In the Eyes of a Child

Chapter Seventeen - A Trunks Invasion

A groan escaped the lips of the warrior from the future as he trudged behind his friend who had grown up after seven long years, for he was being followed by a raven-haired beauty who continued to examine his hair and say that it was lovely. "Gohan," Mirai Trunks began with a scowl, "who in the world is this girl?!"

"My girlfriend," the other demi-saiyajin replied, and before the other could gape at her condition, he quickly added, "got into a car accident and is now suffering of regression. You don't wanna know what else transpired ever since that time." He then came to a halt, Trunks and Videl bumping right into their backs. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what, Gohan-kun?" she asked, still fidgeting with Trunks' hair.

"Footsteps. Lots of footsteps," Gohan identified, then suddenly, his raven eyes widened in terror. Not only did he hear lots of footsteps, he heard more and more, and they were obviously on a dead run, in a stampede. Paling, he turned to their guest and said, "Trunks, I think your fan club has finally realized that we've escaped. Any suggestions, buddy?"

Those words made the older of the demi-saiyajins pale considerably, his sapphire orbs widening as well as the sound of the stampeding fangirls was picked up by his sensitive ears. "Uh-oh, and I mean uh-oh!" he exclaimed, panicking. That was when he grabbed Gohan by the back of his shirt, Videl by the back of hers as well, and he took off with them to the cerulean sky. "Gotta fly!"

However, the regressed young woman began to wriggle and giggle in excitement. "WOW! THIS IS SO COOL! I'M FLOATING! I'M FLEETING! I'M FLYING! WE'RE FLYING!" she shrieked happily, overjoyed by the gust of wind that streaked fiercely past her face, whipping her hair in all directions. "WE'RE FLYING! WE'RE FLYING! THIS FEELS LIKE MAGIC!"

It was then when she saw how Trunks' hair was blown away by the wind, and how his hair gleamed against the bright rays of light given off by the sun, and sparkles appeared randomly in her eyes. She sighed dreamily as she reached out for his lovely locks of purple hair, eager to get a hold and tug them once again. "I loooooooooooooooooooooove you sooooooooooooo much, Trunks-kun! I loooooooooooove your lovely purple haiiiiiiiiiir!"

Gohan could only sigh as the crowd of Trunks fangirls screamed and shrieked for him to get down and for Videl to get off him. With the Mirai warrior around, there was more trouble than ever, and there was no telling when he would be able to get back. "I think I should tell your Mom that you're here..." he offered, hoping to be able to do something to make things a little better. At least, for himself.

The youngest member of the alien invaders emerged from his room all loaded with weapons. The scientist's robe that he was wearing was stuffed not only with firearms, but also with sharp objects that could be of use in their invasion attempt. And strapped on his back was a large bazooka, loaded and ready to hit heads as well as neighboring body parts.

"Very good, my son," the evil warlord who led the entire group praised with a smirk, his raven eyes fixed on the viewscreen that stated the condition of the spies they sent down. "I knew those two would fail. They disgust me. Eliminate them as soon as we get there."

"Oh Great One, if I may interrupt..." the robe-clad priest interrupted, stepping into the deck through a duck and nearly toppling down because of his gravity-defying hair that nearly smashed across the doorway, "I believe the gods condemned them to that dilemna because of the disgusting act they are exhibiting. The gods never favored the color purple, yet there they are, not only sporting abominable color on their heads, but also on their body."

"They disgust me as much as they disgust the gods," the Great One snapped, cutting his adviser completely. He had no time for such advises and witty remarks; they had to descend before they would be discovered. Whirling around, he turned to see his son, but his eyes narrowed drastically as he found that his older son was missing. "Where is your brother?"

The scientist smiled, revealing his teeth in a mischievous manner. "He will be here soon, father. He thinks he's a dog, but I've set the bait to lure him in." He lifted a fat bone. "I will feed him with this once we arrive on the surface, to confront the saiyajins. This will induce a feeding frenzy inside his body that his metabolism will submit to that maniacal excitement and eliminate unnecessary emotions like fear."

A howl suddenly tore from the far end of the deck, and the door crashed open, revealing a handsome yet dirty-looking young man who was down on all fours. He sniffed the air, scenting something suspicious yet undeniably palatable, and charged for the armed scientist like mad. He was only a meter away when a dart shot from out of nowhere, hit him on the chest, and made him slump to the floor, unusually calm.

"Tranquilizer," the scientist explained before he took out a chain from the pocket of his robes and wrapped it around his brother's neck. He then pulled his sibling towards his father, and their superior. "We are ready, father. Let us leave before those blockheads cause any more trouble --- please, please, no more of those chants and your rif-raf, Holy One."

