Author's Notes: Let me start by saying thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story ^^ You've really made my day! Someone grabbed my attention to 16's OOCness, it's just because he was fully-programmed, I forgot to say so… :S Also, Trunks was 4 years old in the previous chapter, and this one is 12 years later, so he's 16 now. Anyways, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN DBZ!

Chapter 2

12 years later…

"I'm still hungry mama…" a little girl complained to her mother, once again being forced to eat some leftover soup. The woman sighed.

"Here, sweetie, you can have mine." She said with a smile as she gave up her plate for her daughter's sake. Unfortunately, this spectacle was ordinary around the area the two were currently in. It made Trunks cringe and feel as though he was helpless. Granted, he can't bring any more food than the scouts they send to do so. His higher ki would undoubtedly fetch the androids right where he was. Thus, it was decided that some chosen people would go out and bring food for everyone there. However, they were always being decreased in number with every search, and sometimes, none returned at all. That's why Trunks was here waiting and not training. The scouts who were sent the other week haven't returned yet. Of course they sent another, but that group which they lost, had one member, who, in Trunks' eyes, was the best friend he could ever dream of having. He licked his lips, and focused again, trying his best to find his friend's ki, but to no avail. He was very grateful that Krillen taught him a lot of things, but the one thing he didn't was the ability to sense ki. He thought that it wasn't useful since the androids didn't have ki to be sensed. Granted, they didn't, but it would put the sixteen-year old at ease to know that his best friend was fine. His eyes caught movement in the vast space in front of him. He squinted his eyes and looked ahead, readying himself in case he needed to fight. Then, he spotted four figures scurrying through the long-grassed land, occasionally looking upwards. Finally, the four made it to the hideout.

"Hi Trunks, watch 'a doing out here?" a blonde boy, seeming to be of Trunks' age, asked, "Aren't you supposed to be training?"

"I would, Kitai, if you haven't scared me half to death! What took you so long?" Trunks questioned the man who just shrugged.

"We were sent out to find food, weren't we?" Trunks nodded, "Well, all the nearby places have no food left. So we had to go farther this time."

"I think we should change the hiding place. With no means of finding food, half of us will starve to death before any scouts return," one of the other people, who looked like he was in his thirties, commented, "That is if they do at all." He mumbled whilst clenching his fists, "Give me the damned capsules, brat! I need to deliver those to their rightful place." He yelled at Kitai. The one in question quickly reached into his pocket and gave him what he wanted. The capsules were snatched out of his hands, and the man left grumbling all the way.

"Well, we would all miss his grumpiness, if he would ever be one of those who mysteriously disappear, huh bro?" The third member of the group remarked as he made his way to the duo, his brother in tow.

"You guys, you know he lost his brother to those monsters two weeks ago! You shouldn't be making fun of him…" Kitai said, his honey eyes downcast and holding some sort of sadness.

"Yes, you're right." Trunks agreed, "But their day will also come, and I'll make sure it does!" The other three nodded.

"Anyways, Trunks, now that you're sure that I'm fine, why don't you go train with Mr. Gohan?" Trunks nodded and moved away from the group. He stopped in his tracks when he heard someone calling his name. He turned half-way to look at his friends.

"Never lose hope, my friend! Hope is my name after all!" Kitai said with a grin, and Trunks smiled back. 'Time for training…' he thought as he made his way to find Gohan.

-oOo-

Gohan was having a fight. An imaginary fight would be more like it. He punched and kicked with powerful force. He swirled and twirled imagining that he was dodging numerous ki blasts. Then, he disappeared out of sight, only to reappear where his surprised made-up opponent would be and kicked him down with enough strength to bring a mountain tumbling to the ground. Just as he was about to send a ki blast of his own towards his 'adversary', he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Come in." Trunks opened the door and made his way towards his sensei. They greeted each other, and decided to spar for a while.

