SHADOWS FROM THE FUTURE

In the dim light of the desolate city, Trunks' heart pounded with a mix of grief and desperation. The once-familiar streets, now marred by devastation, seemed to close in around him. He ducked into a narrow alley, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he clutched the tiny capsule that was his mother's time machine. The metal casing felt cold in his hands, a stark reminder of the loss he had suffered.

His mother was gone—killed by Goku Black's merciless hand—and the thought of Mai's fate hung over him like a dark cloud. He had no way of knowing if she had survived that explosion, the very same blast that mortally wounded Trunks himself. He kept moving as blood slowly trickled from the massive gash on his abdomen, third degree burns also covered a section of his right arm, the gnawing pain of Mai's absence only added to his torment. The time machine was his last hope, his last chance to escape the nightmare that had consumed his world.

The street outside was eerily silent, save for the occasional crackle of debris underfoot and the distant, haunting echoes of Goku Black's tyrannical laughter. Trunks knew he had little time. The longer he stayed in this broken future, the more likely it was that Goku Black's forces would find him.

With trembling hands, he activated the time machine. The whirring sound of the device was a small comfort amid the chaos. As the machine began to hum and glow, Trunks' eyes scanned the horizon one last time, hoping against hope for a sign of Mai. But there was nothing—just the cold emptiness of a world lost to darkness. Ofcourse there were a handful of survivors scattered across the land and hiding, but their chances of surviving Black's wrath were near zero if Trunks didn't succeed in bringing backup. Suddenly, a loud boom sounded across the sky and the clouds split apart, a massive wave of power was heading his way, Black had found him. I a panic, Trunks jumped into the time machine, he knew he only had seconds before Black caught up. The evil bastard must have heard the noise from the time machine. The time machine hummed beneath Trunks, its energy building as he gripped the controls, heart pounding in rhythm with the rising whine of the engines. Sweat trickled down his forehead; the weight of time itself seemed to press down on him, tightening with every passing second.

Suddenly, the ground erupted in a violent tremor. A deafening crash echoed behind him, shaking the machine. Trunks turned quickly, and there stood Goku Black. His dark aura crackled like a storm as he landed just feet away, the earth shattering beneath his feet. A twisted, malevolent smirk spread across Black's face, his cold eyes locking onto Trunks, onto the time machine, like a predator savoring its prey.

For a moment, time seemed to stop. Black's hand rose slowly, ominously, and in an instant, a blazing ball of ki ignited in his palm, its destructive energy humming in the air. Trunks could feel the scorching heat radiating from it, the raw power poised to annihilate everything.

With a swift motion, Black hurled the ki blast. It tore through the air, racing toward the machine with terrifying speed. It was too fast—too powerful. But at the last possible second, the time machine surged into action. The world around Trunks blurred, the desolate future landscape twisting as the machine warped through time.

Just as the blast was about to strike, the machine vanished, disappearing into the folds of time. Behind them, the explosion echoed, its destructive light fading into the blackness of the time stream.

Gojo stared at the purple haired saiyan lying unconscious before him. His six eyes had the power to perceive ki in a way that no one else could. Every living thing possessed ki, but the ki from each individual was unique in their own way, so when Gojo saw that the person before him had exactly the same ki as that of Vegeta's kid, he immediately connected the dots and assumed that the older one was a future version of the younger one. And all that was made possible by the queer looking contraption that stood on the front lawn of the buildings named Capsule Corp so he also assumed that a future version of the boy's mother is the one that created it.

"You people are aware that time travel is considered as a taboo right?" Gojo asked , turning to look at Bulma, "Just by being here, he's already created another timeline." he stated. Bulma and Vegeta shared a nervous glance.

"He was terribly injured when we found him. He'd have died from blood loss if he didn't eat a senzu bean immediately." Vegeta's wife explained. Gojo turned back to stare at the older Trunks. He was still young though, probably the same age as Gojo. He could still hear Lord Beerus grumbling about the taboo of time traveling but decided to let it slide once the tray of food arrived. Whoever it was that did that to the kid, he must've been crazy strong , or will be, depending on one's perception of time.

"Do you think it's the Androids again?" Goku asked Vegeta. The Saiyan prince scoffed,

"If so then im sending him back to where he came from." he stated with a scowl. Gojo tilted his head as he tried to understand what they were talking about, suddenly, the kid got up with a loud gasp, startling Bulma.

"Trunks, are you..." before she could finish, two things happened simultaneously. Immediately when the kid's eyes landed on Goku, Gojo saw fear and anger cloud his features and that very second, Trunks got to his feet, drew back his fist and threw a punch at Kakarot. Ofcourse, Goku caught the punch with zero effort but everyone around stared at Trunks with shock, even Lord Beerus and Whis stopped munching down on their sausages to stare.

