Son Gohan and Trunks: Another Road - Android Saga Act III (Chapter 5)
Gohan, 27 y/o. Age 783, March 1st - Earth 8:22 A.M. Pod Corp. Underground Lab
The machine's flat top bounced against the chrome plastered over the cavern walls holding the underground laboratory together as the rest of the Android stood still. Fraying wires and arcs of electricity did little more than tickle Gohan's palm as he held it above what used to be the robot's neck.
"Gohan. You didn't really need to do all that, did you?"
"... Probably not." Gohan said before he limply pushed into the machine's chest, feeling the soft silk of the shirt before it toppled over and slammed into the metal.
Skweeee~
"Ahah! Huh!?" Newman yelped, jumping at the sight of the big bulky robot now in two pieces on the warped floor.
Bulma, 50 y/o. Age 783, March 1st - Earth 1:02 P.M. Underground Facility
"You don't have to do this." Newman pleaded as ropes bound his arms together behind his back.
"Well I ain't like you, Newton! And tha boss says that you get ta keep ya life, but you ain't stayin' hea'!" Launch said as she pointed a gun at his backside.
"But I started this company~" He said through whines. His tear ducts had all but dried up, just a shaky middle aged man turned much older by the conditions set forth at the hands of the Androids.
Bulma used to have the facilities in place to look much younger for her age, but the times had caught up to her as well. The world did her no favours. While Launch may have possessed more silvery locks, she did somehow manage to capture her youth, maybe related to the free-spirit nature of the bandit lifestyle.
"It ain't up ta' me! Kick rocks and don't eva' show your face again! See ya!" Launch shouted as she literally kicked him in the behind. Launch shelved her pistola in the pants pocket of her leather gear and then cleaned her hands with slaps and claps of self adoration. "Ayy! Alright! We got ourselves a lil' upgrade. High five, uhh? What? Youse jus gonna leave ya girl hangin'?"
"One second, Launch. I have to change the locks. Go ahead, Gohan."
Son Gohan stood in position, holding an entire steel wall in one hand.
"You sure I shouldn't hold it, mom?"
"You're here to make sure there are no stragglers."
"Well it'd only be the one, right?"
Newman let himself in through a forceful tug of the stop sign outside. He clamoured down the steps as Trunks stood in the way apologetically.
"Yeah. Uhh… sorry. You can't come in here." Trunks said with a shaky intonation as Gohan released his grip on the hull door.
DWANNN! Bom! Bom!
The son of Son Goku wheeled the vault wall into position and the pair of animal Shapeshifters got to work, screwing in the gigantic metal parts needed to lock it into place. Whirrs and zips echoed behind the pair as Trunks let out sighs and raised his hands.
"Hey. If it makes you feel any better, I don't blame you or anything."
"What?"
"You were just trying to protect your people from outsiders who posed a threat to you and your way of living. I know how that is. So I don't begrudge you in any way."
"... Riiight…"
"Mmhmm." Trunks murmured modestly.
"I was just trying to protect everybody. You know how it is."
"Yup."
"Yup."
"..."
A staticky representation of his mother's voice called out from behind.
"Trunks. We set the new lock into place. It's-"
"One moment, mom. Newman's still here."
"Ohp-" Blurted out through the speaker before it cut off.
Klm~
"Come on. Can't you do somethin'? You're a reasonable guy."
"No can do. Sorry. You're gonna have to leave now." Trunks said as he pushed against Newman's backside and thrust him all the way up the stairs, having to course-correct his resistance at every turn.
"But what about the Androids!? You're seriously gonna leave me to get blown to smithereens while I can't even defend myself!?" He yelped, struggling, and failing miserably to free himself from the restraints plastered against his back.
"The Androids are dead."
"Wait… you're serious?"
"Yeah. We defeated them. It was a tough fight but we barely managed. They took Gohan's arm, and his eye… and they killed one of our best friends…"
"..."
"So I guess what you really have to worry about are the bandits. Be careful out there, Newman."
Bvyuu~
"No wait, I-" Newman protested as he heard the revving engine that was Trunks' Ki fire up behind him.
vvvv~
"..?"
Ssssss~
The ropes binding his arms sizzled into ashes and he was free to do whatever he wanted.
"Hey, you..?"
