Chapter Text
A Future Beyond Hope
A month had passed. A month of sneaking around the galaxy, Arachi ever a safe port. Evading the twin powers of Frieza's home-world in Temp and the Ginyu's home-world in Taf, partially on the look-out to help those in need. But, primarily, Bulma always measuring the strength of that strange ki, looking for variation that she could use to map it out, and find weak spots.
They'd had little success.
Another planet, nothing but charred ruins. Broken by Frieza decades ago, and now abandoned in the on-going power struggles between Temp and Taf.
Another planet that should've been there. Gone. Not by Frieza. Who had continued the tyrant's evil work? Temp? Taf? Another power? No one had answers.
Another time, the Scouters gave a warning: out of range.
“These things have a range?”
Bulma had mulled it over. “I mean, I guess? We used to have cell towers on Earth? Maybe the Scouters need something similar?”
“Then why had they worked on Earth and Namek? This sector isn't as far away as Earth.”
“... You're guess is as good as mine.”
Exploring that region of space had been cut short.
* * *
A couple of days later, all three demi-saiyans picked up something, with ki senses and scouters.
Gohan and Trunks anxiety sky-rocketed immediately. Malice. Terrible, powerful malice, pressing down on them. Both bolted to the pilot room.
“Bulma ...” And stopped, looking at what Bulma was staring at outside the window.
Was that … the Makyo Star?! How?
Gohan looked over to Bulma, wide-eyed. Bulma was still facing the Makyo Star.
“It just … appeared.” She said.
“What do you mean, 'appeared'?”
“Like it wasn't there just a minute ago! You felt it, right?”
Gohan nodded. “Yeah, I felt it all right.” And turned back to the Star.
They were thousands of light years from Earth. How could the Makyo Star even be here? A rogue planet? OK, it was visibly moving. Still, thousands of light years. Come to think of it, how did a whole planet not wreck the gravitational balance of their own solar system?
“Is that,” Bulma, “ya' know, the black hole ki you two were sensing earlier?”
“What?” Gohan turned to Bulma. “No, it feels different. More ...”
“Guys.” Trunks said.
Both turned to Trunks, pale white. Then back to looking out the window. In the few seconds that Gohan and Bulma had spent talking, something had decided to come onto their window. Something staring at them. However possible, Gohan's and Bulma's eyes widened further.
A Makyo-seijin zombie. A rotting corpse, twisted, falling apart; animated. Ki-less. Staring at them with empty eye sockets. Moving. In space. On their ship.
It screeched.
“NOPE!!” Bulma shouted. Flip the whole stealth ship upside down while spinning violently (Trunks and Gohan fell over), and punch the engine to nope out of there.
OK. OK. D-Did that work? Right, let me … OK, no freaky imp zombie on the window. “Is it gone?” No answer. “Trunks? Gohan?”
“Can't tell.” Was Gohan's response. “No ki.”
Trunks spoke. His voice was badly shaken. Afraid. “Can still feel the Star though. Keep moving.”
Bulma nodded. Right. Just, punch the engine again, and …
And Bokhoy came bursting into the room. “Whose idea was it to make me vomit?”
* * *
More and more, they found parts of outer space they could not explore. Much as they wished otherwise, three saiyan stomachs, scouters, and a high-class stealth ship all required support that could not be found 'out in the boonies.'
And in it all …
Bulma slammed the table she was working on. Dang it! The scouter she was using fell off. “Ugh!”
Still no closer. The math for triangulating the origin of that freaky ki just wasn't working out. No, worse, it seemed the strength of that ki was constant everywhere. Why?
Well, actually, she knew why. All-in-all, they'd only traveled a few sectors of the galaxy. They'd need to start traveling further out, or sneakily steal some intel from Temp or Taf, if they were going to learn anything.
She sighed sadly. They could be at this for a while. She was starting to think that Gohan and Bokhoy were right. Play the long game, re-focus towards saving who they could, build coalitions, and hope they eventually found a way to time travel.
Maybe … just accept that time travel was always a fools dream, and alls they could do was re-build what was broken.
No! I refuse to believe it!
