"Tora-san!"
As strong as he was, Gohan had to admit he had neglected his training, he was rusty. Vegeta had been right, of course. And Tora, when calling upon all the strength and power within, was a force to fear and thread carefully
Gohan wasn't about to give up on his friend, Tora wasn't lost, Tora had to be in there somewhere. There had to be a way.
Thankfully for Gohan, Tora was not thinking straight (or thinking at all) and only relied on instincts to fight. Little technique and tactics, just pure raw power. And raw emotions: distress, pain, loneliness. He felt them all through and through and it was hard to fight through those emotions and actually manage to help Tora. Gohan felt overwhelmed sometimes, because despite it all, Tora's inner ki control responded extremely well to instincts. Those hits were not shallow. Gohan had a longer reach, this gave him an advantage he needed to use.
Still, locking one of Tora's fists to try and get through the spell was a feat he wanted to achieve. The time traveler was lashing out, worse than he had with 787-Gohan, all those years ago. But it had only been a few months for Tora. Unable to speak, unable to express the pain that was being used by Babidi to control him.
At least that was what the Supreme Kai had explained when the sorcerer took over Vegeta just moments prior. Using Vegeta's deepest desires and expanding them beyond reason, to give him an excuse to throw everything but his desire to fight Kakarot to the bonfire. And yet, Vegeta had refused obedience.
Was Tora able to refuse obedience too? Gohan hoped, and yet… Babidi wanted to kill the Supreme Kai, and that had been Tora's target until Gohan managed to get in between them and become the target.
So Gohan had to fight, to tap into that power just to be able to match his friend's raw output. He needed to tire, to exhaust Tora to the point of passing out… until Tora was able to regain control. If only he could figure out what Babidi had promised.
He needed to know what Tora wanted, what Tora needed, to perhaps help his friend achieve that and break free. Those eyes without pupils, without irises, they were crying, there was conflict within, no doubt about it. A cornered beast who had no other option but to bite everything that came closeby… or even just be noticed. Gohan couldn't help but think of a seriously wounded animal, and yet Tora was in top shape. The outfit his friend had chosen for the Tournament was the same Tora had worn when confronting that other Gohan, in 787. Those grey pants, that thick black tee. It was so uncanny. It was the same, and yet it felt so different.
It could get dangerous.
He had to be careful and plan something before Tora became aware of the sword. If Tora unsheathed it, it would compensate against Gohan's longer reach and Gohan did not want to attack... nor face Perseverance.
.
.
It didn't take long for Heaven to reach the other masked fighter and Hearts, the enemy he feared and was not misidentified by his younger friends and allies.
Hearts was seemingly playing around and only humored his opponent. When he was spotted, Heaven didn't hesitate to jump in and land a powerful kick to his enemy and free his chosen ally.
Only to be shoved out of the way by said ally when a massive, sort of translucent cube fell down on the fighter.
"Flee, damn it, flee!" the now grounded fighter barked at his helper.
"I won't leave you, Black Warrior!"
Heaven summoned all of his bravado, even if his voice shook at how the other spoke to him. He still called upon all the heroism in his body to stand between his stuck ally and Hearts who was coming back towards the two of them with a calm walk, all while fixing his hair.
"I thought it was 'Warrior in Black'," Hearts taunted while removing his glasses. The lens had a crack in them. He tossed them aside nonchalantly.
"I really don't care," the Warrior in Black had a tired chuckle about it.
"I still won't let you get away with it!" Heaven fought off the embarrassment that came with not knowing the proper way to talk to the masked warrior and wrapped it all in bravado.
"I don't get it, why are you even here, isn't your boss fighting against his boss?"
Hearts seemed genuinely curious about why these two fighters, whom he believed were enemies, suddenly helped each other. His cunning plans only targeted one of them, not the two of them. Well, one of their bosses, not them specifically.
Heaven tilted his head sideways a little. 'Damn he has a point...' could easily be read in his demeanor, and his enemy noticed, raising an eyebrow to interrogate further about their strange alliance.
The Warrior in Black grunted something, but it was too late: another cube fell on Heaven and pinned him on the ground as well.
"You're so green," Hearts crouched by his new victim with a more than content smirk on his face. "You'll be nice and stay here while I go take care of Chronoa, mhmm?"
.
.
It was strange for Goten and Trunks, they were tasked with protecting three statues and two girls. They could feel some ki spike every now and then, but they were… odd.
Star and Comet were strange. Like that Heaven-guy, and like Auntie Eighteen, Goten really couldn't feel their ki. That was a strange thing, it contradicted everything his mother taught him. Every living being had ki, even if just a little bit, ki was all around, but these…? No ki.
The two boys naturally tried getting information out of the girls, but to no avail, they were good at distracting them with games and other subjects of conversation. Especially Star.
Their masks were a bit odd, but their personalities really showed through. Comet was reserved and on guard, but more directed towards potential threats showing up, she had kept her distances and was on guard, while Star was happy to play with the kids with puns and other riddles of sorts. She was good with kids and was childish herself.
