Trunks caught the time machine's capsule and put it in his pocket, before pulling out a phone. Thank goodness the GPS in this works. I mean, I knew there were still working satellites in this timeline, but making a receiver which is accurate, without being able to test it...Mom's amazing. He oriented himself, and flew towards the spot where Frieza and his father were supposed to be landing. Of course, I don't know it's accurate...I'll just have to hope so.

I should probably hide my energy. Speaking of which, I would have thought I'd be able to sense Frieza and Goku by now...Maybe I went back in time longer than I thought. Or maybe sensing people in outer space is just hard. I can sense Mom's friends, though. Well, the friends of the person who will be the mother of my counterpart in this timeline...time travel is kinda annoying. I bet those two really strong ones are Dad and Mr. Gohan. I should probably warn them about Frieza...though making sure I can stop him is more important.

This timeline sure is smelly. I bet it has something to do with all the factories and cars the cyborgs blew up. Well, if saving the world means smelling the stench of industrial pollutants, I can put up with it.

After half an hour of flying, Trunks arrived a what should have been the right spot, more or less. Guess I'll just sit here and wait...there's Idiot Crater. Huh, I didn't know it was a crater before Goku landed there. Mom's friends are coming. What did she say they were called? The "Z-Fighters" or something like that? Let's see...there's Mom and Dad and Mr. Gohan, of course, though I'm pretty sure he's just a kid right now. What were the others called? Krillin, Tien, Chia...tisu, Pickle-something? Why am I suddenly forgetting all of the stories Mom told me?

Calm down, Trunks, calm down. It's going to be just like meeting new people who you already kinda know. Nothing to worry about. Just...the fate of this timeline in your hands and all...okay, this isn't helping. Just breathe...breathe...breathe...calm now? Good. Now, see if you can remember the Namekian's name...

After a few minutes of failed recollection and successful relaxation, Trunks spotted several specks just above the horizon. That must be them. There's eight of them...the Namekian, Dad, Mr. Gohan, Tien, Chiaotisu, Krillin, Yamcha...who am I forgetting? Yajerobe or whatever his name is, maybe? Or the Turtle Hermit? Well, I'll find out soon.

The specks grew into small silhouettes, then into large ones, and with a final burst of energy they landed not far from Trunks.

The Namekian, Dad, Yam—wait, that can't be Yamcha, he doesn't have a scar. Wait...could it be...

Son Goku, who shouldn't have been on the planet for almost three more hours, stepped towards Trunks. He was surrounded by some kind of violent orange-red energy. If Goku's powered up already, he must want to fight...I wanted to test his potential, but it would look bad if I attacked him. Goku'd probably kill me before I could give him the vaccine, or even tell anyone about the cyborgs!

"Um..." Keep calm, Trunks. They're nice people. "Hi, I—"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a short, spiky-haired person demanded. He looks like that picture of Dad Mom has...which means he's probably Dad.

"I, um..." I can't tell them my real name, it might cause a time paradox. If those can happen...I shouldn't risk it. "My name's Reese, and I really need to talk to S-Son Goku. In private. Please."

Goku frowned and crossed his arms. A bolt of energy from his aura struck the ground between him and Trunks, and he stepped forward.

Oh shit, I think I pissed off Son Goku. Son. Goku. What did I do wrong? What can I say?

Son Goku stepped to one side. "Alright. Let's fly over that hill."

Oh thank God.

Trunks and Goku took off, leaving the others behind.

Okay, Trunks. Don't be nervous. He's just a normal guy...who's probably strong enough to break you in half if he decides he doesn't like you, and who didn't look like he liked you earlier... "So, um, you're Son Goku, right?"

"Yeah." They landed; Goku kept stepping from side to side.

"I know I said my name was Reese, but my real name is Trunks. It's nice to meet you."

"What did you need to tell me?"

"Um. A few things. But first, can you turn Super Saiyan for a moment?"

"...Turn Super Saiyan?"

"Yeah. Like, transform."

"You mean, like into that giant monkey thing? I can't. I lost my tail, and for some reason senzu beans won't bring it back."

"No, I mean...um..." Trunks took a deep breath and transformed into his Super Saiyan form.

Goku's eyes widened. "Woah! What happened to your hair? It's yellow!"

"That's what happens when you turn Super Saiyan," Trunks replied. "You're sure you can't do this?"

"I'm pretty sure I can't..."

"Alright. Um, power up as much as you can, I guess?"

Goku stopped stepping from side to side. He paused for a moment, his strange aura increasing in intensity, then shouted, "Kaio-ken times twenty!" His red-orange aura became encased in a deep red one.

I don't think that was in any of Mom's stories. "Kaio-wha—?"

Goku leaped forward and punched Trunks in the chest. Trunks let the momentum of the blow push him backwards.

"That's why you wanted me to power up?" Goku asked. "To see how well I can fight?"

"Essentia—" Trunks soared into the air as a burst of energy flowed from Goku's aura to strike at him.

"Good. I haven't had a decent fight since I fought Frieza—"

"Wait!" I need to tell him about Frieza and the cyborgs!