Each of them took a side and their respective fighting stance. They both raised their ki for the upcoming battle. After a few seconds, they both pounced at each other. They met in the center of the room, each sending a punch towards the other. However, they both brought the other hand up and caught the fist aimed at their faces before it reached. Then, Gohan opened the hand Trunks was currently holding and launched a weak blast at the lavender-haired boy, just enough to provoke Trunks to let go of the older boy's hand, and take a few steps back away from the smoke. He wasn't damaged at all by the ki blast, but he knew better. This was one of Gohan's many strategies. He stayed on alert and heightened his senses. He knew Gohan was going to attack him… soon. 'If I knew how to sense ki, I would have known exactly where he was!' he thought to himself as he searched around him. He wasn't shocked in the slightest when he felt a staggering pain shoot down his back and saw the ground getting closer. Before he reached the earth, he caught himself and dodged another kick which was aimed at his abdomen. This time, it was Trunks' turn to disappear and Gohan's to stand around in patience. Trunks raised his ki for one second. One second, which was more than enough to grab Gohan's attention and alert him of the Buster Cannon that was spiraling down on him. To Trunks, it appeared as though the blast caught Gohan head-on. Therefore, Trunks did the one thing one mustn't do in battle, he dropped his guard. To say he was astonished when he heard the familiar chanting of a Kamehameha was an understatement. In his bewilderment, Trunks didn't even attempt to move out of the way until the blast was very close to him. He used his hands as a last defense and ignored the gnawing pain on his palm. He couldn't take the pain any longer, so he blocked his face with his hands and let the blast engulf him wholly.

"You should always be on alert Trunks. If you were fighting a real opponent, you would have gotten killed!" Gohan chastised the younger boy. Just as the two were about to resume their spar, a loud noise stopped them.

The two stepped outside the room they were in and into a crowd outside.

"Everybody, this way!" Bulma yelled at the top of her lungs, "We need to get to the underground exit, come on people!"

"Bulma!" Gohan called from between the mass of people, "Are they here?" he asked once he and Trunks got to the woman.

"Not yet, but one of the scouts who just returned said that he saw them flying close to this area. We're going underground and continue digging till we reach a safer place." Bulma informed receiving an understanding nod from the black-haired boy.

"Trunks, you stay here with these people in the front. I'll go back, okay?" Trunks nodded, "Make sure everyone makes it to the new hideout, you're their protector now Trunks." Trunks' face was blank.

"What do you mean Gohan? You are coming back! They're not even here yet!"

"No, Trunks, I won't wait for them to come here. I'll stop them from coming here. I'll lead them away! They won't know anyone's here…" Gohan stated.

"Then… then, I'll come with you!" Trunks said, "I can help! I really can!"

"Trunks they need you here…" Gohan sighed, he didn't like his plan either, but if it was the right thing to do, then he would do it, "I'll try my best to make it back. Don't let me down, Trunks." With that said, Gohan turned and ran; afraid that he might change his mind or that Trunks might follow him. Trunks had an odd sense of déjà vu right then. I'll lead them away, I'll stop them, I won't let them come here… You have to stay behind. Don't let me down, Trunks. All these statements were repeated again and again by the older super-powered people. And the last one of them was most probably never going to be seen again. Which means that, now, he was the very last one capable of protecting these innocent people. He wanted to follow him, he really did, but he knew that if he did, he would be letting him down. He would be letting everyone down. So despite all the contradicting feelings inside of him, he gestured to the people around him to continue walking.

-oOo-

"I saw one of them! I know I did!" 17 exclaimed as he scanned the area around them, looking fot any sign of a human or living creature around the area. However, the only thing he saw was a cricket.

"Looks like 17 has started imagining things…" 16 stated, "This is the first sign of losing one's brain." 18 laughed at this.

"Shut up both of you!" 17 shouted, his cheeks taking a hint of red, "Let's just keep moving. I think I see a town over there. Hope it's not empty like the last one." 18 flew to where 17 was and narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know, are you sure?" 18 asked sarcastically, receiving a hit on the head, "Chill, I didn't mean anything by it…" she said innocently.

"Sure you didn't…" 17 replied, "Come on let's just go!"

"I don't think you're gonna be going anywhere…" A new voice was heard. The trio turned and saw a black-haired boy.

"Who are you?" 16 wondered aloud.

"I'm Son Gohan. And I'm here to stop you." He said pointing at them. What he earned, was laughter.

"You," 17 said humorously while looking him up and down, "stop us?" he laughed some more, "You're not only out-matched but also out-numbered; even a toddler can do the math."

"So it appears to be…" Gohan said before transforming. Nonetheless, this didn't deter the twins or their friend for they fought a super saiyan before. And 18 broke his arm effortlessly. According to them, it was just a change in hair and eye color and nothing else.