He turned around. Nothing. The long purple haired man was nowhere in sight. All that was left was the freeing breeze of the northern winds and the bright sun at midday.
Bulma, 50 y/o. Age 783 March 2nd - Earth 3:49 P.M. Underground Facility
"What are you doing, mom?"
"It's a waste of a perfectly good robot. Newman I guess just had this thing laying around. Maybe he got scared off from using it because of the Androids."
"They told us they were Cyborgs."
"What!?" Trunks' mother almost yelled, spooking both him and Puar, the only other ones besides Dr. Collie down on the ground floor.
"Yeah. They were Cyborgs. Are those different?"
"A huge difference. Makes sense. You guys do magic, right?"
"It's called Ki, mom."
"Right. And the Androids could do it too, couldn't they?"
"Yeah. I couldn't sense their Ki latently like I can with Gohan, Oolong, and Puar-" Trunks finished his statement by waving his hand over the floating blue cat. "-But I could feel it when they were using it to attack and stuff. So like in spurts."
"Yeah. This guy's gotta be old, then." Bulma said as she wore a metal faceshield, saving herself the trouble of having to weather the storm of fire and sparks jumping her way. "This is a real Android, not a human with a mechanically enhanced physique. We're lucky Gohan got such a clean cut, because pretty much everything's still here."
Tzz! Zzzt! Tzztt!
"And there we go. Hit wunna theeese and done!" Bulma said while fiddling around his mechanical insides. The robot's eyes resembled that of a human's, blinking into existence and now housing irises and pupils instead of the vacant white stare it had while locked into the cavern wall. "What's up, big guy?"
"Hello? Who..? Are you? And you? And… you? Hah-hah… Nice kitty~"
Puar couldn't help but purr as the mechanical man's large hand rubbed with a soft motion.
"Status report! Miss Bulma: The Baddest Bitch to ever live, Queen of The New World-"
Trunks raised a brow as Giru floated on by and hit a salute on the operating table, mere centimetres away from the Android's gigantic body. Trunks spared a glance for his mom and she looked back at him while wearing a red blush of embarrassment.
"-conqueror of all things scientific-"
"That's enough, Giru!" She squeaked as the rest of her started to seize up, her body lighting on fire from the cringe with her son standing right there.
"-and the sexiest woman alive as dictated by herself and as of yet no one else-"
"Shut up!"
Bonk!
"Giru is done with reconnaissance around North City! It is totally hospitable! There are no bandits for miles! Giru~ And should therefore be a great spot to put Capsule Corp. back on the map! Especially thanks to the natural barriers of the mountains! Giru~"
Trunks' eyes opened up and his fist clenched without him even noticing.
"You really think so, mom?"
"I don't see why not. We might not have the resources yet, but we certainly have the manpower, and the technology to make it happen."
"Yes! Yeah-heah!" Trunks hollered, swinging his fist in victory before bringing it back to high five Puar.
Gohan, 27 y/o. Age 783 March 26th - Earth 11:07 A.M. North City Reconstruction
Gohan looked down at the schematics provided and played it loosey goosey. Robots, people, and machines nearby constructed the buildings with a loving devotion and adherence to tools while Gohan melted steel beams into position using Ki as his welding agent of choice. The Android he clobbered wore a bright yellow safety helmet as he watched Son Gohan work by his lonesome.
"Hello."
"..?" Gohan just raised a brow before getting back to it. He cleared more sections than entire units of workers with just the use of his right arm. "What?"
"You don't seem to talk to very many people."
"What's there to talk about?" He asked, flying around the building, able to complete cumbersome sections without assistance due to not requiring any footing beneath him. He melted an I beam into position whilst floating on the air. "We got work to do."
"Hmm." The Android sat there in thought, placing an index over his lips as Gohan fused more and more parts together. "But you've been doing most of the work. Don't you think you've earned a break?"
"No." Flew out of his mouth before the Android really even finished asking the question.
"Why not?"
"... I'd like to say I haven't earned the rest until things are back the way they were… but they can't be. That time passed a long time ago. The people I care about are dead. And the life I want is no longer obtainable. Training for the Androids was a blessing in a way. Now that I've killed them I have to deal with the crippling reality that all of my family and friends died and that getting revenge doesn't actually mean anything. At least when I was training, it could put my mind at ease because I had true focus. Now…" Gohan's jaw wormed around as his tongue searched for the words. "Now I'm realising that this shit just sucks, and is going to suck forever. I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear me whining. The only reason I'm even telling you any of this is because I feel bad about decapitating you that one time. So… sorry about that."
