And these are your friends?" Datcyde asked.

"Oh yeah, these are my two sons Gohan and Goten and this is my best friend Kuririn and this is Trunks and…"

"Come, come! You can tell me their names when we get inside. Why are we standing around here like statues? Follow me this way!" And so they did.

Far into the palace grounds, they made past the walls that separated the palace grounds from the rest of the city. Covered mostly by shadow except for the light that shined eerily out of the North Tower - the Elders' tower lay the palace. It was the bane of every of would-be conqueror that dared attack the capital city of Konatsu, Konpu. Many had tried but none could take the palace. It looked as if it had been carved from one stone. The walls were tall and stout; imperial archers patrolled the walls, their eyes missing nothing as they peered down onto the streets below. At the gate stood a dozen palace guards armed with golden blades that guarded the only entrance to the palace. The palace was virtually invincible, which no invading army could take. Outside the palace grounds, the capital city spread across the landscape, intertwined with other neighboring cities, as it would take, literally, days to cross.

When they reached inside the palace temple, voices of disbelief echoed from wall to wall. The ceiling was painted with the most beautiful and dynamic of figures and scenery, somehow reminiscent of Michael Angelo's Sixteenth Chapel. It seemed as though it told a story of the whole Konatsu history with strictly images. The internal structure looked like something out of a twisted fantasy novel. It's angular shapes and statues of saints and heroes, tainted glass mosaics of figures, told in a much fierce technique in perfection, the sheer beauty was almost un-natural. They all seemed like they were trying to tell an epic-a war or various wars perhaps.

"So Son Gokuu, we know what you've done but we hardly know who you even are, so tell me-where are you from?" Datcyde asked while walking to the royal throne room of the temple.

"Well it's a bit of a long story…" Gokuu was cut off again as music coming from the palace gardens echoed throughout the grandiose sized temple, and as soon as the reached the doors of the palace throne room, Datcyde turned to the Z-Senshi.

"Remember Lady Rezaa-sama is here. She is the Queen of all Konatsu. She isn't particularly fond of strangers, but in your case, she'll most indeed make an exception."

"Lady Rezaa?" Kuririn thought to himself.

Datcyde made passed the imperial gaurds and waved his hand and the opening of the doors soon followed. Gohan was somehow surprised, as he hypothesized that maybe these Konatsu use magic or retain telekinesis.

Datcyde spoke as he kneeled before his omnipotence. "Your majesty, Lady Rezaa-sama, I am here with the one named Son Gokuu and his companions."

Immediately, Gokuu and Gohan knelt down on one knee in unison. The rest followed suit.

"You may rise." The Queen said as they obeyed.

Trunks stared at the Queen and thought to himself how beautiful she was. It struck him quite odd of the length of her hair. Various large braids extended all the way towards the marble floor and one giant heap of purple hair rising then drooping down so far that one would think her hair wasn't genuine at all. Her skin had a very light complexion: almost as if she had no pigment at all. Her pupils were an auburn hue as well as the distinctly Konatsu marks around the top of her forehead as well as those elfin ears which all Konatsu-jin bared. A large red crystal glistened against the sunlight coming through the tainted windows. The crystal also served a purpose of keeping her cape together. Small children picked the cape up and followed her as she rose from her throne and walked towards Gokuu.

"Welcome to Konatsu, Son Gokuu," Lady Rezaa greeted with a distinctly Konatsu style of speech. She continued, "Your bestowed presence here brings honor to this holy temple of Njanai." Her voice cracked the shell of Konatsu instruments playing and her smile brought great comfort to all who dare glance at it.

"Arigato! Like-wise!" Gokuu thanked. Lady Rezaa chuckled at Gokuu's almost innocent expression.

"And these are your friends?"

"Yes! This is Uubu-kun my pupil and this is Gohan and Goten, which both are my sons. And this is Kuririn and finally Trunks, Tapion's friend too."

The Queen walked closer towards Gokuu and placed her soft as silk hand on Gokuu's cheek.

"Konatsu is in debt to you. What would you like in return?"

Gokuu paused and tried to gather his thoughts for a brief collective moment.

