Continuity

Chapter 95: Cruel Flow

A/N: New arc! And... a new place?


She was gone. He was gone.

'Rayne!' Krillin's words and hands slammed into the glass, the last of his strength as his pierced right knee rested uselessly on the seat behind him. He had crawled and dragged and pulled himself to the cockpit's boundaries, just barely getting his head high enough to clear the ringing console and see through the glass — and she was gone. Featureless starry white and black streaks like a fabric stretched to the ends of the universe ran unendingly across his vision.

He was traveling. He was gone.

Krillin slowly settled back into his chair, pulling his leg out from under him. and closed his eyes. 'Rayne…' He sounded small. Weak. Like he was an acolyte in the temple so long ago…

'...' A flicker of anger touched his face, catching on his mouth, then blazing in his eyes. He leaned back with a grief-stricken face and examined his knee, running a hand over the puncture wound, cringing from the pain. He took off his orange overshirt, tore it in half, and wrapped it around his joint. It wouldn't make it move right soon, but at the very least it would stop the bleeding.

Survive… the word echoed in his mind as he drew back into his chair, eyes scanning the surface of the controls circling him. He noticed the color shading the cockpit had changed and he started pulling himself up towards the glass again. What… What is this?

Gone were the white and black streaks. In their place was… green and brown and vile smearing across the time machine's glass. Fog-like coils of color warped past his vision, tainting his view as it passed, and petered into a wider expanse of swirling sick-looking miasma. Every direction, no matter when he turned, was the same. Just… that. That and nothing.

To Krillin's surprise he had some adrenaline left — as he crawled back into his chair to get a better look at the console he was leaning on, his fingers shook as they brushed dust-choked displays and rusted dials. He found a squat rectangle, and he wiped its glass clean with his thumb.

Date: Age 781.

18 years into the future.

He had no idea how the time machine worked. This… this couldn't be Earth, could it? All this… waste? None of it looked breathable.

Think, Krillin. What had Rush said? The planet was destroyed by Gero. There's nothing left. Krillin traced another cloud of what must have been choking and unbreathable air smear across the glass. Nothing lives there anymore. Nothing.

What had Traveler said? Three calamities… one final one that brings an end to the Earth as we know it… 10 billion people on the planet I left...

A minute passed before Krillin got control of his racing mind. First he tried to send the ship back — back to his time and everyone and Rayne — but he couldn't understand the dials and buttons and counters, half of them broken and half near to, all of them covered in layers of grime and sludge. That Rush had used this in the first place was unbelievable.

Krillin stared out the window again. The green and brown fog slowly passed by the time machine, leaving faint marks on the glass. He guessed he had half a day's worth of oxygen inside the time machine before he started to run out of breathable air. Nothing around him looked like it could take the foul-looking air outside and make it clean. Nothing indicated that the air outside him wouldn't kill him through his lungs. He was on a time limit.

But knowing he had hours and not minutes to save himself gave him a calm mind and steady hands. Once the initial rush of energy wore off he found he could make sense of some parts of the machine. What he assumed was the part of the vehicle that made it time-travel took up the vast majority of the console's surface. But beneath the counter on his right was a series of scalable switches and tuning dials and a single inscribed metal plate — what he read as communication gear. Judging by the small overhead light flickering in-and-out above him, the ship still had power. He could send a signal if he could figure out how exactly to do that.

Question was, was that a good idea?

He had no idea where he was or whether he was on the Earth or not; he had no clue if the Androids or the PTO or anyone else had made this place unlivable. There might not be help out there for him. Even worse; the help that came might not be friendly at all. By all respects it looked like he had traveled into a graveyard. What kind of people would be on a planet like this?

There were more questions he could have asked — more doubts, fears, or considerations he could have thought through. But he was on a time limit. Either he rolled the dice or not at all, and not at all meant dying. Slowing fingers tried some buttons until finally finding a repeater and pressed it so that the time machine would cycle through every signal, every frequency, on every channel. Low static and the sound of tuning switches flicked through filled the cockpit. As he fell back into his chair he felt the dull pain in his knee spread through his body, pumped along through his veins into his arms and his brain and his heart — but the pain came in time with his own exhaustion, accompanying each other like two pieces of a puzzle snapping together. With both, he slipped asleep.

0o0o0

Awash in light. So much sound and shadow. He turned against the precipice towards the sky to track the descent. A black dragon. A growing dragon made of green and smoke and death. It reared in the air like a mighty arc of lightning, spreading its wing-bourne sickness on polluted air, and charged back down, body bucking and curling with whispers trailing and mouth rearing…

The dragon… the Eternal Dragon, but…

Krillin woke with a start and shot up in his chair — no, a metal chair. He wasn't in the time machine. Among the thick gloom wherever he was there was too much space, too much room. Couldn't see…. couldn't see...

'Don't move.'

A figure approached, separating from the darkness, stepping under a dim light dangling from above. Black and grey and white hair all strung together and tangled flowed from his scalp and around his tanned, lined, worn face. And he had a rifle — pointed at Krillin.

'Who are you?'

'...You're the one who?...' Krillin groggily looked around. 'Where are we?...'

'Who. Are. You?'

Nothing of what he saw, from the weathered man to his strange-looking sleek gun and ratty attire to the patchy floor or the odd-shaped light was recognizable, save for one thing. The emotion in the man's eyes was… familiar. Krillin had seen it before. He couldn't place it, but he knew he had faced it once before. The sense of fear and despair and unbreachable anguish. The stubborn hope that carried on anyway. On the floor of that tournament hall long ago, even as the eyes they lived in fell shut from pain.

Somehow he knew. He met the man's sharp gaze. '...Retu? It's me, Krillin.'

Any threat Krillin felt passed; the rifle's tip dropped out of the man's hands — Retu's hands, Krillin now saw. Uncountable years older than he'd last seen him, scarred, thin, and… sad. Remarkably sad.

'That's what I thought,' Retu said, chewing on his lips, falling back — into a chair that rested just beyond what the light illuminated. Half of his face, his body was visible. 'That's what I feared.'

'Feared?'

Retu sighed and shook his head for longer than Krillin anticipated; longer than he'd ever seen in a conversation. It was clear he was overwhelmed. 'I don't even know where to start,' Retu continued. 'You're in the future. I don't know how, but you're here.'

