Chapter 40: Future Trunks Gaiden, Part I
The warriors of Earth fought a brutal and grueling battle against the Evil Dragons that congregated on New Namek, conspiring to destroy all of the Multiverse with their minus energy. And in a miraculous turn of events, they emerged victorious, suffering only the losses of the rebuilt Super #17 and Mister Boo, who sacrificed themselves to save the others. Seeing that the subsequent conflict between the government of Earth and its people and the Namekians who migrated to Earth following the loss of their home planet of New Namek was resolved without the use of the Dragon Balls, the Earth's deity Dende and the surviving Namekians resolved to not restore the Dragon Balls, which were destroyed along with the unstoppable enemy Yi Xing Long. That was the tale of another era, a world parallel to that of this story's protagonist, Future Trunks.
Now, following the devastating conflict that was waged on New Namek, Future Trunks and his alternate timeline sister Bra make their way to his native timeline, a world that was utterly ravaged by the twin cyborgs #17 and #18, whose evil belied their ordinary appearance. The year was Age 788, and here, a new battle for the universe was about to begin…!
"Whoa, pretty grisly…" said Bra, who looked outside as they emerged in the outskirts of Gingertown, a town adjacent to West City where the first battle against Dr. Gero's mightiest creation Cell was waged, "so… this is the future you came from, Onii-chan?"
"It was the future from Goku-san's point of view when I met him years and years ago," replied Future Trunks, who opened the time machine's hatch and then pressed the encapsulation button to shrink the contraption back to its capsule form, "but in actuality, it's more like a parallel timeline. Small changes to the past can result in entire timelines branching out from a single event, and ripples from those events have far-reaching consequences."
"Yadda yadda yadda, save me the history lesson. I just want to see those cyborgs, and that 'Cell' creature you and Dad fought before I was born. I didn't even get to tag along when Pan-chan and the rest went on the journey to get the Ultimate Dragon Balls, I won't let anyone leave me behind this time!"
"*sigh* Bra, this isn't a game! I was able to destroy the female cyborg #18 before the timeline distortion created by Mu captured #17 for his own purposes, so theoretically the planet should be roughly intact… But I wasn't able to destroy the most important artificial human of them all, Cell, before I was caught in that distortion. Not that I particularly minded it at the time, since I couldn't let anyone get their hands on #17's body and Gero's cybernetic technology… But in light of the fact that Cell foretold when he emerged in the past that he would ambush and kill me in three years' time after I finished off the cyborgs, we arrived in Age 788. Ironically, it's four years in the past in relation to when we took care of the Evil Dragons. Cell would no doubt attack near West City, so we should go ahead and greet Mom before our next move. She'll have been worried sick, having been waiting for me for three – "
As Future Trunks was musing about their next move, Bra had already taken off toward Capsule Corporation.
"Hey! Bra! We can't let Cell be privy to our location just yet, it remains to be seen what timeline changes my disappearance may have made!"
Future Trunks quickly caught up to Bra, and they landed roughly a mile away from Capsule Corp., which was in the process of being rebuilt. Future Trunks covered Bra's mouth and whispered in her ear, "Shh… We need to suppress our Ki and make our next move. Cell's already felt our Ki near Gingertown, so he'll make his appearance soon enough. He's no doubt had trouble looking for the twin cyborgs these past three years, so if things go smoothly, we'll encounter him outside of Capsule Corp… And we must be ready."
"Is he even that strong? From what Dad told me, he was a complete creampuff before he entered his Perfect form…"
"He isn't tough. Your normal state should be plenty enough to take him on. But he has a large array of techniques like the Taiyo-ken, and the ability to absorb life energy and cause rapid necrosis in flesh that he inserts his tail in. We need to avoid any surprises. First, we meet up with our mother, and make sure that she's safe,"
"Roger that. I'll beat the pulp out of this Cell creature, and make the future Mom respect the hell out of me!"
"She isn't even aware of who you are, Bra. Remember, in my timeline our father died when I was a baby. Don't make our Ki apparent to anybody just yet, and just walk calmly toward Capsule Corp., got it? I'll allow you to battle Cell in exchange for your trouble."
"Pfft! I wasn't gonna let you have a turn at all! Let's go, Onii-chan!"
"Aye."
The two then walked bristly through the ruins of West City, noticing that most of the still-ruined buildings were on the outskirts of the city, and as they inched closer to the heart of the metropolis, buildings were appearing more and more intact.
"Say, Onii-chan, this isn't how Mom – my mom, described your future at all. The closer we get to Capsule Corp., the more intact and alive everythin' looks."
Future Trunks almost shed a tear from his eye and said, "Good… Even in my absence, the people of this city – no, the entire world, have been hard at work repairing the damage done by the cyborgs. I have the utmost confidence that Mom is safe," said the older half-Saiyan as they had finally reached their destination, Capsule Corporation.
Future Trunks stared into the entrance blank-faced for a few minutes, at which point Bra gently elbowed him on the shoulder and said, "You getting' cold feet, Onii-chan? Should I waltz in there and surprise Mom in your place?"