"Too be honest, I really don't want anything-that of course it's alright with you…" Gohan gulped fearing what the Queen might say or do, that is.

"But there's more, isn't there?" The Queen smiled.

"Yes. In our world, more so in the afterlife, there is something disruptive happening. A force is slowly taking over the afterlife. We came along with Tapion, to see maybe we could stop it here before it could progress to the state it is in now in the afterlife." Gohan beamed with a serious tone.

"My goodness. I had no idea. Well, I shall do everything in my power to help you and your friends," The Queen paused for a moment, smiled and declared, "But in the meantime, we shall show my people of what a hero really is. We shall celebrate you're return to us."

And the meeting with the Queen of Konatsu had adjourned. 

***

Silence, besides the cold, bleak emptiness that was of space, was about the only thing that was apparent when Terminus' ship had arrived into a timeline that he wasn't afraid to call his own. For a ship of its grandiose size, it sure moved quickly. It dwarfed any small planet it met as it pushed itself against the very fabric of space, like rippling water.

The shape shifter smiled as his eyes met with earth, one of the only planets left in the wake of the saiya-jin. But of course, the saiya-jin in this timeline had been virtually wiped out from the face of the universe. The mentally navigated ship moved in closer and closer toward the earth and Terminus' anticipation grew stronger and stronger with each passing moment of time.

As the shadows met with earth, it blocked the sun's ray's from ever reaching the southern side of the planet. The ship was far too large to just land on the planet, and so ship breached its movement and automatically cloaked itself from being detected. Terminus stroked his goatee once more before we would step on earth soil.

The soldier of death's touch was said to bring death almost immediate. If legend were correct, all life in the universe would cease to exist.

***

Piccolo's cape wavered silently with the slight hiss of the wind. His eyes were closed with a stern grimace. He considered himself to be one of the only warriors who even bothered to meditate. Whereas Gokuu or Vejiita would train beyond comprehension in one of those infernal gravity chambers, his meditation served him quite well. Sure he would split up into multiple Piccolos and start sparing with one another, but he always considered making his mind sharp as any finely sharpened serrated blade by simple clearing and focusing of the art.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. He couldn't help to think if something were to happen while everyone else was gone, those who stayed (including the earth) would be in dire jeopardy.

His grasp had tightened more that purple blood dripped from his punctured wounds and onto the ground far below him, forming a small pool. Then, within seconds all he could see were lifeless corpses covering the landscape and all of them deemed a familiar essence. Piccolo had always retained a sixth sense about things but never this.

His dark grimace grew with agitation revealing white fangs. The namek finally opened his eyes with the expression of sweaty, cold terror. He felt nothing inside his empty being, as if his soul had been brutally torn from within. Piccolo placed both hands on each side of his head with a painful grasp and scram with cold rage as his power increased drastically. A sudden urge of ki shot from Piccolo's palm rearranging the landscape with a few less hills in the process.

Absolutely nothing could have prepared him on what he would feel next. During his time on earth, he felt extreme levels of ki beyond comprehension. But the Namek had never sensed a ki like this. It wasn't at all just the power itself that caused the Namek to be left cold with terror; it was the feeling of absolute omni-presence.

"What is this…?" Piccolo asked himself. This inevitable feeling of doom was alien to him as it made his heart heavy with sorrow. Sure, he felt weary when the likes of Cell pulling out a kamehameha or a instantaneous movement right under their nose or Buu turning random people into various candy but this was very unlike him to sense a feeling--so concentrated with--fear.

He turned his head upwards toward the heavens and clenched his teeth with rage, growling. The Namek could feel his heart race rapidly like moving lightning. He then began to notice a shadow blanketing the landscape. In a matter of seconds, the light of day had quickly shifted to the darkness of night. Like a solar eclipse, obscuring every ray, which the sun shot, but only this time it was far too longer.

"Trrrhhh…whatever it is, its nothing like anything I previously felt…" Piccolo thought. His eyes grew narrow filled with both astonishment and the realization of something or someone possessed an infinite supply of power.

Piccolo levitated higher amongst the cumulous clouds and flew towards whatever that was obstructing any light from coming through. For all the Namek could see was the blackness of space from above the atmosphere. Piccolo looked down at the earth below him and morosely sighed. Whatever he was sensing, the rest of the Z-Senshi did not have the opportunity to do so.

