*AN*

Q. thedarkpokemaster-well at least they all get at least some time with their loved ones and I have a feeling that they are going to need it after all with what is to come and it will be dark, but I may be wrong on that. And Pan was so sweet in this I know she will grow up to be a very good fighter, when she gets older that is.

A.I completely agree! It was kind of meant to be a final moment of reprieve for most of the characters, a calm before the storm. Without getting into too many details, the Buu Arc will be much darker, it's not say everything has been light hearted thus far, but the only major character deaths have been in the form of villians. That's very likely to change in this Arc.

Q. Engineer of Epicness- Good chapter. On my previous question: if Lazuli and Zangya fuse, it might prevent hell raiser 18 from combining with Lazuli. just a thought.

A,That's probably true. I doubt Hell fighter 18 would be able to join with her counterpart if she was fused already, but again I'm not really sure if Lazuli could successfully fuse with not only an alien, but with another being aside from hell fighter 18, with all of her cybernetic enhancements. If anyone has any other thoughts on the matter I'd love to hear your take.

"We'll be home before you know it..." Trunks said as he forced a smile as his mother threw her arms around him, before hugging him tightly. "Son you be careful and come home to us safely."

Trunks nodded. "You have my word mom. When we return we'll be ready for Babidi." he said as his gazed shifted to the blonde that stood next to Bulma.

He stepped forward, before curling his arms around her waist. He rested his hands upon the small of her back as he bent his head down as he rested his forehead against hers. "I'll be back soon Zuli. When all this mess is over... I promise you we'll make up for the lost time. We can be normal for a change"

The blonde's lips twitched ever so slightly as she brought a hand up to his cheek as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his in a very slow deliberate way. Her tongue wrestled with his for a few seconds, before she broke the gesture as she stared into his eyes. "Normal is over rated Big Guy...just do what you have to do and don't forget about a girl while you're away." she teased with a hint of a smirk.

Trunks chuckled. "Not a chance. "

A few seconds elapsed, before his smile slipped away as his expression became more serious.

"I'm counting on you all to train hard. Gather the dragonballs, but save them. I know that you want to make your wish so you can go out into public again and not have to stay hidden, but...we might need those wishes if things don't go the way we want."

The blonde nodded her head. "You have my word we'll gather the dragonablls and we won't waste any time." she said as she took his hands into hers, before squeezing for emphasis.

"Trunks it's time to go. He's here." Gohan said from a distance as he quietly watched the exchange.

Trunks let out a deep breath as he leaned forward once more stealing a final kiss from the blonde beauty, he gently squeezed her hands, before he pulled away. He nodded slightly at Zangya,Lapis, and Sixteen who stood off to the side aswell as offering a final smile to his mother, before he made his way over to Gohan.

"I'm ready.."

Gohan offered a faint smile. "Let's do this Trunks.." he said as he reached out and within a matter of seconds the pair vanished from sight.

The Supreme Kai of time let out a long dramatic sigh as she leaned against a table for support as she glanced at each of the timelines she was responsible for as a scowl appeared on her face. She felt incredibly weak after having visiting Trunks, it would be weeks, before she could use even some of her more simple abilites.

'Even as the Kai of Time...it's impossible for me to know the consequence of every single action. I only hope that my warning to Trunks doesn't upset the timeline in some way, there was no other alternative. He had to be warned.' she thought to herself, before she heard footsteps behind her.

She tilted her head, before a sad look appeared on her face. Before her stood a girl who looked to be perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old. She bore a battered and faded purple Capsule Corp jacket that was a few sizes too big for her, with a black tanktop underneath and matching form fitting pants. She had long blonde hair, most of which was pulled back into a ponytail saved two loose bangs that hung across her forehead. She had her father's intense dark blue eyes, but between her hair and her build she was definitely a spitting image of her mother. Surprisingly however a tail was wrapped around her midsection. Draped over her shoulder was a sword.

"I'm sorry for not letting you go Bulla. I know how important it was to you to meet your Father, that in your timeline you never got a chance to meet him, but you have to understand my reasoning."

The girl's intense gaze softened slightly. "I didn't expect you'd change your mind, I just wanted to meet him at least once, I remember Mom telling me so much about him. I can't believe she's gone too...I miss her so much" she said her voice lilting as she idly pressed her thumb and forefinger against the fabric of her jacket, as she tried to keep herself from losing control of her emotions. "Do you ever think it might be possible for me to meet him? for me to see both of them?"

