It all happened so quickly.
Another of the warlocks who created Hirudegarn used divination, giving him the location of Minoshia. The Legs hadn't come to him, but the box had been opened, and his accomplice had seemingly perished. Poi hadn't succeeded in opening Tapion's box, so he casted a spell, following the signal, and appeared on the planet.
A few hours later, the box had been opened by the sheer pressure of Hirudegarn looking to become whole again, Tapion appeared out of the box and murdered Poi for freeing him, and disappeared into the desert, containing his own half and trying to consider his options on this foreign land.
Capsule Corp's dome exploded that same night, the box Tights had made had not been strong enough to contain the legs anymore and Minoshia wasn't able to contain them. The legs fleed east.
Minoshia and Tora went after them in their pajamas, with only their swords and Minoshia's Ocarina, Tora carrying the child against her chest so they could go faster.
The subsequent fight had Tapion extremely lost, first because this golden-haired fighter who was facing Hirudegarn without any hint of fear or hesitation was carrying his sword, all while he still had it at his hip, but also because Minoshia was alive and seemingly well.
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With the two Ocarinas playing, the monster stilled and Tora sliced it once more, Minoshia sealing it back into her body for the time being.
Tora whispered Tapion's name when dust settled, as the siblings more or less reunited, even if Tapion was cold and told Minoshia to stay away, lest they wake Hirudegarn again. As much hurt as Minoshia felt, now she was certain that indeed her brother was alive, she kept her duty in mind and obeyed.
"You, what have you done? Why do you have the Brave Sword as well?" Tapion pointed an accusatory finger at Tora, whom Minoshia had walked back to.
Minoshia tried apologizing for her brother's cold demeanor, but Tora just smiled, replacing the sword properly on her back. She knew Tapion was a cold and distant man, she remembered him as such, and he had only warmed up after a little while in her world. Boy did the hostility she felt bring back memories. He looked so young, too...
"Because I took your life, in another world," Tora briefly stated.
Tapion's shocked face was enough for him to question everything. And with everything that happened, his first reflex was to draw his sword, which prompted Tora to do the same after maneuvering Minoshia behind her.
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While Tapion held his weapon with one hand, Tora used two, due to their difference in height. They stared at each other for a moment, Minoshia's pleas to stop falling on deaf ears as they were soon crossing iron. It was a quick squirmish due to their energy levels being so different. Despite Tapion's far greater skills in swordsmanship, he was exhausted from the spell and Tora just overwhelmed the Konats with her greater strength and speed, promptly pushing the flat of her blade on Tapion's neck as he'd be thrown on his back.
"That other you said there was a legend about Time Scrolls," Tora explained, remembering what her mother had told her, trying to get the man she admired so much as a child to come to his senses.
".. You're a Time Patroller," Tapion couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, but it was his sword, no doubt about it, this was the only explanation.
That turn of sentence was enough for Tora to drop super Saiyan, release the hold, sheath her sword and offer a hand to help Tapion up. He took it, still baffled with everything that happened in a matter of hours.
"I do not know if what I am doing is patrolling, but I guess it is close enough."
"Hirudegarn is too dangerous. You should kill us both, while he is still locked within us." Tora recognized how down-to-earth and reserved Tapion was.
"Only as a last resort. With this planet's Guardian, we may have a solution to get rid of him for good, without killing you."
Tapion doubted, and eventually accepted Minoshia's proximity, now that their squirmish was over. There was something tender in how Tapion's gloved hand was on the back of Minoshia's head, and Tora saw in his face how he had actually missed his little sister, but couldn't express it with a stranger around. She had seen that look in his eyes, or rather in the Tapion she once knew. And in Vegeta's eyes too, oddly. She silently swore they would find peace, no matter what.
.
Tora briefly introduced herself, and explained that most people didn't know about the time travel situation and would appreciate that secret be kept. She and Minoshia explained about Hoi, who had appeared with Minoshia's box a couple of weeks or so prior, the Mafuba as being a potential solution to solve this. Minoshia added that Tora and some of her friends were much stronger than the monster, and they had damaged it when the monster was tangible. Perhaps they could brute-force themselves out of it, if they just overwhelmed the monster after forcing it into being physical, but the well-being of the planet could be compromised with such a display of force.
