Chapter 11: …In Bridgetown
The young Saiya-jin watched with mounting concern as the sphere of destructive energy rocketed at him from the sky. He had less than moments to respond before it would strike him. Engaging his muscles, he leapt quickly out of the way, but was unable to avoid a stinging burn to his left side. His rage suddenly and violently awakened, he vaulted up into the sky to bring the fight back to his enemy. Pulling back his fist to strike, he took aim and readied himself to slam his opponent in the face. The attack was about to hit home, but the target suddenly vanished before his eyes. Turning quickly, he fired backwards just in time to avoid a crescent kick across the face. His foe once again moved to strike, bringing his own fist up. The fist flew at him, and though dodging would probably be the safest idea, the young Saiya-jin decided on a new tactic. The attack came, but was sidestepped. Quick hands seized the arm. A knee followed, slamming into the attacker's guts and driving the wind from his lungs. He was then spun around, over and over like the most violent of carousels, and flung headlong into the ground.
Rising slowly from the now-decimated earth, the attacker grit his teeth and stared up at his opponent. He had not been expecting such a move. This one would have to be dealt with harshly. The warrior quickly set about making his wishes into reality, vaulting into the sky again. He flew swiftly at the young fighter, who was readying a defense that in the end would be useless. The attacker closed the distance quickly, but jagged right at the last second. His target turned and prepared to receive the next charge. The attacker came on again, and then jagged left, just out of the young fighter's reach. The Saiya-jin turned, expecting to find his opponent, but saw nothing but the vast expanse of ground. In the next instant, blazing pain erupted, and he found the ground coming quickly to meet him. The next moment, he struck the Earth and did not get up. The fight was over, for now.
Bulma watched as her son walked over to the once-again-beaten boy and peel him from the dirt. He looked bloody, battered, and bruised, but she was no longer worried about it. He'd pretty much looked like that non-stop for the past several weeks, but she knew he would eventually recover, and since he was a Saiya-jin, he would only grow stronger from the hellish poundings he'd been receiving.
It had been almost a month since they had returned from Namek. Once home, Robbie seemed to have only one thing on his mind: preparing to fight the inevitable battle with the Androids. Unfortunately, her idiot son also thought this was a good idea and very soon chaos erupted as the two sparred from dawn to dusk. To her, Trunks seemed like a little kid who had just received the coolest new plaything, and was completely obsessed with beating it into the ground every chance he could get. Being that Trunks was a super-Saiya-jin and Robbie a kid who barely knew how to fight up until a month ago, this wasn't at all difficult to accomplish. Yet, Bulma observed, this was becoming far less easy as time went on. Robbie was growing stronger, in body, mind, and spirit. A month ago, Robbie would never have been able to figure out a counterattack like he had just performed. In fact, even the simple acts of flight and dodging were seemingly beyond his reach. Yet as time went on, he broke through all the barriers put in front of him, and now he was becoming almost a match for Trunks, in his normal form at least. He still couldn't touch the power of a super-Saiya-jin, but given time…who knew, with that child?
Just recently, Bulma had taken up a new pastime, gardening. She abandoned the darkness and seclusion of her lab to come out into the open air and enjoy the sunlight. Unfortunately, this time outdoors was far from peaceful as she was forced to witness the daily apocalypse that seemed to plague her home. With all the racket, it was a wonder the Androids themselves didn't show up.
Even so, she worked diligently, and soon there were flowers of many types everywhere. At this point, she was working on a bed of tulips when her son walked over, carrying the unconscious meat sack she had come to consider as her other son draped over his shoulder.
"Have fun today?" She said, more than a trace of sarcasm in her voice. Trunks responded, much to Bulma's surprise, almost cheerily.
"Yeah! Robbie's getting pretty good at fighting, and he's starting to think more as well. If I were those Androids, I'd be really scared right now!"
"They can be scared all they want, because you're still not going…Trunks!" As Bulma reiterated her maternal conviction that neither go into battle, Trunks was already halfway to the central dome that served as their home, whistling as he went, presumably to carry Robbie to one of the beds where he could rest. Bulma merely sighed and went back to her gardening, though now enjoying the blessed silence. She knew it would last about a day, then Robbie would regain consciousness and the battle would continue.
'And I HAD to marry a warrior prince…'
….
Once again, Robbie's eyelids cracked open, and he was given the painful gift of reality. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but pain stabbed him in what felt like a gazillion places, and he fell back to the sheets, hissing in pain. He wisely decided to lie in a completely prostrate position for at least a few more minutes.