Next planet: Cereal. She had planned this. Cereal was far away from Temp and Taf. From Bokhoy's intel, neither could afford to project power that far out into what used to be the old Cold Empire. Not with the old Frieza and his dad dead. (Why conquer Earth then? Probably revenge for Namek.)
Time to swing by Cereal. Maybe we'd make more allies.
* * *
Bulma sighed. Oh. Well.
One didn't need their expert eyes to see that this world was post-apocalyptic. Gohan and Trunks had sensed tears and holes in the fabric of the world's ki. They had been welcomed into a city, guarded by the dome of a massive forcefield. At least the tiny, pink-skinned, round-faced, fish-faced people known as Sugarians were nice.
Trunks and Bokhoy had explored outside the domed city. And found the ruins of an older civilization. Trunks could tell that these ruins weren't ancient history. Not within the past year, no, but they weren't centuries or millennia old.
Probably Frieza or old King Cold then. Question was: were the Sugarians innocent, or were they in on it?
Bokhoy pointed. Trunks paled.
Undead. Human-looking and Namekian-looking undead haunted the ruins.
“Nope.”
They fled back into the domes, despite Bokhoy's protests that Trunks was more than strong enough to handle them.
Back inside the domed city, and … mom!
“Where's Gohan?”
Bulma ugh'd. “I don't need to be babysat 24/7, Trunks.” She held up the Dragon Radar, looking at it. “This thing still detects nothing. Wonder if I even got the Dragon Balls' wavelength right after all. It's been so long.”
“And if something had happened to you?” Trunks pressed on. He wasn't letting his mom dodge out of this.
Bulma made a face as if to argue … but then it died. “He's asking questions about the auroras. I just … wanted to wander for a bit.”
Trunks hmm'd. “Look, I get it, but … hey, me and Bokhoy found ...”
Bulma grimaced. “More ruins?”
Bokhoy grinned. “More living dead.”
Bulma panicked. “What the HFIL? Why?!”
A nearby Sugarian noticed the conversation, and joined in. “They've haunted the badlands since before some of the younger ones were born.” Chirpy guy, at least. Didn't seem sad. “You were brave to go out there.”
Trunks shuddered. Brave. Sure. “My mentor's braver. He could …,” an idea, “ya' know, you could ask him to eliminate those … creatures.”
The Sugarian smiled. “Really?!”
Bokhoy grinned, sliding into the conversation. “Oh, yeeeeaaaaah.” He slapped Trunks on the back. “My friends here are real strong. And braver then he looks.” Now wrapping his elbow around Trunks shoulders, bringing him in. “We help you out, you help us out. What do ya' say?” And he gave a big, toothy grin.
The Sugarian smiled more broadly. “Oh, thank you!” And bowed. “We were worried we might have to ask Temp or Taf for help. Thank you so much!”
Before anything more could be said, he ran off, beginning to tell others.
Trunks just stared after him. And sighed. 'We might have to ask Temp or Taf', huh? Yeah, best not to let that happen.
Trunks didn't like it, but I guess they were going ghost hunting.
* * *
Gohan sat down, his one arm holding his hand, stressed, thinking.
This didn't make any sense! Everyone he talked to. The young. The elderly. Even some that seemed like scholars. All said the same thing.
The auroras, moving softly through the Cerealian sky right now in beautiful colors, had always been there. Since time immemorial. One of the elders had even showed him some astronomical maps and mathematics, showing the history of Sugarian astronomers mapping out eclipses, constellations, auroras, etc.
Which only made matters worse. Gohan knew this planet was post-apocalyptic. What he hadn't known was that the Sugarians were not native. From the maps and knowledge they shared, they had moved here.
Bad. Very, very bad. These guys were in with Temp or Taf; probably Temp, if Gohan had his guess. Re-supply, and get out. He hated to admit, but Bulma was right. He and Trunks may be some of the strongest in the whole galaxy, but they had little manpower. One misstep in a battle and all their work would be for nought. Not for the last time, he wished dad, Piccolo, Krillin, and the others were still here.
He blinked. A shadow over him. Not malicious ki. He looked up.
