DISCLAIMER: Neither DBZ or Sailor Moon are owned by me. Any characters in this story are the property of their original creators. (Example... Akira Toriyama owns Trunks, Naoko Takeuchi owns Ami, and I own Rosemary, Angelica, or Chamomile, though I'd be willing to trade. XD)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to Love In A Ruined World, my Mirai Trunks/Ami romance fic from last year. (The Trunks in this fanfic is Mirai Trunks, and the Bulma in this fic is from Mirai Trunks' future timeline.) If you haven't read Love In A Ruined World, you can still read this, but you might be confused, so if you want to read the first fic in the series, it's in my profile. In the continuity of both series, this fic takes place after Mirai Trunks goes back to the future after the Cell Saga, and after the SuperS season in the Sailor Moon continuum.
Reviewer Thanks-
Sonar de mercury: You'll have to wait a while... the end won't be for 9 more chapters! Glad you enjoy the first twelve!
Erica: I understand... you're not crazy, don't worry! You scared poor Trunks something silly, though.
Zyppora: You're darn right Nikashi's alive... and I planned all along to have Cammy save Patrick. She's so nice... well, I wrote her to be, anyway.
MWD: Heh, Patrick's gonna have to be a lot nicer to Cammy from now on. Glad you like it!
GracedAngel1854: A lot of people would have killed Patrick, probably. You're entitled to your opinion!
---
"Trunks, this is probably going to sting... a lot. But remember, we have to get those cuts cleaned."
"I know, Ami... I'm ready."
Trunks gritted his teeth as Ami began rubbing countless amounts of peroxide into the various flesh wounds he had sustained on his body during his earlier fight with Nikashi. Sitting on a metal bench in Bulma's basement and stripped down to his boxers, Trunks couldn't help but notice Ami smiling at him as she diligently treated his injuries. A sharp intake of breath from Trunks caused Ami to stop what she was doing and set the bottle of peroxide on the bench, her smile disappearing as she realized Trunks was in pain.
"I'm alright, Ami, keep going," Trunks said, quietly urging Ami to continue cleaning his wounds. "Damn.... should have taken that last Senzu Bean while I had the chance... but you guys needed it more."
"I still feel a little guilty about not letting you have it," Ami said, resuming her peroxide treatments to Trunks' body. "Maybe we should have just split it in half, and-"
"No, that's alright, Ami... I wouldn't have accepted it anyway... but thank you," Trunks said. As soon as he had finished his sentence, he leaned upward and gave Ami a quick and gentle kiss on the lips, causing her to blush ever so slightly as she continued applying the peroxide. A few minutes later, Bulma walked down the steps and entered the basement just as Ami was beginning to bandage Trunks' wounds.
"I see you two are getting along quite nicely down here," Bulma said, her arms crossed over her chest as a sly smile appeared on her face. "Now that I think about it, maybe I should have cleaned Trunks' injuries myself."
"But Ami's going to be a doctor, mom," Trunks said, as Ami wrapped gauze around his right hand. "She needs experience at this sort of thing."
"Anyone can rub alcohol on an injured person," Bulma replied. "Besides, I've talked to Ami's mother, and I'm not sure she'd approve of her daughter's hands being all over a half-naked boy's back."Ami and Trunks both laughed for a second, after which Ami resumed bandaging Trunks' wounds.
"I just hope I don't have to go back into battle anytime soon," Trunks said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "My body aches all over..."
"You fought really hard today, Trunks, and I think you've earned your rest..." Ami replied, gently patching medical tape over a large cut on Trunks' back. "There, you should be all patched up now, Trunks... I just hope the pain goes away soon."
"I'm sure it will, Ami," Trunks said, standing up from the table and stretching his arms up into the air. "You know, I'm starting to feel better already..."
"Well, that's good, Trunks," Bulma said, walking back toward the basement stairs. "I'm going to go check and see how all your friends are doing... that unconscious young man that Cammy brought in woke up a little while ago. I remember him... he's one of the people that came in and kidnapped me a few days ago..."
"How is he?" Ami asked, slightly curious about Patrick's condition. "He's being watched, isn't he?"
"Rose and Angela have been in the room with him the whole time," Bulma said. "Cammy hasn't gone in yet... she just set him down on the bed and left the room. She's talking with Serena and Rei right now, I think. Would you two like to talk to-"
"No, that's okay," Trunks said, glancing over at Ami and smiling. "I think we'll stay down here a little while longer... if that's alright with you, Ami...."