"It's okay. My name is Eighter. What's your name?"
"Son Gohan. I'd like to be alone, Eighter."
"... Okay." Eighter responded by picking up an I beam and walking over to the rest of the construction workers, leaving Gohan to his own devices.
Erasa, 25 y/o. Age 783 March 27th - Earth 5:59 A.M. Orange Star City Ruins
Static warped as a girl with raggedy blonde hair fiddled with a radio. She sharpened her eyes and scratched out some of the grunge stuck to her short, almost shaved cut. Her short blonde haircut was jutting out every which way it could, despite its limited range. She sat alone, ass to some broken up concrete steps outside of what should have been a high school. It was an empty facility, touched only by mother nature and father time.
If one didn't count the broken windows, it was an okay shelter, most of the school's halls at least still had the ceiling intact.
"-errei-"
"Huu!" She gasped as the distorted voice collapsed in on itself. She wound the dial right back, skipping over it a second time. "Dang it!"
"-uwuu- Krshh~ This is once again our si-iggs A-Em broat-cazzd! There is food, there is water, there is shelter in Kzhhh~ -orth City!"
"North City!?" She shouted, jumping up to her feet and almost dropping the radio on the abandoned roadway. The girl had to hot potato the little-radio-that-could to make sure it stayed in her hands and not in a million pieces on the spiderwebbed asphalt. "Wait..? North City!? Aww fugg~ Maaan~ That'll take forever~" She whined, flopping back onto the sharp steps of Orange Star High School.
She let her gaze lift skyward, aiming it at the faded star that somehow still hung on even though the lettering couldn't.
"Well… I'm never gonna get to North City if I don't get moving sooner or later." The girl said as she watched the fluffy pieces of white cotton swim across the vast ocean of dawning sky.
The grungy girl that could snuck around bandit encampments, ran from wild animals, foraged through forests for fruits and vegetables, slept with one eye open, and trudged across miserable desert climates. The prairies were dense with dangerous pack animals, herbivorous giants, and death-dealing dinosaurs. Days fell into each other, merging, fusing, night emerged, came and went just like the rest. Spring rains, cold winds, the works. The only thing that made sense was the message that came every morning, on the dot.
"This is once agairn- awrr- six A.M. broadcast Kshhh~ -st! There is food, Kshht~ -water, and there is shelter in North City! All this can be yours, we only ask that you carry your weight and don't rock the boat. This is -Aulma Brief, and I'll talk to- Kshhh~ yew to- Kshhh~ -orrow."
Her resolve waned in the rainy days, stuck with cold shivers and freezing gales. But it would come back with a vengeance as she heard the name:
"Bulma Brief, and I'll Kshh~ -talg to you tomorrow."
The mere brush of her feet with the ground sent stabbing rapiers all throughout her shins. With each step, the more damage it did. She taut tight teeth and pressed on through the pain, grabbing hold of rocks as she almost trekked 90 degrees, parallel with the ground almost. With hasty breath jailbreaking out of her lips without her permission, the young woman almost came barreling backwards down the mountain range countless times. Each interval met with the same thoughts as always.
"This is Bulma Brief, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."
The feisty climber placed hand over hand, and with less-that-presentable fingernails, reached the apex. Her breath was stolen once again, one part because of the gruesome toll the journey wrote upon her body and the other part because of the fact that it wasn't a lie. It wasn't a fairy tale. No pipe dreams. Only pipe reality. She saw workers tirelessly slave away at removing the rubble, leveling the innards of the bowl of mountains, and lock platforms into place with metal rods and columns of steel. Her tanned cheeks ran red, basking in the sun's warm glow on her skin, and the warm glow in her heart at seeing what finally felt like normalcy.
