3rd Person
The group flew for a bit before the boy landed in a rocky wasteland that was nearby. Once they all had landed, the boy threw a capsule and it turned into a portable cooler full of drinks and snacks, which he offered the group. The group had plenty of questions for him of course. They asked who he was, where he came from, if he really was a Saiyan, how he knew Goku and Orion, among other things. Unfortunately, the boy couldn't answer most of them. The only things they could get out of him were that he was 17, he had never met Goku or Orion but had heard of them, and was of Saiyan descent, though he didn't go into detail about it.
The group talked amongst themselves for a bit before the 3 hours had passed. To everyone's joy, they began to sense Goku's energy. Soon after, a space pod entered the atmosphere and crashed near where they were. They ran over to it and awaited with anticipation. The door then opened, and out came Goku in his Yardrat clothes. Goku took a look around and saw everyone cheering. "What the-? What are you all doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" Goku asked as he flew over to the group. "Seriously guys, how'd you know where I'd be? It's not like I called ahead."
"It's all thanks to this guy. He knew when you'd arrive too! Right down to the minute!" Bulma told Goku while pointing at the young boy. Goku looked at the boy and tilted his head.
"Who're you?" Everyone became even more confused at that. They at least thought that Goku would have known who this person was with how exact the boy's information was.
"Wait...you don't know who this is?" Launch asked.
"Sorry, but I never met the guy." Goku said.
"Then how'd he figure out when and where you'd come back?" Bulma asked.
"I don't know. Now that I think about it, Frieza's ship locked onto my position, so I bet they had a pretty good idea of when I was coming back down. Speaking of Frieza, who put him in his place anyway? I felt some crazy energy. Was it you Piccolo? Or you Vegeta? Or perhaps Raditz or Nappa?" Goku asked. "Or did Orion already get here before me and is somewhere here?"
"Wait, you don't know where Orion is?" Raditz asked.
"Nope. He stayed behind on the planet we were on to get more training, but he told me he would come back to Earth around the same time that I did. If Orion isn't here, then who killed Frieza?"
"Frieza was defeated by this stranger. Faster than you can blink." Piccolo answered. "And he can turn into a Super Saiyan like you and Orion."
"A Super Saiyan!" Goku said. "You don't say." The boy then looked at Goku with a serious and nervous expression. 'Ok, Trunks, don't be nervous. He's just a normal guy. Just say something.' The boy thought to himself.
"So, your Son Wukong, right." 'DAMN IT!' The boy said nervously before yelling at himself.
"I'm Son Goku, yes." Goku responded happily. The boy just looked at Goku with confusion before taking a deep breath. 'Role with it." He thought to himself before he continued to speak.
"Excuse me, Goku. I need to have a word with you." The boy told Goku.
"Oh...ok." Goku hesitantly agreed, a bit confused as to why this newcomer would want to talk with him.
"But...it has to be just the two of us. If Orion shows up, I want to talk with him as well." Everyone raised an eyebrow at that, but Goku's expression turned into a more serious one.
"Alright then." Goku began to follow the boy away from the group, much to his friend's confusion.
"You just met the kid and you're already keeping secrets from us?" Yamcha asked.
"Don't worry, Yamcha. I'll be right back." Goku and the boy then flew off. The others weren't sure about this, but Piccolo focused on his hearing. With his enhanced Namekian hearing, he was going to listen in on those two to make sure nothing bad would happen or pass him by. He didn't trust the boy at all. Everything about this situation was too bizarre. The boy and Goku landed a fair distance away before the boy felt comfortable enough to begin speaking.
"Here should be good." The boy said.
"Oh, I forgot to say it back there, but thanks a lot for taking care of Frieza for me. I guess I let him off too easily, huh?"
"You were supposed to be the one to defeat Frieza and his father, but events didn't seem to be going as planned, so I stepped in. You know, just to pick up the slack."
"Yeah. Frieza must have made some really good time in his spaceship. I didn't think he would beat me back. He didn't learn his lesson after planet Namek, but I would have taught him not to mess with Earth."
"He landed 3 hours before you. There might not have been an Earth by the time you got back."
"That's what you think, but I had a little something up my sleeve. A trick called Instant Transmission."
"What, like teleporting?"
"Yeah! Orion and I picked it up from the natives from a planet called Yardrat. I was about to zip down here and mop the floor with Frieza, but you beat me to the punch."
