I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters.
Complicated
The wind screamed past Bran as he raced through the sky. Behind him, his spaceship was just finishing sinking. He couldn't wait for landing. His scouter said they were fighting. His model couldn't read their power levels, but it had them all ranked into class three or above. One of them was a class one. As a class three, their power levels would be in the high tens of thousands. In class two, their power levels would be in the high hundreds of thousands. As class ones, the numerical values of power levels would no longer be a practical evaluation, or if he was well into class one, it wouldn't even begin to give a concept of his powers. His power level's numbers would be so high that they'd become abstract. Even during the height of the Saiyans' power, few reached class one. Even King Vegeta couldn't. But Frieza had been class one, and someone from Earth had killed him, so Bran knew the class one had to be a Saiyan. So, he had come for them.
And then, he found them. Most were standing around, one of that group being a Namekian, and one, the class one, was battling some overweight, white-skinned person in yellow clothes. Except, the white-skinned person didn't appear on Bran's scouter, and neither did an elderly man standing off to the side. However, Bran ignored that for a moment as the Saiyan sent the white-skinned person exploding into the ground with a kick. The Saiyan had glowing, golden hair and wore a strange-looking orange outfit with blue highlights, almost like a uniform. And as Bran slammed a kick into the Saiyan's back before he could react and sent him exploding into the ground, he noticed that nearly all of the group standing together below wore similar outfits, though of varying colors. Even the Namekian wore a similar outfit, though his was a dark purple, and suited him well, as did the white cape over a pair of large pauldrons, and the purple, armored cap with a white turban wrapped around it.
The group all shouted in surprise, as did the two, if Bran's guess was correct, automatons, and stared at Bran as he slowly descended. His black pants were just tight enough for the wind to not move them, his black boots touched the ground silently, the pale, mint-green on the top of the toes and around the top of the boots in a thick strip seeming to glow just slightly in the bright sun. His upper body was dressed in a tight, short-sleeved, black shirt under a pale, mint-green, sleeveless coat with the front sealed by two rows of buttons. He wore a thick, black belt over the coat, holding it tight against his body, and a pair of black, fingerless gloves. His pale, mint-green hair matched his coat and boots, and was currently growing longer than he liked. The bangs were messy again, almost seeming like spikes, and the wolf-tail it was tied into in the back was equally messy. Across his back, however, was a sword made out of a metal so dark it seemed to drink in the light around it. Its broad, double-edged blade was three feet in length, the crossguard was a pair of conical spikes sticking out to the sides of the quillon block. The grip was equally black and textured, and the pommel of the sword was a small, black sphere, like an onyx.
"Apologies for the abrupt entrance," Bran spoke calmly. "I just didn't think I should let the Saiyans claim this world so easily."
"The Saiyans?" the Namekian blinked in surprise.
"Yes, I wasn't aware they allowed other species to work with them," Bran said, then frowned as his scouter began to identify the races in the group. Hold on. Earthlings? And a half-blood? I didn't know that was a thing."
"Why are you working with the Androids!?" a short, bald Earthling with six dots arranged into a pair of columns on his forehead demanded.
"Androids?" Bran asked. "You mean these?"
He turned to look back at the two automatons, only for the white-skinned one to grab him by the face. His eyes widened as he felt his power begin to drain, only to begin to laugh instantly. The Android's eyes widened, and it spun, hurling him, only for him to stop himself instantly, hovering at an odd angle, nearly upside down.
"Neat trick!" he smirked, rotating himself. "Listen, I'm gonna kill the Saiyan real quick, then if you two tin cans wanna fight me, I'll happily scrap you."
"What!?" the youngest of the group, and the half-Saiyan, shrieked. "Why do you want to kill my dad!?"
Bran considered him for a moment, then nodded. "Saiyan, fight me alone, and I let your child live."
The Saiyan nodded, glaring at him. "My name is Goku, and you have a deal."
And then, Goku struck in and instant. His first punch drilled into Bran's face, spinning him and flipping him, only for Goku to strike again. Except, Bran deflected the next strike, then the following five. He drilled several of his own into Goku before Goku finally grabbed him by the face and smashed it into the ground, ripping him along it in an agonizing trail of shattered ground.
"I'm stronger than you," Goku noted coldly.
"That's true," Bran agreed. "You have a lot more Ki than me. So, I'll just have to borrow yours."