'...the future?'

'Age 781, to be exact.'

'...Right, that's what I read in the time machine,' Krillin half-muttered to himself. 'So… you're?...'

'40 years old.'

'...'

'I look worse, right?'

'...I don't want to say it.'

Retu grunted. 'It's true, anyway. But that's true of everyone still alive.'

Krillin's eyes lit up. 'There are others?... When I saw what I thought was… well, I'm not sure what that looked like, I assumed—'

'You're wondering, aren't you? You're wondering if this is Earth?'

Krillin quieted.

'It is.'

'Oh.'

'We were lucky,' Retu said. Dark patches in his skin circled his eyes. He looked like a sick gravedigger. 'Everyone else on the planet, wasn't. I…' he sighed, leaning back in his chair, throwing his entire face into darkness. 'I don't even know how to begin explaining…'

'It began with Gero and his Androids, right?' Krillin asked. 'I… I learned about them before coming here.'

'...Them, yes,' Retu said. His slowness seemed deliberate, but whether he meant to emphasize his words or was just caught up in a thought he wasn't sharing wasn't clear to Krillin. 'Dr. Gero of the former Red Ribbon Army took over the planet. A few years later a war broke out between him and his creations and the Planetary Trade Organization. Every human on the Earth had the choice to die or turn into Gero's cybernetic warriors, slaves to his will, forced to fight in a war as tools — until they all died, too. Some sort of weapon was unleashed on the Earth from space. What little livable land was left that wasn't industrialized or leveled for planetary defenses was incinerated, totally.' Retu edged forward, throwing dim light across his face. 'This planet is dead. Nothing lives on it anymore and for the rest of my life nothing will.'

Krillin's hands were wound together so tightly his knuckles were turning white. It was awful — he was angry, even though his right knee was shot and he didn't feel well himself. This shouldn't have happened. Earth shouldn't have been lost. It should have been…

...Should have been. There's nothing guaranteeing that, is there? The Namekians knew what they were talking about, years ago — the galaxy was a dangerous place. Either you fought when facing it, or you lost what you had. That was the way of things. In this timeline, they lost. We lost.

'I'm sorry,' Krillin said finally, trying to put to rest his melancholy.

'It happened,' Retu said. He looked blanker than he must have felt, but Krillin knew that look had been practiced long enough to let anything substantive through. 'Those who are left — me, Launch, Recoome, Mark, Videl, and Marron — have tried to persevere.'

It was surreal — utterly, totally surreal — to see someone he knew so much older, more worn, and dulled to pain. Krillin couldn't even begin to imagine what this Retu had gone through. He didn't want to imagine. Retu's eyes kept focusing and relaxing, like trying to see through a shrouded hallway layer by layer. It looked rote.

'We all tried our best,' Retu said, almost wistful, glancing towards the ceiling.'We all did the best we could.'

'That's… that's it?' Krillin shifted. 'Six of you? That's all who's left? But… Marron? She's alive? She'd be…' Krillin started tearing up, 'oh Kami, she'd be 22… Retu, I have to —'

He cut him off with a raise of his hand. 'There's no way to contact her, I'm afraid. All six of us are hunted by the PTO. We agree where and when to meet in advance and we're not due to meet for another few months.'

'So… then you're alone on your ship?' Krillin asked, looking around in an effort to see into the gloom. 'This is your ship, right?'

'It is.' Retu's nose twitched. 'Are you hungry?'

'Not really.'

'What about your knee? I splinted it as best I could.'

Krillin glanced down. Retu had. 'I—'

Retu stood. 'I'm going to get you something to drink then. I have some packets lying around somewhere…'

0o0o0

Krillin found out he was thirsty when he accepted Retu's stained white cup of tea. It objectively tasted terrible but it was nice to drink something warm when he felt so cold. It was like he was slowly being thawed out of a glacier, emerging into a new world frigid and scared.

Retu had thrown on the rest of the lights in the room: the room they were in was some sort of cargo hold full of raw materials and scrap parts. If it was a part of a ship Krillin didn't recognize it as anything he'd seen lying around at Capsule Corp. Then again, if this was 18 years into the future and the Earth was ruined, then that place and everywhere else was rubble, and...

Rayne… Krillin put the cup down, grimacing. I need to get back to Rayne… she has to be alive...

The sound of Retu's own cup landing on the folding metal table between drew them back the present. 'So.' He stared. 'I need to ask you a question.'

He looked the same as he did when they began — warring with himself. Krillin reminded himself to breathe.

Retu opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. 'I was ready to kill you before, you know. I had blamed you for killing Suno.'

'What?'

'She's dead, isn't she?'

Krillin blinked. '...What?'

'She's dead.' He stated matter-of-fact, like it was known, but… he was looking at him, as if he expected some sort of response. Confirmation. 'Because that's why you're here, right? Otherwise Suno would have come back…' a sour curve dragged on his mouth. 'But you look too confused to know what's going on. You really don't know?'

'...I'm still not sure what you're talking about,' Krillin said. 'I never met an older Suno in my time — or, I don't think I did.'

'You would have known if you had met her — it would have been part of the plan.'

'Plan?'

Retu shook his head. 'It doesn't matter. Not now. She must have —'

'She would have used the time machine I used?' Krillin asked. 'Arrived in my time with it, that is?'

'Yes.'

'I didn't meet her. I met someone different.'

Retu's eyes flashed brilliant and frantic all at once. 'Different? Who was it?'

'Yeah. Someone named Rush. He first arrived in my time a few months ago. He…' Krillin described what he looked like; as he did a weight settled on Retu's features. He hoped that would calm Retu. He was wrong.

'I… have no idea who that is.' Retu checked his cup and drank the last of his tea. His movements were jerky. 'That's— that's not possible.'

'What do you mean, not possible?'

Retu sighed and closed his eyes. 'I can't explain everything. I would need years to explain everything.'

'I don't need to know it all,' Krillin said. 'I just… need to know enough to make sense of what's going on. With this planet — with you. And with the time machine...' Krillin leaned in, trying to hold Retu's attention. 'Why is it not possible Rush and not Suno visited my time?'

