Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Folly; A Bittersweet Symphony ❯ Arrival / Return ( Chapter 6 )

<><><><><><><><>& lt;><><><><><>Chap 6<><><><><><><><><>&l t;><><><><><>

 

“Goten, you're such a baby sometimes!” Trunks commented from up in the air.

 

Goten was below him on the ground, laying on his back with a lizard sitting on top of his stomach and licking his chin, making him giggle elatedly. Trunks and Goten had been out in a forest clearing sparring when Goten was struck down by Trunks, who then hovered impatiently, waiting for his friend to return to their battle in the air. When he didn't, Trunks flew over and found a happily distracted Goten playing with the lizard.

 

With a sigh, Trunks descended towards the ground, hovering a foot away from Goten's current spot. After a couple minutes, Goten finally sat up and gently moved the lizard off of him. He turned his head and looked up at Trunks, who was now hovering a couple feet off the ground cross-legged, arms crossed over his chest, with his eyes closed.

 

“Hey, Trunks!”

 

Trunks stayed as he was and didn't acknowledge Goten's summons.

 

“Trunks! Hey!” Goten tried again as he got up and walked to stand in front of him, but Trunks still didn't move.

 

The moment Goten began to pout a little, Trunks snapped into action, picking his friend up and flipping him over and behind his back. Startled at first, Goten quickly pulled out of the toss and stopped himself in mid-air, as Trunks turned around to give him a smirk.

 

“Trunks, that's not fair!”

 

“Hey, I'm not the one that decided to stop in the middle of our spar to get licked by a stupid lizard!” Trunks countered with a shrug, folding his arms across his chest. Goten responded with a small growl and charged at his friend, re-starting their sparring session.

 

It didn't take to long for the two boys to get back up to speed as their fighting took them higher into the sky. For the next few minutes, neither seemed to gain ground on the other, until Goten happened to look away briefly, giving Trunks an opening. He slammed his leg into Goten's shoulder, sending him flying away and towards the ground.

 

Ha-ha! he thought confidently to himself, watching a pissed-off Goten fall like a rock towards the ground. Well, hey, it's not my fault you weren't paying attention! With that thought, Trunks once more crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest, watching Goten as he landed with a thud in the clearing below.

 

“Stupid!” the younger warrior mumbled under his breath right after he hit the ground.

 

Whether that observation was meant for himself or for Trunks was soon discarded because something else grabbed his attention. A faint flicker of an unfamiliar ki teased at his senses. Goten glanced up expectantly at Trunks, who was descending towards him.

 

“Did you feel that?” Goten asked with some enthusiasm as Trunks landed.

 

“Yea, it was pretty strong, too!” Trunks replied, a familiar mischievous smile playing on his features. “Come on!” he commanded, turning towards his left. “Let's go check it out!” As one, the two boys lifted into the air and immediately headed in the direction from which the strange aura had come.

 

After a couple of minutes passed, a disappointed Goten slowed down and whined aloud, “I can't feel it anymore, Trunks!”

 

The second that Trunks felt Goten decrease his speed, he did the same. “Aw, Goten, come on! Don't you wanna see what it is?” he asked, turning around to face his friend.

 

“But, how we gonna find it if we can't feel it? We don't even know where to go now!” Unable to argue the point, Trunks merely groaned in frustration.

 

<><><><>

 

“Shit! Even my mom would have trouble fixing this!” Trunks groaned, pausing to rub at his temples.

 

It was only because he was Saiya-jin that he had come out of the crash unharmed, but he couldn't say the same about his vehicle. His time machine, which still looked somewhat like it used to, now sported a whole new collection of dents, cracked glass, and broken instruments. Unfortunately, he had no idea what had caused his machine to screw up on him like it did. It now sat in the deep crater his crash had made, near a creek and under the edge of a cliff not far from a forest clearing.

 

His senses suddenly picked up two ki auras. His automatic reaction was to suppress his own. Those two kis are pretty strong, but who would they belong to? Couldn't be my dad, he was stronger than that when I first came those years ago; and it couldn't be Gohan, he was stronger than that too. So then who is…could one of those be… Me?? My past self?”

 

He turned in the direction where he felt the kis were coming. Yes, who else would it be? But then who would the other …Looking up in to the sky, he scanned through his memory, trying to figure out who belonged to the other ki.

 

<><><><>

 

After some persuasion from Trunks, he and Goten suppressed their ki's and resumed flying again towards the area from which that strange ki had initially come. Without warning, Trunks suddenly braked in mid-flight and reached out with one hand to grab at Goten, abruptly yanking him back as well. Goten threw Trunks a confused look.

 

“Look, a crater!” Trunks announced excitedly, pointing downwards. “Someone must have crashed down there! Time to land, Goten!”

