Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Folly; A Bittersweet Symphony ❯ Within The Glimpse ( Chapter 19 )

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chap 19 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

~ Early morning ~

 

A near-transparent mist formed, lightly hovering about the sleeping form in the dark room. A light shimmer began to form where the mist lightly glided over the tanned skin visible from the bed covers. Misty, white strands streamed from the mist, winding softly around uncovered fingers, then up the arms, neck, intertwining themselves within the light waves of hair, making the body glow ever so softly for seconds in various spots. The entire body was then blanketed with a soft, white mist before it dissipated, melting slowly into nothingness.

 

<><><><><><>

 

~ Mid-morning ~

 

Autumn stared blankly at the wall in front of her as she sat up in her bed, blankets still wrapped around her.

 

That was strange. What was it? It was so blurred, hard to really make out anything.

 

Her puzzled thoughts were interrupted as Asia came bouncing into her room, already dressed for the day.

 

“Yo! What are you doing still in bed?” she asked, laughing as she leapt up on Autumn's bed and jumped on it a couple of times. Autumn smiled softly at her friend's antics.

 

“Nothing, really. I had a strange dream last night and I was just thinking about it.”

 

“Oh, yea?” Asia jumped high one final time before landing in Indian-style and leaning forward. “Do tell!” she said eagerly.

 

“You're pretty excited and energized this morning,” Autumn said, changing the subject.

 

Asia grinned. “I don't know! I just woke up with a lot of energy. I slept pretty well last night. Besides, Gohan said that he'd call Krillin and Yamcha to spar with us today. We haven't had anyone to spar with for a week now. It'll be nice to have some company.”

 

Autumn nodded and gave a slight smile as she got up.

 

“Are you sure you're okay?” Asia asked with some seriousness.

 

Her friend shrugged. “Yea, just in a thinking mood, I guess.”

 

“What was your dream?”

 

“I'll tell you later. I gotta hurry up and get ready. I'm late.”

 

“You can take your time. I was late getting up, also. The Saiya-jin and Azure have already eaten and are gone. They are preparing more food right now.”

 

Autumn chuckled at that.

 

“See you downstairs!” Asia said as she slid off the bed and moved towards the door.

 

“Yup. Yo! Don't eat without me!”

 

Asia laughed. “'Course not!”

 

<><><><><><>

 

As he flew, Chibi couldn't help but be excited. It was finally time to re-challenge “the human” - in other words: to show off his strength to his father.

 

She's stronger than last time, but so am I. I've been doing extra training with Goten and and his dad too, so I'm definitely stronger than last time. Dad will be proud because I've gotten stronger. Get ready, Azure, I'll be sure to kick your ass this time!

 

As that thought crossed his mind, Chibi looked over at Azure who in turn looked at him. Trunks' confident smirk was returned by Azure. Their attention was brought back onto Vegita as he landed, and the two of them followed suit.

 

The combatants landed a few feet apart and faced each other.

 

“Trunks.” The son glanced over at his father. “Impress me.”

 

The boy smirked and nodded. “No problem.”

 

Azure slid into a fighting stance as Trunks started the battle off.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Mirai Trunks was furious. It showed every time he would unleash a couple blasts of ki, strong and fast enough to wrap around the gravity room a few times until he either hit it with punches or kicks or it rammed straight into him. Vegita would probably not be too happy that his precious gravity room was taking on so much damage. Fresh dents and new dings textured the surrounding walls. The room still functioned despite some hissing, broken wires and the damage to the walls. By the time he was done being battered by his own ki, the g-force indicator was so heavily damaged that it would not display the correct number. Undoubtedly, Vegita would be pissed, but at the moment, Mirai couldn't care less.

 

“Fuck!”

 

Trunks switched from using ki to fighting invisible opponents. I know I've improved. I've improved a lot. I know he knows I've improved. What's going on? That look he gave me this morning, what the hell was that all about? I couldn't even read it. What the hell did that mean? By now I'm sure he's way stronger than me. So it can't be that I'm any kind of insult, like last time...