Tapion explained he killed Poi, the warlock that had clearly found his box, and fled before Hirudegarn broke from his control and harmed people in the town he appeared in, which was when the Legs found him.
"Mother had made a box in which Minoshia was able to sleep without the phantasm escaping, but the legs broke it when you appeared. She will repair it so you can have at least some rest."
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It wasn't long before Gohan showed up. The fight and ki spikes had woken him, and Goten and Trunks (who was having a sleepover at the Sons) up, and he rushed, but the fight was over quickly.
Tora crossed her arms over her chest, letting her hands rest just under her shoulders. After all, she came out of Capsule Corp with her pajamas and the skin tight tank top underneath. As she felt his energy approach, Tapion raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of demeanor.
"What is it?"
"Nothing you need to worry about. Gohan-san is on his way. He knows who I am, and he knows about you."
"Tora-san! Minoshia!" the Great Saiyaman landed, and seeing the fight was over, he removed the outfit to show himself as Gohan in a tee and shorts.
"Gohan-san," Tora smiled, and couldn't react in time when Gohan jumped her, hugging her close. She couldn't even uncross her arms, he had wrapped his around her too quickly, and she breathed in the warm scent of a recently awoken Gohan, appreciating it.
"You're alright, I'm glad." Gohan squeezed close, and noticed the absence of Tora's usual 'armor'. After all, his friend had been pulled out of bed, judging from the pajamas and the messy hair. "Goten and Trunks are worried, the sudden ki surge woke us all up."
Eventually Gohan released Tora, realizing he might have been a little overboard, but Tora blushed, happy about being cared about.
"You must be Tapion, I'm sorry. I'm Son Gohan." Gohan extended a hand, and Tapion took it, intrigued by this energetic young man.
"Go home, Gohan-san, and reassure them before they come," Tora advised. "I will take them to Capsule Corp, inform the Briefs of everything, get changed and go to the Lookout at sunrise."
"Ok. Good plan. Will meet you there?"
"Of course."
"Good night, Gohan!" Minoshia wished with a bright smile.
They flew slowly back towards Capsule Corp, where Bulma was assessing the damage and Tights was especially annoyed at her attempts at calling Tora, as she had left her phone in the debris.
On the way, Minoshia and Tapion communicated in their language, and Tora flew a little further ahead to give them privacy. Eventually, Tapion caught up to talk to Tora.
"Mino says you have been a good big sister to her. What do you do for gratitude on this planet?"
Tora almost dropped dead hearing those words, the shock promptly wearing off before stopping dead on her tracks. Minoshia caught up.
"You must not tell anyone in this world I am a girl," she glanced at one and the other, arms crossed. "Only my mother knows."
"Uh?"
"That is a strange request, Tora," Tapion noted, curious.
".. It's.. Look. It's a complex issue due to my time travel situation. Everyone here knows me as male and I wish for that to remain the case."
".. Oh, sure."
Minoshia wasn't that fazed, she thought she was wrong about Tora's gender when everyone kept using male pronouns once she had been granted the ability to speak and understand the language, but Tapion had just confirmed it was indeed a girl.
"And I don't need gratitude, it's my version of 'duty'," Tora relaxed and gave them both a warm smile.
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When they arrived in West City and prepared to land on Capsule Corp through the hole the Legs left, they had to be careful not to attract attention.
"Ah there you are!" Tights hugged her daughter close, then took her shawl out of her shoulders to put it on her daughter's, realizing she had left without the binder. Tora took it after removing her sword.
"You must be Tapion," Bulma noted.
"Oh Kami, Tapion," Tights hugged him, tears in her eyes, then removed herself, apologizing for the outburst. Tapion was not able to react in time, the surprise taking him as this woman clearly knew him, but he had no idea who she was.