An older Yardratian. (Not that Gohan knew of Yardratians). Well, not quite elderly, but his prime was clearly behind him. Cold-faced, shielding his emotions, the wrinkles that of one who rarely smiled.
“Forgive my intrusion, but you know something about those auroras? Something these Sugarians do not?”
Gohan was on high alert. He quickly got onto his feet. “Yeah.”
The Yardratian barely nodded, and eyeballed Gohan's lack of an arm. “Lost it fighting the Colds?”
… Gohan's ki began to slowly (imperceptibly) power up. He stared straight at the guy. “Who are you?” Wait, he is a lead. Don't scare him off. “Yeah. I remember the auroras not being there in my childhood. Granted, a far away planet. They appeared … after King Cold conquered our world.”
“I see. In my home-world, before it was lost, there were no auroras. Nor any on our sister planet of Schroon.”
Gohan's eyes widened. “Really? Then ...” then … they could time travel … “Can you lead us there? Or … no, crapbaskets,” clenching his fist. 'Before it was lost' he had said. “If it's still there, we can help you reclaim it.”
The Yardratian blinked. Unmoving, but clearly taken aback.
“You … remind me of someone. You wouldn't happen to know the name of 'Goku', would you?”
Gohan froze.
….
….
Was … was he … should he power-up … hug the guy?
…
The Yardratian gave a very quiet hmm. “I met him on Yardrat about twenty years ago. If the story is to be believed, he was the one who killed Frieza on Namek, and yet escaped with his life.”
Gohan snapped back to reality. “Where is he?!”
Forceful. The Yardratian stepped back immediately, apprehensive.
Gohan failed to notice. “My dad! Where is he?!”
Ahhhhh. That explains it. Still apprehensive; the Yardratian didn't need ki senses to know how much power Gohan was projecting. “I do not know. Yardrat was lost many years ago.”
Gohan stopped. He ….
The Yardratian waited a minute, moreso for his own sake. “You said you could help me reclaim my home-world?”
Gohan snapped back to attention. “Yes!”
“Hmm. And how, pray tell, will you? It and Schroon are lost, and what few of us survive are scattered. Do you plan to bring back the dead?”
Gohan stopped again, looking to the side, clenching his fist. “No, we … can't. Bulma, our scientist,” oops, should not have said that, “thinks she travel back in time though, if she can find where the auroras are not.” He sighed, unclenching his fist. “A long shot, honestly. But, if we could help you ...”
“So, you really are aware of what fell powers those auroras possess. And here I thought only Yardrat and Schroon knew anything.”
Gohan turned to the Yardratian.
The Yardratian continued. “My name is Yakisoba. Are you and your allies prepared to leave? Schroon's not close, but if you truly do know how to travel back in time, we can prevent any of this from happening in the first place.”
Gohan's head finally returned to the game. “We need to re-supply while we're here; me and my friends need a lot of food, plus we'll have you as well. Here, I'll ...”
Power! Gohan was nearly floored. He turned in a panic, facing another direction.
He hadn't felt anything like that, since … crapbaskets, “Trunks! Bulma!”
Yakisoba caught on. “Here, allow me to help.” And moved over to Gohan, touching him with one hand, while two fingers went to his forehead to concentrate the necessary ki.
Pop! Both disappeared, and re-appeared immediately near Gohan's allies.
Instant Transmission.
* * *
Trunks backed away from the sheer, raw ki in front of him, both hands wielding his sword in front of him. A flaming golden aura radiating raw power, power that weighed heavy on everyone in the area. The man it radiated? Dwarfed even Bokhoy. His hair an impossible thing of spiky gold, flowing upwards like flame itself.
The golden titan's eyes were lifeless, the jeweled headband and necklace glowing. Next to him stood four pointy-eared aliens. Most with dreadlocks, their leader with a red trench coat. Holding some device that clearly seemed to be controlling the golden titan.
“My, it seems my intel was correct.” Dreadlocks spoke. “So, are you actually real-life surviving saiyans? Or more demon-spawns? No matter. Temp is quite interested in you.” He patted the controlled titan on the side, as the fat alien greedily flipped through a whole wad of cash. “Paid well, and even offered me their little weapon in Broli. Said to bring you back alive.” He smirked cruelly. “Guess they plan to have their 'Big Gete Star' convert you into androids as well.”
