Age 788 – Alternate Timeline
Tren had been climbing down from a tree when the entire Earth began to shake. Losing his grip the middle-aged hunter dropped to ground landing hard on his rear. A deafening sound like an explosion reverberated throughout the mountains. A huge cloud of smoke rose above the treetops.
"What in the hell was that?" he asked getting to feet. His rifle had fallen a few feet away. Picking it up, Tren looked over to where the explosion had come from. A few moments earlier he had landed a kill shot in a nice sized buck. He doubted it would be going anywhere so he decided to investigate what was going on.
Snow began to fall as Tren weaved through the trees. Not even the terror of the Artificial Humans could stop him from hunting game and he knew these woods like the back of his hand. The ground shook again and a second explosion boomed. Tren braced against a tree. Someone was having a party; which begged the question who was that someone? This area was supposed to be off-limits to the public. Of course that included him too, but...
Fifteen minutes later he came to a clearing and found that he was in unfamiliar territory. Where there should have been a ruined cliff was only a smoking crater. Safe to say, the explosion had definitely had quite a punch to it. Tren began to feel uneasy. He pulled his rifle close to his body. Then he noticed something smoking a few dozen meters away from the crater.
Cautiously, Tren approached the smoldering pile and was shocked at what he saw. It was a young man with lavender hair. His body was burned and his clothes were in ruins. Tren could do nothing but stare with his mouth gaping open.
The man's arm reached out and grabbed him by the ankle. Tren nearly had a heartattack.
With a pained effort the man opened his eyes and looked at him. "R-run… Run…a-away…" he managed to say then his grip on Tren's leg went limp.
"H-holy…" Tren stuttered. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a cell phone and dialed it. "Hello, emergency responders?" He gave them a quick rundown of where he was and what he had seen.
"Stay with him," the responder said. "We'll have an airship over there in less than ten minutes."
"Got it," Tren said and cut the line. He kneeled down beside the man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hang with me friend. Help's on the way."
Suddenly Tren heard a sound like a snapping twig behind him. Half jumping, he spun around.
There was a naked man standing at the edge of the clearing. He looked young, no older than thirty. His hair was jet black and was a tangled mess.
He also had a tail.
Tren suddenly felt total dread.
"Hey," the man said. "Can I ask you a favor?"
In hindsight it might have been a good idea to ignore the explosion and go retrieve the buck.
Bulma was refitting a hover-bike in Capsule Corp.'s garage when an update popped up on one of the computer screens. Placing aside her tools she opened the alert and was shocked at what she saw.
"A dimensional shift?" she said. It had been detected by the physics engine, which the time machine used to plot its course across the timelines. Something was causing de-stability in the walls between dimensions in a way similar to what the time machine did. Bulma put in a few commands.
Based on the data, whatever was causing the shift did not originate in this reality, but it was having, according to the computer, "AN UNDETERMINED EFFECT" in this dimension. "This is just too weird," Bulma said aloud. "There's no way something like this can happen naturally. And what is 'UNDETERMINED EFFECT' all about?"
If there was something major going, then maybe there would be a news bulletin about it. Bulma closed the physics engine and opened up the link to the world news network. There was a breaking news report, but it was not about a shift in space-time.
It was about an explosion in the mountains near Metro North. Bulma's eyes widened when she read that an entire cliff side had been blown to oblivion. She knew Trunks had gone there to destroy the remains of Gero's lab, but she also knew that he wouldn't have been so conspicuous about it.
There was just too much going on, and Bulma had too little data. First thing first: make sure her son was all right. Motherhood came before researching the space between universes. Then: determine if the dimensional shift and its "UNDETERMINED EFFECT" would be harmful to real space.
Bulma was halfway to the door when the wall intercom buzzed. Coming out of her resolve for a brief moment, she opened the line. "I'm kind of in a rush, what is it?" she asked a little sharper than she intended to.
"I-I'm sorry ma'am," the voice of the receptionist said. The poor young man obviously hadn't been expecting any hostility, and Bulma knew he didn't deserve any. Once this whole incident was over with, she would be sure to apologize to him. "A young man is here and is asking to see you. He says he's an old friend of yours, and he refuses to leave. I could have security escort him off the premises for you."
Bulma sighed. "No, I'll meet him, just give me a moment."
Detective Nroh surveyed the destruction before him. It would take one hell of an explosion to destroy a cliff face. The fact that anyone survived was a miracle in itself. He put down his air car outside the blocked off area and ducked himself under the yellow tape.
Seeking out one of the crime scene examiners he asked, "What's the status of the two men we found?"
"One was dead when the rescue responders arrived," she said, pointing to a lump covered by a white sheet a few meters away. "However, there was no evidence that he was near the explosion when it happened. His neck was broken, and his skull was caved in too. Now the weirdest part was that he was naked."