"Where's Father?"
"Asleep, he grumbled something about 'the brat will solve this, now shut your mouth, woman'," Bulma repeated, pulling a face, and Minoshia and Tora chuckled, both appreciating Bulma's humor at Vegeta's expense.
"Tora, dear, go change, I'll take over," Tights noticed how uncomfortable she was, and Tora took the offered exit quickly.
By the time Tora came back, fully dressed, Bulma and Tights explained they'd repair the box and make a second one so they could sleep, but in the meantime, as per the other Tapion had said, they should abstain. Tights showed Tapion the couple of pictures she had of him with a younger version of Tora, apologizing for the familiarity, but they had been quite friendly back then before...
The two knights didn't mind skipping on sleep, they could stay awake for a while without it being a bother, the only issue being that without proper rest, their magic wouldn't be as efficient. Minoshia got changed as well and Tapion opted to just clean up, giving the remains of his own box to the engineers when they asked about it. The seal and music mechanism were broken, but the extra materials could come in handy.
Food eventually won them over while the engineers pulled an all nighter to repair the damage, refusing Tora's physical help; Bulma had grown to rely on robots for heavy lifting.
At the kitchen table, Vegeta eventually showed up, took one glance at Tapion, squinted his eyes, and grumbled something about being invaded by children. Tora just served him coffee and he sat without a hitch.
"Father, this is Tapion, Minoshia's older brother. It is him whom I met. Vegeta-san is this world's version of my father. In my world, he died when I was an infant."
"Pleasure meeting you," Tapion bowed his head, and Vegeta just tssked and drank his coffee quietly.
Minoshia chuckled in her drink, gave a look to her brother and said something quietly in her language.
"I will show you 'a little' evil, runt," Vegeta growled a threat, making Minoshia yelp. Not that she forgot he could understand her, but that he heard her whisper.
"You understand Konats," Tapion observed.
"You understand Earthling," Vegeta bit back. "Now be quiet."
Tora kept an eye on the exchanges but overall trusted their calm body language and ki. She prepared an extra pot of coffee and gave it to Minoshia to carry to Bulma and Tights.
Tapion ate his share quietly. Despite Minoshia's proximity, the spell to lock Hirudegarn was fresh and the monster was in slumber, but that wouldn't last for long. He was worried about what to do next, precisely, but Tora had mentioned she had taken his life in another world, and that this planet's Guardian had perhaps a solution. And clearly, Tora wasn't a time patroller, at least not the ones of the myths told on his planet, oh so long ago. Time patrollers did not linger, and their identities were often forgotten when they intervened.
Tora noted how Minoshia looked much happier now Tapion was there, but she was also worried about her duty as Hirudegarn's jailor and how long it could last, now they were both awake and on the same planet.
"Your mother is a cunning vixen," Vegeta grumbled and stole a piece of food from Tora's plate.
"I made you a promise concerning insults towards her," Tora's eyes narrowed dangerously, before she focused back on her coffee.
Tapion and Minoshia witnessed the banter with a certain interest.
"Truths aren't insults, brat," Vegeta hissed.
"Semantics. Last warning. But I admit, she probably had this in mind when she chose this era," Tora admitted, listening to the message and not the words.
"You won't play that stupid flute on me again," Vegeta addressed the other two with cold eyes and a healthy dose of intimidation.
"No, we won't," Minoshia confirmed, flinching at the sudden attention from the older man, and Tapion put a hand on her arm to reassure her, keeping an eye on this aggressive man that just threatened two people.
"Good. Make that thing appear at some point, I want to fight it again."
"You want to fight Hirudegarn?" Tapion couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes. It's a good challenge, even if it's a cowardly thing. If it's complete, does it keep turning into smoke?"
"Father, you can't be serious," Tora frowned. "It would be best if we learnt from last time."
Vegeta grumbled, he knew his heir was more or less scolding him about Cell, but his itch still needed scratching.
"No. We're not letting it reach its full complete state. If you want a challenge, I will fight you again, and if I am not giving you satisfaction, I will talk to Gohan-san to fight you together."
