Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Folly; A Bittersweet Symphony ❯ Rising Matters ( Chapter 20 )

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chap 20 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Piccolo walked silently through the night air, stopping at the edge of the Lookout's platform.

 

“Something is different,” he said softly to himself. After a few moments of searching, he came to a realization.

 

I've felt this before. The same presence that was here a few weeks ago has returned. He paused, using the next several minutes to reach out further with his senses; feeling, searching. Where is it coming from this time? I can't tell. It's still too… faint.

 

Piccolo pulled in his concentration to search again. It's a little stronger than last time. I should be able to pinpoint it, he thought with a hint of frustration. Wait…it's massing, he thought, pausing a few seconds before turning his head slightly to the left. Over there. Piccolo's body turned as though it was a compass, walking a couple of feet to his left before stopping and refocusing.

 

“I see...”

 

<><><><>

 

- Two days later; nighttime -

 

Chibi Trunks was walking through darkness for what seemed like forever before he reached a forest, which opened into a grassy clearing. Just as Chibi cleared the treeline, he stopped walking. In the middle of the clearing stood Mirai Trunks. He was standing in the arrogant pose made famous by his, or rather, their father, dressed in spandex and armor, minus the white gloves. Mirai's expression also mimicked the cross expression usually favored by Vegeta. Moving closer, Chibi could see that Mirai also had a long, horizontal gash originating from the center of his stomach. The blood from the open wound dripped from the damaged armor onto the ground below him.

 

Without warning, he charged at the young boy. The unanticipated attack was blindingly fast; so much so that Chibi didn't react soon enough and was hit backwards by a hard punch. He bounced and rolled across the ground a couple times before stopping. The boy scrambled quickly to his feet before his opponent could land another punch. Oddly, Mirai paused in his actions.

 

“And you want to call me `father'? Don't you dare…” The voice that came from Mirai wasn't his own.

 

Confused, Chibi Trunks looked up and asked, “Dad?” As an answer, the attack from Mirai now began in earnest.

 

Chibi soon found himself on the receiving end of a couple more punches before he was able to gain enough space between him and his attacker to make any kind of counterattack. Once he found his opening, Chibi engaged his older self in an exchange of furious kicks and punches. After a few rounds he was able to get a hit in just as Mirai moving to one side. Chibi's fist connected with Mirai's shoulder, but instead of feeling the familiar impact of flesh against flesh, it passed completely through. Surprised, Chibi immediately pulled back, only to see fresh blood coating his small fist. Now shocked and unsettled, he looked up to see the bloody hole his attack had left behind.

 

“Bastard.”

 

This time it was Mirai's voice, but when Chibi's gaze came up, he saw his Saiya-jin father's stern visage looking back at him. The armor he was wearing was intact with no sign of damage or injury anywhere on it.

 

“Wha-what?!”

 

“Tsk-tsk,” Vegeta's voice scolded, wagging an admonishing finger at the boy. “What are you…afraid? Finish it!”

 

Vegita's form slowly blurred back into that of the bleeding Mirai. “Give me a challenge,” demanded Vegita's voice through Mirai's lips. As he continued to speak, the mocking tone of the voice began to slowly change back into Mirai's. “Or, maybe you can't…if that's the case, get out of my sight! You don't deserve to stand before me,” he finished, looking away from the Chibi in disgust.

 

“Shut the hell up!!” loudly yelled a confused and frustrated Chibi as he sped towards Mirai, transforming into Super Saiya-jin in mid-attack.

 

Mirai stood calmly as the Super Saiya-jin Chibi swung a swift and powerful kick to the side of his face. The force behind it was strong enough to knock Mirai clear off his feet and make him fly sideways. Mirai stopped himself in mid-fall just as a follow-up punch connected with the other side of his face. Once he hit the ground, he started bleeding from a new place, not from where Chibi's hits had connected, but rather, on the opposite shoulder from the hole. Chibi was so blinded by his frustration and anger he didn't notice as he kept pounding into Mirai.

