Goku's eyebrows furrowed in momentary confusion. "What was this boy talking about?" The teen disbanded his Super Saiyan as quickly as he had summoned it, so rapidly that Goku only noticed it since he did it frequently. Trunks somersaulted over 17 as the Android missed, grunting and turning too slowly to dodge Trunks' pile-drive. The helicopter moved away as two other Androids, 18 and 15, attacked, coming in from above. Trunks drew his sword with lightning fast reflexes and slashed wide, driving 18 back while 15 drove his foot into Trunks' chest, and knocked him back several feet, but he quickly descended towards the ground, firing low-intensity Ki blasts to cover himself. The moment his feet touched the ground, Trunks leaped back as 17 materialized out of thin air, and brought his heel down from his head so fast that it made an incision in the concrete sidewalk. Trunks caught himself as he stopped and snapped his hands together. "You won't terrify me anymore! Burning...Attack!" A scarlet-red hex flew towards 17, who charged audaciously.
It was a foolish decision.
The Android was sent rocketing back into one of the remaining tall buildings still standing, bringing it down. The troops still in the area pulled back, letting these mights do as they will. Trunks let his shoulders sag a bit, his frustration had added more juice to his attack than he anticipated, and he didn't want to push himself past his Regular State if he didn't have to, the Androids would only retreat, repair, and attack when he was not ready for them. But, if they continued with this level of assault, he would have no choice. Androids 13, 14, 15 and 18 all landed on the ground wordlessly, with a gap in their ranks. 17 suddenly filled it, a few scratches on his face. "Not bad kid. Not bad at all." he complemented, clapping his hands.
Goku was hurriedly donning his fighting uniform, slipping on his ultramarine blue wristbands, and flexing his right arm. While his physical body felt good, he felt off, not fully in the moment; he knew it had something to do with his turning Kaio-Saiyan against Vegeta. It was a fabled technique, one that he did not expect would actually be achievable when he had not even mastered Super Saiyan. One day he was bequeathed with some very important information: You had two energies, your Ki, which rose and fell like the wind, and your spirit. When your Ki cannot support an energy consumption by an overwhelming degree, your spirit is automatically substituted in along with the Ki, regardless of what you want. Your spirit is universal energy, granted to you based on your deeds, subtracted when you have mishaps, and influenced by every action you make. That is the only reason why he could sustain the form for so long, even at all, every moment he had spent being good, all that energy was returned to the Universe. It would take the body a while to register this.
Gohan ran down the stairs, wearing a white cape that was ten sizes too big, and twice as long as his body. Goku chuckled and looked to Piccolo. "Hey, Piccolo, could you make a replica of your cape for Gohan?" Piccolo looked over at Gohan and smiled. "Sure thing."
Suddenly, Gohan disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared in purple and white Namekian attire. The cape swished softly, and Gohan looked himself over, flexing his biceps, before beaming at his two fathers. "I'm ready." Goku rubbed his son's hair, while Piccolo took his place at Goku's back right. "Let's go!"
The Z-Fighters appeared on the top of ten feet of rubble, with the "Welcome to Mickey Town" sign but a few hundred feet away. "Does anyone sense?" Krillin asked. No one answered him. Goku closed his eyes, fading out from the world, looking at the multi-colored tendrils of light that belonged to every living thing on Earth. A simple green that never changed belong to grass, while red with swirling patterns of black on the edges, and a black hole center, belonged to Vegeta. Then, he found it: a purple color with jagged edges, meaning it was in an agitated state. Then, it bursted into pure gold, coursing with fire, which belonged to pure evil and rage.
"He's Super Saiyan now!" Trunks' power was a Super Nova compared to the relatively dull levels of life around him. As Goku took off, the rest of Earth's defenders followed him.
Android 17 raised his forearm up, and he parried Trunk's jab with his right hand to throw a kick up at Trunk's head. With his speed heightened, Trunks caught the leg deftly with his left hand and sliced it off at the knee with his sword, which had been drawn from its sheath with righteous vengeance. Android 17 stared in horror as he watched sparks fly from his dismembered limb, and Trunks capitalized on the opportunity to hit the Android in the head with his own gastrocnemius just as 18 kicked Trunks in his right arm, and nearly broke it. Trunks' eyes turned white with pain, his mouth open as he fell sideways. Android 18 raised her hand to finish him off, but Android 17 snarled, "No! He is mine." 18 scoffed as she beheld the sight of her brother, but did not object, and took her place with the other Androids. Only #14 was missing...