The Kai stared at the girl a moment, before her features softened. "If the threat they face now can be stopped...I may need their help here at some point, If it's possible I'll help you meet them Bulla."

The blonde stopped fiddling with her jacket as she looked up at the Kai with a look of surprise. "are you serious ?"

"You have my word. Now why don't you find your Master? I believe she was looking for you earlier."

Bulla bowed her head as smile spread across her face. "Thank you Ma'am! I'll find Pan...it shouldn't be too hard." she mused as she raised two fingers to her head, before disappearing from sight.

Gohan picked up the Z-Sword from where he had left it not too long ago. It took some effort as he lifted the heavy sword up off the ground."So I guess I'll pick up from where I left off. Care to join me Trunks?"

"Sure why not. This Planet should make for a good training ground..." he mused as he stared at the Z-Sword. "Mind if I test your sword?"

Kibito scoffed. "Not just anyone can wield the Z-sword. Gohan is the hero of Legend who managed to do the impossible. With it's power Gohan will destroy these Majin should they escape. It would crush a lesser warrior."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "I'll take my chances if that's alright with you Gohan?"

The other half saiyan chuckled. "I have no problem with it, just mind the weight. It's heavier than it looks." he said as he gritted his teeth, before throwing the sword forward.

Trunk quickly sidestepped the blade and reached out with one hand catching the handle of the sword with ease. With a fluid motion he began to make several quick flourishes through the air, before finally tilting the blade to examine it all with just one hand.

"Impossible...The Z Sword wielded by another and he's wielding it like it weighs nothing." Kibito sputtered his eyes wide. The Supreme Kai stood not far away with his arms crossed though he too looked stunned.

Gohan blinked. "Wow Trunks I knew you were a bit stronger than me now, but the way you wield that sword. Isn't heavy for you..? It took me a couple of months as a super saiyan to get use to the weight in my base form. That's incredible."

Trunks shook his head slightly. "I was expecting it to be heavy, but to be honest it's as light as a feather." he mused.

Gohan grinned. "Well since you've become such a swordsman, why don't you put it to the test?"

Trunk's gaze left the sword as he looked at Gohan, before smirking. "Sure why not?" he mused as he closed his eyes momentairly, before he began to power up. A few seconds elapsed as his Aura quickly turned golden as his hair followed suite and his hair began to spike as tendrils of lightning coursed around his frame.

"I see you've gotten the hang of reaching that form quickly." Gohan observed.

"Yeah...I spent a good part of my trip to New Namek mastering my normal super saiyan state, Now I can power up much faster."

"Trunks if I may. I'd like to see for myself how well you handle that blade." The Supreme Kai said as he stepped forward, before holding out his hand. As he began to materialize a giant block of some sort of hard precious metal.

"Sure it's been a while since I held a sword, I'm ready to see for myself." Trunks responded.

"Whoa what in the world is that?" Gohan asked.

"It's Kachin..." Kibito remarked.

"Kachin?" Trunks questioned as he took the sword into both hands as he stared at the block of metal.

"Kachin is known as the hardest substance in the galaxy. This should be a true test for the Z sword." The Supreme Kai mused as he stared at Trunks.

"Trunks are you ready?"

"Yeah fire away..."

Without any further warning the Kai threw his hand forward causing the block of metal to sail forward towards Trunks. The Half-Saiyan's aura flared as he blinked forward past the block, before stopping several feet behind of the Supreme Kai. The sound of the metal colliding occured well after Trunks had already touched the ground once more.

A split second passed as the block in the air began to split into half, before splitting over and over again into smaller fractions.

'Incredible...I never saw his movements, but this boy is a master swordsman.' The Supreme Kai thought to himself, before he heard a nervous chuckle.

"Uh...guys I think we have a problem. " Trunks said while Gohan's eyes widened.

"Yeah...I think you're right Trunks."

Kibito sputtered in disbelief. "It's impossible..."

The Supreme Kai turned to see what the commotion was only to stare in horror. The Z-Sword in Trunk's hands was cracking and splintering as pieces began to fall off until finally after a few more seconds had elapsed the sword broke into two, with the top part falling onto the ground. Suddenly smoke began to bellow out of the sword. "N-no it's can't be! This can't be happening! The Z sword is suppose to be an unbreakable weapon how is this even possible?!"

A Month Later on Earth...

A lot had happened in the span of just a month. Bulma had upgraded Sixteen, Lapis, and Lazuli's cybernetics.