"You won't fool me!" Goku quickly flew up; he and Trunks began exchanging a flurry of kicks and punches.

This can't be right...Son Goku's supposed to be way stronger than me! But we're at almost the same level—if anything, I'm a bit stronger! I wanted to try using my sword, but I'm afraid I'd actually hurt him...

Trunks gathered his energy and kicked Goku in the stomach with both feet. "If you're holding back, stop it!"

"Why would I hold back?"

Wait, that doesn't like the—

"Ka...me...ha..."

Trunks threw a flurry of small energy blasts at Goku, disrupting his concentration and kicking up dust, before flying down and kneeing him in the face. Goku flew out of the dust cloud and into the hillside. Trunks flew up above the prone Saiyan. "You're sure you're not holding back? Because if not, I'm just going to do this—" Sorry, Goku and Mr. Gohan. Trunks zoomed down as quickly as he could, landing with one foot directly between Goku's legs. "—again."

"You stay away from my dad!"

Is that Goh—

As Trunks had guessed, Gohan came out of the sky and began pummeling Trunks's face. Trunks blocked the blows with ease. You taught me well, Gohan, and your past self wasn't nearly as strong as you. Isn't. Whatever.

"Gohan!" Goku called out weakly, pulling himself from the hillside. "It's okay!"

Gohan stopped. "...Are you sure, Dad?"

"Yeah! I wanted to fight him, and sometimes that means you lose." Goku floated slowly over to Trunks, and began shifting from side to side again. "Once."

Trunks couldn't believe what had happened. "You...you really weren't holding anything back?"

"No. That was a good fight. I'd like to have another go, once I've trained to—"

"If I can beat you, you've got a lot of training to do. Earth isn't—Gohan, go back with the others." It feels weird to tell him what to do.

"Why?"

"I need to tell your father things. Secret things the others can't know."

"I'm at least as good at keeping secrets as—"

"Gohan?" Goku said. "He told you to leave. Leave."

And that's definitely not how Mr. Gohan described Goku.

Gohan had his own concerns about his father's behavior, but showed them only in a brief glance he gave Goku as he flew back to the others.

"I..." Trunks's breath caught in his throat. "The reason I didn't want to tell the others my real name is that I'm from the future. I'm Bulma's son, actually."

"And you wanted to fight me?" Goku asked.

"Well...no. I wanted you to fight. Earth's going to go through some trials from people more powerful than anyone else to threaten it before. First, probably any minute now, Frieza's going to come back with his father and—"

"What, again?"

"...What do you mean, 'again'?"

"A couple weeks or so ago, Frieza and his dad came to Earth, looking for me. It's why I came back, actually—I really wanted to fight them again. It was kinda sad, though—Frieza was put together with some new robot parts, but they weren't very good, so he wasn't as strong as he was before."

What? I thought Frieza was stronger after becoming a cyborg! ...This timeline is weird...

"I...well, you killed them both?"

"Yeah. Vegeta had to help this time, but we beat them up."

What?

"Well...great! That's...different than my timeline. Um, the next thing is a bigger problem. On March 12th in three years, at ten o'clock AM, two..." Mom and Mr. Gohan both said Goku wasn't very book-smart, I should dumb this down a little. "...two people partly made out of mechanical parts attack an island just west of South City. They kill almost everyone—Vegeta, Krillin, Tien, Chiatisu—"

"Chiaotzu."

"Oh. Chiaotzu, and...what's the Namekian's name? Pickle-something?"

"Do you mean Piccolo?"

"Yeah, him. They knock down Karin's Tower—"

"Korrin's."

"Sorry, my mom hasn't wanted to tell most of these stories in years. And they've killed most of the Earth's civilians and basically everyone in the military or government. Gohan and I were basically the only warriors left on the side of good...until, well, they...killed him, too. And...I couldn't beat them, either." Trunks paused.

Be strong. There's nothing you can do about the past...future...whatever! Just tell him the rest of the stupid story!

"Wait," Goku said. "What about me and Yamcha?"

"You both died before the androids came."

"What? How did I die?"

"It was something no warrior can learn to fight...a heart virus. Here, I brought medicine for it." Trunks pulled the bottle of pills from his jacket pocket and handed it to Goku. "If you take this, you should be able to fight of the virus." If he gets infected with it in this timeline. "And you need to start training, as fast as possible. You need to be able to turn Super Saiyan, not just—whatever that is. Then, hopefully, you'll be strong enough to save the world!"

Goku shrugged. "These android things...they're stronger than Frieza? Stronger than you?"

"Much, much stronger."

Goku smiled. "I'll train and fight them."

"Good. I'll...I'm not sure. Um, that's all."

Goku nodded, then flew back to Gohan and the others.

Trunks watched Goku until he vanished over the hill. I was going to go three years forward...but if Goku's this weak, if he can't even go Super Saiyan...will three years of training be enough for him and the others? I can't risk it. I should spend this time training, too. Besides, it means I can spend time with Dad, and maybe even babysit myself and teach my teacher. How many people can say they've done that?

But I really need to train...

Trunks followed Goku, trying to figure out a cover story. As he did, he noticed the Namekian—Piccolo—glancing at him, and then Vegeta.