Universe Saga Chapter 31: The Merger of the Two Worlds, a dragon ball z fanfic

OPENING THEME:

EPISODE 30:

THE MERGER OF THE TWO WORLDS: THE PROMISE OF TROUBLE TO COME

"Whoa, Dad was right. All you guys are in one place."

The new voice drew stares from all as they looked up at the stranger behind Bulma. She had stiffened upon recognising it but in seconds she was in tears as she leapt into the arms of the newcomer.

"Son?" Vegeta said, his voice thick with emotion, admiring the man before him. He greeted him with a hug as the others looked on in awe but soon their gasps transformed into smiles.

"You guys haven't changed one bit since I last saw you!"

"Aw, you don't mean that," Bulma said as she disguised a quick blush, "But you most certainly have."

"Whoa, he's dreamy!" Jika said, smitten with the guest.

However, he overheard her remark but his reaction was not to be expected. He was blushing a furious red as he gawked at the girl as though what she said had affected him more than it should have. He forced himself to look away and he finally realised something that he wasn't sure how he had missed it.

"Mom, are you...?"

She nodded and smiled as she rubbed her stomach, "You're going to be a big brother!"

"Huh?" Future Trunks asked in awe, "Big brother? Oh, wow! That's great but where's Dr. Ian?" He looked around the expanse of the compound.

"Huh! How do you know about him, I never told you about him," Bulma said.

"But I thought you two - what I mean is - well, you two were pretty close, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah, sorta. We dated a bit but then I married your father, Trunks."

"Huh? Trunks?" the younger Trunks asked, stupefied by the idea. He knew that the new guy seemed familiar in a lot of ways and he had found it odd how his parents were addressing him as son but now this? So did that mean that there was two of him?

The taller Trunks could not believe what he was hearing and his mouth opened in surprise, "You and Dad got married, like for real for real?"

"Yeah, bro, about a few weeks after your last hurrah. A big shocker to us all then too, trust me," Krillin said.

"Well, this explains a lot," he said, "You guys flirt with each other every time you meet up." His cheeks were hot red as he continued. "You even divorced the doctor for Dad. I guess there's no difference between our worlds after all. I mean Gohan's engaged to this girl named Videl and..."

"I'm Videl," she said meekly as she drew closer, "Gohan's wife. And you are?"

"My name is Trunks. I'm from the future," he said, "Or more like a future. And it's pretty cool that Krillin and 18 were married recently too."

"Trunks...from the future?" asked the younger Trunks, completely floored by this revelation and he could not understand why most of them were not at all surprised or confused by this.

"You mean you can get married in the after life?" Puar asked, popping up behind Yamcha.

"So that would explain why you're not freaking out on 18," Krillin realised and a smile crept on his face as he studied his wife by the pool.

"And Goten was born even though Chi-Chi only died last year," he said casually as he looked at the boy next to his younger self, "And I betcha we would probably be best friends, aren't we?"

"We sure are," Goten said excitedly but Trunks was too lost for words to respond.

"Freaky," Goku acknowledged, "It's like the two worlds are basically the same but how do dead people get babies?"

"Well, everything doesn't follow the same order but yeah, basically the worlds are dependent on each other and typically what happens here is reflected there and vice versa."

"What do you mean?" his mother asked.

"Well, it's like this. After Goku told me the coordinates to Planet Namek, it took us about 6 years to finally track it down with our bots out in space. We still had tons of repairs to do before we could actually venture out there ourselves. Through them we asked the Namekians to use Porunga to make some wishes. Gohan was the only one that came back, the rest of you guys felt like you were dead for too long to even be bothered. Would've totally used the time machine to tell you guys all this but well, time travel's strictly forbidden and besides, we destroyed it. Mom and I were more than satisfied having achieved a second chance at life on either side, anyways. After a while Mom met up with the doctor and got married and Gohan and Videl hit it off. Seems a bit familiar, doesn't it?"

"Time machine?" asked the younger Trunks in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, and about the baby part? Especially since some of them might not even have bodies to begin with," Goku said.

"It's the after life," Future Trunks answered, laughing nervously, "Dunno much 'bout that part to be honest. It's a whole new universe, trust me on that."

"It sure is! Been there seven straight years. It's massive and now that I think about it, way too many people with bodies were there too, hmmm!" Goku said, "Maybe I'll ask King Kai next time I see him about this."

"Hey, why not come and relax with us," Bulma said warmly as she motioned him to take a seat.

"Or with me," Jika said coyly much to Goten's jealousy.

