Chapter 109 - Instrumental Madness

The Palace of God, Earth

Several hours had passed in the outside world already. By Dende's estimation, it had been about nine hours outside already. This would mean that, inside the Room of Spirit and Time, the total time which had elapsed had been around 136 days. Inside that infinite chamber, Gohan, Trunks, Qirka, and Bulma had all spent around four months - allowing, of course, for error in calculation. The brief moment Bulma had opened the door to enter had likely thrown off the dilation by milliseconds, but it recalibrated the moment the door closed, and the space was separated again. They were inching ever closer to half a year. From Dende's perspective, this was nothing astounding; he'd seen multiple fighters endure the conditions of the Room of Spirit and Time more than once.

To the God inside Piccolo, however, it was still astounding.

"I've made it an entire year myself," muttered Piccolo, "but that dimension is not kind. It adapts, it never lets up. The only thing that can be trained to withstand the Room of Spirit and Time is your mind, not your body. Son Gokū managed only a month in his youth." He remembered, though not as vividly as if it had been his own memory, the two-hour absence of the young Saiyan, before he stumbled out of the Room of Spirit and Time, haggard and exhausted, and utterly unable to bear the taxation of that Room. "Though...I'm more surprised Bulma hasn't come screaming from that Room myself."

"If we're talking mentality," offered Dende, smiling as he held on to the staff which was once Piccolo's. "I think she could make it through an average human lifespan in that Room and retain her sanity."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't see her on Namek, Piccolo," said Dende. "I really haven't met anyone as stubborn as Bulma."

Piccolo frowned thoughtfully. This was the same woman who had brought an infant to the site of a battle, and nearly gotten him killed. Not being a parent himself, Piccolo knew nothing of child-rearing, though he had given it thought. Nameccians were a convenient species who could simply cast their eggs into a well-hidden marsh, or even underwater, and their children were able to fend for themselves from the moment of birth. While they were raised in communal villages, Piccolo was living proof that his species could fend for themselves. Regardless, he knew enough of Earthling children to know that Bulma had been reckless then, and it very likely did carry on into how she treated herself.

"You're likely correct," admitted Piccolo. "There's no one more stubborn than her."

"Except perhaps the late Vegeta," Dende added, earning a smile from Piccolo, who nodded. "I believe they will be fine."

"We shall see," replied Piccolo, as the ninth hour wore away into the beginning of the tenth hour. The proverbial dawn of their 152nd day should have begun as they'd concluded their conversation.

Gohan and Trunks would become more than strong enough. Quirka likely as well.

But would a mere year be enough for Bulma?

Room of Spirit and Time

Tomorrow would be five months.

Five months in a room that was hellbent on pushing the air from your lungs, sweating the water from your blood, and making every single step a pain to take. Bulma felt her body sweating, her muscles burning. Her hair, which had been tied into a ponytail when she'd first arrived, hung loose over her face, drenched in sweat. Five months of agony that was beginning to be something she could acclimate to. Yet in those five months, she couldn't say she had anything to show for it. Her skill in battle was currently theoretical. She'd analysed the battles of all of her close friends, based on advanced spy robots observing the image data at about a trillion frames per second.

Bulma could replicate the forms.

She could even manipulate ki.

Yet she lacked real, raw, experience.

And five months in, could still not maintain Super Saiyan.

Qirka was sparring with Trunks at the moment, high above the ground. Trunks, fully encased in the ki of a Super Saiyan God, had the edge. Qirka, however, was fighting well. As an infinite energy model of Android, she never tired, and was able to keep pace with the godly Trunks due simply to her immense stamina reserves. Trunks' own hesitance in battle, not striking to kill the woman who worked for his mother, also played its part. Were this not a mock battle, but a true life-and-death match, Trunks would have won much earlier than this.

Bulma watched their fight as best she could, unable to track the ki of either opponent, while she let her mind wander.