"Yes, of course it is!" said Ami, smiling while rapidly nodding her head. "We'll be up in just a few minutes!"
"Okay then, I'll leave the light on for you..." Bulma said with a slight giggle. "And Trunks, put these on, right this minute!"
Bulma grabbed a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans from a nearby table and tossed them over to Trunks, who caught them in his hand. He gave Bulma a quizzical look for a few seconds, and Bulma's smile quickly turned into a frown.
"I'm serious," she said, glaring at him and walking up the stairs. Trunks quickly put on the clothes his mother had given him, while Ami giggled the entire time.
"She didn't really think we..." Trunks began. Ami raised her hand in front of Trunks' face, still giggling, her head turned away from him.
"I'm sure she didn't, Trunks... but then again, she did say it didn't take long for her and Vegeta to-"
"Ami!"
---
Upstairs in Ami's guest room, which had been converted into a makeshift infirmary for the Briefs' surprise visitor, Patrick lay on the bed, hooked up to several medical devices, some of them the exact same ones used to heal Bulma after she had been attacked by Frieza eight months before. His eyes were wide open, staring up at Rose and Angela, who had pulled up chairs next to the bed to keep a close watch on him.
"I'm not going to ask you why, because I already know why. You're a sick pervert who doesn't deserve all of the help we're giving you," said Rose, an angry look on her face. "And yet Cammy, the very girl you tortured and tried to rape, somehow found it in the goodness of her heart to forgive you and bring you all the way here."
"She's our sister!" Angela shouted, with a look on her face that indicated that tears were about to come out of her eyes. "She's the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful girl, who would never hurt ANYBODY! And yet you prey on her innocence like some sick... some sick... monster! I'd use different words than that, but my mother would never forgive me for using that kind of language!"
"Go ahead," Patrick said, his voice inconsistent, at times his normal, strong tone, at other times a weak, pained whisper. "She's not here."
"She'd know," Angela replied, her own voice never faltering. "Somehow, she'd know."
"Cammy's the one who tattles, not me," Rose said, looking over at Angela, a slight grin appearing on her face. "If you want to cuss him out, go ahead... make sure Cammy doesn't hear, though."
"She's.... a really good girl, isn't she?" Patrick asked, his tone changing from apathetic to curious in a matter of seconds.
"That's right," Angela replied, "as if you even care. She'd never do the kind of stuff you were trying to make her do, you sick bastard!"
"I just... I'm just trying to figure out why she saved my life, that's all," Patrick said, staring up at the ceiling. "After everything I did to her... why... how did she-"
"We already told you," Rose said. "Because she's kind, and sweet, and a much better person than you'll ever be!"
"I know that already," replied Patrick. "But... how could she... how could anyone, after being put through what she was put through, see enough good in a person to save the life of the person that tormented them? What could I possibly have done to indicate that I... that my life is worth saving at all?"
"I'll answer that," Cammy said quietly, walking into the room. Rose and Angela stood up and turned toward their younger sister, who walked past them and sat down at the side of the bed, in the chair that had once been occupied by Rose, near the front of the bed.
"Do you... want to be alone?" Rose asked.
"Yes, please..." Cammy replied, looking over at her two sisters. "Just for a little while. After I finish talking to Patrick we should probably get home... our parents are probably worried sick about us."
"Be careful, Cammy," Angela said quietly. "Even though he's hurt, Patrick might still be very dangerous!"
"I'll be fine," Cammy replied.
"We should go," Rose said, gently taking her sister by the hand and leading her out of the room, leaving Cammy alone at Patrick's side. As her eyes met his, Patrick's lip began to quiver, and Cammy could see it very clearly as she stared down at his bruised and bandaged face.
"When my sisters... and I... first came to this dimension, we were evil, just like you," Cammy said. "We fought Trunks and Ami many times, we attacked their friends, and we were at times, very cruel... we very nearly took Ami's life in several of our fights."
"I see..." Patrick said, intently listening to Cammy's story. "Please continue."
"But after a while, our mistress, Queen Crysthea, betrayed us, condemning us to a life here on this desolate planet," Cammy said. "So my sisters and I came back here, desperately hoping that Trunks and Ami would see it in their hearts to forgive us and let us fight Crysthea with them... and incredibly, almost instantly, they forgave us and welcomed us into their home. It was absolutely incredible... they had no way of knowing that we could be trusted, but somehow, they sensed that would could be... that we did have good in us, trapped somewhere inside..."
