/"Damn, not even a trace?"/
The Devil-Be-Gone mage shook his mask-encapsulated head. "Both 'awakenings' in the Quarterfinals seem to have been purified as a byproduct of the Semifinals' first match. In fact, there wasn't a spot for leagues that hadn't been rendered sanctified to some degree!"
The purple-haired figure grinned wide.
/"Good. Good. Alright, I figured as much. Now, has Rizome worked out the Spear of Moonless Night?"/
The aforementioned ring-surrounded mace slowly dug in a symbol on the ground, its twin tie-wearing wielder in a flowing movement almost like a dance as she drew it out. The marks in the ground failed to regenerate.
"Yes."
/"Good. How about Magakiga? Reined in those arms yet?"/
The aforementioned sorcerer stood just outside its center, his newly-identical second pair of creaseless arms clasped together in the same Bhutadamara mudra as his initial set.
"Better than ever."
The one in the center, one with particularly-pointy ears, impatiently pounded the ground with a jumpy heel.
/"And Hokk?"/
The bulky, shark-faced, catfish whisker-toothed demon gnashed his chompers, his skin literally bubbling as he held the ungodly artifact tight in his clutches. All present were in a state of unease just being near it.
"Impatient as always, but yes. He's ready and able. Artifact is in place."
The figure smiled. /"Good. Whenever you're ready."/
Nods were sent down the chain, nods that turned into verbal cues as it went further down. It eventually reached the three patrollers.
"FshShShshShsShssHh…"
Hokk's entire body expanded.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – Kekkai Toushitsu30 (3:19) ]
And then he roared.
A volatile maelstrom of indigo and black rocketed into the air, as if an abyss had been torn open. The demon patroller's entire body reverberated unnaturally like a bag in a wind tunnel, as if his flesh was decrying the breed of energy pouring from it; an uncanny mixture of dark magic and ki straight from the pits of the demon realm.
The concentration, one that would've otherwise spread across the vacant city and conjured up spirits across the realm, tore upward within the ofuda-paved barrier. Surreal noises foreign to the beasts and beings below Heaven crawled through the fold of divine blessings, rattling those beneath the two sealers' abilities to an unease that licked at insanity.
Neither Rizome nor Magakiga showed visible tire. That didn't stop their eyes from bulging, their skin from wriggling. The sweat that oozed from their pores was not from exhaustion.
For just a split millisecond, the onslaught of energy, one that defied the natural order, slipped through space like black ink through paper. Any more, and it would've outright torn through it.
Hokk's whitened eyes flipped black once more, dropping the accursed piece of stone. In the same millisecond within which it came, the energy quelled.
The messenger fell onto his knees, gasping for air; he'd been filled with so much terror, he'd unconsciously begun holding his breath. "... mh-hm… it… it worked, sir…" The senior swallowed. "All of that, combined with invoking her sigil… it shouldn't matter where her focus is or was, THAT reached her."
/"Awesome."/
"Yes… But, sir…" The senior watched an aggravated Hokk desperately try escaping from Magakiga's bearhug, as Rizome got close for a group selfie. "Why go this far? Wasn't this tournament harsh enough?"
/"I was in the same boat before the semifinals, y'know. But I've seen what these two can do, how far they can push themselves. I just want her to know as well."/
Trunks smirked. "This is nothing to them."
[ OP: PARED – Furachina Kassai ]
SPECIAL: Tale of Trunks! Rise Again, Lone Warrior! (Part 1)
Conton City.
It's aight.
I guess.
[ BGM: Souls of Mischief – 93 'Til Infinity (0:19) ]
"What even HAPPENED in 767?"
"Come on-"
The brolic human slammed down his menu. "No, no. Like what the FUCK HAPPENED? I CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF THAT MANY DUMBASS HISTORIES, JUST ASK ME WHO LIVED AND WHO DIED! WHO EVEN MADE THAT TEST!?"
A pony-tailed tuffle in a school uniform rolled her eyes. "Is he still on-"
"YES, YES I'M STILL ON THAT! THAT QUESTION'S THE ONLY FUCKING REASON I'M NOT IN THAT TOURNAMENT NOW!"
"Yeah well," blinked a long haired, blonde-dyed Konatsian in a tacky dress, "Maybe if you'd stop insisting there were 4 timelines instead of 3, you'd be the one smoothing out the stage with your face."
