I think playing too much Xenoverse 2 is affecting me...

I will refer to Time Patroller Trunks as Xtrunks for the sake of simplicity.

All credit to respective owners!

-YARN


Kurai fought with Gohan, deciding that while Bulma constructed the ship he should at least use the spare time to buff Gohan up and — if possible — get him to activate Super Saiyan 2, if only for a moment. Kurai's own experience in having Vegeta and Goku beat him into the ground without any rest to force him to push himself into his Super Saiyan state made him understand that only through a sheer need, determination, and emotion could trigger the initial transformation immediately, and he had to train after to make sure he perfected and enhanced his abilities after that. He had been legitimately terrified and furious at himself when training in the Time Nest as one of his two trainers had been anything but merciful in training him.


When they deemed him ready, Vegeta and Goku both transformed to the first level in order to push him to become a Super Saiyan. Kurai had been able to hold his own on a one on one when they were in their base forms — and that was after getting soundly thrashed by them multiple times while training with them before slowly getting stronger and stronger— but now a fifty times power increase while fighting two on one?

That was a death sentence.

His attacks didn't even make the saiyans flinch and they were too fast to outmaneuver. They weaved through his strikes like water and deflected or plain tanked his ki blasts like they were gusts of wind.

He felt a wave of understanding and pity for Frieza — of all the people to feel bad for — when he must have contended with Goku right after the saiyan Super Saiyan for the first time.

Goku had realized he wasn't doing so great so he wanted to stop, but Vegeta disregarded Goku's protests and continued fighting. Even without Goku, Vegeta was more than enough to make Kurai ever regret trying to become a Time Patroller, let alone asking the resident saiyans to help him get stronger.

He was half-dead when Vegeta picked him up by the collar and sneered, "You dare call yourself a saiyan warrior after that shameful performance?"

Kurai tried to loosen the iron grasp Vegeta had on him, but it ultimately proved fruitless.

He tossed Kurai on the ground and rose up, aura flaring as he began to charge a final flash, "It's so pathetic it's sickening!"

"Vegeta, stop!" Goku shouted, "He can't go on any more!"

Goku tried to reason with Vegeta to calm down while Kurai struggled to stand and pulled all the strength he had left as he formed formed several ki spheres in his hands and threw them around him as he got into Goku's signature pose. The spheres all flew back into his hands generating a golden outer layer around his attack. It had been inspired by Piccolo's hell-zone grenade to help bolster his ki attacks; while the setup was long the power increase to his attack was significant.

"No!" Kurai had roared, "He's right! It is pathetic! Either I become a Super Saiyan right now or I die!"

It had taken days of practicing and Goku and Piccolo watching over him before he managed this attack, the first few attempts only had him firing just a kamehameha, other times the attack would explode and knock him out after he just formed it, it had been three days before this fight when he managed a perfected —

"Convergence Kamehameha!" Kurai howled.

"Final Flash!" Vegeta shouted.

The attacks crashed against each other as both fighters began to push against each other bathing the area in an bright glow.

Goku shielded himself from the flare with his arms and shouted, "Vegeta, you're going to kill him!"

Vegeta sneered, "He asked for it!"

Kurai had never felt so much strain in his entire life, his own attack had taken almost everything he had and he was literally running on fumes. It was frankly the nearest experience to death he had ever had, none of his previous time patrols had ever pushed him this hard and he knew that if the Final Flash hit him, he would die. It was a good thing they had gone to a wasteland for this as if they unleashed this much power in the city it would probably demolish the surrounding buildings and vaporize innocent bystanders. He closed his eyes and scowled as he felt his strength waning, he knew the Final Flash was overpowering his strongest attack and he felt the pressure of it bearing down on him.

'I can't...' Kurai thought despairingly, 'It's just too much!"

"But... I can't give up!" Kurai shouted, his body trembling, "I refuse to GIVE UP!"

His hair began to flicker, lightening and darkening, raising up before falling back down, wisps of golden aura began to leak out of his body like smoke off a pile of embers. His eyes snapped open to reveal teal irises and he screamed in defiance as his Kamehameha expanded and his hair flared gold. There was an explosion as the his kamehameha surged forward as Vegeta cut off his own attack to shift slightly out of the way. The saiyan prince smirked as he looked at the now Super Saiyan Kurai glaring at him, eyes glowing and posture defiant.

Right before his body gave out and he collapsed to the floor.


Kurai in the meantime was actually having fun while fighting with Gohan, both of them crashing together in a flurry of punches, kicks, and ki blasts. They both went Super Saiyan and their blows echoed along the beach that had been Gohan and Trunks' stomping ground in the past. Gohan was holding up very well and Kurai wasn't holding back, though because of his sudden loss of power he had to pull out all the stops. He knew that before he was stronger than this version of Gohan; having fought him and beaten him in some of the time machine missions and come out on top gave him a bit of insight into Gohan's style, but none of that helped edge out a victory with his diminished abilities. He ducked under a fist swung his head up and into Gohan's chin, knocking the half-saiyan's head back before ascending and slamming his knee into Gohan's chest. Gohan spun back — kicking Kurai in the face — and held his hands out, firing a volley of ki blasts at Kurai, who hastily guarded against two blasts before he dashed out of the way and strafed, firing his own volley of blasts.