"Will big sis be alright?" Goten eventually asked, pointing at the statue of Videl.
"She will be! I promise. We just gotta wait until the strong guys kill that Dabura guy, then they'll all be free!" Star was certain of it all.
"Well Papa is busy fighting Goten's papa," Trunks grumped a little, pointing to the direction of the fight he'd been feeling a little prior. He wasn't sure what was going on and why did everyone scatter to fight outside of the t
"But Uncle Tora and big brother…" Goten couldn't make out exactly what was happening on that front. Especially as he had been able to feel the 'Black Warrior''s ki, but not the 'Hearts' guy nor Heaven. It was all incredibly strange.
"Don't worry! They're strong, they're gonna make it," Star tried reassuring with that contagious energy.
Comet quietly nodded on her end, she trusted her ally to keep the kids busy while she used the bracelet and earpiece hidden in her hair to communicate with the allies Heaven had asked them to call. Astro, Sun and Moon. She was frustrated, because they seemingly had something better or more important to do. Comet loathed being on standby, but it was what she needed to do. Through her mask she kept a close eye on Lady T's statue. Holding the fort until things returned to normal… She didn't like it. She pressed the button of her bracelet again, hoping to finally get her allies' attention so they would arrive faster and help.
Goten was easily swayed by Star's optimism, especially because she was just so fun with those puns and finger tricks, but Trunks was far from convinced. He kept looking towards where he was able to feel his dad and his friend's dad fight. Something felt off. And Tora, who was himself but from the future (was he, really?), his ki was all over the place. And so was Gohan's. It was all far too suspicious and worrying.
But there was only so much the children could do without guidance.
.
.
Despite his attempts at getting an answer from Heaven and the Warrior in Black, Hearts had to admit he wouldn't get much from them, just that they both seemingly allied for a reason that escaped all three of them.
It was strange, seeing a servant of the former Supreme Kai of Time being allied to a servant of the current Supreme Kai of Time. Hearts knew the takeover had been hostile, and the two Kais often moved their pawns against one another on the grand chessboard of the fabric of reality. It was part of what fueled his hate towards them both. And yet, their alliance was such an intriguing situation.
So he refocused on his goal: finding and killing his target. When he flew over to find the statues, he was surprised to see they were gone. No Chronoa in sight, his target had disappeared.
"Oh fuck this shit!" Hearts cursed his luck.
He flew around for a while trying to locate the statues, his time was running out. His power was diminishing. And he was certain others would show up soon.
As he saw tears in reality, he knew he was right, the exceptional situation had called forth some of Chronoa's other enemies.
Hearts had to retreat, much to his chagrin, but the game was on going.
It always was. It would always be. Too bad, this was a great opportunity, and it had been the closest he'd been to his goal… and he missed it, but there was always a next time. He would need to find a way to create himself a better opportunity.
.
.
When the cubes disappeared, Heaven and the Warrior in Black stood back up, their respective super Saiyan transformation wearing off. They both knew Hearts was gone. The one with the red and black mask gruffed some words of annoyance, but Heaven felt relief.
It was strange; this Warrior in Black's ki felt familiar. Heaven thanked an absent ally of his, Nova, for having created something that completely masked his, Star and Comet's ki. As well as the other fighters in their team. It was necessary to be able to act without being detected.
Before Heaven could try to talk to his circumstantial ally, a rip in the fabric of reality caught his trained eye and senses, and he launched himself at the other man to tackle him out of the way of an incoming flying scythe. The weapon planted itself in the ground where they once stood.
The two stood back up, ready to fight.
"What now?" the Warrior in Black gritted his teeth.
Soon enough, super Saiyan overtook them both to fight the new enemy, a laughing teenage alien of sorts that Heaven immediately recognized. White spikey hair, red markings around fully yellow eyes with red irises, a dark red bandanna, wearing a black and yellow vest and pants. This was Shroom, one of the demon lieutenants.
Heaven knew Shroom, who liked to call himself the grim reaper, was a dangerous enemy. And trouble loved to follow Heaven and give him always the worst possible hand in whichever mission he was assigned to.
"Damn it all, of course they'd smell the blood in the water. We gotta hold the fort until things return to normal—"
"They won't return to normal, you idiot, because your stupid boss intervened!" the Warrior in Black growled back.
"Watch out!"
Heaven moved quickly to stand between the weapon and his ally, and blocked the scythe between his two hands as Shroom controlled it from afar. The Warrior in Black was quick enough to refocus his attention on their enemy instead of bickering further.
The two of them thankfully didn't need a lot of time to be able to fight together side by side against the new enemy. Heaven was particularly good at coordinating around someone else.
.
.
.
"Talk to me!" Gohan shouted.
