Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama does.
~~
Buildings were crumbling from devastation and neglect. For thirteen years things had been like this. People would rebuild a town, live a somewhat normal life, then the Androids would come and destroy it. And no one could stand up to them either.
No one, that is, except for a young man whose father was not of Earth. His name was Gohan Son, and he was the strongest being on Earth. Except that there were two Androids and only one of him. As strong as he was, he could not fight two opponents as strong and ruthless as the Androids on his own. But young Trunks was still too young to help him. Yes, Gohan had been placed on the battlefield before he was even half Trunks' age, but that was different. Back then, he wasn't really that much weaker than his opponents. Trunks, however, would only marginally prove to be more of a challenge than the normal humans the Androids usually slaughtered. Gohan was just glad that they couldn't sense ki or then he would have been hunted down and killed like a dog. Killed like his friends had been killed. Killed like so many people were killed every day.
But soon he would have to start training Trunks. It was inevitable. Trunks was a half-Saiyan, just like him, and he felt the call of battle as well. And Trunks was able to draw on a lot more pride in his Saiyan heritage than Gohan could. Gohan's father was Goku Son, a former World Martial Arts Champion and was still in Gohan's eyes the greatest hero Earth has ever had. Goku had been born under the name Kakarott on the planet Vegeta. His father was Bardock, a mere third class Saiyan warrior but one who was exceptionally gifted and was fast rising through the ranks. Trunks' father was Vegeta, the Prince of the Saiyans, and as such Trunks was able to have a lot more pride in his Saiyan heritage.
But he didn't. All he cared about was that he would have the strength to help Gohan when the time came, all because of his Saiyan heritage. The thirteen-year old demi-Saiyan hated what the Androids did to the people of Earth, but he knew that he was not strong enough to stop them just yet. And time was running out for the people of Earth. The number of humans grew less and less each day as the Androids destroyed city after city. They cut a slow swathe across the planet, then would start over. Some places they had only attacked once and had not yet returned to wreck it again.
For thirteen years Gohan had fought the Androids alone. He had only had help during that first battle, when the other Z Warriors were still alive. Oddly enough, the weakest of them all, Chiao Tzu, was the last to die. The Androids had left Gohan for dead, but he had only been unconscious. He had been found by Bulma and his mom and nursed back to health. The day he was able to get out of bed and move about on his own, he visited the graves that his mother, grandfather, and Bulma had erected for the fallen heroes. Thinking of how each of the Z Warriors had perished in battle had pushed him over the edge into the power that was that of a Super Saiyan. He lost himself in the rage the transformation was caused by, but he was finally able to harness it before it drove him insane. He did not rush into battle immediately with the Androids. He decided that he needed to make sure that his Super Saiyan powers would sustain him through the fight, that they would not fail him.
And so, Gohan returned to the island where Piccolo had trained him. It was the same island that Vegeta and Nappa had fought the Z Warriors when they first arrived on Earth, and it was the place that Gohan always felt the most at peace at. He had stayed there with Piccolo for the first year of his life away from home, and it was where he had gone when he was grieving over his father's death.
A heart virus had taken the life of Goku Son, the greatest hero Earth had ever had. Goku had faced the infamous Red Ribbon Army and tore them apart on his own. He had faced the evil Piccolo Daimou and killed him, though he had needed the Ultra Divine Water to boost his strength up to do so. And even then it had been a near miss. He had faced off Piccolo Daimou's son, Piccolo Junior, whom was now Gohan's mentor and second father figure, and beaten him to become the World Champion of Martial Arts. Goku was the man who had gone against his heritage and fought for others, for selfless reasons, against his own brother, and later on his prince. Goku had defeated the greatest tyrant the universe had ever seen in Frieza, and he had done it by becoming the first Super Saiyan in 3,000 years. He had even survived an exploding planet. And yet, in the end he was still shown to be mortal, his life taken from him by a deadly heart virus.
