He felt weak and pathetic.

All of his training was for naught. He'd gotten strong enough to destroy them, but it had been for nothing. The Androids came back and nearly killed him; it was actually a miracle Trunks survived. Now, he was stuck, unsure of what to do. The Androids were back, stronger than ever, and once again, Trunks stood no chance against them. His heart was heavy with disappointment, his mind constantly replaying the fight, a nightmare all over once more.

Trunks clenched his fist in anger. He had to stop them. He had to. He didn't change time for nothing. He didn't spend two years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for nothing. All his efforts to save the world, successful in the end as he was and yet, it meant nothing. Hasn't everyone suffer enough during the first reign of terror? Now they have to suffer again? How many lives would be lost before Trunks finally stopped them again? Or would he fail again and allow the Androids free reign to wipe out the last of humanity? They were only just start to rebuild the world and start anew and now there was no point to it, unless he could stop them somehow, but he didn't know how.

A flash of immense power!

Trunks latched onto it and whatever it was, it was dark and evil and no doubt the Androids were involved. He floated up from his position on the roof of Capsule Corporation, pinpointing the energy signal and he was quickly not alone in the sky, Ocarin, 16 and Pan joining him. Earlier, upon learning of the senzu bean's properties, Ocarin had requested to eat it while Bulma was cleaning Trunks up and then he displayed his ownership of Dende's healing powers, restoring Trunks to full health. Afterwards, he'd gone to meditate to recover his stamina.

"What is that?" the young girl asked.

"Trouble," Ocarin stated and he glanced at Trunks. "The Androids?"

"Not sure, but I don't doubt they are involved," Trunks replied. "We have to stop them."

"Your power level has increased since your last confrontation," 16 observed. "However, I do not know if it will be enough against 17 and 18, given that I have not calculated their power yet."

"Well, that's comforting. Alright, Pan, you stay here."

"Why?" the child whined.

"Because it is too dangerous."

"Isn't that why you trained me? So I can help? I want to help."

"She has a point, but I can't risk it. I'll never forgive myself if anything bad happened to her," Trunks thought, memories of his training sessions with Gohan popping up. It had been different then, them two against the Androids. He had felt like such a liability to Gohan, unable to help and constantly needed saving and while that was not the case with Pan (heck, she was stronger than he was when he was her age), he would not risk her if he could help it. She was his only link to Gohan. "Pan, please, go home. We can handle it."

"I was fine against that stupid metal lizard," Pan said, stubbornly crossing her arms. "He was cheating by having copies of himself."

"This is different."

"I want to help. I'm not going anywhere except with you."

She was stubborn, that much is true. Definitely her mother's daughter and Trunks relented. "Fine. But you stay back and let us handle the fighting. Are we ready?" he asked the other two and both Ocarin and 16 nodded. "Let's go."

-X-

The Crack widened with each passing second and it was only a matter of time before Demigra could finally escape his prison and begin his revenge that he had spent countless millennia planning. He frowned suddenly and an energy ball flew in out of nowhere, aimed at the Crack. It exploded and Demigra growled, having stopped the blast in time. 17 and 18 stopped their energy transfer and they looked around, trying to locate the enemies and 17 went flying. Super Saiyan Trunks spun around in the same motion and kicked 18 in the face, as Demigra whirled and halted Ocarin's sneak attack.

"Who the hell are you?" the Namekian demanded.

"Never you mind that, mortal," Demigra said and he pushed his staff and flicked Ocarin away. "You are not even on my level."

17 blocked Trunks' fist and batted him aside and 16 wrapped his arms around the smaller Android and pinned him in place. 17 shouted and exerted his dark power and 16 was blasted away. 18 fired several blasts at Trunks and he tucked his body into a ball, undertaking the barrage. Seeing the assault on her mentor, Pan threw herself into the fray and hit 18 from behind with a kick.

"Another brat?" 18 sneered. "Fine. I have ways of dealing with you."