"No, I'm fine. It just feels so awkward, having left this place unattended for three years since I defeated the Artificial Humans. But I can't dally around here forever, Cell is still out there, and I have to ensure that Mother is safe. Come with me, Bra," said Future Trunks as he took a deep breath and then vibrated his Ki around his body, phasing straight through the door as Baby and his minions had done years prior. Before this distortion closed, Bra just barely managed to raise her Ki and followed him inside, as well.
"You've still a long way to go if you need to raise your Ki to make it inside this distortion, Bra. But Cell should be virtually no threat, and the important thing is that Mom is safe. Let's head inside, follow me!"
Future Trunks then sped straight into Bulma's lab at superspeed, with Bra following close behind. There, the future Bulma, who appeared even more aged than her alternate timeline counterpart, laid in sleep with the TV turned on, and a half-emptied bottle of rum next to the radio adjacent to a stack of books on mechanics that were piled on her desk. Suddenly, she was awoken to the sound of footsteps.
"Huh?! I-It's a-a younger me! A-And is that?!"
"Hello, Mother," said Future Trunks with a solemn look.
"T-T-T-T-T-TRUNKS!" yelled Future Bulma as she rushed to embrace her long-lost son, knocking her alcoholic beverage over as Bra caught it, sliced it in half with a karate chop, and then deftly placed the bottom half of the bottle in place for the spilled portion to fall right in.
"I've missed you, too, Mom. It's… been… a really long time… A very long time…" said Future Trunks as he wiped a tear from his eye, "I have… a very long story to tell."
"And who is this young lady next to you? S-She looks just the way I did, decades and decades ago! I-Is that a past me? O-Or…"
"Hi, Mom! I'm Bra, Vegeta and your daughter! Onii-chan has been stranded in the world of the past!"
"O-Oh… Well, you're welcome here anytime, honey! I-I would really like to hear your story, too! Raising a second child with Vegeta in a peaceful time is exactly what I've always dreamed of…"
And so, Future Trunks explained everything. How his chasing #17 through the time distortion landed him in Age 785 in the timeline he helped save using the heart virus medication that Bulma gave him, how he toiled away as leader of the M2 native resistance, and how the past version of himself and his friends helped save the planet, how they defeated Baby and the Evil Dragons after much turmoil. Bulma was floored by the history of hardship and strife Trunks had to face before he was able to return to his time.
"And that's about it, Mom. We're sorry, but time is of the essence, and I purposefully set the time machine the other you built to arrive in the same day that the Cell of this timeline ambushed the other me and took his time machine. Cell should be arriving here shortly, and I can't have you take the risk of taking a plane out of here because Cell might attack it. So, I need you to stay in my arms while Bra faces Cell… alone."
"I understand. In short, you need this, right?" said Future Bulma as she threw her son the capsule containing the time machine he was unable to take to the past when he was abruptly brought there, and continued, saying "Cell should attack you in a corner of the Capsule Corporation, where you usually head to the past. And if the ripples of time travel have altered the future so that he arrives even a few minutes late, he could attack me as I'm trying to escape. So the safest place for me to be in, is next to you. I understand."
"Yes, we should get started, right now. Bra let her Ki signature be sensed just now as I came through the entrance, so Cell should know where we are," said Future Trunks, "and Bra, this timeline's Cell should be no challenge to you whatsoever in your Super Saiyan states. In fact, without having absorbed either of the cyborgs, I doubt he'll even be able to hurt you in the slightest in your normal state. So, think of this as a training exercise, and only use 10% of your base power, got it? And you can't use a Ki blast, until you've completely and utterly decimated him!"
"Got it! If he's gonna be that much of a woozy, we could give me even more handicaps and I'll be juuuuuust fine! Let's go!"
Future Trunks and Bulma headed outside, starting the time machine and enacting the same exact roles that their alternate timeline selves would have done in the dystopian future where the other Future Trunks met his end. Bra snuck next to a chimney, and watched from the sidelines to see Cell show up. And indeed he did, before long…
"…"
The insectoid creature, sporting a spotted appearance on a carapace composed near-entirely of green, appeared in an alley behind Future Trunks and got ready to ambush him with a finger beam. Just then, Future Trunks, still holding Future Bulma, turned around and said, "So, Cell… You show yourself at last. Your intention is to travel to the past with my time machine after killing me, and absorb the cyborgs #17 and #18 to become Perfect, is it not?"
Curiously, Cell did not show any particular sign of surprise at this, and merely said, "Time to die!" before quickly firing off a Makankosappo. Bra flared up an aura and quickly deflected this blast with her Nyoi-bo before yelling, "I'm gonna be your opponent! Cell, you're gonna be a piece of caaaaaaaake!"
"Blast him out of the city, Bra. We don't want to waste the efforts of the people who worked hard to rebuild the city."
"I knew that much already! HAAA!"
Bra shot the insectoid with a kiai, causing him to instantly hit the mountain where the Makankosappo he fired was deflected into. He was quickly buried under a pile of rubble, but then got back up on his two feet, before he then realized that his legs were utterly weak, and collapsed to his knees.
"G-Grrr! W-What is this?! How can that little girl's attack damage me so – "
"That 'little girl's' name is Bra-sama! And you're about to regret you were ever born!"