Surprisingly Lapis and Zangya had begun training together as the pair was closest in terms of power. Zangya for the first time in ages actually was serious about training, she alongside Lapis had been pushing her limits in the gravity chamber. With the woman actively trying to push her transformed state beyond it's previous limitations. While she held a slight advantage in powerlevel, Lapis' stamina usually served to balance the fight in the long run.

Lazuli with the help of Sixteen had collected each of the Dragonballs which now rested together on Kami's lookout as they awaited the time when they were needed.

Ocarin had been training by himself and had already made a single trip into the Time Chamber to which his strength had increased exponentially.

Lazuli had been true to her word as she had been training fiercely, however recently it seemed as if something was taking a toll on her. Growing frustrated and concerned she'd gone to ask for help from the only person she could think of...Bulma.

"What's wrong with me?" Lazuli asked as she sat on the edge of table in the midst of the scientist's lab. "I keep having these dizzy spells and this morning I woke up sick to my stomach. I can't even remember ever being sick." she admitted as she looked down at her own hands a look of worry evident on her face. "Could this be some sort of side effect to the new cybernetics you installed ?"

Bulma for her part was quiet as she regarded the other woman. "No the cybernetics shouldn't have any negative response like this, I'm not a medical doctor, but speaking from experience...this sounds like something else entirely." she mused as she stared at the other woman once more as if lost in thought.

"Well what is it? Your scaring me!" the blonde exclaimed.

Bulma rubbed the back of her head. "Well let me ask you this and I'm sorry for it being such a personal question, but do you still have your monthly period? And furthermore if you do...when is the last time you had it?"

The blonde's eyes widened as she realized what the other woman was suggesting. "It hasn't happened this month, but what you're suggesting...it's not possible. I can't be pregnant...can I? I never thought it was possible for me..." she breathed her voice catching as she slowly lowered her hand down to her belly. Whether it was her imagination or not she almost could feel the tiniest of buldges.

Bulma shook her head slowly. "I don't know dear...I just know what the signs are and you seem to be showing all of them." she said as she watched the blonde closely.

Lazuli's face was unreadable as she tilted her head to the side ever so slightly as she began to reach out with her senses as she searched for an energy signal. Her eyes widened as she felt a tiny source of energy that was rapidly growing coming from within her."I'm pregnant ?." she said in such a way that it almost sounded like a question.

"I'm Pregnant..."she repeated again as her voice caught as a couple of tears welled up in her icy blue eyes as a smile spread across her features, before she began to laugh. "Oh my god I'm going to have a baby. " she said even louder as she looked up at Bulma with such a look of wonder on her face.

Bulma for her part couldn't help, but bask in the other woman's excitement as she took a step forward, before squeezing the blonde's hand. "Are you alright hun?"

The beautiful blonde sniffed for a moment, before she nodded her head as tears fell from her eyes. "Y-yeah...I just never ..I never thought I had the option. I thought it was just one more thing Gero had robbed me of." she paused for a moment as her eyes widened as other thoughts began to cross her mind.

"Wait what will Trunks say? What if this isn't what he wants? and what am I going to do with those monsters arriving so soon? I want to fight, but I...I can't risk this baby. Oh my god what am I going to do?" she stammered as her emotions began to spiral out of control.

The Scientist couldn't help, but feel for the other woman as she took a step forward and curled her arms around the blonde, before slowly patting her back. "Sweetheart it's going to be ok. I know my son well enough to know that he'll love this baby, because I know how much he cares about you. We'll tell the others of your condition and we'll keep you safe. This is one fight you have to stay out of, but we're not alone anymore. The others should be able to handle things, and besides Gohan and Trunks should have their training completed and be ready when this Wizard shows up."

Lazuli slowly nodded her head. "I don't like the idea of sitting this out, but...I understand. I won't put this little one in danger." she said quietly as she lightly brushed her hand across her stomach again feeling the tiny lifeform growing within her.

"It's hard to believe that Trunks shattering the Z-sword was a blessing in disguise..." The Supreme Kai mused as he watched as Trunks and Gohan traded blows in the distance. What was incredible was the fact that their powers had soared to new heights. What none of the group had known was that a being known as the Elder Kai had been contained within the sword itself for many ages now.

Though the old man seemed hardly reliable at first, he had done the extraordinary. He possessed the ability to release a person's inner power and draw it to the surface. He had done this for both Gohan and Trunks. However the resulting powerups were different for both of the warriors. Gohan now had access to a far greater power than his Super Saiyan 2 state without even transforming, Trunks on the other hand had received a massive boost in power and was now capable of pushing himself into the Super Saiyan 3 state, however he was struggling to maintain the form for long.