“Sorry 'bout that” the female alien said, “but we've got a planet to defend, and we hear you're a bunch of troublemakers. No hard feelings, you know.”
Pop! Gohan and Yakisoba entered the area. Gohan all ready to fight … and then froze at what he saw.
His father ascending to become the legendary Super Saiyan after all else failed to defeat Frieza. Krillin dead. Piccolo thought deceased. Being forced to leave his father with the tyrant. The last he ever saw of his father.
That wasn't his father. Who … why?
The alien looked over. “A Yardratian? I thought Temp had converted you all.”
Yakisoba eyes widened a little, his heart racing. “Gohan. We need to flee. Now.”
Gohan nodded. “Trunks,...”
The alien frowned. “Broli,” he held up the device, pointing his hand towards the demi-saiyans. “Take them. Alive.”
The mind-controlled Broli complied, dropping down, ready to charge. He powered up.
The power-up tore apart the whole city in front of Broli, wiping out all Sugarians. Bulma and Yakisoba only survived due to Trunks and Gohan defending them, and even they were knocked around like rag dolls.
Even the aliens had to brace themselves from that blast. And while the leader didn't care for the destruction before him, the other three were clearly in shock.
Broli charged, aiming straight for Bokhoy. Bokhoy braced himself.
“No, dodge!” Gohan shouted. Yakisoba caught on immediately
“What?” Was Bokhoy's response.
Oh, you fool quickly raced through Yakisoba's mind. With a quick raising of his hand, Yardratian ki forced space to bend. Broli barely missed Bokhoy, space bending to cause him to charge right past. The raw power accompanying Broli still knocked Bokhoy over.
“Oh, man, that ain't good.” Bokhoy uttered as he picked himself up.
“Broli, cool your jets. Your opponents are that way!” The alien leader shouted, using that device again. The jeweled headband of Broli's glowed. As it did, Broli turned around quickly, charging at Bokhoy again.
A crescent shaped ki attack came from the side, slamming into Broli. Trunks grit his teeth. Enough to push Broli off-course his charge, but a cutting ki attack doing no real harm? That wasn't good.
Gohan pushed himself up, and turned to Yakisoba. “Help Trunks and Bokhoy. Make sure we get out of here.” And with that, turned towards and charged at the four aliens.
The girl and fat alien freaked out at Gohan's charge. The quiet, athletic one, though, intercepted Gohan's charge. Too slow, Gohan blocked that alien's oncoming attack, and quickly counter-attacked. Gohan ki flared and he began to wrestle him with one arm, the ki hammering on that alien, attempting to pound him into the dirt. Despite missing a limb, Gohan clearly had the upper hand.
The leader swore. “Macki! Oil! Don't just stand there, help your brother!”
“Oh, right.” The girl (Macki) said, scared. Yet, both charged at Gohan too, surrounding him.
Yakisoba's heart pounded, even as he bent space again. Idiots! Their engineer had all ready snuck off. They needed to be fleeing with her.
Three-on-one, and yet Broli still had them on the ropes. Even with space-bending assistance from Yakisoba, alls they could do was distract and stall, Trunks sword barely keeping him at bay.
A powerful ki attack from Bokhoy, wreathed in lightning, hammered into Broli from the side. It certainly pushed Broli around, knocking him into the ground, giving them breathing room. But lasting damage? The Super Saiyan just brushed it off. Trunks charge ki through his sword again (another crack), slashing, sending another crescent-shaped cutting ki attack.
Broli just charged through it, unfazed.
Broli suddenly froze. Even with Super Saiyan might, Broli found himself unable to move. Yakisoba sweat, exerting his ki mightily.
“Attack him! Now! Plunge that sword into his belly!”
Trunks nodded. Right. Fwoosh! Swift as the wind, Trunks charged in, sword forward, ki running through it, straight for Broli's belly. He thrust.
The sword bounced off, as if it had hit a brick wall. Even paralyzed, nothing.
Trunks screamed, and swung wide, aiming for the side with a mighty slash. Again, nothing; pure, raw, physical power just bounced off the guy. Even #17 would've had to dodge or deflect.
