I'm so sorry for the delay of this chapter, most especially to Miss Lous who has been waiting for it for this for so long! I'm really sorry but I had a terribly hard time completing the chapter due to lack of inspiration. It's really hard when you don't get DBZ on TV anymore. *sad face*

Before I proceed, I would like to talk about some things --- heights, first off. Most of the sites I went to said that Trunks is 5'2", except for 'Temple O' Trunks' where he is estimated to be around 5'2" to 5'5" as Goku is around 5'7". Now, I don't believe Trunks is that short, because that would mean that he's only as tall as I am! Or short, rather. Since I'm not convinced, I decided to go about with the idea that he's 5'3". Second, about Kasumi's age. The past chapters said that she's seventeen, but that's only an estimate, since nobody knew exactly when she was born, even Hyouko who had raised her for ten years. Her exact age, however, is given at the end of the second scene. I just wanted to say that just to clear things out and avoid confusion.

Again, I apologize for the delay, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. If you have anything to tell me, all you have to do is review, but... *small voice* please don't hurt me!

Hikari No Will Power | Act Two, Chapter Two
Rumors, News, Speculations and Suspicions! The Birth of a New Champion of Justice!

Of all people in the Mirai timeline, he did not expect to meet the woman he had just seen with his own eyes --- and who, in fact, was still standing in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest authoritatively. He was about to open his mouth to tell her a word or two, when she cut him off sharply. "I don't want to hear any of your explanations, young man. Just leave the poor kid alone and mind your own business. I'm certain that does not include threatening people, especially those younger than you are."

"Chief!" a male police officer interrupted as he ran towards her, a wireless telephone in his hand. "It's Officer Touka!"

She took it, her sparkling blue eyes narrowing drastically at that development. It took her quite sometime to answer the other, for the caller immediately burst into a long babble --- and thanks to his sensitive saiyajin hearing, Goten realized that Touka was female. He immediately wondered what was wrong with the timeline he was in, for most of the police officers he came across were females.

"Those idiots," the new Chief of Police grumbled as she ended the said call, putting one hand on her hip as a sign of her annoyance. "They've never learned what to do at situations like this, when they've been trained for how many years. What techniques did Gashakura apply, I wonder? Spoonfeeding?"

"Well they certainly weren't effective, Chief."

"If this incompetence continues, it wouldn't take another robot to push our nation into a state of calamity and take away the lives of our loved ones. A terrorist or two will be enough to accomplish that, and the blame will fall on our shoulders," she blurted out in an edgy tone, handing the telephone back to her comrade. Suddenly, she turned around to leave, something snapping from within her, and the demi-saiyajin who was watching them quietly immediately knew what it was all about.

Gohan.

The phone rang again, startling the young man who holding it, and the officer immediately looked at his departing superior, presuming that the call was from Officer Touka, and that it was for the Chief of Police once again. "Chief Satan! Excuse me for a moment!" he called out, running after her. "I believe this is for you!"

She spun around to take the call, but after a few moments of listening to what the caller had to say, her eyes flew wide open in shock... and Goten could tell, even from a distance, that it definitely wasn't good news. She then threw the wireless phone away --- it landing a few feet away from the demi-saiyajin --- and without a word, she took off towards Capitol Hall, the alarm at the back of her mind ringing furiously in warning. Not knowing what exactly was going on, but feeling that he was needed, the young police officer sprinted after her.

Wonder what that was all about, Goten commented thoughtfully as he watched the two leave, when his gaze landed on the telephone that the policewoman trashed away without so as much thinking about its cost. His curiousity getting the best of him, he bent down to pick it up...

... and heard a voice that sent a dreadful shiver down his spine.

"Boom."

And a few meters away from where the demi-saiyajin was standing, a fiery explosion ripped Capitol Hall into shreds.

Not enouugh inforrmation in database to continuue. End of genetic analysis, page fouurr of fouurr. Prroceeding to prrint genetic map. How many copies?

"One."

Prrinting, page one of fouurr... page two of fouurr... page thrree of fouurr...

One of the top Ryuujin scientists in the facility, Ryuuhi, looked at the results with an astounded expression on his alien features. "I thouught they had been eliminated a long time ago, Masterr," he commented, narrowing his eyes in his attempt to confirm the unbelievable results. "At least, except forr one. Now therre's anotherr name forr uus to add in the list of suurrvivorrs."