'That's what you get for messing with the most powerful half-Saiya-jin on Earth…'
This thought in mind, he played back the battle in his head, an action he'd been taking after every battle with Trunks. It was more of an unconscious twitch, rather than any conscious effort. It was just one of many things he seemed to be doing lately that could be attributed to his new Saiya-jin instincts. Robbie figured that it forced a Saiya-jin to see, recognize, and correct any mistake he may have made, and grow stronger. A good idea, since most battles among Saiya-jin were to the death, or could at least result in serious injury. It was really doing wonders, and contributed greatly to the lengths he'd gone in today's, or rather yesterday's, battle. By looking through his memories, he was able to learn that he needed to perform many more counterattacks, and not just dodge. Remembering Piccolo's training of Gohan also helped somewhat. Either way, Robbie was learning from his mistakes and learning Trunks' fighting style, and soon he knew he would have a chance to either beat Trunks in a fair fight, or at least force him to go super-Saiya-jin. With that power, he believed he might have a chance of tipping the scales in Trunks' favor at Bridgetown.
Speaking of which, Robbie was beginning to wonder when that fated battle would come. The movie was beyond vague as to the actual timeline, but Robbie figured it couldn't be more than a few months away, since Trunks was sixteen, the age he was when he fought them solo for the first time.
Either way, he hoped beyond hope that the fight would come soon, and that he would have the nerve to stand ready. Even with his new power and his Saiya-jin blood, he still trembled whenever he thought about squaring off against the two strongest beings on the planet. That was what pushed him the hardest: the fear, and the will to overcome it, to defeat the first and most dangerous enemy of any warrior: himself. However, Robbie could admit that he was making great progress. Every battle with Trunks now seemed to be what it truly was: a training exercise. He remembered the fear he felt in his first battles, and now it was gone completely. In fact, he found himself relishing his next violent encounter like a hungry dog waiting for a juicy steak.
And at that moment, the steak walked in to his room. And from the looks of it, Robbie was soon to be the one getting tenderized, again. Of course, the first words out of Trunks' mouth were questions about his well-being, but Robbie knew that it came down to only one all-important question: Are you ready for another saiya-jin-style ass-kicking?
"Hey, kid, you alright?"
"Yeah, of course. Now shut up and get your ass outside." Trunks smiled, then gladly complied. As they were walking down the stairs and out into the sunshine of another morning, Trunks suddenly stopped.
"What's up?"
"My mom's down in her lab."
"Yeah, so? Are we gonna spar or what? My muscles are gonna atrophy if you take any more time."
"Hold on , we've got all day. I'm just going to see what she's up to. When you live with Bulma Briefs, you've got to keep an eye on whatever she's working on. It's a wonder she still has a lab after all of her so-called 'discoveries." He shuddered visibly, in much the same way as Robbie had at the word 'specialty', from what was quickly becoming another life. "Just sit tight, I'll be back in a few. Why don't you go outside and do a few hundred sit ups?"
"Yeah, whatever. Just don't take all day, or I'll have your ass."
"Sure thing." Trunks sauntered down the stairs and Robbie stepped out into the daylight, where he found a flat place on the ground and began doing his daily warm-ups: some stretches, a few thousand sit-ups and a couple hundred push-ups. Just the thing I need before a relaxing day of hand-to-hand combat.
Robbie stretched and began his push-ups, but got to 146 before he was rudely interrupted by a flying purple bolt that nearly tripped over him. Robbie leapt to his feet, only to see Trunks staring over at him from the doorway. Robbie immediately noticed two things that caused him instant alarm: the look on Trunks' face and the sword strapped to his back.
Trunks never wears his sword when we're sparring. Why does he have it now?
With supernatural speed, Robbie answered his own question. And the answer filled him with dread.
"They're here." A statement, not a question. No more words were needed. At once, the two warriors took off running like the wind to the edge of the debris field, then leapt into the sky, and within seconds they were soaring hard and fast through the clouds. Both knew the destination, and both were ready for what they would find there. Even so, each had his own fears and doubts, as every warrior does before they enter the fray, and check their lives and destinies at the door of Fate.
Trunks' first thoughts obviously went to Gohan, his friend and teacher. This was his chance to honor his memory, avenge his death, and most importantly, prove that Gohan's death was not worthless or in vain. He was aware of both the responsibility, and the possible consequences this brought. Gohan had been killed by the very same monsters he was going to face, and the son of Goku had possessed far more power than he currently had. He did have a full-blooded Saiya-jin with him, who was more powerful than he was at his first encounter, but he was still just a regular Saiya-jin with only a month of real combat training under his belt.
Still, he is way stronger than I was. I couldn't even touch Gohan, and this kid nearly forced me to go Super-Saiya-jin last time. He's got heart, and in this fight, that could make all the difference…
For the Saiya-jin flying to his right, similar thoughts weighed on his mind. Robbie found himself thinking of his mother, as well as his father, who had declared his intention to stand against the android that was coming for their world. Robbie knew that his father possessed no real power, certainly not the kind of power he himself had gained, but yet Malcolm Barnes was still going to give his all for Earth, for the human race. This was where Robbie finally found the courage he was looking for: in the fact that he was not alone. His father was walking into the same battle he was. It would be fought differently, yes, but the goal as well as the consequences were the same. They both faced the possibility of total annihilation, and the loss of everything they loved on their world. So Robbie took heart in his father's courage, knowing that though they were a universe apart, they were still side by side, together.