Gohan was determined to live up to his father's legacy of being a hero. He would destroy the Androids, even if it cost him his life. He was the lone remaining member of the original Z Warriors, the ones who defended the Earth from evil. His father had been the first Z Warrior, the first to step up to defend those who were outmatched and could not defend themselves. After the Androids had appeared, the entire planet was deemed as the helpless, and the Androids as the bad guys who outmatched everyone. Yes, the Androids were still stronger than he was when they worked together, but he could take either one of them if they fought one on one, if they fought fair. But they didn't. They just viewed all the destruction, all the killing, everything that they did as 'fun'. Just simply 'fun'. A game. Well, Gohan was a Saiyan warrior, and they didn't play games.
The Androids had had thirteen years to play games with the people of Earth, and with Gohan. It was time for that to end.
Gohan rushes towards Pepper City, pushing his speed to the max he could achieve without becoming a Super Saiyan. He would have transformed into a Super Saiyan, but transforming and maintaining the Super Saiyan state took up a lot of energy. He pushed everything that he could into his speed to get there faster. He could detect Trunks heading for Pepper City. Gohan had to get there as soon as Trunks did, or quicker. Trunks did not have the strength or the skill to stand up to the androids on his own. Gohan himself barely could, and that was only because of his intense training under Piccolo and his Super Saiyan transformation combined with years of experience fighting the Androids.
Trunks Briefs, the son of the Saiyan prince Vegeta and the human woman Bulma Briefs, reaches Pepper City only to find it decimated. The androids had already left. As far as he could see, there were no survivors. Landing, Trunks finds a doll left behind by a child. Clenching it in his hands, Trunks falls to his knees and weeps for all the death and destruction. A brief movement tickles his senses and he looks up to see Gohan land on the roof of a nearby decimated building. Trunks demands to know why the androids continued to do things like this.
~weeks later~
Gohan has been teaching Trunks all that he could, from fighting technique to how to control his Saiyan strength. He has also been trying to get the boy to reach the level of Super Saiyan, and he almost has. He was far more powerful than Gohan's father had been at that age. And if not for having become a Super Saiyan by then, Trunks would have been stronger than Gohan himself had been at that age.
Now they were off to face the androids at the theme park, Super World. Trunks was not quite yet ready for battle against the androids, so he would be standing back to let Gohan do the fighting. Trunks might have stood a chance against the likes of the Ginyu Force, Cooler's elite troops, or Frieza's first two forms, but against the androids he was severely outclassed.
They two demi-Saiyans land in front of the androids, after telling Trunks to stay back, Gohan begins to fight one on one with Android 17. The two clash, Gohan jumping into Super Saiyan to raise the bar in the fight. It matters little to Android 17, only that he will not have an easy victory. As the two fight, it begins to show that Gohan is stronger than Android 17, the stronger of the two androids. But just as Gohan gains the upper hand, Android 18 interferes and attacks him unexpectedly. Then the two androids begin to double team the Super Saiyan mercilessly. Trunks tries to stop 18, but she deals with him easily and returns to helping her brother deal with Gohan.
After a shower of ki blasts, Gohan and Trunks are hidden underneath some rubble, but still alive. Satisfied with their work, not knowing that the two demi-Saiyans were still alive, 17 and 18 return home.
When Gohan regains consciousness, he sees Trunks lying before him bear death. Gohan digs into his pouch of senzu beans, but only one whole one was in it. Gohan forces Trunks to swallow the senzu bean, then falls unconscious.
When Gohan awakens, he finds himself missing his left arm and lying in a bed. He is at Capsule Corps under the care of Bulma and Trunks. After he heals, he continues to train Trunks, trying to help the young demi-Saiyan to become a Super Saiyan. Trunks continuously fails, but he does not give up.
Then the androids attacked a town right in front of the two demi-Saiyans' training spot. Gohan instantly turned into a Super Saiyan. After trying to talk Trunks out of joining him, he knocks the young boy out and goes on to fight alone. The two androids overwhelm him, especially since he only has one arm, and they knock him to the ground and pelt him with numerous ki blasts. Eventually Gohan loses consciousness and the androids leave him for dead, thinking that he is dead.
Trunks finds him in this state and cries out in anguish. Loss and sorrow swells up inside him, turning into rage. Rage turns to power, and power transforms him into the pinnacle of the Saiyan race: the Super Saiyan. Trunks was now a Super Saiyan. He collapses to his knees in grief, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"Why, Gohan, why?" he demands, "why'd you have to knock me out? If you hadn't, you could still be alive right now!"