Trunks, 19 y/o. Age 783 May 17th - Earth: 6:16 A.M. North City Reconstruction
Trunks toiled away, blasting out the last remaining chunks of roughed up stone and desecrated concrete. Anything that needed to be completely removed had been given to the boys with Ki, because they could just make it not exist, it didn't have to be placed anywhere else if it could be atomised. In between that, Trunks had been tasked with leveling the streets, packing it in with hefty stomps and sweeping palms. The young boy wiped sweat from his forehead and let his long hair down. He didn't have a shirt on, and over the many days spent in the hot sun, had developed a tan that most certainly wasn't there while he trained for four years in the chamber.
Trunks' hands combed through his long hair and he looked to tie it back up, hiking up his left knee into the divot of an I beam ready to be melted into position the same way Gohan had been doing. He let out a breath and got the hair tie into position over the bends in his fingers.
"Wow. You're beautiful…"
"..!" Trunks' jaw dropped without his accounting for it. All he could do was turn his head to where the sound came from.
A stinky girl covered head to toe in bruises and mud, holes in her clothes watched as Trunks tried, and then failed to put his hair in a ponytail.
"What!? How in the world~ What!? That's so unfair! How is your hair so pretty?" The girl stammered, stumbling over her words still unable to deter her. She didn't ask, running her oily hands through the shimmering purple lion's mane. Trunks didn't or perhaps couldn't say anything. His throat was clogged up by something that wouldn't release its grip. All the boy could do was swallow as she got very close and felt the silky smooth strands wrap around her fingertips.
"Uhh~ We uhh~ have uhh~ Showers! Like uhh~ back when the Androids weren't aroun-"
"For real!?"
"Yea-"
"YES! HA-HA!" The girl shouted, jumping for joy, her jitters flying out and expressing themselves through her limbs.
"Yeah. It's uhm. We're rebuilding Capsule Corp. because the Androids are gone. We beated- Hem! We beat them."
"..? WHAT!?" Her blue eyes stared into his, forcing a modest stare to exit out to his left. Had he returned the eye contact he might have exploded right then and there. Trunks' index nail scratched up against his blushing red cheeks as he spoke:
"Yeah. Me and my friends defeated them a couple of months back. So you don't have to worry or whatev-"
"-You beat the Androids!?" She cut him off, almost tackling into him to place her hands in his. "Oh my gosh!" The sweaty girl from unknown lands screeched, taking away her hands as soon as she gave them to place them on her head, barely able to comprehend the amount of wins that stacked up the moment she stepped foot past the mountain range. "It's like I'm meeting a celebrity!" She giggled, taking a lap before finally settling down enough to ask: "What's your name?"
"T-t-t-Trunks." He said, less than smoothly. "What's your-your name?"
"Erasa." She wore it proudly, her dirty blonde hair jutting out in uneven strands. Of all of the items lining her person, Trunks immediately scouted the pair of scissors sticking out of her cargo pants pocket.
Trunks perhaps stared a little too long and the I beam fell from his knee. It squashed her flat, or would have, had he not caught it, and then quickly put it into place. Sparks of flame licked around the melting metal and Trunks breathed a sigh of relief as it locked into place.
"Wow. What is that?"
"Oh! This?"
"Mmhmm." She hummed, winding around to the other side.
"This is Ki." Trunks said as he spawned a yellow sphere of it in his left palm. It glowed like a pocket of sun transported into the young man's hand.
"Wow…"
"Yeah…" Trunks got lost again, clearing his throat to straighten himself. He attempted to flush out the reddened nature of his face with a composing breath and said: "I've got to get to work now, Erasa. It was nice meeting yo-"
"Trunks!"
Erasa and the man in question looked aloft, a man with one arm loomed over them from the second story of an unfinished building, his silhouette unique and his masculine frame blocking out the sun's light.
"What's up!?" He shouted back.
"You earned some rest! Is she new to the city!?"
"Yeah! I am!" She said back, shielding her eyes from the sharp rays of the sun glinting off Son Gohan's large back.
"Give her a tour! You can take the rest of the day off!"
"..." The pair stared at each other before allowing a slow gaze to return to the one armed man.
"Get out of here." Gohan stated with a shooing right hand.
"Well. I guess I have some free time." Trunks said as he parted with some nervous laughs.
"Who's that?" Erasa asked as she walked backwards, looking Trunks square in the face as he aimed his sights at the newly furbished streets below.
"That's Gohan. My mentor."
"Oh, for like building?"
"What?"
"What?" She blurted back, blushing as she finally returned a gaze.
