Chapter 21: Onwards to the Final Battle
After Gotenks and Redjic's titanic battle on the highest summit on New Namek, for sixty-five days Trunks, Goten and Pan trained tirelessly under the watchful eyes of their unlikely new master, Redjic.
"Huff… Huff…."
"D-Damn. I've tasted the harsh environment of the Room of Spirit and Time and been through some grueling training with my father and brother before, but t-this is something else," said Goten.
"C-Could you two put some clothes on, please? Redjic beat you two so hard, you're practically wearing loincloths!" said Pan in embarrassment, albeit in a significantly calmer tone than the kind of anxious, unassured tone she took two months ago due to confidence in her growing power.
"I am impressed with you three's progress so far," said Redjic, "the reason why I stopped training on my own was not merely to try and ensure I won a rematch with you three or Piccolo, but to find a way to break these new limits imposed on me now that I'd begun to truly test my supposedly 'infinite' potential… And I'd say, at this stage in the game your powers are progressing faster than mine. The bottomless potential of a Saiyan-Earthling hybrid is truly inscrutable."
"Y-Yeah, but we're still barely at a level where we can survive against like a third of your full power, fighting three-on-one! W-We're not satisfied yet!" said Trunks as he attempted to turn Super Saiyan once more despite his utter exhaustion, which only had the effect of causing him to fall over on the ground, still transformed but unable to move a muscle.
"Over-exhaustion can lead to worse results than a healthy amount of training with sufficient rest," said Redjic, "Pan still has a tiny bit of power in reserve, so she should give her Ki to Goten and allow him to teleport you all to Muri's place to relax for the night. Even though his powers may restore your physical stamina and heal injuries, such continuous, arduous training without mental rest can leave trauma on the soul, which saps courage and self-confidence. After he heals you three, you must rest for the night."
"Y-You've never been so merciful with our training so far, Redjic. What's changed?" said Goten, "You're starting to sound like my dad, almost!"
"Hmph. That isn't any of your business. As I said before, I do not consider us allies. Training you is just a new venue I'm testing to push myself past current limits," said Redjic sullenly as he turned his back on Goten, hiding a tiny, friendly smirk from his "student."
"He may not admit it, but I think we've grown on him these past couple of months," thought Trunks, "deep down Redjic wants new friendships and new camaraderie to heal the wounds in his soul. He's lonely and traumatized, just like my father was before he met Mom."
"U-Uncle Goten, I'm giving you the rest of my Ki, I think I've progressed enough as a Super Saiyan that I can still stay transformed even when I'm pooped!"
"Just don't overdo it. Like Redjic said, overtraining is worse than taking it easy. Over-exhaustion just hampers your progress."
"Kay!"
Pan funneled most of her Ki to Goten and the three teleported to Muri's village, where they were promptly healed and then proceeded to engage in a mixed bathing session.
"T-Trunks! Uncle Goten! I-I'm gonna wear a one piece swimsuit, you two better not get a peek in!"
"Don't flatter yourself. You're easily twelve years too young to be my type," said Trunks, "only thing I admire about you is that you're more eager to train than when I was your age, your potential's all I actually respect."
"You should really act your age around her too, Trunks-kun. Kids like her like attention, and with all that's happened, you really can't blame her for being hurt and lonely. We have the night to relax to ourselves and soothe our wounds of the soul, keep the arguments to a bare minimum, alright?"
"Alright, alright… I swear, you followed me around like a lapdog when we were young, but somehow you've mellowed out and act like my older brother now, Goten."
"Hey, I don't just go on dates for a good time, I've been thinking about being a family man for quite a while now! And once Baby's defeated, we'll probably not meet each other that much… But that isn't the end, it's like a new beginning! Like getting the pen and paper to write the next chapter of our lives! I'm thinking about opening a school to teach Ki-imbued Kenjutsu!"
"Oh? Is that why you did so much mental training with my future self when we were headed for Planet Reito? To pick up his sword-moves?"
"Pretty much. It honestly hurts me as much as it must have hurt you that he's gone… But our circumstances, though not ideal, really aren't the absolute worst! The Ultimate Dragon Ball we found before we came to this planet, is still in our possession! The one-star Ultimate Dragon Ball… It's like the tiny iota of hope left in Pandora's Box after she opened the thing and let loose a calamity, a symbol of our resolve and the hope the future you believed in!"
Trunks picked up the Ultimate Dragon Ball Goten had strapped to what was left of his green Gi, and peered into the half-translucent orb, only to feel more anxiety than anything. For a brief moment, it was like he'd seen a hallucination of a dark dragon.
"Yikes!" said Trunks as he let the Dragon Ball escape his clutch, only for it to suddenly self-levitate to avoid falling in the hot springs.