'...' Retu sighed again. 'The short version is that Suno and I stumbled onto the time machine while scrounging for parts and supplies here on Earth and fixed it up. On the day Suno was supposed to go, I left her and the time machine on a remote island, far away from…' Retu chewed his lip. 'Kami…'

'What?'

'There's a PTO outpost on the Earth,' Retu forced out. 'They like to keep tabs on the planet and if anything else Gero created worms out of the ground. Besides that, though, there's no one else living on the planet. If anyone killed Suno and made the trip in her place, it would have been someone at that base, but… who you described doesn't sound like a PTO soldier.' Retu shook his head. 'Not at all.'

'Then what does he sound like?'

'Someone who shouldn't exist, frankly.'

'I wish I had more to tell you,' Krillin said. 'I only learned about him a few hours before he attacked me, and—'

'He attacked you?' Retu asked, straightening. 'He was the one who did that to you?'

'He put me in the time machine, too, and sent me here.'

'... I need to ask another question.'

Retu stood and crossed the room. After throwing a few things out of a pile he dived down and pulled out a cracked, fading, almost dead tablet and showed it to him. 'Was it him?' He asked.

What he saw was a crude drawing. Nothing more than a head, shoulders, and red scar that devoured an eyebrow and raced up far beyond his hairline.

'...'

'Was it him?'

'No. But he — that man came to my time before Rush. Several months before. His name was Traveler.'

'Traveler?' Retu put aside the tablet. He seemed… disappointed. By the time he sat again his urgent energy was gone. 'Well... what did this... "Traveler"... do?'

Krillin steadied himself with his breathing, recalling that day in the desert. 'He defeated the Saiyans, turned… golden, and forced them away. Then he told us about these… calamities.' he explained; the Saiyans, what we learned later were the Androids, and a final conflict that would destroy the Earth' — the war between the PTO and Gero, Krillin now realized, that had happened in this timeline.

'So that was where our timelines diverged,' Retu inferred. 'Traveler was the first time traveler in my time. It would make sense that whenever he first appeared in your timeline is when things started to change.'

'Um…' Krillin's head started swimming. He knows… Traveler?... and not Rush?... Whether it was because of his injury or the sheer amount of information being thrown at him, he started to feel dizzy in his chair. 'I think I need to take a break,' he said. 'This is all... a lot.'

'Of course. Go take a walk around the ship, It'll help you clear your mind. Oh, and —'

Retu rose again and shot off to another pile of junk. Several seconds later he returned carrying a very old but very familiar set of crutches. Krillin couldn't believe they had survived all these years.

'These should take the weight off your knee.'

0o0o0

The ship wasn't actually that big. This level, at least. There was a ladder that went up to a bridge from what he pieced together. On this floor, there was the cargo hold where he'd woken up, a closet with sour-smelling tubs of liquid — maybe fuel? — a bathroom he didn't enter, and a faded, empty room that Krillin judged by its rust stains had once had furniture riveted to the walls. There was nothing in it. He wouldn't have even bothered to enter sideways with his crutches if not for the view.

A glass panel curved along the room's exterior, larger than anything Krillin had ever seen in a ship before. Wherever they were, on whatever peak or hill they were on, Krillin could see a faint blue sky and a blanket of green and brown fumes choking the land below. From here it felt easy to come to terms with it all.

Krillin left and returned a few minutes later with the chair he had woken up on in the cargo hold and sat. This was Earth, he reminded himself. This is what happens when they lose.

It was almost silly. How could so much ride on how him and his friends fought their battles? How could billions of people live or die based on what they did? It wasn't always like this. The Red Ribbon Army ran rackets but they weren't trying to destroy the world. King Piccolo wanted to rule over people, even if he wanted to kill a few along the way. The PTO troops he'd met were bloodthirsty and dumb, for sure, but all of them… even Ginyu and his men… none of them seemed like they destroyed worlds because it was their idea. He knew from Ginyu that there were truly evil people at the top, but Krillin had never met them. No enemy they'd ever faced, even in defeat, would have caused such total annihilation.

And yet this was what losing one battle looked like now. Losing an entire planet… forever. Which was to say nothing of everything they unleashed onto the galaxy with their failure. Gero and his creations, warring across an entire galaxy.

Almost unfair. Unreasonable. Pressure like that shouldn't be put on anyone. No one… no one person…

Krillin examined his hand, wiggling his fingers one at a time. But it's never just one person, is it? He closed his fist. It's always… us. Together, working. Because not all of us can do it alone.

Rayne…

He found Retu in the cargo hold a few minutes later, building a separate pile of what looked like electrical circuitry picked out of the junk hugging the walls of the room. When Krillin entered he nodded, patted the dust from his hands, and sat back down across the metal folding table. 'Did the crutches hold up okay?'

'They did,' Krillin said, sitting slowly. 'Thank you. I'm lucky you held onto them.'

'Well, they're special, right?' Retu said, wistful. 'I don't have a lot left from by Capsule Corp. here… made by Bulma. Everything she touched just shined. The Earth lost so much good when she left. Her parents retired from their company and West City not too long after. I think everything got to them. Capsule Corp. just became a standard research and production company… and we didn't get to enjoy the cutting-edge R&D stuff anymore.'

'Right…. all that because of the deal with the Saiyans.'

Retu nodded, frowning. 'Yeah, that. She made me these crutches for me. She was so smart. They're a good reminder of what to aim for in what I do.'

'Yeah?' Krillin probed. 'What do you do?'

'I salvage the planet for working tech. Anything that still works. PTO, Gero's work, even the odd old Capsule Corp. product that's survived.'

'You work with tech,' Krillin said, eyes widening. 'That means — that means you can fix the time machine, can't you? I — oh, right. You fixed it to begin with.' Krillin's face grew animated. 'It's not in good shape right now. The dials and the displays — but you can do it, right? You worked with Bulma! I mean—'

Retu raised a hand, quieting him. 'Calm, Krillin,' he said. 'Breathe. You're speaking too fast.'

'I'm sorry. Just, uh…' Krillin stared at his feet. Why did he feel so reluctant to talk about this with Retu? Was it?... 'Hey,' he said, looking up. 'This may be a stupid question, but… you rescued me from the time machine, right?'

'Yes.'