“Oh, snap!” Bokhoy. He shouted towards Trunks. “Hey, let's get these other guys.” He turned to Yakisoba. “Can you hold ...”
Dumb question. Yakisoba was shaking from exertion, and Bokhoy's scouter read his power level as plummeting. And the Yardratian's power level was nothing compared to the demi-saiyans.
“I, take that as a no.” And dashed over to Yakisoba to help him. “Trunks, he's about to break free!”
Trunks grit his teeth, and backed away. Sure enough, only seconds later, Broli broke free, charging forward. Well, charging the way he had been charging. The titan lacked a will of his own, and just kept barreling away in another direction, tearing through the buildings that had remained behind.
Yakisoba panted and sweat. “We *huff* need to flee. *huff* Get your *huff* friend, Gohan.”
As for Gohan, he had finished charging up an explosive wave, and let it loose. Oil and Macki could no longer hold up, and were sent flying, bleeding, and beaten. Both wiped out of consciousness. Elec, the leader, was slammed into the ground.
Gas, as the stoic one was called, stood yet, but holding his chest where Gohan had wounded him.
Elec swore. “Broli!” And held the device up again, glowing.
Gohan was swift, firing a ki attack straight at Elec, with enough power to kill. Gas jumped in the way, taking the hit for Elec.
Crapbaskets. “He just ordered a whole city destroyed, why?”
No response. Gas was either unconscious, or dead.
Elec laughed a bit. Nervously. Fearfully. “Because we're family, of course. Got to stick with each other, through thick and thin.”
Gohan turned on him, furious. “You just through their lives away to defend yourself!”
Elec shook with fear, holding up the mind-control device again. Gohan scowled, charging up another finish blow.
His ki senses barely warned him in time. He narrowly dodged an attack from Broli.
Elec began chuckling nervously again. “Go, my Broli! Take them alive!”
Gohan's sharp instincts barely kept him alive. Told him that Broli's reflexes were too slow, that mind control device clearly sapping him of the true power a Super Saiyan could wield. Crapbaskets, destroying the device might be a bad idea then. But it was enough to give Gohan a bit of confidence, enough to just narrowly avoid Broli's attacks.
Bokhoy suddenly appeared above Elec, who had foolishly not pulled himself out of the ground.
“Hey.”
Elec panicked, holding up the device again. Broli turned towards Bokhoy and Elec.
“Oh snap!” Bokhoy yelled, yet without a hint of actual concern.
“Bokhoy, don't ...” Gohan yelled.
Pop! Right as Broli charged in, Yakisoba had teleported Bokhoy away. Where? Wait, did he hear … Gohan looked up and to the side. Bokhoy stood in the air, waving, his hand holding something invisible. Gohan could sense his, Yakisoba's, and Bulma's ki up there.
Right, their stealth ship.
Gohan powered up, ready to,
“Oh, a PHO ship, is that it?” Elec held the device again. “Destroy! We only need one. Des...” and was cut off as a crescent-shaped ki attack from the side sliced through him, killing him.
Broli screamed, powering up, gold ki now tinted green as energy gathered into his hand from all around. The earth beneath him begin to disintegrate and melt beneath his terrifying power, a fissure rapidly reaching miles into Cereal's crust.
Trunks panicked, and shouted. “Mom! Dodge! Evasive maneuver, now! Yakisoba!” If the Yardratian had any energy left. And with that, Trunks flared ki through his sword again. Not daring to get close, another crescent cutter, trying to knock aside Broli's attack.
And again. Another. Rapid fire. He. Just. Needed. To. Knock. The. Dumb. Brute. Off. Balance.
Gohan stared. It was useless. Even hindered, his power contained, a might like his father's or Frieza's was simply too great. What might ….
Broli brought his arm back as if to throw the ki blast. The stealth ship was evading. Gohan powered up, ready to knock Broli off.
Instinct screamed, and just in time, he caught how wide the attack would be. Too wide for evasive maneuver to matter.
Like Piccolo before him, Gohan charged forward, putting himself in-between the blast and the ship.
“Gohan!” Trunks shouted.
And suddenly, all was a burning green inferno.