"D-Does this damn thing have a mind of its own? It's really different than the Earth Dragon Balls…"
"Well it was the one Piccolo-san created prior to his fission or whatever, no surprise that it's special. We can't let paranoid thoughts like that bring us down, dude. Just relax for the night. It's not like that thing is siding with Baby and allowing him to just wish everyone was a Tsufurian or whatever was his goal as he said."
"This chatter is boring me, I'm jumping in! Cannonball!" said Pan as she jumped in the water, still transformed to a Super Saiyan to maintain her grasp of the form's mastery. Unfortunately, her control over suppression of her Ki was still in development, and she caused the whole place to flood over. Trunks and Goten reprimanded her and used rudimentary psychic powers they'd learned from Redjic to levitate the overflowing water and restore the hot springs, and Dolltacki, from a distance, was using his enhanced Machine Mutant vision to peek into the events transpiring in the location.
"Y-Yes, Pan-chan… Keep looking that way, and bending over as you try and scrape the water back in the hole… L-Let me see that delicious little butt…."
"T-This guy really is a creep even without Baby possessing him… I'm definitely telling on him when those three finish bathing…" thought the green-haired boy that the Dragon Trio had rescued, who continued to think, "the food on this planet's honestly really nasty, since the Namekians drink nothing but water and have no appetite, all I've had since I came here is radish and veggies! Yuck! I preferred hospital food!"
And just like that, the night passed in a bittersweet time that felt like moments and also like hours. Completely refreshed, the Dragon Trio began stretching at six in the morning, now dressed in traditional Namekian gear. Trunks' outfit consisted of a black Namekian equivalent of a dress shirt, brown pants resembling Piccolo's, and bandages covering his hands and wrists. Goten was dressed in black as well, but the design was more similar to his father's old orange and blue Gi from his younger days, with a red undershirt and red and black armbands as well as red and black Oriental martial arts boots. Pan, meanwhile, just wore a similar outfit to her father's old Piccolo-mimicking gear, clearly missing him and Piccolo. She still wore the halves of her orange bandana that Goten put on her arms as a fashion statement for her exposed arms.
"This will be the last session I personally supervise. Sixty-five days with me is training enough, from here you must learn to train between yourselves and reap even greater fruit than training with me ever would. This will also be an exercise in strengthening your teamwork."
"Kind of ironic for a guy like you who's fixated on always fighting alone to value teamwork like that though," said Trunks.
"Hmph. Always a smart mouth on you. Although…"
"Yeah?"
"No, never mind. Let's just continue."
As Redjic now raised his power to 50% of his maximum strength to truly test the trio's readiness to graduate from his supervision, a thought crossed his mind.
"Trunks… I have heard the stories of the exploits of your evil and self-centered father. Despite his obvious influence on you, it's as if every day you fight to craft your own destiny, not merely follow in his footsteps as Goten does with that Goku character. Perhaps sensing that quality in you is why I've trained this hard these past few months since our meeting on Imegga… I've always been bound by my past and even after I rejected my destiny to protect the Planet Styx when I erased it to prevent Mu's machinations, I've deep down resented yet begrudgingly followed my father and mother's intentions for my future. Yet…"
Trunks took out his encapsulated sword almost as fast as Redjic could react and nearly slashed him in the eyeball, causing a very shallow gash to open up on his brow ridge.
"What's wrong, Redjic? Your movements ain't what they used to be, have we gotten too strong?!"
"Hmph. Don't get cocky, boy. There's more room for you to improve than the vastness of the broad horizon!"
Redjic continued to train the trio for the next twelve hours, after which he let go of the three-pronged spear he used, as it had grown brittle from overuse when Trunks and Goten both had chipped it continuously over the half-day they had trained.
"I don't admit to this much, but I truly am impressed with the progress you three have made. My materialization powers, like any other ability, improve as my power improves… Yet you three have managed to ruin my spear. Nearly breaking my favorite weapon is no small feat."
"We need to catch bigger fish if we're to take on Baby, these compliments mean nothing!" said Trunks and Goten both, as they crossed both the swords they had used to train, prompting Redjic to admire them internally once more, thinking "Two young men, with paths so similar, yet their goals and the attitudes toward their fathers couldn't be more different. Trunks' purity completely contrasts with his father's legacy, and Goten is determined to keep his father's memory alive by following in his footsteps. The sons of the two greatest Saiyan warriors to ever live, with such different attitudes on life… Is this what it feels like to have the kind of bonds I'd forsaken ever since I had to kill my own rival and closest friend and enemy?"
"Redjic, why do you keep looking at us like that? Dude, you didn't even scar our faces this time, we're not totally scarred, man. Is there something on our faces?" said Trunks.