Is it something wrong with the treatment? Bulma wondered. She herself had been the first test subject of this genetic splicing experiment - to give Saiyan DNA to the Earthlings, and make it easier for her species to take up martial arts and ki manipulation. However, scarcely any other scientist on their planet had ever attempted this sort of experimentation before. The new Saiyan-half had never given any immediate thought as to why. Their technology, initially considered "low-tech" in comparison to some of the other civilisations in the galaxy, was still able to analyse the DNA molecule of any living species within a fraction of the time one would expect for such a large molecule. When it came right down to it, due to the initial similarities in every stand of DNA - as even humans and bacterium shared a staggering amount of similar material - there was hardly anything to worry about with separating and recombining DNA at the molecular level.

It had initially surprised Bulma to see this. The difference in genetic expression among the multitude of species that existed throughout just their galaxy made her believe that there should, in fact, be a massive amount of difference in the very base substance. But DNA, as old as it was, had finished taking shape when the first gods had taken their positions in the heavens, billions of years prior. Dr. Gero, when he crafted the creature known as Cell, must have seen this when he created a single solid strange of genetic material using the DNA of multiple fighters - Gero had manipulated the DNA the way an artist would their colours.

So combining the DNA artificially with her own should not have proven hazardous. The experiment should have been a success.

Why can't I maintain Super Saiyan?

"They're amazing to watch, aren't they?"

Gohan's voice snapped Bulma out of her introspection. The Saiyan-half, fresh from using the Room of Spirit and Time's built in bath, walked up to her, his eyes on the endless sky where Trunks and Qirka sparred. The Android woman wove through a series of punches levied by Trunks, placing both thin hands on his stomach. The sky ignited in light, enveloping the Super Saiyan God in a kikōha. Tbe sphere burst forward, carrying the man into he horizon. Qirka, watching him fly, ran a hand through her hair.

"I imagine it might be," said Bulma, honestly. "I can only really see anything once they've stopped."

Gohan laughed. "I figured as much. I can keep track of Trunks well enough. Even outside my God forms, I can get a feeling for it." He gripped the area around his stomach. "Even without using it, God ki has a profound effect on the body. I can feel, for example, that he's coming back right now—"

A jean-clad leg swiped over Qirka's head, barely missing her and slicing off a fragment of hair. She reached for the ankle, grabbing hold of it as the rest of Trunks came into focus. Both were grinning.

"—though I can't say how she knew," added Gohan thoughtfully. "I can't keep track of her at all. No amount of God power will let me feel an Android's energy."

"She most likely ran the calculations over in her head, analysing the most likely trajectories he'd strike from, and the best method with which to launch his counterattack," offered Bulma, thinking over Qirka's threat dispatching subroutine. "My son still thinks in a way that is predictable based on formulas and equations - almost everyone does. You'd have to run on pure instinct for Qirka to be unable to calculate it."

"That's brilliant programming," said Gohan, impressed. "How did you come to make her? I wasn't under the impression we'd be treading the same path as Dr. Gero."

"We aren't," replied Bulma. "I saved her life. She was a burn victim, and traditional medicine - especially before I'd made the advancements we have now - couldn't save her. She'd suffered fourth degree burns, and even the interior of her body was massively damaged by overheated gasses," Bulma paused, as Gohan's face contorted in horror, before continuing. "I'd already raided Gero's hidden labs. Trunks and Kuririn only destroyed the sublab containing Cell.

He had blueprints for multiple projects hidden across the planet, including his infinite energy generator, and details for a project No. 21," Bulma gestured upwards towards the ongoing battle. Trunks had just parried in incoming strike, pushing Qirka back with a violent lunge. "It was meant for a woman named Vomi. The corpse of a woman named Vomi. I used these blueprints to save Qirka, though it required immense adjustment. Even her brain has been altered. But she's alive." Frowning, she added, "You should also remember Gero kidnapped Nos. 17 and 18 when they were young. He was twisted. My methods are different."

Gohan noted the edge in her voice, and as a fellow scientist, he grinned wryly. "I'm know you're not doing anything unethical. By the way, after we handle this Black situation, I'm going to need you to review an upcoming thesis of mine. I might have discovered a valuable mineral even harder than diamond - and I'm researching ways to manipulate it "

Bulma relaxed. Remembering Gero never did her any good; he was a brilliant mind twisted by ambition, though she appreciated the irony of using his findings to save the world. "Sure. But let me take a bath, and then I want a one-on-one with you. I will get this Super Saiyan thing down."

