Last time on 'Chronomancer's Games', Gohan, Videl, Goten, and Logan and his squad have met Gohan and Goten's Saiyan grandfather Bardock and his crew. After a short match between the two Super Saiyans, where Gohan has turned out the victor, Logan and his crew went back to Capsule Corp., meeting Yamcha, Krillin, and Android 18 as well. Afterwards, Logan and Soifon followed them and Vegeta to a battlefield where they reunited with Kiryo and met an alternate version of Trunks in the process. However, the name of the army they were battling disturbed the Assassins, as they called themselves the 'Soldiers of the Silver Empire'. Who are they? And why are they here?
Future Trunks' Report! Nash Attacks!
The group had managed to get back to West City safe and sound with Vegeta letting F. Trunks know ahead of time to surprise Bulma, knowing that she would appreciate it. Logan had informed Kiryo to do the same for Cammy. They entered without the two new additions and saw the girls in new outfits. Chun-Li now had on a pair of blue jeans, white T-shirt, and black vest similar to one of 18's previous styles, something she noted with a smirk. The Interpol officer still had her hair in the ox-horn style with her yellow ribbons. She completed the ensemble with a pair of white sneakers.
Cammy was wearing a green sleeveless turtleneck, baggy camouflage cargo pants, and combat boots. She still had her hair in braids and her beret on her head. These outfits made Logan blush a little, seeing as how he saw them both as attractive. The biggest shock came from Tomita's outfit: a black tank top with a yellow button-up shirt, a pair of short shorts that exposed her legs, and a pair of sandals to complete it. She had her tail wrapped around her waist to camouflage the Saiyan heritage. "Um, is this what you had in mind, Bulma?" Tomita asked.
"That is perfect!" exclaimed the scientist, happy about the change of clothes. She then saw Vegeta, Logan, and the others enter. "Well that didn't take long. Did you bring them?"
"Before we answer that…" Vegeta started.
"Which mall did you go to to get those clothes?" Logan finished.
"Wherever she got these, they're not very comfortable," Cammy said. Tomita nodded in agreement while Chun-Li begged to differ.
"Anyway, you guys were quick. What happened out there?" asked Bulma. Soifon, Yamcha, and Krillin got out of the way as Logan gave the signal. Bulma got the surprise she hoped for as Future Trunks, lavender hair and all, entered, followed by Kiryo. "Trunks!" she happily exclaimed, hugging the adult version of her son. "I'm so happy to see you again!" Cammy did the same with Kiryo.
"Logan, don't tell me Kiryo is Cammy's ex," Tomita said. Logan shook his head.
"Wrong," he said. "Long story short, Kiryo is mine and Cammy's descendant from 250 years into the future in our world. As for the other guy, that's a more grown-up version of Trunks." This helped to clarify things for Trunks as to why Bulma was happy to see his counterpart. "Things have gotten a slight bit more complicated, though."
"Unfortunately, our being here was by sheer accident," F. Trunks said. "As you probably found out from our friend there, someone's been screwing around with Time and Space. I have the time machine with me in Capsule Mode, but there's no point in using it right now. Whoever's doing this will just send me back."
"Great!" Krillin said. "That just means that we'll get to see you in action again." Yamcha and 18 agreed by smiling and nodding. "Now if only Goku were here."
"You'll be happy to know, Trunks, that Gohan's been keeping up on his training and study time," Yamcha said. "He's even giving Piccolo a run for his money. I'm almost scared to fight him."
"Last I checked, Yamcha, you like to test your strength against his base form once in a while," said Bulma.
"Gohan's gotten that strong?" F. Trunks asked. "Back to the matter at hand, though. Logan, if you don't mind?" Logan nodded before pulling the box out that had the Power Ring in it.
"This is a Power Ring handed out to this group called the 'Soldiers of the Silver Empire'. In my world, it's a group called the 'Silver Lanterns', and they're led by a parolee of mine named Nathaniel Dement. By Kiryo's time, the Silver Lanterns are an entire organization, but in our time, they have just a handful of members."
"It sounds to me like these soldiers must be doing their Emperor's bidding," Cammy said.
"That's right. We only got this ring because Soifon and I managed to lure it into that casing. I don't know if their boss is a corrupt version of Nate or if he's been overthrown, but this isn't good."
