Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Heroes ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Trunks was staring at the picture of the moss cover time machine.

“I'm sure this is the same one. Where is it at?” he asked Bulma.

“I'm not sure, but from the looks of it it's somewhere in the West 1050 Area.” Bulma answered. “Why, are you thinking about going there?”

“Definitely.”

“Great, I'll meet you there.” The line went dead.

“Trunks, can I go?” Gohan asked.

“I don't think so! You have too much school work to do.” Chi Chi answered for Trunks. Gohan looked sad and sank back into his books.

“I'll go with you. After all, two beautiful geniuses are better than one.” I said with my Vegeta-like smirk. Yamcha opened the hatch and Trunks and I took off. He was silent for a long time.

“So,” I said. He looked startled for a moment, as if he'd been in deep thought. “what do you say we make this interesting?” I looked at his profile, my mind racing with the questions I had had when Trunks had been born. Was this boy really a Saiyan? Because he sure as hell didn't look like it. `He's cute but, purple hair and blue eyes weren't common in Saiyan society.' I thought.

“How so?” he asked. I programmed my GPS locator watch to the West 1050 Area.

“First one to West 1050 wins. What do you say?” He smiled.

“I say you're on.” He put on a burst of speed and I almost laughed at him, keeping pace.

“If that's the best you can do, I'll see you there in a few days.” I felt my skin tingle with the change and, as I blasted forth, everything became crystal clear. I felt him come up beside me, pacing me, and I pushed myself further. As we came up on the West 1050, I pushed myself to the max and I inched past him as my watched beep. We were both breathing hard as we came to a stop and we changed back to normal.

“I win.”

“So, what do you win? We didn't set any terms.” I thought about it for a minute.

“A spar. I want to see how strong you are. What do you say?”

“Sounds like a plan. When we get back to Roshi's I'm going to kick your ass.” He said and it made me laugh.

“We'll see. Now lets get to work.” We descended to search the area and within half an hour, I found it.

“Trunks, I found it.” The machine was colossal and the moss was almost completely covering it. For the third time that day, I heard Bulma's plane approach. “I'm going to flag her down.” I flew up to meet her and guided her down to land beside the time machine. Trunks had already taken his time machine out of the capsule and was examining the moss covered one. After Bulma examined her son from the future to make sure he was okay, she turned to the time machines.

“So, you're sure this is the same machine?”

“Yes, look at this.” He brushed some moss of the front of the machine. It said `hope'. “You wrote this right before I left.” He said, pointing to the other machine. They both had hope written on them in the same spot. We floated to the pod of the machine and Trunks popped the hatch open. While he played with the controls I inspected the blast hole in the dome.

“It looks like this blast came from the inside. See how the glass melted out.” Trunks pulled something up from the floor.

“What the hell are these?” he asked. I sat down on the edge of the pod and looked at the things he'd pulled up. They were two dome shaped objects, both of them a bumpy, purple with yellow trim.

“Hey, let me see.” Bulma yelled from the ground. I jumped off the side of the pod with the domes in my hands and took them to Bulma. She looked at them for a bit and then said, “They look like some sort of shell. Like an egg shell.”

“But if these were egg shells, the thing that was inside would be bigger than a human.” I said to Bulma. I floated back up to the pod to get a closer look at the controls. There was a main screen with a lot of unlabeled buttons around it.

“The damn thing's almost out of power.” He said pressing buttons. “It looks like it landed here three years ago. No, wait, four years ago. But that doesn't make sense. This thing was already here by the time I came back. Maybe, whatever came back in this, is the reason the timelines are off so much.” Trunks and I landed back on the ground and encapsulated both machines. As I picked up the capsule, I saw something in the bushes and walked over to get a better look.

“Hey, guys, I think I see something.” I pushed the brush aside and found, what looked to be, a brown husk. Bulma and Trunks appeared at my side as I got closer to it. The husk was huge, bigger than me, and looked like a giant cicada. I stuck my hand inside the thing after seeing something and came out with pink goop on my fingers. “It's fresh.” I said, smearing the goop over my fingers, and showed Trunks. He touched it and rubbed it between his fingers.