"What? Oh! No, like uhm~ fighting."
"Fighting?"
"Yeah. He was one of the guys that fought the Androids with me."
"No kidding…" She let slip as she stared up at the man with one arm weld into position several iron bars and rods.
"I wouldn't be the man I am today without him. He helped me a lot."
"You really like him, huh?"
"Yeah. He sacrificed a lot to get us here. I mean he used to… you know. Have all his stuff." Trunks said as he patted himself down and then waved around his arms.
"Oh…"
"Well we have to find you a place to live. But I think mom'd probably want to find you somewhere to work first. She's practical like that."
"Where are we..?" Erasa asked as Trunks spedwalked ahead, grabbing a now pristine, perfectly pedicured stop sign.
Chunk. Vwrnnnnnnn~ GZHH!
The sidewalk completely separated, revealing an underground bunker leading to a steel hull with a wheel on its face.
"Whoa! Underground base!? That's so cool!" Erasa couldn't stop herself from shouting out as Trunks descended. "Wow…"
"You coming?" Trunks' voice echoed from within, bouncing off the metal and up into the air, coercing her to follow his lead.
"OH MY GOSH! BULMA BRIEF! I'm like your biggest fan, Unironically. Hiiiii~ Ahhh! You're still alive! That's so cool!"
"That's great… What's your name?"
"Erasa! Nice to meet you!" She said with hand outstretched.
"Well, Erasa. What do you consider to be your strengths?" Bulma asked earnestly as she worked away on Giru's circuitry at the bottom of the facility. The mother of Trunks didn't even bother to stop her mechanical meanderings as Erasa gave up the ghost and proceeded to hmm at the question.
"I guess that I can stay focused on a task for a long time. I came here from Orange Star on foot."
"... Isn't that almost in East City?" Bulma asked, the thought able to pull her away from her work and towards Erasa's muddied face.
"Yeah."
"On foot?"
"Mmhmm."
"No horse? No bike? No car?"
"Well how would I fill it up if I had it?"
"Wow. Wait, our broadcast travels all the way to Orange Star City? How'd you hear of it?"
Erasa brought out a stock radio about the size of her chest and slapped it on the operating table. A wry smile crept its way across Bulma's cracked lips.
"...Do you want to handle the broadcast instead?"
"BOY, WOULD I!"
The sun shone brightly in the daytime, casting haphazard shadows all about North City's renovations, glinting off new surfaces and blocked out by half-built buildings.
"And here are your accommodations. This is Capsule House 3C." Trunks said as he handed over the keys.
"So I don't get to room in the cool underground base?"
"Trust me, Erasa. It sounds cool, and it even is cool the first time. But seeing the sun first thing every morning is a lot better than having to take an elevator up, punch in a bunch of codes, wheel open the door, then ask for permission for the hatch to be opened when all you'd have to do up here is-"
Eeeeea~
Trunks made a face as he opened the front door to CH-3C.
"... Are you coming?"
"Huh?" Trunks' voice wavered and red blush took over again as she beckoned into her newly spawned abode. "What?"
"You have the rest of the day off, don't you?"
"I… guess so. Heh-heheh~"
Bulma, 50 y/o. Age 783 May 18th - Earth 12:47 P.M. North City Underground
"So how are things going with that girl?"
"Huh? What girl?"
"You know the one. Mothers can just tell these things, Trunks."
"Erasa? She's just a friend, mom."
"Sure. I'm just saying. We have to repopulate the planet somehow and I'm not getting any younger, so if you want to give me grandkids you're gonna have to get to work some time or another-"
"What!? Hold on a second! That's not- It's not- Mom, that's gross! I'm outta here!" Trunks said in a huff, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stormed off, red all over. Bulma laughed the whole way, the boy's ears burning as he rode the elevator up to the catwalk.
Erasa, 25 y/o. Age 783 May 19th - Earth 6:00 A.M. Capsule Home 3C
"Hiii~ it's me again! I'm Erasa! And guess what? It's SIX!" She growled like a demon from the deepest pits of the planet. "So like I know everyone might have to adjust to it or whatever but I'm gonna be taking over the six A.M. broadcast permanently, so you're gonna have to learn to live with my voice whether you want to or not." She said as she pushed apart the curtains of her Capsule Home, revealing the newly built buildings, spying on the man with one arm as he flew around the city carrying tons of machines and metals.
