Chapter four - Interrupted Date

Shin paced about on the surface of his planet as he awaited the arrival of the five Grand Kai's he'd summoned. He turned as a man appeared behind him, Duro, the Grand Kai from Trunks's universe. A moment later a young woman with blue skin, waist length silver-blue hair, and emerald green eyes. "Rain, glad you could make it." he said with a nod. She returned it as the next Grand Kai arrived. He was a tall man, a few inches taller than Kibeto. His skin was a deep green that was about four shades darker than Piccolo's, his eyes were golden and he was bald. "Nakor."

"Hello Shin, sir. It's nice to finally see you again. Kibeto."

It was a moment later the last two Grand Kai's arrived. Grova was first. She was about the same height as Shin and had the same skin tone. Her eyes were a dark red and her shoulder length hair was a deep blue. A few seconds later Ragar arrived. He was a head taller than Shin, had light orange skin, light blue eyes, and a pitch black Mohawk.

"Welcome everyone." Shin said spreading his arms in welcome. "I wish we were gathering under better circumstances."

"What is the problem?" Nakor asked in a deep baritone. "You said it was a threat as great as Majin Buu?"

Shin nodded. "Possibly worse I'm afraid. The trouble is coming from Kibeto's universe, the planet Earth. It may become nothing, there's a mortal there from Duro's universe who may be able to handle the situation, and several others who I can send to his aid should it be needed."

"Wait." Grova said raising a hand. "How could a mortal possibly defeat something as strong or stronger than Majin Buu?"

Shin nodded and turned. "Duro, would you please?"

The only human looking Kai present nodded. "These people are from my universe, they are called Sai-jins. These Sai-jins are all stronger than I am." The other Kai's looked at each other in shock, this had never happened before. Mortals just didn't get that strong.

It was Shin who spoke next. "It's not just Duro that they have surpassed, but all of you as well. In fact, there is one of them who is stronger than I."

Even Kibeto reacted to this with disbelief. Only Duro was un-phased as he already knew this. "But sir, that's... that can't be." Kibeto said in shock.

"It is. The Sai-jin who calls himself Goku has gone beyond even my power and the others are all close. Unfortunately Goku is dead, it is Trunks who is in Kibeto's universe. He is still stronger than all of you but he is the weakest of them for the time being." Shin turned and looked out into the horizon. "Have a look at them yourself later," he said indicating which way they should look. "But first, we must discuss the possibility of Fusion."

"The Supreme Kai is right." Kibeto said. "If these mortals fail then the six of us must fuse, we need only decide who pairs with who."

Shin shook his head. "No, not all six of you. Duro will remain as he is, I've already decided who shall be fused with who."

Gloria's Mansion

Herman had gazed about the room in awe when he'd first entered. The room was a lab with several thousand dollars of equipment inside. Gloria effectively had an entire genetics lab in her house. When asked about it she explained she worked with a group that studied Kahn's creations. The lab had been made in the hopes of finding a way to defeat his overpowered monsters. Now it was being used to produce the Serum they wanted to make.

They'd spent the past few hours working out possible formulas to break down the proteins. The problem that faced them was just how strong should the Serum be? If it was too weak it wouldn't induce a new transformation, if it were too strong... Well, they weren't sure what kind of problems that might cause. They'd finally found what they hoped was a good middle and had set to gathering the ingredients.

"So, how long do you think this will take?" Herman asked sifting through chemicals looking for what he wanted.

"To synthesize it? I'm not really sure. Something this complex will problem take several days at the least. No more than two weeks I hope."

Herman nodded as he picked up a vial. "Here it is." Handing it over to her he looked over the list of chemicals needed. "So, what kind of method should we use to give this to him?"

"The quickest way would be by injection, shouldn't take more than sixty seconds that way. Anything else could take hours or days to work." Gloria glanced over at the clock and smiled. /8:02, Trunks should be on his date by now./ She jumped as the phone rang. She ran over quickly and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Gloria?"

"David! You're okay! I thought something happened, where have you been the past month?"

"Hiding. Kahn's people almost found me after we summoned Ryuu. I just managed to ditch them, they were called back to the base. Seems it's happened."

Gloria stood in silence for a moment. Then she quickly filled him in on what had happened over the past month.

Halley's House

"Sorry we were late, miss." James said stepping out of the drivers door of the limo. In the back Trunks sunk even deeper into his seat as his face turned red. He'd tried to talk James out of taking the long black limo but the man had insisted. Now he was embarrassed beyond belief and the conversation outside wasn't helping. And neither was the tux he had on.