"I am TELLING YOU, THERE SHOULD BE A TIMELINE WHERE TRUNKS LEAVES BEFORE THE CELL GAMES-"
"Yeah I'm gonna keep cutting you off because you're a moron," said the Konatsian before bolting up, "MOTHERFUCKER THAT'S NOT THE SAME THING, THERE IS NO FUTURE-FUTURE CELL THAT GETS THERE AND MAGICALLY BECOMES PERFECT WITH NO ANDROIDS IN SIGHT. YOU'RE THINKING OF PARALLEL TIMELINES, NOT ALTERNATE HISTORIES!"
Both the tuffle and a majin woman with shoulder pads and a cape watched the two screech at each other and draw eyes.
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN, CELL CAN ALREADY BE PERFECT, TRUNKS COULD JUST GO BACK WITH THE STUPID SCHEMATIC BEFORE THE ANDROIDS GET GOT, AND GAVE THE REMOTE TO KRILLIN ON HIS WAY OUT! THAT'S WHY THIS DOESN'T ADD UP!"
"YOUR FUCKING BRAIN CELLS AREN'T ADDING UP TO COHERENT THOUGHT, THAT'S WHY YOU KEEP SAYING THIS SHIT YOU SPED-"
The majin woman loudly cleared her throat, quelling the two as she set down her tea. "Dude… first off, you're both wrong, so calm down. Yes, there are 4 key histories in that era, but you're thinking of the Trunks that Cell killed, who came back from the history where he got the schematic early. YOU'RE just shit at explaining your answer. Second off… look, straight up, it's not like this wasn't the worst year you could've made it into this tournament thing. Just look at that roster. Imagine getting up there and getting your soul snatched, or nuked by water, or shot, or set on fire, or matched up with any flavor of assorted psychopath. Like come on, at least half of those guys were unstable."
"Why do you think I'm so mad?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Did you SEE how those chicks were moving in the quarterfinals!? How they were talking, how they were… oooOOH THAT COULD'VE BEEN ME UP THERE!"
"By the-... hon I'll say this once, I don't care who you're thinking of-"
"Whom-"
"-choke on it, you canNOT fix her."
"Fix? FIX!? FUCK THE FIX, I WANTED DINA TO RUIN ME! AND NOW I'LL NEVER HAVE THAT HAPPEN, BECAUSE OF THAT PURPLE-HAIRED BOZO AND HIS KOOKY SHENANIGANS IN THAT BITCH ASS HISTORY!"
"I swear if you focused on studying the way you focused on which woman could stack your shrink's mansion the tallest, you'd actually be talking to one of them."
"... t-the baddies or the shrink?"
"Just shut up and eat? Christ."
A few tables away, a purple-haired bozo stuffed his face with a reuben sandwich. "(Definitely gotta tack that one to the list of 'What I Got for Wanting to Save Everyone'…)"
No one would know, of course, thanks to his snazzy aviators and stupid fucking snapback. Not just anyone, at least.
"Hey, old man…!"
His grip jerked tight; thanks to that, a lump of corned beef fell out of his sandwich. "Mrmh." He moved on and kept eating.
"HEY." The figure took the empty seat in front of him. "I know you're not deaf yet."
"Mh?" He glanced up innocently, his fine dining uninterrupted.
"Kh…!"
The side of Son's fist smacked the table, spurring a jump. "HEY!"
"... Mh-hm?"
"You-" She stopped for a second to make sure she was talking to the right person. "You're acting pretty calm right now, all things considered."
The figure finally set down his sandwich. "I still need to eat…"
Son re-seated. "A 'first patrol', a 'show of force', just what the hell are you trying to pull for the finals?"
"That's not all."
"..."
"It'll also be a final exam."
Pan snatched Trunks' reuben sandwich, to his dismay. "I'm not playing this game with you, 'sir'. Spill it."
He sighed, slowly standing up. "Alright," said Trunks, pushing in his chair. "Walk with me."
Watching him take the first steps, Son tried the thieved delicacy.
She visibly recoiled, as if someone had set off a firework in her ear. "MH!? MMH!"
Trunks turned back. "Also can I get that back?"
Pan looked at him.
Pan looked back down.
"Pan?"
Pan looked at her shirt.
Pan looked back at him.
"Pan that's food, please."
Pan made a decision.