 

He landed a difficult combination, pausing to raise the gravity up just a little bit before continuing again, this time starting off with slightly slower movements.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Small hands made a big impact of power as first a right hook, then a left hook, then a right hook again connected with the face of his older opponent, which was followed by the small fingers lacing together to strike hard on the back of the neck, sending the body careening to the ground below. The descent was accompanied a second later with his ki blast.

 

Ha! This is great! Hope this isn't the end though…that would suck.

 

He didn't have to worry. Although she had hit the ground his ki attack was immediately pushed back into the air towards him. He merely sidestepped it and waited for his opponent to re-emerge from the crater. Azure didn't disappoint. She shot out of the crater in his direction. The two met in an explosive mid-air crash as they both exchanged a flurry of kicks and punches that were short-lived once Azure found an opening.

 

She dropped down in the air a few feet as Trunks, pulled on by his own frenzied momentum, suddenly hit air. When he paused to look down, his chin was met by her knee as she flew directly upwards. Trunks flew up and back as the accompanying kick connected at an angle with his chest. His attacker's body spun about so that the knee of her other leg immediately connected with the side of his face, changing the direction of his fall.

 

Damn it! No way!

 

Annoyed, Trunks slowed down the trajectory of his fall and coasted in the air for a few feet before stopping altogether. Then Trunks and Azure charged at each other in the same instant. At the last second, Azure flipped up and behind him. Chibi turned around and was greeted with a hard ki-enhanced punch to the face. She immediately followed with a ki-enhanced kick to the chest, riding him all the way down. Azure kept the pressure on, skidding him into and over the ground for a moment before kicking him out of the crater with her other foot.

 

The young Saiya-jin bounced end-over-end a few times before landing on his stomach, only to pop up into the air a second later. That last attack lightly scarred the Chibi's face and arm, causing a light presence of blood to appear on his body.

 

At this point of the skirmish, Azure was sporting a good deal more bloody injuries than her younger counterpart, plus she was having a lot more trouble standing and was already far more exhausted.

 

<><><><><><>

 

His movement was slightly faster as he fought hard against the restraint of the gravity in the room, which went unnoticed as he toiled in his mind.

 

I remember those first days when I came back from the future the second time. The way he ignored me, pushed me away…all the time. Especially when things didn't turn out exactly the way I had said they would. But now… what's eating him? What's the reason behind his crappy attitude this time? It's even worse than before.

 

Suddenly, he turned very angry.

 

Why the hell is it so important to train that bitch? She may be strong, but fuck! She's only human! She's not royal blood and she's not even a fuckin' Saiya-jin!

 

Trunks stopped what he was doing and let out an angry yell:

 

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!”

 

Banging on the door to the room brought Trunks's attention to the door as he became aware of a muffled male voice requesting the door to be opened. Letting go of one last frustrated yell, he moved to the control panel and shut off the power.

 

Irritated, Trunks opened the door and stepped out of the chamber to be met by a slightly surprised Goku and his two sons. Pulling back his irritation a couple of notches, Trunks gave the trio a short nod of his head as a greeting.

 

“Sorry for interrupting” Gohan apologized, picking up on the only slightly hidden irritation Trunks was radiating.

 

“I'm surprised Vegita's not here,” Goku remarked idly as he looked up into the cloudless sky, just as Mirai was poised to ask the trio about their appearance.

 

Mirai rolled his eyes. “Not too long ago he took `little brother' and Azure with him out to train.”

 

“Hmm,” Goku responded.

 

“I bet it's so that Trunks can get a rematch,” Goten wondered aloud. “He kept saying that he wanted another chance to fight her.”

 

“He did, huh?” Gohan asked as his memory recalled the pair's first bout.

 

“Uh-huh,” Goten replied, nodding his head vigorously.