The Namek warrior flew down below searching for that ominous feeling stabbing away at his hollow being.

***

The sound of cheering and celebration pierced Gokuu's and everyone else's ears as they paced behind Lady Rezaa. The two standing imperial guards opened various long, tall veils, which revealed an ocean of cheering figures.

"Now remember Son Gokuu, they are here to see you, the one who defeated Hildegarn. It seems as though you are not the only 'Legend of the Brave', according to the people." The queen eyed Tapion as they stepped outside on the huge terrace.

"Wave!" The Queen declared. And so Gokuu did. He stepped towards the ledge and saw thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people waiting to catch the glimpse of the savior they called Gokuu.

Tapion then joined Gokuu as they both waved in unison towards the mass sea of crowd as the two Legends of the Brave. Gokuu laughed and waved as enthusiastically as possible. After a few minutes of waving the Queen stepped forward between the two and raised her hand. The crowed became louder and louder as the Queen smiled. She then lowered her hand and the crowed became quieter and quieter with each inch her hand went down until there was utter silence. The Queen paused and declared something in Konatsu-ese, which made absolutely no sense to any of the Z-Senshi.

"Pssst…what's she saying?" Goten asked Datcyde.

"She simply is stating that it is an honor to have Son Gokuu, savior of Konatsu here." Datcyde immediately shifted back his attention to the queen's speech.

"There are so many people here. I wonder how large this planet really is." Trunks thought out loud.

"Who cares, all I know is that my stomach is aching for some nourishment." Goten whispered back.

"Hey look…" Trunks pointed out.

"What? What's she doing?" Goten asked. Gokuu had kneeled down with one leg up and the other down facing Lady Rezaa.

"The coronation has begun," Datcyde answered before Trunks could. They both answered back with an "Oh."

Two other figures walked towards Gokuu. They both seemed to be part of some religious clergy as one of them must have been a bishop or spiritual leader of some sort. The bishop (who which was Kalgan) mumbled something in Konatsuese and apparently must have said a blessing as he wiped some strange liquid on Gokuu's face-some weird religious custom that was, thought Gohan.

"Rise." The Queen declared.

"People of Konatsu-your new protector, Son Gokuu!"

The mob went of like a rocket with a deafening of millions of voices all cheering for one man.

The Queen shifted her attention to the figure with oddly shaped hair and began to talk with the most of serene tones, "So Son Gokuu, have you ever thought of joining my kingdom?" The Queen, out of nowhere asked while clinging on to Gokuu's arm.

"I'm not really sure about joining your kingdom…I can't really think on an empty stomach you know. Boy I'm starved! Do you have anything to eat?" Gokuu asked.

"Of, course. Come."

The celebration had officially begun.

***

The sky had gone an unusual mute golden hue, a color far too uncommon on earth, Kuririn noted. After the parade dedicated to Gokuu had ended, they entered the ghastly large dinning room and sat down to eat. Kuririn wasn't all for eating or partying. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the thought of his wife and family. After all, his wife had just given birth to a second daughter and keeping up with just one infant let alone two had left him all but weary. Although Marron wasn't much of a chore as was Mayone' (Kuririn didn't really like to consider his own daughter as such a term). He looked on as Gokuu and the others had scarfed themselves silly with such an abundance of food, it was hard to believe they were going to eat it all. But then again, his companions on this journey were mostly compromised of saiya-jin. Kami, he sure did miss Juuhachi-gou and his family.

"Hey Kuririn, why aren't you eating?" asked Gokuu with food stuffed in his mouth like a chipmunk.

"Eh, I'm not really up to eating Gokuu…" Kuririn trailed off while staring down at his plate with Kami knows what was on it.

"You know, since were the guests of honor, you might want to reconsider since its THEIR food were eating," Gohan emphasized.

"Are you finished with that?" Gokuu asked while chewing on some nameless, alien meat.

"Yeah go ahead, eat some…" Kuririn replied in a very solemn tone.

"So Son Gokuu, where did you say you came from? We never finished our conversation." Datcyde interrupted.