 

After a few moments, Chibi jumped backwards a couple feet into the air before outstretching his arms to his side with ki forming inside his cupped palms. Mirai turned his head slowly and looked scornfully up at his airborne attacker. Breathing heavily, Chibi let out a yell as he brought his wrists together and let the blast go, watching it careen towards the target below.

 

Smoke and bits of dirt were kicked up everywhere as a result of the massive blast that followed. Panting, Chibi hovered where he was and waited. As the smoke was clearing, Chibi heard his father's reproachful voice again:

 

“Don't get cocky, boy! You're not that strong…yet.”

 

In the middle of the dissipating smoke/dust cloud, Chibi could see a form emerge. He fully expected to see either his father or Mirai standing there, but what he saw made his lavender eyebrows crease deeper in puzzlement.

 

“You've got to do better than that to prove that you're my son, boy,” said the calm but very disdainful figure of Azure, speaking with Vegita's voice and wearing the same battered outfit as Mirai.

 

Snarling, Chibi charged at Azure. He pulled back his arm, but right before he was close enough to strike, something heavy wrapped itself around him, covering him completely. He yelled out, flailing and punching out at the suffocating heaviness.

 

<>~End dream~<>

 

It was late when Vegita came walking down the dark hallway towards his room. From one of the rooms ahead, he heard what sounded like tumbling coming from within, which was accompanied by a rising ki. Curious, Vegita continued to walk while keeping his attention on the room, which he knew belonged to his younger son. Right as he came up to the doorway, Chibi cried out. Vegita immediately pushed the door open to find his son on the floor, entangled by his bedcovers, thrashing and struggling underneath them.

 

“What the hell are you screaming about?!” Vegeta demanded.

 

“It's over!” he heard his son shout right before the blankets fried to nothing as Chibi let out a nearly full-powered ki blast at the advancing figure, his small hands poised to let out successive volleys of blasts.

 

Vegita, partially prepared, deflected the first blast towards the window. Cement and glass blew outward, leaving a gaping hole behind. As the blast's successor came immediately after, Vegita snapped at his son.

 

“Damn it, boy! Snap out of it before I beat you out of it!”

 

Vegita shot out a blast just strong enough to neutralize Chibi's blast before suddenly appearing next to him, gathering both of his son's wrists in one hand so that he could lift the wriggling Trunks off the floor.

 

Reflexively, Trunks went to bite at the wrist of his captor but was stopped when Vegita slapped him with his free hand, then grabbed harshly at his jaw.

 

“Don't…you…dare.” Vegita warned sharply, forcing the boy to look right into his face.

 

Trunks' body froze, his struggles halted by the authoritative and familiar tone. Slowly, his large blue eyes blinked once, then twice. After a few moments, he realized that he was awake and he was being held firmly by his own and very real father. His dazed eyes moved to look past his father's shoulder to see a startled and surprised Mirai run into the room.

 

Chibi's lower lip began to quiver and his eyes started to water. Vegita released his grip on his son's jaw and moved his other arm towards the bed. He abruptly let go of Chibi's wrists, dropping the child onto his bed. Bulma then came rushing into the room.

 

“What happened?” she half-gasped, half-shrieked, taking in the state of the room, the hole where the window used to be, and her upset son all at once.

 

“He had a nightmare,” Vegita replied. He softened his gaze slightly at his son as Bulma rushed passed him to Chibi's side. Chibi purposely avoided the gaze of his father, but instead looked directly at Mirai, who returned the look.

 

“I'm fine, Mom,” Chibi said softly to his mother's worried questions. Only for a moment did he look at his mother in the eye, to confirm what he was telling her. “It was just a bad dream.”

 

Bulma frowned. “Obviously, that was more than a bad dream! Just look at this room!” she said waving her arm to indicate the damage.

 

“He was probably still half-sleep when Father walked into the room,” Mirai offered. Cocking an eyebrow, Vegita turned his gaze to Mirai, who kept his own eyes fixed on Bulma and his “little brother”.

 

Bulma glanced over at Mirai then back to her little one. “Sorry, Mom,” Trunks apologized, nearly on the verge of crying once again.

 

She sighed and looked at her small son with a concerned expression. “Are you sure you're okay?” she gently asked as she put her hand to his forehead. Chibi fidgeted a bit, feeling weirdly uncomfortable because his father was still in the room.