The blasts detonated against each other and Gohan and Kurai both hung in the air, until they decided that this was enough and transforming back into their base state before they lowered to the sands.

Gohan sighed and rubbed his chest as though to ease away the bruise that was undoubtedly forming, "I really could have used your help a long time ago... Though I can't say I blame you for not being here sooner. I had no idea I was heading into my death in that last fight against the androids..."

Kurai shook his head, rubbing at his chin, "Don't be that hard on yourself, if it had been one on one, you would have beaten them, but numbers weren't on your side and Trunks wouldn't have been able to help since he was not strong enough."

Kurai wondered how Xtrunks was doing seeing as his younger self had awoken sometime ago from the healing chamber and was now startled to find his world was at peace and the androids were destroyed. He initially thought that Gohan had finally done it and rushed out to see and older version of himself, his mentor, and Kurai all eating lunch. He looked completely lost until the situation had been explained and was trying to wrap his head around all the information he was getting. Xtrunks was currently helping his mother as much as he could to create the space ship and while Kurai wanted to help, he was no genius and would probably break something.

Either way, younger Trunks often sparred with Gohan and Kurai, and the displaced and former time patroller found himself enjoying teaching Trunks and slowly regaining his strength. The problem was Kurai just wasn't advancing as fast as he wanted, he needed to push himself as hard as he could. When he wasn't training his body back up to where he was, he was honing his Super Saiyan 2 transformation, perfecting it and getting his body accustomed to the strain so he could hold the transformation longer. He had shown his Super Saiyan 2 form to Gohan and Trunks and explained that in the original timeline, Gohan had been the first to have ever access this form after training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He knew Gohan's hidden potential was still somewhere there and the only reason he probably hadn't gained Super Saiyan 2 was because he had no idea that it even existed and because the younger Trunks had never been strong enough push Gohan till after Gohan fell. When he explained that Gohan had eagerly asked where this room was only to wince as he said that the chamber was in Kami's Lookout.

Kurai's heart fell as Gohan said that most of the places where the Z-fighters gathered strength were gone. Kami's Lookout had been one of the first places to fall, followed shortly by Master Roshi's house, Gohan and Goku's home, and — expectedly — most of the cities. That meant that he had to see if Bulma could be convinced to build him a gravity room to train in or — if he was lucky — the gravity room Vegeta used before his death in this timeline might actually still be an easy fix for her. His plan was once he had perfected his Super Saiyan 2, he would move onto to his Super Saiyan 3 form, then his Mystic, and finally move onto his most powerful transformations that were God forms. It wasn't going to be a small task, he intended to perfect his skills rather than simply train them to be acceptable, his home wasn't the Time Nest anymore. He would have to be better than anything he was before to protect what he would have to make his home.


Bulma wiped her cheek and sighed in satisfaction at the spaceship while her aging father did what he could to tune it up from a computer. The spaceship was large and made for two saiyan that were going and presumably training on the way there, them being Trunks and Gohan. Xtrunks and Kurai both insisted to stay on Earth and protect it from any attacks and it simply made sense for Gohan to go as he was probably the only person who was recognizable to the Namekians. Trunks had looked torn and uncertain but Gohan simply gripped his shoulder and invited him along. Kurai looked sideways and saw the flash of hurt and nostalgia flicker over Xtrunks' face at the sight.

Kurai could relate, he would never see his mentors or his friends, and even if he met this version of them...

They were little more than strangers wearing familiar faces.


With Gohan and Trunks gone for Namek, Xtrunks and Kurai went to gather as many survivors as they could form the androids, telling them the news and helping rebuild as best as the could. The trauma and fear was slow to fade, and as the days went on and on, peace was once again became Earth's to claim. When they weren't helping people realize they were safe, Kurai was compiling all the memories of potential enemies that he had. Kurai had wondered if Bojack would make an appearance, but considering that in this timeline, King Kai's planet was never destroyed and King Kai was still alive and well, the seal containing him and his groupies was still intact and locking the homicidal alien away.

And after all that?

Training.

They had tried fighting in Bulma's/Vegeta's gravity chamber (It wasn't like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but it had been a decent substitute, with how high he and Xtrunks cranked it before crashing against each other) until it blew up from trying to contain the two saiyans.

With that disheartening event, Xtrunks and Kurai had nothing to do but train in the outside world, which was okay. Not great, not bad, but okay.

After Xtrunks and Kurai sat down and rested, Kurai thought of something, "Hey."

"What?" Xtrunks responded.

"You know how Zamasu killed all the gods by wiping out the Supreme Kai's in one timeline and in the other The Supreme Kai died fighting against Babidi and Dabura?"

Xtrunks frowned, "What about it?"