"I've got this one!" 17 said before either of his companions could open their mouths. Thus, Gohan took his usual stance while 17 crossed his arms and waited for his opponent to attack. Gohan screamed and charged at his adversary. He assaulted him with a flurry of punches and kicks. With a strong roundhouse kick, he sent 17 towards the ground. To anyone watching, it would seem that Gohan was winning, but in reality, 17 was not even attempting to defend himself. Before the android crashed into the ground, he corrected himself and appeared right behind the half breed. Gohan turned around to continue his fight, only to feel an ache throbbing in his chest. He closed his eyes and reopened them to look down on his chest. He felt time stop when he saw 17 pull his hand out of where his heart should have been. He tasted blood rolling up his throat before it seeped out of his open mouth. His blurry view caught a glimpse of his killer's cold light blue and he felt the world vanishing from all around him. 16 watched emotionlessly as Gohan's body descended down and collided with the Earth's surface while 18 winced a bit when she saw the lifeless body. 17 cleaned his hands of his latest victim's blood, staining his shirt.

"Well, now that everything is in order, shall we continue to the next town?" 16 proposed excitedly. 17 and 16 sped off while 18 lingered behind. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and subconsciously walked towards the corpse. She cringed as his glazed over eyes stared right back at her. She leaned in and shut his eyes so that it seemed as if he were sleeping. But of course, he wasn't.

"Good-bye Son Gohan." She whispered prior to turning around and trailing after her friends.

-oOo-

Later that day, all the people were safely situated in another underground hideout, Trunks decided to check up on Gohan. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't killed, but just badly injured, and he needed help. Thus, he set off in search of his mentor. He looked and looked, the weather was cold, and it had started raining a while back. Moreover, Trunks was seriously considering turning back. However, a slash of red on the black ground caught his attention. Thus, Trunks descended and watched the corpse from afar. Finding enough courage, he stepped close to the figure. When he recognized the bloody mess in front of him, he felt his world spinning. He saw drops of water slipping on his cheek, but it definitely wasn't raindrops. He collapsed and fell to his knees. But really, he didn't know what to expect. Perhaps he was holding on to a non-existent hope too tightly. Hope. There was no such thing as hope. At least not anymore. He let everything go, and his ki rose drastically. But he was not aware of that. In fact, he was not aware of anything around him at all. He felt his aura changing, and indeed it was. The usual blue aura that covered him was long gone, and it transformed into a golden color. His hair stood up, not purple or pinkish, but a yellow shade. His usually blue eyes turned emerald green. The sight was magnificent, but its cause was not. A voice from his right brought him back to reality.

"Well, well what have we here?"

Author's Notes: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed the story. And I would love it if you left a review again. It would really make my day, and when I'm happy, updates come a lot faster ;)

I'll be posting the characters' power levels. However, these power levels are by no means accurate; they are just for you to compare the characters' strength. So here they are:

Future Gohan: 80,000,000 (Max Power)

Android 16: ?

Cyborg 17: 150,000,000 (suppressed)

Cyborg 18: ?

And also, here's a response to all the reviews on Chapter 1:

gesto: Great chapter! That was really nice describing of the Future timeline.
It's really nice of how you describe the whole thing. I thought that 16 wasn't activate yet in the Future. Hope to see more!

JJ: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I hope you like the idea of having 16 already activated, I just found it best to activate him sooner rather than later!

Manwe0035: Very goooood story !

JJ: Thanks! I hope you continue reading it :D

amariko: Nice chapter, I liked the way you started the story!
I would like to see more of that, that really interesting
I kinda wanted to see also the fight against Krillin even it was short ;)
update soon please!

JJ: I'm glad you like the first chapter and extra happy that you find it entertaining! I'm sorry that I didn't include Krillen's fight, but I promise there'll be more fights to look out for in the future!

Guest: Your story is really great! I really want to see more of it, it's just the start so it's hard to see where it's will go.
Wonder what you'll come up next! Please update soon!

JJ: It's great? That's awesome to hear! I hope that you find it great till the very end!

Crush48:Nice story.
Only issue I have is that Android 16 is extremely out of character. He is only interested in completing his mission, which is to destroy Goku. He wouldn't even attempt to kill humans because it is not in his programming.
Besides that, good chapter overall.

JJ: Thanks! The only reason he's out of character is that in my story he is fully programmed just like how he was originally supposed to be.

Alex: it's was really good start, it's has potential!
I really like how good and gentle you made 18, she was really though that Goku will be the last one, but...
Just great, I like it.

JJ: Thank you! I know right? Too bad he wasn't… I agree that 18 is a great woman!

Again, thanks to all my reviewers/followers and of course all who favorite this story!