"Get up filth, we have unfinished business!" Android 17 growled, rounding Trunks, who was still holding his arm. But after another few seconds, the Super Saiyan got up, and fired a quick Ki blast with his left arm that Android 17 hopped past. Just then, eight sets of blasts, all different colors, slammed into the machine, who had only a moment's notice to chest cross-block with his arms. He landed on his back with an ooommph, and the other Androids,(now excluding 14 and 15), sprung forward as the Z-Fighters landed. Goku turned Trunks. "Who are you?" he asked. Trunks smirked, "I'll tell you everything after we defeat them. Fair enough?" Goku nodded. "Fair." He turned back to the Androids. "Which one of you is in charge?"
Android 17 raised a single eyebrow. "So you're Goku. Didn't expect you to be alive in this time," he looked around at Gohan and Vegeta. "Huh? None of you are sick. What is this?" He shared a perplexed expression with Android 18. Goku moved his head to one side. "What are you talking about?" Vegeta's tightened his fists. "What does it matter?! Let's finish this!" He hunched over and became a Super Saiyan. Trunks watched in surprise, Vegeta was not a Super Saiyan in the time he was from.
"Vegeta wait!" Goku cautioned, but Vegeta was in one of his fits, and would not pay attention to anyone. Not wanting his friend and last surviving racemen to die, Goku powered up to Super Saiyan, and quickly tuned to Piccolo. "Make sure he-Goku motioned to Trunks-"stays safe." Then he disappeared. Android 13 blocked Vegeta's punch and the two began exchanging hits. Piccolo sat Trunks down, even though he argued. "Your wounds will heal faster if you rest, we are more than capable of protecting you." Trunks looked into Piccolo's eyes a little longer, and then powered down, the creases of stress in his face smoothing out, and before Piccolo could turn around he could hear Trunks' snores. 18 started towards Vegeta when she was kicked in the back of the head by Goku, who suddenly reappeared. Before she had time to counter, Goku zipped forward, and kneed her in the stomach, and began letting her have his hardest combos. The two Androids were outmatched, and 17 was having no better luck against the plethora of people against him. Unleashing a wave of energy, he sent Tien and Chaotzu into strewn vehicles, and kicked Yamacha before returning to his one leg. Piccolo, unexpected as always, swept 17 and then rose, snapping his foot out and sending the AI airborne. Piccolo pursued but 17 sent the Namek back to the ground with another energy burst. Appearing in front his mentor to cover his fall, Gohan screamed, "Masenko-HA!"The yellow blast was headed right towards 17, who cupped his hand, and deflected the blast right back. As it returned towards Gohan, he detonated it, and a thick cloud of yellowish smoke hid them from Android 17. "Cowards!"he challenged, and stayed right where he was.
Foolish mistake #2.
A corded yellow and purple beam shot out the haze, and pierced 17 right through his abdomen. The Android looked at the hole in his stomach, and then back at the Z-Fighters, who were now visible. Krillin forced his hands together, and concentrated hard. "Kamehameha!" he yelled, and a blue beam rocketed from his palms. A green serpent suddenly dashed in front of it, and caught it with his hands, yelling in glee as it hit him. The light was blinding on Cell's end, but in an instant the blast gone, no trace of it lingering, no energy tainting the life nearby, nothing. Cell licked his lips, and pouted, "I barely felt that." He turned to 17 with a hungry expression, "But you, you look tasty." Then he stopped. "Why are you so weak?" 17 grit his teeth. "Who says I'm weak?!" He started towards Cell, but a few of his oils leaked out his hole, causing Cell to give 17 an "oh-please" glance before he looked at 18. "You're weak too..." Trunks stood up, awakened from his slumber. His face with infuriated, vein pulsing in his temple as he beheld Cell, who actually had the nerve to wink at him! "Not this time!" he yelled, his Super Saiyan starting back up around him. A resplendent red orb grew in Trunks' palms. "Stop! If you kill me Trunks, one of those three down there will die." Trunks did not cease his charging. "You're lying through your teeth Cell, none of them are sick! Besides, I have the antidote."
