A warm crisp spring day.

Trunks knelt down and placed some flowers in front of a grave "Hello Gohan, it's been a long time. I'm sorry I haven't come to see you in awhile, I've been giving you a hand in that other timeline. They've got a big battle coming there and I want to be able to help them in any way that I can. Father told me to return to this timeline to hone my skills my own way so I came back, and I've been really busy ever since I returned. I decided to take the example the other you set for me and train the next generation of warriors to protect the Earth from threats, and I opened up my own dojo in the mountains just outside North City. I've already got about 20 students and they're all coming along really well. Well I should be going, my next class is going to start in an hour. I promise I'll come by later." and he took off.

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Soon enough, class was in session.

Trunks watched as his students were attempting to call out and control their Ki, though barely any of them were even getting close "No no, you've gotta lower your stances. Be sure that you concentrate your effort just below your navels."

They still weren't getting very close.

"You have to clear your mind and focus your energy."

"Yes sir!" but they still weren't getting any closer.

'Well they may not be getting very close, but they're eager I have to give them that much.'

One of them finally voiced what they were all thinking "It's no good, master could you please show us an example?"

"Good idea." Trunks flared his white aura in order to show them what to do and how to tell if they were doing it properly "That's what it should look like. Now then, all of you practice your form next."

"Yes sir!" and they all began practicing their form.

'They have the proper motivation, at this rate they'll all go far.'

"Master, is it like this?" one student flared his aura as much as he could, though it was only barely noticeable.

"Yes, good work Toga-" then he paused and looked in another direction 'Two Ki signatures just landed on the planet, one of them is almost is as strong as I am as a Super Saiyan. The other, it's different but it also feels slightly familiar…'

"Master, is something wrong?"

"...I have something I have to take care of, that's enough for today." and he flew off.

Toga followed after him.

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Trunks landed in a grassy field and looked back to see Toga land right behind him "I should be angry that you followed me against my orders, but I am impressed that you're already able to fly."

Toga shrugged "I practice a lot by myself at night, trying to get stronger in order to protect my family. That's why I joined your dojo to begin with."

"I see." then his eyes hardened and he turned around "They're here, get behind me and don't let your guard down."

Then two figures dropped down, one Saiyan and one Arcosian 'So that's the power level we were following.'

'That scouter and the tail, that one is a Saiyan. And the other one likes like a blue version of Frieza, that must mean he's an Arcosian.' Trunks stepped forward, gripping the hilt of Sounga with one hand "Tell me, why have you come to this planet?"

The Saiyan stepped forward and held up a hand "Please calm yourself, I can assure you that we mean you no harm. My name is Tarble, and this is my comrade Frost."

"My name is Trunks and this is my student Toga. As I asked before, why have you come to Earth?"

"I'm looking for my elder brother, I was told by the people of the Namekian race that he had retired to this planet Earth after the tyrant Frieza had been vanquished."

"And who would your brother be?"

"The Saiyan prince Vegeta, do you know him?"

Trunks took a moment to suppress his shock "Vegeta is… was… my father."

"I see. Well I suppose that would make you my nephew then."

"Why would my father never mention you?"

"I was sent to a remote star when I was a child because I had a low power level and I lacked the traditional fighting spirit most Saiyans had. But tell me, where is Vegeta?"

"...My father is dead, he was slain in battle many years ago."

Tarble's eyes widened, then returned to normal as he hung his head "I see. Well you are his son, perhaps you may be able to help me. A terrible duo of brothers by the name of Abo and Cado are currently terrorizing my planet, I proved to be no match for them. Frost put up much more of a fight, but even with all of his power he was eventually defeated." then he bowed "I beg of you, please help us."

"So they're strong."

"Far more than anything you could imagine."

"Warping reality into their own twisted image with a mere flex of a finger."

"...You've clearly faced some bizarre foes."

"No, but some people I know have. At least I know Gohan has thanks to Fortuneteller Baba showing me what's happening in that timeline through her crystal ball.'

"I see."

"Not to worry." Toga stepped up and punched his fist "I think I can handle these two easily enough."

Tarble checked his scouter to scan Toga's power level "Excuse me, but I'm not quite sure if you're up to something like this."

"My father told me about how you use that scouter." Trunks commented "They can't see their opponent's full power if they're suppressing it, and several opponents can alter their combat strength faster than you can blink. Toga, show him."