"You won't hurt him anymore," Pan cried with a look of fierce determination.

"You've got guts, kid, I'll give you that."

"Pan, no!" Trunks shouted and he tried to fly to her aid, but was struck by Demigra's Bloody Saucer.

"You are supposed to be dead," the Demon God snarled. "I guess I wasted my time with the Androids if they are incapable of doing a simple job. Now die!"

It quickly descended into chaos. Despite it being four on three, the strength of Demigra and the Android twins was too powerful. Trunks was battered by 17 and 18 as they took sadistic delight in pulverizing him and whenever Pan or 16 tried to help, they were easily smacked aside like they were nothing, the twins intent on tormenting the half-Saiyan. Trunks tried to fight back, but every move he made was countered and punished and when 17 struck Trunks with his Photon Blast, 18 followed suit with her High-Pressure Blast and Trunks was driven into the ground. Unable to sustain his Super Saiyan state from such a beating, Trunks dropped back to his regular state.

"Trunks!" Pan cried and overcome with fury, she cupped her hands to her side and blue energy gathered in her palms; her eyes flashed green and her hair gold. "Kamehame – HA!"

The brilliant blue energy rocketed from her hands and slammed into 18, who was caught by surprise by the familiar attack. Despite it, 18 exerted her own power and quickly dispersed the blast and she glared at Pan with annoyed anger. Before the child could react, 18 knocked the wind right out of her with a powerful kick and the little girl crash-landed in the dirt, out cold to the world.

"Pan, no!" Trunks cried, forcing himself onto his hands and knees, blood dripping from a cut on his forehead. He looked up and saw Ocarin get hammered by several energy blasts from Demigra. His unconscious form fell from the cloud of dust, as the twins turned their attention to 16.

"Gero's failed experiment," 17 sneered. "Wanna join us and actually become something?"

"I politely decline," 16 said, defiance in his eyes as Demigra hovered behind the twins in amusement. "You have caused too much destruction on this planet for me to join you. You two are a perversion of Gero's work and I will fight to my last breath to stop you."

"Aw, isn't he cute?" 18 laughed to her brother. "Was that speech programmed and did you make it up yourself?"

"Despite my programming, I have learnt to love this planet," 16 continued. "I love what it has to offer, I love the beauty of what it used to be and I am only a machine. I was able to do such a thing. I was able to ignore my programming. You gave in to yours, despite being cybernetically-enhanced humans. What does that say about you?"

17 had a thoughtful look on his face as if he was pondering 16's words and without warning, he fired his Photon Flash. It smashed into 16, rammed straight through his chest and 16's mouth dropped in shock. The energy exploded and the remains of the gentle Android trickled towards the ground.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Trunks mentally screamed. "Why must we suffer? What have we done to suffer? After everything I did to save everyone, change time and train harder than ever before, and I did it! And they still came back. It wasn't all for nothing! It can't be!"

He looked at Pan and Ocarin's unconscious forms and 16's burnt remains, fury pulsing through his blood. An aura flared up around him as he forced himself to his feet, his body fuelled by rage.

"Oh, look at this, 18," 17 chuckled. "Our boy wants some more. I never knew he enjoyed it so much."

"I will stop them! I will destroy them!"

The aura became gold and Trunks started screaming, overwhelmed with rage and despair. He was furious that all his efforts to save the world was for nothing and he couldn't stand by and let the Androids destroy everything he had worked so hard to protect. The wind kicked up dust, forcing Demigra and the twins to protect their faces as Trunks began to put out a huge amount of power at a phenomenal rate. The clouds rolled over fiercely as he let loose with his voice, screaming to the heavens. His hair flared up into his Super Saiyan state, power leaking from him as his aura flashed rapidly. Waves lashed at the cliffs' side violently as bio-electricity whipped up around Trunks.

"What the hell is he doing?" 18 wondered. "The earth is shaking! Is he…is he getting stronger?"