"It doesn't sound like it," said an approaching voice. They looked and saw Gohan, Goten, Videl, and Bardock's crew. "Trunks, it's been a while."
"Not short enough I'm afraid, Gohan," F. Trunks replied while Trunks and Goten went outside to play. Bardock and Vegeta greeted one another with respect. "So how've you been? Father told me about Bardock and his crew before, but he never mentioned that Goku had a clone."
"So you saw the resemblance too, huh? That's my little brother Goten. He's your counterpart's best friend. And this Videl. She's Hercule's daughter, something she's not exactly proud of."
"Can't fault her for that one." As Gohan and F. Trunks played catch-up, Videl saw a stern expression on Logan's face. Before she could ask what was wrong, he got up and walked out the door. "Logan?"
"I'd like to be alone right now, guys," the Assassin said. "Gohan, Trunks, keep everyone inside." Though confused, they thought it best not to argue with him.
"What was that all about?" Videl asked, getting a shrug from Gohan while F. Trunks looked concerned for his friend.
Logan walked further in the downtown area before he stopped. Not a sound emitted in the back alley until he spoke. "I know you're here," he said to someone following him. Out stepped a familiar figure wearing a pair of green cargo pants, purple combat boots, brown vest with yellow linings on it, and a familiar pair of glasses. With the skin grafts on the right side of his face, chest, and right arm, along with the blonde forelock, Logan knew this to be his former mentor Charlie Nash. "I'm going to guess you followed Gohan to me, Nash."
"Good guess," the former soldier said. "I'm going to take a gamble that you know what's going on."
"I'm slowly figuring it out. But even if I knew the full story, I wouldn't tell you."
"Still upset about me putting Cammy in the hospital?"
"You could've killed her, you bastard! You're lucky she didn't die!"
"Well in case you've forgotten, Logan: I'm already dead, so you can't kill me."
"It also means that the safety's coming off!" The Assassin's statement surprised Nash, who didn't have enough time to react. Logan, in his 'Chidori Discharge' state, slammed his fist into Charlie's face and almost sent him out of the alley. He followed up with a bicycle kick to his former mentor's chin. He continued to hit Charlie a little more into the air before sending him away from the city. This commotion caught the attention of the citizens and visitors, including Gohan's classmates Sharpner, Erasa, and Angela, as well as a face that was familiar to Logan.
The battle was carried over to the plains where Logan and Tomita first met. Nash landed first before Logan landed on his feet. "Wow," the ex-soldier said. "I don't think you've been this worked up since our last bout with Bison. It's kind of refreshing to see you without the safety on. With nobody around, you get to go full power." Nash got back up on his feet and sped up towards Logan to punch him. The Assassin countered back with a punch of his own. The two of them continued to trade blow for blow, neither one letting up. Due to the output of power they were exuding, they made several craters on the plains.
Not too far off were Gohan's aforementioned classmates who were watching the fight. Humorously, it was Sharpner, who was a teenage bodybuilder with long blonde hair, who was scared along with Angela, who was a redheaded teenager. Reason being: Nash's appearance and Logan's power. Erasa then recognized Logan as the man that Saiyaman took out of town with him the other day. Before she could say anything, another familiar face showed up—Hercule. "What are you kids doing out here?" he asked.
"We're watching this fight," Erasa said, bringing the 'champ's' attention to the battle. When Hercule got his binoculars out, he was shocked to see Logan and Nash in a grappling contest. "That one with the brown hair is the one that Saiyaman rescued a couple of days ago."
"Well it looks like he could use just a little bit of training." As he said this, the normal humans were shocked to see Logan and Nash's 'Sonic Booms' collide. "Holy cow! They're more of them tricksters! Except it doesn't look like they know how to pull off that flying illusion!"
"I don't know, sir!" Sharpner exclaimed. "I definitely felt that one!"
Back at the battle itself, neither side was showing any sign of fatigue. This made Nash happy since he needed something to feel like he was alive again. This rivalry was that exact something that he was looking for. He tried a 'Moonsault Slash' to kick Logan, but fell victim to his anti-air attack. "Shoryuken!" Logan exclaimed, using the uppercut to send Charlie into the air. He then jumped higher, focused his Ki to his right hand, and surged down. "Super Skydive Assault!" He grabbed Nash by the face, landed him on the ground, grappled him, and used a flying suplex to form one last crater into the ground. When he saw that Nash was knocked out, he reverted back to his normal state. "Dammit. I wound up using more energy than I needed to." He then picked his opponent up and carried him on his shoulder. "You're coming with me, Nash."