The older Trunks blushed once more thus prompting quizzical expressions.

"Why you're blushing?" Oolong asked.

"Well, uh, well," he started, "Jika was my first kiss and it's just weird to see her so young again."

The younger Trunks was quick to clear the air as the others turned to face him and Jika, "Please, as if! Besides, everyone knows Mai was my first kiss, right Goten?"

"Yeah, Trunks. Maybe it's time people know that she was never really your girlfriend."

"What do you mean?" Trunks said, "She's totally my girlfriend. You're just jealous because I had a girlfriend before you did."

Turning away from the scene, Future Trunks laughed nervously, "I don't intend to stay long, honest."

"So, I guess that means you're here to tell us we're all going to get wiped out or something like that, right? I mean, you do have a reputation to uphold," Krillin said jokingly although he was shaking despite himself.

"Well," he started.

"Oh boy, I was joking, sort of," Krillin said.

"Me too," Future Trunks said with a warm smile much to Krillin's relief, "Well, at least I hope so. I don't really know the details but Dad did promise that I would be in the know when I show you."

"Show us what?" asked Vegeta.

"Look here, Goku," Future Trunks continued as he fumbled within his coat's pocket. He revealed a dragon ball seconds later. All were in awe of the orb. It was the four star ball and it was badly damaged. "I was sent to give you this. I've been told it means a lot to you."

Grabbing hold of the orb, Goku stared on in amazement as he inspected every inch of it. Without warning, he used instant transmission and seconds later he returned with another broken four star ball in the other hand. It was the one he received from Mela.

Future Trunks was astonished by the rare sight. How could there be two broken four-star balls?

"Who gave this to you?" Goku asked.

"Well, you did," Trunks said.

"Me?" Goku said. In his perplexed state, the balls tilted over to the other and ultimately collided. In response, bright light ensued and overwhelmed the onlookers. As the light dissipated, the aftermath left everyone with more questions than answers. Before them, where there was once two broken balls now was one wholesome ball.

"Whoa, I guess this was what he meant - a merger between our worlds to fix the cracks of time," the older Trunks exclaimed, "I don't really get it myself but that's what he told me."

"Wow, whoever it was that sent you must be all-knowing and super-important to be spreading out info like that," Krillin said.

"Well, he is," the older Trunks answered.

"Well, who he is?" asked Bulma.

"Dad."

Vegeta looked up at the man in awe. He did not fully grasp that his son from the future was a reality before his very eyes once more far less than to believe that it was he who sent him in the first place. And with news about merging dragonballs together? That was especially shocking.

"Well, don't look at me," Vegeta snapped upon realising the intense stares on him.

"Yeah, Dad's the Master of Life and Death. Not too sure about the details 'cause well, the going-ons of the Other World are never meant to be known amongst the living so he doesn't say much about his role. But it's got to be something pretty big 'cause he can travel between the two with ease and he even managed to slip me over here in this timeline without worry."

"Whoa!" everyone remarked together.

"He even remembers the events as clear as day of the other timelines. Right now, the only remaining timelines is this one and mine. The others were destroyed and those events came to us like a rush of knowledge. We all experienced this but it comes and go like a distant memory now, like a forgotten dream. I'm sure you guys probably experienced something similar too without realising it. Clearly, he's been seeing what has been going on in this world because he knew that all of you were together right here and now. Due to the cracks of the timelines, the enemies are attracted to the Earth. In fact, he gave me a name of enemies that might mean something to you guys - Majin Buu, Beerus the Destroyer, Golden Frieza. We share these enemies in common."

"And you're still alive!" Goku asked, bewildered by the thought.

"Yeah, well...it was the fat Majin Buu that was the one to destroy the four star ball a few months ago. So we didn't get to see the other transformations of Buu like you guys did."

"What do you mean by we?" asked Goku.

"Well, there's no way that Gohan and I could take on these guys on our own. So Dad, deciding to use the final wish, asked that his privilege can be extended to the others and whenever we're in trouble, you guys pay a visit and fight alongside us. This is important because we can't afford to lose the Earth or your world is in definite trouble and enemies would be popping out of nowhere without cease."

"But how comes that they are so attracted to the Earth in the first place?" asked Videl.

"Well, simple. The cracks of time were made right here on Earth."

"What do you mean by cracks of time, son?" Vegeta asked.

