Disclaimer: All DBZ characters copyright of Akira Toriyama.                   But the female apparition character is 'copyright' to me :P heh Chapter Four

"Grrraaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!" Trunks' battle cry vibrated through their home's shaky walls. Bulma gritted her teeth as Trunks continued to vent his temper in the training capsule. Her coffee cup bounced with every blast and plaster fell into her hair. She tried to compose herself and work on fixing the helicopter, but it was getting too much. "That's it!" She threw her ratchet on the floor and stormed up to the capsule. Through the small circular window she could see his fury and she banged harshly upon the door to let him know she was entering. Trunks stopped and fell to his knees, panting with exhaustion, sweat running onto the floor. The gravity inside the capsule normalised and the door opened with a hiss. "I've had just about as much as I can take of this Trunks Brief! I never tolerated this from your father, and I sure as hell am not gonna tolerate it from you too!" With his head still hanging down from exhaustion he shot a sharp angry glare at his mother, then the expression was promptly lost and despair filled his face again. Ashamed at his behaviour he wiped his hand across his face in an effort to remove the gathering sweat. Bulma strode over to the shelf on the side, picked up a towel and flung it at him. He made no attempt to catch it and allowed it to strike him in the face. He then proceeded to wipe himself down, the towel sticking to his damp bare flesh. His mother was still glaring at him. "What?" he pleaded with agitation.

She knew she couldn't stay angry with him. Defeated her arms unfolded and she knelt beside him, brushing lose strands of damp hair from his eyes. "You know, I still prefer you with short hair, but it your choice to have it long…" she smiled. He didn't return the smile but remained looking at the floor. He rose to his feet and went to look out of one of the small windows. "Its not fair mother…" he restrained his Saiyajin anger and clenched his fists. "Look at it, our new world." He gestured towards the window, "we've spent most of our lives in fear, seen un-due death take our friends and family. How much more do we have to sacrifice to stop the fight?" he turned and looked at her pleadingly. She had no answers for him and he didn't expect any. Trunks lowered his gaze and continued, "I thought it was over…talk about being naive. I've spent every second of my life till now living in a world of fear. I had built up so much anger that I didn't know what to do with it. I put myself through a lot just to defeat Cell and bring back knowledge of how to defeat the artificial humans. I have seen more death and I have even been dead…" he absently scratched the back of his neck then tightened his pony tail. Bulma could see the tears threatening to form in his eyes and her tears followed. "...To save our world I put us both through emotional hell! You not knowing if I would return to you, and I having to see all those faces long gone to me. But in the end it was worth it. I came back. I defeated the artificial humans in this time and I stopped Cell before he could begin his transformations…and then it was over." A smile managed to break through his dark demeanour. "We have begun to rebuild our world, to have our own lives. It was done. Or so I thought until all this death has started up again…Don't we deserve happiness? After all we and the others have done for this world, after all we have suffered?"

"One thing I have learned through my life Trunks, is that there is always something else out there. Something more corrupt than what we had to face the time before it. But the way to beat it is to not let it get to you…that's how it wins"

"And how do I fight this one? I don't know what it is. I can't find it! Throughout the past week there have been reports of the world being terrorised again. People too frightened to even speak about what they saw. I feel it's energy growing with every passing night, and every night I try to find it…but I can't track it. It has no singular energy. It's dissipated throughout the world and…I can't get at it."

Bulma approached Trunks and put her arms around her son. "We'll find it son. That's what we do. Just don't keep beating yourself up about it. I don't want to lose you, physically or mentally."

The night was the same as every other. Trunks couldn't remember when he had last slept a full night. Every day more and more people were being found terrorised but they were so far gone into their fear that they couldn't say what had taken place. The fact only a few people had been killed Trunks found odd. Following the pattern of the past villains they had stood up against (most of which he had heard through stories from his mother and Gohan), they had pretty much been on a kill/destroy agenda, but this new enemy was different and that disturbed him. There were no screams tonight, which he found both a blessing and a curse. He was happy that no one near was being hurt, but if someone was then he could fly there and try to see what the 'evil' was – have his chance to try to stop it. He rolled over and pulled his bed-sheet close to his chest.

Another hour without sleep passed. Trunks climbed out of bed and walked to the window to get some air. The city was very quiet and the breeze that came into the room was warm. He could sense his mother in the next room. She was safe and that was important to him. Whilst stretching he ran his hand through his messy hair then yawned. His watch said 3:20am. I need to get some rest one of these nights. He knew he couldn't go on like this. Closing his eyes he felt calm as the warm breeze blew over his face, but then it turned cold. Really cold. He started to shiver and retreated from the window, closing it quickly. It was then he realised that the cold was not from outside, but inside his room. His flesh spawned Goosebumps and his body began to feel a cold unlike any other. Trunks fell to his knees shivering without control as the painful cold took him. Still facing the window he felt blind against the attack as he tried to regulate his breathing. He could hear a faint wailing and see a light pulsing from behind him…He wanted to turn his head and look into his room, but he was now almost completely paralysed with cold. The wail became gradually louder; it was female and sounded distressed. As suddenly as the cold had come now he felt warmth begin to flow across his skin. Feeling entered his limbs, burning and tingling at first. He attempted to stand then he heard a cry. With his body working again he spun around on the floor to face his room and whatever had entered. Before him a ghost female broke free from a void and he yelled in fright. Quickly scrambling to his feet he prepared a ki blast in his right hand and raised it to fire.

She looked directly at him, her face full of despair and panic. "Help us! Please!"

Trunks looked at her. Her face was transparent but he could see she was beautiful. Dumbstruck with awe he watched as her ghostly hand reached out to him, "It will take us all! The dead and the living…you tried to save us once, you can't fail us again! Please!?" Trunks lowered his hand, the ki blast dissipating, and started to cautiously walk towards her. Suddenly the ghostly woman flustered in panic unnerving Trunks causing him to jump. "It's coming for me, I have to leave! I will try to return…" The cold air returned, though less than before, as she left. Without the sound of the woman there he then realised his mother was banging at the door. "Trunks! Trunks! Are you alright?" He ran over and unlocked the door. "Yeah…I think...I don't know what just happened…."

"I heard your scream. The door was locked, I couldn't get in. what happened?"

How am I going to explain this one when I'm not quite sure myself of what happened? And 'scream' hell yeah! I almost shit my bed shorts when I saw that…

"I'm not sure how to explain it…it was…a ghost I think?"

"A ghost?" Bulma shot him a quizzical glance, "Well…what did it want?"

"I don't know…she said some things…she wanted help but we were interrupted. She was being attacked…or chased. One of the two."

They both sat upon the bed. Bulma flicked on the lamp. Trunks was still trying to take it all in, his brow showed his deep concentration as he tried to make sense of his three minute encounter with the apparition. "She said 'it will take us all, the living and the dead' and she was in a terrible panic. But one thing that I do know is that her energy felt very similar to the energy I've been feeling lately…"

"So do you think she is the cause of the new attacks?"

"For some reason I don't think she is, but she is certainly connected. She said she would try to return so maybe next time I can get some answers…if she doesn't scare me half to death again…"

"Well I certainly don't feel like sleeping now, do you?"

 Trunks smirked and replied, "Not really…that kind of really work me up"

"Well let's go downstairs and grab some food. Maybe we can figure something out about this whole situation…" Trunks stomach let out a typically Saiyajin answer to the question of food. He giggled, "I guess something to eat would be good"