Logan got a little ways back to West City before seeing Tomita and F. Trunks in the sky. F. Trunks carried Charlie while Tomita decided to carry Logan. All the while, Hercule and the teenagers freaked out at the sight. Sharpner looked at the battlefield, took off his jacket, and decided to begin patching the holes up. "What are you doing, Sharpner?" Erasa asked.
"Do you need to ask?" he responded. "I'm doing that guy a favor and training at the same time. I figured that Gohan had at least a little muscle on him underneath his clothes. Since he lives out in the country, he must get that muscle while doing blue collar jobs. So I thought I'd give it a shot."
"I guess that is one way to build up muscle," said Hercule. "I'll help. While we do this, you two gals go on and find out what's happening."
"Right!" Erasa and Angela said in confirmation before taking off.
Back at West City, the others looked on as F. Trunks and Tomita landed with Logan and Nash in tow. Guile, Chun-Li, Cammy, Abel, and Soifon were surprised that Charlie arrived in this world. It was a sight to behold, as was Logan's fatigue. "Hey, Ms. Bulma, do you have a holding cell of sorts? We need to put this jerk in it along with some sort of steel-wire cuffs," Tomita said.
"Okay, but who is this guy?" asked Bulma.
"Someone...not to be...trusted," Logan responded before passing out. Yamcha picked him up while Vegeta took Nash to the holding cell.
'Just what the hell is Charlie doing here?' Guile thought. 'Now I know something's up.'
Yamcha had set Logan down at his guest bed with a set of four worried girls and Kid Trunks concerned. "Don't worry, you guys. He'll be fine," the former desert bandit said, reassuring them. "Someone's going to have to stand guard. I'm about to head outside to train."
"Leave that to me," F. Trunks said, surprising the others. "It's obvious that he holds a strong bond with my younger version. I'll be okay watching over him. I need to do some visual training anyway."
"Okay, Trunks, if you wish. Try not to get a headache, okay? I know for a fact that Krillin's been known to get those." F. Trunks' only reply was a simple smirk. After the others left, the Saiyan of the Future sat down cross-legged and into a meditating position.
(F. Trunks' Vision…)
Within Trunks' mind, there is a seemingly apocalyptic version of the world they are in. The sky was black as night because of the smoke coming from the fires. Trunks is seen with a girl in an overcoat with long black hair on his lap passed out. A figure landed on a pile of rubble, catching the half-breed's attention. He resembled an older version of Goten, but he wore black. He had on a gold-and-green earring on his left ear and a strange ring on his right hand. The figure grinned wickedly at Trunks, who shot him a glare full of nothing but spite. Trunks turns into a stronger Super Saiyan form and lands a surprise punch on the figure.
Though shocked initially, the man in black retaliates. He lands hit after hit on his Saiyan foe, sending him to a building. The figure fired a blast that was heading towards the young Super Saiyan…
(Real World…)
F. Trunks' concentration was broken as he took deep breaths. He looked to his left and saw Goten looking at him with a curious expression. "Is there something I can help you with, Goten?" he asked.
"What are you doing?" the boy asked.
"If I had to guess, Gohan's never told you about image training, has he?" Goten smiled and shook his head in the negative. "It's basically like the meditation that Piccolo does. You sit cross-legged and concentrate on a scenario fit for that training. That way, you're sure to be as ready as you can when the real deal comes along."
"Ooooooh! That's pretty cool!" F. Trunks just smiled at the boy and patted his head.
"No kidding, Goten," said Logan, who had just woken up. "I'll have to try it one of these days."
"You didn't take too long," F. Trunks said.
"Where's Nash?" F. Trunks answered by signaling the Assassin to follow him. He led the other two to the basement. "This must be where Bulma keeps intruders."
"Yeah it is. Technically, Nash isn't an intruder, though, since you fought him outside the city." They found Guile and Chun-Li in front of the cells. They were happy to see their friend up. The door to the cell was a laser door. "Man, now that I had a good look at him, I could definitely tell he's had better days."