The priest, who had opened his mouth to wish them the blessings of the gods, shut it instead and backed away, clutching the precious pile of parchments closer to him. He wanted to accuse his superior's son of heresy, but he knew that it would only delay their mission that had been planned out by the gods, and the blame would fall on his shoulders. He did not want to take something such as that into his own self.

Instead, he stepped aside, and allowed the trio to take the path that lead to their ball-shaped spaceship that had seven glowing stars engraved on its hull. However, the warlord stopped in his tracks as soon as he was two meters away from the muscular friar. "Holy One? Aren't you going to come with us, and curse those saiyajins for their ridiculous satire in the name of the gods? It's not like you to just stay out of missions such as this."

"Yes, Great One," the priest replied almost hesitantly, before he sprinted off after the others. He did not want to descend in the first place, as he was afraid that he would not be able to fight back when the battle would begin, and that would rob him of an honorable death, but he was left with no choice. He'd rather face the saiyajins, than face the wrath of his superior, who was capable of shaming him through their race's history.

Their hunger getting to them, Vegeta and his apprentices Trunks and Goten headed towards the cafeteria of Orange Star High School. The eldest member of the saiyajin trio was the Principal of the said establishment, after all, and he had all the right to get whatever food that he wanted --- and at whatever amount.

"I want candy, Vegeta-san!" Kakkarot's clone chirped from beside him.

"Cake for me, Otousan!"

"Brats," the Prince began, not even sparing at glance at his subordinates as he continued to walk with pride towards the cafeteria, "for the successful implementation of the first two steps of our mission, you can have all the candy and cake that you want for half an hour. If all goes well, I shall allow you to eat everything else in that lousy cafeteria."

Excited and hyper beyond belief at the Saiyajin no Ouji's offer, the Troublemaking Duo scurried off, running and fying and floating without much thought, leaving their mastermind behind. Vegeta, however, did not mind at all. The brats only wanted the cake and candy; he had everything else for himself.

He was still deep in his thoughts about all the food that he could eat --- compared to the water and crackers his mate was giving him ever since their cover was blown in the kidnapping incident --- when the boys' terrified yells snapped the thought bubble he was trapped in. Eyes narrowing dangerously, Vegeta hurried off to where he believed the sound came from...

... and found two other Trunkses posing in front of him, the boys, and the third-class baka Kakkarot, in the same ridiculous fashion the Great Saiyaman was known for. He thought it was only his sons, but when he saw a short, purple-haired figure latch itself on his spiky-haired best friend and a tall, purple-haired figure stop short from his flight through the air (followed by a hoarde of fangirls, of course, who all fainted at the sight of another purple-haired wonder), all his speculations disappeared into thin air.

"What is going on here?" Gohan managed to croak from his spot up in the air as he carried an unconscious Videl, who once again fainted at the sight of the second Mirai Trunks. There was so much surprise and confusion in his dark eyes.

The Mirai Trunks clone coughed, as if in interruption, then nodded to his companion, signalling that they begin their routine once again. Feeling loved that there were so many people watching them, they went through their introduction all over again, draining the color on the faces of the real Trunkses, and making Goten tremble in fright. True, he loved Pokemon, but the sight of two other Trunkses was enough to terrify the poor child.

Goku, on the other hand, burst into a fit of applause, jumping up and down as he did so. "That was marvelous! Again, again!" he chanted, making the Saiyajin no Ouji slap himself on the forehead dramatically.

"It's official. I. Am. Doomed," Mirai Trunks muttered, accepting the fact that it was the end of the world --- specifically, the end of his world. He buried his head in his hands, not wanting to see the clones that made him and his Chibi counterpart look even more stupid than the Great Saiyaman.

A sigh escaped Gohan's lips as he turned towards his friend and flew to his direction. Patting the purple-haired demi-saiyajin's shoulder in hopes to make him feel better, he remarked in an assuring tone, "You've always been doomed, Trunks. You've always been doomed."

"And that is supposed to make me feel better?!"

"Well, it's always good to know that someone else knows that you're doomed," Gohan replied in an assuring tone once again, but this time with a crooked grin, before he shrugged, as if noticing for the first time how worked up his visiting friend was. "Hey, why the long face, buddy? It's a Trunks invasion and you're upset. Cheer up!"

"Sometimes, Gohan, you're as thick-headed as your father..." the purple-haired demi-saiyajin muttered to himself in annoyance. However, the teenager heard his name, so he asked the Mirai warrior to repeat what he said, which made Trunks annoyed even more. "I said," he began with much exasperation, "that this is going to be one horrible day, Gohan. Now, can somebody please tell me what is going on here?!"