A small sound reaches Trunks ears. It is a groan. He rushes over to Gohan and presses his ear against Gohan's chest. There was still a heartbeat. Gohan was still alive! But if Trunks didn't act soon, Gohan would die.
Picking up his mentor, Trunks rockets into the sky in the direction of Korin's Tower. A senzu bean was Gohan's only hope. Trunks pushes himself into his newfound Super Saiyan state and blasts towards the far-off tower in speeds that he had never before achieved. Desperation and becoming a Super Saiyan could do wonders for ones speed.
Korin had one senzu bean left. Yajirobe had died a few years ago from the same heart virus that had gotten Goku, so Korin was now living alone in his tower. The senzu bean worked its magic, healing Gohan of his wounds, but it could not heal his spirit. That last battle with the androids had had him beaten. Even though Trunks was now a Super Saiyan, Gohan could not bring himself to continue the fight.
So Gohan began to train Trunks in the use of his new strength, and guided the young teen demi-Saiyan in coming of age in such a terrible world. Gohan would help Bulma build the time machine, and in secret they worked on a second time machine. Trunks had ultimately decided that he would be the one to travel back in time to give Goku the cure for the heart virus he would one day catch. Gohan couldn't go because he could not keep himself emotionally detached to keep no more than what Goku needed to know. Bulma could not go, because she knew she would blab everything and keep her past self and the past Vegeta from ever getting together and that would keep Trunks from being born. Trunks could go and keep the timeline secure up until the androids themselves would appear.
~four years later~
"Hey Trunks, you ready to go?" Bulma asks her son.
"Sure mom," Trunks answers, "I have the cure to the heart virus and everything."
"Hey Trunks," Gohan says, "take care, little bro."
"Sure thing, bro," Trunks grins, "so, what do you want me to tell your father?"
"Don't tell him that I'm alive," Gohan says, "tell him that they took me out of action, which is essentially true."
"Why?" Trunks asks.
"Thinking that everyone he knows and loves are killed or completely incapacitated by the androids will make him strive that much harder to become stronger," Gohan answers, "he will take the coming fight very seriously. He normally looks to each fight as a challenge, as something fun. If he sees the results of such thinking, then he will know that this battle will be just as serious as his battles with Piccolo Daimou, your father, and Frieza."
"My father," Trunks murmurs, "I'll be able to finally meet him."
"I wouldn't hold out much hope for him being what you expect," Gohan warns, "he was not the most agreeable man to be around. He did fight for Earth when the Androids came, but that was because he felt indebted to my dad. He saved my life that day, and prolonged the lives of Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiao Tzu."
"Still, I would like to meet him, to see what kind of man he is," Trunk replies, "I need to know."
Gohan nods. He understood Trunks' reasoning. If not for Bulma, he would constantly be wondering if his father would be proud of him, of giving up fighting the Androids simply because they had shown themselves to be his superiors with his missing arm. If not for Bulma having known his father so well, he would constantly be wondering if his father was proud of him.
"Go on, Trunks," Gohan says, "you know the time coordinates. Go back and change history, little bro. You'll be going to three years before the Androids, when Frieza and his father landed on Earth. It'll be about three hours before dad will arrive."
"Here Trunks," Bulma says, handing Trunks a wristwatch, "this will be able to hook up to the old satellite relays so you can will be able to determine where Goku will land."
"Thanks mom," Trunks says, strapping the wristwatch on and buckling on his sword.
"I still don't know why you insist on using that thing," Gohan says, indicating the sword.
"Well, we can block or dodge a punch or a ki blast," Trunks explains, "but we can only dodge a well-made sword like this, and as a Super Saiyan even the Androids can't dodge forever."
Trunks grins. "Plus, it looks cool."
Gohan laughs. "I should've known. Well, do what you want. Just remember the important information."
"May 12th, at 10 am the Androids will appear on a little island five miles south of South City," Trunks says, "give Goku the medicine for the heart virus and make sure he understands the seriousness of it all."