"Whoa there Trunks! What's wrong with you?" Goku asked as Trunks tried -and failed - to free his fist from Goku's grip,

"You bastard, I'll kill you!" Trunks shouted, Gojo could feel his ki slowly building up, the kid was about to go super saiyan, but before anyone else could react, Bulma slapped the kid. The smack created a loud echo that made even Gojo flinch, that probably hurt her more than it did him.

"Trunks! What on earth is wrong with you?! That's Goku you're attacking." she exclaimed. Confusion spread across the kid's features and eventually recognition. He lowered his hand when Goku released it,

"Ooh, i'm so sorry, my bad." he said, he then turned to Bulma. Tears started flowing down his cheeks,

"Mom! It's really you, i really did make it back." he exclaimed as he hugged his mother, "I thought i was never gonna see you again." he said, tears flowing freely, Gojo sensed a story there.

"Calm down kiddo, tell me what happened." Bulma demanded in a firm but soft voice. Trunks pulled away,

"I don't know where to start," he said,

"Is it the Androids again boy?" Vegeta spoke for the first time drawing his attention away from his mother, but before he could answer, his eyes caught sight of Gojo and his face turned pale.

"You!? You're the one they talked about, the strongest mortal." he exclaimed in amazement, Gojo frowned in confusion.

"I asked you a question boy!" Vegeta snapped at his son making Trunks focus again,

"No sir, i destroyed the Androids. The future was at peace, until Black came along. I've never seen anything like him, the human race is on the blink of annihilation, i couldn't stop him, mom, he killed you." Trunks said, tears started flowing again.

"Who the hell is Black?" Gojo asked but before Trunks could answer, Gojo's head snapped up immediately after he sensed an immense influx of power, the hair on the back of his neck stood as electricity started crackling at a point in the sky, the weather had changed and black storm clouds appeared out of nowhere. Bulma covered her face from the fierce wind. Suddenly, the sky ripped apart and purple light flooded through, the thunderstorm became more intense and immediately, two figures appeared through the tear in the sky, one male and one female, as quick as it had began, the thunderstorm receded and Gojo immediately recognized the two figures, or atleast he thought he did. The figure on the left had a striking resemblance to Goku, but the aura wasn't the same, he was dressed in black and Gojo didn't fail to notice the markings on his face. The figure on the right was what surprised Gojo the most, it was Caulifla.

Goku Black really was a plague. It had been three years since it happened, she remembered it as if it were the previous day. He had won, Planet Sadala was safe, until it wasn't. Satoru Gojo, the strongest mortal in the universe, the love of her life, dead at her hands, his body cut in half. That's when everything changed, that's when Planet Sadala burned. She thought she'd never see him again, but it seemed fate had it's own plans. Before she crossed the rift with Goku Black, knowing that his objective was to give chase to the Universe seven Saiyan who foolishly kept challenging him over and over again, she thought that she'd never come across something that had been lost to her forever. Hope. But there he was, blue eyes, white hair, there was no mistaking him, it was the strongest. She would've turned against Black right there and then, but she had loved ones to protect, her betrayal meant their demise. The sight of Gojo had gotten her full attention that she failed to notice that there was another, who looked exactly like Goku Black but wore orange instead. She had no idea where they were but it clearly wasn't the earth they were on a couple minutes ago. She could feel Goku Black stiffen by her side, she studied his face and managed to catch a flicker of fear before he composed himself, his eyes were on Gojo. He was nervous, meaning that he felt threatened, good.

Gojo couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was Caulifla. She looked older, sadder, the future definitely had not been kind to her. He had a feeling that the evil looking Goku was behind it all.

"So, who's gonna be the one who gets to kill that guy?" he asked turning to the others. Trunks face was white as snow, Vegeta had a scowl on his face as he started stepping forward, arms folded but Goku beat him to the chase.

"Sorry Vegeta, you snooze you loose." he said as he took off, flying towards Black. Vegeta cursed at him and turned back. Goku stopped infront of the other guy. They started upraising each other.

"You must be Black." Kakarot said, Goku Black smiled, Gojo noticed then that his eyes were red, very much unlike the real Goku who had black eyes in base form.

"How're you Goku? It's been a while." Black asked as if he was greeting an old friend. Goku scoffed and adopted a fighting stance.

"Trunks down there tells me you're strong. Why don't you show me." he said, Blacks evil smile grew wider. Before anyone could react, a yellowish- black orb of energy appeared from his right palm and flew towards Goku at an incredible speed. Goku only had time to cross his hands together infront of him as the blast blew him away, sending him flying towards the mountains. Gojo heard Vegeta yelling at Bulma to run inside the building. Things were about to get ugly.