"Hmph. If you have the time to run your mouth, you have time to keep training! From here on out, I won't supervise you three anymore. Your tag team is nearly flawless, but almost is never good enough. From here on, you must learn each other's strengths. Goten excels in Ki control due to his mastery of the Kaio-ken, and Trunks has more experience in sword-fighting. Muri's men are to finish building a new spaceship for you to fly to Earth and they say the project will be completed in five days, so you must absorb each other's strongest traits as if you were both sponges. Is that clear?"
"W-What about me?! A-Am I good for nothing? Meanie…" said Pan.
"You are as inexperienced as the vastness of potential that you still have untapped within you. But if I am being honest, it is taking a bit longer than I had anticipated for you to master the Super Saiyan state fully… Is your quarter-Saiyan status perhaps making it more difficult?"
Just then, Kaio-sama's booming voice interjected, shocking the group.
"Goten! Goku's granddaughter! And Trunks! I have been observing your training these past couple of months, and I sure am glad that you found a better master for the remainder of your training than I!"
"Hah! You needn't be so down on yourself, Kaio-sama! Your training helped me plenty, I don't think I'd have even survived our first couple of battles against Baby if not for you helping me progress!" said Goten humbly.
"Thanks, but no thanks. Ultimately my guidance proved to hinder you more than it helped. I should have trained you to harness your rage and unlock Super Saiyan 2 faster, the truth is that the Saiyan transformation known as Super Saiyan is fueled by activating the function of S-Cells in the body, which grow in excess amounts through tranquil environments and the calmness of the mind!"
"Oh, I think I can infer the rest of your message… Just like how Pan is having some trouble completely mastering Super Saiyan because her Saiyan heritage is more diluted, Super Saiyan 2 would've been harder for me to unlock than my dad because I'm only half-Saiyan, so you wanted to train me further before I could really make the form my own?"
"Y-Yes. Although rage is certainly a shortcut to that power, a power obtained with ease tends to sully your resolve to continue to better yourself, and it is honestly far easier to master the form and progress to Super Saiyan 3 when it is unlocked through many months, perhaps years of harsh training! B-But now I think in retrospect that giving you that power before you fought Baby might have been the better choice… I-I am sorry, my lack of proactive measures cost your father his…"
"No! No! My father ain't gone yet! Not yet! His memory lives on in me, that's why I designed my new Gi in his old one's image! And the Ultimate Dragon Ball we procured before we came here, still stands as a symbol of our hope and resolve to topple Baby! With that mindset I haven't slacked off in my training even once since you started training me, Kaio-sama! If anyone's to blame for our fathers' demises, it's us for not being strong enough to stop Baby."
"Sometimes I wonder if you actually carry Goku's blood, my boy. Your maturity goes above and beyond your young age. Perhaps that is your elder brother's influence, him having grown up training with Piccolo and your father since he was a toddler," said Kaio, "no, on second thought, your brother is his own person and you are yours. You won't rely on the Dai Kaioshin-sama's ritual for a quick shortcut to absolute strength, you will carve out your own path to succeed in the ultimate goal of being the greatest fighter to ever walk. Your potential is as bottomless as Redjic's, and both your hearts are infallibly pure. Trunks and you both. The promise you all show, reminds me of training Goku for the first time in preparation for the battle against Vegeta… Perhaps this really is fate, strung together by the great Zeno himself."
"To be honest, a conversation in philosophy and theology really doesn't interest us, Kaio-sama," said Trunks, "we must be as obsessive in our pursuit of power as Baby was, if we want to stop him. But you know what? I may hate him, but at the same time I respect him because of the strength of his resolve… Even though he took so much from me. It's an odd feeling. Even though I've been given an elite education since I was young to prepare me for being CEO, it's hard to convey my opinion of Baby in words."
"Yes, Baby is certainly a complex fellow. Certainly evil, but he isn't like other villains your group has fought. He truly believes his fight is a cause that seeks to enact justice, and he doesn't particularly enjoy killing or tormenting the weak and defenseless unless the ends definitely justify the means. Even in madness, he has clarity."
"I hear a 'but' coming…" said Trunks.
"Yes, you are a sharp young man. What I was going to say is that Baby, complex and not purely evil as he may be, is still the greatest threat to the Multiverse that has been seen in centuries. His plan to disrupt the natural balance of the Macrocosm of Existence by making everyone his Tsufurian subjects must never succeed! The Gods' creations must learn to live in harmony, but being forcibly unified through such an unnatural conversion is as great an affront to the laws of nature as mindless destruction!"
"Yeah, to be honest I hesitated for a bit when I'd learned he hardly killed anyone on Earth and even left Bra and my mother alive, but I get where you are coming from. The hatred I feel for him having killed my dad and future self hasn't subsided at all. I just hesitated, that's all… He's his own man, a purveyor of his own justice. I can't say I don't admire that. He isn't at all like Mu or Super #17, or Boo, or any other foe we fought until now. But I can't let that hold us back, it's up to us to kill him. I just needed someone to talk to about my conflicting feelings, that's all… I've never really respected an enemy like I did with him. My hesitation… does it make me weak?"