"Pan doN'T DO THI-"
Son ate what was now her sandwich as they walked along the dirt path. "You're not crying, are you?"
"Nno…"
She scratched at her chest with her free hand. "Ya sure?"
"Kfh…"
Pan finished up and threw her arms behind her head. "Just know, that wouldn't've happened if you were upfront, m'kay? No use in skipping out on me from here on. So. Let's talk."
Trunks gave a slight, puffy-eyed glare, before recomposing. "The plan..."
"What else?"
They passed under the shadow of a natural arch.
"The plan is for the Finals to be set in another dimension. Specifically, one mirroring the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai."
"Al… riiiight? I'm not following."
"Pan… do you remember when the Demon King was killed?"
"Age 774. Same as the Twenty… Fifth…"
"Pan…" Trunks turned his icy-blue glance toward her. "Do you remember who the Demon Princess happens to be?"
"Are you trying to throw TOWA at two JUNIOR PATROLLERS?"
The lilac commander backed up. "What? No. Towa wouldn't risk that much. She knows that if she did show up, and she did manage to kill anyone from Conton, I'd fucking slaughter her, then and there. And all our lives would get that much easier."
The spontaneous crass tongue from the otherwise mild-mannered commander brought the late-teen some levity. "(I can't remember this guy ever cursing…)"
"Alas, that's a dream, and this is reality."
"(And the sky's blue, and people die when they're k-)"
"Towa wouldn't chance something like that in a million years. The only reason she'd make a personal appearance would be to either taunt us or lead us into a trap… and even without appearing physically, she managed to pull off the latter."
Her levity crashed back to the ground. "... yeah." She turned a palm to the sky, as if an answer would fall into it. "But if not that, then what? It's not like we can trace Towa's energy to a place in time without someone on Puddin's level. If she tries possessing one of them from the comfort of 'x' timeline, considering the two contestants, she'd gain nothing, and we'd gain nothing. Kora got past her mind games when she was a lot weaker than she is now, and Zinco's a borderline god."
"I'm counting on that, actually. She'd have nothing to gain if we're present."
Pan went cockeyed. "You… know what you're implying, right?"
"I am. But if it pans out well, we gain, and she loses."
"If Towa sends one of her harem over and kills those two, we're shit out of luck."
"Mmh… no, think about it. Slug, Turles, Mira, if they leave her side, she's placing herself at risk. She's still running from her own kind, she needs all the protection she can get. Neither of the four would make an appearance. I can acknowledge the risk she took in giving herself away to take out three of the greatest warriors time has ever known, but she isn't stupid enough to risk her life in such a manner just to snuff out two greenhorns brimming with potential. You're right about one thing, though; she would absolutely risk something to seize this opportunity."
"So you're thinking that she'll send down a villain from another history."
Trunks shot Pan with an unloaded spirit gun. "Bingo. Strengthened by Dark Magic, as always. All in an attempt to snuff out the Time Patrol's next in line and get back at us in the most cost-efficient way possible. The hope is that we're getting an idea of where Towa's average capabilities lie, while forcing her to expend it, if just a bit."
Pan crossed her arms, pacing from under the shade. "I'm guessing that she'll also have an idea of what she has to deal with, going forward… and by the time she's regained confidence and replenished her own resources for whatever hit on history she has planned, we'll be even more well-trained? Or she'll be coaxed into making a bold move soon after, thanks to that same possibility, and we'll be able to take her down like that? But still, you even said it, we have no idea of what she's capable of right now. Old man… you're being awful ruthless."
Trunks stayed put. "I am. However, this is the sort of trial by fire that'll guarantee for me whether or not those two are ready for a full-on patroller's responsibilities. Thanks to the semis, this'll be all I need to make that decision." He threw himself off the wall. "There won't be another chance for something like this to happen, and I wouldn't stake this much on any other juniors."
Every contestant, from the eight in the preliminaries, to the four quarterfinals, and the two in the semis, flashed through his head.
"Those two have every right to've made it where they are now. And it's thanks to every last bar in between, faced by themselves and their opponents, that's allowed them to climb so high. I just need them to surmount this last hurdle."
"And if they die?"
"... I have to be willing to-..."
"To make that sacrifice?"
The look Pan gave him.