Erasa flopped onto her bed with a microphone in one hand, and a broadcasting device in the other.
"Like I just took a shower for like the first time since the stone ages the other day and that shit was so sick. Yeah. You heard me. Shower, like clean water and shit. Ahuh. So best get your asses down to North City because it's way better than having to bathe in the creeks or wherever you can find to wash your stinky behind. That's the six A.M. broadcast for today! See ya!"
Erasa, 25 y/o. Age 783 May 20th - Earth 6:00 A.M. Capsule Home 3C
"What's up bandits and beauties, it's your girl Erasa and would you look at that, it's six o'clock. How crazy is that? It's almost like it happens everyday or something. Now I've made a few friends and I've got my eye on someone. He's like really cute and he's got amazing muscles. The people here in North City are like crazy fucking strong. They swing around steel beams like baseball bats and shit. So… if you're thinking of acting like a nefarious little goblin, you'd better think twice before coming cause you're probably gonna get gobbled up by our defence force. Hmm!" She flexed like someone could see her. "The guys who beat the Androids are the ones who watch the city, so it's probably night-nights for you if you step in here with an evil scheme. … Just sayin'..." She let out with pouty lips and batted eyelashes despite the fact that she was really just talking to herself in the mirror.
Trunks, 19 y/o. Age 783 May 29th - Earth 6:00 A.M. Capsule Home 3C
"Come on, bruh. It's not that hard. You're phoning it in."
"So I just press the button?" Trunks asked while doing so, on air.
"Du-hu-hude~ Yes. You're broadcasting right now."
"Oh!" He yelped, detaching his hand from the switch.
"Are you gonna record or not?" She laughed out.
"Uhm… hello? Uhh… well… I've never done this sort of thing before."
"Just say that it's six o'clock!"
"Uhh… I don't…" He chuckled dumbly. "It's really weird talking to a microphone."
"Name?" Erasa asked, wearing a dumb smile herself, rolling her hands like a hamster wheel to jog Trunks' speech into action.
"Hi. Uhm. My name's Trunks. This is North uhm City's six A.M. broadcast. If anyone can hear me. I don't care if you never end up showing your face in our city. Just stay safe for me, okay? … wherever you are."
She immediately stopped laughing as her heart almost leaped out of her chest. Erasa couldn't stop staring up at him as an indescribable warmth flooded her cheeks. Her hands felt hot, and she had to rub out the tenseness in the sheets as she stared up at Trunks' pretty eyes.
"That was really… good."
"..? Thanks."
Gohan, 27 y/o. Age 783 May 31st - Earth 6:00 A.M. Capsule Home 3C
"Hello. At the request of my friends I am supposed to say something. It is six A.M. here in North City. Trunks also requested that I say I defeated the Androids. … I defeated the Androids. … thank you for your time. This has been North City's six o'clock announcement." Gohan kept serving passing and aggressive glances toward the pair of hooligans jumping up and down on Erasa's bed each time he spoke.
Trunks, 19 y/o. Age 783 June 1st - Earth 8:11 A.M. East District 439
"Huu~ Trunks!" Chi-Chi gasped out, hand over her wrinkled mouth before she exploded forward into a hug.
"Hello, Chi-Chi." He parted with some chuckles.
"Where's Gohan?" She asked, taking a backstep so as not to smother the poor boy.
"Well he's uhh…" Trunks derped around, scratching at his temple as he let out a shaky drawl.
"Why don't you do it?"
"I don't feel like it." Gohan responded within Trunks' saturated dreamscape of recollection. "But they need to be here. I don't want them out in the wilderness. Bandits could attack them a lot easier than they could here. Could you just do me this solid?"
"Sure."
"Thanks, Trunks."
Trunks returns to reality.
"Yeah. He's uhh… busy."
"Oh."
"But he really wanted you, and uhm, Mr. Ox-"
Just then, Mr. Ox rounded the corner, his quite frankly massive frame not really fitting within the confines of the archway of the Capsule home. He laughed heartily and slapped a big hand on Trunks' likewise built traps.
"Oh please, son, call me grandpa! Haw-Hawh-Hawh!"