 

He's probably testing her progress, Goku then thought to himself. That's strange though… since this morning I can't sense her energy anymore. But I can certainly sense little Trunks'… Hm, and that… it must be hers. Well, it's time to see her progress.

 

“I hope you don't mind, Gohan, but I need to find Vegita. I want to see how far Azure has come with her training.”

 

“So do I,” Gohan said a little dryly. “By the way, where are the other girls?”

 

“Inside,” Mirai answered, motioning with his chin towards the main building. “They both woke up a little late today, apparently.” He looked at Gohan, wanting to say more, but decided not to.

 

I would take them off your hands since you've mostly had them in the past three weeks but today just isn't the day for it. Besides, I need the chamber at least for a little while longer today; since Father is gone, this is probably my only chance to use it.

 

“Well, I'll be back for them later.”

 

“Sure thing,” Mirai replied, then turned around and headed back into the chamber.

 

“Hey wait, Trunks!” he heard Goku say. “Don't you wanna come with us and see the spar?”

 

“No thanks, Goku,” Mirai threw over his shoulder just before pulled the door shut behind him.

 

“Ah…okay, then,” Goku said with a resigned shrug. He turned his head slightly and half-closed his eyes, searching for familiar ki signatures…

 

Goten cocked his head to the side as he watched the door to the gravity room close. “He looked kinda mad.”

 

“More like in a really bad mood, Goten,” Gohan advised.

 

“Oh!” the young one replied.

 

The two's attention was brought back by their father announcing triumphantly, “Found `em! Let's go!” he said as he lifted off into the air, followed by his sons.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Vegita watched silently as the spar continued on. It was apparent from the beginning that this bout between his son and Azure promised to be intense. And right away he noticed that both opponents had grown considerably in strength in the past two months. One of them, he was proud of, and the other had surprised and impressed him. But one had been changing more than the other.

 

This style… She has changed. She's still changing. Her power level jumped this much in only a day? On top of which, her ki signature has altered as well. Its human Earthling element has lessened. Surely something must have happened last night to trigger this change. Her body…did it also change to keep up with the power increase?

 

Vegita continued to stay calm as the spar became more ferocious. He stood impassively in his customary stance - arms crossed over his chest. Inwardly, he smirked proudly at his son, ignoring the fact that this spar was starting to get a little too violent and rough.

 

Ha! Good boy! You show a lot of resolve. My blood truly does run in your veins. Then he took a good look at his son's human opponent. Very interesting, Those evasive moves are impressive - at least you know how to keep yourself alive…

 

Vegita's train of thought was interrupted as he sensed, and then saw, his rival and sons approaching from above, just as Azure and his son exchanged another heated set of blows.

 

<><><><><><>

 

“Watch it!”

 

Goku warned as he dove out of the way of a stray ki beam coming from the fighting pair ahead of him. Gohan and Goten split off opposite of each other as the stray flew past them.

 

“Whoa!” Goten exclaimed, impressed.

 

“That looks more like a full-blown battle than a spar,” Gohan stated a little dryly.

 

Goku frowned. He had to agree with his older son's observation. The three of them touched down, with Goku landing nearest Vegita.

 

A strong kick from Trunks sent Azure down into a previously made crater. Vegita said nothing as Azure rebounded back into the sky to re-start their stalemated battle.

 

“Don't you think this is a little much, Vegita?” asked Goku.

 

Vegita noticed the almost condescending tone in the younger Saiya-jin's voice.

 

“She doesn't have a body that will sustain this type of fighting for very long.”

 

“You came here for a reason, did you not?” Vegita asked, not taking his eyes off the combatants.

 

“Well, I did come to spar with you, but that was before I felt this incredible energy and had to see it for myself. Your training sure did pay off.”