"Yes sir." Toga stepped up.

Tarble observed him 'What's he going to do?'

Toga paused and began flaring his aura, electricity crackling around his entire body.

'I don't believe it, his power is rising by the second!'

"And now for the real kicker. Kaioken!" Toga's aura turned crimson and flared even higher than before.

Tarble's scouter promptly shattered "I-I see."

"So what do you think?"

"While your power is impressive, I'm afraid that it will still not be enough."

"Toga, that's enough." Trunks called him off "Don't worry Tarble, I'm sure I can handle these two." he flashed into Super Saiyan and flared his golden aura "See?"

"I-Is that-?"

"Super Saiyan, yes. I know at least four others who have achieved this state, so you don't have to look so shocked."

"I-I see. Anyway, Abo and Cado followed us here and I fear they will reach this planet any moment now."

"Is that so?" then he paused and his eyes hardened "They're here."

"Master, look!" Toga pointed to where two unidentified figures landed in the mountains not far away "Isn't that-?"

"Yes, that's the direction of the dojo. Let's go!" Trunks promptly took off, with Tarble, Frost and Toga following.

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The students all rushed out of the dojo to see what was going on, only to find two Saiyan pods crashed in front of them "What the-"

"Get back!" Trunks touched down with the others.

"Master!"

"Get back and evacuate the people in the city to safety, I will deal with this myself."

"Yes sir!" they all promptly took off.

Then the pods opened, and Abo and Cado emerged, both of them having a dark jewel embedded in their armor "You caused us quite a great deal of trouble Tarble, Frost, now both of you come out and show yourselves."

"They don't have to dirty their hands with the likes of you." Trunks stepped forward "I'm the one you two will be fighting." then he looked back at Tarble "Tell me Tarble, are those two from Frieza's forces?"

Tarble nodded grimly "Yes, they're remnants of what is left of their army. They were stationed on another planet when Frieza was destroyed, at the time they were ranked to rival the likes of Frieza's elites, the Ginyu Force. But now they've grown to rival Frieza himself."

"And those dark jewels make them even more powerful, at least I can assume that from previous experience. Just stand back, I'll end this battle myself." and he stepped up.

Frost's eyes narrowed as he saw the orb on the end of Sounga's hilt glowing the same dark color as the black jewels on Abo and Cado 'That orb is glowing the same dark color as those black orbs on their bodies, are they connected somehow? Trunks doesn't seem concerned about this, so that must mean he isn't aware of the connection. I suppose that for now I should just observe this supposed connection in greater detail before I make any arbitrary assumptions.

Trunks met Abo and Cado in the middle "I'll be your opponent."

Abo and Cado only smirked, their eyes glowing dark purple, the same with the jewels on their bodies "Do you honestly think you're a match for us?"

"I think we're about to find out." Trunks then blitzed forward and slugged them both at the same time, then slammed them both into the ground."

Abo and Cado both emerged after a moment, panting and pissed "Get ready bowlcut, you asked for this!"

"Fine by me." he blitzed away, blocking several physical attacks from Abo and Cado as he then clashed with them throughout the area, eventually taking the clash back to the ground, all of them being sent skidding back.

Abo and Cado were left panting somewhat "You're pretty good for an earthling."

Trunks wiped the blood from his lip "You two aren't half bad yourselves, but it's clear as day that both of you are out of your league here. I'm giving you guys one chance, leave now and never come back."

"You so sure you're gonna win aren't you? Well get a load of this then." they then multiplied, revealing two of each of them "Romper Room is over!" they all charged forward.

Trunks tried to dodge and block their attacks, but was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, eventually being sent tumbling to the ground, and promptly wiped some blood from his lip "Well this just got a lot harder than I expected."

"Now you know why I lost." Frost came up to him "To defeat foes like this one has to go back and reflect on the basics. I know Saiyans are mostly independent fighters, but I could offer you some help if you like."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm doing just fine on my own."

"Judging by your tone I'm assuming you hold a great deal of animosity towards my race because you've encountered Frieza and Cold, am I correct?"

Trunks said nothing.

"I thought so. But I can assure you, the people of Arcos are completely innocent of the crimes committed by those tyrants and have been greatly prospering in the years that have passed since their deaths."