"I-I had no idea. I didn't know you had those sorts of skills at your disposal. I thought you were too far away to stop him. Which means...I needlessly changed the course of history. I've muddled the timeline more by encountering the others when all I had to do was find you."
"Timeline? What's going on?"
"I'll explain, but first I have a question. How well can you control your Saiyan abilities? Are you able to transform at will?"
"Oh! Well at first I had to be really worked up to change, but now I can pretty much do it whenever."
"Please show me. I would consider it an honor." The boy said. "I have to know."
"...Alright then." Goku then charged his energy and transformed into his Super Saiyan form. Everyone else who was far away was stunned by how easily he transformed. "This what you had in mind?"
"Yeah, thanks for humoring me. This is incredible! You look exactly like I do when I go Super Saiyan."
"So, what do we do now?"
"I guess I should return the favor." The boy said as he went Super Saiyan. The group was even more surprised, now being able to compare the two Super Saiyans and confirming that they both were just that. Vegeta only got angrier and angrier at the sight. It made him sick that these two could reach the level of the legendary warrior before he could. Goku was also shocked, now being able to see the stranger's transformation first hand when he almost didn't believe it at first.
"We really do look alike, huh? You're just like Orion and I when we transform." The boy then put on a stern expression as he reached for his sword.
"Sorry, Goku." He drew his sword and swung at Goku, only to stop right in front of his face. Goku didn't hesitate or even flinch, which confused the boy. "Why didn't you try to dodge my attack?"
"I didn't sense any evil intentions, so I knew you weren't going to hurt me."
"I see. But this time Goku, I'm going to be following through."
"Go right ahead." Goku said as he charged energy into his index finger, engulfing it in energy. The boy then attacked Goku, with Goku blocking each attack with just a finger. This went on for a while before something unexpected happened. While the boy slashed at Goku again, someone appeared right in between them.
"Whew! It's good to be-OH GOD!" The new person shouted as he instinctively caught the sword between his two hands. Goku, the boy, and everyone else was left baffled by the sudden appearance of a Super Saiyan Orion.
"Orion!?" The boy shouted as he drew back his sword.
"Why does this always happen!?" Orion shouted as he took a deep breath.
Orion's Perspective
"Well, it's time for me to go." I told Paragus and Broly as I grabbed my bag full of the broken parts of what used to be my space pod and put on my Planeptune jacket over my Yardrat outfit. "I think there'll be trouble happening on Earth right now that I have to help out with. I'm glad I was able to teach Broly during this time though. He's come a long way."
"Yes. And I have you to thank for helping me." Broly said happily. I smiled back at him. Broly had almost gotten strong enough to control his wrathful state completely. At my estimates, he can control 50% of his power now. With a little more training on his own, he should be able to control all of his power. He'll make an incredible warrior.
"Be safe, Orion. I know you can handle yourself, but still." Paragus told me as he shook my hand.
"Of course. Broly wasn't the only one to get stronger during these few months." I said happily. It was true. I am much stronger now. Training Broly was incredibly good for me as my own form of training, since even with Super Saiyan and Broly's new control over his strength, Broly still hits like a truck. Fighting Broly has made me much stronger. I should be as strong as some of the androids like android 19 and 20 now, at least. "Well, I'll be off. Wish me luck!" I said as I waved goodbye to them. I then pressed my fingers against my head as I sensed my friend's energy on Earth. I didn't have to wait for long as I immediately sensed Goku's energy and someone else's energy. Woah! That's definitely Super Saiyan energy. The other person must be Trunks. Welp, time to show up and say hello to everyone. With Goku's energy pinpointed, I teleported away.
As soon as I got to Earth I smiled as I tried to look around "Whew! It's good to be-OH GOD!" I said as I saw a sword rushing towards my head. I caught the sword between my hands easily, but that didn't change the fact that it was a horrifying experience.
"Orion!?" I looked over and saw the young Super Saiyan with the sword. He pulled his sword back and sheathed it as he powered down. I took a deep, panicked breath.
"Why does this always happen!?" I complained. "Everytime I use Instant Transmission, I end up teleporting right into someone's attack!" How could I forget that Trunks tries to gauge Goku's strength by attacking him while in his Super Saiyan form. I suppose that's my bad for forgetting, but how did I even forget something like that in the first place? Oh well, can't worry about that now.