 

Vegita snorted. “Of course it did, moron. Only hard training gets the job done.” Goku smiled affably and shrugged at the comment while continuing to watch the spar.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Hooking her hand around the back of his neck, Azure pulled Trunks sharply forwards into her knee twice before flinging him away. She followed swiftly with a kick to his head. Chibi growled angrily.

 

Damn it!

 

He swiftly righted himself as she moved in towards him. He attempted an uppercut that she immediately moved to the side to avoid. But just as quickly, Trunks' other hand blasted a ki beam at her head that she could only partially block. The blast sent her falling towards the ground and into one of many craters now dotting the landscape.

 

Trunks gave a satisfied smirk as he watched her fall. There was a pause in the fighting as she took time to pick herself up and catch her breath.

 

So, you still want to battle? Why? You can't beat me. Trunks smirk widened as a different tactic came to mind. I know… how about this? I'm going to show you something you've never seen before…and then you won't be able to avoid me like you have been anymore, Azure! Prepare to be amazed!

 

Gathering only few seconds of summoned energy, Trunks powered up to his Super Saiya-jin state. He looked down and saw Azure's full attention focused on him.

 

“Vegita!” Gohan snapped disapprovingly. Goten looked at their father who in return looked at Vegita, who stayed as impassive as ever. He slowly turned his head and gave Goku a meaningful look; Goku grabbed Gohan's arm to stop him from interfering.

 

It's been over! Trunks then fired a short, but concentrated barrage of ki disks directly into the crater. A gust of wind helped to quickly clear the residual smoke and dust, but there was no movement from within.

 

Oh, no you don't! I'm not falling for that again! Trunks thought, remembering the last time when she flipped out of the crater. I'll just flush you out this time, Trunks extended his arms outward from the sides of his body with ki building inside each half-opened palm. Within a second or two, Trunks pulled his arms together and blasted the crater.

 

At that second, Vegita lazily pointed two fingers to the side, expelling his own ki beam which effectively displaced his son's downward blast so that it impacted off-target, creating a cloud of dirt that hid the action from his unknowing son. A few moments later, they all felt a last big surge of power as Azure shot out of the crater, only to disappear from view…

 

Appearing behind the little Super Saiya-jin Chibi, she grabbed a hold of both his arms to briefly pull them backwards as she planted a hard, angled kick to the middle of his back with both legs. She released her hold as his body flew at an angle towards the ground. He landed on all fours with enough force to cause a slightly shallow, bowl-shaped depression underneath him.

 

Chibi quickly whirled back around, ready to send her another ki blast in her direction when he suddenly found himself restrained from behind from any type of responding attack by Goku, who had a firm grip on his wrists.

 

“It's all over, Trunks. There's nothing left to fight. Drop out of Super Saiya-jin.”

 

Grunting from the slight pain, Chibi nodded and did as he was told. Once he returned to his normal form, Goku released him. Sucking his teeth in irritation, he and Goku walked the few feet to rejoin the others.

 

In the meanwhile, Gohan had caught the falling Azure and laid her on the ground.

 

“I must say, that was quite a spar, Trunks,” Goku commented.

 

“Yea, she's okay,” Trunks said with a cocky shrug. “She's not bad…for a human.” But there was no way she could've completely avoided that last blast - what the hell happened?

 

A contemplative expression graced his youthful face for a few moments as he looked at the recumbent girl. Seeing it, both Goku and Vegita smirked.

 

“Dad?”

 

“Vegita… she's smoking.” It was a slightly shocked Goku who voiced what Gohan was seeing.

 

“Obviously her body still cannot handle the power she has,” Vegita answered a-matter-of-factly.

 

Gohan glared at Vegita disapprovingly.

 

“Not now, Gohan,” Goku warned lowly, anticipating and cutting off the verbal barrage that he knew his son wanted to make. Gohan looked at his father, his expression filled with unspoken questions.

 

Holding the gaze in challenge for several moments, Gohan finally gave up. “I'm going back to Capsule Corp. so we can get started today,” he announced. I'll save it for later, Dad…but this is the last time I'm going to do it.