"Cammy, what I did to you was... it was... it was reprehensible, far beyond what even my superior ordered me to do," said Patrick, turning his head away from Cammy. His voice began to falter, and Cammy could sense the shame and regret in his words, even moreso as he continued to speak. "Seeing you... for the first time... I felt something I'd never felt before, and... I should have ignored it, but I didn't. I can't say I couldn't control myself, because I could have, I could have stopped what I was doing, I could have never done it in the first place, I could have-"
"You did... you did stop, Patrick," Cammy said, gently reaching over and turning Patrick's head toward her. "That look... it's the same look I saw when you left the room before... it wasn't because my sisters were about to come... you were feeling guilt over what you'd done, weren't you?"
Patrick sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"I don't... I honestly don't know, Cammy... all I know is that I still have that same feeling, just... just not nearly as much anymore... I don't know if it's fading away completely or if it's going to come back... I don't know anything anymore..."
"I think that... I think that once you saw that what you were doing was wrong... once you realized that you were hurting a real person, that you were inflicting terrible injuries on someone that didn't deserve them at all... that the thrill went away, and the feeling went with it," Cammy said. "At least that's what I think... I'm not really sure, I'm not a psychologist... you had a really bad childhood, didn't you?"
"Not really," Patrick said. "When I was a child, I joined the Galactic Research Armada out of my own free will... I chose to train with them, I chose to fight for them, I knew exactly what they did... all I wanted was glory and money. As I rose in their ranks, it became mostly for glory. I didn't care what I did, or who I hurt, as long as... as long as people knew who I was. Now I don't even know who I am anymore..."
"I think I know," said Cammy, her hand brushing across Patrick's forehead. "You're a confused, and maybe a little bit scared young man with a strong regret for the actions he's taken in the past and completely lost as to which way in life he's headed."
"That was... really insightful, Cammy..."
"My mom works with troubled young kids, and that's the diagnosis she gave one of the kids she's mentored for," replied Cammy, her hand still gently brushing Patrick's skin. "I don't think any of her kids have ever tried to rape anyone, but-"
As Cammy's hand started to brush across Patrick's forehead again, she quickly pulled it back, as if she suddenly realized what she was doing and had quickly snapped back into reality.
"As for this whole incident," Cammy said, a more serious tone returning to her voice, "I do forgive you... but I definitely can't say I trust you. Not at all..."
"I understand that, Cammy," Patrick replied. "I don't expect you to, not one bit."
Cammy gave Patrick a nod, and then turned to leave the room. As she reached the door, Patrick called out to her one last time.
"Thank you...." Patrick said, causing Cammy to look back toward him, "for coming in and talking to me. I know there's nothing I can say or do to undo everything that I did to you, but-"
"This conversation was a start," Cammy replied. "I would be so glad... to one day be able to call you friend. Deep down, I still think you're a good person, Patrick..."
Cammy exited the room and shut the door behind her. Patrick sighed and looked up at the ceiling, as a single tear, unseen by anyone, rolled down his cheek.
"Heaven will never forgive me... for scarring its most beautiful angel... and I'll never forgive myself..."
---
Serena, Rei, Mina, Lita, Rose, Angela, and Cammy stood in front of the gate outside Bulma's house, its inviting presence waiting to take them home. Bulma, Trunks, and Ami stood waving on the porch, now a familiar sight to all of the girls, whose experiences during the day had left all of them physically and mentally exhausted.
"You're staying behind again, Ami?" Serena asked. "I hope your mom doesn't mind..."
"Could you call her and tell her where I am?" Ami asked her friend, walking up to her and giving her a gentle hug. "I'm pretty sure she'll know where I'm at, but I still don't want to worry her..."
"Sure thing, Ami," Serena said. "You were really good today..."
"So were you, Serena... you conducted yourself like a true leader in one of the toughest fights we've ever faced," said Ami.
"Don't kid yourself, Ami... you were the leader of that fight," Mina said, a broad smile on her face. "The way you stood up with that arrow through your chest like that... it was amazing!"
"How much overtime have you been putting in with Trunks?" Lita asked. "And how much are you going to put in tonight?"
"I haven't been training that much with him, really!" Ami said.
"Speaking of training, are you girls up for flying lessons tomorrow, since we didn't get them in today?" asked Trunks.
"I'm not going to be up for anything tomorrow," Serena replied with a yawn. "I'll probably sleep in until noon..."
"Me too," said Cammy, yawning as she stretched her arms above her head.