"Orion! How'd you get here?" Goku said as he powered down. "I thought you were on Yardrat, or at least on your way back to Earth with your pod."
"Oh that? Well, I made a pit stop to visit some friends of mine, and this is all that's left of that pod." I said, holding up a bag full of spare parts for him to see. "I used Instant Transmission on that planet to get here."
"But that's crazy! That's jumping from one planet to another with it! How far away were you?"
"I don't know. If I remember correctly, I stopped by that planet before I first arrived here on my cruiser, and it took me about a week to get from there to here." Goku was baffled by how far I had used Instant Transmission, but then noticed something else.
"Hey! You're a Super Saiyan again! You figured out how to activate it at will!"
"Yeah! It's all thanks to Pybara. He helped me figure out what was wrong, and I was finally able to trigger Super Saiyan." I told him happily. I then turned to the boy who had been silently looking at me this whole time. "So, you're a Super Saiyan too? That's neat. Sorry if I interrupted something. I just got here, so I'm a bit confused. Mind filling me in on the details."
"O-Oh, of course. Forgive me. I was just surprised by your sudden appearance. I've actually been looking forward to meeting you."
"Really? I'm not sure why you would be looking forward to meeting me of all people, but I'm happy nevertheless." I said as I extended my hand for him to shake. "I'm Orion, as you seem to already know. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." Goku and the boy then explained to me what had happened. The boy arrived and killed Frieza and his father. Cooler wasn't there, which seemed to prove that I really killed him. After the boy took care of Frieza and Cold, he brought everyone here where Goku landed. He then brought Goku over here to talk to him privately, though he also wanted me to be a part of the conversation when I arrived.
"Ok, I got the picture now." I said while nodding my head. "But you do know that Piccolo can still hear us, right?"
"Huh?" Goku and the boy looked surprised by that.
"Yeah. You noticed Piccolo's long ears, right? Namekians have much stronger hearing than other species. It's a reason why I would always whisper extremely quietly from a far distance away whenever Piccolo was nearby on King Kai's planet. He's probably listening in right now." I then turned to the others who were still far away. They seemed to be surprised as well by my sudden appearance, and Piccolo was looking at me with nervousness. I waved to the group while giving a wide smile before I turned back to the boy. "You shouldn't have to worry about it though. Piccolo wouldn't spill any sort of secrets you're going to tell us. So, what do you want to tell us?"
"W-Well, before that, may I ask you to do something for me?" The boy asked. "I've already tested Goku's power, so I want to test yours. You're already in your Super Saiyan form, but you're suppressing your power by a lot. I can tell. The golden aura that's usually around a Super Saiyan isn't there for you. You've condensed it. So I want to see how strong you are right now."
"Is that it? Well alright. I've gotten much stronger since Namek, but don't expect too much. I'm not sure if I'm as strong as you think I am." I then brought my arms to my side as I focused all of my energy. After gathering all of my energy, my ki burst out of me like a volcano as my power shook the entire area. Everyone's eyes seemed to budge out of their heads as my full power was unleashed. I shouted as I finished powering up before relaxing my body, which was now covered in a large golden glow.
"A-Amazing! You're so much stronger than I ever thought was possible!" The boy said.
"Holy crap, Orion! How did you get this strong!?" Goku asked me.
"That pitstop I made before I came here was so that I could help train a friend of mine since I promised that I would. His power is far beyond anything in this world, but he couldn't control it. So I've been teaching him the concepts we learned on Yardrat and helping him learn how to control his power. I thought that with my Super Saiyan power I would be able to handle him, but even with this he was too much for me a few times. It sort of became training for me too, so I got much stronger because of it."
"W-Wow! You both are so much more incredible than I ever could have imagined!" The boy said enthusiastically. "I know that I can trust you both now, so I'll come clean. My name is Trunks, and I arrived here today in a time machine from 20 years in the future."
"Wait, are you serious!? You traveled back from the future!?" Goku asked.
"That's right. Vegeta was correct when he said there weren't any Saiyans left" Trunks said, although I stifled a laugh at that. Sure. Broly and Paragus aren't here, so they wouldn't know. "It's sort of ironic though, since, well, Vegeta's my father." Goku gasped at that, completely shocked.
"Wait, so someone has a kid with Vegeta and that kid is you!?" Goku asked.
"I can see that. You have his stern face." I said jokingly.