 

Nodding, Goku gave him a small, lop-sided smile in silent gratitude. Watching Gohan take off, a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Her ki signature changed,” Goku realized aloud to himself. “That's why I couldn't feel it earlier.” He again looked over at the unconscious form of Azure before looking up at Vegita, who only looked at him back.

 

“We're sparring tomorrow, Kakarott. Be ready,” Vegita suddenly ordered.

 

Goku frowned at the command for a second before nodding. So, you've figured something out, Vegita? It's time for a proper update from you, anyway. “Fine with me,” he answered back. “I guess we're done here…for now,” Goku said as he took another look at Vegita whose eyes felt like they were boring straight into him.

 

“Tomorrow,” Vegita said firmly before Goku could say anything else. Goku shot him a strange look, conveying curiosity but understanding before he lifted off with Goten right behind.

 

“See ya later, Trunks!” Goten yelled, waving cheerily as he did. Trunks simply waved back.

 

“By the way, Vegita,” Goku called out, just before he got too high in the sky. “You are going to take her back to Capsule Corp soon, right?”

 

Vegita rolled his eyes. “Idiot!”

 

Goku stayed where he was, hovering in place, keeping his gaze on him. Vegita responded with an irritated look. “Get out of here, Kakarott,” he said calmly. Giving a brief nod, Goku, with Goten closely following, finally flew off.

 

Vegita, after a few moments, walked over to the downed body, took a long, appraising look at it before his gaze moved towards his young son. “Trunks!”

 

His son jumped slightly at the unexpected sharpness. “Yes, Dad,” he said a little resolutely.

 

“It is time for you to finish what you started.”

 

A knowing smirk graced his young features as he comprehended what his father wanted him to do. Sliding briefly into a battle stance, Trunks shot towards his father.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Yea, it's amazing, alright, Gohan repeated to himself, but with much less conviction than his father. It's just like Trunks said… she has a lot of skill. She evaded some of little Trunks' more dangerous moves, and even getting a decent lucky shot in during his Super Saiya-jin form…but, her body reacting like that after every sparring session? How has she managed to stay alive all this time? What would be the reason for a body to amass such a huge power level that it can't contain it properly?

 

It seems like her power has more than doubled in the past two months. Autumn and Asia have also experienced strange increases in their powers as well. Not nearly as dramatic, but, with them it's an even, steady flow of ki energy. There's no gap between their power and their bodies' ability to adapt to it. So, what could that mean?

 

I suppose Autumn's and Asia's increases aren't so strange compared to Krillin, who I heard had been able to do similar feats outside of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but, he's from our universe…is it then an adaptation to our universe that might be giving them a temporary spike? But why would it be so different for Azure? So, let's say Vegita's claim is right and that she is from this universe… but, then, why the weird adaptation? But wait, Piccolo mentioned an extra power source… but only for those two.

 

Gohan sighed with frustration as he flew. What am I missing?

 

He paused for a second in his musings and raised his head to see that his destination had started to creep up on him.

 

<><><><><><>

 

Inside the gravity chamber, Trunks methodically did a series of vertical, one-finger push-ups.

 

Did that really happen? I couldn't have really done that… I wouldn't do that. Not with her. It must have been a nightmare. She wouldn't do that. Would she? Damn it! Maybe my mind is just messing with me.

 

His count finished on one side, Trunks switched hands.

 

It has to be that. It just has to be! There's no other explanation. None!

 

But the more he thought bout it, the more he had to acknowledge what he most dreaded - that it really did happen. And knowing that made him more angry, which made him even angrier, which made his ki start to rise. Slowly, his fury made him erupt into his Super Saiya-jin form.

 

A sharp pain then lanced through his body, making him fall to the ground. He lay there recovering, taking in a few deep, steadying breaths.

 

“Fuck.”