"Well, as Dad put it - I mean, er, you - I mean, well, Dad, well - the thing is, just like the time machine there are means of dividing a shift in time itself and thus creating timelines. For example, I created I believe four timelines because of my time travelling but there have been others. That is the reason why time laws are the strictest because there can only be so many timelines occurring at once. Somehow, here on this planet, the final jump through time was made that forged major cracks in time."

He studied the four star ball in Goku's hands and continued, "I am beginning to think that the two balls colliding like this was what my Dad was after. I suppose when the worlds merge in the same way, the cracks will be healed."

"So, stupid question," Krillin said, "Is this time crack thing really such a bad thing? We could just plain old wish for the enemies not to come in the first place!"

"No. Dad made it pretty clear that not even the dragonballs can stop this."

"Wow! Well, then the odds are still in our favour! I mean come on, we've got Goku and Vegeta, the strongest guys in the entire universe by now. And we can hold our own pretty well, so bring on the baddies - it's not like we're not going to defeat them like we have time and time again, right?"

"I pointed out the same argument to my father but he was adamant that we at least try this merger, if possible," Future Trunks explained. He thought a while before drawing closer to his younger self, "Hmm, I wonder."

"Wonder what exactly?" the younger Trunks asked, the fear evident in his voice.

Extending a proffered hand, Future Trunks eagerly anticipated the outcome. Understanding, the younger Trunks took hold of his hand and to everyone's dismay nothing happened.

"Whoa, thank goodness," the younger Trunks said, sighing with relief.

"I actually thought that might've worked," Goku said as he looked down at the wholesome four-star ball in his hands.

"I wouldn't have mind being a kid again, though," admitted Future Trunks, "It was worth a try. In the past when I held myself as a baby, the merge would not have happened but now with only two timelines left, there was a possibility or at least that was what I figured."

"This timeline business sure sounds complicated," Oolong said.

"Well, it doesn't have to be," Future Trunks said, "But for the sake of my coming here at least now we both will be searching for answers in the mean time."

"Can't you just use the dragonballs to fix this whole timeline crap," Oolong pointed out.

"As I said - the dragonballs aren't going to help us here. You see, the Namekian balls have been deemed unusable shortly after I made my wishes there. As for the Earth dragonballs, Dende wasn't wished back so no more dragonballs - he came over from Namek to restore ours but he died at the hands of Majin Buu. And also, Dad would have given us that idea already if it was sure to work so I highly doubt that they would help."

"Oh, I see," Oolong said.

"Are you guys forgetting about the super dragonballs?" Bulma said, "We could use the super radar to track 'em down and then..."

Future Trunks shook his head, "No, those dragonballs are serving a higher purpose even as we speak in your timeline. I suppose you will find out for yourselves sooner rather than later."

"Hm. Well, I'll be darned," Bulma muttered.

"So what are you going to do if neither of us ever find out who caused the time crack," Puar asked.

"Um, well," Future Trunks said as he scratched his head, "I dunno. Maybe like Krillin puts it - we will just have to look forward to more enemies. In either timeline, no one is a match for us, right?"

"Yeah," Krillin said, giving a thumbs up.

"Well, I have to be going now."

"So soon?" asked Bulma.

"Yeah, Mom - I told you, I was only going to stay for a short while," he said and kissed her on the cheek and the two exchanged rushed whispers. Bulma gave him one final hug, holding on as long and as tightly as she could but she was wearing a huge smile.

"Take care, son," Vegeta said and the two shook hands.

With a firm nod, Future Trunks suddenly disappeared much to everyone's astonishment.

"What did he tell you?" Vegeta asked.

"That we're grandparents! Isn't that exciting!" Bulma whispered as a proud smirk crept on Vegeta's face, "And you wouldn't believe who the mother is."

"Oh, so that must have been how he got here then, how freaky," Oolong said.

"Maybe he knows instant transmission or something," Goku said, trying to piece together the oddity, "But anyways, how are we supposed to push the worlds together? I mean we're strong but to move a whole planet! And isn't the other one already there, I mean...I'm confused. Well, either way I'm sure that this ball will come in handy somehow!"

Goku studied the four star ball with wonder.

END THEME:

PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE

Goku shudders as he crouches behind King Kai.

"Son Goku here! Looks like things are getting more intense the more we find out."

Gohan is in a panic.

"What is everybody so worked up about?"

Master Roshi's face is fully flushed as his movements become wilder and wilder.

"OK. Now I really want to know. So bad! I can hardly wait, but See you NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBALL SUPER: WITH BATED BREATH: THE QUEST FOR ANSWERS"

END CREDITS: Author/Creator of the DBZ series and characters: Akira Toriyama