In an instant, Goku yelped, yanking his arms away from Bran as Bran's hair began to shimmer brightly. And then, in a flash, Bran had drawn his sword into a slash. Goku managed to flip past the first slash, but Bran merely spun in the air, the sword whipping around at Goku again. Goku leaned aside from it again, then struck out, knocking the sword from Bran's hand and catching its hilt himself. Bran lashed out instantly, a shining, mint-green sword forming in his hand from Ki. For several moment, the two of them clashed viciously before Goku spun around a slash from Bran, moving to hurl his stolen sword away, only for Bran to spin, his Ki sword vanishing as he caught his own sword, instantly spinning into a blistering strike for Goku's throat, even before he could transition away from his throw. And then, an instant from connection, there was a shout of pain as the Namekian slammed into Goku, knocking him aside and losing his arm.
"Piccolo!" the short bald Earthling and the Half-Saiyan boy both shouted.
Goku sank to the ground, and Bran tilted his head to the side, watching as Goku panted and gasped for breath, sweating and clutching at his chest.
"Heart problems?" Bran asked.
"The virus!" Goku's son shouted. "It's attacking his heart right now!"
"You're right, Gohan!" Piccolo nodded, a new arm bursting from his amputated stump in a spray of green blood. "But it's happening much later than that boy from the future said it would! Goku just thought he'd made a mistake, but somehow his visit has already changed history!"
"Probably," Bran nodded. "Time travel's messy. Been there, made that mistake. Anyway, since he's going nowhere fast, why are you working with a Saiyan? Why are all of you Earthlings working with a Saiyan?"
"You seem to know of the Saiyans as we met them," Piccolo said seriously but quickly. "Cruel and brutal. Wiping out entire planets to sell them for profit."
"That's right," Bran nodded.
"Well Goku's not like that!" Piccolo snapped. "He's dedicated his whole life to safeguarding the planet! He nearly sacrificed his life killing Frieza in a battle to protect Namek!"
"Which was destroyed," Bran pointed out.
"Not the point!" Piccolo growled. "Goku is the best man I know! The Saiyans you know, they don't exist anymore!"
Bran shrugged. "They're Saiyan's. I'll kill them for that alone."
"Like the Saiyans once killed your people?" Piccolo guessed.
Bran watched him in silence for a long while before sighing. He reached up to his scouter, taking it off and revealing his right eye's flat, red iris with no visible pupil, as opposed to the mint-green iris of his left eye. He looked over at Goku, his right eye, no longer impeded by the scouter's readout, watched the veins sticking out in Goku's neck stutter, the blood filling his skin slowly failing to flow, making his skin pale. Fear shimmered in Goku's eyes, but there was no hate, even as he looked at Bran, who had threatened his son. And as Gohan tried to move to his father's side, Goku started to order him to stay back, only for his voice to cut off into a strangled groan. And then, the pale android had returned, beating the now defenseless Goku about easily. Goku tried to fight back, but he couldn't land a blow. He couldn't avoid or block a blow.
"Help him, please!" Piccolo pleaded. "He's a good man, and he'd want to believe you are, too! Please save him!"
Bran watched for a few more moments as Goku was beaten and bludgeoned before sighing and putting his scouter back on. Then, he shot forward, shoving Goku to the ground in time to catch the android's hand with his own, interlocking their fingers. For a moment, the android began to drain his Ki, but then, Bran's eyes narrowed as he activated his own skill, a power unique to him among his race. Like this android, he could absorb Ki through direct contact. It was a power that made up for his own rather lacking innate Ki levels. And it was more powerful than the android's own. As the android's power began to fall, Bran's began to rise. The android began to try to pull its hand away, but Bran tightened his grip, holding it steady. He looked to Goku again, and his eyes widened. Goku's hair had turned from gold to black. Where before it stood straight up in spikes, now the spikes stuck out from his head in a mess, but Bran recognized the appearance. There had been a Saiyan on Bran's homeworld during the battle, Bardock, who'd been a good man. Honorable. He had refused to kill Bran first when Bran was fighting as a child, and then later in his life he'd met him again during his failed attempt at time travel.
"Bardock," Bran mused. "You may be right, Namekian. Take the Saiyan. If your friend from the future gave him medicine, get him to it."
"No!" the Android that looked like an old man, snarled.
The white-skinned Android's free hand snapped up, only for Bran to knock it away, the android's Ki blast missing him and exploding into the ground off to the side. Then, Bran's knee exploded into the Android's gut, sending him exploding backward along the ground. The Android exploded off of the ground instantly, racing toward Goku again, only for a new arrival to slam a kick into it, sending it exploding away again.
