The Three Legendary Saiyans.

Chapter 79: The Sole Connection.

Amidst the gleaming red light of The Gravity Chamber; with its Gravity Manipulation maxed out as Raijin stood tall in a handstand, pressing down until his nose touched a sweat-soaked floor and then pushing himself back up, his black hair matted from the exercise conditions from the high gravity and the heavy five-ton weights attached to his wrists and ankles, Raijin was trying heavily to not rely on a transformation into any form and instead build his body even further; the experience with Jiren and Broly had taught him that he needed to be able to fight for longer against foes more powerful than him, who could overpower him, and then there was Bojack whose body seemingly just absorbed his punches and channelled that impact to his own fists; and there were seven more Elite's likely with abilities similar or entirely different that they still had yet to discover.

Gritting his teeth as the exertion began to take its toll; his palms slipping from the sweat, effort and strain after hours upon hours within the obscenely high gravity level, Raijin yelled the vocal command to shut down the Gravity Generator as the red light dimmed down as the generator lowered the level slowly down to a total shut down leaving Raijin to slid down and lay on his back panting for breath after several days in training without stop for rest nor sleep.

Stepping out from The Gravity Chamber; panting from the several days of continuous training, wrapping and towel around his neck and a Hercule-brand sports drink in his hand as he sat down on a wooden chair and finally allowed himself to collect his breath and thoughts as Goku and Vegeta were up on Beerus' World doing their own training while he trained on Earth; though he was invited to go he opted to stay due to a hunch feeling that something was going to happen today and when he got such hunches then they typically proved correct.

Glancing up from his sports drink; Raijin caught sight of a brilliant white flash of light breaking through the cloudless blue in the mid-afternoon sky; knowing too well that the source was The Time Machine attempting to break through the fabric of reality and enter their timestream, not having to wait long as The Time Machine materialised only to float down to a landing, the domed hatch opening as Future-Trunks and Future-Mai climbed out from the pilot compartment.

"Future-Trunks; how good to see you again! And you brought Future-Mai too! Welcome back" Raijin spread his arms in welcome; smiling as his hunch had indeed proven correct.

"Thank you Sir Raijin; I am well" Future-Mai gave a beaming smile; while dressed in a new unmarked trench-coat with her Twelve-Gauge Shotgun looped over her shoulder, appearing healthier than ever and bearing a certain glow about her.

"Raijin; I'm sorry I wasn't present to participate in that Tournament of Power event… I was preoccupied with matters of great importance" Future-Trunks spoke apologetically; withholding the knowledge of his missions for the time being.

"Don't worry about it; we had to pull off a few miracles but we survived" Raijin admitted; though not going into detail about all the seemingly conveniences in the power-ups that Limit Breaker's and Ultra Instinct had bestowed.

"I don't doubt that in the slightest Sir Raijin, after all you saved me from certain death" Future-Mai spoke on how Raijin had saved her from Zamasu and Black in the botched assassination attempt that had gotten her whole squad killed except for herself.

"So to what reason do we have the pleasure of your visit? Shall I call Bulma?" Raijin spoke; offering Future Trunks and Future-Mai a meeting with Bulma while she was either with her father in his laboratory or in her own with Ewan working on whatever was behind that Sealed Door, reaching for a phone to call Bulma when Future-Trunks answered his question.

"No…" Future-Trunks answered curtly; surprising Raijin with his unwillingness to see his Mother even though they were from a different Timeline.

"I came here for you… I need your help" Future-Trunks continued; looking at Raijin with an air of discomfort much akin to the way he had been the last time he'd returned from a long absence when he'd attacked Goku after mistaking him for Black.

"My help? You don't want Goku or Vegeta? Not even Gohan and Piccolo?" Raijin answered; suddenly remembering that Goku and Vegeta were training with Broly up on Beerus' Planet while Piccolo was babysitting Pan whilst Gohan was working on a presentation regarding Golden Ants that even he agreed looked akin to Super Saiyans.

"Yes, I need you and only you" Future-Trunks spoke; speaking resolute and resolved in his request for aid from Raijin though his need remained a mystery.

"May I ask what his matter regards? It's not Androids or Zamasu again?" Raijin joked with a hint of sarcasm; referencing both times Future-Trunks had travelled the Timestream in seek of aid.

"No; nothing like that but it does involve another branching Timeline; and it starts with you… or another version of you" Future-Trunks spoke again; his hands tense and shaking from some prior experience with an Alternate Raijin, Future-Mai turned to him and holding his hand allowing Future-Trunks to relax though only slightly.

"Another version of me?" Raijin asked; rising from his seat, his interest piqued as he felt eager to learn about this alternate version of himself.

"Yes, an alternate version of you is causing problems in an Alternate Timeline" Future-Trunks spoke with a noticeable hint of fear in his voice; though Raijin failed to notice the hint of fear in his reaction.