She felt refreshed. Absolutely and utterly refreshed. Stepping out of the bathtub of the Room of Spirit and Time, Bulma felt the water slosh off her body, along with the fatigue. She looked at the bath curiously. In the time she'd spent in it, the woman surmised it wasn't simply normal water. The bath did not simply seem to heal the physical body, but the energies within the body which made up ki - her mind felt clearer, in addition to the physical cleanliness.

Why didn't I notice this months ago? She wondered. Was it because I was so...preoccupied when I got in? The idea was amusing. The fact that the bath had washed away her worries in addition to her tiredness had brought her more analytical mind to the forefront. Making. Note to analyse and duplicate this water, Bulma stood bare in front of a mirror.

Every inch of her was perfect. Flawless. Even the scarring on her arm, from where the initial adjustments had been made, could only now be seen upon very close inspection. She'd created a perfect hybrid vessel. Which meant Super Saiyan will come.

"The kids could do it when they were seven and eight," Bulma replied with a touch of bitterness. Getting dressed, the young woman walked out of the bathhouse. It was do-or-die now.

"Are we going to try your method again?" asked Gohan. Bulma was standing in front of him, clean and ready to try again. They were far enough from the building to avoid damaging it. "Recreating the sensation of the form, rather than the trigger?"

Bulma nodded. She wouldn't ever deny being an emotional woman, and could be set off very easily. But simply thinking about things to make her mad wasn't working. The practical solution worked best. Taking a stance, legs spread, and fists clenched at her side, Bulma began to focus her ki. She felt it run the course of her body, centralising inner spine, where it created that strangle, tingling sensation. Bulma held it there, focusing on that spot.

"URAGH!"

Involuntarily, she grunted, and the transformation overtook her body. Her hair, left to hang loose after the bath, began to flow upwards. She felt ki rushing from all areas of her body, beginning to concentrate at her back. It suddenly surged up her spine, collecting between her shoulder blades, and her vision was obscured by golden light. A feeling of immense, raw power surged through her body. The feeling repeated from her last attempt; Bulma felt normally unpronounced muscles bulk up, coupled with a feeling of immense stress and rushing anger. Something about it felt different this time, though. The surge of emotion from the Super Saiyan transformation was causing her to slip. Bulma tried to remember what Gohan had said the first time she'd transformed.

Reign in the passion, without losing the form!

These words were drowned out in a rush of gold.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Bulma shouted, fully and completely transforming for the first time. Her now-golden hued tresses were reminiscent of both her sons' Super Saiyan transformations, and golden flames surged around her. Gohan grinned, pumping his fist.

"That's it! You did i—" Any elation Gohan had at his second student's sudden achievement was drowned out by the fist which came his way. The Saiyan-half's eyes went saucer-wide. Bulma, her irises dilated, and zero-focused on him, was on the attack. Deflecting her strike with his wrist, Gohan backstepped immediately, narrowly missing her incoming roundhouse. "B-Bulma, what's going on?! Are you alright?" The reply she gave him was a clawing motion, trailing ki behind her fingernails. Avoiding the strike, Gohan frowned, his face pensive. He'd never met anyone who lost control of the Super Saiyan form before, and wished he could be far more excited for her first successful transformation. Yet now he needed to find a way to subdue her without causing her too much harm—

—which proved difficult due to her continued attempts on his life.

"Trunks! Can you lend me a hand? Your mother has lost her mind!"

"Truth be told," came Trunks' voice from high above, "I'm having a similar problem!" Trunks was fending off a feral Qirka, narrowly avoiding blows that were certainly aiming to kill. Qirka's eyes had entirely changed - the sclerae were pitch as night, while the irises were vivid crimson. Trunks was lost in confusion. It had happened when a missed strike of his had knocked off her glasses. Almost immediately, Qirka's entire demeanor had changed, and once it became clear she was unable to find the glasses, she'd just started attacking him madly. The Super Saiyan God found himself backing up as well; this woman was close to his mother, he couldn't fight her seriously without doing lasting harm. Thrusting both hands outward, Trunks released a powerful kiai - the invisible bundle of ki forced Qirka towards the ground.