Nroh gave her a quizzical look. "Naked?"
"Yeah, down to his underwear. The only possession he seemed to have was a hunting rifle."
"Okay, then what about the other man?"
The examiner pulled out a notebook and flipped through its pages. "A young male. Based on his injures, he was the man that was described to the emergency responders. He was taken to Metro North Central Hospital. The responders believe he might pull through."
Another detective walked up to Nroh. "The population is concerned that this may be a reemergence of the Artificial Humans. If it is, then we can expect the president to call a state of emergency soon. The military is on its way to conduct its own investigation."
"The military can do whatever the hell it wants," Nroh said. "However, my department is also conducting an investigation, and will continue to do so until we receive orders to stand down." He turned to one of the police assistants. "Get me on the phone with MNCH. I want updates on our victim's status every half-hour. The second that man wakes up, I want to be there."
Bulma unconsciously made her way up to Capsule Corp.'s lobby; worries about Trunks occupying her every thought.
It was for that reason when she reached the lobby she didn't realize who was standing there in the mountain clothes. When the receptionist said, "Ah, Miss Bulma," she was snapped out of her daze and saw who her visitor was.
Son Goku said, "Hi Bulma! Considering how long it's been you look great!"
Before her brain could register what her eyes were seeing, there was a blur of motion, a slamming noise, and a sharp pain in her back.
Also, she couldn't breathe.
Gasping for air, Bulma put together what was happening. Goku had charged her, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her into a wall.
Now if she could only figure out why he had done that…
Goku's face was a twisted grin; it reminded Bulma of those horrible expressions that his brother Raditz always wore.
"I'd like your help with something," he said. It was the same voice Bulma had always known as friendly. "I want to borrow something of yours…"
Trunks's eyes snapped open.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
He was moving through a hallway facing up at the ceiling. People dressed in white coats were running beside him speaking quickly and urgently to one another.
He felt light-headed and every nerve ending in his body was screaming in pain.
Then Trunks remembered everything that had happened, and none of that mattered anymore.
"D-Docter!" one of them said. "He's awake!"
Docter? I'm in a hospital, specifically on a stretcher, probably on my way to surgery. I don't have time for this.
Much to the surprise of everyone around him, Trunks sat up and jumped down to the floor. He then took off down the hall at a dead run.
Son Goku of all people…
Darkness was creeping into Bulma's vision. Breathing was hard enough in the current situation, but comprehending the situation itself was damn impossible.
She could make out shouting in the background, probably the receptionist, who was most likely just as confused as she was.
Goku turned to look at the whimpering man. "You've done your job here," he said. "You can leave now."
"I'm calling the police!" the receptionist yelled, ignoring the other's warning.
Bulma felt the grip on her neck loosen and suddenly she fell to the floor.
Goku stared at the man with murder in his eyes. "SHUT UP!"
Her vision was still blurry, but Bulma could hear a scream, which was cut short by a sickening crunch. When she looked up she could see the poor receptionist lying on the floor, his back bent at an unnatural angle. Then her assailant stepped into her line of sight. She looked into his eyes, eyes that contained a degree of madness, she had never seen before.
Goku smiled that sick smile again. "Now then, like I was saying…"
Detective Nroh was standing outside the hospital looking over some data from the crime scene when a man burst out of the front doors. His clothes were singed and his exposed skin was covered in burns. It took a moment, but Nroh realized he was looking at the survivor from the explosion.
The man had a fierce look on his face that suddenly shifted into mortified shock. "Oh my God…" he said barely a whisper.
Nroh tried to gather as much composure as possible. "H-Hey," he said. It was all he was able to say.
The next moment, a shock wave with a knockout punch to it flew out of the man's body knocking Nroh clear off his feet. He then jumped up into the air. He didn't come back down…
Nroh could only watch with a gapping jaw as his person of interest flew away across the sky.
"Yeah," he said. "I should definitely let the military handle this investigation."
Trunks gunned through the air towards Metro West as fast as his body in its current condition could take him. He knew that his mother was in danger, and it didn't take a genius to realize his own attacker was involved.
What is going on here? What the hell is going on?
He reached Capsule Corp. and charged through the front doors. The scene in the lobby was like something out of a horror movie. The receptionist was lying dead in a pool of blood near the entrance. Trunks was fairly certain that the broken bone jutting out of the skin on his back had was once been his spine.
Then he saw his mother.
Bulma was lying up against a nearby wall clutching her throat and gasping for air.
"Mom!" he shouted and kneeled down beside her. Bulma looked up at her son and tried to say something. All that Trunks could make out was "He…he t…to…". Then she passed out.
"Hang on, Mom. Please!" Trunks pleaded. I've got to get her to a hospital. She's all I've got left. I don't give a damn about what's going on; I am NOT going to lose my mother!
Cradling her in his arms, Trunks ran out the door towards the nearest hospital.