.
CHAPTER 72
Rescue

The night had gotten darker as the full Earth shone brightly overhead, casting blue light and purple shadows upon the Tuffle planet. Growing cloud formations reflected the light of the red landscape below and cast the planet in an eerie ambient red glow.

The colors among destruction of the landscape were mesmerizing and chilling among the immense heat. The overarching threat of peril and destruction resonated among the thunderclaps of the atmosphere. The groaning of the landscape reverberated from horizon to horizon. Distant snaps and rumbles spoke to a premonition of its own planetary peril.

The setting was lost to Goku. As he popped in and out of different areas of the sky, he had no interest in any sight except the faces of his two sons. It took all of his power to try to locate ki signatures while dodging rocks and hot gasses.

The billowing clouds of heat and the crackle of lightning across the atmosphere added both turbulence and static to his senses. The free-floating rocks and increasing danger of the landscape was finding it hard for Goku to fully focus.

Goku had not been trained for this kind of concentration in a long time, and the stress of maintaining his focus added to his increasing anxiety about the unspoken time limit he had to find his sons. It was arduous and exhausting, and Goku found this search-and-rescue mission to be the biggest challenge that he had faced in a long, long time.

It took immense focus to do instant transmission safely and properly. Goku's teenage body had fortunately redeveloped a well of ki that could sustain the technique, but without sufficient time to recover between each jump, he was starting to feel a drain on his stamina as if he were running a marathon instead of doing multiple sprints. It was also impossible to speed up his task, as his vision was also obscured by the aerial obstructions.

Goku was starting to feel frustrated.

This all felt like a waste of time and effort. He started to notice how he kept repeating his searches by accident. It was getting harder to track what areas he had already covered, and the whole sky and landscape started to look the same to him in the shadows of the growing darkness. Since mostly everything that wasn't a floating lava platform was now up in the air, there were no landscapes that he could easily trace. His best anchor to help orient his search was the location where he sensed the kis of Vegeta, Pan, and Buu, along with Uub's corrupted Baby ki signature.

Goku felt how Uub was taken by Baby. He had strong feelings that were threatening to boil to the top, but his hands were tied, and he could do nothing about it. He was already behind on the Supreme Kai's plan. It was taking everything he had to collect himself and continue to search for his family. Gohan and Goten were his priorities and out here somewhere! He had no room in his mind for thoughts or distractions.

He checked high, and he checked low. He checked in between, and beside, and around, and under rocks. He transmitted himself so fast that he was everywhere at once and nowhere at the same time. And the whole time, the steam and smoke from the lava below billowed upward in its heat, and the condensation of the steam continued to thicken the air around him and complicate his breathing, since his lungs burned and ached for relief.

Fire dripped and dust rained down as Goku continued to search for kis and shout for his sons among the rending terrain. Land was floating in all directions as Goku felt his desperation rise. And as he continued to search in vain, a thought began to manifest in his head which he tried his best to quell, but found the tendril of thought snaking its way into his mind.

He started to wonder if he was too late.

From the high ground, he had seen that the spaceship and the crumbling town was resting on a massive set of land masses that also hovered over the lava sea. His purpose called to him, to save the people. But he resisted it. He knew he had that role to fulfill, but if he did move forward with the next part of Kibito's plan, it would mean Goku would be forced to abandon the first part of the plan, which was to find and rescue Gohan and Goten. He needed to find his sons!

He couldn't bring himself to think of the alternative. Yet, his chest ached at the first tendrils of thought that sons were both dead. And the pain in his chest threatened to suffocate him with the idea that Goku would have to abandon them even if they were still alive. No…

And then he sensed something. A weak ki signature. Goku's hairs stood up in his excitement.

It was deeply buried within a mountain of rocks. Its location made no sense to Goku, but he did not care. Goku parkoured upward among the floating rocks and boulders, bounding upward with a fever pitch of determination.

As he got closer to the signature, he confirmed what he was seeking - a faint, but prominent ki that was tangled deeply in one of the mountainscapes that floated above. Goku would recognize it anywhere. Elation flooded through him as he succumbed to joy and relief.