Prrinting complete, page fouurr of fouurr. Prroceeding to storre data.

"No wonderr Kanrryuu insisted on taking herr in, and trrained herr to become his rright-hand. Now I see his plans clearrly," Ryuurai mumbled to himself, grinning inwardly as he found the answers to the questions he had asked himself time and again. "Althouugh he no longerr exists to puut them to action... and his pet is incapable of doing anything as well. Tsk, tsk. What a pity. They wasted theirr lives trrying to overrcome the most powerrfuul warrrriorr in the uuniverrse."

Data storred with auutomated passworrd. Initiating neuurro analysis.

"Masterr," Ryuuhi blurted out breathlessly, apparently finding something else in the genetic map that was laid out. He had not been listening to what the other had to say all along --- not that it was important --- because his mind was on something else that was of greater significance to him. As Ryuurai bent down to see what it was, the said scientist took another piece of paper which had the name Trunks Briefs-Vegeta on top of it and put the two results next to each other. "Is this what I think it is?"

The Ryuujin leader frowned. "It can't be."

Neuurro analysis complete. Name, Ten-Thirrteen. Age, sixteen yearrs ten months. Height, five feet one inch. Rrace...

Emotions ran through Yumi's face as she stared at the demolished Capitol Hall --- emotions that overlapped one another that it was impossible for Trunks to decipher the message she was trying to send out. She opened her mouth to say something, but the shock she was feeling only allowed her to say three short words: "We're too late."

He hesitated to do something about it, but only for a moment. He then put an arm around her in an attempt to provide comfort, even in his own little way. At least I can do something to make up for everything that I've done to her. I hope that this gesture will be enough for the moment, he thought, keeping himself silent.

To his surprise, Yumi looked at him and sighed. "Trunks, let's go back. There's no use staying here; what we were supposed to stop already happened, and there's nothing we can do to change that. Our risk of getting spotted grows higher by the minute, so let's get going," she told him, although it was in a quite hesitant fashion. "I don't want you to get in any more trouble than you already are now. Come on, let's get going."

"What about Goten?"

It made her frown. "What do you mean?"

"We're not just going to leave him behind, are we?" he asked, looking at the wreckage from where they were standing --- on top of a building forty stories high. He felt his friend's ki-signature, but for some reason he couldn't spot him. He only saw a blur of silver and turquoise that moved around the area with much speed that could only belong to a saiyajin. But Goten was wearing a white sweatshirt and dark green pants when he left, and those colors are nowhere near silver and turquoise, Trunks told himself.

"I don't see him anywhere," Yumi voiced out, trying her best to find their friend and leave the place as soon as possible. She then stopped and turned to Trunks. "He's not in trouble, is he? I mean, I didn't have a vision about him, but you two being the same kind of people you might have some kind of link..."

"Oh no, he's fine. I just felt..." he paused to follow the blur he had spotted earlier, which was still moving in and out of the wreckage, as if doing some sort of rescue mission. "... I thought I felt him nearby, but I was wrong. He's not anywhere near here, or at least I feel so. Let's go back now, I'm sure he'll be back home safe and sound. After all, he's not a popular figure in this timeline, so who'd ever think of going after him?"

"You're right. Let's go back home."

Trunks nodded, swept Yumi up into his arms, and prepared to carry her back to their little hideout. Before his feet left the ground, however, he spared a glance at Capitol Hall that was in ruins, and spotted the blur once again, still at what it was doing. Yeah, he's not a popular figure in this timeline, but then... I have a bad feeling about this.

She groaned, fluttering her eyes open as she did so, but realized to her dismay that her vision was still blurry, so she blinked a few times more to clear things out. Finally, her surroundings seemed to stabilize, and she found herself looking straight at the loud-mouthed policewoman, Officer Aira Touka. "What happened?" she asked, struggling to stand up as the other woman helped her out. "How many casualties from our side? Did the terrorists escape?"

"Zero from our side, Chief," Aira replied proudly, smiling at her. "A few civilians, but most of those who were in the building managed to get out alive. At least, managed to be pulled out alive. Shidoosha-sama's injured, but nothing serious to worry about. And the terrorists? Well... we've got them in chains right now. They said they're part of an internation group called Cessa --- now we have a name to go with the faces."

"How... did you manage to capture them all?" she questioned, disbelief evident in her features.