 

“Yea, Mom. I'm fine, really,” he replied trying to be little more composed as he looked at her.

 

“Well, with your room destroyed it's obvious you can't sleep in here for now,” Bulma stated. Chibi only nodded as he slid off his bed and stood up.

 

Bulma shot a questioning look at Vegita, who shrugged noncommittally. “You heard him. The boy is fine,” he said in answer to a question he was sure Bulma was posed to ask.

 

“Look at this room, Vegita! He's not fine if he's blowing up his own room!” Bulma rebuked as she frowned and turned around toward Trunks' closet. She hastily retrieved a second blanket from a shelf to add to a still intact one Chibi had already taken for himself. Bulma saw that her son was still shaky from the nightmare.

 

“Come on, Trunks. You'll be in one of the guest rooms tonight,” Bulma said, as she looked briefly at Mirai, who met her gaze before she motioned to her younger son. Chibi nodded, not making eye contact with his father or Mirai as he followed his mother out of the room.

 

Vegita watched his young son leave the room before turning his attention toward the elder, to whom he said nothing. Then his gaze looked passed Mirai into the hallway beyond. Azure was leaning against the far wall, her arms crossed over her chest, silently observing the happenings. Following his father's line of sight, a puzzled Mirai turned around and saw her standing there.

 

Vegita caught the flash of irritation that appeared briefly in his son's eyes when they landed on her. Azure straightened from her leaning stance, turned and walked away. Vegita noticed that she happened to be walking in the opposite direction of her room's location.

 

As for Mirai, he simply turned and walked out of the room. Vegita lingered for a few moments before he finally left his son's room, closing the door slowly behind him.

 

<><><><>

 

- Morning -

 

Autumn nearly ran into Asia as she entered her friend's room.

 

“Whoa!” they both exclaimed simultaneously.

 

“Something up?” Asia asked with a little concern. “Hey, when are you going to tell me about - “

 

Autumn cut her off. “I called Gohan a little while ago. We're training alone today.”

 

“Alone?” That piece of news surprised Asia a little. She paused for a moment before asking skeptically, “What for?”

 

“Does it matter?” Autumn replied a little sharply.

 

Asia frowned slightly her friend's tone of voice. “What gotten into you?”

 

Autumn sighed. “Nothing. But let's go”

 

“If you say so,” Asia said with a shrug of her shoulders.

 

<><><><>

 

Mirai sat quietly atop of the dome of the main Capsule Corp. building not doing anything for the time being. He didn't want to think about anything either, just stare off into space - or rather, at the sky. And, unlike the other day, training was at the very bottom of his “to-do” list.

 

A few minutes later, his wandering attention was distracted when he saw Autumn and Asia take off into the sky.

 

Hm. Where are those two going? Gohan's house is in the other direction…he noted idly to himself. His musings were diverted a second time when he saw his father take off with the little Trunks in a different direction than the girls. Taking a break from getting beaten by Goku, are you Father? he thought snidely.

 

As Vegita had been doing to him, he was also keeping his distance from his father, watching him from afar. Father hasn't mentioned anything about the gravity room. I don't think he's even been in there since I was there last.

 

But then his thoughts switched from Vegita to Chibi. The little guy's also been avoiding me since last night. That dream, nightmare he had…I need to ask him about it. Realizing these troubled thoughts weren't conducive to any further “non-thinking”, Mirai lifted off the rooftop and floated down to the ground before heading towards the gravity chamber.

 

Might as well get some use out of it.

 

<><><><>

 

The girls eventually landed on a grassy expanse of a seemingly uninhabited, tree-speckled island. Autumn remained standing as Asia walked over to lean against a nearby tree. “So, what's going on?” she asked curiously.

 

Autumn stood in front of her. “Do you feel at all different in any way?” she asked thoughtfully.

 

“Of course, I do,” Asia replied. “Ever since I've been here. Remember, we were talking about it one night?”

 

“No, I mean aside from that. Have you felt anything different about yourself in the past, say…week?”

 

Asia went silent for a few moments before answering, “Well, I did felt an increase of power for the second time since I've been here.”