"Gohan!"

Goku focused on the ki, and instantly transmitted to the top of the floating, mountainous formation. At the top, he began to desperately blast the rock away. He roared and kicked at the rocks, before summoning more energy as Kai-oken x3 to blow away the land more quickly. He chipped away at layers upon layers of rocky rubble, which flew into the air and were caught in their telekinetic levitation again, hovering as a growing cloud of pebbles, debris and shards. The levitation made it easier for Goku to work his way through the rockpile as he dug down.

As Goku cleared the stone layer by layer, he felt the ki closer, until a final blast revealed his unconscious son who was trapped in a cavity, an air pocket under a boulder arch.

Gohan was truly lucky to be alive.

Goku pushed aside a boulder that Gohan's leg had been trapped under. As Goku pulled Gohan out, he saw his son was looking badly broken. His green coat was torn through, with lacerations across his whole body from both battle and rockslides. He had sand within his lesions and his whole left side was bloodied from a gash on his shoulder. His right leg had been partially crushed, and was bending in an odd direction. His whole body was swollen from the trauma of the mountainscape that had collapsed on him.

Gohan groaned as Goku lay him flat on the surface of the rocks, and his eyes opened slightly as he coughed blood, unable to speak. And then his eyes focused and turned to Goku, and his expression shifted to weakened surprise. He lethargically struggled to press his tongue against his teeth, "D..D..."

Goku smiled supportively and kept his hands on Gohan for a moment, feeling his form in his hands, and feeling grateful that he was alive. But then Goku remembered what this Gohan was like, and his lips turned down to a stern frown. This Tuffle was not his son. This was the man who had killed Piccolo and almost killed Pan.

But he could be saved; Goku would save him.

He knelt down with his open waterskin and poured a little of the tea in its cap. He poured the warm liquid into Gohan's mouth, which was received in a desperate thirst as Gohan raised his right hand up to grab Goku's left arm. Goku brought his left hand to his son's right shoulder to squeeze as he looked straight into Gohan's eyes.

"Gohan, I love you. You have a pure soul that was twisted against your will." Goku watched Gohan's eyes go wide as a shiver ran through his body, and he started to twitch. "And I know what happened with Pan." His expression turned stern, almost in anger before they softened. "And it was not your faul-! W-! WOAH!"

The touching moment was thrown off as the ground LURCHed under them, and rocks threatened to tumble and bury them again. Goku looked around at their location and recognized their danger. The image of Goten flashed in Goku's mind, and he felt a fresh wave of anxiety for both of his sons.

"Shoot, I gotta get you out of here." Goku looked down to Gohan, who started choking on his own breath as his hand dropped and his head rolled back with dazed eyes. As Gohan started to shake in spasms, Goku nodded to his son. "Time to get you to the ship."

Goku touched Gohan with his left hand and brought two fingers of his right hand to his forehead. Locating Bulma's ki, he instantly transmitted over to the space cruiser.

–––––––

Bulma was frustrated and as she clutched her clipboard, standing on a stool to be seen among the crowd of evacuees struggling to board the ship. She was directing foot traffic from within the round white reception area of the spaceship, barking orders while citizens organized into section assignments as they boarded.

Suddenly, a blur of two bodies popped out of the air in front of her face, blocking her vision, and shocking her to scream as she fell backward onto her bottom. "Aaahh!" She emitted a delayed scream as her brain realized in an aftershock.

Goku raised his left hand to wave, "Hi Bulma!"

Goku?! Bug-eyed, Bulma opened her mouth, incredulous.

Goku grinned, "Watch Gohan! I'll be back."

Bulma was agape as Goku blinked out.

He was gone before she was able to process who she was seeing. It all happened so quickly, that it would have been easy to doubt he was ever there, except for bloodied Gohan, who was in a fever dream while mangled, unconscious and trembling at her feet.

–––––––

It all felt like an ooze.