"Oh, we don't take the credit for that, Chief, as much as we'd like to. Someone came to our rescue, if I can put it that way. He rushed in and out of the establishment to rescue those who were stranded inside --- at a speed faster than the speed of light! It was unbelievable, Chief, but I saw it with my very eyes! And after he pulled out all the people that he could, he went after the terrorists and caught them red-handed. He brought them over to us, and all we did was pretty much tie them up and bring them in."

It sounded familiar to the Police Chief, whose sapphire eyes were narrowed in her attempt to identify who the mysterious superhero was. She then looked at her companion and inquired, "Did he say who he was? Or did he leave without stopping to answer a few questions from the press?"

Aira smiled. "He said he was the Great Saiyaman. And he did answer a few questions from the press." She then leaned forward to whisper to her superior in an excited tone, "If only he took off his helmet, Chief! I mean, he sounded like a total hunk! Now I'm looking forward for someone to actually unmask him! That is, if someone can outrun him in conquering the speed of light... but then again, we'll never know! You, for instance, Chief, have an impressive record in terms of speed --- maybe you can try to crack his helmet and see who he is!"

She waved her hand in dismissal. "Thank you, Officer. You may return to---"

However, Videl Satan was unable to continue her statement, for Aira pulled her towards the television that was stationed at a corner of the police station. She wondered what it was all about, when she saw the words News Flash! at the bottom of the screen.

"The international terrorist group identified by the Tokyo Police Force as Cessa bombed Capitol Hall half an hour ago, but they were caught red-handed almost immediately by Japan's new Champion of Justice, the so-called Great Saiyaman. He's extraordinarily strong, he travels faster than the speed of light, and he wears a ridiculous silver-and-turquoise costume --- but everyone's extremely grateful for his help and assistance, including Prime Minister Honoo Shidoosha who was saved by the new superhero."

"That's him, Chief," Aira interrupted, pointing at the costumed figure standing at the back of the reporter, conversing with another newscaster while scratching the back of his head, despite the fact that he was wearing a helmet. It seemed like a habit, although the female officer hardly noticed it. "I agree that his costume is ridiculous, but that's not what's important, right? I mean, he saved our lives, and the lives of other people, so we gotta thank him for that, not pick on what he's wearing."

Videl noticed the habit, however, and her eyes narrowed considerably once again. Superhero, Great Saiyaman, extraordinarily strong, faster than the speed of light, ridiculous fashion taste, habit of scratching the back of his head... she thought, pressing her lips together in deep thought. Why do all these clues add up to Son Gohan?

The younger policewoman looked at her quizzically. "Something wrong, Chief?"

Oh no, Officer, my dead boyfriend's just haunting me, she answered silently, then she shook her head, hoping that it, too, will shake everything else away. She turned to Aira and smiled assuringly. "I'm fine, just thinking of ways how to unmask this new Champion of Justice," she lied. "After all, we don't want to be forced out of business because of him, do we?"

Aira was about to comment on that when a journalist stepped into the station in search for the Police Chief. She was of average height, with short blonde hair and light blue eyes that were serious and thoughtful. The moment she saw Videl, however, her eyes lit up, and the old Erasa Ruberu seemed to bounce back to the surface. "Hey, Vi-chan!" she called out, running and waving to her friend. "Long time no see! How are you?"

"Busy with all these terrorist rif-raf," Videl replied, motioning to a chair for her visitor to sit down. "And of course, the transition of the government from Kaname's iron grip to Shidoosha's calm management. It's such a pain, really, and sometimes I find myself wishing that Kaname was still Prime Minister, despite his savage ways of making the world a better place. How about you?"

"Busy with all these terrorist rif-raf, too. There's so much to write about in so little time, it's such a pain. I mean, I was already at Washington, ready to write about the World Unification Conference, when the news of Kaname's death came. I then had to run back here to check things out, and then everything else surfaced." She grinned, nonetheless. "So what's up?"

"The sky."

That made Erasa raise an eyebrow. "Seriously, Vi. You know what I mean," she muttered before heaving a sigh. "Well, I'll just go straight to the point so we can get this thing over with. I was out there, interviewing the victims of the bombing and trying to snag some time alone with the Great Saiyaman, when something caught my eye. Luckily, I had my camera and I was able to take a picture." She stopped to take out a picture from her notebook, and handed it to Videl. "Tell me if they're who I think they are."

The policewoman recognized them, all right. "Yumi Kaname, and..." Her eyes widened. "Trunks Briefs-Vegeta?"