"...I see. I never meant to sound like I was holding animosity or anything, I just-"

"It's alright, I understand. But still though, I could just coach you and guide you through dealing with the clones if you like? Don't forget, even the greatest of warriors need help from their allies at least once in awhile."

"...Alright." Trunks floated back up, surrounded by the Abo clones first.

"Behind!"

Trunks punched the one behind him.

"Right!"

Trunks kicked the one on his right.

"Above!"

Trunks punched the one above him.

"Left!"

Trunks elbowed the one on the left.

"Below!"

Trunks smashed the one below him to the ground, this one turning out to be the real one, then turned his attention to the Cado clones, only for them to quickly gang up on him, forcing him to retreat 'Okay, this obviously isn't working. Come on Trunks, you just have to calm down and sense out his Ki and the rest of it will fall into place.' he paused in an attempt to sense out the real one 'There!' he blitzed in front of the real one and kicked him in the gut.

Cado was forced to retract his clone "Abo, it doesn't look like we have any other choice right now."

Abo unwillingly retracted his own clone "Are you suggesting that we…?"

"Yeah." they both dropped to the ground and threw their scouters towards the ground as they got into stances "Merge!" they were both engulfed in a purple whirlwind.

Trunks braced himself for the shockwave 'Their powers became one and it's rising by the second!'

When the whirlwind subsided, it revealed Aka, the fusion of Abo and Cado, with two dark jewels in his chest, one on each side, and he smirked maliciously "Come on!" he charged at Trunks and grabbed him by the throat, then promptly dragged him through the ground and threw him into a mountain.

Trunks flashed into Super Saiyan and let out a kiai, escaping his grip.

Aka charged forward and elbowed Trunks in the face, then attempted to hit him from behind.

Trunks recovered and ducked under the following blow, then aimed a few punches forward, resulting in a brief scuffle.

Aka ended this scuffle when he caught Trunks' leg and hurled him towards the cliffside behind him.

Trunks rebounded off of the cliffside and charged forward with a kick.

Aka disappeared and attempted to hit Trunks from underground, effectively slugging him in the jaw and sending him to the ground.

Trunks recovered and dodged the next attempt to stomp on his head, then kicked Aka straight in the gut, then charged forward in an attempt to finish it.

Aka recovered and cranked his neck to the side before kicked Trunks into the air, then kicked him back towards the ground.

Trunks recovered and charged back upwards, resulting in them trading even blows.

Aka ended this by sharply slugging Trunks in the face, leaving them to both retreat back to the ground.

Trunks wiped the blood from his lip 'Dammit, this guy's pretty tough and with 2 dark jewels instead of just 1 I don't think I can afford to hold back any longer.'

"Not too shabby bowlcut, you're even better at this then I gave you credit for. But that being said, I think it's plain as day that you don't have a hope in hell of beating me as you are right now."

"You're right, I can't beat you at this level. That being said, don't think you've seen the limit of my power just yet." he flashed into Super Saiyan 2 "Get ready Abo- Cado- whatever the hell I'm supposed to call you, your time is up. You're not going to walk out of this alive."

"Is that so? Alright runt, bring it."

"You asked for it." Trunks blitzed forward and kneed Aka in the head, repeatedly slugged him in the stomach, and sent him flying into the air with a sharp kick to the jaw, then blitzed into the air above Aka and got into a familiar stance, a purple Ki blast forming in his hands "This is for the pride of the royal Saiyan bloodline! Galick Gun!" he fired a Galick Gun, slamming Aka to the ground and resulting in an explosion.

Tarble looked on, clearly astonished by what he was seeing 'Amazing, not only did he transform beyond even the legendary Super Saiyan form, but he managed to beat someone as powerful as that without even breaking a sweat. Brother, your son is truly an amazing warrior.'

Trunks landed on the ground in front of him and Frost "Don't get any sort of wrong ideas, he's not dead, at least not yet."

Sure enough, that was the moment in which a pissed off Aka emerged from the ground, covered in wounds "I've gotta give you points bowlcut, you're a lot better than I gave you credit for."

"It's a big mistake to underestimate your opponent."

"You should take your own advice! Wahaha no Ha!" he fired a green blast of energy from his mouth.