"Morgan will be out in a minute." Halley said from the doorway. "She's running behind a little too, nerves I think."

"Understandable." James said with a small nod. A moment later Morgan finally appeared. "Why, miss Woods, don't you look stunning?" he said reaching out a hand to help her down the steps. She had own a flowing dark blue dress that ended just below her knees and made her sapphire eyes stand out. Her long hair had been pulled into a braid that reached halfway down her back. Thanks to the low neckline of the dress the golden necklace she wore glimmered in the moon light.

Trunks turned to look as the other door opened and nearly choked as he saw Morgan. His face burned suddenly and his eyes turned away as soon as he realized he was staring. /She's.../ He swallowed suddenly, his mind at a loss for words. /Damn she's beautiful./ His mind couldn't seem to think straight anymore. "Hello." he managed.

"Hi." she said meekly.

Trunks heard James shut his door and the engine roar to life. "Um... where are we going?"

James looked back at them. "Maria's"

/Maria's!/ Morgan's mind cried in shock. Maria's was the most expensive restaurant in town with best food on the planet. /No wonder Halley made me wear this./

For the first few minutes of the ride neither of them could say anything. Trunks took a quick glance at Morgan before turning to look straight ahead again. /I feel a kid on his first date... well, this is my first date. And according to Gloria I am still a kid./ She'd explained to him, after a short discussion that had let her figure it out, that the years of her Earth were eighteen months long. Fifty percent longer than on his world. Which also meant he would be eighteen here. She'd also discovered that Sai-jins seemed to have the same aging rate as the Humans of the universe he was currently in. So despite being twenty seven according to his calendar his body was not much older than eighteen. (The Human DNA in him caused him to age a bit faster than a normal Sai-jin though.) The same would be true for Morgan. On his world she'd be twenty-seven but here she was eighteen. Or like Gloria. The lawyer said she felt ancient after figuring out that on Trunks's Earth she'd be forty-four.

Those thoughts having gone through his head he suddenly realized something he'd not thought of before. He wasn't staying on this world. He would be leaving in a year once the Dragonballs were restored and he could make his wish. So this couldn't work... He looked over at her again wishing he'd not come but at the same time being happy he had. "Um... I should tell you something." he said nervously.

She looked over at him feeling as though her cheeks were on fire. "Yes?"

"Um... I'm not going to be here for too long. I'm going to be leaving in a year."

She looked at him in silence for a moment, her heart falling some. He'd be leaving in a year. In a year he'd be gone. It just kept playing over and over in her mind until the car came to a slow stop and her door swung open. At the sight of the beautiful building of Maria's she forgot about it and got out of the car. Trunks followed suit and noticed the eyes watching the two of them.

"They're either staring at your hair, it's not exactly a normal color you know, or they recognize you from TV." she whispered in his ear. A moment later they were sitting at a table ordering their food.

Kahn's Base

"You wont get away with this..." Kahn breathed raggedly as he struggled against the ropes that bound his wrists.

Omega laughed. "You're kidding me right? What could possibly stop me? Certainly not you or any of the other pathetic Humans out there. And I've been through all the computers, you don't have any other bases or projects out there either. Face it, there's nothing on this planet that could stand up to me, or any of you're other creations for that matter."

Kahn struggled against his bonds. He knew Omega was right, he knew there was no one out there who could save them, save the Earth. Maybe the Zanamar's had something with enough power but they'd not know what had happened until after the people were all dead. He looked up as the door opened and saw an Android Zero unit enter the room.

"Ah, you're back." Omega said grinning. "So tell me, what did you find?"

"We're only a hundred miles from Blue River City, the second largest on the planet. The capital is on the other side of the world. W..."

"That's perfect!" Omega said happily.

"Sir, there's more." the Zero said.

"Yes?"

"A power, it was erratic but there. Nothing too powerful. However, something killed several Saibairians and Gremlins today."

Omega looked at him. There shouldn't be anything that could kill a Gremlin. Maybe a weakling Saibairian, some of them were no stronger than normal Humans, but not a Gremlin. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, the Humans showed it on their news programs multiple times tonight. The creature had a golden aura and..."

Omega brought his hand up quickly silencing the Android. This was impossible! /Get a hold of yourself!/ he scolded himself mentally. "Did you track this erratic reading?"

"Of course."

"Good, good. Get nine other Zero's, a few Saibairians, Gremlins, and find Adam. Lead him out to this power and deal with it, understood?"

"Orders understood and accepted." The android turned and departed. Omega watched the monitors as the machine collected nine other units and then located Adam. A moment later they were departing the base.