"You guys had better watch Patrick really closely," said Angela. "He's probably going to try every trick in the book to-"
"He won't try anything with Trunks around," replied Bulma. "I've already repeatedly instilled the fear of my son in him. He's not going anywhere."
"Well, that's a relief..." Angela thought. "That perverted jerk would probably try to come after Ami next!"After a few more minutes of conversation, the girls disappeared through the gate. Bulma went upstairs to the guest room to monitor Patrick, while Trunks and Ami sat down on the living room couch and talked for hours on end before finally falling asleep on the couch in each other's arms. Like Serena and her friends, there would be no more training that night for Trunks and Ami. They'd seen enough of fighting, enough of training, at least for one day. But every day holds its own unique challenges and circumstances... they were both just grateful that the trials of this particular day were over and done with, leaving both of them mostly unharmed.
---
Rose, Angela, and Cammy arrived home, wearing the same clothes that they'd left in, although now they bore the scars of a quick washing and sewing job to undo most of the damage they'd sustained in the day's battles. Before they had barely set one foot into the door of their home, the lights switched on, and they all knew who they'd have to face. Their parents were seated on the living room couch, facing the doorway, and neither of them looked very happy. Finally, their mother, who had been trying to conceal her intense worry with a mask of anger, could stand it no longer, and ran over to Cammy, wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter's back as she scooped up the girl in an embrace.
"Cammy, I was so worried... we went up to check on you and you weren't there... we thought something horrible had happened!"
"You lied to us about Cammy!" shouted the girls' father, walking up to them with a stern look on her face. "When you said she was sleeping, we went up to check on her and she wasn't there! I thought that that monster that attacked the two of you had attacked her and you had taken her to the hospital without telling us... so we checked every hospital in town! But we couldn't find her there either!"
"So then... we thought... you'd been kidnapped... or something..." whispered their mother, causing all three girls, including Cammy, to gulp nervously. "Where were you, Cammy?"The girls looked around at each other, racing to find some sort of explanation that would alleviate their parents' fears. Finding none, Rose was the first of the girls to venture telling the truth, which would eventually have to come out anyway.
"You... might want to sit down for this," said Rose, pointing back over to the living room couch. "I'm... not kidding."
The girls' father began to speak again.
"What is so important that we'd need to-" began their father before their mother cut in.
"Hatashi, please..." said the girls' mother.
"Alright, Sutoko..."
Once they were seated, Rose, Angela, and Cammy told their parents everything, as best they could. Their past lives with Crysthea, their powers, why they had forgotten everything, and the day's events... conveniently overlooking only that day's kidnapping and torture of Cammy, something that all three girls knew their parents wouldn't be able to swallow, no matter what... as if the girls' deaths at the hands of Frieza weren't shock enough.
It took a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to the three girls, for the full effect of the story to sink in. Finally, their father began to speak.
"I can't... I can't... we're not your real parents?" asked their father, Hatashi, now consoling Satoko, who was crying on his shoulder as her mind tried to process the girls' incredible story. Rose immediately shook her head.
"No, that's not what we mean at all... you are our real parents, really... mom, you gave birth to us, didn't you? All three of us, a year apart... you said it was the toughest but most joy-filled three years of your life, right?"
"We love you so much...." Angela said, wrapping her arms around both of her parents.
"Mommy.... daddy... you'll always be our parents, no matter what," Cammy said, tears streaking down her face. "This doesn't change anything... we didn't even remember our past lives until just a few days ago...
"But you've given us wonderful new lives... this is our real life, right here and now...." Rose said, as lovingly as she could. "Please... please try to understand..."
"I understand," said Satoko, looking up at the three girls with a tearful smile on her face. "I love you too, you're my little angels.... I'm just... I'm just scared that... I don't know a part of you, and I want to get to know that part of you..."
"You already know the real us," Angela said. "Our past lives are just.... extra... the source of our gift, our gift to help people..."
"You say you train with the Sailor Senshi now.... and you had to go fight an evil villain with them, and that's why you weren't here today?" asked their Hatashi, his face beginning to straighten out. "I assume you're going to be helping them from now on... am I correct?"
"If you... if you want us to... if both of you want us to fight with them," Rose said. "But if not, we'll honor your wishes... okay?"
"You girls... you have a gift," said Satoko, "and I would be... I would be selfish... so selfish... not to allow you girls to share that gift with the world... to ensure that everyone on Earth can live as happily as the three of you have made your father and I... but... I'm just...."