“This thing is still around here, somewhere.” He said, looking around. The bushes next to us rustled and Bulma ran away, screaming. We drew closer to the bushes and realized it was a squirrel. I wiped the nasty goo onto my tank top and we walked back to the plane. Bulma was sitting in the pilot seat of her plane with a terrified look on her face.

“So that thing is still out there huh? I'm… a… going to take the shell back with me. You two be safe.” Her voice was shaky and, after the hatch had closed she was gone.

“Let's go to the island and make sure they got there safe.” I suggested and we took to the air. Trunks was in deep thought for the whole trip and I didn't want to disturb him. We landed as the sunset and walked into the house. Yamcha, Krillin, and Gohan were in sleeping bags on the floor of the living room and Master Roshi was sitting on the couch watching TV. Trunks walked into the kitchen and I sat down next to Roshi.

“Do you mind?” I asked, pointing to the pack of cigarettes on the table.

“No, go ahead.” He said, never taking his eyes from the smutty movie he was watching. I was glad to see Gohan was asleep; he shouldn't be watching something like this. I lit the cigarette and walk outside, sitting down in the sand. I was half way done with it when Trunks came out.

“I see you've picked up mom's dirty habit.”

“I need something to do in my down time. It helps me calm down.” I said as he sat down next to me. I finished the cigarette and flicked it into the ashtray by the front door. I sighed and lay back in the sand.

“You ready for that spar?”

“Not tonight, I'm exhausted and I think we're going to need all the rest we can get.” He lay back in the sand next to me. “Trunks, tell me about your world.”

“Well, the androids have pretty much destroyed every city on the planet. The survivors have to live in secret underground bunkers in order to stay alive.” He paused. “They have to have some kind of weakness, a remote maybe.”

“Well, if a remote can be made, Bulma and I will figure it out.” I told him reassuringly. “And we have Kakarrot. We can't lose.” The waves made lapping noises as they crashed onto the beach.

“Corbin, what was our planet like? You know, planet Vegeta.” He asked me after a few minutes of silence.

“I don't really know. I was born twelve years after it was destroyed and by the time I was born there weren't many of us left, about twenty of us. When I was six my parents formed a resistance group and Frieza found out. He killed my parents and everyone else in the group, except me. Vegeta found me and took me in.” I paused. “And to answer your questions, Nappa told me that our planet was beautiful. Kind of like the Papaya Islands, very lush and green. I wish I could've seen it.” The TV turned off inside the house.

“Are you sleeping out here tonight?”

“Are you kidding me? You think I'm going to sleep in there with all those perverts? Hell, the first time I met Yamcha I broke his jaw because he touched me.” We laughed.

“I can imagine. Mom's told me lots of stories about the guys.”

“What about me? Did your mom ever tell you about me?”

“She said you were a genius.” I could see he was hesitating.

“What is it?”

“Corbin, you're not supposed to be alive right now.”

“Well, none of us are but you warned us.” I said, slowly.

“No, I mean, you died before the androids came, like Goku.”

“Really? How?”

“I don't remember, but you died right after Goku did.” I was silent for a moment.

“Oh, well, I'm alive now.” I was trying to remember if I had come close to death in the past three years and nothing came to mind. I rolled over on my side, resting my head on my hand, to look at him. “So, we have Kakarrot and me. We definitely can't lose.” He came up on his side mirroring me.

“And me.” I smirked.

“You have yet to show me how strong you are. I think you're giving yourself more credit than you're worth.”

“Ouch, well, I'm really going to kick your ass now.” We laughed. His blue eyes peered into mine as we lay on the beach laughing together. Our laughter stop and we were leaning together, our lips brushing.

“Are you two coming in to sleep or what?” Chi Chi was at the front door.

“We're going to sleep our here in case there's trouble.” I answered coolly.