* * *
“Gohan.” He meant to shout, but he was still winded.
What immense power! As Trunks' head slowly cleared up and his eyes slowly stopped seeing green, the ruin was obvious. All around was like the Great Scar back on Earth. Even what city and Sugarians did remain were gone. All was waste and deep fissures, many whose bottoms could not be seen. Only Trunks' own superhuman durability had saved him.
“Mom!” His ki senses scanned.
Oh, thank kaio! Somehow, she, Bokhoy, and that Yakisoba guy were still alive; and in the ship, nonetheless. But one ki – bright and powerful – was very, very absent.
“No, no, no, no.”
Trunks' ki spiked, his mind clearing, as he now raced over to where he last saw Gohan.
He searched left and right. Gohan. Where are you? You better not have, not after everything we've been through, not when we were so close …
Trunks stopped. Looking down.
“Gohan!”
And flew down, landing right next to Gohan.
Or, rather his lifeless corpse.
Somewhere, vaguely, his mind sensed other ki. Mom and the others approaching, and the one awful ki – Broccoli or something? - just screaming off to the side.
Trunks reached down to shake him. “Gohan! Gohan!”
“Trunks, we need to flee!” Came some voice. Masculine; alien.
It didn't register, as Trunks stared at his dead friend, holding him in his hands.
He … no … Gohan … No. No no no no no no no no no no!
“AAAAGGGHHHH!!”
Bulma would remember her son's anguished scream the rest of her life. She could barely hold back her own tears.
“Trunks! Yakisoba's right, get Gohan and ...”
Put Trunks couldn't hear her over his own anguished cries, pounding the ground with his fists in grief, tearing even deeper fissures with his own unrestrained strength.
Nor could Bulma and the ship approach as Trunks' ki began rising, taking on terrifying golden hues itself.
“No,” a wretched sob, grief-stricken, unstable, “we were right there. We just … we ...” And sobbed again, tearing apart the ground with his fists.
“Trunks!” But even the PHO-class ship started to shaky under the sudden immense pressure.
“No, dang it! Yakisoba, do something!”
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!” Came another scream. And this time, with it, a sudden shockwave of power, blasting them off course.
“Blast it.” Finding emergency strength, Yakisoba bent space again, willing the spaceship's course to straighten. A grueling half-minute of exertion to control their ship. In the end, he succeeded.
And promptly blacked out.
“Oh, snap.” No humor, as Bokhoy ran over to Yakisoba. He placed his hand to his skin as his Scouter measured. And breathed a sigh of relief. The Scouter read that he was stable.
He turned to Bulma. “I'll go get Trunks.”
And frowned when she didn't respond, just staring down. Bokhoy got up, and ran to the door, looking out.
And stopped dead cold, as his Scouter shattered from the power it read.
Even as Trunks gingerly held Gohan, he was now wrapped in a golden, flaming aura of terrifying power. Power even he could feel, and be terrified of. Hair now that same golden, flaming spikes that Broli had. The ground all around broken further, either from the shockwave or from Trunks' anguished assault on the earth.
Bokhoy stared. Whatever this was, it could not be good. Intuition told him to stand still and wait, as Trunks may not recognize friend from foe right now.
Bokhoy's head whipped up. That Broli guy was still there. Just screaming like a lunatic. All power, no mind. Whoever the dude might've once been, he clearly had no idea what he just did.
Trunks placed Gohan down gently, tears still strolling down. He stood up, picking up his sword that had fallen to the side.
And snapped his head up towards Broli, fear and rage in his eyes.
With a battle cry, he charged.
With the mighty of a Super Saiyan's ki flowing through it, his sword drew blood.
* * *
“Oh, snap, this definitely is not good.” Bokhoy said, eyes transfixed on the raging firestorm before him.
Trunks, in all his ascended power, was swift and relentless. Broli was now on the defensive, dodging a sword now alight with some much ki it appeared to be flaming. Broli gathered ki into his hand, another green-gold color, and threw it at Trunks. Directed in the opposite direction of the ship, but Bulma and Bokhoy still had to brace themselves from the blinding light and shockwave it gave off.