"It won't happen for about another 2 years, but yeah." Trunks said before getting more serious. "Goku, Orion, I need your help. Before all is lost. 3 years from now, on the 12th of May at around 10 in the morning, on an island 9 miles off of South City, they'll make themselves known to the world. They're a group of monstrosities far more powerful than anything our Earth has ever seen. They're a hybrid mixture between man and machine, some fully mechanical, while others are more cyborgs, but their creator calls all of these creations under the name of Androids. These monsters were born right here on Earth, and the man who created them was none other than the Red Ribbon Army's resident lunic, Doctor Gero."
"Doctor Gero!?" Goku cried out. "But how can that be? I wiped out the Red Ribbon Army when I was a kid with Eighter! I'm sure of it!"
"I know. You crushed the Red Ribbon Army itself years ago. But Doctor Gero survived, and carried on with his research. He even went so far as to turn himself into an android to keep working on his creations. He actually starts the attack with another one of his android creations. Fortunately, he and that android are easily taken care of, but he managed to run back to his lab to unleash another pair of androids. He couldn't be stopped in time, but he got what was coming to him though, for as soon as he unleashed his strongest pairs of androids, the first thing they did was kill their creator." Trunks explained. More than two androids? That's different from the original. It must have something to do with whatever I did in the future. "All of these androids delight in chaos and destruction, and with their creator gone, no one knows how to call them off."
"But you're a Super Saiyan, Trunks. You beat Frieza easily." Goku said.
"These monsters must be incredibly strong to give a Super Saiyan trouble." I said.
"Yes, they are. I tried to take them out myself, but it didn't work. I fought as hard as I could, but I was lucky to escape alive."
"But why did you go into the fight by yourself when there were multiple of them? Wasn't there anyone who could have helped?"
"...They're all gone." Trunks said sorrowfully. "I'm the only warrior who's still alive 20 years from now. In 3 years from now, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, Raditz, Nappa, even my father Vegeta, they will all die fighting the androids. Your son is the only one who manages to get away. It's Gohan who ends up teaching me the ways of a warrior. How to fight like a Saiyan, and how to die like one." Trunks clenched his teeth as he said that before he continued. "With Piccolo dead and gone in my time, the Dragon Balls, and the wishes I could use to bring your friends back to life, they no longer exist. Damn it! I can't do it and I'm the only one left!"
"Trunks, hold on. What about me? Why am I not helping you out?" Goku asked.
"Yeah, me too. Do we also die to these androids?" I asked, a little nervous about his answer. I was already a bit surprised to hear that his timeline had the changes I made in this one, but it was more worrying that he hasn't mentioned how I either died or survived. I should be as strong if not stronger than the androids, so what happened to me? Trunks gave us a terrified glance as he explained.
"You both didn't die to the androids. You never even battle them." Uh oh… "After you both got back to Earth, everyone started to live normal lives, but a year later, Orion finds out about Doctor Gero's plans."
"How'd I do that?" I asked.
"From what my mother told me, you said that you were exploring a forest up north and discovered what looked like an android that attacked you. You destroyed it, but not before it told you everything about Gero's plans." Trunks told me. That's bs, 100%. Future me must have realized that he was in the future timeline. He must have wanted to give everyone a head start on the androids since Trunks wasn't going to show up. I wonder why I waited a year though. I bet I tried to find Doctor Gero myself during that time, but considering how I can't seem to remember where his lab was, I bet Future Me had to give up and make up that story to get everyone ready for the attack. "After you told everyone, you guys started training for the android's arrival, but right before the androids show up, you both are going to come down with an illness. You come down with it first Orion at just 3 weeks before the attack, and then a week later, Goku succumbs to it.. It's going to be the death of you both." Goku was obviously shocked to hear that, but that was the first thing Trunks said that got me truly worried. I guess with how Future me handled the situation, it helped keep Goku away from civilization so that he didn't catch the illness as soon as he did initially, and since Goku was alive until just a few weeks until the attack, that means Doctor Gero would have still been working on his plans with android 19 and himself attacking first before unleashing 17 and 18 in case of an emergency. I suppose that's a huge change, but one that helps us, since we'll have more information this time around. But still, I would have never expected me to fall victim to the same illness as Goku.
"Illness? What kind?" I asked in a nervous tone.
"It's a virus that attacks your heart. Not even a Super Saiyan can overcome something like this."