Kahn had listened to the conversation in silence for a moment wondering what was happening. Then a thought came to him and he smiled. A moment later he began laughing and Omega whirled on him. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"David." he said still laughing. "The bastard did it! I don't believe it! The bastard did it!"

"David? David who? What the hell did he do? You know something Kahn!"

"Look it up yourself." Kahn spat with a renewed sense of hope and still smiling.

Omega decided to do just that. He plopped down into a chair and accessed the base computer. A moment later he was looking at the employee file of one David Summers, former head of Genetics and Robotics R&D. The man had designed the Zero Units on his own and developed the Adaptation Gene that gave Orion and Sheba the possibility of eventually transforming and enabled him to. "God Damn it!" he cried reading the last couple lines of the file. 'Subject David Summers, missing. Presumed Traitor, all back-ups of his works have been stolen. It is possible he's begun his own private project. Known to disapprove of the Bio-Warrior project. Suspected member of the terrorist organization that destroyed our last base.'

Behind Omega Kahn was still laughing lightly. "Damn it!" the Biodroid screamed again punching a fist through the computer. He'd not expected a private, illegal project. This David was smart and he had all the research that had created every unit up to Biodroid Five. In fact, Biodroid Five, a.k.a. Orion, had been his last project. Omega sat at the terminal a moment longer contemplating that, and the actions Orion had taken over the years. "Damn it!" he shouted getting up. "Nine chances out of ten this David designed Orion as a contingencey against this problem... I have to check into that."

He turned and looked up at the ceiling. "Location Tracking Systems Access!" he demanded. There was a faint beep. "Locate Orion!"

"Identification unknown..."

"Biodroid Five! Locate Biodroid Five!"

"Location unknown, Biodroid Five is not present."

"DAMN IT!" Omega's last outburst nearly destroyed the room he was in as he tried to keep his power in check.

Maria's

Trunks was making a conscious effort not to eat like a Sai-jin. So far, so good. He took a bite of his Veal Parmesan and chewed on it slowly. /I've got eat this slow more often, this tastes great! I've never noticed before... of course, when mom's cooking maybe I shouldn't.../ He smiled lightly at that which made Morgan smile too.

"Food's great." she said not sure of what else to say.

"Yeah." Trunks said nodding and taking another bite. "So, I was wondering..." He looked up from his plate at her and saw her staring past him with a look of fear on her face. Trunks turned to look and saw a Saibairian standing in the doorway. He saw a few shadows move and more of them came into view. Slowly they entered the building, no one else seemed to notice them.

He placed his hand on Morgan's and she squeezed it tightly. "It's going to be okay." he turned and whispered to her. Then he turned back and saw that a few Gremlins had entered too. Then he got a real shock. One by one ten people entered, all looking exactly like the other. They were of average build had dark black skin, pitch black hair, and glowing red eyes. Trunks stood slowly as the others in the room finally noticed the new arrivals as the last of them entered. He had tan skin, blue eyes, and red hair. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have a KI signature he'd easily be mistaken as Human. "Androids." Trunks hissed under his breath.

"We're here," Adam began. "Looking for the guy from the mall." He looked around the room and saw Trunks standing up. "You? No, I think not. Wrong hair and eye color my friend. Besides, you're far to weak. Now sit back down before I kill you."

Trunks growled as he took a step forward. "I've had my fill of Androids." he stated coldly. Morgan reached for his hand but he slipped out of her reach as she watched him worriedly.

Adam's eyebrows arched. "Oh? And how do you know I'm an Android?"

Trunks smirked. "The lack of a KI signature is a rather obvious clue. I should know, I had to put up with two of your foul kind for years." He cracked his neck as he continued to walk forward. "I don't know how strong you are exactly but I don't think you can beat me."

"Oh really? I am one of two Android Seven units, my name is Adam. My sister and I are the two strongest Androids ever built by Alex Kahn."

Trunks cocked his head to one side as he continued to try and gauge Adam's power. It wasn't easy when you couldn't sense anything. "Now I'm wondering if your stronger than what Dr. Gero designed. If you hope to beat me you had better be because I'm stronger than everything he ever created."

Adam didn't know what he was talking about and didn't care anymore. "Saibairians, Gremlins, destroy him!"

As the creatures lunged at him Trunks quickly gauged their powers. None of them were anywhere near a danger to him, even in his base form. He lanced out with four punches and six kicks faster than anyone but the Zeros and Adam could see. With that the five Saibairians and Gremlins were all dead. Trunks turned and braced himself to fight the others and readied to transform if he needed.