"You're just worried something will happen to us," replied Rose, wrapping her arms around her mother. "Just... just take some time to think about it, and you can tell us in the morning...."
"I've made up my mind," said Hatashi, looking back and forth between his wife and the three girls. "Your mother is right... you three are not only gifted, you're strong and resourceful young women who can not only help the Sailor Senshi protect the earth, but can protect themselves while doing it... and I'm sure the Senshi protect you as well."
"Don't forget Trunks!" said Cammy, a bright smile on her face. "He protects us too!"
"I forgot about him, yes... he was the one swearing outside the house this morning, wasn't he?" asked Satoko. "I hope he's not a bad influence on you three girls..."
"He's probably the best influence we've ever had..." Rose thought, remembering all Trunks and Ami had done to help her sisters and herself. "He saved our lives..."
---
The next morning, Trunks and Ami woke up bright and early, just in time for one of the largest breakfasts Bulma had made in quite some time. Their eyes widened as soon as they walked up to the table, on which were three plates stacked high with pancakes, a large plate of bacon, another large plate of eggs, an even larger plate of scrambled eggs, three plates containing an apple and an orange, and three tall glasses of freshly-squeezed orange juice.
"My goodness," Ami said, sitting down at the table and taking a sip from her glass of orange juice. "Mrs. Briefs, what compelled you to make such a large breakfast?"
"Well, you know how Trunks lost a lot of blood yesterday, and I remembered your mother showing me that people who lose a lot of blood need to replenish their bodies with lots of nourishment, so I made a big breakfast for Trunks. Then I realized that it wouldn't be fair for him to get a big breakfast and for you not to get a big breakfast, because you're Trunks' girlfriend, so I made you an identical breakfast. Seeing all that food made me really hungry, so I decided to fix myself a big breakfast, and well... that's basically how it happened."
"Thanks, mom," Trunks said, taking a large scoop of scrambled eggs and placing it on his plate. "I don't know if I'll be able to finish this breakfast...."
"It's a Serena-sized breakfast, isn't it, Trunks?" Ami thought, and Trunks replied by laughing out loud, which caused Bulma to turn her head toward him as she sat down at the table.
"What's so funny?" Bulma asked, looking back and forth between Ami and Trunks. "Does Ami have a bedhead or something?"
"My hair's fine," Ami said, smiling at Bulma. "It's nothing, really.""I don't think mom knows we can communicate telepathically yet," Trunks thought back to Ami.
"Let's keep it that way... for now, at least," Ami thought. "It won't be too long before you and your mom become close enough to hear each other's thoughts like we can!"
Trunks laughed again, but this time, Bulma simply sighed, shook her head, and resumed eating her breakfast.
"Kids these days..." Bulma thought. "Yamcha and I were NOTHING like them... of course, we weren't in love nearly as much as Trunks and Ami are... and unlike us, Trunks and Ami will stay together... I know it."
---
After Trunks, Ami, and Bulma finished their breakfasts, Bulma made Trunks and Ami wash the dishes.
"It's your way of saying 'thank you, mom, for making such a wonderful breakfast for us'," Bulma said, as she handed Trunks a washrag. "And remember to scrub twice this time."
"I tried to say thank you, but I had a pancake in my mouth!" Trunks said, half-jokingly. Ami giggled. "Now I wish my mom and I had a telepathic connection."
"You just wish you'd remembered to thank your mother, Trunks," Ami thought back to him, smiling as she scrubbed at a plate that had chunks of egg yolk caked onto it. "Don't worry... it happens to me all the time."
"At least we get to do this together," Trunks thought. "Washing dishes is so much more fun when I'm with you, Ami."
"Yes, but I think we'd get done quicker if you'd stop holding my hand so we'd both have two hands free to wash dishes with, Trunks dear," Ami said, noticing that she and Trunks had both been holding hands under water for about ten seconds now. Of course, they'd both initiated the contact, and neither of them seemed willing to let go. However, Trunks happily took the blame for the incident, releasing Ami's hand and allowing both of them to get back to work. "And yet... time does fly when you're having fun..."
"Indeed it does, Ami..." Trunks said out loud.
Bulma, who was standing just outside the kitchen watching Ami and her son wash dishes, poked her head inside and called out, "Indeed what does?"
"Washing dishes takes fifteen years off of your life, doesn't it, Ami?" asked Trunks. Ami smiled.
"Indeed it does, Trunks," Ami said, happily playing along. Bulma sighed and shook her head again, turning away from the kitchen for a few brief moments. When she looked back, Trunks and Ami had stopped washing dishes and were standing in front of the dishwasher, their lips engulfing the other's, their tongues flailing inside each other's mouths.