"Make sure to put the Androids in a light as being worse than Frieza," Gohan adds, "dad sometimes won't take something seriously, taking pleasure in the thrill of the fight. Frieza pushed him over the edge. If you can convince him that the Androids are even worse than Frieza, then he'll train seriously, like he did before I was born to fight Piccolo and when he was training to face your father and Nappa."
"Got it, Gohan," Trunks says, "lets get this show on the road."
"Trunks, honey, wait," Bulma says, pulling out a marker. She walks over to the time machine and writes a single word on it just above the capsule number.
Hope.
That was what this machine represented. Hope that they would be able to save billions of lives from the Androids, and to save the world from plunging into chaos. It represented hope that the great heroes of Earth, the Z Warriors, would be ready to face the greatest enemy they would ever face.
"Thanks mom," Trunks says, leaning over to give his mother a kiss on the cheek, "this'll keep me reminded of what I am going back in time for."
"And remember Trunks, use the second set of coordinates to go to when the Androids first appear," Bulma says, "that way you can help Goku defeat the Androids."
Trunks climbs into the time machine and takes off. The time machine enters the timestream in a brilliant flash of golden light.
"Don't you think you should have told him that by doing this he wouldn't be saving our world, but an alternate world?" Gohan asks Bulma
"No, it would have disheartened him," Bulma replies wistfully, "that's why I'm having him go to the time when the Androids first appear as well. By helping your father and Vegeta defeat the Androids, he'll learn how to defeat them in our time. He'll be able to get stronger without so great a risk of death. And he'll be able to train with your father and Vegeta."
"I just hope that all of this will be enough," Gohan sighs, "I still can't help but worry about him."
Bulma grins. "That's why we made the second time machine, remember? We're going to join him when the Androids appear. Give him moral support."
Gohan nods. "Let's go. Trunks will need the moral support, particularly if meeting his father disheartens him."
Bulma makes a rude noise. "Knowing his father, Trunks will be disillusioned by him."
Bulma and Gohan head to a set of stairs and go down them. There, in a spare lab, is a two-seater time machine, identical to the one Trunks had just used. They climb in and take off, heading back in time in a brilliant flash of pale golden light.
~~
Interesting idea, ne? If you like this, check out my other stories. Please review and let me know what you think.
~~
Buildings were crumbling from devastation and neglect. For thirteen years things had been like this. People would rebuild a town, live a somewhat normal life, then the Androids would come and destroy it. And no one could stand up to them either.
No one, that is, except for a young man whose father was not of Earth. His name was Gohan Son, and he was the strongest being on Earth. Except that there were two Androids and only one of him. As strong as he was, he could not fight two opponents as strong and ruthless as the Androids on his own. But young Trunks was still too young to help him. Yes, Gohan had been placed on the battlefield before he was even half Trunks' age, but that was different. Back then, he wasn't really that much weaker than his opponents. Trunks, however, would only marginally prove to be more of a challenge than the normal humans the Androids usually slaughtered. Gohan was just glad that they couldn't sense ki or then he would have been hunted down and killed like a dog. Killed like his friends had been killed. Killed like so many people were killed every day.
But soon he would have to start training Trunks. It was inevitable. Trunks was a half-Saiyan, just like him, and he felt the call of battle as well. And Trunks was able to draw on a lot more pride in his Saiyan heritage than Gohan could. Gohan's father was Goku Son, a former World Martial Arts Champion and was still in Gohan's eyes the greatest hero Earth has ever had. Goku had been born under the name Kakarott on the planet Vegeta. His father was Bardock, a mere third class Saiyan warrior but one who was exceptionally gifted and was fast rising through the ranks. Trunks' father was Vegeta, the Prince of the Saiyans, and as such Trunks was able to have a lot more pride in his Saiyan heritage.
But he didn't. All he cared about was that he would have the strength to help Gohan when the time came, all because of his Saiyan heritage. The thirteen-year old demi-Saiyan hated what the Androids did to the people of Earth, but he knew that he was not strong enough to stop them just yet. And time was running out for the people of Earth. The number of humans grew less and less each day as the Androids destroyed city after city. They cut a slow swathe across the planet, then would start over. Some places they had only attacked once and had not yet returned to wreck it again.