'And you don't work with the PTO… right?'

'Why would you think that?'

'It's just a little suspicious that you seem to be the only friendly face on this planet, and that you found me.'

Retu crossed his arms and hmmphed. 'There's an easy answer to your question. The time machine was built to only communicate with a certain relay — this ship's relay. It was one of the features Suno and I put in, in case of any trouble or an emergency. I'm not sure what you thought you pressed, but when you sent out your signal, I was the only person who could have got it.'

'Oh. Good.' Krillin breathed a deep breath. 'Well… Rayne was bleeding out when I left my timeline. I have to get back to her exactly when I left her. I need you to fix the time machine - I need to save her.'

Retu frowned. Sadness fell naturally into the old creases in his face. 'Krillin… I don't know how to say this.'

Krillin's heart seized and banged against his ribs. 'What?'

'It's — hold on.' Retu pulled a grimy-looking marker from a worn and stained pants pocket and drew two simple parallel lines on the table. 'Time travel is one-to-one between timelines.' He connected the two lines diagonally. 'Once the first trip is made, time passes as quickly in the target timeline as the original one. If a day passed here in this timeline since the first trip,' he tapped with the marker, 'a day has passed in that timeline, too.' He bit his cheeks. 'So… Rayne…'

'...I don't really understand…' Krillin said, frowning, 'but… you're talking about a first trip. Can a second trip not go back further in time than the first one?'

'Not possible. If it was, you'd create a paradox. Going back in time before your first trip would affect your actions on that trip, which would affect the actions you take on your second trip, and on and on. Everything echoes out, messy like a rock thrown into mud.'

'...Wait…' Krillin's eyes widened. 'The time that passes here is basically… an added buffer to when I can go back. A delay?'

'Yes.'

'It's exact? One minute here is one minute there?'

'Yes.'

Deathly silence crept between them. Krillin's face drained of all color.

'How long has it been since I got here?'

Retu closed his eyes. 'Four hours.'

'Four hours!?' Even with his injured knee Krillin almost jumped out of his chair. 'You— I need to get back as soon as possible. I need—'

'Krillin,' Retu said, trying to calm him down. 'It's — you don't understand —'

'Four hours — she can live to a fifth, but—'

'Krillin!'

Retu had shot up, veins bulging and mouth twisted into an ugly shape. Krillin held his ground; he knew he was panicking but he knew what was motivating him trumped whatever Retu would or could say. He would not back down no matter how much it felt like his skin was shedding off of him.

Eventually Retu's outburst passed and some of his earlier passiveness returned; he sat back down, hands and fingers circling around his thighs.

'It's not that easy,' Retu said with a much quieter voice. 'I need to get a good look at the machine. There are some parts I'm sure don't function right now. And... Kami…'

'What?' Krillin asked. 'What?'

'...We need to get fuel,' Retu sighed. 'Special fuel for the time machine. And… to get that fuel we need to go to the PTO outpost.'

'You mean the one here on Earth?'

Retu grimaced and nodded. 'They took everything left in good condition when they beat Gero and stored it That's why they're here, on this ruined planet — they're safeguarding all the still-functioning tech from any would-be scavengers.' He jabbed a thumb to his chest. 'I pick through junk. They actually have a choice of what functional part to cannibalize from a well-working machine. And, well… the fuel we need was a special Capsule Corp. variety Bulma made… a long time ago,' he said, eyes darting to the side. 'There are very few capsules of it left. There might not be any left, actually. There might be nothing in that base.'

'...So there's still a chance?' Krillin said.

'I— yes,' Retu sighed. 'There's still a chance. But the likelihood — I mean, Krillin, your knee—'

With a wave Krillin cut him off, and with a longer pause, rose and placed his weight on his crutches. 'I can't stay here, Retu,' he said, leaning on his right crutch. 'You know I can't. Not when there's a chance I can get back. So don't bother trying to stop me.' Krillin's eyes jumped to his feet. 'But… I think I understand why you're so reluctant. Don't want to jeopardize what you've got, right? Everything on this ship and your contact with everyone else. So... could you just point me in the right direction?'

'I can't do that. You can't breathe out there on your own.'

Krillin paled. 'I knew it looked bad, and I thought that might be the case, but... Earth is that far gone?'

'It was a struggle to get you, unconscious, into this ship in the first place,' Retu argued. 'And now — alright.' Retu shook his head, but he seemed committed to what he was about to say. 'Alright; I can help you get a ship that can dock at the base. Pilot it there for you and bring you back once you got the fuel. But if I think there's any trouble, we're leaving, immediately.'

Relief flooded through Krillin. 'That's all I need. Thank you.'

'The sooner the better, right?' Retu rubbed his knees and stood before combing through the junk. 'I guess we should get this over with…'

0o0o0

About ten minutes later they were standing in the green fog. Having recovered some of his strength Krillin used his ki to compensate for his knee and stand with one crutch. Beside him Retu held out a hand; both were in a clear bubble of Retu's aura, trapping fresh, breathable air from his ship with them as they walked along. They had moved a fair distance away from Retu's ship after landing — all around them were the ominous greens and blacks gossamer bands weaving and threading in and out of sight. Krillin was nervous wondering if they had enough air. He did not want to breathe anything of what he saw.

Retu looked up from the display at his wrist. 'That way, 100 yards,' he said, pointing forward and right. A rock shelf ran jagged for as far as their vision went. 'A ship pinged there not too long ago. Could still be around.'

Krillin gestured. 'Lead on.'

There really was nothing around them. Just barren ground and deadly air. Krillin tried to avoid thinking about what events must have happened and what Retu must have experienced. He let himself be lead through the fog. This fog. How could have things gone so wrong?

Retu coughed. 'Explain again this Rush guy.'

'Hm?' Krillin turned forward to his guide. 'What do you mean?'

'Am I right in thinking that he would have only sent you here if he knew the time machine didn't have enough fuel left for another trip? Because if he didn't, he wouldn't have risked the chance you'd return.'

'I… I guess so,' Krillin said, scratching his neck. 'But… I can't say for sure. Why is this relevant?'

'I'm thinking… no, it can't be the PTO… right?'

'I thought you said he couldn't be one of them earlier.'