 

Flipping back up onto his feet, he moved to the center control console, raising the gravity pressure to a newer, higher level. He went back to his vertical push-ups again, this time using an index finger from both hands.

 

<><><><><><>

 

~ A few hours later ~

 

Yamcha and Krillin jumped back simultaneously as a ki attack from Autumn missed its target. The two were fully prepared as Asia came through the dust cloud. Yamcha jumped into the air while Krillin flipped over the girl, then both boys shot a blast at Autumn that hit an invisible ki shield.

 

Krillin looked slightly taken aback for a moment, as Yamcha flew past him, suddenly propelled forwards because of a kick delivered to his middle back by Asia. She immediately moved in front of the falling Yamcha to greet him with first a right and then left hook to the face before lacing her fingers together and striking his face again. The force of that last hit slammed Yamcha to the ground. At the same time, Krillin was swooping and dodging ki blasts coming from the grounded Autumn while steadily advancing towards her.

 

Jumping into the air again, Asia flew over to Krillin, initiating a exchange of punches and kicks, stopping his advance. Yamcha slowly stood up and readied a blast aimed at Autumn. Seeing this, she stuck out her hands towards her attacker. He started charging up for his blast, as did she. Before either could fully form their attacks, a stray blast from above landed right in the middle of them, causing a bit of distraction, Yamcha's ki diminished from its concentrated state from his hands.

 

“What the -?” An unseen force hit him hard from both sides that suffocated him for a couple seconds before knocking him backwards onto the ground.

 

Autumn in surprise looked down at her hands. What was that? she wondered wildly. I've never done that before! It felt… strange.

 

Suddenly she felt a sharp pressure right before she found herself face-first on the ground as Asia had landed on top of her. Asia grunted an apology and rolled off her friend then shot upwards towards Krillin. Autumn also rolled over and sent a shot upwards from her hands - side-by-side with her thumbs touching. Thin bands of pale purple spiraled outward mixed in with transparent energy as they hit Krillin squarely in the back - at the same time Asia angled a swift uppercut into his chest.

 

Doubling over, Krillin seemed to freeze in mid-air for a couple seconds before falling to the ground. Asia looked at him curiously but her distraction cost her. Yamcha, who had summoned energy to get up, used the element of surprise to use a backhanded fist which struck just below her neck, sending her plummeting to the ground. Yamcha also fell to the ground but he was looking at Asia with a surprised respect. Autumn was also surprised, but for a slightly different reason.

 

Wow, didn't think I could pull that off without her knowing! Yamcha commented to himself between breaths as he slowly stood up, while noticing that both Krillin and Asia were very slow to get up.

 

“Whoa! Jeeze, you guys are getting good!” Krillin complimented as he moved into a comfortable sitting position.

 

“Well,” Asia said as she also moved to a sitting position, “you didn't have to go so easy on us, you know.”

 

“Well, I don't know about Krillin, but that was just about all I had,” Yamcha admitted, panting a little.

 

“No way!” Asia said with some disbelief. “I know you have some more in ya!”

 

Yamcha chuckled. “Well, maybe a little bit more,” he added with a wink.

 

Krillin then chuckled. “With all the training we've done over the years and to see how you two have managed to come this far in so short a time…that's pretty crazy!”

 

Although, he pondered silently, for a split second there was something… or maybe it's just been a while since I've had a workout like this?

 

“You've been holding back,” Autumn pushed, confident in her assessment.

 

“Not too much, to be honest with you,” Yamcha admitted.

 

Asia chuckled as she let herself fall back into the grass. “I vote for a break!” she declared.

 

“I'm totally with you on that!” Yamcha agreed. The other two nodded in agreement as the four of them lay back into the grass for a little rest.

 

As the other three humans chatted amicably about everything and nothing, Autumn contemplated, mentally playing back all of her battle moves during the last spar.

 

Wow, what happened? What was that… attack I just did? I've never done that before. It's as if I felt something… different come out of me. How strange...

 

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