Spiraling downward, Qirka landed with catlike poise and grace. Her gaze locked on Trunks, the woman's artificial energy began to rise, and she became enveloped in a black aura, outlined in crimson. The ensuing transformation was not only physical, but aesthetic as well; Qirka's pale skin turned bright pink, and her checkered outfit phased away, revealing a black tube top, while she kept her normal black arm sleeves, the Android gained white baggy pants, as well as black shoes with gold heels. Sliding out, snakelike, from the base of her back was a thick, muscled tail.

Gohan recognised the transformation immediately.

"Bulma," he groaned. "You used some of Majin Bū's DNA, didn't you?"

Trunks descended, standing next to Gohan, who had not yet transformed. Saiyan and Saiyan God grinned ruefully.

"How are we doing to do this?" asked Trunks.

"Still working that one out," replied Gohan.

"Let"s work together then,," suggested Trunks.

"I was about to suggest that myself," Gohan agreed. Their decision came at the perfect time. Bulma seemed thrown off at first by Qirka's sudden descent and transformation, but quickly recovered. Both of her hands were coated in thick ki, and she discharged a rapid fire of kikōha, the horizontal rain rushing towards the two.

"That's Vegeta's te—!" Gohan was caught by surprise, his sentence drowned out by the ensuing explosion as missile after missile of ki hit home. Gohan swiped them away, light and smoke bending around his hand. He was beginning to suspect exactly whose Saiyan genetic material Bulma had used for her own splicing.

Qirka launched into the fray as well, seeming to move with the kikōha towards Trunks. She swept her arm along the ground of the Room of Spirit and Time, trailing darkened ki with it. Bullets erupted from her strike, traveling in a large arc. Trunks felt the exploding spheres collide with him, bombarding him with force.

Voth women were using clever manoeuvring, obscuring the men's senses with light and sound. It meant nothing for Bulma, whose rampaging ki shone like a beacon, working against her attempts to use the smokescreen. For Qirka, it was perfect camouflage.

She snaked through the smoke, her hand latching onto Gohan's neck. Erupting from the plume, Gohan clutched in her grasp, Qirka hissed furiously. She began to spin, using the centrifugal force to launch Gohan into the horizon. Spiraling out of control, the purple-clad Saiyan emitted ki to steady himself in time to see a pink appendage swinging downward.

Arms raised to defend parried the blow, forcing Qirka back in time to see Trunks taking a step backwards - that single step turned into a large bound, keeping away from his mother's rampaging grasp. Bulma catapulted herself forward, almost rolling like a sphere, trying to reach one of them, any one for a target. Her black-gloved hands trailed Super Saiyan ki behind them, discharging bullets and blasts at odd intervals. Trunks and Gohan stood back to back, avoiding the hellfire and watching each opponent carefully.

"Can my mother sense ki?" asked Trunks.

"Not well, no," replied Gohan. "And I don't believe Qirka can either, she has to rely on her eyes as well as biological readings."

"That's good," breathed Trunks. "Then please cover your eyes."

Gohan followed instruction without complaint, and the words of a technique he knew well filled his ears.

"Taiyōken!"

Gohan couldn't see it, but the darkness pressed against his eyelids did redden slightly. From Trunks' whole form emanated a brilliant white light, strengthened by his Super Saiyan God form, and Trunks appeared as if he was a being of light himself. The effect was instantaneous. Bulma's vision was filled with emptiness, so bedazzling that it caused her actual, physical pain. Qirka, if anything, was worse; her injuries had made her retinas sensitive, moreso than even a creature that possessed compound eyes, and the mechanic affixations Bulma had made offered no shut down in case of an overload. Why would they? No being, mechanical or flesh, was meant to take in so much light at once, and the Taiyōken was not a technique often thought about: Bulma had overlooked it.