"You mean that thing that I had in my hands when I impaled your mother. Please those pills are penicillin, the real pills are inside of me."
"Liar!" Trunks put in more energy into the ball. Cell smiled and said, "So be it." Goku and Vegeta looked to each other, and then moved in front of Cell like two bodyguards. Trunks slowed the charge on his attack. "What are you two doing?! Get out of my way!" Trunks barked, looking back down the V made by his hands. Goku and Vegeta spoke simultaneous, but in Cell's voice. "We defend Cell. If you do not cease your attack, you will be killed Trunks."
Piccolo looked at Trunks. "What the hell is happening Trunks?!"
"Cell must have a Parent Function over them, the ability to make them do whatever he commands. But, I didn't think it was this severe.."
Piccolo growled, his mood taking a plummet. There was no way he, Gohan, and Trunks could take on Vegeta and Goku, let alone Cell if this was only one ability. But then again, Cell used this Parent Function as protection, meaning he really wanted to escape. "Special Beam Cannon!" he roared. as Trunks yelled, "Burning...ATTACK!" Goku and Vegeta raised their hands and fired high magnitude Ki beams to intercept, resulting in a massive blast. Piccolo covered his eyes, and opened them to see Cell and the Androids gone. He was correct.
Vegeta and Goku had a hazed over color in their eyes, but suddenly became attentive and turned around. "What happened?" Goku demanded. Trunks hung his head in exhaustion. "I'll tell you when we're back at Master Roshi's house."
Vegeta wasn't happy with that answer. "That may please this clown next to me, but I for one want to know what just happened!"
Trunks shrugged. "Fine." He reached into his jacket, and took out a vial before tossing it Goku. The angry Saiyan caught it without blinking, and gazed at it with displeasure. "What is this suppose to be?"
"A precaution," Trunks answered after looking for the right word. "I'll start at the beginning. My name, is Trunks, and I am from the year 2017. This is not the only Universe. There are an infinite amount, yet I only exist, and affect 8 of them very directly:
1. A Universe in which I die as a baby before I can time-travel.
2. A Universe in which I die once the Androids appear in my Universe and slaughter the world., including myself..
3. A Universe in which Cell exists, but he is not a threat because the Androids kill him before he can absorb enough people.
4. A Universe in which I am about to time travel, but Cell kills me, and travels instead to the Universe I intended to warn.
5. I've successfully made it to a Universe Goku to warn you about the Androids eminent arrival, and the heart virus.
6. I meet the others in another Universe, but you have already died Goku.
7. Vegeta, my father, gets the Heart Virus instead of you Goku, and my being there to provide an antidote decides whether he lives or dies.
8. Gohan contracts the Heart Virus instead, and depending on whether I make it he lives or dies.
Accept none of you gotten the disease, there were 5 androids instead of two, even though Cell absorbed 14 and 15, and Vegeta killed 13."
"How are you a Super Saiyan if Bulma's your mother?" Goku asked. Trunks chuckled, adding light to his features. "Ah so you saw it in me huh? Anyone with Saiyan blood has the capacity to become a Super Saiyan, but it warrants a strong emotional experience. In a different Universe, Krillin was killed, which pushed Goku, you, over the edge and made him/you become a Super Saiyan. Same in this one, only Vegeta transformed out of rage of seeing you transform into a legend right in front of him. I learned combat from my father before he was killed in my time period, and his death spurred on my transformation."
Piccolo asked a question next. "You spoke of these Heart Viruses, what are you talking about?"
Trunks' eyes turned melancholy. "I've seen it happen far too times in my various lives. Becoming a Super Saiyan is like flooding yourself with steroids. It decreases your ability to fight off disease, and there is this one disease that has appeared everytime, killing off one of you three, but never me. It's a Heart Virus like I said, and it only manifests in Saiyans or their offspring. I know this because Gohan has been killed twice by it, despite the fact he didn't become a Super Saiyan."