"A heart virus? And senzu beans can't do anything to make it better?" Goku asked as he clenched his fist. "Damn it! It's just not fair!" Trunks then took two medicine capsules out of his jacket pocket and handed one to each of us.
"When the symptoms appear, use this vial." Trunks told us.
"What is it?" Goku asked.
"It's the medicine you'll need. The virus you both come down with is incurable now, but in the future, we've pretty much got it licked. Use the vial like I told you and you should be just fine."
"Perfect!" I shouted happily.
"That's great news! Thanks Trunks! I just wish you saved us the suspense and told us about this from the start!" Goku cheered.
"Well honestly, I shouldn't be messing around with history, actively trying to change the future like I am. But with the future being what it is, I don't care if I create a different timeline for you guys. Multiverse theory be damn! I want to help prevent this from happening to you guys! I know now that you both will prevent everything from going so wrong. Mom knows it too. She kept telling me. If she didn't believe in both of you, she wouldn't have worked so hard on the time machine."
"Woah, hold on! Your mom's the one who built your time machine?" Goku asked with a nervous look.
"If that's the case, then the person Vegeta got together with must be a genius." I said, a coy smile forming on my face. "The only woman that we know of that fits that bill is-"
"Yeah...My mom's right over there." Trunks said while pointing at Bulma. As soon as he said that, Goku screamed and fell over. I then heard Piccolo start laughing hysterically from where he was.
"What's so funny!?" I heard Vegeta ask him.
"Your shirt!" Piccolo told him.
"Rarrrrrrrgh!" Vegeta growled, causing me to giggle at the interaction.
"Oh my Gami-Kai. Vegeta and Bulma will-!?" Goku composed himself and got back up. "Out of all of your future news, that takes the cake. I always figured that Bulma and Yamcha would settle down one of these days, but her and Vegeta? I can't even wrap my head around that one!"
"Well, she got tired of Yamcha… 'playing the field', I think she called it, so she finally kicked him out on his ear." Goku and I sweatdropped when Trunks said that. Yeah...Yamcha was a huge flirt. "I was just a baby when my father died, so I don't remember anything about him. Meeting him today was pretty interesting to say the least."
"I bet. Wow, though. Bulma and Vegeta, huh? Who would have thought?" I said, pretending to be shocked when I had already known that would happen. "Who's next to get married? Me?" I jokingly ask.
"Actually, Launch married someone else in my timeline if you really want to know." Trunks told me.
"Really? With who? Tien?" Goku asked.
"Actually, it's Raditz."
"WHAT!?" Both Goku and I shouted. Goku could only look back and stare at Raditz and Launch while I fell down and started laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe. I also heard Piccolo start laughing again, even harder than he did before.
"Oh my god! That's so great, but so funny!" I laughed while shouting. Wow! Who would have thought that those two would have gotten together? I can hardly believe it.
"Please don't say anything about any of this stuff I told you, but especially that!" Trunks told us. "If you mention it, and things end up getting weird between any of them, I might just blip out of existence!"
"Ok! It's our secret." Goku told Trunks.
"Yeah. I promise." I agreed.
"Thank you." Trunks said as he looked at the group that were far away from us. "That covers everything. I should head back home now and let my mom know I finally got to meet the one and only Goku and Orion."
"Yeah. Tell her thanks for the medicine for us." I told him.
"Yeah. This should shake things up, right?" Goku added.
"Yeah, with you and the gang better prepared this time around, we might end up winning this fight."
"So is this goodbye?" Goku asked.
"I don't know." Trunks answered. "It takes months to charge up the time machine for a round trip, but if I can stay out of harm's way until then, then you can count on me being there to help out in 3 years time."
"Then stay safe and come back." I told him.
"Meanwhile, we'll be training nonstop these next three years to make sure it's worth your trip." Goku told him. Trunks gave us a thumbs up as he flew off. Goku then turned to me. "That was quite a bomb drop, huh? I wonder how we should let the others know. Maybe Piccolo can help us since he probably heard us like you said."
"Maybe. We just need to let them know without letting anything about Trunks's personal info slip." I told him.
"Man, I hope I can keep that promise and keep Trunks's identity a secret for these 3 years. I'll have to be really careful not to slip up. Man, I wonder how other people who have future knowledge go about keeping all that information a secret."
"You have no idea." I muttered as we made our way back to the group.