He smiled, as if gracious for it. "... I have to be willing to place others in situations like that. I need to be ruthless, and I need to have just that much faith in those who receive that ruthlessness. If I don't, then nothing's gained. Never mind the RESET-MET…. the Time Patrol, and everything before it, it's all taught me that."
Pan was getting ever-so slightly irate, and it wasn't just because of the stupid name. "But you've never been this desperate for anyone else to prove themselves as patrollers. Why are you only starting now?"
Trunks, hands in pockets, paced from under the arch. "Because beyond this final test, it's this specific set that I trust with my ambition."
"... wha? You? Have an ambition…?"
"Conton City was meant as a replacement for Toki Toki City, and it shared its purpose: a way to keep the status quo, to preserve time. It's a noble cause, protecting history, but it's ultimately just that. A status quo. I change nothing, only ensuring that what's already happened… no matter how awful… continues to happen. But…"
He moseyed over to a crystal-clear lake. "Ever since Conton City became its own continuity eight years back, I've wanted to turn it into a world built on change. Fill it with people who longed for it in life but were denied it by death, and with others who tried to force it through altering time and failed, only to create something worse in their wake. Entrusting them, their power, their resolve, their character… not only with upholding time, but creating a world outside of it filled with people who can see their potential through and live wearing their beliefs on their sleeves, unbound by cruel destinies… that's what I want."
Son spared an uneasy sigh. "And how exactly does Towa factor into this?"
"Simple. Towa's aims are in the way of my own. With this plan, I get closer and she gets farther, in one fell swoop."
" 'One fell swoop,' I swear…" she mocked, peering into the lake as well. "Old man, this plan wouldn't paint you in the best light if people found out, you know…"
"I do know." Trunks walked away, folding his arms behind his back. "But it's not like I'll ever claim to be a good person. That's what you're for."
[ BGM: FictionJunction – Hanamori no Oka ]
"... huh?" Son looked back up. "Hey! HEY I THOUGHT WE WERE FINISHED WITH THE CRYPTIC CRAP!"
"Wasn't cryptic!"
"KEH!" Pan heaved a raspberry at her senior, who strolled away unbothered. Even as he faded from earshot, she maintained.
"Dumbass…" she asked, peering back into the reflective lake. "How the hell could you think I'm any better than you?"
She traipsed through a crooked forest with greenery that almost resembled emeralds. A young girl happily trotted her way out, followed by three citizens and, hauled behind them, a cart filled with alien material.
She strolled past an overlook, on top of which was built a lavish mausoleum — one of its spires split the rising sun's spokes. Glistening along its base seemed to be either abandoned treasures or mementos honoring something or someone long passed.
She moseyed by the grassy plateaus. Her mother (from a parallel universe) shouted commands at a dozen students from varied species and races, a few miles from her dojo. The lot weren't even donning her school's gi yet — they had to prove they were worthy of even holding it beforehand.
She passed by the Calculations Division HQ. A boy in glasses and saiyan armor was walked to the entrance by a tailed girl in plaid, and he was welcomed at the door by the older staff — one of which, a woman in white and indigo, carrying a box large enough to hold an office cubicle's worth of belongings.
Near Orange Star, she spotted a suited Krillin talking with a nervous guest instructor whom she knew dearly. By the time they left her peripherals, the short monk had smacked the big green fellow on the back and seen him off.
Within the courtyard, a large majin fellow literally broke bread with a significantly-smaller musai. One shared a joke and, despite the other's confusion, laughed off his poor delivery himself. The humble gesture got a giggle from the long-tailed boy.
Across the street, a young boy with heterochromia – one eye blue, one eye red and without a pupil – sprinted past her. She turned on a dime, only to spot him tackling an older man, wrestling a pocket purse from his clutches. She took a single step before the scruffy teal-haired boy tossed it over to a neckless, many-eyed woman, who bowed in gratitude to his front of indifference. She chuckled with a good nature, and kept forward.
Outside the library, she witnessed a chubby girl adorned with a dark-blue complexion and a look akin to Zarbon's croc form held a white mystic hex in her hands, to the cheering of her friends — a reserved Konatsian and a literal talking tanuki. In the library's doorway, two juniors from preliminary matches watched; one with pride, one with a subdued satisfaction.
By a vendor, a stocky musai scolded a rugged, profusely-sweating man with a light scar across his face and a delivery cap on his head, as a girl in a blue blazer watched with a tired smile.