 

As the two of them descended, a figure moved briefly into Goten's line of sight. “Well, it doesn't look like a monster at least” he though to himself as he followed Trunks decent.

 

The boys landed on top of the cliff that overlooked the canyon where Trunks thought the ki signature had come from. Right then, they felt it rise again.

 

“Do you think he knows we're here?” whispered Goten.

 

“`He?'” Trunks asked.

 

His companion answered with a shrug. “I saw him.”

 

“Who exactly did you see, Goten?”

 

“A guy with lavender hair. Like yours, but longer.”

 

Trunks eyes widened with interest. “You saw that?”

 

Goten nodded. “Uh-huh.”

 

“Well, then, let's get a better look,” Trunks said, getting down on his belly in order to crawl commando-style with his elbows and knees to the edge of the cliff. Goten dropped down onto his stomach and did the same. Then the two carefully peered out, sticking their heads out just far enough over the cliff's edge to see down, but not so that they could be seen.

 

“What's that?” Trunks asked in a loud whisper, referring to the clump of metal he saw inside the crater.

 

“I don't know,” Goten answered curiously then withdrew his head back the moment the person he'd seen earlier moved into his field of vision again. The person's back was towards them, but the lavender hair, which flowed a little past his broad shoulders, was unmistakable.

 

What really caught Trunks' attention was not the stranger's lavender hair, but the jacket he was wearing, which held some kind of insignia that was sewn on the left sleeve. That patch on his sleeve looks really familiar…if only I could see better… Trunks thought, as he craned his neck over the cliff's edge, trying to place it.

 

Goten gave his friend a quizzical look. “What are you trying to look at?”

 

“See that patch on his left arm? What does it say?” Trunks asked, pointing out what he was trying to see to Goten.

 

<><><><>

 

With his back still turned towards his observers, the stranger in question leaned with his right arm against the heap of metal that used to be his time machine. No doubt, they've already seen it, or at least one of them has. Now what? he mentally asked himself.

 

Shit! Why did those two have to be the ones I run into first? This is going to be complicated. What if they try to attack me? Perfect! Not only does my machine crash for some unknown reason, I have to run into myself before encountering anyone else. At least if it was known that I was already here, meeting my younger self for the first time wouldn't be so damn hard! he complained inwardly. Oh well, might as well turn around…

 

<><><><>

 

“What is he doing? Why is he just standing there?”

 

“It looks like he's tired,” Goten offered.

 

“No, I don't think that's it.”

 

“Well then, what could it be?”

 

“Maybe he's planning something,” Trunks suggested, since he didn't know what else to say. “Maybe he knows that we're here!”

 

“Well, we can take him!” Goten declared with an air of confidence.

 

Trunks grinned. “Of course we can!” he answered just as confidently.

 

The two boys jumped to their feet, poised to leap off the cliff when they stopped dead in their tracks. Floating high above the wreckage and already at eye-level to them, their mystery visitor was looking at them with a very relaxed demeanor.

 

Trunks stared blankly at the stranger, who was looking at him with a curious look. Goten noticed the curious exchange; unsure what else to do, just watched the two with his usual child-like curiosity and his blank blinks.

 

<><><><>

 

He's… he's… what the heck is going on here?! Chibi Trunks thought wildly in his mind. Why's this guy just staring at me? Is he trying to scare me? He frowned resolutely. Well, that'snot going to happen….

 

<><><><>

 

So, this is the present version of my younger self. I can sense that he's so much stronger than I was at his age. Lucky kid didn't have to grow up like I did. He actually had them all alive when he was born; but then, who is this with him?

 

The older Trunks paused to search his memory. Goten? Oh, yes…I remember, Chi-Chi was pregnant around the time that I left. Of course…

 

<><><><>

 

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ?!”* The younger Trunks abruptly yelled in annoyance at the still stranger, as he reached up to touch a hand to his forehead. The other Trunks looked back at him in puzzlement.

 

“What happened, Trunks?!” Goten asked worriedly then shot a wary look at the hovering stranger. “What did you do to my friend?”

 

“I didn't do anything!” the lavender-haired stranger protested with some nervousness. Did I just pry that info out of his head? I must have, or else…I wouldn't have known Goten was Gohan's brother's name! Damn, this is strange! He looked briefly at Goten before looking back at his younger alternate.

 

“Who are you, anyway?” Chibi Trunks then asked suspiciously. The other didn't answer right away, stalling a bit so that he could find the right words. “Well?” Chibi Trunks was beginning to lose his patience and started to raise his ki.

 

At this time, Goten moved closer to his friend and spiked up his own ki to match Chibi Trunks'.

 

“Hey Trunks, look at the sleeve of his jacket. Isn't that the Capsule Corp patch?” Goten asked him in a whisper.