"Yes tell us. Your adventures, your experiences." The magistrate of Konatsu suggested.

Gokuu raised his head from stuffing his face with Konatsu food. "Um…" Gokuu swallowed and continued, "Well you see I'm not really from planet earth."

"Really?" Datcyde asked pretending to be interested while raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah…I come from a planet called Vegetasei. I was born as Kakarotto and was sent to earth as an infant…"

"Why?" Datcyde asked. Damn, this guy had an annoying habit of suddenly interrupting people.

"…I was sent to earth to kill its inhabitants. Clear all life so that the *munch* saiya-jin could sell the dead planet to the highest bidder." Gokuu's tone suddenly changed to a lot more dryly than usual.

A rather uncomfortable silence swept the dinning hall. The former savior they saw had suddenly turned into a mad, bloodthirsty warrior--at least in Datcyde's eyes. The Queen had managed to find an imperturbable expression as Tapion and Minoshia were taken suddenly aback. Datcyde had a look of no surprise at all.

"Saiya-jin? Is that your race, Son Gokuu?" The Queen asked.

"Uh, yeah…but unfortunately they were wiped out by Freeza." Datcyde then became genuinely interested as he sat on the edge of his chair.

"Freeza…that name…it sounds strangely familiar…" Datcyde contemplated.

"The changelings." The sovereign ruler muttered. Gokuu and Gohan looked rather surprised.

"You know about them…about Freeza? But how is that possible? When comparing your time to our time, its almost a millennia." Gohan debated with a puzzled expression.

"They once tried to conquer our world and almost did…but they were somehow defeated by X'lembar, a much-revered hero to the point of legend-like you Son Gokuu. Are they more advanced in your time?" Datcyde asked.

"Yeah…" Gohan replied, still looking a little puzzled, "but the only ones we fought against were Freeza, Coola and their father, King Cold-well maybe not really King Cold…but how could they travel to your planet? Does space technology exist already?"

"Space technology? To an extent, yes…although the use of magic is used in the ships, but we rarely use them. Only in emergences." Datcyde raised an eyebrow again.

"Interesting…I gather you and your father have fought valiantly against many enemies, is that correct?" The Queen asked.

"Yeah! But how did you know?"

"It seems to me that fighting makes you stronger and you certainly seem like the type who has enough power to destroy an entire planet." The Queen pointed out.

Gohan and Gokuu were very surprised by the Queen's hypothesis of them and the rest of their merry little band as to be accurate-quite accurate as it was frightening.

Tapion remand silent throughout the whole conversation and dared not to interrupt the queen. He looked at Minoshia who looked EXTREMELY bored and whispered, "After this, do you want to spar? And maybe we can teach Trunks a thing or two."

"Hai…" Minoshia whispered back with a smile.

"So why didn't you carry out your mission?" The queen asked.

"Well you see I hit my head when I was still an infant and it changed me somehow that I didn't remember my mission. An old man named Gohan found me still in my space pod and adopted me and raised me like his own blood. Then that's when he died and I had to defend for myself all those years-later I meet a girl named Bulma and…" Indeed Gokuu was definitely on a roll on telling his life story.

"Then we competed in the Tenkaichi Budoukai…"

"Then we tried to find the dragon balls…"

"…Fought long and hard against the Red Ribbon army…"

"…The demon king Daimaou. I had to fight him and his son Piccolo…"

"…Vejiita then had turned Oozaru. Boy were we in trouble…"

"…I had made it just in time to help my friends on Namek…"

"…It was then I contracted a heart disease…it wasn't before long Gohan transformed and long last defeated Cell…"

"…Majin Buu had completely destroyed the earth…"

It was pretty hard to get Gokuu from detouring from his own personal account. The Queen seemed to hang on every word Gokuu found himself saying.

"Well that's about it…would you like to know anything else?"

"Are you interested in fighting competitions?" The Queen asked, already expecting a certain reply.

"Yeah! I'd love to join one!"

"Tomorrow we will have the games held at the royal coliseum. Your friends are all welcome to join but I doubt many of Konatsu's warriors will be much of a challenge to you, Son Gokuu."

"I'd be honored!"

"Then it's settled. When the twin gods arise, everyone shall follow."