At the fountain's edge, an armored human woman sat perfectly still as her saiyan ally charged head-first at her, only for him to bounce off a nonagon-laced field. The woman giggled apologetically, as the saiyan raised his thumb with his own woozy chuckle.
To the side of the time machine, a young man with a leopard's ears, teeth and tail thwacked a young woman with a wolf's variant upside the head. Their respective posse huddled around a lanky, teal-skinned namekian, who humbly declined their gratitude as much as he could.
At the foot of the stairs leading to the Time Nest, Son stopped. "(It's hardly been even a week…)" She recalled the dour, broken states she'd seen days prior. "(But everyone's already starting to heal.)"
"... like I could even hope to manage all this…"
…
..
.
.
..
…
"I guess this is it for me."
Trunks sat on the foot of the steps. His surroundings were almost insultingly scenic and, were circumstances different, he could've gotten lost in the heavenly garden.
"... At least she let me say goodbye to everyone. Besides, there's another me back there. Right?" His hand rose, pushed back his hair, and stayed in place.
After a long silence, a dry half-chuckle escaped him. "Is that all I've got going for me?"
His tired smirk began to crinkle. "All I wanted was…"
"So the next time you mourn your people-"
"IT CAN'T BE! IT CAN'T BE! IT CAN'T BE!"
"All I wan-..."
"Remember they're dead because of you!"
"THEY WERE INNOCENT PEOPLE TRYING TO HANG ON—!"
"I just wanted to save everyone…" he quietly stammered, finally losing his composure. "Why is that a sin…? Was I really supposed to just lie down and die, is that it?" His posture slumped lower and lower.
"Enough, already…" he muttered, pinching his bridge to stave off tears.
"So YOU'RE the troublemaker who's been dragged here!"
He hastily cleaned himself up, gathered himself with a sigh, and turned. "Yes," the lilac swordsman said robotically. "... I guess you're my handler."
He was somewhat surprised by the smile the man in tendril locks carried.
"I'm in good company, then." The tall, grey-clad man with a Galactic Patrol logo descended the steps of the scroll room. "I've heard your story, Trunks. I would've spared you a tear or two if I were alone, make no mistake. Fate is cruel, isn't it?"
He extended a hand. "My name is Sealas. I'm the man first chosen for the Time Patrol."
Trunks was so taken aback by the nicety, he simply returned the greeting. "I-I'm Trunks."
Sealas chuckled with a good nature. "I'm glad I could hear it from you, then. Now I'm double-certain!"
— Had he not met that man that day, his heart would've fallen into despair. But as fortune would have it, the blue wind of hope would yet continue to roar.
Trunks laughed, and boisterously so. "Just making sure! I've… I've got history with doppelgangers, after all…"
"Mh." Sealas' mood lowered, but his good spirits remained. "I know. Well, now that the new Supreme Kai of Time is done briefing you, you should have some time to recuperate. Come, let me show you around."
[ BGM: Bruce Faulconer – Heaven Sent Trunks ]
The two walked through the small plaza, one holding a ravaged stick of takoyaki, the other, a nibbled stick of exotic kebab. "It's so small…"
"Sadly, yes. Though, as more folks are asked about this place, and the more travel here as the Time Patrol seeks their aid, I'm sure it'll grow. For now, at least, there's food, so it's not quite a prison."
"... not quite, huh?"
"Not quite."
Trunks' head sank. "I see."
"Trunks… why do you fight?"
He slowly came to a stop. "What?"
Sealas noticed, and turned back. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."
"..."
It felt like whatever answer he could give would be an ill omen.
"I… I fight for others. I guess."
"Well that's admirable. Many people fight for others, I fight for others. Those who walk around here, I'm certain they're the same. It's a sensible cause."
"Are you trying to get to something?"
Sealas scratched his chin. "Sort of. The real question I want to know is why you fight for others."
Trunks was growing irate. "Didn't you just say it was sensible? Why the hell do I need more crap beyond good will?"
"No, no, it's still sensible. It's just… without an ends to that purpose, people inevitably lose that sensibility. No matter how fiercely one fights for others… other people are intemperate. They change their minds with time, they turn heel according to their own wants, and of course they…"
"... they die." Trunks' anger began to fade away. "They die. Some don't even get the promise of an afterlife." He clutched his heart. "But they don't cease to exist."