"Well..." Kurai pondered, "Do you think there's a way we can talk to Whis and Beerus if this timeline? Warn them of Zamasu's intentions?"

Xtrunk frowned, "That would alter the course of events of this timeline."

"Like you saving Gohan? Like now having two of you running around? Like me being stuck here?" Kurai riposted pointedly.

Xtrunks grumbled at that and looked to the sky in contemplation, "We'd need proof. And Beerus might try to erase us because of what our presence means. They might kill Gohan."

"We could see if they could ask The Supreme Kai of Time!" Kurai offered, "We might be able to go back to the Time Nest too! Stop our interference!"

Xtrunks nodded at that, "Let's wait till Gohan and my younger self return."

Kurai shrugged at that, there was no point in rushing while they waited for Gohan's and Trunks' to complete their quest.


It wasn't a surprise that soon after that, Xtrunks and Kurai were contacted by the ghosts of the former Earth Special Defense Forces.

In the middle of a fight.

Kurai flinched at the sudden and cheery 'Hiya!' and Xtrunks punched him sending crashing into the sea with a loud splash.

"Kurai?!" Xtrunks yelled in concern, "Are you alright?"

Kurai quickly swam back to the surface and spat out the salty water before levitating out of the sea, "I'm alright. Who was that?"

"Who was what?" Xtrunks asked looking confused.

"Ahahaha... Sorry about that!' A cheerful voice said happily, 'I'm Goku! The other members of the special defense forces were at King Kai's place and he is letting us talk!'

Xtrunks blinked, "You are?"

'Hmph.' Vegeta's voice scoffed, 'Unless you've lost your mind.'

'Vegeta...' Goku sighed, 'Can you at least thank him for bringing us about to life?'

'It would be good to have a chance to protect our planet and get a second chance.' Piccolo mused, 'Then we can also regain the dragon balls on Earth as well.'

"You might also want to try fusing with Kami like you did with Nail." Xtrunks said, "You'd grow your power exponentially with that."

Piccolo snorted, 'I already did while here, nothing else to do but get stronger and fight. Kami decided it'd be better I grow as much as I can.'

They spent the rest of day talking with the deceased Z-fighters about coming back to life and what tricks they had learned on the other side.


After two weeks, Gohan finally made contact using a powerful radio that Bulma made for him before he left. He and Trunks had touched down on New Namek and were going to talk to the Namekians about restoring their planet. Deciding that they would wait until the people were revived, Kurai and Xtrunks both sat around with Bulma, anxiously waiting. Then there was a flash of light as people who had been killed by the androids were suddenly finding out they were alive again. Kurai's eyes widened as he saw The Earth's Special Defense Force appear in front of them, alive and well. Bulma's hands came to cover her mouth as her best friends and husband (or at least the father of her child as Kurai never asked) were alive.

Within seconds, the destroyed cities and landscapes were repairing themselves like videos on rewind. The Earth was slowly recovering from the damages that had plagued it for years on end, things would finally be able to go back to the way things were before the end. And Gohan even had the foresight to wish back and increase the Senzu plants locations so that if Kami's Lookout ever fell again, the Senzu beans wouldn't go with them.


It was a tearful reunion that followed the revival of the many, many lives lost over the years and the sheer volume of the people celebrating could be heard everywhere. After hugging Bulma and excitedly greeting Kurai and Xtrunks, Goku blitzed over to his house to see his wife and hold her in the actual flesh. Vegeta wasn't exactly one for hugging but that didn't stop Bulma from throwing her arms around him (much to his stoic embarrassment) and him hesitantly resting an arm around her waist. Kurai hung back and watched as Xtrunks greeted his father and happily interacted with the rest of the Z-fighters. Kurai wished he didn't feel so out of place, back in the Time Nest he may have been able to see the same people, but they weren't the mentors he trained with and learned from.

He was alone here.

It was to absolutely no one's surprise that one of the first things Goku requested when they all met up again was to have a spar (something Vegeta was also very interested in). Kurai agreed but wanted to make sure some things were taken care of before he and Goku started a fight. First he went to the lookout where Mr. Popo was happy to be back on the planet and alive again; they also went to check on Korin and Yajirobe and the Senzu plants, promising to keep them in several locations when they had the chance. With the assistance of the radio on New Namek, the Z-fighters had a quick discussion about having a new guardian for the planet so that they had a dragon; they didn't want that to fall to Piccolo as he was a fighter for the Z-fighters and frankly if he died the dragon balls went with him like before. With that being hashed out on New Namek, Kurai asked if the Hyperbolic Time Chamber had been restored to its former glory as well, and was excited to hear that it was back.

Promising to explain about the chamber later, Kurai took Goku and Vegeta to abandoned wasteland and powered up to his Super Saiyan form, only to pleasantly surprised when Goku powered up to Super Saiyan 2. Kurai smiled and ascended to the second level as well and got into his stance as Goku's grin widened.

'I'll make this work.' Kurai thought fiercely, 'I know I can make this work.'