So both warriors cast their eyes to the horizon. Toward the future. Toward hope. Toward possible defeat, and death. Toward the promise of glory.
Soon, small wisps of smoke could be seen rising through the air, and the two warriors set their course for them, knowing that their enemies would be there. Robbie followed his foes the way the ancient Israelites had followed God: column of smoke by day, column of fire by night. Except he would catch up to these messengers of death, and when he did, they would be shown the darkest pits of Hell.
Drawing closer, Trunks could see that the city was completely in ruins. Nothing stirred. The streets were as lifeless as the dark side of the Moon. He was, once again, too late.
Together, they dove to ground level, landing on what had once been the main thoroughfare through a city that was once a grand metropolis. Now it was a graveyard, dead and cold. Buildings lay toppled over and their bricks lay strewn across the cracked asphalt. Girders, bent and charred, jutted from the wreckage like the clawed hands of the dying that now lay beneath them. Water sprayed from broken pipes. Severed wires sparked and hissed. Crashed hover cars sat crunched and broken, embedded in the mounds of debris that had once been homes and businesses. Now all was a tomb, a sarcophagus of shattered lives and shattered dreams that would never be whole again.
Robbie watched this all with stony-eyed sobriety, horrified that such a thing would happen, but knowing that no sin, even that of murder, was beyond the brutality of the Androids. He could feel his hate rising, and with it came his fiery ki. Next to him, Trunks was feeling the same burning, and soon, Robbie knew, he would explode in a storm of gold. It was inevitable: no one, especially Trunks, could see such awful devastation and not be moved with righteous fury. Even now, with the enemy not yet in sight, Trunks was itching to draw his sword, if only to reassure him that he still had the power to kill, and that he had come to fight for real. The time for sparring and training was over. The trumpets blared. The drums were pounding in his mind. The dogs of war were tugging at their bonds, ready to be unchained. In both Trunks and Robbie, the Saiya-jin battle lust had reached its peak, and both warriors pulsed with manic energy, screaming to be released, screaming for a battle. All that was needed was a target.
And up ahead, winding their nonchalant way through the wreckage that was their self-styled gift to the world, were the targets. The duo had detected the approach of the warriors, and turned to face their newest playmates. Gravel crunched as feet moved into the fighting stances, and the sound of flashing steel punctured the calm air as Trunks drew his sword.
Time ground down to a halt. The journey of a thousand miles was over. The opponents of this grand contest locked in a stare-down, and waited to see who would be the first to strike. Two sets of cold, lifeless eyes faced two pairs filled with fire. There stood between them thirty yards of wrecked highway, but in that space sat so much more: the fate of two worlds and the lives of billions of human beings. Now, on a deserted stretch of blacktop, that fate would finally be decided.
………………………….
Hey, again. Short chapter, but it came quick this time. I promise to have a nice, long, violent one up next. Plenty of battle and blood. Stay tuned. Oh, more shout-outs:
Some Guy: Genius? Maybe, but I love turning regular boring human characters into supermen and women. It's just what I do. Thanks for the complement.
Z-man: He didn't wish the Z-fighters back to life because he couldn't. The Dragon Balls he was using were on Earth in the old Dragon Ball timeline, therefore he couldn't wish them back because they weren't dead yet.
Thomas Drovin: Ah, Mr. Drovin. Yes, the real fun can and will begin. If this chapter is any indicator, there will be plenty of violence and hand-to-hand combat to keep any action reader satisfied. After all, action is what I do. There is going to be a small songfic section coming up soon at a pivotal point in the story. This should be coming up in the next couple of chapters. Thanks again for your continued interest.
bLackBodian: Dude, so many questions. Well, here goes. First of all, I understand what you were saying about the age thing. In the beginning, I was unsure as to what age I wanted to make him because I wanted to seem very naïve and innocent, but I didn't want to make him so young that I couldn't pair him with anyone, since every good fic has got to have a good pairing. Unfortunately, I decided to use seventeen first, then switched it to fifteen without changing it in the beginning. However, I fixed the problem in chapter two at least, and if there are any other places, just tell me.
As for Robbie coming back, that was already answered. Remember the scene in chapter six where the black box comes flying through the portal? Just read that again.
Finally, as to the whole maturity issue, he's supposed to be that way, but it doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility that him and his friends would get together like that. When the new episodes came out four years ago, I went over to my friend's house and did the exact same thing.