Goten then let out a belch, which caught each attendee's undivided attention. His face had become ripe as a tomato as Trunks held his laughter tight lid.

"Excuse me…I think I'll go now…"

***

The honorary dinner had ended and Tapion invited Trunks to come along with him to the fighting grounds. The twin suns were barely visible and the night air had already set in with a heavy dampness, but that didn't stop them from catching up on old times as they walked through the palace grounds.

"Wow its hard to believe I'm actually here on your home planet, brother." Tapion did not answer and kept silent.

"What's wrong?" Trunks asked.

"Oh its nothing…"

"Was it Gokuu the one making you sick from his rapid eating parade?"

"Oh! Ha, ha…no, it's not that. I have be---"

"Tapion! Where do you think your going?" Datcyde spontaneously asked.

"Datcyde. We were just going to the fighting grounds."

"At this hour? You seem to be forgetting the gladiator games are tomorrow and besides the Queen wants to see you right away."

Tapion let out a sigh and responded, "Alright then. Trunks---goodnight. I will see you at daylight."

"Uh, see ya big brother." Trunks replied.

After Tapion followed Datcyde inside the palace, there was an eerie calmness in the air and Trunks shuttered with a slight chill. Goten then appeared out of nowhere, "Hey…psst, Trunks. What happened?"

"The Queen wanted to see him."

"Oh. Hey why don't you talk to Minoshia?"

"What for…?"

"Look, he's right up there!" Goten pointed out. Minoshia was perched on the edge of the large balcony and apparently was staring in an almost hypnotized fashion toward the stars.

"Wha…?"

"C'mon…just go!" Goten tried pushing Trunks toward the fortress like palace and said again, "Just go!"

"Ok fine. It's not like I'm shy or anything. I need my space, you know?"

Goten rolled his eyes. "Just get your ass up there! What are you so worried about?"

"Hey screw you!" Trunks flipped Goten a birdie and walked towards the upper levels of the palace.

***

Gohan lay back on his bedpost and began reading a rather large book of ancient runes amongst hundreds of scrolls. He scratched his head for a few minutes trying to figure out what all of these symbols meant-after all they were in Konatsuese. But Gohan felt it was a challenge to try to make sense of a language long dead in his time. When translating these symbols or figures, he discovered, translated into a language somewhat similar to Latin.

Gohan got up from the bed and reached over to find a palm communicator. He pressed a button and called, "Hey, anyone there? Bulma, Videl, Dr. Briefs? Hello…"

A dog like voice came from the other side of the communicator. Gohan raised an eyebrow and spoke, "Bee? What are you doing there?"

"Ruff!"

"Hey Bee, get Bulma! Go on!" Bee barked a couple more times and disappeared from the small, hand sized screen.

"Bee? Bee…hello…" Gohan sighed and waited for a few moments and tapped his finger more than enough times.

"Gohan…? Are you there?" called a distant voice.

"Yeah but I can't see you…there's a lot of interference. I can't see anything…" repeated Gohan.

"Go…me…Bulm…" Gohan sighed again. He took the communicator and checked its transmitter.

"Well we are in a different past era on another planet…" Gohan reasoned to himself.

"Gohan, Gohan…are you there?" Then Bulma's face made its first appearance on the communicator.

"Bulma! What's going on?" A small wave a static distorted Bulma's face to a point of extreme obscurity.

"Gohan, it's so different without you guys. How's everyone on Konatsu?"

"Oh were fine. It turns out dad is much of a celebrated figure around these parts. They even gave him a parade and coronation."

"Wow, must be real entertaining there. What's Konatsu like? Oh and what's happening there in the afterlife?"