'Well… the PTO has some knowledge of the time machine. We didn't have a perfect launch. They PTO hunted us for a time.'

'Wait, you mean — you're saying the PTO knew about the time machine? They knew you and Suno were on this planet?'

They stopped, tested a ledge, and then started walking down a gravel slope. 'Yes — it wasn't easy by any means,' Retu said.

'How did they know? About you or the time machine?'

'Well… we're not sure. The only vague explanation we thought of is that they knew from Traveler's early use of the time machine, somehow — but I have no idea what that looks like. Maybe they stumbled onto him during a return trip… I'm not sure.'

'Hey, mind if I ask you a question?' Krillin asked.

'Go ahead.'

'How'd you learn this trick?'

Retu glanced up at the white cocoon around them. 'The ki barrier? It's something Launch showed me years back. Out of all of us she's definitely the one who gets around the farthest, learns the most. She's picked up some handy techniques over the years.'

'Too bad I won't be able to meet her.'

'Too bad.'

'Yeah… mind if I ask you another question?'

'Sure.'

'You're really Retu, right?'

His guide stopped, turned, and peered at him from behind a shaggy hood of black-grey-white hair. 'Is it the facial hair? The creases in my face?'

'I guess a little of both.'

'Well.' He gestured broadly. 'This time tends to age people.'

'I noticed you're walking well, too.'

'Metal implants,' Retu shined a ki light on their path ahead. The path narrowed between two rising slopes. 'Gave me full motion and control over my legs without using my ki.'

'And the rifle?'

Ignoring the hellish landscape around them Krillin never really took his eyes off the black, sleek weapon dangling against Retu's right side. 'It scares off the looters and the would-be thieves,' Retu answered.

'Why not just use your ki?'

'No point. I haven't in over a decade.'

'What?' Krillin halted, disoriented. 'But, I mean — you're so talented and skilled, and —'

'Ki never helped me — it just made my life worse,' Retu said, looking over his shoulder. 'Applied science, though?' He rapped his knuckles against his legs. 'That's another story.'

They passed through the narrow section of the path and slowed as they entered a more open flat of land. They studied what they could see.

'With science, we'll find Namek,' Retu said once they continued. 'We'll find the dragonballs and right everything wrong that's been done to this world and us.'

'Is that what the others are doing? Searching for Namek?'

'More or less.'

Krillin frowned. His earlier feeling of cognitive whiplash was returning. It was natural when jumping years into the future that some things would be hard to understand quickly, and Retu had lived a whole life he didn't know of, let alone experience any of it with him. It was natural there'd be some gaps, but…

He remembered something that was told to him. Something very relevant, he felt.

'Retu?'

'Yes?'

'The time machine's container — the capsule that held it — it apparently had Rayne written on it. Why is that?'

Retu stopped and spoke without looking at him. 'Rayne?

'Yes…. but it was Traveler's time machine originally, right? Was… was Rayne someone special to him?'

'...'

'Who is Traveler, anyway?'

A blinking blue light pierced the fog. Retu gestured and they set off in that direction.

'You can't answer my question?' Krillin paused. 'Do you not want to answer my questions?'

'I… I can't answer as you'd like,' Retu said 'I can't.'

'Why not?'

'It'd be too much to explain and require more time than we have. The priority is to get you back to your time if possible, and... Traveler is… Traveler was an ally,' Retu said. 'There was an incident involving Rayne a few years ago on a planet far away from the rest of us. Traveler got there first to help her…. and then we never saw either of them ever again. I don't know what happened between them. I do know now through you that Traveler was time traveling since then.' Retu looked away. 'Rayne, meanwhile...'

'So?' Krillin prodded. 'This incident was?-'

Retu threw out an arm, motioning them crouch. 'Shh. You can hear them.'

Krillin listened, caught the sound of idle movement, and then saw their blurry forms through the fog. It seemed some things didn't change with time. Soldiers easily identifiable as PTO by their pointed shoulderguards and distinctive chest armor wandered closer, silhouetted by the bands of toxic air. Each one had a rebreather strapped over their noses and mouths and a gun attached to their right arms.

'I hate this job,' the large purple one grumbled, his voice mechanically amplified by his rebreather's noisy speaker. 'We never find shit.' He kicked something out of view; whatever it was, it made a metal clank. 'Just shit.'

'What does that mean?' the smaller yellow one said as if speaking through his nose. 'Actually what does that mean?'

'What?'

'You said shit twice. How'd you use the word? Good or bad? Both? Neither? One and one?'

'Huh?... Both, obviously?'

'I don't understand.'

'Hey.'

Both guards swung, arms sweeping. 'Who said that!?' the yellow one shouted.

Krillin remained where he was just out of their view and close to the ground, waiting underneath a section of Retu's air-filled aura. The PTO soldiers grew increasingly alarmed. One second… two…

A blur swept through the air behind them. Two knocks to the back of their heads and they tumbled to the ground.

Straightening, Retu stood over them for a moment. 'They're out cold,' he announced, looking to Krillin. 'Let's take their ship.'

'I thought you said you didn't use ki anymore?' Krillin asked.

'Just because I don't use ki doesn't mean I don't use quiet force every now and then.' He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder 'Now come on.'

The ship wasn't that far off from its owners and conveniently had its small landing ramp lowered. They climbed and cranked the ramp closed. Inside it was cool and the sound of air rustling told them they could breathe freely again. Retu exhaled as he dropped his aura.

'How big is this ship?' Krillin asked, examining the rather small space they were now in.

'There's probably only this room and the cockpit. One second.' Retu walked forward to a ladder and scaled it to peep his head above the floor above them. 'Yep,' he said, jumping back down. 'I was right. Two rooms.'

'Pretty small, huh?'

'It's a patrol craft, so that's to be expected. Should also mean the controls aren't that hard to handle, too.'

Retu went back up the ladder to check. With the ramp closed Krillin was left alone in the gloom with the only light seeping in from above. He spotted something on the wall to his right. His hand traced grooves, pits, and scores. So the ship wasn't new. Actually… it might have been another ship at another time, and this was salvaged. Taking a step back Krillin realized the entire ship looked like it had been cobbled together from different places and pieces of salvage. The coloring waned there. The metal rusted here but not here.