Bra quickly swung her Nyoi-bo onto Cell's head, shattering the exoskeleton covering his head. She then backed up and kicked him repeatedly, landing heavy blows that cracked the centerpiece carapace covering his stomach, as well.
"Man, this guy really is a creampuff! Forget 10%, we could've made it 5 and it'd have been enough!"
Cell suddenly shot a few pints of acid from his tail, to Bra's surprise. However, she reacted faster than he could manage to land the attack and used Zanzoken, appearing behind him and cutting off his tail with a karate chop. She then squashed it completely with her foot.
"Gross! This thing's blood is all purple and sticky! Well, I guess I can wipe the goo off my shoe… With the skin of your face!"
"Something is off, this Cell is a bit weaker than the one I met at Gingertown… Even though it was supposedly more than enough to assassinate my other self and steal his time machine. If it perhaps because there are so few people in this timeline, so he hasn't had enough people to absorb? Curious…" thought Future Trunks, "but regardless of his power, a threat is a threat. No point in dragging things further and adding to the risk of him escaping or doing further damage to my people."
"Bra! Finish up with him! There's no point in dragging things further!"
"Ah c'mon, I was just havin' fun with this thing… Feh!" said Bra as she haphazardly turned her back to the creature while facing Future Trunks, at which point Cell saw the opportunity to stretch his tail stump and attack her by surprise.
"Laaaaame!" said Bra as she quickly dodged Cell by a hair, at which point Cell smirked and bent his tail sideways to face Bra's stomach, and then regenerated his tail, managing to stab her in the stomach.
"HA! HAHAHAHA! Your brother knew who I was, and didn't even warn you?! I have in me the blood and DNA of Piccolo! Your powerful bio-extract is mine for the taking – "
"Y-You….!"
Bra, with a furious expression on her face, quickly gripped Cell's tail with enough force to make his tail explode before he drained her, at which point her eyes took the color of a dark green, and her hair spiked up in several directions as she turned Super Saiyan.
"You went and got blood on my stomach, you little shit! DIE!"
Bra uppercut Cell, causing his head to explode. She then emerged right above Cell and shattered his remains with a kiai, before then hurling them all hundreds of feet above the ground in fury. She then charged a massive amount of Ki into her finger and yelled, "DODONPA! GO RIGHT THE HELL AWAY!"
Cell disappeared in a flash of light as the Dodonpa shot itself right into the stratosphere of Earth, before shooting off into a distant corner of the solar system.
"*sigh* I guess you went and overdid it again, Bra… Let's go back to Capsule Corp. and sterilize those wounds," said Future Trunks.
"I'll get my first aid kit ready," said Future Bulma as Future Trunks then carried her off into the entrance of the defunct corporation, where suddenly two people, both floating in mid-air using Bukujutsu, awaited.
"We are honored to be in the presence of not one, but two Super Saiyans…" said the shorter, purple-skinned person.
"They are the ones who should feel honored to be in your presence, my lord. It isn't often that the God among Gods, the Kaioshin makes himself known in a backwater such as this," said the taller, pink-skinned person.
"T-These two… They look just like the Kaioshin-sama in the other timeline…! O-Only, I only recognize one of your voices!"
"Ho? It appears this mortal has been made your acquaintance, my lord."
"That's enough, Kibito. Gods and mortals, they are mere distinctions only in order of birth. We are the ones who are in need of his services, not the other way around. Go, heal the young lady's wound, if you would be so kind."
"Why, absolutely," said Kibito as he laid his hand on Bra's stomach, at which point the wound disappeared instantly.
"H-Hey! This guy went and magically healed my wound! L-Like Dende-kun!"
"Dende? That is the name of a Dragon Clansman in the planet of New Namek. But how can a mortal on this planet be aware of the man's name?"
"Clearly, that contraption they were starting up holds the answer to that question. But a much more important order of events is that we prevent Majin Boo's awakening, and cybernization," said Kibito's companion, the East Kaioshin of this timeline.
"M-Majin Boo's…" said Future Trunks, wide-eyed.
"C-Cybernization?" yelled Bra.
"Yes. Majin Boo is a monstrous being of a primordial time, long before mortals of this Earth walked on two legs. When the agents of Mu arrived on this planet some several months ago, they went and captured the evil wizard Babidi, his henchmen, and the still-sleeping Boo, locked in his shell. If Boo were to be unleashed, it would be disaster enough, but were he to be altered by the nefarious Doctor Mu into a Machine Mutant, the result will be nothing short of catastrophic! The end of all twelve universes, as we know it!"
"And it is for that that we need the help of two Super Saiyans such as yourselves. You should consider it an honor unlike any other to be personally selected as agents of the highest among the Gods."
"Kibito, now is not the time for a high and mighty attitude. We are the ones making the request, not the inverse."
"Yes, sir…"
"This sounds like trouble…" said Future Trunks.
And so, the travels of Future Trunks have taken him to a new war to decide the fate of the Multiverse, one that will take him far beyond the planet he has sworn to protect. What new dangers await him, on the planet M2 of the future? Only time would tell…
To be continued…