Kibito stared into the distance. "Their power now is incredible, when Babidi arrives on Earth they will be ready."

"Ungrateful kids, wheres my thanks for all this hard work? I swear the youth of this age doesn't appeciate anything..."The old Kai remarked as he rubbed his back, before wincing.

The Supreme Kai shook his head vigourously. "Sir that's not true! We're all in debt to you, with their new found powers, we have more than a fighting chance."

The old man grumbled. "All I ask for is a single kiss from a beautiful girl and those two punks turned me down, I should have told them to hit the road.." he muttered as he sat down. "But I guess it's to be expected."

Gohan and Trunk's found themselves grappling one another as their powers soared higher. Gohan now held a decisive advantage over the other half-saiyan as he seemed to still be holding back.

"Reaching your limits yet Trunks? " Gohan asked with a grin.

Trunks panted lightly. "Not even close. I refuse to give in.."

"Trunks you should know I'm still holding back a fifth of my full strength."

Trunk's eyes widened as his pride took a hit. 'I knew Gohan gained more from the Elder Kai, but it's incredible...not only has he surpassed me, but with his new power he doesn't even have to transform. There must be someway I can push myself further. I refuse to accept that I can't catch Gohan.'

Trunks let out a cry as he tried to channel more energy only for his transformation to recede back to his base form as he collapsed forward onto the ground panting. 'This new power...it's incredible, but unlike with Gohan it's incredibly hard to maintain. ' he thought to himself as he tried to catch his breath. After a minute he tilted his head up to see Gohan extending a hand to him.

"Hey Bro take a few minutes to rest. Then we can get back to work.." he said before smilng.

Trunks nodded slightly as he took the other man's hand as he was helped to his feet.

"Wow you two have grown so strong, I'm really proud of both of you." A voice said from a few feet away.

Both of the half-saiyan's recognized the voice.

"Dad?"

"Goku?"

Sure enough the Saiyan stood there with his arms crossed and a large smile resting on his face. "That's me...I could feel your power growing from King Kai's place, and though I'm not allowed to leave otherworld...I figured I could come out here and help you both prepare. I don't think we've met at least in this timeline Trunks. It's nice to finally meet you." he said with a grin as looked at the lavender haired warrior.

From a distance the Kai's stared in surprise.

"Master how is possible for someone to come here like this? It's inconceivable.." Kibito sputtered.

"That's absurd. It's not like this world is a five star hotel that only Kai's have access to...there are many ways or reaching this place..." The Old Kai muttered.

"Well Son Goku has many surprises, but his presence here might actually help Trunks and Gohan prepare."

"You don't think he'll serve as a distraction for the pair?" Kibito asked.

"While I don't know Goku on a personal level from what I've heard from the Grand Kai and North Kai...he could be exactly what those two need." The Supreme Kai mused as he folded his arms behind his back.

Trunks bowed his head. "Goku you were an inspiration to me in the past timeline I visited. It's nice to meet you too."

Gohan smiled. "I get the sense you want a good fight as much as you want to help us Dad."

Goku rubbed under his nose with his index finger. "Maybe it is a bit of both, but your old man hasn't been just sitting around either. You could say I've learned some tricks too Gohan."

Trunks chuckled as he stepped away from Gohan. "Why don't you two fight? While I rest, I'd like to see what your both capable of for myself."

Gohan nodded as he turned to look at his father. "What do you say dad? do you want a handicap or can I go all out?"

Goku actually smirked. "I can tell your new power has gone to your head a bit Gohan. If you don't come at me with all your power, you'll be out cold in no time."

Gohan's expression became a bit more serious. 'Just how strong has dad become? when we sparred he always won, but just how much was he holding back? He's been in other world for over twenty years now, just how much more powerful could he be?' he wondered as he clenched his fists as his white aura expanded expontially as blue lightning coursed around his frame, though his hair and eyes remained their normal tint.

Goku tilted his head as he looked over at Trunks. "You'll want to watch me closely Trunks. I know this form is difficult to maintain at first, but eventually you'll find that it becomes easier and beyond that...I've still not reached the limits of this form." he exclaimed as he clenched his fists as his muscules tensed as his Aura and power began to skyrocket. Unlike with Trunks, Goku went directly into the form his eyebrows vanishing as his hair grew long. His voice grew deeper as he shifted into a fighting stance. "Well son let's see what you can do..."