"Wait, how have you seen Gohan die so many times? Or any of us for that matter?"
"It's truly hard to explain. I would think that when one Trunks alters another reality, he doesn't truly die when he passes away. He is canceled out, because he affected a reality that already had Trunks in it. And when something is canceled out, it doesn't just go nowhere or form a black hole, it becomes one. I...am that one. Every Trunks' memories are mine."
Vegeta shouted, "What did that thing do to us back there?!" Trunks faced him, rage in his eyes. "That ,thing, is called Cell, and it is an abomination of yours, Gohan's, Goku's, Freiza's, his father's, and Piccolo's cells. The list varies in each time, since some of you are killed, or some events don't come to pass. But he always comes up with some powers that I never see coming. In this time, he used something called a Parent Function. It's almost like he uses pheromones, his brain can control your cells, because your cells think your a part of him since he's made up of you. No doubt he has other tricks up his sleeves, but he probably won't need them once he absorbs Androids 17 and 18, the ones he escaped with. The only reason he didn't absorb them in front of us was because their power was so weak that it wouldn't have made him nearly as perfect as it would be if they become stronger."
"Why aren't they as strong as they should be?" Goku asked.
"No idea. In some times, they were fearsome, I spent much of my life running when I would run into just one of them. Two of them made my life a living hell. This time, I took on 17 at half my power, and he usually was the stronger one of the two. Perhaps they need to be charged with solar power or something, otherwise I have no idea what it could be this time. Right now, it's imperative we find them. Cell will most likely have them in an area they can charge, but in his eagerness to absorb them, he'll definitely forget that they'll become strong enough to escape. He'll also repair 17, since it makes no sense to absorb something so damaged."
Then, Gohan fell to the ground, pulmonary and cardiac veins growing larger in size until they could be seen beneath his shirt. His cough, and the coughing quickly became violent, before Gohan's eyes rolled up into his head, and he passed out. A spasm racked his body, and Gohan yelled, rolling all over and kicking. Trunks snapped his head to Gohan and yelled, "Goku, the medicine!" Goku tossed it, and Trunks caught it before slipping two pills into Gohan's mouth. It was a fight to keep the boy still, even after Piccolo, and Goku helped Trunks hold him down to keep him from causing any further injury to himself. After a few minutes, the veins went down some, and Gohan looked slightly better, but he didn't move, or even seem to be conscious. Trunks slapped the boy in the cheek some, and slowly checked one of the pills in the vial. "Damn it!" he cursed, and looked at the pills as if they were vermin before throwing them to the ground. "Damn that machine!" he howled, smashing his fists into the ground.
"What did Cell do?!" Goku demanded, checking Gohan's pulse and eyes. "Before I left for this time, Cell had attacked our facility. The Androids in my time would have been there too, but Gohan volunteered to hold them off while I prepared to leave.
*Flashback* Trunks' POV
"Do you have everything Trunks?" Bulma asked me. I nodded without much into it, my mind still on Gohan. So brave, volunteering without pause to take on both 17 and 18 while myself and some rebels tried to go exploring. That's what I thought of it as, even when my mother tried to change my vocabulary. I was exploring. It didn't matter to me if some dude who I'd never met would die in another time period, I was needed here. In my world, Gohan and I were the last who could give people something to hope for. We were nowhere near as well-coordinated, or strong as the Androids, but we could fight long enough for people to escape ,and while the Androids' strength increased, each encounter also made Gohan and I stronger. We could someday win, yes! The Androids lie in pieces beneath my feet, Cell is but a faded nightmare, and Gohan is still alive. Why the hell couldn't that be my reality?!
"Final checks Trunks." My mother's voice drifted through my daydreams, and I looked back at the soldiers, if you could even call them that. 14 of them were accompanying me because there was no telling what the Earth would be like once I got there. I made need assistance, but I didn't think a few machine guns and rocket launchers would help much against something even I couldn't handle. I'm not cocky, or even conceited, but if I couldn't survive with all my experience of running, then soldiers even in peak physical condition,(which these guys were not), would only slow me down. In truth, I believe my mother knew that we were doomed. Four people, a whole family, took their lives last night. Twenty-seven in the last 7 months before. Each time was like bullet being drilled in my skin, a resounding notice on their still corpses that I had failed. Failed, with all my power, to give them a better life, to provide more hope other than me coming home after each scavenge, sometimes with their loved ones, other times by myself.