Qirka reeled back, her hands over her eyes, howling in rage. She couldn't see. Her sensors, which operated via visual feedback, were no longer functioning, overloaded from the Taiyōken. Gohan and Trunks had one single chance.

"Now!" Trunks called out. Gohan opened his eyes, and it was a testament of the strength of Trunks' god-enhanced Taiyōken that there was still a trace of the ardent technique in Trunks' form. He moved first, practically materialising behind Bulma, and chopping her promptly at the base of the neck. Bulma's body went limp, her muscles seizing. Her eyes rolled back, and the woman fell unconscious, her Super Saiyan form dissipating as it went, returning the woman to her base state.

Trunks followed after Gohan, unsure at first of how to proceed about knocking a cyborg unconscious. He mimicked his teacher, striking Qirka firmly in the back of the neck. To his immense relief, it worked; Qirka's enhancements, unable to proceed the sensory overload of the Taiyōken in addition to the strike at the nerve centres in her neck, responded by allowing Qirka to slip into an unconscious state. To her mechanically-enhanced body, it was functionally similar as entering a low-power mode. She slumped to the floor next to her mistress, and Qirka's transformation began to recede. The tail slithered back into the base of her tail bone, her skin regained its usual complexion, and her hair darkened, becoming deep brown again.

"I really wish someone would explain what just happened," grumbled Trunks, collapsing onto his rear and staring, amazed, at the two women. "I've never see someone lose control when they become a Super Saiyan, much less...whatever happened with Qirka." He wiped sweat from his brow, and, exhaling deeply, released the Super Saiyan God transformation. His fatigue all seemed to double, but he didn't care. He needed to conserve energy. "Gohan, any ideas?"

"No, I've never seen it either," replied Trunks' teacher. "I know that Super Saiyan enhances a Saiyan's already savage emotions...it brings out raw, unfiltered emotion and channels it into power. But this isn't always the case - I'd hoped, since Bulma was an artificial hybrid, we might skip that aspect entirely."

Weakly, Trunks shrugged. "It's impolite to say it, but I've heard that Mom used to be very easy to anger. I never saw that side of her in the future," he added, smiling bitterly. "Even when I made the stupidest mistakes. When I almost got us both killed, you and I, she never scolded me. Never yelled at me. No, she tended to my wounds, waited by my bedside the entire time, and calmly proved her point." Trunks sighed. "But I heard she was different when she was younger. Maybe her tampering with her own DNA amplified those emotions."

Gohan nodded thoughtfully. Unlike Trunks, he did have experience with Bulma's flashing emotions, though less than Kuririn implied she used to be. Everytime she wanted to be emotional, Bulma seemed to remember how young Gohan had been, and tried to reign it back. "You're likely spot on," said Gohan. "But Qirka...we'll have to talk with Bulma about this when she wakes up."

Bulma sat bolt upright, inhaling rapidly. Taking note of her surroundings, she realised she was no longer outside, training with Gohan.

"I'm..."

"...taking a bit of a break," replied Gohan himself, who had been sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. "You put up quite a fight."

"What happened...?"asked Bulma quietly. "I remember...a sort of rush of power...then everything went blank."

"You managed to turn Super Saiyan," Gohan said, before continuing, "but you so tried to break my spine. All in all, I'd score you about 30 points." His tone was light and casual, making it clear he didn't blame Bulma for her lapse in control. If anything, the look in Gohan's eyes was understanding.

"Super Saiyan does that to the best of us, especially the inexperienced," said Gohan. To be frank, your control issues were the least concerning thing about that whole ordeal. What happened with Qirka? How did she lose control like that? And why was she just like Majin Bū?"

Bulma frowned. "So it did happen?"

"You expected that?"

"A side effect of the reconstruction," said Bulma mildly. "Almost like my fluctuation in attitude as a Super Saiyan. When I made my adjustments to Qirka, the blueprints ready included information similar to Cell. She had genetic information from multiple sources, but one I discovered that was potent was Majin Bū.