Vegeta's mind was thick with an oily mud. His head felt weighed down with a thick, sticky molasses that sludged over all the images of his dreams and his thoughts. Everything was dark and disconnected.

He tried to remember where he could be. He felt something on his wrist grab tight, and he breathed out, trying to focus on opening his eyes, but he couldn't remember where his sight was supposed to be.

Then SHWIP! His body was jerked upward and inward as he felt his body suck him into a cold wormhole of space.

The shock of it quickly shot Vegeta's eyes open by reflex alone. He saw himself looking down to the red melted rock that flowed in fiery rapids, and saw that his sight was swinging back and forth. He was dangling.

He struggled with slow success to move his eyes beside him. He saw Trunks also dangling. What… is this…

He couldn't speak. He couldn't lift his eyes. But he saw the lower part of a red tunic, blue pants and yellow shoes. He had no fucking idea who this was. He was wondering if perhaps this was just a fucked up dream. Fucking hell, it hurt, though. His whole body was sore. It sure didn't feel like a dream.

He felt the wrist around his own tighten painfully. He breathed out a sharp exhalation and tried to look at Trunks again. What is happening…

A cool, cold voice spoke. "If you die here today, nobody will question it."

What…?

The voice flowed like a stream of water. "For the sake of the universe and the Kais, I must abort your prophecy. It's nothing personal… yet."

Who the fuck is this? Vegeta swallowed, trying to get control of his voice, unable to turn his head up to see who was speaking. His head felt so heavy and full.

The voice became louder and booming with authority. "Today is the day your story will never be written."

Vegeta struggled as his body heated instinctually, realizing that he and Trunks were very much in clear and present danger. "Ggh…" Vegeta tried to speak, to move, to stop it. But the fucking sludge was everywhere, dragging him down.

Vegeta achingly got his fingers to move. His fingers twitched in his efforts as his body started responding to signals again. He started to feel his tongue flex again. He pursed his lips forward to speak. "W-www…wait." Vegeta whispered thickly and inaudibly over the surge of lava beneath them.

"Sorry."

Vegeta inhaled with a sharp fear as he tried to push his ki through his body. It wasn't flowing right. It felt like there was a dam between him and his energy control.

And then he saw the wrist that was holding Trunks let go.

His eyes followed in slow motion as a liquid horror pulsed through his veins, his ears ringing as he watched his unconscious son fall to the lava below. Trunks…! Trunks!

"Tr–!" Vegeta choked as his heart leapt, and blood burst through the floodgates of his heart, pumping adrenaline through his body as he started to fight the dam in his body, to try to summon the ki to fly, to catch him. Trunks!

And then as Vegeta's sheer willpower began to crack the gate and his energy was close to his grasp, the void sucked him back through space and time.

In that same moment, he was instantly in front of Bulma, who let out a scream and stumbled back in a state of shock upon seeing him and the one who held his wrist.

He was set down, and he collapsed under his weight, with his legs unable to regain their composure. While crumpled, he opened his mouth to choke out Trunks' name, "Tr-unks…" but the surprised yells and orders upon seeing him drowned out his desperate plea. He tried again, which he emitted as a quiet hitched rasp that was lost in the loud mayhem, "Trunks…"

Nobody heard him. He vaguely heard people calling for medical attention for Gohan in addition to himself. He summoned his strength to try to stand, gathering his energy to regain control of his body, and to push back the sludge. But as he pushed upon the ground to start to sit up, he felt a splash of liquid on him.

"Tru–" Vegeta's vision suddenly broke into a digital-like static as all communication to his nerves was disrupted. Suddenly everything stung as if he had poison run through his veins. His body heated in a fever as he gasped for air and struggled to remain conscious.

He pictured Trunks' face, and realized with shock that he was gone. Trunks was gone.

His gut reeled, and the tingling in his nerves became a quaking jerk as the burning liquid in his body reached his head. He saw his vision fail as everything went tarry and black.

Then the signals stopped to his head, and Vegeta collapsed in an unconscious heap again.

–––––––

He vaguely was aware of wind against his body as gravity seemed to cartwheel.