He suddenly felt a power spike behind him and spun to block the incoming attack. However he had no need to as a stream of white light cut through the attack destroying it. Trunks turned to look at who had just arrived. The young man had tan skin, light blue eyes, and an orange Mohawk.

"Orion!" Adam cried seeing the Biodroid. "You... you're a traitor! How could you! How could you betray us for these... wretched Humans!?"

"These Humans have every right to live that we have. Even more since they were here first."

Duro's Universe, H.F.I.L.

Vegeta glared at the shimmering image. "I can't believe the Kai's are letting him do this alone!" he shouted looking at the eleven Androids in the room and the new arrival who at least seemed to be on his side. He'd dispatched the little freaks without any trouble but if these Androids were anything like the two he despised. A sudden roar erupted from deep within Vegeta as he ascended to the second level. The inhabitants of the H.F.I.L. turned and watched in shock as a stream of golden energy tore free of the main building and surged into the air.

"The idiot's going to slam into the clouds." Cell said smirking as he caught sight of Vegeta in the energy stream. However Vegeta never hit the clouds. The massive amount of energy swirling about him and ahead of him tore open the golden clouds that served as barrier between Otherworld and the H.F.I.L. below it. A second later Vegeta passed through the opening and it closed up behind him. The Sai-jin prince soared higher and higher but knew it would take years to fly to the Grand Kai's planet which he could now sense so clearly far above him.

There was nothing but empty void around him and he pushed on more speed. "Kakkarotto!" he screamed at the top of his lungs after a minute of flying. "Damn you Kakkarotto, quit stuffing your face and come get me! Kakkarotto!"

Up on the Grand Kai's planet Goku put down the chicken leg he'd been eating. "Did you guys hear that?" Goku asked looking around.

"Hear what, Goku?" Krillin asked.

"I don't..." he stopped as the voice reached him again. "Oh, hey!" he cried putting his fingers to his forehead. Suddenly Goku vanished. Everyone waited for him to come back but a minute passed, and then two. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Goku reappeared, Vegeta at his side. Everyone's eyes bugged out at sight of the Sai-jin prince.

"V-Veg-Vegeta!" Krillin stuttered.

Goku grinned. "Look who broke out of the H.F.I.L.!"

Kai dimension, Supreme Kai's Planet

"Hmm... well would you look at that." Duro said grinning. "He kept his cool longer than I'd expected him to."

"Who?" Grova asked.

"Vegeta, the Sai-jin prince. He didn't have what you would call a clean record when he died. However he'd straightened out, even died defending the Earth. I gave him a hundred year sentence in the H.F.I.L. before he could be admitted into the Otherworld and come to my planet. Seems he finally decided to leave under his own power."

"What? How's that possible?" Kibeto asked looking over at Duro. Only the Supreme Kai possessed the kind of power needed to actually tear open the cloud barriers between the H.F.I.L.s and Otherworlds of each Universe.

"Sheer force." Shin replied. "I was expecting this as well. No matter, we'll let him slide for now."

Duro nodded. "My thoughts exactly." he said. "I can understand his anger in this matter. He thinks we should be doing more, he thinks we should have stepped in when Earth was being attacked by the Androids."

Shin merely nodded gently. /I had thought of doing that Vegeta, but the matter was still a mortal one. None of the Androids, not even my estimate of Cell's final and full power, posed a threat to the Universe. I doubt even Cell in his final form and at full power could have hurt Pikkon. Until Goku and his friends came along Pikkon was the single strongest mortal in any universe... I gauged threats by his power. If they were stronger than him then I would have stepped in./ He shook his head sadly as he remembered his daily checks on Duro's Earth to see if the Androids had been destroyed yet. He'd wanted to do something to help them but... his own rules forbade it. And being the Supreme Kai he, more than any of the others, had to abide by the rules.

As the battle they'd been watching came to a close Duro noticed some interesting events on his own planet. "Hmmm.. you guys may be interested in this." he said with a knowing grin.

Next Chapter

Trunks and Orion do battle against Adam and the Android Zero units and Morgan's got some questions for Trunks. To kill time on the Grand Kai's planet the others do some 'training' just incase Trunks needs their help. Omega starts losing his temper and has the construction of Android Twelve stepped up as well as sending Eve out to track down David.

Trunks: Hey, what happened in my fight?

Me: You'll just have to wait until the next chapter, I will cover it, just wanted to leave that little bit from Shin's planet.

Trunks: Aw, come on! This is my story, I should know what's going to happen!

Me: Glares at Trunks. Don't make me cook.

Trunks: Pales. N-never mind... /He's a worse cook than my mother./