"You got that right," said Goten. "He looks like he came out of Frankenstein's Lab."
"Goten!" Logan hissed, scolding the youngest half-breed before turning to his former friend. "I know you're awake, Nash. Don't pretend you're asleep." The former soldier opened his eyes and saw the group. He stood up, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms. "Now what are you doing here? You didn't put up that much of a fight."
"You picked up on that," said Nash. "I figured you might. Obviously, the only way you would hear from me is if you let your anger issues out. I followed a spiky-haired fighter here because I thought he would lead me to you."
"So you did follow Gohan? What for?" They saw Nash pull an object out of his pocket, one that surprised F. Trunks and Goten. It was an orange glass ball like the one that was on Gohan's hat as a kid, only with six stars.
"That's a Dragon Ball," F. Trunks said.
"'Dragon Ball'?" Nash asked. "Some kind of mystical artifact?"
"Something like that. Where did you find it?"
"I found it in a forest I landed in. After I picked it up, I caught a glimpse of your pals Gohan, Goten, and their friends flying here."
"So you followed them looking for answers?"
"That's right. And now that I know what it is, I know I have no use for it." Cautiously, F. Trunks pushed a button and put a hand on his sword as Nash tossed the Dragon Ball to Logan. The half-breed pushed the button again and reactivated the door. "By the way, Logan, give your girlfriend my regards." Logan's response was simply shaking his head, figuring that Nash was just trying to get to him.
When they got out of the cellar, Logan turned to the Saiyans. "Okay, you two, what's a Dragon Ball?" He asked.
"A Dragon Ball is a mystical orb filled with mysterious power. There are seven of them. Once all seven are gathered, the Eternal Dragon Shenron emerges to grant wishes," said F. Trunks. "Normally, you can get two wishes, but on some occasions, you can get three."
"With what's going on, Mr. Logan, we better hope Shenron is in a good enough mood to grant three," Goten said, following up on the explanation. "From what I heard from Gohan, though, he can get pretty grumpy."
"The Dragon Balls aren't around in my time because Goku died of a heart virus and Piccolo was killed by Android 17 before even fusing with Kami. Because of that, we're forced to repair our civilization on our own. Because of that, we've postponed building a ship to head to Namek until everything is back to normal. Unlike Shenron, the Namekian Dragon Porunga can bring someone back more than once as long as they didn't die of natural causes. This means that we could bring back the Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaozu, and Vegeta of my world. Since Goku was hit with the virus, that counts as natural causes, so there's no resurrecting him…at least where I'm from."
"You didn't mention Goten or Videl," Logan pointed out.
"I was afraid you were going to say that. Because of how Goku died, Goten wasn't conceived. As for Videl, Gohan hadn't met her in my time. We were too busy fighting 17 and 18. As for how Goku died in this world, he sacrificed himself…"
"…to save the Earth from Cell."
"That means he can be resurrected by the Dragon Balls, right?" Chun-Li asked.
"The Namekian ones, yes. Shenron can only resurrect someone who's been dead for a year at the most. Of course, Goku also has to agree as well."
"That's another problem," said 18 as soon as they got into the living room. "Shenron won't grant the same wish twice if the target's the same. So even if Goku would agree, he has no choice but to stay in Other World as a dead man."
"Damn. That means that we need Ichigo or Ryu," said a downcast Logan.
"I know we agreed to leave Ichigo alone since he and Rukia are planning their wedding, but I think you might be right," Chun-Li said, putting a comforting hand on Logan's shoulder. "Until we get all the Dragon Balls together, we're going to have to hold off on our own. We can manage just fine." Logan nodded before his 'Spirit Sense' activated. "What is it?"
"An old comrade. Like Nash, he's not supposed to be here," Logan said. "Trunks, 18, Goten, get ready."
The fighters stepped out of the Capsule Corp. building and looked around. What they saw was a silver blur causing quite a ruckus. Using their senses, Logan, F. Trunks, 18, and Goten found the figure to be a cyborg. Unlike 18, though, his metal implants were shown all over his body. He had on jeans and a black sleeveless shirt as well. The only part of his face shown was his mouth, nose, and right eye. "No need to go Super Saiyan, guys," Logan said.