"No one kills Kakarot while I'm around!" the rather short Saiyan smirked, his black hair spiked upward and his arrogant smirk matching his father's, his body dressed in the tight, blue bodysuit and white battle armor of the Frieza Force. "Destiny has reserved that pleasure for me!"
"Wow!" the short bald Earthling said. "Vegeta!"
"You!?" Piccolo asked.
"You're pitiful, Kakarot!" Vegeta sneered at Goku. "You were warned about the heart virus! You should have known that turning into a Super Saiyan could only make it worse!"
"Super Saiyan?" Bran snorted, shaking his head. "I thought that was a myth. I'm kind of disappointed that that's all the power a Super Saiyan has. But then, I suppose he is dying, so I'll chalk it up to him having a bad day."
Vegeta stared at Bran. "A Cerealian?" He laughed. "You were protected by a Cerealian, Kakarot? How pathetic!"
"Less protected, more I took a swing at him myself," Bran shrugged.
This seemed the exact wrong thing to say, however, because in an instant, Vegeta had launched himself at Bran, who was instantly struggling to fend off the healthier of the two Saiyans.
"You arrogant peasant!" Vegeta was seething now. "You, a lowly Cerealian, think you have any right to face off against one of the last pureblood Saiyans!? You're nothing but a worthless nobody!"
His right palm shone as he moved to fire a massive, blue blast at Bran, but as Bran's palm met Vegeta's, Bran's hair began to shine as the blast was instantly and entirely absorbed. Vegeta's eyes went wide, but as Bran's sword whipped up at him, Vegeta instinctively launched himself backward, the sword leaving a shallow gash in Vegeta's cheek.
"You..." Vegeta held his gloved fingers to his cheek.
"Unlike the son of Bardock, the son of King Vegeta is a prize I'd happily claim," Bran said, raising his sword. "This sword was made by the God of Destruction. There's nothing it can't kill."
Vegeta's eyes widened for a moment before he grit his teeth. However, before the pair could continue fighting, the white-skinned Android launched itself at Vegeta. However, in a flash of light, Vegeta's hair turned gold, his power level multiplied to even higher than what Goku's had been, and he spent several minutes easily obliterating the Android, even allowing it to catch him by the arms just to rip its arms off before ending the one-sided fight with a Ki blast. Then, he turned back to Bran, who grinned, readying himself.
"This is more like it!" Bran grinned.
"Stop!" Piccolo shouted. "We need you to work together!"
But they ignored him, and both of them prepared to attack each other, only for Vegeta to drop out of his Super Saiyan form. Bran sighed, then looked over at the Android, only to see it fleeing. He rolled his eyes, turning after it.
"I'll handle this one," Bran said. "All of you catch up once the would-be prince has caught his breath. Looks like that Super Saiyan form of yours has its drawbacks."
Then, he was off, streaking after the fleeing Android. After a few moments, the Android vanished from view, and Bran looked around before shrugging.
"I have no intention of playing hide and seek!" Bran warned. "This is your only chance to come out!"
Nothing moved.
"Suit yourself!" He extended an arm, then fired a massive, mint-green blast down at the ground.
In an instant, the Android had leapt out to absorb the blast, but in the next instant, the blast shot backward, retracting back to Bran along the thin beam connecting it to his hand, where he reabsorbed the blast.
"What!?" the Android shouted.
"How'd you like my yo-yo?" Bran grinned, exploding down toward the Android as Vegeta and the others rapidly closed in from behind Bran and fanned out to either side.
"You bastard!" the Android snarled, turning to flee.
Before it could get anywhere, Bran appeared in front of it, drilling a punch into its gut. It shouted in pain as it doubled over, but Bran merely drilled another punch into it, sending it exploding into the ground. A moment later, Vegeta had punted it, sending it exploding away from them.
"You're going to let him get away doing that!" Bran snapped, chasing the android, but it was already gone. He swore. He couldn't trick it out the same way twice.
"Now look what you've done!" Vegeta snapped.
"Me?" Bran scoffed. "I had him handled just fine until you kicked him!"
"Enough!" Piccolo snapped. "We need to find him! Everyone spread out and search!"
Everyone scattered, Bran and Vegeta sparing each other one last glare before also beginning to search. However, after a minute, Bran doubled back to where he could watch everyone. Sure enough, having so many options to choose from was irresistible for the Android, and he made a bee-line for Piccolo. Piccolo's reactions were too slow, and the Android immediately caught him, covering his mouth as he rapidly drained his power, but it lasted only an instant before Bran's fist exploded into the side of the Android's head, knocking it off of Piccolo and sending it exploding into the ground.