“Well, if that's the case, keep it down. I don't want you to wake up Goku.” She said and closed the door. I could see a faint blush across Trunks' face in the moonlight.

“Um… sleep well.” I said to him.

“Ah… yeah, you too.”

My eyes opened as the sun peaked over the horizon. Trunks was sleeping soundly next to me and I got up, sneaking into the shower before anyone else woke up. Everyone was up when I came out and the smell of breakfast wafted to my nose. My stomach was growling loudly as I walked into the kitchen.

“Oh look, the shower hog's finally done.” Chi Chi said as I walked in. Everyone laughed as I took my seat.

“Sorry but I was the first one up. You snooze, you lose.” I said.

The phone rang as we finished eating and Master Roshi answered it.

“Hey, Bulma. All right calm down, I'm turning it on.” He turned the TV to the news station.

“And now back the disaster in Ginger Town. It seems that the entire population, fifteen thousand residents, has disappeared. There are no signs of life anywhere but the clothing of the residents is everywhere. We will bring you more when our anchor gets to the town.”

“That's really close to where we found the time capsule.” Trunks commented.

“Maybe we should go check it out.” I suggested.

“Yeah, let's go.” We took off and flew as fast as we could toward Ginger Town. As we got closer, I started to feel the power signatures of all the fighters in Ginger Town.

“It seems like everyone's already beat us there.” I said. I reached out further with my senses. “Wait, that's not right. I'm feeling double of everyone.”

“It feels like a huge power level just arrived but I can't tell whose it is.” Trunks said. I concentrated on it for a while.

“It's Piccolo but he's different. He's so much stronger. How can this be?”

We arrived half an hour later and the first thing I saw was a big green creature. It looked similar to the husk we found in the forest but it was upright instead of on all fours. We descended on the city.

“What the hell is this thing?” I asked.

“I'll tell you everything as soon as I destroy it.” Piccolo responded. The creature saw Trunks and I arrive and took off for the sun.

“Solar Flare!” he screamed and all of a sudden I couldn't see anything. My sight came back in stages and I found that all of us were having the same problem.

“Piccolo, what the hell was that thing?” I asked.

“Wait until the others arrive and then I'll explain it to everyone.” I looked up to see Vegeta and Tien arrive.

“Namek, what have done to become so powerful?” Vegeta asked as soon as he landed.

“He's fused with Kami.” Tien answered.

“Enough of that, the creature's name is Cell. He's an android from the future and was created by Dr. Gero by fusing the cell's of the strongest warriors together. Gero put him in a bunker under his lab and in twenty four years the one in this time will be complete. He's here to absorb androids 17 and 18 to become the perfect being. I think it will be easier to track down Cell since the androids don't have power signatures.”

“You said the present Cell is in a bunker under Gero's lab?” Trunks asked.

“Yes, that's right.”

“Corbin and I will head there and destroy it. Maybe we'll find some of Gero's plans.” Trunks said.

“As for me, I'm going to train. There's a level past super Saiyan and it will be mine.” Vegeta took off and Tien and Piccolo left to find Cell.

“Do you mind if we swing by Capsule Corp really quick? I need to change if we're going to those mountains again.” I asked Trunks.

“Yeah that fine.” We arrived in no time and I threw on a pair of jeans. I grabbed my jacket on the way out. We were lucky not to run into anyone on the way in or out.

The wind was more bearable today with pants on and we quickly found what was left of the lab. Trunks threw some pop shots into the rubble and debris to clear it out of the way and we found the entrance. It was pitch black as we moved down the small tunnel and I tried to feel around to get my bearings. I felt the wall of the tunnel flare out into the main room and Trunks found a light switch, contracting my pupils painfully. The cavernous room stretched out before us. In the center, a large computer stretched floor to ceiling and a fluid filled chamber sat beside it. I walked over to a work station and found schematics on it.

“I found the plans for 17!” I hollered to Trunks.

“Come look at this. There's something in there.” I stood next to him in front of the fluid filled chamber.