Not only did his genetic material possess immense life energy, it was binding," said Bulma. "It responded even better to the splicing than Saiyan DNA, and is the core that anchors Qirka's adjustments together. But those cells have an adverse effect...they create hunger, maddening, driving hunger. I managed to reduce the ill effects, and Qirka is generally able to keep them under control - so long as she wears the glasses I gave her."

Bulma frowned, pensive.

"Removing them triggers the cells response that you witnessed, and I've yet to figure out why. I don't even have a working hypothesis."

"You hoped training with us would help her control it?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah," Bulma nodded. "This training is meant for both of us."

"Then it's a good thing Trunks is working on it," Gohan grinned. "He's bright, and deduced much of what you told me on his own. He's training with Qirka now. Which leaves me free to help you."

Bulma felt a strange sense of pride in that boy. Her son had worked this out before she'd even said anything. Yeah, that was definitely her child. "What do you mean, help me?"

"We have seven months left. Plenty of time for you to master Super Saiyan — if we're lucky, we'll push you to Super Saiyan 2."

Beerus floated in a void of endless black. In the horizon, the sky churned, stormlike. Where it began, he couldn't tell. Where it ended, he didn't know. This space was time. Ever-expanding. Every flowing. Utterly ceaseless and as vast as eternity.

The Time Abyss.

Suspended in front of him was a crystal. Lavender in hue, spinning softly and illuminating this world as the only source of light. Encased inside the crystal was an interesting sight - or at least, that may have been how it was best described. The bare form of a young woman, a Shinling, rested inside. She had purple skin, short, reddish hair, and was devoid of any covering. Beerus knew her. Every god was aware of her.

Among the oldest of their kind, she governed time. The ebb, the flow, and the multitude. Within this crystal, having forsaken consciousness billions of years prior, the Kaiōshin of Time rested here.

Even though she could not speak, she was aware of Beerus. He knew this, as the Hakaishin could see...visions. Scattered all around this space. None of it mattered directly to him, but it seemed perhaps, related to why he had come.

A scarred Saiyan, rampaging through soldiers clad in Combat Jackets, shouting for Freeza.

That other Saiyan, Son Gokū, but much smaller, fighting a Nameccian who towered over him. The two fought ferociously for ones so weak, the fate of a planet in their hands.

Freeza, alive, and well. Clad in golden light, he fought against Gokū, who was a Super Saiyan wearing the ki of the gods.

Son Gokū and the Saiyan prince, Vegeta, fighting in what appears to be be World of the Void, against a grey-skinned alien wearing a form-fitting red and black suit.

A Cerelean, poised over the Dragon Balls, sacrifice portions of his life for the sake of revenge.

Son Gohan, with ridiculous grey hair, releasing a spiraling beam at a rampaging monster who so resembled that Cell creature.

Beerus was seeing time. Another timeline, it seemed. Not the one he was in, but one parallel. Sifting through these visions, almost as if one would through a book, the Hakaishin focused on why he was here.

The mysterious Saiyan, misusing godly artifacts.

Beerus needed to know who that man was.

As if in response to his thoughts, to Beerus' desires, a new vision shifted before his eyes. Taking in the information quickly, Beerus realised he'd made a grave error. The Hakaishin and Sozōshin together should have thought more carefully.

Beerus grimaced. He was filled with righteous indignation.

What have you done to the flow of time?

A/N: Another very fun chapter for me to write. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I don't get a lot of moments to simply write characters speaking, as opposed to fighting or trying to kill each other, and having even a few moments to do that early on was refreshing, let me tell you. I'll mention this now, before anyone asks; I've seen the new film. I hate it, I think it is ridiculous and an insult to the series, but I have seen it. No, I will not use plot points or forms from it in Erased. Gohan and Piccolo have their forms here, and the Red Pharmaceuticals is not of much use to me.

Now I think the most interesting thing in this chapter was Chronoa. It is inspired, partially, from the Soul King, as well Fairy Heart, from BLEACH and Fairy Tail respectively. I don't much care for XenoVerse, but I don't mind making use of concepts as I see fit.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you very soon, in the next exciting chapter of the Erased Chronicles.