"It's you!" Piccolo gasped as the others all rapidly gathered, the Android's metal hat bouncing and crashing down the rock formation the Android had landed on. "How did you know I needed help?"
"I figured the Android would try to drain one of us in order to get strong enough to fight the wanna-be prince," Bran shrugged.
"The WHAT!?" Vegeta snapped.
"So I found a spot where I could watch everyone," Bran continued. "I couldn't draw him out with an energy blast a second time, so I figured you all trying to search for him would do. My apologies for the underhanded tactic."
"Dude, that's just cold," the bald Earthling accused.
"At least you were useful for once, Krillin," Vegeta countered.
"Vegeta, that's mean," a taller, bald Earthling with a third eye in his forehead and a green uniform accused.
"Am I wrong?" Vegeta asked.
"You have sharp instincts," Piccolo finally cut in on the conversation. "And while I don't enjoy being bait, it was effective, and you stepped in instantly. Good work." He tossed his turban and cape aside, both crashing down hard, revealing their immense weight. "Now, let's finish things."
"Shall we pick up where we left off?" Vegeta asked, smirking. "If I recall, we were about to fight when you ran away."
"Stay out of this one, Vegeta!" Piccolo growled. "I owe him! He's mine!"
"No," Bran said as his fist exploded down into the top of the Android's head. "He's mine!"
He spun, hurling him into the air, but Vegeta appeared over the Android, slamming a kick into it and sending it exploding at Bran. Bran evaded the flailing machine and glared at Vegeta. Then, he grabbed the Android's leg and spun, smashing the Android's body through a boulder, then a second time through the debris, sending bits of it flying at Vegeta before hurling the Android after it. Vegeta snarled as he shielded his face from the debris, then backhanded the Android, sending him exploding into the ground as he and Bran moved to meet each other. Bran drilled a powerful punch into Vegeta's jaw, but Vegeta merely grabbed Bran by the hair and spun, sending him rocketing down into the Android, shattering the ground below them both. Bran shouted in frustration and grabbed the Android, launching himself at Vegeta, and flipped over a kick before swinging the Android like a bat, smashing its head into Vegeta's and sending Vegeta exploding into the ground before hurling the Android after him. Vegeta caught the Android and hurled it back, but Bran smashed it away, allowing it to explode into the ground before he and Vegeta drilled a fist into each other's faces at the same time, both crashing to the ground.
"I'm confused, are they fighting each other with the Android as a weapon, or is it a three-way fight?" Krillin asked.
"I'm not sure they really know anymore," Piccolo said, also watching as the two continued to brawl and use the Android as a weapon.
"I'm amazed that the new guy's doing so well," Tien commented, "especially now that Vegeta's a Super Saiyan, but why does he hate Vegeta so much?"
"He mentioned Vegeta's father," Piccolo reminded him. "He said the Saiyans wiped out his planet. Imagine if we'd failed to defeat Vegeta when he and Nappa came calling, and you were the only survivor."
"Forget being the only survivor," Krillin snorted. "If I had the kinda power this guy's throwing around, I'd have killed Vegeta when he first showed up anyway."
"Actually, given the comparative power levels now and then, you're stronger now than Vegeta was then," Piccolo pointed out. "You've always been strong, Krillin, but you've also lagged behind the rest of us due to a slight tendency to slack off."
Krillin sighed, nodding, just as Bran exploded to the ground beside the Android. In an instant, it lunged, clamping its hand onto Bran's face, only for Bran's first to explode into the android's gut, forcing it to release him, before he grabbed the Android by the head and smashed its face to the ground three times. However, his focus on the Android barely lasted a second beyond that before Vegeta fired a massive, golden beam of energy at the pair, which they absorbed together. The Android turned to fly at Vegeta, but Bran smashed its legs, disabling them, before grabbing the android by the back of the shirt and exploding into the air, sword pulled back and the Android held in front of himself like a shield. Vegeta exploded forward fist cocked back, only for Bran to suddenly strike with the Android, smashing its ridiculously durable head into Vegeta's before releasing it and slashing. Vegeta spun, swinging the Android in a circle before batting the sword away by slamming the Android's head into the broad side of the blade.
The Android contorted, grabbing Vegeta by the throat, only for Bran's sword to instantly sever the Android's arm. Vegeta drilled a kick into the Android, sending it exploding back into the ground, but then launched himself backward, Bran's sword falling millimeters short of taking his eyes. Except, a long cable of mint-green energy was now connecting to the severed wrist of the Android's hand, still attached to Vegeta's throat, the other end attached to Bran's hand. As Vegeta's ki began to flow into the Android's hand, then along the energy tether to Bran, Vegeta shouted in outrage.