He opened his eyes and saw a night sky and a bright blue planet above him. And then it was lava above him. And back to sky. So strange. So… hot.

And then his senses awoke as he quickly realized he was all alone. He was falling. His head tried to make sense of it, and his body instinctively summoned his ki to try to balance himself in flight. But when he reached for his ki, it was gone.

Trunks had nothing left in the tank. He had given all of it. Now he was somewhere else, and it was like he was flying. It was all passing more quickly. It was getting hotter and louder. His eyes were so heavy. Alarm bells sounded in his mind, and he was just so tired.

JRRK! Trunks' left arm was suddenly caught in a strong wrist. The impact of the catch jerked Trunks' body against the weight of his arm and dislocated it with a KRK. Pain shot everywhere along Trunks' shoulder and side as his eyes flew open and he choked a surprised "Aughh!"

"Got ya!" Goku gleamed down at Trunks.

Trunks' eyes were wide and popping. His jaw practically fell down to his knees in shock. With teary eyes, Trunks forgot all about the pain as adrenaline flooded through him and he gaped incredulously at the teenager who floated above him, holding him up by his left arm. "G-G-Goku?!"

"Trunks?! How did you get here?!" Goku looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere.

Trunks could only choke out a sob, "Goku…" and brought his right hand up to grab Goku's arm as his legs dangled freely above the lava current. Emotions swirled in him, along with immense confusion. "You're alive…"

Goku smiled warmly down at him. "So are you, Trunks. Let's get you back."

Securing Trunks' arm in his tight grip, Goku brought his left hand to his forehead, and they vanished into the vortex of space and time. Trunks felt his body squash and stretch in the instant pressure and release of Goku's instantaneous travel.

They popped into existence above a crowd of people who were panicking in a mob as they entered a spaceship. They fell from right above Vegeta, who was being held by Bulma, and landed squarely on top of both of them. Bulma shrieked as she was crushed by both Goku and Trunks who tangled with her in a series of kicking legs, flailing arms, and confused shouts.

Goku rolled off of Bulma with Trunks, and as she stood up cursing, he quickly pushed himself up to his feet sharply. Hurriedly, Goku remembered to grab his waterskin. "Hey sorry, I'd stay but I need to find Goten, guys! Here take this!"

Trunks was trying to push himself up when he realized that Goku was really here. This was actually him. The cogs in his head started to turn as he felt more awake with excitement. If Goku was here, then he could help her. "Goku…!" Trunks started, "You need to help P-!"

SQQRT. A glob of grass-stinking water was roughly splashed onto Trunks' face and eyes, and went straight into Bulma's mouth. Bulma retched in shock and disgust, and then fell backward immediately as she hacked her way into unconsciousness, rolling right onto Vegeta.

As Goku popped out of existence, Trunks' black lightning began to flare as his hands wiped the liquid from his face. His body twitched and his forehead began to burn hot as he felt a firework of signals inside him.

Trunks teetered on the edge of consciousness as he remained sitting up, His vision blurred as he pushed through the strange feeling, taking long, labored breaths as he focused on the electric within him that had already freed his nerves of Baby's immediate influence. Staff was still everywhere around them, trying to pick his family up and carry them into the ship along with the horde of citizens who were trampling each other for safety within the vessel. He felt a sore ache in his left shoulder where it had been dislocated, and groaned as he tenderly tried to find where to push it back. He tried to gather his ki to shove it with his own strength, but his reserve was still completely dry.

The pain of his dislocated left shoulder triggered a new wave of nausea that layered with the lurch in his stomach. The quake in his gut convulsed and pushed at the Baby egg within him. He distantly sensed himself resisting some arms trying to grab him as he tried to stand up, but his exhausted body fell back down under the weight of gravity. Despite his fatigue, he fought against his shaky legs, pushing himself up from sheer willpower alone, because he suddenly had an urgent biological need. And in a daze, he broke free of the hands and shouts that were around him as he stood. He then stumbled into a run toward the nearest bathroom.

–––––––

–––––––

–9/28/23–