"I'm not sure what's going on quite actually with the afterlife. I'm not even sure this dimension has the same afterlife laws that we do…As for Konatsu, it almost seems like were on earth still. The gravity here seems normal although the air pressure is a little heavier. Just make the sky blue and there you have it-earth. I still haven't seen any animal life native to this planet, except for maybe some aerial type creatures flying around," Gohan yawned and continued, "I've also had the leisure to discover about Konatsu literature. When you translate their symbols into a language that uses letters used on earth, it literally translates into something close to Latin. It's so similar yet so different, it's hard to explain. The symbols or whatever their called here seem to tell a story or maybe even a prophecy. Some of the wording seems so alien and different yet so frighteningly familiar, and they even seem to have their own version of a soliloquy. Interesting stuff-But what's even more strange is that when we first landed on Konatsu, we were greeted exactly the place we were going to be. There's no way they could have predicted that…"

Bulma looking like she hadn't slept for ages spoke, "I've also made a few discoveries on my own…"

"Like what?" Gohan asked.

"Well the seismograph is getting weird on me…"

"Seismograph?"

"It went off the charts! I don't get it either. There's no visible sign of an earthquake yet it broke just a few minutes ago due to the over heating." Then Bulma unexpectedly began to chuckle.

"What's so funny? I'm really trying to see what's so humorous…"

"I never would've expected you to become a brain but I guess you proved me wrong, Gohan."

"Well that's what happens when your childhood consists of either (a) Being forced to study with every waking moment by your mother when your not training or fighting any bad guy or (b) Never actually watching any television as a child." Bulma chuckled a bit and sneezed.

"I think I'm coming down with a cold. *Sniff* Plus Vegeta's been acting rather strange lately." Bulma changing the subject.

"How so?"

"Well whenever he trains in the gravity room, the only thing I hear is constant powering up."

"Well that's what you do to get stronger, fighting wise…"

"No I mean, he never stops. He's been doing this ever since you guys left." Another wave of static interrupted Bulma.

"Well maybe he's trying to see how strong he really is." Gohan suggested.

"I think he would know by now how strong he really is. Oh and by the way, how's Trunks?"

"He's fine. I think he's with Tapion from the last time I saw him."

"Oh that's g-" It was amazing how a signal had managed to cross from one time period to another, even WITH all the static. But apparently, that signal was no more.

"Bulma…Bulma! Hello, hello?" Gohan sighed once more. He turned off the communicator and resumed his Konatsu reading and then slept like the dead.

***

Trunks walked along the palace grounds kicking about a stray piece of broken marble of the floor and sighed.

Here he was, on another planet, in another galaxy, in another dimension, one thousand years in the past and yet he still managed to sigh with a hint of uneasiness and boredom. In his mind, he rehearsed things to say to Minoshia as he walked. It was all Goten's idea. He wasn't really in the mood to socialize with people he hardly knew. But yet that nagging voice in his head kept him from doing anything else until something caught his attention.

There-from the corner of his eye, he glanced towards some moving figures, riding upon some bizarre mammal type beasts. They waited briefly to enter the palace grounds as the gate rose. As soon as Trunks blinked they were gone.

"That's Domu." Trunks quickly turned his head to see Minoshia, eye to eye.

"Who…?" Minoshia walked closer with a stern grimace and spoke, "Domu is the Queen's brother."

"The Queen has a brother?"

"Hai…strange…"

"Strange? What's so strange?"

"He's back early from his raids from the badlands."

"Why are there raids?"

Minoshia breathed in and spoke, "He believes that the inhabitants there somehow threaten the Konatsu Empire. He has been gone for almost a year…and now he's finally returned."

Trunks scratched his head and replied, "Does the Queen know about this?"

"…Yes."

An uncomfortable silence swept both as the twin moon's light touched upon their figures. A small beetle like insect, spouting ridiculously large silky wings gently landed on the ledge besides Trunks. Barely similar to a firefly, greens, reds, blues and magentas shown brilliantly from its rear as Trunks stared with an empty yet amazed expression. A few moments went by with much socialization--to break that silence, Trunks attempted to murmur something but hesitated. Trunks felt like he was tongue-tied.

"Wha…What ever happened to the black magicians?"

"When Tapion came back, he drove out the magicians with the help of Domu and the others. A battle ensued between the rival forces, but was quickly ended, with many of the black magicians being killed as well as their ancient relics. Very few escaped."

Minoshia walked towards the ledge of the balcony and surveyed the various brightly colored lights emanating from the city and spoke, "After Hildegarn laid to waste most of the cities, the Queen ordered that the cities be rebuilt into anew,"

"And that's when Bulma and the others wished that everyone who were killed by Hildegarn and Hoi to be wished back to life with the dragon balls." Trunks added.