For thirteen years Gohan had fought the Androids alone. He had only had help during that first battle, when the other Z Warriors were still alive. Oddly enough, the weakest of them all, Chiao Tzu, was the last to die. The Androids had left Gohan for dead, but he had only been unconscious. He had been found by Bulma and his mom and nursed back to health. The day he was able to get out of bed and move about on his own, he visited the graves that his mother, grandfather, and Bulma had erected for the fallen heroes. Thinking of how each of the Z Warriors had perished in battle had pushed him over the edge into the power that was that of a Super Saiyan. He lost himself in the rage the transformation was caused by, but he was finally able to harness it before it drove him insane. He did not rush into battle immediately with the Androids. He decided that he needed to make sure that his Super Saiyan powers would sustain him through the fight, that they would not fail him.
And so, Gohan returned to the island where Piccolo had trained him. It was the same island that Vegeta and Nappa had fought the Z Warriors when they first arrived on Earth, and it was the place that Gohan always felt the most at peace at. He had stayed there with Piccolo for the first year of his life away from home, and it was where he had gone when he was grieving over his father's death.
A heart virus had taken the life of Goku Son, the greatest hero Earth had ever had. Goku had faced the infamous Red Ribbon Army and tore them apart on his own. He had faced the evil Piccolo Daimou and killed him, though he had needed the Ultra Divine Water to boost his strength up to do so. And even then it had been a near miss. He had faced off Piccolo Daimou's son, Piccolo Junior, whom was now Gohan's mentor and second father figure, and beaten him to become the World Champion of Martial Arts. Goku was the man who had gone against his heritage and fought for others, for selfless reasons, against his own brother, and later on his prince. Goku had defeated the greatest tyrant the universe had ever seen in Frieza, and he had done it by becoming the first Super Saiyan in 3,000 years. He had even survived an exploding planet. And yet, in the end he was still shown to be mortal, his life taken from him by a deadly heart virus.
Gohan was determined to live up to his father's legacy of being a hero. He would destroy the Androids, even if it cost him his life. He was the lone remaining member of the original Z Warriors, the ones who defended the Earth from evil. His father had been the first Z Warrior, the first to step up to defend those who were outmatched and could not defend themselves. After the Androids had appeared, the entire planet was deemed as the helpless, and the Androids as the bad guys who outmatched everyone. Yes, the Androids were still stronger than he was when they worked together, but he could take either one of them if they fought one on one, if they fought fair. But they didn't. They just viewed all the destruction, all the killing, everything that they did as 'fun'. Just simply 'fun'. A game. Well, Gohan was a Saiyan warrior, and they didn't play games.
The Androids had had thirteen years to play games with the people of Earth, and with Gohan. It was time for that to end.
Gohan rushes towards Pepper City, pushing his speed to the max he could achieve without becoming a Super Saiyan. He would have transformed into a Super Saiyan, but transforming and maintaining the Super Saiyan state took up a lot of energy. He pushed everything that he could into his speed to get there faster. He could detect Trunks heading for Pepper City. Gohan had to get there as soon as Trunks did, or quicker. Trunks did not have the strength or the skill to stand up to the androids on his own. Gohan himself barely could, and that was only because of his intense training under Piccolo and his Super Saiyan transformation combined with years of experience fighting the Androids.
Trunks Briefs, the son of the Saiyan prince Vegeta and the human woman Bulma Briefs, reaches Pepper City only to find it decimated. The androids had already left. As far as he could see, there were no survivors. Landing, Trunks finds a doll left behind by a child. Clenching it in his hands, Trunks falls to his knees and weeps for all the death and destruction. A brief movement tickles his senses and he looks up to see Gohan land on the roof of a nearby decimated building. Trunks demands to know why the androids continued to do things like this.
~weeks later~
Gohan has been teaching Trunks all that he could, from fighting technique to how to control his Saiyan strength. He has also been trying to get the boy to reach the level of Super Saiyan, and he almost has. He was far more powerful than Gohan's father had been at that age. And if not for having become a Super Saiyan by then, Trunks would have been stronger than Gohan himself had been at that age.
Now they were off to face the androids at the theme park, Super World. Trunks was not quite yet ready for battle against the androids, so he would be standing back to let Gohan do the fighting. Trunks might have stood a chance against the likes of the Ginyu Force, Cooler's elite troops, or Frieza's first two forms, but against the androids he was severely outclassed.