"Future-Trunks; you're a Super Saiyan, Frieza and Cold both couldn't hold a candle to you, you saved your Earth from two murderous Androids and Cell, and you cleaved Fused Zamasu in two, in what sense do you need my help?" Raijin laughed it off; his prior experience of Future-Trunks' abilities led him to believe that he was more than capable of handling himself.

"You don't understand the limitations we have to bear; we have to restrict…" Future-Trunks began to explain; only getting cut off by Future-Mai as she adjusted her Shotgun thus making her presence known.

"We? You mean you" Future-Mai crossed her arms; utilising the royal we in her words.

"Yes… I have to, I have to restrict my abilities to only what is necessary to correct the disruption and not cause any more irregular events in the moment in time" Future-Trunks continued after being corrected as to who had to hold back when in .

"So for example… you couldn't stop The Androids from being woken up and destroying the world in your own Timeline?" Raijin questioned; figuring that Future-Trunks would want to correct his own Timeline if it still existed though that would mean that Zamasu would eventually return to wreak havoc.

"No, nor can I go back and prevent the death of Future-Gohan" Future-Trunks confessed; expressing guilt for not being able to save his mentor when as a Time Traveller; it was his deepest wish was to reverse that particular destined fate.

Raijin gave a nod of understanding; coming to grasp the rules that Future-Trunks and Future-Mai had to adhere to when entering Timelines, though he couldn't fathom having to hold back his own abilities if he were to enter an Alternate Timeline himself, "Can I ask why you need me to enter this Timeline?".

"Because the version of me in that Timeline doesn't exist" Future-Trunks confessed; feeling despondent that his duplicate didn't exist in a Timeline that he as an officer of The Time Patrol was required to investigate.

"Pardon?" Raijin asked; glancing to Future-Mai as she too shared the defeated expression that Future-Trunks bore but also noticed a hint of fear in her eyes when speaking on this new Timeline.

"Due to the rules I have to follow when Alternate Timelines emerge; I can only enter a Timeline where a version of myself or whoever I am with exists or will exist within that flow of time and the only one that does exist there… is you" Future-Trunks explained; laying out the basic rules he had to follow when entering another Timeline and that he hadn't met the conditions for The Time Gate to open a passage to that version of reality.

"Wasn't Vegeta in The Frieza Force then too?" Raijin questioned Future-Trunks' unwillingness to ask Vegeta for assistance; when they all knew Vegeta was involved with Frieza for twenty years before going rogue on Namek.

"According to the history of this Timeline yes… but" Future-Trunks felt depressed when speaking on his father's state within this Timeline, indicating that Vegeta did in fact exist there but unknown as to whether he was dead or alive.

"Let me get this straight… you want me and not Vegeta nor Goku; to aid you in entering another Timeline and do what exactly?" Raijin asked; questioning their intentions due to the last time they'd meddled with Time led to both the Cell and Zamasu crisis's.

"Correct it and track down the villain causing these disruptions in the flow of Time" Future-Mai spoke with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice; her tone proving that in the short time they'd both been apart of The Time Patrol that they have already corrected several disruptions in Time.

"And that villain is not The Other You, but the individual whose manipulated events to cause this temporal divide" Future-Trunks continued; making it clear that The Alternate Raijin wasn't their only foe in this altered flow in Time but was somebody else who'd caused the divergence.

"Didn't Whis say that altering Time was a crime punishable with Erasure" Raijin stated; recalling all the trouble they'd been through when jumping from one Timeline to another and the issue Whis had shared if Zeno had become aware of what they were doing while battling Zamasu and Black.

"Yes he did; however The Supreme Kai of Time and her Time Patrol give us temporary immunity to that punishment when these types of disruptions emerge, it is our duty to find the source of the disruption and return the flow of Time to its correct course".

"Tell me everything… about The Other Me" Raijin brought his hands together as he gave Future-Trunks and Future-Mai his full attention.

"Alright; allow me to start at the beginning… the day The Saiyans first arrived on Earth" Future-Trunks took a long pause before beginning to speak on The Other Raijin; unsure on how Raijin was going to react to the revelation that even he was taken aback by.

"You mean when Vegeta first came here with his now-deceased comrades? But wasn't I on Namek then?" Raijin asked; taking the alternate version of himself more seriously, speaking on Raditz and Nappa though he'd never met the pair but had heard their names.

Future-Trunks felt hesitant to reveal this information to Raijin; his hands curling into fists as he felt Future-Mai's own hand upon his shoulder to encourage him to tell Raijin what he needed to hear if he was to assist them, "I'm afraid not… this version of you wasn't raised alongside The Namekians, this version of you… is Evil".

Next: Origins of Evil Part 1.