 

The younger Trunks went wide-eyed and moved to his side to get a clearer look at the patch. The other Trunks didn't stir, but just watched him slowly as he moved. Trunks stepped back slightly as the older guy finally moved his arm slightly, showing him the patch.

 

“I'm not your enemy,” the stranger then said softly. Chibi Trunks was more curious now than anything else, but he still kept his guard up.

 

“Where are you from?” Chibi Trunks demanded.

 

The stranger took a couple moments to answer. “I'm from Earth.”

 

Both Goten and Trunks looked at each other then looked back at the stranger. Chibi Trunks had a skeptical look on his face. “No, you're not! If you were, we would know!”

 

“What kind of alien are you?” a curious Goten then asked.

 

“I'm not lying. I'm from the Earth, just from another timeline. And I'm just like you, a demi-Sayia-jin.”

 

“What??” both kids said in unison. “That's impossible” Trunks said as he moved into a fighting stance, Goten copying the movement.

 

The stranger stayed calm, still unmoving from his relaxed stance. “It's true. Look below me. That's my time machine…”

 

“That looks more like a big ol' pile of scrap metal,” Trunks observed, casting a glance at the wreckage.

 

“Yea, I thought the same thing. For some reason, I crashed right as I appeared in this timeline. I don't really know why I crashed, but I did.” He then gave a little shrug. “I didn't have any trouble the last time I arrived here.”

 

“The last time??” both boys asked at the same time. “What do you mean by that” Trunks again demanded.

 

There was a pause from the stranger before he spoke again. “I came and helped Gohan, father, and the others fight against Cell. Piccolo, Tien and Yamcha, we all fought against Cell and the androids together.”

 

The kids glanced at each other.

 

“Father?” Chibi repeated curiously, again glancing at the strangers Capsule Corps patch. Then something inside Chibi Trunks' head clicked. “So…you're Trunks, the guy from the future?” Trunks asked with some anticipation.

 

“You've been told the story?”

 

“Is that who you are?” Goten asked with growing surprise.

 

The older version nodded. “Yes, I'm Trunks.”

 

“Wow!!” Goten breathed, very impressed and excited. Chibi Trunks' expression told him that he shared the same emotion.

 

Seeing this, the older Trunks let out a quiet sigh of relief. Good! I'm not going to be attacked.

 

“So, if you're here, then something big is going to happen, isn't it?” Trunks asked with a hint of excitement shining in his blue eyes.

 

Mirai Trunks noted the young boy's enthusiasm and smiled inwardly with some amusement. “Yes, something happened in my timeline, and it has come to yours.”

 

“So, you'll be staying for a while?” Goten asked eagerly.

 

Mirai glanced downward at his broken time machine. “Well, yea, longer than expected at least. First, I'll have to fix this thing…” As his future self spoke, Chibi Trunks grinned, inwardly delighted.

 

It will be like having an older brother around, like Goten has with Gohan, except he's an older me! Cool! And from the sound of things, there's another bad guy coming again…just as long as it's not another one like Majin Buu…

 

“Maybe Bulma could fix it,” Goten mused aloud to Mirai.

 

“Yea, but the repairs will still take a while. The control panel was pretty messed up from whatever interfered with it.”

 

“Hey, Trunks, maybe we should take Trunks back to your house now?” Goten suggested. Mirai laughed at the slightly off-sounding sentence, as the younger version of himself just nodded in agreement.

 

“I wonder what my mom and dad will think?” Trunks pondered out loud, offhandedly.

 

So do I. I wonder what everyone will think, Mirai mused silently as well - but for a completely different reason.

 

“Well, come on!” Chibi shouted with eagerness as the three took off to the sky.

 

<><><><>

 

Everything was quiet enough, save for the sounds of rushing water, the random rustling of bushes from animals scurrying to and fro, and the occasional breeze rushing past him, around him, and through his cape. Piccolo was near his favorite waterfall, floating in mid-air, with legs crossed lotus-style, and his eyes closed in deep meditation. Tickling the edge of his concentration, he noticed the presence of three auras, some ways off from where he was. They were familiar…but wait…no…only two were definitely familiar. The third seemed rather familiar, but whose was it? Not a moment later, another aura intruded upon his senses, but this one was completely unrecognizable and foreign to him.

 

Now, who is this?

 

Instead of a ready mental answer, he got an unwelcome physical one as a feeling of profound coldness overwhelmed him. In a matter of blinding seconds, darkness encased all of his senses.

 

What the hell is this?

 

As quickly as the uninvited sensation came upon him, it vanished. He opened his dark eyes, feeling a faint ki signature materialize right above him. The second he looked up to see what it was, he was knocked back by a something falling on his head. Not prepared for any such thing, Piccolo was forced down a few yards towards the ground by the weight. Automatically, he took a defensive position and rolled out of the way, still keeping to the air. He made no attempt to catch the body, which fell past him into the river below. Rolling his neck from side-to-side in order to work out the kinks the impact caused, Piccolo just stared down at the ripples in the water.