"And open-mouth kissing takes about thirty years off of one's life. Think of all the diseases you could get... mononucleosis, tongue cancer, hoof-and-mouth disease, Frenchman's death syndrome..."
"She made that last one up, didn't she?" Trunks thought, ignoring his mother's taunt as he continued to kiss Ami.
"I'm not entirely sure..." Ami thought back to him. "It sounds like an awfully bad disease to catch..."
"I think I'll take my chances," Trunks thought, lost in the bliss of his passionate kiss.
---
A few kisses, dishes, and hours later, Ami was back home at her mother's apartment. Her mother, Marika, greeted her with an embrace as she walked through the door, as happy as she could possibly be.
"Did Serena call last night?" were the first words out of Ami's mouth as she wrapped her arms around her mother's back. Marika nodded, gently reciprocating the embrace.
"Yes, she did... I was a bit worried, but I knew where you probably were," Marika said. "Did you enjoy yourself?"
"I did... but I still missed you, mom, really I did," Ami replied honestly. "Next time I'll have Trunks stay over here, alright?"
"You can stay wherever you want, Ami, it's your decision now and you know that," replied Marika. "As long as you're safe and happy, I'll respect your decision... I love you, Ami..."
"I love you too, mom," Ami replied, her embrace becoming even tighter. "But really... I promise I'll try to spend more time with you in the future..."
"My darling daughter... you've become such a kind, intelligent, mature young woman... no wonder Trunks loves you so much," thought Marika. "You've got school tomorrow morning, you know that, right?"
"Mm-hmm," Ami said, nodding quickly. "Trunks already told me he's coming to visit tomorrow afternoon, after school's out. The girls and I are probably going to go see him then. He'll probably be coming back with us tomorrow night... if that's alright with you."
"Of course it is... just keep your studies up, alright?" Marika said. "Maybe you should study for a little while before you see Trunks tomorrow.
"I should probably be hitting the books right now, since I haven't been able to study very much this weekend," said Ami, walking over to the stairs that led to her bedroom. "I'll see you around suppertime, okay, mom?"
"Alright, Ami," yelled Marika, walking into the kitchen. "It should be ready in a few hours."
---
The next day, Trunks was at the Shinto shrine to greet Ami as she entered from a long day at school. Rose, Angela, Cammy, Serena, Rei, Lita, and Mina were already there, talking about the things they were going to do once they got back to Trunks' world.
"Trunks said he's going to take us into the village again today!" said Serena as Ami sat down inbetween Trunks and herself. "We're going to buy supplies and stuff for Trunks' mom, since she made that big breakfast yesterday... which, by the way, I would have stayed the night for had I known it was going to be so big!"
"Yeah, we had enough leftovers for a whole 'nother breakfast," said Trunks, stretching out his arms to illustrate the size of the meal. "We could've easily prepared one for you."
"But you know, Serena... you snooze, you lose!" Ami said, looking up from her calculus textbook to speak to her friend Serena. "Don't worry, there will be plenty of other big breakfasts in the future...."
"Well, you guys had better just tell me next time!" Serena snapped. "Don't make me go all... all... all Sailor Moon on you guys! Because I will!"
"Uh.... anyway, I can't wait to play basketball in the park again!" said Lita, looking over at Rose. "Didn't we promise we'd come back to help those girls take on those mean old boys from the other court?"
"I think we did!" Rose said, a smile on her face. "I've been waiting quite some time to get back at those clowns..."
"Hey, Trunks... I'm really curious, how's Patrick doing?" Cammy asked curiously.
"He's fine right now, actually," Trunks replied. "He actually got up last night.... he's been walking around the house all morning, trying to get his strength back. He's coming along quite nicely."
"And you... you let him walk around the house? You know your mom's the only one in there right now, right?" Angela asked, her voice starting to sound worried. "What if he... what if he..."
"That's another aspect he's improved in, actually," said Trunks. "He seems... quite a bit different than he was when he was fighting for the enemy. Cammy, he told me he really wants to talk to you again... he also said that if you didn't want to, you didn't have to."
"Actually, I do want to talk to him again... quite a bit, actually," Cammy said. "The thing is, I've... got a few things I want to tell him about. I had a dream about him last night... it was really weird, too. It started out as a nightmare, with him attacking me, like he did on the space station, but then... then... this other Patrick came in... or at least a guy that looked just like him... and... well, the other Patrick rescued me, and said he was sorry, and... and then I woke up."
