Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Caught in a Tesseract ❯ Caught in a Tesseract ( One-Shot )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Notes: (Important always, so please read them before the story):

Hello to all! I wrote this one sometime ago, and so I dusted it off and polished it up a bit. This little fanfic is my take on what Trunks experienced as he traveled through time to defeat Frieza, deliver his news and the medicine.

Now for the Disclaimer: Okay, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT are all the possessions of Akiya Toriyama, FUNimation, Viz Communications, Irwin Toys, TOEI Entertaiment, some affiliations of Pioneer(videos,etc.), etc. etc. etc.

The theory embodiment of a 'tesseract' belongs to many scientists, too numerous to name. Many writers have use 'tesseract' in their time travel novels, and indeed the leader of this is Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In Time" series. But science has the prior claim in numerous places on the web to describe Einstein's Theory of Relativity with a new twist. I give credit to all the above mentioned for the 'tesseract', and the theory of explanations of what a 'tesseract ' is......a wonderful web site to click on to is:

http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/SpecRe l/SpecRel.htm l#Spacetime

Click there for the mathematical explanations and treatises on the subject. And lastly, yes I once again will incorporate music into my story. The expressions, melody, tempo/beat, and somber tone make me feel that the song I use here embodied what my story wants to say......PLEASE NO COMPLAINTS ON THE MUSIC CHOICE! I know many of you have many varied tastes of music......I love all kinds of music, from international world to reggae, from rap to classical, from punk to metal. I choose the music I do when it inspires me with an idea. So the artist(s) here that I am giving credit to is 'The Verve' and their song 'Bittersweet Symphony'......again, used because it fit the mood in my inspiration.

Now I believe that takes care of all the Disclaimer issues......Now on to my story!

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Caught in a Tesseract



"Now Trunks, I am just about through with most of my modifications.....I should be able to finish this by tomorrow in order for you to take the trip."

"Fine, 'Kaasan......"came the muttered reply.

Bulma looked up from her work with a furrowed brow. She brushed away a loose strand of hair greying hair out of her face, and then set down the ratchet she was using with a quiet *clank*........Their hushed voices echoed just a bit in the dim light of the work area. The room itself was dark and large....you could smell old rust and a sourness of stagnant water in what once was an old metal storage facility. It was all that was left to them of Capsule Corporation. Everything else lay in ruins pretty much; thanks to the Androids. Bulma continued to squint; to look at her son through the dim light of a work lamp into the darkness at the shadow that was Trunks. She was concerned about him.....Ever since Gohan had died, some four years ago, he had become increasingly erratic, and it wouldn't do to have that get out of control now.....not when things could be changed. In the distance of the room you could hear the slight *ping* of dripping water hitting the torn fragment of a piece of metal.....and old rusted sign, bent that read ' Capsule Corporation'.

"Trunks, what's wrong....."

"Nothing.....I told you that I'm fine......" this delivered with a bit of surliness in the voice. " I am sorry, 'Kaasan. I just have alot on my mind."

She knew he did; he was so much like Vegeta. He had that same dark, brooding nature that his father had.....it made Bulma lonely for the past and for the things they all had lost. So many loved ones......Chi-Chi, all the senshi, everyone......Master Roshi in hiding, as well as herself and Trunks. Most of civilization was desolated.....there were a few pockets of survivors, but they were dwindling fast. Bulma did not know how long any of them could hold out, and so it was with this catalyst that she delved into one of her father's old science magazines...........to find something..................anything. And then she found it.........the tesseract.

She at first skimmed the article, and then something about the theory of moving through time struck a chord in her.....that was it!!! If she could manipulate a time pathway, it could change reality as they knew it.......anything was better than this dismal existence they groveled in now. Many lives, exhausting hours, and tears had been put into the time capsule that stood before them both now. It had been impossible labor realized......and it a HAD to work......it just had to.....it was their only hope.

"Uhm, 'Kaasan, I know I have asked this once before, but could you please explain how this is going to work, again? I'm just a little nervous. I don't like the idea of leaving you here unprotected."

"Trunks-chan, there is no other way.....I will explain it to you and what I am trying to accomplish for us all. Let's see, "she said sitting down wearily in an old broken swivel computer chair. It had been Dr. Brief's, one of the few tangible artifacts of the past.....that and Trunks. "In an article I found in your
grandfather's science magazines I ran across a theory that had been explored many times but never harnassed. It is called the 'tesseract'."

" 'Tesseract'? "

"Yes. The tesseract is an aspect of Time. Let me see if I can explain this easier; the starting point of Time as we know it is the Zero Diminsion. That is a point; a dot if you will. To get to the next dimension, it is necessary to square the previous one. If you square the dot, you get a line......the First Dimension. Squaring the First Dimension you get......"

"A square?"

" Right!" Bulma beamed. Trunks was really good at picking up theories."So the Second Dimension is a Square. If you square the Second, you get a Cube; the Third Dimension. And when you square the Cube, you get the Fourth Dimension, or Time itself.....at least according to Einstein's Theory of Time and Relativity."

"Okay, so where does the tesseract come in?"

"Well, when you square Time, you get a short cut through Time itself........a tesseract."

"And this is what the machine does, 'Kaasan?"

"In a matter of speaking. To put it simply, the old theory of Pythagorus that ' the shortest distance between two points is a line', isn't essentially the case anymore. The tesseract folds Time; enabling you to travel through many dimensions of Time without going the long way around; to warp. "

"Well, why can't we use just a regular space ship for that, instead of this capsule?"