It was a spontaneous thought. His lover had said it to him during their shared grieving, but it could never get through to him. It felt like empty attempts at comfort.
Now, it was a retort.
[ BGM: Bruce Faulconer – Episodic Trunks ]
"They NEVER cease to exist…!" His teeth grit, his clawed hand forging a fist as his aura burned. "I can… I can keep fighting for them, even AFTER they're gone! EVEN IF JUST TO PROVE THEY WERE HERE…!"
Sealas stared, eyes wide. "This man is my partner…!" he smiled, elated. "TRUNKS! BECOME MY PARTNER!"
The hybrid's focus was cut. "H-huh?" he peeped, before the staff-sheathing patroller ran to him, grabbing his fist.
"Trunks, I beg you! Not even in the Galactic Patrol have I ever met a man with such a fierce, true sense of justice!"
Trunks snatched away his hand.
"Wh-... ah. I understand."
"What I have is NOT justice."
"... I disagree." Sealas stood upright once more. "With your definition, and with those of the gods who wronged you."
Trunks' angered hawk eyes were unmoved.
"True justice is not an ends that can be twisted to fit a means. It's having the power, the ability, to save others unconditionally, and ACTING upon it. What you have, what you did… that was true justice. Right or wrong, nothing can take that from you."
And those hawk eyes softened.
"And I… I long for a world where that sentiment can be upheld and rewarded. I want to push the present down that direction, and I have to stop the wicked from obstructing it in the past. That is why I fight for others, Trunks. And you're the only man with a spirit strong enough to tread down that path alongside me."
"... I fought for the future. My own is gone, now. But that doesn't mean I still can't fight for it, for other futures." A small smile sprouted from the middle-parted man, and now he was the one to extend his hand. "You helped bring me back around. So I'll fight for yours, too."
A final handshake, a shared smile.
/"SEALAS!"/
The aforementioned being's head slammed the shoulder opposite of the shockwave stemming from his earpiece. Trunks bounded back on instinct.
"... yes, Supreme Kai of Time?"
/"THERE'S BEEN A NEW TIME RIFT! AGE 761! MORE TIME BREAKERS, AND BY THE TRUCKLOAD! GET DOWN THERE AND TAKE FOUR VOLUNTEERS, STAT!"/
"Understood, though… I won't need five volunteers. The newest patroller is worth more than ten thousand."
/"... eh? Trunks? The little jerk just got here, he doesn't know anything about anything."/
The saiyan couldn't help but twitch, to Sealas' amusement. "Yes, my lord. I witnessed his deeds from 764 to 796. Despite his ineptitudes regarding time travel, his martial strength is almost peerless."
"Inept, huh?"
Sealas smirked. "I call it how I see it."
A dual-edged compliment. "Tch."
/"Alright, fine. This should be good for the deviant. But DAMMIT STOP STANDING AROUND AND GET ON IT, PRONTO!"/
"Yes, my lord." He looked over the Trunks with a nod. "A task like this isn't common at all for someone fresh on the job!" His hand shot into a molle pouch and pulled out – to the swordsman's shock – a hoi-poi capsule. Once activated, it became what he could only describe as a miniature version of the "world" outside his time machine, held in place by a metallic ring around its border. Sealas noted Trunks' hesitation on the way in. "Gate. It's a stabilized time rift. Come," he said before bolting in.
"He-HEY!" Trunks followed as soon as possible.
[ BGM: Bruce Faulconer – Heroic Trunks ]
"HAAA!"
Trunks swathed through a handful of breakers, before spinning 'round to drive a larger foe into the ground head-first with his heel, and weaving through another's gunfire – the stray rounds bolting through his assorted allies – only for the hybrid to vault clean over and slash into his back. An opponent with elongated arms charged straight for him, only for Trunks to dash down the middle, making sashimi with every pace, before bludgeoning the assailant with his pummel, sending him crashing into the round floating bot right behind him; one strong swipe of sword sent both down.
Another goliath's fist careened into a bo staff, rooting its wielder onto his back foot as he applied more and more force. What looked like struggle, however, turned into coy faster than the oaf could register, as Sealas yielded for a second only to entrap the breaker's arm between his body and bo, pivoting and twisting behind him fast enough to dislocate bone and pull muscle before smacking one mace-end into his hip and another into the reeling rascal's temple, sending them further down the mountainside.