"No, if anything that is a marker of true strength. If you were just a man out to kill and snuff out obstacles to your objective like your father used to be, all you are is a killing machine. But you aren't one. Despite his toxic influence, your heart is as pure as Goku's was when he trained tirelessly chasing Bubbles on my planet… Someone with your anger issues I would think would feel untainted hatred for your father's killer, yet you respect him more than anyone and even try to empathize with his point of view."
"To be honest, ever since I saw the miserable living conditions on Imegga, my heart went through some profound changes. I never discussed it with anyone because it made me feel like I was overly sentimental, but this short journey has taught me a lot. Rage is my greatest weapon, but hatred mustn't color my judgment. If I am to succumb to rage, it should only be when guided properly by the emotion of love. The Saiyan race spread even greater misery over the cosmos than what we've seen on Imegga, and now that Mu's empire is gone, it's in my Saiyan hands to undo my ancestors' mistakes, to make amends and spread good karma to supplant bad karma… And if I'm to do that, even if I have to end Baby… even if Gohan-san really has to be killed along with him in the process, I must never forget to have my cause by guided by the emotion of love. Hate can never win."
"I-I really wonder sometimes what must have happened to make you so different from your father… Your future self was ruled by his traumas and utterly ruthless, but your heart is like a blank sheet that refuses to be tainted and discolored. Your unwavering purity in the face of hardship is perhaps the strongest of any of the surviving Saiyans. M-Maybe…"
Trunks smiled faintly and said, "You don't even need to say any more, Kaio-sama. I can infer the rest of your message fine. Now, can you leave us to train? This talk's deep and meaningful and all, but we haven't any time to waste! Goten, I'll teach you all my sword moves over the next five days, and Pan, you'll stay in full power all five days and keep sparring with us, and no bathroom breaks in your base form, got it?! You WILL master the Super Saiyan form by the time we reach Earth, nobody weighs us down!"
"His vessel has grown as tremendously as his power, these past five months since he's taken off on the journey to gather the Ultimate Dragon Balls. Perhaps the one most suited to be the Saiyan Prince is not the late Vegeta, but his son… To think such a kind and pure man can be born of the barbaric Saiyan lineage…" thought Redjic, "Maybe it is your influence that caused me to forsake my original goal of being killed by a worthy adversary, to escape my pain… And instead seek ultimate power in the name of the fallen Styxxan race. Your purity and strength of resolve… Feh, it's almost contagious."
And so, five days passed. Pan was now a fully mastered Super Saiyan, and Trunks and Goten had now become able to stay in Super Saiyan 2 form for a full day if they needed to, even in the heat of battle. Watching over this development, Kaio-sama spoke out the rest of the message he was going to give to Trunks, albeit not through telepathy as he was embarrassed to actually say it.
"Trunks… Perhaps your destiny is one greater than you could even fathom. Your pure and untainted vessel will stand forever even in the face of utter misery and loss. To be honest, I don't see the Planet Earth surviving the battle you will have with Baby, but I have a feeling that you alone, you alone as yourself, and not through cheap power ups gained through Fusion or Potara, might be the key in restoring harmony and peace in the multiverse over… Even with the influence of your vain father and mother, and your traumatized future self, with the kind of ego that your vast wealth must have given you since you were a child, you never stop growing… Your destiny isn't just to be a person rectifying your father's mistakes, not even the mistakes of the Saiyan race… Your destiny may be to do what Redjic couldn't, to keep balance in all the twelve universes, to stop the threat that has reached the level of the Gods of Destruction! And I trust that you can keep doing so, even if you were to lose everything! And you'll have Goten's help, not to mention Pan's… Your strength of character eclipses even the corrupted power of Gohan's unlocked potential! You will save Gohan, and you will save Piccolo… And you'll reach a greatness different than King Vegeta's, or even that of the fabled Super Saiyan God… I may not have trained you, but I have nothing but the greatest respect for you. Vegeta must be proud of you even in death. Good luck, young man."
And so, after seventy fateful days on the Planet New Namek, the Dragon Trio said their goodbyes to the Namekians, and to Redjic, who ostensibly argued he wasn't going to team up with anyone even if it is to stop Baby, but in truth was too impressed by Trunks and Goten's strength of character to treat them as though they were in want of help. Dolltacki tagged along with the group after being beat up by Pan once more when he couldn't resist making more advances, to serve as an advisor that was in the know about Machine Mutants.
And so, onwards the three young Saiyans head… Into the fated final battle. Of the six months promised for the return of the Ultimate Dragon Balls to Earth, only about three weeks now remain…
To be continued…