"How dare you!?" Vegeta demanded. "Have you no pride!?" And then, he grabbed the tether and spun, whipping Bran through the air.
"Oh shit!" Bran swore, a split-second before Vegeta smashed him down atop the fleeing Android, planting both into a crater.
Vegeta chuckled, only to swear, dodging to the side as Bran's extended index and middle finger fired a super-compressed beam of ki. The beam grazed Vegeta's cheek and left a deep gash, and a split-second later, the Android spun out of the crater at Vegeta. He kicked the Android into the ground, just as Bran reached him, striking for the throat with his sword in both hands.
And then, in a sudden, deafening crash, Bran's sword deflected away just before a foot exploded into his gut, sending him exploding down on top of the Android.
"Who the Hell are you!?" the new arrival demanded.
He was in his late teens, powerful, and wore a pair of baggy, grey pants, yellow boots, a black muscle shirt with a grey half-jacket over it, had purple hair in a sort of mushroom cut, and held a sword with a white-silver blade in his hands, which had stood up to Bran's own sword, an impressive feat. However, Bran's scouter identified him as a half-Saiyan who was on Vegeta's level, so Bran narrowed his eyes.
"Out of the way, kid," Bran warned. "This is personal."
"I won't ask again," the boy warned.
"The name's Bran," Bran answered. I'm the last of a race called the Cerealians who were wiped out by Saiyans led by his father."
"That wasn't him!" the boy argued.
"Bran!" Piccolo called up at them. "That's not an enemy! That's Trunks! The time traveler who warned us about the androids!"
"Oh, this is him, huh?" Bran mused, ignoring Vegeta's look of utter shock at the boy's name. "You're from the future?"
"I am," Trunks nodded. "I came back to save my future."
"You can't," Bran said flatly, just as the Android moved to flee again, only for Bran to grab it by the leg, whipping it over himself and into the ground before driving his sword down through its thigh to pin it.
"I have to try something," the boy said, staring at the Android. "There's a chance to stop the Androids-"
"Stopping the Androids changes nothing," Bran cut across him. "It would save our future, but not your present. As soon as you arrived in our time, you forced a divergence from the timeline you come from. Your actions have created a separate timeline entirely, and the more times you travel here the more it diverges, but nothing you change here will affect your own time. When you go back, it will be exactly as you remember it. The Androids in your time will remain unchanged."
Trunks' head fell, but he nodded in understanding. Then, he turned his gaze to the Android lying before Bran. "Please make peace with Vegeta, or at least tolerate his existence, until the Androids are dealt with."
"Is this not one of them?" Bran asked. "It did seem a little strange that your friends were so concerned about ensuring this Android was destroyed when the Android itself is weaker than them. Except the short bald one. He brings down the curve."
"Hey!" Krillin complained.
"It's not that he's weak, it's that we've been preparing for him," Piccolo explained.
"And thank goodness for that," Krillin said. "Dying is such a bummer!"
"I'll bet," Gohan nodded as Bran snorted.
"I know you're the weakest here, but come on," Bran smirked. "You died and came back to life?"
"Yeah, I've been down that road, too," the tall one with the third eye agreed.
"Wha...You're serious?" Bran gaped, then leapt over to them. "How? How did you come back? Tell me how to save my people!"
"Well...we wished ourselves back to life with the Dragon Balls, but they have an upper limit on their power," the tall one explained. "I'm not sure they could save your people."
"But I could try!" Bran said. "You could tell me how to do it, and I could try!"
"Only if we survive the Androids, first!" Trunks called out, still watching the Android Bran had left pinned to the ground. "Even though I've never seen him before, I can tell that this is one of Doctor Gero's creations."
"What!?" Vegeta snapped. "What do you mean you haven't seen him before!? Isn't he one of the Androids you warned us about!?"
"I mentioned it before," Bran said, flying up into the air a safe distance from Vegita and Trunks, forming a triangle. "This one's not what Trunks was worried about."
"No," Trunks agreed. "This one's different."
"What!?" Piccolo yelped. "How could he be different!?"
"Maybe Trunks' warning caused a change in the timeline where Gero had a set of prototypes running around," Bran shrugged. "Either way, it's not a problem. This one's all but dealt with."
"No," Vegeta growled finally. "Nonsense! If that's not the Android you warned us about, then who is it!?"