The two patrollers eyed each other down fiercely before raising their hands and firing off waves of ki.
They inclined into the air and pierced the emerald infinity-emblazoned androids attempting to get to their objective, which beeped frantically before erupting in sparks and smoke.
"R.P., with red boxer insignia?" Trunks killed the thought and sheathed his sword. "Not one made it past the mountain range, from what I could see."
Sealas rushed over to the wounded human and namekian volunteers who'd tried clearing the rift prior to, only for him to pause in front of them. "... no. There's something else here."
Slowly turning to his side, he looked over to Trunks, who quietly nodded. The saiyan proceeded to turn his gaze over to a rock formation.
A twinkle in his eye caused it to explode. A feminine silhouette waited in the falling debris.
"Like I said. No one got away."
"!? Jurai!"
"Who?"
[ BGM: KOHTA YAMAMOTO – Divine Swarm (3:12) ]
With long, turquoise hair and neat bangs, a woman with a purple, artificial complexion, and a belt harboring the same emerald infinity insignia as the pair's former opposition, stared them down with aggravated red eyes.
"… Huh." Her head tilted. "Trunks? How did you get here?"
"HMPH!" Sealas twirled his staff, before driving it into the ground. "It doesn't matter. You won't live long enough to make use of that answer!"
"Relax, Mr. Sealas~" Jurai teased. "I'm only here to watch you, that's all! If I wanted to kill you, well, you've seen what I can do when I wanna!"
Her words failed to conceal her murderous intent. "Kh…! Coward, that's what you are!"
"Mh-hm! Mh-hm!" Jurai happily nodded. "A fight with you would be really hard, y'know, and besides, Mira wants to fight you more than I ever will! You can wait 'till then, right~?"
Trunks' eyes glowed teal. He vanished.
"Mn?"
The blade of a Super Saiyan 2 slammed down into her cupped hands.
"HOW MANY PEOPLE, YOU BASTARD!? HOW MANY!?"
"Oooh, you're MUCH stronger than the Trunks I know!" She broke off, and practically danced around a manically-attacking Trunks as she giggled. "Oh, and so much angrier too~!"
"(USE IT! USE THAT ANGER! USE IT TO CUT THIS BASTARD DOWN, IF NO ONE ELSE!) HRAAAA—!"
His blade finally met her head.
She'd held it out for him.
Jurai stood back up, lunching into him with an elbow that had him nauseously hacking up spittle. "GhHAHAHA! OH, YOU'RE PRECIOUS!" she cackled, the glow around her neck fading as a bead of sweat trickled down her face. "IT'S LIKE I'VE BEEN GIVEN A NEW PUPPY!"
Her laughter was cut short in an instant.
Sealas' own blazing vermilion glare singed her skin before the ball of his staff could make contact.
She was sent flying before she could fully dodge, just as a rogue Double Sunday reduced half the mountain range to rubble.
Sealas stood in the midst of the blinding flash, panting, waiting for something to rise from the inevitable ash. Upon clearing the smoke…
"She's gone!"
"Dammit. Used the cover of the blast to escape, then." The first patroller leapt over to a rock face peppered with magenta fluid. "But that was the cleanest blow I've ever landed on her. Trunks-?"
He stood in place, having forced himself over to the wounded despite a trickle of dark blood now running down his lip. "... I'm still so weak."
"Trunks, you-"
With a sigh, he turned around. "Are we wrapped up here? I've got work to do once we get back."
"..." The look of concern turned into a small snicker. "Don't we both?" Sealas deployed a gate.
Trunks heard its sounds, distinguishable from anything in the world after even a single listen. He inhaled.
"HAA-"
Trunks punched himself.
Sealas turned on a dime. "TRUNKS!?"
"I'm fine." But the hawk-eyed hybrid turned to him with a smile and a bleeding lip. "Someone has to do it, anyway. Now come on," he said, taking the wounded and stepping through the portal. "I can't save anything like this."
The snow-white being stared curiously at him, all the while. "... if I wasn't already sure..."
And the two departed.
[ BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano – TBF3-OP1 (0:00-3:21) ]
A tall, cyan-skinned man in armor and spiked white hair, with her same artificial eye lining, scowled. "Imbecile."