“That must be him.” I tucked the plans into my jacket. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” We raised our hands to the room and started blasting. The computer crashed to the floor in flaming pieces and the chamber cracked; its contents emptied into the room. The whole mountain started rumbling and Trunks grabbed my arm, pulling me down the tunnel to the entrance. Once top side, we blasted the entrance shut.

“Mission accomplished. I'm going to take these plans back to the lab, are you coming?”

“No, I'm going to train with my Father.”

“Trunks, I don't mean to burst your bubble but Vegeta's not going to let you train with him. He's been my guardian for twelve years; I know he's a solitary creature.”

“I know but I have to try.”

“Well, more power to you. Good luck.” I waved and took off for the lab.

I set the plans on Bulma's desk.

“I'm going to design the box for it, if you'll do the coding for it.”

“Why do you get the easy job?” she asked, laughing. “Oh that's right; I'm the beautiful genius and the Queen of the Lab!”

“I'll let you be Queen of the Lab if you hurry up with those plans.”

I had the casing done the next morning. I worked all through the night to get it done.

“It just needs to be tuned to the right frequency, once you find out what that is.”

“You have the casing done already?”

“Yeah, I worked on it all night. Guess what?”

“What?” she asked.

“I'm Queen of the Lab.” I grabbed a cigarette from her pack and lit it.

“I guess, but only until I get the plans done. Then I'm Queen again. What are you doing for the rest of the day?”

“I'm going to spar with Trunks.”

“Well, you two be careful.” I put the cigarette out and left.

I touched down soundlessly behind Trunks. Vegeta was standing out on the ledge of the cliff in front of us.

“Is this all you've been doing for the past two days?”

“He hasn't even moved to pee. Every time in go up to him, he tells me to fuck off.”

“Hate to say I told you so but, I have something fun in mind. Are you ready for that spar?” I asked him.

“Anything's better than this. Let's go over there.” He said, pointing to a small island next to the one we were on. Once on the other island, I began stretching and after a few minutes I was ready. I lunged first, punching him in the face, but he was gone. I locked onto his power level and found him above me. My leg caught him in the stomach as I twisted to meet him. He was gone again. `Shit, he's fast.' I thought and an idea popped into my head. Keeping my eyes closed, I reached out for his signal again and my fist connected with his jaw. We fought like that for an hour before we made the change and I opened my eyes. I quickly found out that he was much stronger than me in his super Saiyan form and his fist came down, connecting with my jaw. Blood welled in my mouth and I spit it out, some trickling down my chin. I caught his fist as he charged to punch me and brought my knee up into his sternum. Then, drawing my right arm back, I gave him a strong upper cut to the jaw. He quickly regained his composure and charged at me again. This time he slid between my legs, coming up behind me, and gave me a roundhouse kick to the head. I slid a good ten feet to the left, my body feeling every rock and plant along the way. He came up beside me, kneeling to the ground.

“So, you ready to give up?” he asked. I was pissed now and I reacted in a blind fury, punching and kicking at him. He laughed at me and pinned me against his rock hard chest, my arms behind my back. I tried to kick him but I didn't have enough leverage. I stopped struggling and made my whole body calm, hoping he would lessen his grip. I looked into his eyes, only inches away from me, and I kissed him. His soft lips were hesitant at first but then he deepened the kiss, flicking his tongue out tentatively. My hands were at the back of his neck before I realized he had let me go and I flicked my tongue out to meet his. My concentration broke and I felt myself change back to normal. His power licked along my skin, making me moan into his mouth, and I pulled back to breath. That's when I felt it. Kakarrot was gone.

“Wait, something's wrong.” He pulled back from me.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that.” He mumbled.

“No, wait.” There he was. He was moving at a slow pace and then suddenly, he was gone again. “It's Kakarrot, he's…” Before I could finish my sentence, Kakarrot appeared on the island beside us with Gohan in tow. I stepped away from Trunks.

“Hey guys!”

“Kakarrot, you're all better.”

“Yep, one hundred percent, more or less. I came to talk to the three of you. Where's Vegeta?” Trunks pointed to the other island.