"Kill them all except those two deities lounging at the pool, do not engage them in any way." he heard Black command Caulifla. Rage bubbled up inside him, but the guy was Goku's problem for now. Caulifla descended and landed on the ground, breaking it beneath her feet. Gojo watched as she bent down and clasped her hands together to create some form of sign. Suddenly the shadows all around them started changing shape, forming up until they became some form of wolf like creatures the size of a horse and started charging at them. It was wise of Black not to engage Lord Beerus or Whis, the two were still lounging at the pool, eating sausages and looking at a projection of the ongoing battle between Goku and Black. One of the demon wolves came charging at Gojo, snarling as it showed it's razor sharp teeth. Gojo waited until the last second and turned, the wolf's teeth chomped at where his neck was a second ago. He decided not to activate his infinity, grabbing one of the wolf's feet, he rose up in the air and spun, throwing the wolf away but before it could hit the ground, it turned back into shadow, as if it never existed in the first place, he didn't know Caulifla could do that. Trunks and Vegeta had engaged the other wolves, effortlessly disposing of them. Gojo clasped his hands and immediately dissapeared and reappeared behind Caulifla.

"I didn't take you for the type that follows orders." he said casually. He didn't have his blindfold so he got a much better read at her ki. No change, was her shadow manipulation an innate ability? Caulifla turned to face him. He could see a battle of emotions in her eyes when she looked at him, he sensed a story there too.

"What did he do to you?" Gojo asked, anger showing in his voice. She made another symbol using her hands. The battle all around them seemed to grow silent, she had an apologetic look on her face.

"With this treasure i summon." she chanted. Gojo cursed and immediately activated his infinity, he could already feel the presence of the powerful creature being summoned.The air thickened with an unnatural tension as the ground beneath him trembled, dust swirling into a vortex around the center of the field. From the shadowy depths, a figure began to emerge—slowly, deliberately—as if the very earth itself was reluctant to give rise to such a creature.

"Mahoraga." Caulifla finished.

The first thing Gojo saw were the wing like appendages where it's eyes should be, that and the permanent smile etched onto it's ugly face. Its skin, a sickly gray-blue, seemed to absorb the light, casting an ominous shadow even in the midday sun. Thick, sinewy muscles rippled beneath its surface, giving the creature a grotesque elegance, like a beast forged from nightmares. It's right hand had a blade extending from it, as black as obsidian.

But what truly unnerved him was the wheel.

Atop Mahoraga's head, spinning slowly but steadily, was a massive, ornate wheel the Divine General's crown. Each rotation felt like a heartbeat, an ominous pulse that reverberated through the air. Strange symbols glowed faintly along its rim, marking the passage of each turn, like the ticking of a clock counting down to something inevitable.

The wheel turned, and with each revolution, he could feel a shift in the atmosphere—a subtle yet undeniable change, as though Mahoraga was learning, adapting, preparing. It stood there, hulking and silent, a terrifying presence that promised destruction with every ponderous movement. Its very existence radiated a sense of inevitability, a creature born to adapt and annihilate, unstoppable once it began its work.

For a moment, there was only the sound of the wind and the heavy grinding of that wheel, the harbinger of an unfathomable power that was now focused entirely on its target. And then everything seemed to happen at once. The creature lunged at Gojo with incredible speed. Gojo activated his infinity and the blade the creature had attempted to bring down to his head stopped just inches short. Gojo placed two fingers pointed at it's belly.

"Crimson repulse!" he chanted. The atmosphere seemed to have adopted a red color when the tiny ball appeared, Mahoraga was sent flying by the shockwave but Gojo knew that it wouldn't have much effect against it. His near omnipotent perception could tell that the creature will adapt to that attack if he uses it too much, he had to kill it immediately. But before he could persue, super saiyan Vegeta came charging past him, heading towards the creature.

"Out of my way. Ill deal with that monstrosity." he yelled, before Gojo could react, Caulifla's fist stopped inches from his face. Gojo simply enhanced his limitless technique to the point that Caulifla could go nowhere within five metres of him. The sudden increase in infinite space sent Caulifla flying. Gojo had no intention of hurting her.

"Caulifla, whatever he's done, let me help." Gojo tried to reason. The female saiyan got up and transformed. Her super saiyan aura flared and she charged at Gojo again. Gojo decided to knock her out and deal with Black and the creatures first. He immediately transformed into super saiyan 2 and met Caulifla head on. They traded blows for a few seconds until the power of super saiyan 2 started overpowering that of Caulifla's super saiyan. Gojo kicked her with enough force to shatter a building and sent her flying towards the forest near the Capsule Corp building. He wasn't surprised when Caulifla turned to super Saiyan two but what did surprise him was when she made another hand symbol and a winged creature appeared out of the shadows created by the trees. It's entire body crackled with electricity as it flew towards him with incredible speed.