A final scream and the world went bright. When the light cleared, 17, 18 and Demigra all gasped. Trunks stood there, his golden aura a pulsating, jagged flame, illuminated with bio-electricity. His sharp hair stood completely straight with only a single thin bang over his face, upon which he had the look of a fierce, furious and determined warrior.

The calm before the storm. A Super Saiyan ascended beyond a regular Super Saiyan. The very same form that brought destruction down upon Perfect Cell in the past. Super Saiyan Two.

"Kill him!" Demigra snarled.

17 launched forth and landed a powerful roundhouse kick upon Trunks' head. If it had been a lesser person, their head would have gone flying; Trunks didn't even flinch. He calmly grabbed 17's leg and slammed him into the ground. Cracks ran wild from the impact, 17 gasped in agony and 18 flew in to help her brother – Trunks dropped her with a blow to her face, still with a look of calm fury. 18 groaned, her face hurting from the punch and she looked at her brother, who still hadn't moved. Trunks turned his attention to Demigra and calmly began walking towards him.

"You," he growled. "You were the one who brought the Androids back. I will make you pay. I will destroy you!"

The next thing Demigra knew, he was flying through the air and then straight towards the ground. He struck with such impact that dust flew high into the sky and jagged cracks appeared in the cliffs. Demigra snarled under his breath. This was not going to plan. Trunks was supposed to be dead! He turned and narrowly dodged Trunks' sword and realised too much that it was a trick: Trunks' palm was open beneath his sword arm and he released an almighty blast. Demigra was shocked by the sheer power and he realised that he had underestimated his opponent; his plans would have to wait, but that was fine: he was a patient man.

"This isn't over," Demigra huffed when the God Breaker ended, the orb in his staff cracked and losing power from the attack. "I'm sure we'll meet again, but for your sake, I hope we do not. The universe will be remade in my image and you can't stop me."

"Go back to wherever you came from," Trunks said, not interested in what he had to say. Instead, he hurled his sword at Demigra and it pierced the Demon God's chest. He gasped and the illusion was destroyed. Somewhere within the Crack of Time, the real Demigra howled in frustration. The Crack pulsed with dark energy and Trunks pulled his hands to the side, gathering his full power into his palms until it was finally ready. "Galick Gun!"

The massive beam of energy smashed into the Crack and overwhelmed it through sheer power. The Crack fizzed and popped, its dark energy evaporating under the pressure of the Galick Gun. Trunks unleashed the last of his attack and the Crack crumbled under his might, fading from sight until it was virtually gone. The dark energy gone from the world, 17 and 18 slowly gathered themselves together, now free of Demigra's influence.

Trunks watched them, the rage still burning through him, consuming his mind. He wanted nothing more than to see them suffer for their transgressions. He wanted to cause them as much as pain as possible to reflect the misery the Androids put humans through. His Saiyan pumped aggressively through his veins, begging to be let loose, humming with the need to destroy his opponents. His aura crackled with his violent thoughts, as 17 snarled. He wanted his own revenge for being killed and getting absorbed by the freak, Cell, while 18 hung back, unsure of what to do. She wanted to destroy Trunks, but she could tell the power he had in his hands was not something to trifle with. She knew he could easily kill her and she did not want to go back to Hell.

Cell was waiting.

"17, we need to leave," 18 whispered to her brother. "We need to go right now."

"I'm not a coward, 18. I don't run from a fight," 17 replied.

"If we don't leave, we're dead. Do you want to go back to Hell?"

17 grappled with the thought. He was not a coward, but he also did not want to die again. Before he could make a decision, Trunks moved. 17 gagged and dropped to his knees, the wind knocked out of him as 18 stared in horror. She hadn't even seen Trunks move; his speed was terrifying! He raised his hand to 17's face and 18 was rooted in place, horror-struck, as Trunks unleashed the God Breaker and obliterated her brother. There was not a single scrap of him left, nothing that showed he even existed and Trunks slowly turned his attention to her.

"Your turn."