"Hey, Vegeta, cut the kid a little slack, would ya'?" Krillin suggested. "So a few of the things he told us about changed. Maybe this did, too. We found two Androids just like he said we would. Does it really matter that they don't look the same?"
"That's not how time travel works," Bran cut across him. "You're assuming that these either are the Androids after all, or that they've replaced the Androids, but time travel doesn't work that way. Small changes, like the timing of the two Androids showing up and these two being here, are what I call incidental changes. Changes that occur simply by the act of time travel happening. This Android and his friend being here could be an Incidental Change, but Incidental Changes are comparatively small. They don't change who someone is, or someone's appearance, or whether someone is alive or dead.
"They also can't change anything from before the time traveler's arrival in this timeline. Meaning that anything before Trunks arrived here is fixed. The Androids he was worried about still exist. The other kind of changes to consider are called Direct Changes. Things that the time traveler himself did, or things that others did due to one of his Direct Changes, that alter time's course. Now tell me, do you believe that Trunks or any of you have done anything that would have resulted in the destruction of the two real Androids?"
The others all looked at one another before shaking their heads.
"Then we have to assume these Androids are still very much intact, but probably aren't active yet," Bran said. "And we have to assume that this Android knows where they are."
Just then, a ship flew past, beginning to circle as a woman with blue hair shouted to them and waved from inside. Bran could make out a second person inside of the ship, and his Scouter picked up an infant as well, but he didn't have time to worry about that.
"Enjoy this short-lived victory while you are able, for soon I will unleash Androids Seventeen and Eighteen to destroy you all!" the Android shouted, having torn his leg free of Bran's sword, crippling it and nearly ripping it off, but freeing himself.
"What a cranky old bastard you are," Bran huffed. "Just shut up and die already!"
The Android cackled and swiped his hand rapidly, sending a barrage of bright pink blasts into the ground before him. The resulting explosion was enormous, blinding, and largely for show. Bran absorbed the section of the blast heading for himself, and the overall power of the blast was weak enough that the others all survived it without much trouble, minus the ship. However, Trunks saved the woman and infant from the ship, and when the dust cleared, they were all unharmed. Unfortunately, the Android was also gone. Bran sighed, shaking his head.
"I'll start searching for him," Bran announced. "If his death is what both stops this Seventeen and Eighteen from awakening, I'm going to stop it. And then, you're going to teach me to save my people, got it eyeball."
"Deal," the tall bald one with the third eye nodded. "By the way, my name's Tien."
"Nice to meet you," Bran nodded, then took off.
He flew high, looking around as Vegeta began to search low, after Trunks tried and failed to yell at him for not even bothering to try to save the woman, Bulma, or her child. The Android had fled on foot, so he couldn't have gotten far. They just had to find him. And unfortunately, with Bulma and her infant in the way, he couldn't just level the area and search that way. He'd have to find the Android the old fashioned way. However, after a few minutes of having no success, the others suddenly all took off, and Bran rocketed after them, catching up quickly. Except, the others had scattered. Gohan was carrying Bulma, baby Trunks, which was less of a surprising revelation for Bran than for the others, and the third person from the ship back toward their home. Vegeta had decided to allow the Androids to awaken in order to fight them and had taken off with Trunks just behind him, determined to try to destroy the Androids before they could be activated and to protect his father. Krillin, Tien, and Piccolo were searching for Dr. Gero's lab. Probably the only truly surprising revelation of the bunch was that the Android Vegeta and Bran had been battering one another with was Dr. Gero himself.
"Should have just trashed that fucking Android," Bran grumbled. "We can't let Vegeta activate those Androids. If they're strong enough to warrant time travel to defeat them, it'll be bad."
"What about you?" Piccolo asked. "You time traveled before?"
"Once," Bran nodded. "To try to save my home. Frieza wasn't present when my home was destroyed, only the Saiyans, so when I found Lord Beerus and got this sword from him then went back in time, I gave myself and my people long enough to be able to train for the battle. And we won. I spent nearly a year recovering there before heading back to the future, my present. Except that nothing had changed. My people were still gone. It had still been the Saiyans who had wiped them out, and there was never any point in my timeline where I arrived to save my people."
"So, no matter how this all plays out, we won't change the future?" Krillin asked.
"We will for ourselves," Bran said. "Our future may change, but Trunks' timeline will be as dark and desperate as ever. He could stay here, live in our time, or he can accept his own time and go back to it to try and save it alone."
The others nodded, and they all fell silent as they continued to travel in silence.
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