They two demi-Saiyans land in front of the androids, after telling Trunks to stay back, Gohan begins to fight one on one with Android 17. The two clash, Gohan jumping into Super Saiyan to raise the bar in the fight. It matters little to Android 17, only that he will not have an easy victory. As the two fight, it begins to show that Gohan is stronger than Android 17, the stronger of the two androids. But just as Gohan gains the upper hand, Android 18 interferes and attacks him unexpectedly. Then the two androids begin to double team the Super Saiyan mercilessly. Trunks tries to stop 18, but she deals with him easily and returns to helping her brother deal with Gohan.
After a shower of ki blasts, Gohan and Trunks are hidden underneath some rubble, but still alive. Satisfied with their work, not knowing that the two demi-Saiyans were still alive, 17 and 18 return home.
When Gohan regains consciousness, he sees Trunks lying before him bear death. Gohan digs into his pouch of senzu beans, but only one whole one was in it. Gohan forces Trunks to swallow the senzu bean, then falls unconscious.
When Gohan awakens, he finds himself missing his left arm and lying in a bed. He is at Capsule Corps under the care of Bulma and Trunks. After he heals, he continues to train Trunks, trying to help the young demi-Saiyan to become a Super Saiyan. Trunks continuously fails, but he does not give up.
Then the androids attacked a town right in front of the two demi-Saiyans' training spot. Gohan instantly turned into a Super Saiyan. After trying to talk Trunks out of joining him, he knocks the young boy out and goes on to fight alone. The two androids overwhelm him, especially since he only has one arm, and they knock him to the ground and pelt him with numerous ki blasts. Eventually Gohan loses consciousness and the androids leave him for dead, thinking that he is dead.
Trunks finds him in this state and cries out in anguish. Loss and sorrow swells up inside him, turning into rage. Rage turns to power, and power transforms him into the pinnacle of the Saiyan race: the Super Saiyan. Trunks was now a Super Saiyan. He collapses to his knees in grief, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"Why, Gohan, why?" he demands, "why'd you have to knock me out? If you hadn't, you could still be alive right now!"
A small sound reaches Trunks ears. It is a groan. He rushes over to Gohan and presses his ear against Gohan's chest. There was still a heartbeat. Gohan was still alive! But if Trunks didn't act soon, Gohan would die.
Picking up his mentor, Trunks rockets into the sky in the direction of Korin's Tower. A senzu bean was Gohan's only hope. Trunks pushes himself into his newfound Super Saiyan state and blasts towards the far-off tower in speeds that he had never before achieved. Desperation and becoming a Super Saiyan could do wonders for ones speed.
Korin had one senzu bean left. Yajirobe had died a few years ago from the same heart virus that had gotten Goku, so Korin was now living alone in his tower. The senzu bean worked its magic, healing Gohan of his wounds, but it could not heal his spirit. That last battle with the androids had had him beaten. Even though Trunks was now a Super Saiyan, Gohan could not bring himself to continue the fight.
So Gohan began to train Trunks in the use of his new strength, and guided the young teen demi-Saiyan in coming of age in such a terrible world. Gohan would help Bulma build the time machine, and in secret they worked on a second time machine. Trunks had ultimately decided that he would be the one to travel back in time to give Goku the cure for the heart virus he would one day catch. Gohan couldn't go because he could not keep himself emotionally detached to keep no more than what Goku needed to know. Bulma could not go, because she knew she would blab everything and keep her past self and the past Vegeta from ever getting together and that would keep Trunks from being born. Trunks could go and keep the timeline secure up until the androids themselves would appear.
~four years later~
"Hey Trunks, you ready to go?" Bulma asks her son.
"Sure mom," Trunks answers, "I have the cure to the heart virus and everything."
"Hey Trunks," Gohan says, "take care, little bro."
"Sure thing, bro," Trunks grins, "so, what do you want me to tell your father?"
"Don't tell him that I'm alive," Gohan says, "tell him that they took me out of action, which is essentially true."
"Why?" Trunks asks.