Trunks then decided to sit on the edge of the large terrace and glanced down towards the moat below, staring at the reflections of darkened sky above.

"Thank you." Minoshia smiled peacefully.

"…For what?" Trunks blinked.

"For saving my kingdom and me and my brother."

"But I didn't really kill Hildegarn. Son-kun was the one…"

"I think you had something to do with the vanquishing of the demon. After all you're power even goes beyond any Konatsu warrior."

Minoshia had no idea.

"Is it true when Son Gokuu-sama's hair turns gold, his power rises?"

"Well-yeah. All saiya-jin who train hard enough can do it. You have to have at least partial saiya-jin blood as well as a pure heart to go super saiya-jin."

"Can you become super saiya-jin?" timidly asked Minoshia.

"Yup. I happen to be the son of the prince of the saiya-jin, you know." Trunks declared in an almost boastful tone of voice. He couldn't believe he said that.

"Can you show me?"

"…I'm not too sure it's appropriate to do so…even at this hour. I really don't want to cause a false alarm."

"Please?" Minoshia asked again.

With some hesitance, Trunks gracefully flipped and landed gently on the floor of the terrace and assumed an intimidating fighting stance to maybe even somehow impress the Konatsu youth. Trunks ki immediately transcended beyond any expectation. His eyes became a temperate green as his hair and brilliant aura changed radically into a bright golden spectacle of sheer power.

"There." Trunks grinned thinly, frowning with pride. Minoshia's pupils suddenly became larger as he watched the young super saiya-jin with both excitement and uncertainty fluttering in his chest like a trapped bird.

"Wow! That's incredible!" The Konatsu youth gasped. He could feel Trunks' power radiate the surrounding area with his aura alone.

Trunks smiled. "I bet you could become as powerful."

"Really? That's incredible!" Minoshia gasped. It was then Minoshia gained an expression of determination. He looked as if he could take on the entire universe.

"But when I do, do you promise to fight with me, one on one?"

Trunks was slightly taken aback by Minoshia's odd request. He sounded like a saiya-jin, eagerly anticipating the moment when he faces an opponent far greater than his/her destiny.

"All right then, when the time is right, we'll fight to see who is the strongest." Trunks answered with affirmation in his voice. He soon reverted back to his normal state and shook hands with a mirror self elfin version of himself.

In unison, they both declared, "Yes!"

***

The ship landed in a medley of noises. There was the far off hiss of the atmosphere cutting and sliding past the alien metal of the ship. There was the steady drone of the conditioners fighting the heat of friction, and the slower rumble of the engines enforcing declaration. The birds bickering had disappeared along with them, when they had all flew away from the ship's landing disposition. Moments before it had landed, the landing ship had departed from its mother ship and fell towards the earth at a fantastic rate and once it had reached the atmosphere of the planet it speed up extremely fast. At the last second, right when it would supposedly crash, it had stopped in mid-air and then descended softly toward the ground.

The sunlight deflected off of the metal of the vessel; blinding anyone whose eyes would set upon it.

The main hatch quickly opened without reason. /Destination has been reached/ It said from within /Environment has been stabilized/

A figure detached itself from anonymity and stopped from the drafty hatch as vapor flew out from within. The figure in a glaring black armor checked the conditions of this particular planet. In an instant, the ship's engines had suspended into submission and automatically cloaked itself. The figure pressed a small button attached to his left temple and quickly; it converted into a horizon scanner like device.

It measured the density of the surface's gravity. The air seemed a little thinner here, the gravity a bit less great, than the previous planets he had visited, he noted.

Terminus walked toward the ledge of the hilly plateau and surveyed the landscape.

"/Civilization here seems to be more apparent then what I had expected. /"

He levitated mid air to see the boisterous city below and sensed out all of the inhabitants.

"/Jinta…/" He muttered.

Before he could mutter or think any other random thought, a wave of blinding light had suffused over his body, so no one could sense him, in the least. He flew across the clear, cloudless sky, toward the vast city below.

A dark streak emitted from the soldier of death, casting a terrible shroud of doubt over the future.

* * *