"Weird dream," said Rei, shaking her head back and forth. "Maybe it's an omen. Wanna go check in the fire?"
"No, that's alright..." Cammy said. "But thanks anyway."
"Guys, as soon as I finish off these last few pages, we'll go, alright?" Ami said. The others nodded, while Trunks took a quick peek over Ami's shoulder. Upon noticing him, Ami smiled and gently pulled the book away, concealing it from Trunks' view.
"Trunks, it's really rude to read over someone's shoulder!" Mina shouted, walking over to Trunks and pointing her finger in her face. "Especially when they're studying something hard like calculus! I bet you've never done calculus before in your life, have you?"
"Let's see here... 'find the area of the curve under 3 x-squared plus x plus 7 from 2 to 5'. Well now, you just find the anti-derivative here... take this, divide this... then subtract, and you get 148 and one-half square units," Trunks said, solving the problem in fifteen seconds.
"Trunks is right," Ami said quietly.
"Hmph!" Mina snorted, snatching the book away from Ami. "We'll see about that..."
Mina flipped to the back of the book, where the answered to odd-numbered problems were located. Sure enough, Trunks was right.
"My mom's a genius, remember?" Trunks said, a proud grin on his face. "She tutored me for years... best teacher in the multiverse. And by the way, Mina... it's REALLY rude to snatch someone's book away. Especially when they're studying something hard like calculus. I bet you've never done calculus before in your life, have you?"
"Trunks, that was really mean!" Ami said sharply, looking over at Mina and gently taking back the calculus book. "Sorry about that, Mina.... Trunks, if I start to laugh... please, PLEASE don't let Mina see... that was really, really funny, Trunks..."
Ami set her calculus book in front of her, but didn't resume studying. Instead, she turned her head away and cupped one hand over her mouth, trying her absolute hardest not to laugh like all of her friends (except, of course, Mina, who had been absolutely BURNED) were doing. Finally, she could stand it no more, and burst into riotous laughter, with Trunks not even bothering to stop her.
"Trunks!" Ami thought, laughing wildly. "I thought I told you not to let Mina see..."
"I like the sound of your laughing, Ami... besides, I think Mina already knew you were going to laugh..."
Once Ami began laughing, Mina sighed and started to laugh as well, knowing that she'd been beaten in this battle of wit.
"I'll get you next time, Trunks," Mina said through insane giggles. "Next time!"
---
Though it seemed nearly impossible at times, Ami finally managed to get her studying done, and Trunks, Ami, and their friends were able to use Trunks' teleportation wand to teleport to Nihimo Town. But while they were having a good time, Exeter and Pandemonium were preparing a strike that could potentially be their deadliest yet.
"Lord Exeter," Pandemonium said, facing a man seated in a large throne at the end of a long grand hall decorated in shining gold and jet black obsidian, "if we are to capture Trunks, we must strike a crippling blow at what he holds dear, and that is the safety of his dying planet and its sparse population."
"And that will lure him to us... how?" said Exeter skeptically. Exeter was not the most physically imposing being alive, possessing a slender frame decorated with a shimmering red robe over a black jumpsuit, and a tall, but not overly tall tuft of spiky red hair. But beneath that frame he possessed incredible mastery of magic and ki, like all upper-level members of the organization he belonged to, the Galactic Research Armada. From the moment he'd taken up the mission to capture Trunks, he knew that if anyone could catch the elusive half-Saiyan, it would be he and his army of powerful magical warriors that would accomplish the difficult task. But so far, the lieutenants he'd commissioned to do the job, Pandemonium and Nikashi, had not accomplished the mission with the haste he desired, and he was beginning to grow impatient. Was it the incompetence of his soldiers that had formed the roadblock to finishing the task? Or was Trunks just more powerful than he had anticipated? Most likely, it was a combination of both. And yet, he listened to Pandemonium, whom he could tell was becoming more determined to accomplish the mission every single waking moment... perhaps even more than Exeter himself.
"We attack his town, and he will come right to us," said Pandemonium. "And it is here that I will be waiting. My lord, I have never truly gotten to fight Trunks in a real one-on-one battle... and I am more than confident I can defeat him. Where Nikashi failed, I shall succeed... Nikashi will be part of the squad that will be attacking the town, of course."
"As long as Trunks is mine by the end of the day, I will not propose any changes to your plan," Exeter said. "But try not to screw up this time... I'd hate to have to let Sunzeki take over."