"Well, Gramps, uhh… Gohan and mom would really like you two down in North City. It's much more defensible than here in Mount Paozu. You're hidden away, which is good, but you're also much more susceptible to bandit attacks."
"Haw-Hawh! Tell me about it!"
"You..? Know?" Trunks asked as his purple brows raised the roof that wasn't there under the morning sun and the white cotton of the clouds above.
"Well a'course I know. Me and Chi-Chi have had to give many a whoopin' over the years. Lotsa people know not to come knockin' around. They say The Ox King lives in East District 439 so most folk haven't shown up in a while."
"Wow."
"Yup!" Chi-Chi said with a shit eating smirk as she crossed her arms. "Maybe it's lost on you, but we were considered Pretty strong back in our day. My father was a legend."
"Now-now. Hehawh~" The man said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, his giantesque proportions contrasting heavily with such a vulnerable gesture.
"Well, in any case. We'd really like it if you guys relocated to North City. It's just a lot more safe overall."
"Well absolutely! Just let me pack a few things. Are you going to be our escort?"
"Yes! And~ The Nimbus is coming too." Trunks said as he pointed his thumb back towards the orange cloud peeling into position.
Vwerrrrrttt!
Gohan, 27 y/o. Age 783 July 5th - Earth 11:19 P.M. North City
Long after everyone else had packed up their tools and went to bed, Gohan was there, patching up holes, fixing the streets, setting up new sections, or scouring the city for more buildings.
"Production's slowed down. Bulma doesn't think there's gonna be a lot more people here but I don't know about that. Why would we even broadcast that we exist? It's just asking for people to show up. They're probably like that one girl, and are gonna take a long time to get here on foot. Broadcasting that we exist everyday is a surefire way to attract attention, and it'd be foolish to think it'd only be the good kind." Gohan ruminated as he looked down blueprints for another hub/watchtower.
"... Right here'd be a good spot." Gohan said as he pointed at the empty space in the back half of the city. The mountains trailed down into the rest of the land, the would-be watchtower providing a powerful vantage point due to the drop-off's increased scope.
The gibbous moon might not have shown its full shape, but the intensity of its brightness shone through and washed over the quiet night of North City as Gohan contemplated his place in the universe. The son of Son Goku was content to stare at the stars as a restful beckoning refused to gift its presence to him. The clicking sound of boots on pavement alerted Gohan to the fact that the footsteps he heard were not of the familiar variety.
"..?" Gohan turned around, facing the silhouette of a woman with a properly distressed jean jacket on. Her black hair was braided together in rough knots and she stared at him through the shadows. "I haven't seen you around before."
"Your voice…" The woman crowed as she stepped through, the moon's light revealing her frame. "Are you the guy on the radio?"
"I've only done it a couple times. Erasa's the one that's on the radio."
"But you… you're the one who defeated… you…" Her eyes fell to the smooth streets, unlike anything for miles. No grass peaking through, no critters skittering about, no breaks in the concrete. Just smooth roads lined out in every direction, like they used to be.
"Take your time." Gohan lashed back with some sarcastic bite.
The woman stepped forward with assurance, gleaming up at him with something behind her tired but focused eyes.
"You… you defeated the Androids?"
"I had some help."
"Thank you. … thank you." She said, taking his hand in both of hers.
"Your hands. They're really soft."
"The Androids took the life of my father. I… I wanted to destroy them. But I knew in my heart that it was a fool's errand if I didn't better myself in some way. How did you do it?"
"Teamwork. My best friend and I pretty much ganged up on one of them at a time. That was what made them so strong in the first place. They killed people wantonly… they didn't care how much damage they caused… They might have been Mongrels, but I think that they cared about each other. So… the only way to take them out, was to separate them. Divide and conquer. Piccolo said that that strategy has been around long before I was born, and will stay around long after I'm dead."
"Are you a martial artist?"
"..." Memories flooded into Gohan's being, edged along by the lunar radiance flooding in behind him. He weighed the thoughts floating around in his mind with careful consideration. "No."
"Then what are you?"
After another lengthy pause, Chi-Chi's only child elected:
"Gohan. What's your name, miss?" He asked, propositioning with his right side.
"Videl. Whatever it is… Could you teach me?"
"Yes." Gohan said, a true grin breaking away the stone mask he had been wearing.