"You see, Trunks-chan, a space ship may be able to speed through space at a shorter amount of time, like taking days to get to Namek instead of hundreds of years. But it cannot 'fold' Time.....it travels at a speed that doesn't break the Barrier itself. This Capsule will push past that barrier; 'folding' it so that you can travel throughout different spacial areas of the past. I am not sure if it can do that for the Future, because you are our first and only test. I really don't like the idea of sending you to do this, son, but I have to consider you and everyone, first. I have to put my selfishness away."

Trunks had remained pretty introspective during the whole conversation. He knew he was the only one who could go.....the others in the past would know Bulma, and things could possible be altered for the worst. Trunks was not known to those in the past; not yet anyway. If he could obscurely waltz in and out, it could be possible to save some of the Senshi, and thereby change the outcome of what was to come.

"I know 'Kaasan, I know........but I don't have to like it" he said, his hands clenching nervously in and out; forming fists, then releasing them.

"Well, let's not dwell on this anymore. I was able to find us more food at an old grocery store that is still operational...the owner has been able to supply food to a good many people......he just doesn't know how long it will hold out. I made your favorites!" she added brightly.

Something in her voice, so much when he was little and the devastation hadn't taken hold, seem to come back in his mind. He smiled a bit, and took his mother's hand. He looked down at the small weathered hand in his own strong, now larger hands ," 'Kaasan, what was father like? I know you tell me all the time, but I like to hear about him...."

Bulma just smile tolerantly....,"Well, Trunks, he was a sort of hard man to know really.......never once did he ever say that he loved me......But I knew; deep inside I knew that he did." Bulma continued talking to Trunks, as they slowly walked off hand in hand to the small room on the far side of the building where they had their rooms. After they had eaten the meager meal of rice and vegetables, she walked Trunks to his room, and did something she had not done since he was a small boy.......She tucked him in......with a light kiss on his forehead she simply said, "Good night, Trunks-chan. Tomorrow will be a better tomorrow....." and with that, she walked to her own area to sleep a few hours. She always would get up early to work on the capsule............their hope for a life.
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The field they were in was one of the few left untouched by disaster. Ringed by tall pine-like trees, the grassy knoll had a few delicate patches of flowers that drifted in a light breeze. It was places like this, that you could close your eyes and forget it all happened;.....but that could get you killed if you let your guard down. Trunks and Bulma side by side in grim determination.......the day had finally come.......

They reached a fairly level section of the field, and it was here that Bulma pushed the encapsulation button. She tossed it out with one fluid motion, and with a quick ** whhioosh** the Time Capsule was revealed.

"Okay, Trunks, we're going to have to work fast. If the Androids should get wind that we are here with this, all is lost..."

Trunks only nodded in the affirmative, still with that grim look on his face......~~Oh Kami, Vegeta, he is so much like you.....~~

Trunks began to levitate up to the hatch, and pushed the release lever. The dome lifted up and sprung back with ease. Trunks positioned himself over the seat area, and lowered down. He double checked his coordinates that was calculated by Bulma earlier, and then started to close the hatch once more...

"Wait!!!"

" 'Kaasan?"

" I almost forgot....." and with that, she hastily scribbled with a marking pen 'HOPE' one one of the leg coverings of the Time Capsule.

"There...."she said looking up with a bright smile. "I love you Trunks.....know that I am always with you..."

"And I you, 'Kaasan. I will find Goku......I WILL succeed!"

"I know you will......but hurry...." and with that she stepped back.

He pushed the hatch mechanism....with a muffled **thunk** it sealed him in tightly, and then the automatic oxygen sensors kicked in to operation. With a small wave and a grim smile, he waved to his 'Kaasan, and then pressed the button..........

The Fold of Time.

It was unlike anything he could have ever imagined. Bright tube-like lines flowed and waved in.....was it wind? They looked like the silken strands that come from a spiders spinnerettes. Then darkness......a vast, melting darkness.......it seemed like a thick cloth that you could reach out and touch.

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the things meet yeah,

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no

Millions of images ran through his mind, or was he seeing them?.....was he asleep? Distorted images, fragments of dreams, faces of people he loved, people he had never met swam through his vision..........father.......'Kaasan.......oh, dear Kami, and Gohan. He felt the splash of a tear fall down on his cheek at the rememberance of his dearest friend and master.

Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change

He was able to see the illuminated dials of his console, noticing that he was racing through Time; glowing readouts clicking off the digital years in a blur.

More faces..................

......and voices

......lights.......

Maybe he was going mad.........


'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the things meet yeah

You know I can change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no

I can't change my mold
no, no, no, no, no,
I can't change
Can't change my body,
no, no, no

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you've ever been down?


Then there was silence.......

A silence so thick and so deep he thought that perhaps he was really dead.............The only thing that banished that thought was the blink digital readout dial.....The blue-green glow, with black computerized numbers read the year.......he had reached it. Then there was a vast lerch; he was pushed through what felt like a thick wall of glass. His body felt like he had been thrown up against shards of metal......and then silence, and light.

There sat his pod, in the same grassy knoll. Had he failed? The Capsule readouts said that the distination had been made......A quick look around revealed nothing new......he would have to leave the Capsule, and begin the search.


He sprung the release hatch to the dome, the vaccuum being broken with a whoosh of air. He levitated down to the surface floor.......the air had the same sweet smell as it had in his time. Trunks closed his eyes and inhaled deeply......a breath of hope.

He felt in his jacket pocket........yes, the vial was there.....the vial that would change everything. He reached in to pull it out and examine it more closely. A deep grape fluid shifted in the tube.......he held in his hand the hope of the future.......the hope of the world?