Vegeta half-listened, he loathed it all, finished his coffee and left without sparing any of the other three a glance. He soon locked himself in the Gravity Room.
"I'm sorry, Father is a little.."
"A little evil," Minoshia confirmed.
"He's a proud warrior," Tapion observed, somewhat understanding, but still baffled that someone who knew about Hirudegarn would actually want to fight it.
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They wasted a couple of hours in the music room and eventually coerced Bulma and Tights into accepting their help before the sun began to rise. Trunks was and was happy to help his mother as well, and ask a ton of questions about this new person whose power he felt during the night, which was why he rushed home so early. Tapion humored the strange boy and promised to chat and play more after they had gone to the Guardian, and Bulma added that there would be no stories if he didn't behave.
On their way to the Lookout, Tora asked about the myths of the time patrollers, as she had never heard anything like that from her version of Tapion.
"They're myths about certain powerful individuals, hunting down ungodly monsters, far more powerful than Hirudegarn even."
"There are more fearsome monsters out there?" Minoshia wasn't happy about that.
"The Time Patrollers are in charge of protecting the fabric of reality itself, they intervene with Time Scrolls to strike at these monsters with the powers of Light and Darkness gifted to them by even higher gods."
"That doesn't sound like me," Tora had to admit.
"Not exactly, but you did travel through time to fight a menace," Tapion had to admit the warrior had proof about her outlandish claims, after all he had just seen himself in a picture with a child version of this strange girl.
"They're myths and stories, I guess. My travels were made possible thanks to Mother's science."
"Yes, your situation is different. Time Patrollers, whenever they intervene, are forgotten the moment they are gone, as reality goes back to normal once they have accomplished their mission."
"Mhh.. divine intervention, and then everything goes back to normal, as if it never happened to begin with?"
"That is what the legends say."
"Sometimes they aren't forgotten and leave an impression," Minoshia added.
"They are mortal agents wielding the powers of the gods, so they can make mistakes," Tapion shrugged.
On the Lookout, the three were welcomed by Piccolo, Dende and Gohan, who seemingly hadn't gone back to sleep. Introductions were brief and to the point.
"Can you sense ki?" Piccolo asked the two Konats.
"Sense ki?" Minoshia repeated.
"It's a technique most fighters on this planet are able to master; we can sense the life energy of people and from that, have a pretty good guess on whether we are stronger than them." Tora explained.
"We can also control it ourselves!" Gohan added, and demonstrated by raising his ki, which had the Namekians and Tora pay attention.
Tapion observed, but shook his head no.
"I can tell you are ready to enter combat by how you tense your muscles and how your eyes focus, but I cannot 'sense energy'."
"I can't either."
"Then we don't know if Hirudegarn can be sensed."
"When it was complete in my world, I could sense something when it attacked. Gohan-san, too."
"Gohan is also a time traveler?" Tapion asked, intrigued.
"No, I mean my world's version of him."
This had Minoshia asking further questions, eventually they put aside the Hirudegarn situation so Tora could explain clearly and explicitly a little more about her existence and properly ciment their trust; she had learnt that keeping information from allies had backfired previously, so while not eager to open up that much, she had to bite the bullet.
"This world and mine diverged about fifteen years ago. A lot happened, but Mother is actually a 'more mature' version of Bulma-san."
"No wonder they look so similar," Minoshia realized.
"And this world has a version of me that was born earlier than I was. That would be Trunks."
"The little boy from this morning?" Tapion asked.
"That would be him." Tora glanced, giving a pressing and serious look about the secret he and his sister knew about her. "I requested to be called 'Tora', my nickname, and my Mother used 'Tights' instead of her real name, in order to preserve Trunks' upbringing and identity. It's for the best, for now."
"Oh I get it!" Minoshia nodded and winked as an accomplice, and Tapion gave a slighter, more stern nod, understanding the earlier request, as well as the reason why Tora 'was known as male in this world', as she had explained.