"THEY BLINDSIDED ME, MIRA!" Jurai screamed, her left eye cavity still bleeding profusely. "THOSE VILE TRICKSTERS, THEY RESORTED TO CHEAP TACTICS! THEY'RE ALL HYPOCRITES-"
"SILENCE."
Jurai fell meek "... yes, my lady."
"And while you're at it, your sorry head is held far too high." So said the woman in red, with a jagged open dress and tight suit like a lavish princess of cruelty, her crimson eyes burrowing into her creation's head to a further degree than Sealas' bo could hope to. "Fleeing from one of Chronoa's scoundrels is a thought so repugnant, I'd vomit if I were any lesser creature."
Her white hair drifted through the air like a banshee.
"Perhaps you're better off mimicking bipedal hippos for the rest of your days, Jurai. In the meantime, tell me. Who's this urchin who so carelessly damaged my product?"
"... T… Trunks, my lady."
She stopped pacing.
Mira slowly turned his head with a disgusted scowl.
"... Trunks?" asked the woman. "THAT Trunks? Or was it THAT Trunks?"
"N-NEI… neither, my lady. This one was stronger than them both. He wore black, and he accompanied Sealas as a partner."
"... Hn… hn-hn-hn-hn-hn…!" Her snickering higher and haughtier, until…
"HNAH-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA!" The devil woman covered her eyes as she cackled. "Oh, that's rich…! How droll! How thoroughly entertaining! Oh, but what could've spurred such a development, I wonder?" She exhaled, calming. "No. It doesn't matter. Mira."
The tall demon rose from his slump on the wall. "Yes, Lady Towa."
"You'll continue your 'world domination' efforts. Full swing, like you mean it, and do keep trying for Son Goku's DNA. Jurai?"
"YES, LADY TOWA!"
"Clean yourself up. You should know better than to get yourself all over my floors. And continue leading on Red Dress or whatever the hell they call themselves now, they're fine pawns."
Both bowed and left. In the meantime…
"All is as it should be…" Towa sighed lovingly, as if seduced by her own genius. "The Demon Realm and the Mortal Realm will soon be as one… and a beautiful banquet of suffering will bless me…"
[ ED: yojisheaven Ft. Cao Cao – Short Song ]
Yo! OP Here!
Now that I'm over 100 chapters and am no longer obligated to cram EVERYTHING into one chapter, I'm gonna try dividing chapters into parts again. The decision's aided because I'm most likely gonna be offline for a while starting this week. Going to a very cold place to be very cold for a moderately long time. Great fun. No I'm not being sarcastic.
Besides that, yeah I decided to go down the route of a Xeno Trunks Gaiden. I've been wanting to do one for a while, and honestly? It's only happening now because of the way I decided to start the chapter. (Its REAL start was around the same time 93 'til starts playing. I noticed where the chapter was heading and how sorta jarring it would've been if I decided to do a Gaiden later on.)
Yeah. This was gonna be the final match chapter. Shit just panned out differently as I went along. I'm happy with it, though, cus I can finally explore Sealas as a character and use Trunks to flesh him out more. Will his role be confined to the past? I mean technically not, I mean Trunks can't stop fuckin talkin about him, but in a LITERAL, PHYSICAL sense? Probably not.
fuck man am i gonna be a 30 year old man writing dbz fanfics one day?
A-anyway, I got into like 2 things over this period. Those Who Hunt Elves is top-tier comedy ngl. The dub starts tame, launches into Ghost Story-core near the latter half, and then loses its charisma in the 2nd season, sadly. But yeah, fun ride. First Season is GOATed.
Second off, List of Things I Have Started Doing Since Starting Three Kingdoms 2010:
1) Started saying "Hao. Hao." when I am happy with something
2) Have placed "Scoundrel", "Crafty Villain", "Aiya", "TIAN XIAAA", and "The Will of Heaven" firmly into my everyday vocabulary
3) Began stroking my non-existent beard whenever I'm pressed or locked in
Yeah, it's peak fiction. I mean, peak 70% fiction. Maybe. It's actually the reason I decided to expound upon Trunks' goal, because having someone war against someone else's ambitions without they themselves having an ambition is kinda boring. Also, I listened to 3K's OST all throughout the writing of the Sealas and Trunks portions. Helped.
Alright, Part 2 will be next chapter, expect it around expect it around Spring, maybe. BIG FAT HIATUS incoming, sorry.
That's about it. See ya.