"One minute son." Bulma reminded me. One minute...and I'd be off to new horrors, new people. I'd be rewriting Fate, and condemning those here. The 14 coming with me had all lost their families, were injured, sick, and unmotivated. I checked myself one more time: my sword was slung behind me, a present from my mom for my fourth birthday when the Present disinterested me and the pills...the pills!
I jumped towards the door, thirty-six seconds left. "Mom! The pills!" Bulma looked up, and went over to a closet to get the pills when they were tossed back to her from the shadows, and a tail impaled her. "NO!" I bellowed, hair flying up and air exploding around me as I flew towards the face grinning in the shadows.
"CELL!" I cried with fury, drawing my sword. He twisted his tail, and my mother was sent flying towards me. I caught her without hesitation, dropping my sword as I cradled her. There were tears in her eyes, and she stroked my face before it dropped, body already growing still and cold. I looked for Cell, and saw him standing near the ship. Without thinking, I fired yellow Ki blasts, screaming. The fiend turned and gaped with shock as they struck him, turning the time machine on its side. I grabbed my blade and leaped after him, grabbing the tail that almost caught me, and throwing him into a wall. I trained the sword on him menacingly, eyes feral. "Give me those pills." I demanded, voice low. Cell looked at his hand, and clinked the pills inside the container. "You mean these?" He tossed them towards me, and I was a fool to go for licked his lips and growled. "Your mother's energy was tasty. In fact, it was a blast!" He fired white Ki blast, which I jumped out of the way of. The vial landed on the floor, pills jingling inside. I spared a glance at the timer: 13 seconds left. I started for them as a tail came down, forcing me to roll to my left. I reached for the medicine again, but Cell stepped on my fingers, breaking the hand. I didn't scream, no time for it, I just grabbed my sword and sliced his foot off.
The android grabbed his leg and fell down, watching it slowly regrow. I grabbed the vial and ran for the time machine, only 6 seconds left when I heard a whistle.
Cell had his hands pointed at me in the stance of a Kamehameha. "Don't move Trunks, unless you want your time machine to go bye-bye." I turned around, and Cell wasn't bluffing, I was right in the path of the machine. I grit my teeth, and formed a blast of my own as Cell fired. I didn't have enough time, it wouldn't be strong enough! All the survivors threw themselves in front of me, one grabbing me by the jacket and throwing me towards ship. "Go!" he yelled before all of them were incinerated. The blast continued on towards me, but it was significantly weakened. I got in and kicked out as I felt a bony hand grip my foot. Cell...then everything faded to white, and I was tumbling, the distant sound of an explosion, of my cries...or were they Cell's, and then I blacked out.
I awake to a thunder storm, vicious rain pelting the ship. I suddenly remembered the past, and kicked my foot out, Cell's touch grossing me out, and scaring me to death. My heart thumped, but it was not needed, Cell was gone. My hand was also healed, going back in time must've repaired it. But, why he didn't absorb me? He wanted to have a game, and it couldn't be one unless I was still alive. Fine, I was game.
But I didn't have long. Once the Androids killed Gohan, they would detect the energy surge, see the coordinates, and follow after me. Time travel would leave the weak, but I didn't know how weak, they may still be too strong for me to take on alone unless I found reinforcements. I had to find Goku, but I had no idea where to even start. I stood up, and right in front of me was my sword. I glanced at the shiny metal, and slid it into its sheathe. I felt a new purpose, a new hope fill me. The look on theat man's face before he died, I had rekindled hope in his features.
I would find Goku, or whoever was alive in this time period. It's what my mother would want and it's the only way to avenge Gohan's memory.
I won't fail this time...
Let Spring Break Begin! Oh, and this is the end of the prequel chapters. The first chapter, which would've taken place after this one, is set one one week later. Sorry if you find any inconsistensies. -LLL