How bad was the war the PTO fought with Gero, anyway?

'Krillin?' Retu's voice drifted down from above. 'Come up and get strapped in. I'm about to take us flying.'

A short time later still thinking Krillin sat in the second chair in the cockpit. Like the rest of the ship, the room looked cobbled together. Retu leaned on the main yoke, gently brought the ship off the ground and into the green-brown fog, and then held the controls forward. His gun hung from his chest. After a few seconds he drew back and folded his arms. They were moving.

'Should autopilot us from here,' he said. 'If I had to guess we have about ten minutes before we get there.'

'... I'm sorry this happened here.'

'Hm? What do you mean?'

'I'm sorry about everything that's happened.' Krillin balled his hands. 'It must have been tough.'

'...Haven't you said this before?'

'It feels necessary to repeat it.'

Retu stared forward. 'It's the past, now,' he said. 'Earth… the Earth we knew was lost more than a decade ago when we were pushed off the planet by Gero. It was sad then.' His head dipped slightly. 'Compared to when he was in charge… the planet now is almost an improvement. No more towering foundries or dead-eyed husks...' Retu forced out a breath. 'As much as I care for the Earth, I can't deny that ending the war between Gero and the PTO stopped billions of people from dying and billions more from suffering.'

'...'

'Something wrong?'

Krillin watched the subtle changes in the air surrounding the cockpit, tendrils and wisps of smeared, polluted air forcibly being pushed aside. 'I need to know more, Retu,' he said. 'If we succeed, and I get back to my time… I need to know more about what happened in this timeline to prevent it from happening again. I need to know how it happened.'

'About this timeline, right? That's what you mean?'

'I don't like the feeling that you're not being totally truthful with me.'

Retu made a point of turning him and his chair towards Krillin. 'Ask, and I'll do my best to answer.'

'Traveler defeated the Saiyans and in the process saved my life, as well as Tien's and Chi-Chi's — according to him. Is that true?'

'Yes —- you, Tien, and Chi-Chi died at this time.'

'Something that just occurred to me. There's someone Traveler never mentioned. You've never mentioned him, either— in the past or present.'

Retu's eyes flickered to him.

'Where is Gohan right now, Retu?'

'...I don't know,' Retu said softly. 'I haven't known for a while.'

'So he's alive?'

'Yes.'

'Does he work with you? Does he fly with any of others or by himself?'

'...No.'

Krillin leaned in. 'Why is that?'

'...' Retu's hands slowly came to the console and gripped its edge. His fingers were stained and scarred and looked only slightly better than the ragged leather gloves covering his hands. Krillin waited. And waited.

'You know why, don't you?'

'Yes.'

'But you won't say, right?'

'Yes.'

'Because Gohan is Traveler, isn't he?'

Retu studied something on the console. 'We're close,' he announced. 'We should get downstairs.'

Krillin's eyes widened. 'You're not going to say anything?'

'Honestly, Krillin?' Retu stood, scowling out of the cockpit, then at him. 'There are some things you're better off not knowing. Out of hope Traveler went to your time and helped you. Hold onto that memory, because he's not going back again — from this time at least. He won't matter to you any more than that.'

The ship jostled as it made contact with the ground. 'Come on,' Retu said, turning away.

0o0o0

The faint outline of a building sat in the foggy shadows. Krillin had trouble focusing on it. Retu's stonewalling admittedly made him angry. He trailed Retu imagining what he could do or say to get him to disclose the information that he obviously knows. But the harsh white light he stepped into once walking off the landing ramp pushed aside his frustration.

'Stay close to my aura,' Retu said, a few feet farther away from the ship than him. 'We're not yet inside with any breathable air.'

Krillin squinted in an attempt to see their immediate surroundings. 'Aren't there people around?'

'Very few.' Guiding green light pulsed from Retu's raised right hand. 'Not many are needed to hold down a post in a graveyard, anyway.'

They shuffled across what must have been a courtyard. Shiny material lined the floor as far as he could see. Retu weaved them around a few crates to an archway and finally a thick rectangular door. There was a keypad and a wheel beside it. Krillin was surprised to see Retu type in a code and start cranking the door open. The hiss and force of air escaping pressed against Retu's aura.

'You know a code?' Krillin asked.

'I've snuck in here a few times before,' Retu finished cranking and gestured, 'Inside. Hold your breath.'

Krillin ducked and crouched into the building. On the interior side of the door there was a similar wheel to the one outside. He gripped it, felt a resisting pressure increase, and Retu popped in from under the door a second later.

'You can let go now and take a breath' he said, straightening and brushing some loose dirt from his clothes.

'Did you have to crawl?'

'A little?'

Krillin winced. 'Sorry.'

'No worries. Let's keep moving.'

Again Krillin fell behind Retu. With him in the lead they slowly approached hallway corners and thoroughly checked the connected paths for any people. The station in general was unnervingly quiet, not to mention virtually abandoned. Whole sections of the place seemed either unloved or decades removed from the last time they'd been used. Retu hadn't been lying about there being very few people here.

'Here' Retu pointed to their left after a junction. A thick metal door stood at the end of the hallway 'That's where they would keep the fuel if they actually have it.'

They crept down the hall; as before, Retu put in a code to a nearby keypad and got the door to click and swing in. Cautiously they stepped in.

The room was much smaller than what Krillin was expecting. A room you'd find in an average house.

'This is a storage room, right? Why is it so... not large?' Krillin asked.

Retu crossed to the right wall and picked something up from a shelf. 'Because,' he tossed something to Krillin. 'Everything's in these.'

A capsule landed in his hands. A capsule. Krillin looked around — everything was stored in capsules.

'The PTO knows how to make these?'

Retu started combing through the shelves. 'Yes.'

'...And Bulma?... I was told she left the Earth with the Saiyans.' Krillin stepped closer to the troughs of capsules neatly arranged against the walls. 'But all this… it makes it look like she ended up with the PTO.'

'She might have.' Retu said. 'But none of us have ever found any proof that she worked with them.' He rested an arm on a shelf and turned on it to Krillin. 'Not a single piece. Once she left with the Saiyans, it's like she stopped existing. I think it's a safe bet that Bulma's capsule tech found its way to the PTO due to her leaving the Earth. But I would be surprised to learn she's still alive. Very surprised.'