Launch, 51 years old. Age 783 July 8th - Earth 5:58 A.M. North City
"Why's it gotta be so early, hah?" Launch asked as she rubbed her tired eyes marred by crows feet and scratched her cheeks written with laugh lines.
"You said you wanted to learn what I do, right?"
"Yeah. It'd be cool to do like a laza' beam an' stuff."
"Then you do what I do. You wake up before everyone else, and you stay long after they leave."
"But thea's nothin' thea'. We're really not gonna train in tha street an such are we?"
"Yeah. Apparently you killed the Androids with your techniques, how are we-" Before Videl could finish her line of questioning, Gohan brought back his right hand like he was readying for a worldending slap contest. Gohan's right hand swerved on its way down and chopped the air parallel with his collarbone.
Pwa-POHKKKKKK! KUKUNNNN!
"TRUNKS!"
Bavyuuuu~BOOHMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm~
A righteous shockwave followed by a billowing smoke cloud slammed into the three women behind the master and student. As the dust settled, a completely flattened mountaintop revealed itself. A clean cut leveled perfectly, no slants, no nothing. It was a perfect ring, crafted from pure mountain stone.
FSHUU!
The secondary aftermath occurred when Son Gohan blasted towards the plateau he and his star pupil manufactured.
Shuup.
Gohan took in the sights, took in a breath, then aimed his sights down, or more accurately, single sight, down, at the four skinny figures dotting the streets of North City.
"Howsa'... Howee? Howe gunna get up thea'?"
"Just walk, if you can't, I'll help you u-"
"Don't do that, Trunks!"
"What!?" He shouted back, less because he disagreed, more because he didn't hear.
"First part of training! If they can't climb a simple mountain, why should I waste my time training them!?"
"..." The wind caught Trunks' hair in an updraft and he looked back with shrugged shoulders before leaving the trio behind.
"That mothafahka'." Launch giggled through grit teeth, shaking out her greying blonde hair before hiking up with strong strides.
The old lady cleared it the fastest, Erasa with a middling performance, and Videl without any experience was doomed to a fate in the back half.
"He didn't tell me I was training with you guys."
"I'm not!"
"What?" Videl raised a brow at Erasa's chipper answer.
"I'm just here to-"
Bom! Clicc.
"Broadcast the six A.M. North City News! It's six A.M!"
"WHOO!" Trunks' voice bounced off the jagged cliffs and weathered rock faces as he shook his arms fueled by real hype. "Six A.M!"
"Six A.M, baby, yeah! Come take a chill pill in North City where me and my homies get litty- wait a second. That was bars, hold on. You hear that?"
"I heard that." Videl somehow managed to say through rolling eyes.
"We got food, water, and shelter. Not to mention you can take a bath and not feel like doodoo. Air conditioning is hella underrated b-t-dubs. I didn't even know I was living good until I was forced to go without it for like 16 years. Anyway. We livin' good, if you having reservations, make sure they're for here, because the party don't stop, baby. It's your girl Ere~ere~Erasa and I'm bout ta come holla atcha tomorrow. Baiii~ Mwah~"
"I'm hea'. So whenemai gunna learn how to shoot a lightnin' bolt?"
"Depends on how much you want it, Launch."
"Aight. … Smartass. I want it pretty bad."
"Dog shit. That's not enough."
"Whatid you say to me?"
"I'm not gonna repeat myself, sounds to me like it already seeped in."
"I thought youse waza traina', not a wiseass."
"I like you, Launch." He said with a smile.
"Excuuuse me!?"
"You're fired up. Demonstrate to me that you've got the will."
"You want it. You got it!"
"Hit me."
"TYAH!" She threw before he said it, lobbing a streetwise overhand right onto Gohan's nose.
THMM!
Tears formed in her eyes and she backed off, teeth tight for another reason.
"That ain' een hurt. That was nothin'." Launch cried out, holding a reddened claw hand that jittered uncontrollably from the firing nerves.
Erasa made it to the top with a huffy breath and Videl not much long after. The woman with now much sleeker black hair that glimmered in the sunshine tightened her freely flowing locks back into a braid.
"You train with me, that means you go the distance. I don't train quitters, and I don't train martial artists. I train Demons who tear their enemies limb from limb. The opposition won't ever do you any favours, so I'd better not catch you doing any for them. Let's get to work."