“He's been like that for two days now. Every time I get near him he tells me to fuck off.” Trunks told him.

“Well, I'll talk to him.” The four of us flew over to the island. They talked for a few minutes and then came back to the three of us. “We're heading up to the lookout. There's a room there that we can get a years worth of training in one day. I'm going to take Vegeta and Gohan up first and then I'll be back for you two.” His outline blinked a few times and he was gone. Trunks and I stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds and then he pulled me to him.

“I'm not sure what this is but right now, I don't care.” He said to me but before we could say anything else, Kakarrot was back. My heart fluttered and race the whole way there. Did he mean that he doesn't care if anyone found out? Or did he mean that he doesn't care about me? If he doesn't care if anyone finds out, does that mean he likes me? The questions rolled over and over in my head. I didn't know what to do, I'd never felt anything like this before. My thoughts clouded me so much that I didn't realize Trunks was standing in front of me.

“Hey,” he said, pushing my spiky bands out of my eyes. “I'll see you in a year.” I smiled.

“No, I'll see you in a day.” His lips brushed mine, softly, and he was gone. The door slid shut behind him and Vegeta.

After dinner that night, I laid under the stars, feeling the world below me.

“Miss Corbin, there is a bed set up for you inside whenever you're ready.” Mr. Popo said.

“Thank you, Mr. Popo, but I think I sleep out here tonight.”

“Of course, I'll bring you a sleeping bag and pillow then.” He said, kindly, and came back a few minutes later. I felt the guys asleep inside Kame House. Bulma was asleep in her bed with Baby Trunks next to her. I drifted off to sleep wondering what Trunks and Vegeta were up to inside the Time Chamber.

I awoke the next morning with the feeling that something wasn't right. Piccolo was awake below us at Kame House and he was agitated. I felt the others wake up and they ran out to the beach. I walked to the edge of the lookout and looked down. Somehow I could see them, as if I was watching TV and they were all on it. There were people standing in front of Piccolo but I couldn't see them clearly, I couldn't feel them. It's the androids, it has to be. I ran inside the palace to find Kakarrot. They were sitting in the dinning room, enjoying a large breakfast.

“Kakarrot, the androids have found Piccolo. They're at Kame House right now.”

“I know, Corbin. Piccolo will handle it. Sit and have some breakfast.” He seemed so calm as he said. Did he truly believe Piccolo could handle it? I ate quickly and then ran back out to see what was going on. Piccolo was alone now with the androids on an island close to Kame House and he was powering up. Was he planning on fighting the androids alone? Kakarrot appeared beside me.

“Do you really think he can take these androids by himself?” I asked.

“I hope so.” We watched for another half an hour and then I felt something. A large power signature was heading towards Piccolo and, as I concentrated on it, I saw Cell moving rapidly to the battle.

“Kakarrot, look, Cell's moving in. He can't take all three androids and Cell.” Kakarrot sighed.

“I know but we have to stay here. If we go down there, we'll be slaughtered and that won't help anyone.” As the minutes drew on, I started pacing. Cell was getting closer and closer. Finally, I dove off the lookout. “Corbin, no, come back!” I pushed myself further than I ever had before to get to the battle field. I felt Tien get there just before I did. I took a moment to survey the battle field as I arrived. Cell was there and it looked like Piccolo and 17 had teamed up to beat him. I flew down to jump into the battle and suddenly Cell punched Piccolo, sending him flying back in my direction. Piccolo's back rammed into my chest and I tried to us my energy to slow our momentum. I powered up to super Saiyan but something was wrong. Instead of my energy pushing against the momentum to stop us, it was flowing down my arms and into Piccolo, where my hands touched him. My energy was draining into Piccolo and I didn't know how to stop it. I felt myself change back to normal and suddenly Piccolo pulled himself to a stop, breaking the contact between the two of us. I couldn't stop myself, I was too weak. My body continued until it exploded with pain. My vision ran in streamers and, suddenly, I was unconscious.