That was enough for Krillin. Feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion he wobbled with the crutch leaned against a wall, listening to Retu parse through capsules with his hands. His breathing quickened. He just needed to get the fuel. After that he could put this behind them — leave this suspicion and uncertainty and focus on what needs to be done in his own time. Save Rayne. Stop the Androids… and stop Rush.

'Found it.'

They drew back to the room's center; Retu held a red capsule between his finger and his thumb. 'I think I did, at least. Only one way to find out…'

He clicked and tossed it. A puff of smoke rose and faded away from the floor and a red canister about half as long as Krillin and four times as thin.

'This is it?' Krillin asked.

'This is it. Let's get it into the machine.'

0o0o0

Once back outside and shrouded in Retu's aura, he clicked another capsule and threw it. The Time Machine cut through the green-brown strands of thickened air and bathed in the soft light of the outpost.

'Here,' Retu said, handing the canister to Krillin. 'There should be an old faded one around the back. Replace it.'

'Is this the right place to do this?' Krillin asked.

'We need to make sure I picked the right capsule, right? Getting in here again is going to be harder the second time around.'

Krillin frowned and circled around, careful to keep within the boundaries of Retu's aura. The old and pale red canister was slotted conspicuously into the machine's exterior. The replacement one stuck out even more due to being not nearly as worn or faded as everything around it. But it snapped in and held in place well enough. 'Got it,' Krillin said to Retu, out-of-sight.

'Good. Good…'

Returning Krillin noticed something off in his friend's posture. 'Is there something wrong, Retu?'

By instinct Retu's fingers reached for the stock of his rifle. His skin slid across worn metal. 'I can't do it,' he said quietly.

'...Do what?' Krillin asked, ki rippling within his body.

'I can't take it from you. The time machine.' His fingers gave up and fell from the rifle. 'There's nothing else I want to do but see Suno again, but… she's gone. The one I knew is gone.' His fingers lifted to his face and pinched the skin between his eyes. 'Suno… I can't believe she's gone.' Retu slumped. A scratchy, wretched sound started to cut into his throat. 'After all this… how could she be gone?'

Krillin watched in silence. With some effort he closed the ki-filled hand behind his back. Sheer survival instinct gave way to shame — crushing shame. Fighting wouldn't have solved anything between them. It would only have...

Before Retu could wrack and cry Krillin wrapped him in his arms. It was odd — so strange to be here, with the gap between them, with him like this — but he held on, waiting for Retu's trembling to stop. 'It's okay,' Krillin said, eyes closed. 'I... I'll never really know what you've gone through, but... It's okay. It's okay...'

Retu choked a sob and pushed Krillin away in the same motion. 'It's— thank you,' he managed, making eye contact. His skin was red around the eyes. Disheveled hair hung across his face. 'I… I'm sorry. You should go. I don't — I don't want you to remember me like this. As I am now… So... desperate...'

'Retu...' Krillin murmured, taking his time to think. 'All I see before me... is a person who's still trying to do good. The same person I... led to Master Roshi all those years ago,' Krillin said, finding it hard to speak himself without his voice shaking. 'Who you are... given everything that's happened... that's all anyone can hope to be.'

'Master Roshi...' Retu muttered, as if remembering something he never should have forgotten. 'I... You think so? Do you think he would have thought that, too?'

'I do.'

'Then... I tried.' Retu suddenly bowed. 'Thank you Krillin. You should leave. I examined the time machine when I picked you up — it's near breaking but it should be able to make one more trip. So go,' he urged. 'Rayne's waiting. You can't afford to waste any more time here.'

The mention of her name made Kriilln's stomach plunge. Retu knew the stakes better than him. An hour here is an hour there.

'Thank you,' Krillin said quickly, realizing his time here was rushing to its end. 'Thank you for everything. I hope—'

The door behind Retu slammed shut and a blaring, climbing alarm began to go off, loud enough to make both of them cringe and rush their hands over their ears.

'Retu!?' Krillin shouted over the noise. 'Is that?!...'

Retu was slow to react. In fact he seemed stunned. The way his face, hands, and muscles slowly worked meant he was coming to grips with something. Krillin's heartbeat spiked.

'He's here,' Retu replied, shouting but keeping his voice measured. '...He's here, and he knows we're here too. This alarm…'

'Who?...

'Feel it, Krillin. Feel his ki.'

He did — and there was a massive, huge, and terrifyingly familiar ki cruising nearby, one he'd never forget — No… 'Traveler!? Here!? Is this good or bad?'

'He's going to kill us.'

Krillin's heart rammed against his ribs. 'No… no… that's Gohan,' Krillin said, unbelieving. 'He wouldn't — he couldn't—'

'Krillin.' Retu placed his hands on his shoulders and steadied him. 'I never wanted to tell you this, but — Traveler — Gohan — is a commander in the PTO. He betrayed us because he was scared and… he did that by taking Suno and I's time machine.'

'...What?' Krillin breathed. 'I don't… you mean, when he took it — when was—'

'We made the time machine, Krillin,' Retu said. 'When we found it again and repaired it… that was the second time we'd encountered it. Because Traveler took it from us.'

'No… no, that's… why would he do that?'

Retu made that face — that old, tired, immeasurably sad face. '...We failed him, Rayne failed him, and Yamcha forced him to do something terrible.' He closed his eyes, shaking his head, valiantly trying to leave behind the agony. 'Gohan... he's powerful. More powerful than any of us. And we let that power warp him... I can't say anything else. We don't have time, because—'

Retu seized Krillin's wavering, alarmed, and bewildered expression. 'There's something you should know. Something very important that you need to keep in mind. When Suno and I first decided to time travel and make the time machine, we made sure to understand the mechanics, the weight behind it. It was crucial we understood what we were unleashing before committing ourselves to that path.'

'Retu,' Krillin said, 'I can't take this in — not after what you said—'

'Listen: this timeline, my timeline, is different from yours. Bulma once theorized that every trip across time would split the originating timeline in two — for every trip from a timeline, there's one timeline where the time machine returns and one timeline where it doesn't. That's how timelines split. That way, small changes between timelines might amount to huge consequences given when those trips took place.' Retu paused to catch his breath, 'The timeline you'll return to will be your own... but also know there's a parallel timeline to yours where you never returned.'