They went back to the issue at hand, and Piccolo gave Gohan and Tora a seal each; it was better to prepare two pots, in case one broke.
"From what Minoshia and Tora have told us, it's only a matter of time before Hirudegarn breaks free, right?" Piccolo asked.
Tapion confirmed, and gave a basic rundown of Hirudegarn and how the giant, skull-like monster worked and what the sealing Ocarinas and sword did.
Piccolo was quick to take charge of the plan he devised with Dende, and explain it to the two half-Saiyans and the two aliens.
"Tora, you still know the Mafuba?"
"Yes. It has only been a few months for me."
"My raw energy won't be enough, so you will have to do it."
"Understood."
"Gohan, with Vegeta and I, you'll make sure it doesn't attack Tora, nor these two as they use the techniques."
"Got it."
"You will also need someone to hold the pot and close the seal, which is why I gave you two; we will see then."
"Goten and Trunks are pretty quick and attentive, they could do it," Gohan mused.
"From what Minoshia told us, and showed us, the flute's melody forces evil beings into being still and tangible, and someone cutting it with the sword allows you to absorb it back into your body. Right?"
"Right."
"Yes." Tapion confirmed as well.
"Dende thinks that if you play the melody to weaken and still the target, then the Mafuba will work, instead of sealing it within you, it would be inside these pots."
"Yes, it matches a story in the Namekian Book of Legends."
"When it was fully formed and was attacking, Gohan-san said he could feel its energy. I couldn't, because I wasn't good at sensing ki yet."
"I felt it when we fought the legs," Gohan confirmed. "Vegeta-san also felt it. It's not that strong, it's just not easy to fight."
"Only casting half the spell? It's a risky plan, but if it doesn't work, we can always seal the halves back into our bodies and do what's needed."
Tapion was hopeful, after all, the younger green person was this planet's guardian, and the older was wise and knowledgeable. Nevertheless, he didn't forget the deal; Tora could still take both their lives if it didn't work.
"I would rather not, but I will protect this world no matter what it takes," Tora promised.
"Good," Tapion appreciated the willingness.
"It will work, they fought the legs well," Minoshia was more hopeful about their lasting solution, and well, the prospect of dying wasn't exactly one she liked. Especially if Tora was a Time Patroller working with them to solve this problem…
.
With everyone aware of what was planned, they decided to force it out later that night, or perhaps the following day, so Minoshia and Tapion could rest in the music box before trying.
Gohan promptly left realizing he was late for school, excused himself and put on his Great Saiyaman outfit before going, the pot secured into his school bag.
Tora thanked Piccolo and Dende again for their help, Tapion and Minoshia following suit a little more formally (this was a god, after all!), and they went back to Capsule Corp.
The devil worked fast, but two angry, sleep-deprived, caffeine-fueled Bulmas worked faster. By the time the Konats and Tora were back, the bedroom-box and the dome were repaired, and even divided in halves so now they were two.
Minoshia was first offered to take a rest, and she took the opportunity to finish her night of sleep, alone. Tapion was offered a nice warm bath and a change of clothes, which he took gratefully after realizing that this was indeed a similar box to the one he and Minoshia had been locked in, and that indeed, it seemed to contain Minoshia just fine.
Trunks decided to skip school that day, something hadn't sat right with him ever since Tora and Tights moved in.
Later in the morning, he requested for his parents to talk about something important, and while Vegeta was reluctant, he still complied and sat at the kitchen table. He then went and fetched Tora out of her watching over the box in which Minoshia was sleeping, requesting her presence as well for something important he could not phrase out. Tora was reluctant as well, she wanted to be there in case something went wrong with Minoshia, but Tights recognized that serious look on this younger version of her child and nudged Tora to go.
.
"Out it with, boy," Vegeta had been patient enough, and had only lasted so long in the kitchen because there were snacks and his mate would absolutely make his life a living hell if he left.
Bulma was confused at why her son was acting so shy and cautious all of the sudden, he was leagues from the confident little boy she raised, and it intrigued her enough.