The Assassin used his 'Flash Step' to catch up to the cyborg. He reappeared in front of the cybernetic speedster with a smirk on his face. "Hey, Seconds. Long time no see."
"How did you know my name?" asked the cyborg.
"I've met you before. Sonny Seconds, right? Or should I call you 'Blur'?"
"I don't recall meeting you!" Seconds ran towards Logan and reeled his fist back for a punch. The martial artist parried the attack and almost caused Seconds to crash. He avoided it by speeding away from his would-be rival. He thought he was in the clear long enough to do a bit of coasting with the thrusters at a low level. His next opponent was Goten, who went for a tackle. Seconds merely parried him, not knowing what Goten was going to do next. The littlest Saiyan fired a basic ki blast and almost tripped the cyborg up. "Woah! Little guy's full of surprises." He kicked the thrusters in top speed again, but was almost tripped up again, this time by 18. "Well hello, beautiful," he said, flirting with her.
"I'm already spoken for," she said, disgusted by Blur already. They exchanged blows for a bit, but Seconds proved to be too fast for her. He put one of his feet up, kicked her, and added the thruster for extra power. After 18 crashed into a building, F. Trunks decided to have a go at him. The Saiyan of the Future threw a punch at the cyborg, but the latter dodged. Blur tried a gut shot, but F. Trunks pushed it away and kicked him. Blur then sped around him multiple times at high speeds, which only served to make Trunks a little angrier. He flew up high into the sky, signaling 18 and Goten on what he was about to do.
The Android put a pair of shades on and flew over to Goten to give him some. Logan got the hint and put his own on as F. Trunks got ready, the half-Saiyan putting his hands over his face and closing his eyes. "Solar Flare!" he shouted, blinding everyone who was unprepared. This threw Blur off balance as he tried to get away. Future Trunks then flew down, performed a series of quick arm movements, and ended it by connecting his index fingers and thumbs. Trunks then fired a blast aimed towards the cyborg. Blur saw it, however, and ran at the last second. "Dammit!"
"Whew! That was close," Blur said. "That purple-haired dude's good, but he's going to have to do a lot better than that." Just as Seconds was about to speed away, he was clotheslined by Gohan, who knocked him out.
"That's an annoyance if I ever saw one," said the original Half-Breed. "You guys okay?"
"We're just fine, Gohan," said F. Trunks. "Thanks."
Back at Capsule Corp., Logan had filled in the blanks on who their new guest was. In the process, Seconds had already tried to hit on all the women except for Tomita, only to earn glares from everyone and a swift kick across the room from Videl. Naturally, this made Vegeta and Trunks laugh, the former even stating that Gohan 'picked a good one'. Now, Gohan and Yamcha were training in the backyard, Gohan being in his base form. That's not to say that Yamcha wasn't improving; even the Saiyan Prince detected that his rival's skills have grown to the point where he could possibly beat the hybrid in base form. "Gohan!" Vegeta shouted as the High Schooler blocked one of the former bandit's 'Wolf Fang Fists'. "Let's see how Yamcha can do against a Super Saiyan!"
Gohan nodded as Yamcha lost his smirk. He got ready after the hybrid transformed. "So...What's the big idea here, Vegeta?" Logan asked.
"If your story holds true that you fought past versions of me, Nappa, and Raditz, Yamcha here should be able to get his payback tenfold. I was much weaker then, but still stronger than Nappa. Kakarot, Gohan, and Krillin dealt me a much-needed defeat. Because of our power levels back then, Yamcha can at least overpower Nappa like Kakarot did."
"I see..." As Gohan and Yamcha continued sparring, Gohan was surprised at how Goku's former rival was keeping up. The group then heard a shriek, which caused them to look at the entrance. To Gohan's shock, Erasa and Angela were at the gate, having discovered their classmate's transformation.
"I don't believe it..." Erasa said. "Gohan...is the...Gold Fighter...?"
CHAPTER 6 END
And so, Gohan's transformation has been discovered by his classmates, Erasa and Angela. After helping to stop Blur from causing mayhem in West City, how will he get out of this jam? Find out on the next 'Chronomancer's Games'!
Okay, so that's Chapter 6. It took me a while too. Anyway, I still have to plan Chapter 7, so please have patience.