"Thinking that everyone he knows and loves are killed or completely incapacitated by the androids will make him strive that much harder to become stronger," Gohan answers, "he will take the coming fight very seriously. He normally looks to each fight as a challenge, as something fun. If he sees the results of such thinking, then he will know that this battle will be just as serious as his battles with Piccolo Daimou, your father, and Frieza."
"My father," Trunks murmurs, "I'll be able to finally meet him."
"I wouldn't hold out much hope for him being what you expect," Gohan warns, "he was not the most agreeable man to be around. He did fight for Earth when the Androids came, but that was because he felt indebted to my dad. He saved my life that day, and prolonged the lives of Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiao Tzu."
"Still, I would like to meet him, to see what kind of man he is," Trunk replies, "I need to know."
Gohan nods. He understood Trunks' reasoning. If not for Bulma, he would constantly be wondering if his father would be proud of him, of giving up fighting the Androids simply because they had shown themselves to be his superiors with his missing arm. If not for Bulma having known his father so well, he would constantly be wondering if his father was proud of him.
"Go on, Trunks," Gohan says, "you know the time coordinates. Go back and change history, little bro. You'll be going to three years before the Androids, when Frieza and his father landed on Earth. It'll be about three hours before dad will arrive."
"Here Trunks," Bulma says, handing Trunks a wristwatch, "this will be able to hook up to the old satellite relays so you can will be able to determine where Goku will land."
"Thanks mom," Trunks says, strapping the wristwatch on and buckling on his sword.
"I still don't know why you insist on using that thing," Gohan says, indicating the sword.
"Well, we can block or dodge a punch or a ki blast," Trunks explains, "but we can only dodge a well-made sword like this, and as a Super Saiyan even the Androids can't dodge forever."
Trunks grins. "Plus, it looks cool."
Gohan laughs. "I should've known. Well, do what you want. Just remember the important information."
"May 12th, at 10 am the Androids will appear on a little island five miles south of South City," Trunks says, "give Goku the medicine for the heart virus and make sure he understands the seriousness of it all."
"Make sure to put the Androids in a light as being worse than Frieza," Gohan adds, "dad sometimes won't take something seriously, taking pleasure in the thrill of the fight. Frieza pushed him over the edge. If you can convince him that the Androids are even worse than Frieza, then he'll train seriously, like he did before I was born to fight Piccolo and when he was training to face your father and Nappa."
"Got it, Gohan," Trunks says, "lets get this show on the road."
"Trunks, honey, wait," Bulma says, pulling out a marker. She walks over to the time machine and writes a single word on it just above the capsule number.
Hope.
That was what this machine represented. Hope that they would be able to save billions of lives from the Androids, and to save the world from plunging into chaos. It represented hope that the great heroes of Earth, the Z Warriors, would be ready to face the greatest enemy they would ever face.
"Thanks mom," Trunks says, leaning over to give his mother a kiss on the cheek, "this'll keep me reminded of what I am going back in time for."
"And remember Trunks, use the second set of coordinates to go to when the Androids first appear," Bulma says, "that way you can help Goku defeat the Androids."
Trunks climbs into the time machine and takes off. The time machine enters the timestream in a brilliant flash of golden light.
"Don't you think you should have told him that by doing this he wouldn't be saving our world, but an alternate world?" Gohan asks Bulma
"No, it would have disheartened him," Bulma replies wistfully, "that's why I'm having him go to the time when the Androids first appear as well. By helping your father and Vegeta defeat the Androids, he'll learn how to defeat them in our time. He'll be able to get stronger without so great a risk of death. And he'll be able to train with your father and Vegeta."
"I just hope that all of this will be enough," Gohan sighs, "I still can't help but worry about him."
Bulma grins. "That's why we made the second time machine, remember? We're going to join him when the Androids appear. Give him moral support."
Gohan nods. "Let's go. Trunks will need the moral support, particularly if meeting his father disheartens him."
Bulma makes a rude noise. "Knowing his father, Trunks will be disillusioned by him."
Bulma and Gohan head to a set of stairs and go down them. There, in a spare lab, is a two-seater time machine, identical to the one Trunks had just used. They climb in and take off, heading back in time in a brilliant flash of pale golden light.
~~
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