"You're in the way!" he shouted at it and proceeded to speed blitz past it, destroying it instantly as he threw a punch at Caulifla, she managed to dodge it and Gojo hit a tree, his fist breaking through it as if it was wet paper. They continued trading blows, Caulifla failed to land any hit on Gojo because of his infinity but Gojo was landing a fare amount of hits on her, he pulled his punches to avoid injuring her too badly. Suddenly, a loud sound was heard and Vegeta came crashing through the trees, he would have slammed into Gojo but his limitless technique stopped him. Mahoraga came charging towards them,

"I think that thing can adapt to my moves." Vegeta said as he straightened up.

"You think?!" Gojo stated. Caulifla was already retreating, choosing leave them to the creature she just let loose. Gojo and Vegeta screamed and both their aura flared with golden intensity, Gojo charged first, aiming for the legs as Vegeta went high. Gojo passed between it's leg, turned and sent a kick that swept the right foot off the ground at the very same moment that Vegeta crashed into it's chest. There was a huge shockwave created from the collision as the monster crashed onto the ground like a mountain. Gojo jumped high up and came down, feet ready to crush it's head but he misjudged the creature's speed. It got up faster than expected and Gojo's foot created a crater where it's head had been a second before and the creature proceeded to punch Vegeta so hard that another shockwave was created and Vegeta was sent flying back towards the Capsule Corp compound. It tried to swing another blow towards Gojo but Gojo teleported and appeared behind it, sending blows flying towards any weak points he could find on it's back. He kicked the back of it's left knee which made it to kneel down and Gojo proceeded to jump on it's back and wrapped his hands around it's neck. With one swift motion, he snapped the creature's neck, feeling the bones break sickeningly in the process. The creature fell limp and that's what made Gojo lower his guard. The next thing he knew, a giant arm was wrapped around his neck, immediately stopping the air flow. He didn't remember turning off his limitless technique, the creature had somehow bypassed it. It was adapting. Gojo gasped for air as he was lifted from the ground. Not only was the creature bypassing his infinity, it was somehow stopping him from charging up his ki and transforming again. Gojo could see the gleam of the obsidian blade as the creature prepared to stab him with it. If it were normal obsidian then it would just break upon contact with his skin, but Gojo didn't intend to find out if it was.

"Enough!" he suddenly heard Caulifla shout. The creature immediately dissolved back into shadow and Gojo landed unceremoniously on his ass. He stared wide eyed at Caulifla, the fact that he had lost so easily even if he was only at super saiyan 2 was unthinkable, had that thing already adapted to him before? Vegeta came landing next to him, Gojo could sense that he was about to go Blue but suddenly, the rip in the sky started to crackle again, sending lightning in every direction. Caulifla turned back to face Gojo, again, Gojo saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Come find me." was all she said and then she was suddenly pulled back towards the tear. Just like that, she was gone.

"What the hell was that?" Vegeta exclaimed, breathing a little hard. Gojo shook his head in wonder. It took a lot to surprise him, but that, that was something else. Suddenly they saw Goku Black, struggling against the pull of the phenomenon in the sky. Sending ki blasts in every direction. Whoever he was, he was the one responsible for whatever was happening in the future. Gojo saw a shot and decided to take it.

"Rrraaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhh!!" he screamed and his aura turned to blue it's intensity increasing exponentially. He prepared to unleash Hollow purple with just a flick of his fingers as he pointed towards Black. The two opposing forces of infinity were about to merge when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Whis.

"That would be a bad idea. He's too close to the rift." the angel said, Gojo turned to him confused but lowered his hand. A second later, Black was completely sucked inside the rift and with a final flash of lightning, it started closing.

"Why'd you stop me?" Gojo demanded. He turned back to base form as Lord Beerus casually walked towards them.

"If your antimatter blast were to hit that rift, even i don't know what would've happened." he explained.

"That creature. It bypassed your infinity. Whis, what was it?" Beerus asked as he reached them.

"I'm not sure my Lord but i have a fairly good guess. I'll explain when everyone is listening." he said, making Lord Beerus scowl in annoyance. They headed back towards the compound. Bulma was already back on the site.

"Seriously you guys, who's gonna pay for all this?!" she exclaimed as she pointed towards her ruined compound.

"No no no no no!!" they heard Trunks scream as he approached the burning remains of what was his time machine. Gojo cursed loudly. They could have gone after them with that.

"Trunks! I need you to explain everything. From the top. Right now." Vegeta demanded in a stern voice. Trunks turned towards them.

"It all started on November 14th, the first attack." he began his tale.

Hey guys, sorry for the late update. I've been up to all sorts of no good. Hope you enjoy.