Tora was just concerned as to why she was even involved in this, and stayed put, ready to listen, Trunks' attitude also striking her as odd.
Trunks gulped, fidgetted, looked embarrassed, took a deep breath, and managed to blurt out.
"Mama, Papa, Uncle Tora, I know you've been hiding it from me."
Bulma got wide-eyed, then glanced at Tora, who felt a sense of panic take over her. Vegeta just stared blankly, not reacting that much about the boy having found out something.
"I knew it!" Trunks accused his mother and Tora. "With Goten, we figured it out! Mama, why didn't you tell me Uncle Tora was my father?"
Vegeta plain laughed out loud and Tora spat her apple juice and coughed loudly.
"What do you mean, Trunks?" Bulma asked, completely in shock, the information just not making any sense.
"We saw how genes work in school. Papa has black eyes, I shouldn't have blue eyes, but 'Uncle' Tora has eyes like mine," Trunks started his exposition while Tora cleaned herself with her handkerchief, mortified. Her request to not explain it absolutely backfired.
"That's not—"
"I saw the pictures of you two as a couple, with me as a baby, and Papa wasn't there. And I know Uncle Tora isn't seventeen, he's at least twenty-five, because he was already an adult when I was a baby."
Vegeta stole a piece of bread and laughed his way out of the kitchen, ignoring Bulma's request of him to stay, which she couldn't phrase properly, too focused on the absolute curveball that was thrown their way. Trunks tried keeping his hurt to himself at seeing the man he believed was his father just walk out like that.
"Trunks, it's far more complicated—"
"No it's not, it's simple, you did the nasty with Tora and I was born."
Tora coughed harder and Bulma tapped her back trying to help her spit it out while Trunks continued.
"I overheard you talk about how I was growing up and looking like Uncle Tora. And Tora held me, hugged me, and played with me, and I remember he took care of me when I was a baby, and there's pictures! And now, he does all 'father' things with school, too. He was there when I was a baby, but not Papa."
"Wait—"
"That's unfair to Papa, to let me think he's my Papa when he's not even my real father. Mama…" Trunks started tearing up, he had shot all of his bullets, his father didn't love him and now he understood why.
"Trunks, I'm not your Papa," Tora managed to blurt out, on the verge of tears due to the pain caused by acid juice going through the wrong holes. "Vegeta is your father, biological and all."
"But our eyes and hair—"
"Blue Brief genes are dominant, Trunks," Bulma tried to explain. "And Vegeta is a Saiyan, some of his genes are recessive."
"But why doesn't Papa love me then?"
"He does, he's just.." Tora tried finding the right words.
"Very bad at showing affection. But no, Trunks, don't doubt it, Tora's not your father, that's just not possible."
"It's completely impossible," Tora confirmed. "Look, Trunks, I.. I was sixteen when I first saw Mama."
"Sixteen year olds can have kids." Trunks grumped, disliking being contradicted on his hard, irrefutable evidence.
"They can, but I didn't. I was a virgin then," she continued, a little red-faced.
"Then?" Bulma raised an eyebrow, suddenly smelling juicy information.
"I will not talk about my intimate life with you, you, Mother and Father need to knock it off," Tora grumbled. "It's true we've kept secrets, because it's extremely complicated, and it's true I'm not seventeen. I'm on the edge of nineteen. Last time I saw you, you were one year old, but for me that was five months ago."
"Eh?"
"Tora is you, Trunks. He comes from the future. You look similar because he is you, but older."
"Eh?!"
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I had the discussion about Trunks/Tora/Vegeta foreshadowed for a little while I hope you like the pay-off!
By the way, Tapion knows Earthling because like most advanced alien forces out there, he, too, has "the languages chip" Vegeta has. Kinda rolling with the punches about how everyone speaks the same language in the DB World, despite some of them having other languages (Namekian exists, so.. eh?).
Minoshia didn't have it because she was too young. It doesn't really matter I hope you'll forgive me :D
Again, thank you for reading, please take a moment to write out whether you enjoyed it (or not!) ^^