'What are you saying?'

'If anyone appears from another timeline, listen to them. Listen to what they have to say. Time travel is one-to-one: if you see someone in your timeline that you saw here, know that they are different. They're a different person from a different timeline. Your time machine is the only link between this world and yours. Once you leave, no one can ever go to your timeline from here again unless you return. So don't hold anyone responsible for things they might do... only for what they've done. And, Krillin...'

Retu folded his hands in Krillin's. 'You need to kill Rush. I don't know what he is. I didn't even know he existed before you came here. But there's no doubt in my mind that he killed Suno when she tried to use the time machine and is planning on doing something in your timeline. Something to achieve his goals. Something that was worth killing our friends for.' Retu squeezed him. 'So you can't let him succeed, Krillin. Please.'

A distant light shone through the polluted fog. Retu glanced away and stood. 'We're out of time.' He turned away from Krillin. 'You're going to have to make a run for it.'

'What? How?'

'He's coming. He's going to kill me, and then kill you. You need to leave before that happens. You need to get in the time machine and go.'

Krillin's entire body was aching. This isn't what should have happened. He shouldn't have caused this — risked everything, even the lives of others, just to return. 'Retu's, that—'

'Don't say it,' Retu said sharply. 'Don't say it, because it's not. Krillin…' He half turned, head resting on his shoulder, eyes cloudy. 'Do you know why I'm still alive? When so many of my friends have died? Luck is a part of it — but I also refused to die until I knew I could do some good with my death.' Retu turned away, every part of him tensing, coiling — shaking. 'That's how you, Tien, and Chi-Chi went. You three dying against the Saiyans meant no one else had to. That's how Rayne, Chiaotzu, and Yajirobe went, giving the rest of us precious time to escape the planet and Gero. And that's… That's —' his voice disappeared for a second, '—that's how Suno went. The work we put into the machine, fixing it up... she brought you here when you would have died to Rush. He put you here to crush you when he could have killed you instead. So now I need to get you back so he regrets that decision.'

Krillin was silent. He couldn't control his face or his feelings or his regret — so much regret. Retu's eyes told him everything; his mind was made up. Some part of him had wanted this for a long time. Maybe losing Suno had pushed him here. But this was a chance for him to do as the others did. Delaying would make him die for nothing.

His throat shriveled. 'I can never repay you,' Krillin forced out.

'You don't owe me anything, and I don't plan on dying,' Retu turned away. His light blue aura began to billow out — tinges of red traced its outline. 'No matter what happens to me or Traveler or anyone else… one day this'll all be a bad dream to you, and that's how it should be.'

'Retu—'

'Go.' His aura and the clean air it contained rushed away as a storm of blue swept into the shroud.

0o0o0

The next minute raced by like a second. Holding his breath Krillin opened the time machine's glass cockpit, climbed in and closed it, and while gasping started pressing and flicking away at the console. He didn't know how to use this thing. He barely understood the concept it proved existed.

So he relied on his faint, twisted, pain-laced memory of Rush. What buttons he pushed. Krillin did the same. And the time machine burst to life and collapsed Krillin's vision towards a single metal stick jutting out from the center of the console.

Yellow light flared from outside. His ki sense told him what he could not see.

He slammed the accelerator forward, the oncoming blast burning into his memory — and faded like the trace of a bright object imprinted in his vision. The blacks and whites of cut time washed in and wrapped this small world in relative comfort.

Krillin stared at the passage until realizing how knotted and clenched he was and how far onto the console he had climbed. He sat back. The exhaustion crept in while what little adrenaline he had left passed out of him. The lights in the cockpit dimmed and he thought of Retu and what he said and slept.


A/N: Hello! I am pleased to say that I'm still writing every day, but for whatever reason I haven't felt the rush to publish once finishing a chapter recently. In any case, expect a second and maybe a third update by the end of the month as my time becomes a bit more free.

I should also mention that this chapter was difficult to write for a variety of lore-related reasons, so if you see any continuity issues, please let me know! I'm sure I missed a few.

Last thing — this story has a new cover image! I have to thank Mitsukikii for the art and maxiuchiha22 for the background. Check them out! They did good work.

As always make sure to leave a review if you have any brimming thoughts or questions! As for last chapter...

Reviews:

Anonymous: Sorry to keep you waiting so long for this chapter! Another one should be coming soon... fingers crossed.

Yes, Traveler is Gohan and vice versa, lol. I like how you're picking up on the clues I laced into his fight with Raditz to indicate that... but also notice that those elements are also present in his fight with Vegeta and Nappa! Hah. As for Piccolo — yep, I liked him making that technique on the fly. Sometimes desperation requires ingenuity. Not every attack has five minutes to charge.

I agree with your suggestion: I changed the text to better reflect Gero's personality.

Chi-Chi does have a new Kaio-Ken state! But it also has roots in her old ki attacks... remember how she fought Piccolo at the 23rd WMT? She also used this technique to some extent against Ebi's ice attacks.

Hah, yes! Traveler was playing a risky game by disclosing little but implying much... but in his defense, from this chapter it's clear he's not a guy who understood time travel as well as he might think. He probably didn't expect another time traveler to appear and contradict him so hard.

Now you have Future Retu's datapoint on what's going on with Traveler... has your assessment of what Rush said changed?

More time travelers?... Or just warriors returning home?... Hmm...

Perfect Carnage: For sure Gero's not in a place of relative factional strength at the moment, lol.

Cityracer: Yes... Traveler had some distinct difficulties fighting Raditz... wonder why...

Perhaps you're on to something with Raditz... perhaps. Keep in mind that it was never Gero's plan to employ Raditz in the way he's using him now.

Piccolo was just plain worn out. That said #19 is a tank of a fighter. He'll be hard to take down.

Yes... you've noted the type of supposed manipulation of Chi-Chi going on... but how much is Rush wrong about all this?

I revealed Traveler's identity earlier on mostly to make this chapter more comprehensible. There's a lot going on above and dumping Traveler's identity on top of that would have made it extremely dense. I like setting up the rest of this volume as a desperate race for everyone to link up what they know and get to the truth of what's going on...