"HQ types are so stiff, it's pathetic," said Pandemonium, a hint of anger in his voice. "I will never let Sunzeki take what is rightfully my task... Trunks will fall by my hand!"
---
The girls and Trunks, accompanied by Patrick as well, entered the town, which was buzzing with late-afternoon activity. Dozens of people were milling about the streets, and several people waved as they recognized Trunks and his friends walking into town.
"So this is... what a village in Trunks' world is like?" Patrick asked as he looked around, still hobbling on his injured ankle. "It's... quaint, to say the least.""Don't worry, Patrick, it surprised me too," Cammy said, whispering in Patrick's ear. Patrick turned his head and gasped slightly when he realized who was whispering to him.
"She's... speaking to me?" Patrick thought. "Like I'm a... normal person? Does she actually trust me already?"
Trunks and his entourage reached the town square, where he paused for a moment and began to speak.
"Ami and I are going to pick up all the supplies for mom, so... you all can follow us, or you can look around the village, basically doing whatever you want."
"That doesn't mean wreaking havoc, Patrick," Cammy whispered to him again. "I'll be watching you..."
"Was that a joke, or a serious command?" Patrick thought, looking back over at Cammy. Her calm expression only added to the ambiguity of what she had just said. "I can't tell..."
But before Trunks or anyone else could say anything more, several large, swirling black gates appeared up in the sky. Out of them came hundreds of fighters, similar in uniform to the ones who had accosted Ami back in the space station. As soon as they hit the ground, they began to disperse through the town, their powerful weapons drawn. Trunks immediately flared up his ki aura.
"What in the world?" Serena shouted. "Senshi, transform!"
"Right!" shouted Ami, Rei, Lita, and Mina, taking out their henshin sticks and transforming into the Sailor Senshi."They're attacking the town... after I promised the mayor that there would be no more attacks... that does it! This has to end now!"
Trunks turned to Sailor Mercury, who had taken a fighting stance as she and the other Senshi prepared to defend the town.
"Ami, can your Sailor Teleport be used to teleport other people, but not yourselves?" Trunks asked.
"I... I think so, if we concentrate the energy on the person... but Trunks, why would-"
"Then you have to teleport me back to that space station, right now," Trunks said, a determined look on his face. "I'm going to go there and kill each and every single one of those fiends... this has to end right now!"
"Trunks, what in the world are you saying?" Sailor Mercury asked, frantically looking back and forth between herself and the other Senshi, who were already starting to disperse.
"Ami, I have to do this... the only way the attacks will stop is if I go right to the source and-"
"Trunks, no, you can't!" Sailor Mercury shouted. "You're still hurt! You-"
"Ami, please!" Trunks shouted, his tone filled with anger. Sailor Mercury gasped, and then recoiled, slightly shocked that Trunks had snapped at her. "Oh, Ami... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have-"
"Wait!" Sailor Mercury shouted, causing all of the Senshi to turn around. "Come back... I need all of you to do something for Trunks...""Ami, I'm sorry I yelled at you... you don't have to-"
"It's alright, Trunks," Sailor Mercury said, her lip quivering as she started to sob. "I... I shouldn't have been so worried... you need to fight all of them... we'll take care of the enemies here... you go and fight up there... we'll take care of this ourselves."
---
In a large, circular room near the center of the space station, Pandemonium stood in front of the door, watching, waiting, knowing what was soon to come bursting through the door. He didn't have to wait long. When the door opened, a huge grin spread across Pandemonium's face. He felt the huge wave of ki as Trunks entered the room in his Ascended Super Saiyan form, electricity sparking all around the radiant Saiyan's muscular form. This was the moment both Trunks and Pandemonium had been waiting for. Now, neither of them could turn back. Both of them knew they could die, but neither Trunks nor Pandemonium cared. If either of them died, they would regret nothing... while at the same time, regretting everything.
"It's over, Pandemonium... you've attacked the people I care about for the last time."
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this, Trunks... you're mine for the taking."
---
So while the melee of the century is ready to begin on Trunks' world, with the Senshi, the three sisters, and maybe even Patrick facing legions of Exeter's trained combat squads, Trunks and Pandemonium get set to throw down up in space! It's going to be one hell of a show... next chapter! Mwahaha, I'm good... Please review! (And yes, I stole the chapter title from the name of the movie. Saw that movie over the weekend, by the way... and it kicks all sorts of ass. You must all go see it! I command you, do my bidding! Mwahaha!)