Gohan tilted his head, before he vanished a split second passed, before he appeared in front of his Father with his fist pulled backwards. Goku raised his arm blocking Gohan's fist causing an explosion of energy that shook the entire planet. Suddenly without warning Goku brought his knee up and caught Gohan in the chin sending him flying up. Gohan gasped as he caught himself in the middle of the air only to turn barely managing to block one of Goku's fists with both of his arms.

Several minutes passed as the two warriors traded light blows. Each of Goku's attacks required Gohan to use both of his arms to block and he was having trouble keeping up with his father's movements. Goku on the other hand seemed to be having no trouble maintaining the form without overusing energy and it was unclear if the full blooded Saiyan was even at full power.

Trunks who watched from below looked on with amazement. 'Incredible. Unless I'm mistake Goku is a great deal stronger, it would seem that Super Saiyan 3 can be pushed much further than I expected. I know with Goku being dead his body can be pushed further, but still this is incredible.'

Both of the warriors landed back upon the ground again.

Gohan who was beginning to pant flipped backwards as he put his hands together. "Alright Dad try this...KAMEHAMEHA!" he roared as he thrusted his hands forward as a massive blue ki blast rocketed across the ground towards Goku. To Gohan's surprise Goku kept walking forward and didn't even try to block the incoming attack.

"Dad!" Gohan yelled as the blast seemingly hit the Saiyan head on.

As the smoke began to clear in front of Gohan a fist shot out suddenly catching Gohan in the stomach, before he fell to his knees. He coughed as he couldn't make his way back to his feet.

When the smoke completely cleared Goku was standing there without as much as a scratch on him.

"That was amazing.." Trunks remarked as he walked up to the pair.

Gohan finally regaining his breath couldn't help, but chuckle. "Dad you're something else. "

Goku allowed himself to revert back to his baseform, before his normal grin returned to his face as he held his hand out to Gohan. "You shouldn't have underestimated your old man, now come on. Once you and Trunks have caught your breath. Let's try that again...with both of you coming at me together. But before that...I have something important ask you both..."

Trunk's eyes widened at Goku's demeanor as Gohan took his father's hand as he made his way back to his feet. "Of course what is it dad?"

Goku's former grin returned. "Is there anything to eat here? I'm starving!"

Gohan and Trunks traded a look, before both of them cracked up in laughter.

"Hey guys! I'm serious...this isn't funny." Goku whined.

*AN* Hey guys! I spent a good deal of time trying to decide how long I wanted to spend on the three month sequence in terms of chapters. On one hand I don't want to have it drag on, but on the other hand there are some things that need to be shown. Most likely there will be two chapters to cover the final two months, before I jump into Babidi's arrival. I wonder if I caught anyone by surprise with Lazuli's discovery in this chapter xD I hope I wrote that scene alright, I was trying to capture a number of emotions all at once with Eighteen so hopefully it showed. I was happy to be able to bring Goku into the story in a meaningful way. I wanted to show as well the gap in power between someone who'd just attained SSJ3 versus someone who'd been training the form for years.

*Powerlevels*

I'm sure there is a lot of conflicting information on various sites that says otherwise, but since this is only suppose to be a comparison, please don't flame me too much about the powerlevels! Their not meant to be 100% accurate anyways I just want a tool people can reference to see how different characters in this fic compare to one another!

Trunks: Base Form: 25,000,000/Full Powered Super Saiyan: 1,250,000,000/Super Saiyan 2: 2,500,000,000/ Super Saiyan 3: 10,000,000,000

Gohan: Mystic:10%: 1,200,000,000/50%: 6,000,000,000/ Full Power: 12,000,000,000

Goku: Base Form: 50,000,000/Full Powered Super Saiyan: 2,500,000,000/Super Saiyan 2: 5,000,000,000/ Super Saiyan 3: 20,000,000,000

Lazuli: 50%:500,000,000/ 1,000,000,000 (After a month of training and new cybernetic upgrades)

Ocarin: 50%: 1,350,000,000/ 100%: 2,700,000,000

Zangya: Base Form: 350,000,000/ Transformed State: 650,000,000

Lapis: 50%: 300,000,000/ 100%: 600,000,000 (After a month of training and new cybernetic upgrades)

Android 16: 50 % 350,000,000/ 100% 700,000,000 (After new cybernetic upgrades)