 

“No, not like that either. What I meant to say is anything…different than natural progression?”

 

Asia tilted her head and looked at Autumn with a puzzled expression.

 

“I guess not,” Autumn said, her sigh tainted with light frustration. “In the past week, I felt a difference; one that affected the power that I have. It's like I've somehow been given additional powers, an ability to access something else besides being able to call upon ki energy. It's a strange type of energy that I can use and manipulate without using ki.”

 

Asia frowned, now more confused than before. “What do you mean?” she asked.

 

“Watch,” Autumn directed. She raised her arm and pointed her hand, palm facing upwards and fingers slightly bent inwards, towards the tree that Asia was leaning against. From her open palm, thin streaks of purple light accompanied by an almost translucent form of energy shot towards the tree, which then began to shake violently.

 

Asia jumped away from the tree just as it started to rise out of the ground. The uprooted tree rose into the air a more few feet where it just hovered. Asia shot a very surprised look at Autumn, who was standing in the same position with her hand outstretched, still focused on keeping the tree where it was, suspended in the air.

 

“Whoa!”

 

“`Whoa', exactly,” Autumn replied. Just when she could no longer sustain the tree's elevation, it fell to the ground with a rumble before it began to tip over onto the ground. Autumn's opened hand quickly closed into a fist. The tree froze in mid-fall and seemed to crumble in on itself somewhere in the middle before it blew up into tiny pieces some seconds later. A ki blast from Autumn immediately disintegrated any trace of the wood fragments as they spread into the air.

 

She lowered her hand and took a deep breath. “That last move, of course, used ki,” she began to explain, “but the force I used to pick up the tree and blow it away wasn't ki at all. Do you see what I mean now?”

 

Asia nodded, still amazed by what she'd just seen. “So that's what's been bothering you?”

 

“Not quite.”

 

“There's more?” Asia asked, wondering what else her friend had to tell her. Autumn nodded.

 

“Lately, I've had these weird dreams. They aren't clear at all and I have no idea what they mean; who's in them, what they depict…nothing. But I can see figures. In the most recent one, which I had a few nights ago, I vaguely remember witnessing some kind of event that involved a kind of powerful…something. Maybe an object? But that's all I got out of it.”

 

Her friend continued to frown at her. Try as she might, Asia was having difficulty wrapping her mind around it all.

 

“I usually don't remember anything about the dreams, “Autumn went on. “But I can sense that they are somehow related.”

 

Asia could only shrug absently. She didn't have anything to say since she couldn't offer any more of an explanation of Autumn's situation than her friend did.

 

Autumn saw Asia's perplexed expression. She wanted her friend to understand, so she began to talk out what she'd been thinking over the past couple days. “Remember when we were sparring with Krillin and Yamcha the other day?”

 

Asia thought back and nodded.

 

“Do you remember the last hit that took them both down? Well, that's when this new power first surfaced,” Autumn said. “At the time, I used it without knowing it, almost unconsciously. I can control it a little bit more now, but each day that has passed since then something new has turned up.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“I don't know,” Autumn sighed. “I don't know why it happened to me or where it could be coming from. But, I do need to learn how to control it and how to properly use it,” she said, more firmly this time. “The last thing I want is to have Gohan or someone else figure out what this new power is before I have a chance to myself. That's why I wanted to bring you way out here and not to train with Gohan today.”

 

All Asia could do was nod. “But, Gohan's a super-smart guy. Maybe it would be a good thing to tell him what's going on with you?”

 

“No…at least, not for now,” Autumn said resolutely. “It's something I want to figure it out on my own first. And I want to gain better control over it as well. I keep thinking that this could also possibly have something to do with this weird barrier over our heads,” she added. “In the meanwhile, I think the two of us need to buckle down and get some quality training time in.”

 

Asia nodded then looked at Autumn curiously. “Hey, I'm all for quality training and getting stronger but -” the rest of her sentence fell away when she saw her friend's expression.

 

“I can't help having this slight nagging feeling,” Autumn began to say in all seriousness, “that something is going to be happening…and soon.”

*~*~*~*~*~*