Trunks flared his Super Saiyan 2 aura as he finally drew Sounga from his back and cut the blast in half with one clean strike, dividing and detonating it on either side of him on the ground "A desperate last resort move, you're getting predictable."

"If I were you then I would hold my tongue until after you get incinerated by my next attack, much more powerful than the last!" he clasped his hands together and began charging an even bigger attack "Super Wahaha no Ha!" he fired the blast, turning it into a rapid barrage of flaming Ki blasts, scattering them throughout the area, detonating along the cliffside and the surrounding mountains, and dealing minor damage to various parts of the dojo.

'Dammit, at this rate the people in the city will-!'

Then the students rushed out "Master!"

"Now is when you have to put your training to use! Remember the techniques I've taught all of you up until now! Deflect the blasts in directions where they won't cause any damage to the dojo or North City!"

"Yes sir!" and they scattered, using weaker versions of various techniques such as the Spirit Ball, Destructo Disk, Dodon Ray, and Toga was even able to use a weak Special Beam Cannon to destroy several blasts.

'So Goku's got his team made up of the friends he made while travelling around the world, Gohan made his friends while travelling around the Feudal Era, and now I may very well have started forming my own team.'

"DAMMIT!" Aka began charging a gigantic flaming Ki blast.

'He's getting worked up and resorting to a last resort attack, now's the best chance I'll have to finish this.' Trunks charged and raised Sounga, intent on finishing it with the sword's most powerful attack.

"FLAMING WAHAHA NO HA!" a thoroughly enraged Aka fired a flame coated Wahaha no Ha.

"Dragon Twister!" Trunks fired a demonic tornado from the blade, cutting clean through the Flaming Wahaha no Ha and engulfing Aka, before finally detonating in a fiery explosion.

When the blast subsided, Aka was nowhere in sight, with only a few charred scraps of his armor left behind.

Trunks looked and saw the sphere on the hilt of Sounga glowing dark purple before returning to its normal blue 'So when I use Sounga to defeat enemies with these dark jewels, it somehow absorbs their evil power. I wasn't corrupted like Inuyasha was though, so that must mean that if I only use it in my Super Saiyan 2 form then its demonic influence won't overtake me or make me go berserk.'

"A most impressive feat." Frost noted "As I thought, you really are a truly formidable warrior. This world is in good hands."

"Not good enough, it took me far too long to reach this level. This planet was terrorized by two monstrous beings for nearly 2 decades before I became strong enough to stop them, so I have to keep getting stronger to make sure it never happens again."

"I see. Well tell me Trunks, what would you say if Tarble and I stayed on this world and helped you to protect it from potential threats."

Trunks' eyes shot wide in surprise "You'd really do that?"

"The universe overall has been enjoying an era of peace ever since the Cold bloodline fell, but it's clear as day that this planet attracts all sorts of unwanted attention. A lush green and healthy planet, one of the most beautiful the cosmos has to offer. Clearly you and your allies are the only reason it hasn't been conquered yet."

"All of my allies in this world are dead, that's the main reason why I've been training the next generation of warriors to protect this world after I'm gone."

"But the problem is that they won't be ready to take on threats like Abo and Cao for a good long while, and until they are ready you're on your own." he held out a hand "So how about until then, Tarble and I will act as protectors alongside you?"

Trunks slowly accepted the hand "I can't begin to thank you enough for this."

"You can thank us by allowing us to teach alongside you in your dojo, the progress of your students will be heightened considerably that way and they can learn several new techniques as well."

"You're hired."

A/N:

I know I said that I would be going on a brief hiatus on account of my grades suffering, but I hadn't taken into that there was less than a week until the end of the marking period. So yay, I'm back a hell of a lot sooner than I thought I was gonna be. Still though, in order to make sure I don't get way too engrossed in my fanfiction again I'm only gonna be able to upload on weekends for awhile. But on the bright side, this will give me a lot of time to brainstorm new ideas for this fic.

Just for the sake of being clear, this is the start of a series of chapters about Future Trunks, who will be referred to as Mirai when we go back to the main present timeline.

And for the record, in case the name sense didn't make it clear enough by bringing in Frost, I will not be continuing on to Super or GT with this fic. It will end after the Magatsuhi Saga and a brief epilogue at the end of Z, and that's the end of Gohan's story as the great protector.