He chose his words and tone carefully, remembering the words he heard seven years prior from that older version of him, the one from 787-Trunks' world, the one that was brought back for a few hours by Uranai Baba. He hoped Tora would heed those words and have a similar reaction to the one he had witnessed with the 787-Gohan they met.
Tora was silent, and Gohan felt it was a bad omen. It had been one, at the time, and the other Gohan had realized it too. Had managed to get Tora to speak. Gohan was trying to do the same.
Tora hadn't been able to go to the Namekians in 784, Gohan knew it, because the coordinates weren't correct. Tights had given him a brief explanation; the quadrant was empty in their world. She had hoped it was because their Namekians went to a different planet, hence why the astrolabe given by Kaio-sama pointed to nowhere, but the darkest whispers in all of their minds said the planet and its inhabitants had met a darker fate in their universe.
With no Guardian, Tora did not get to have the same closure with his own Gohan, like 787-Trunks had. Tora couldn't get the praise and thanks from the one person that mattered the most to him, and Gohan's heart ached ever since he found out. Tora had always been withdrawn, far less at ease than the older counterpart, and Gohan had no idea how to help his friend, and even thought he was part of the problem due to how much he looked like that older Gohan.
Regardless, he couldn't step away, he couldn't abandon his friend, and he couldn't let Tora attack the Supreme Kai. He needed to find a solution, and it needed to be quick because he couldn't endure forever. Even if Tora thankfully did not use Perseverance. Gohan did not know if Tora realized the sword was right there on his back, and chose not to use it, not to soil it... He chose to believe not using the sword was a conscious choice.
Tora hadn't particularly reacted to Gohan's attempts at passing for another version of himself.
So Gohan parried, deviated and soaked everything Tora threw at him with primal force, fueled by despair and pain. Gohan didn't know how to help his friend, and the void and doubts about how little he truly knew about Tora's pains and issues started to get to him.
He truly didn't know Tora at all.
He barely understood the older teen, the person whom he had claimed to be in love with as a child, the person who wanted to protect him at the cost of his own life.
He realized he knew nothing about Tora, and Tora was alone, causing more and more bruises on Gohan's body from the constant and relentless attacks seemingly fueled by self-loathing. His own arrogance, his need to be the one to help was misplaced, and shame slowly started taking over.
He couldn't get through and help his friend, and Gohan was not taking it well.
.
.
Their fight against Shroom had lasted much longer than Heaven and the Warrior in Black wanted. The demon was powerful, sneaky, and incredibly resourceful, and as much as they were skilled at coordinating, they clearly lacked something to secure the win. They weren't trained enough to anticipate Shroom's movements.
Thankfully the cavalry finally made it. A man in a black trenchcoat, wearing a mask similar to Heaven's with those white and red animal marks, and flame-shaped black hair appeared. His arrival was unannounced, unexpected, and with the element of surprise, it happened with a kick straight to the face of the invading demon being. Shroom was sent flying and crashed a few hundred meters away.
"Moon!" Heaven called with relief.
"Fucking damn it kid, you don't engage the enemy like that!" Moon barked.
"Sorry, Uncle," Heaven sheepishly apologized, scratching the back of his head.
Moon made a familiar annoyed hiss sound, and would have crossed his arms if not for the enemy that could come back at any moment.
"I'll take care of this bastard, you return to the Kai and get the girls out of here."
"Yessir!" Heaven got orders and accepted them, but he hesitated in leaving.
"Vegeta-san?" the Warrior in Black's surprised tone called for the white-masked warrior's attention.
"Not in this fucking reality."
"Time Patrol… dispatch!" Heaven announced, clearly he wasn't going to overstay his welcome. A pissed off Vegeta, no matter which Vegeta, was something he would rather not handle. He quickly departed back to rejoin Star, Comet, Goten and Trunks.
"Fucking spawns of Kakarot's, no matter the world you come from you're always goddamn the same," he spoke with disdain as Heaven left. He addressed the one with the black mask. "You're here for her, aren't you? Go, else this shit will get worse."
"But she's your—"
"Get going before the local you fucks it up, you insufferable moron!"
This strange version of Vegeta spoke just like the Warrior in Black remembered, from long, long ago. Barking orders, using insults instead of names. The memory was somewhat nostalgic.
Super Saiyan soon overtook the newcomer, and the coat was discarded to reveal a black skintight suit and sleeveless Saiyan chestplate, albeit marked differently than the one used in the PTO. The outfit was complete with matching white gloves and boots.
Shroom was charging back, ready to obtain revenge from that unceremonious "tag in" bastard. This wasn't their first squirmish, and Moon knew how to hold the demon at bay. He was ready.
"Out, now!"
The Warrior in Black obeyed, reluctant but grateful nonetheless, and promptly fled north, to his alternate self and the girl he'd trained and helped raise in another life.
.
.
.
Happy new year etc etc!
I've gotten a few fanarts I'd love to share with you but alas, FFN doesn't allow links. Please find me on socials so I can show you! Esp tumblr (i tag those posts with "my trunks" ;) )