 

If it's alive, then it will resurface. If it's dead, then it will still resurface…eventually.

 

After a few minutes, the body bobbed to the surface. Piccolo descended cautiously to take a closer look. He could see that the body had sustained many cuts on the olive-skinned arms. The rips in the dark blue pants denoted that whoever it was had just been in a fight of some kind. And he could clearly see that the body was female.

 

A human female? What the hell is she doing way out here?

 

Then he floated down low enough so that he could bend down and pick her body up. When he turned her over, the long, straight black hair that had been curtaining her face fell away, revealing additional battle wounds across her forehead and cheeks. Her weakened ki level told him that she was barely alive.

 

“Shit! Well, I'd better taker her to Capsule Corp, then. Great,” he muttered to himself, not really wanting to go there, as he cradled her in his arms and lifted again into the air. As he headed in the direction of Capsule Corp, he couldn't help but feel a brewing suspicion. There was something very disconcerting about what he felt moments before the strange female landed on him; something that did not sit right with him.

 

<><><><>

 

The three Saiya-jins sailed effortlessly through the warm afternoon sky. Mirai Trunks listened with intense interest as the two boys regaled him with the Majin Buu incident that had happened only two years ago. Just as they finished telling him of their adventures, a gush of arctic air hit them all unexpectedly, knocking the three of them backwards and off-course, and in Goten's case, towards the ground.

 

As soon as it had come, it disappeared. Goten, who had stopped himself well before hitting the ground, looked up at the two Trunks.

 

“What was that?” he asked, bewildered.

 

Chibi descended to Goten's level and said, “I don't know! But that was really weird!”

 

Mirai quickly joined the other two and began to scan around, looking for whatever caused that bizarre disruption to their flight paths.

 

The three of them were hovering above a flat and rocky mountaintop, which was mostly barren and dotted by not much more than a few shrubs.

 

“Look at that!” Goten shouted, pointing downward. Even from that great height, they could easily pick out the shapes of two bodies sprawled upon the ground below. After giving each other a quick, unspoken glance, the two curious boys zipped down towards the bodies.

A couple seconds after Goten and Chibi landed, Mirai also touched down a few feet from them. Goten and Chibi walked with cautious steps up to the girl closest to them, who was lying on her side, partially covered by a shrub.

 

“Is she dead?” Goten asked, unsure.

 

“I don't know,” Chibi Trunks said simply, as he leaned over to nudge her with his hand.

 

Other than her two-toned brown hair moving off of her face, nothing else happened. Emboldened, he reached over and rolled her onto her back. Trunks saw that her chest was rising and falling slightly, which told him that she was at the very least alive and able to breathe well enough. “We should take her home. I bet my mom could help her out.”

 

A few feet away, Mirai bent down at the side of the other, lightly-tanned girl. She was on her back with her head turned to the side, facing away from him. A few strands of her reddish-brown hair were strewn across her face, the rest of her hair still secured in a ponytail. With his thumb on her chin, he gently guided her head in his direction. His touch made her eyes open slightly and her mouth moved to speak.

 

“It's okay, don't say anything. You'll be safe and healed soon”

 

As he said those reassuring words, her eyes lost their fight to stay open and, from what he could tell, the girl slipped into unconsciousness. Judging from the type of clothing that both girls had on - the long-sleeved tops, pants, gloves, etc. - he figured that they had originally gotten dressed for a nighttime excursion.

 

It's extremely dangerous for them to be out here at night. I wonder what happened. It looks to me like they got knocked out somehow, he surmised as he lifted her into his arms and carried her towards the two younger Saiya-jins. He carefully set the girl down next to her companion.

 

“I think she's unconscious,” the smaller Trunks remarked to his older self about the one that they had found.

 

“Yea, she is,” Mirai said, nodding. And not one scratch of any kind on her, either, just like this other girl…

 

“Let's get them to Capsule Corp,” Mirai said, shaking off his thoughts. The two boys nodded in unison as Mirai again gathered the lightly-tanned girl into his arms. Then he turned to the two boys and motioned with his head towards other girl. “Both of you carry that one, so that she stays level.”

 

Chibi Trunks and Goten bobbed their heads once more in agreement. The younger Trunks immediately bent down and cradled her top half into his arms as if he was holding a baby, while Goten wrapped his little arms securely just above her knees. Satisfied, Mirai gave a quick nod as the three of them ascended to the skies and made their way towards Capsule Corp.

 

*~*~*~*

 

* This line is supposed to be in all caps but for some reason, after (hours of) trying everything under the sun, even though the original file it's in all caps, this file/chapter will not upload with the line in caps as it should, as it's important as it is to convey that he does have a mini spurt of a freak out at that moment.