Trunks simply dodged. Now to Broli's side, channeling ki through his sword, slashed vertically, a crescent-shaped cutting ki firing out.
Trunks' own ki now was terrifying, tearing deep fissures in the earth. Again, Bulma and Bokhoy had to brace themselves, as such unrestrained power sent shockwaves.
“Trunks.” Bulma. Her voice was hollow, and far away. “It's like with Namek all over again. He's gonna die.”
Bokhoy's mind now snapped out of it's transfixion.
He swiftly turned to face Bulma. “Keep the ship steady. I'll get Gohan and Trunks. No one else is dying.” And with that, jumped out the ship, his own aura enveloping him to he could take flight.
Good thing too. Magma was starting to seep out of the earth. Bokhoy quickly found Gohan's body, landed, picked him up, and flew back to the ship.
Wait, uh, “Bulma!”
For a brief instant, the PHO ship could be faintly seen. Good. Bokhoy now knew where to go back too. The whole excursion had only taken a few minutes.
“AGH!” Bokhoy felt sick, hearing Bulma's own anguished cry at seeing Gohan's lifeless body.
Bokhoy placed it dead (away from Yakisoba), and walked over to Bulma, placing a comforting hand on her.
“Hey.” Nothing. “Hey.” Bulma now turned to face him.
“I'll get Trunks. Then, we'll time travel.” Those prospects were dubious at this point, but he needed Bulma piloting this ship right now.
Bulma caught on a bit, and nodded her head. Bokhoy grinned, patted her on the back, and went back out the ship.
How he managed to get Trunks, he had no idea.
* * *
All Trunks could see and feel was white-hot rage.
All their hard work. Everything they'd done. The Time Machine even built.
And some nobody thrall of the Colds goes and kills him, faraway from his home on Earth.
It shouldn't've happened like this! If Gohan was going to die, it should've been saving Earth from the Androids, the Colds, or Taf! It should've been after they time traveled, and insured peace! Even a great battle against his father would've made sense!
AGH!!
Stupid, stupid, how dare he, who even are you, it should've never ended like this!!
Another crescent cutter. Trunks would've been appalled at how he tore the world apart with his attacks, could he think straight. All that mattered now was killing this freak.
Broli screamed again, throwing another great ki attack, charging forward as he did. Trunks easily dodged, flanking Broli, slashing wide with his sword again.
More blood was drawn, even as cracks webbed their way through the sword. Broli screamed, turning on Trunks, punching, launching fist after ki blast after fist, in a mindless attempt to smash Trunks.
But his moves were still sluggish, and Trunks' mind wasn't broken. Trunks dodged, slashing, piercing, drawing blood. A bloody blow, piercing into Broli's shoulder, causing a scream. Trunks pulled it out and attacked again.
The strain of Super Saiyan ki was too much for his old sword. This time, it shattered on impact, sharp debris scattering everywhere, being vaporized in their golden auras before it could pierce their eyes.
“Rawgh!!”
Fine! Trunks now pressed a bodily assault, throwing punches of his own. Within seconds, the two were in a bloody, super-powered slugfest, slamming each other with blows that would kill lessers, yet still tanking more punishment than humanly (or saiyan-ly) possible.
The slugfest lead to them crashing into the ground. Broli on top, his greater size and strength now the superior without a sword in the way. Still mindless, smashing the ground, failing to stop Trunks' roll to the side, and taking a nasty kick to the side of the head.
Magma erupted near them.
Trunks grit his teeth and scowled, irrationally angry at the interruption. Broli just grunted loudly. He charged at Trunks again, screaming, mouth wide open.
A lightning-wrapped ki attack came whizzing from behind Trunks, right into Broli's mouth, down his throat.
Only a Super Saiyan's sharpened senses were quick enough to observe the passing of ki into the belly, where it exploded, obliterating the titan's innards.
Broli died mid-charge, his own corpse flying past Trunks.
That snapped Trunks a little out of his berserker rage. What just happened? Trunks stared over at Broli's corpse, his target now dead. What?
His eyes caught something, and turned with preternatural speed. Bokhoy!
“Your mom's safe.” Very calming voice. “I've got Gohan too. Drop your power, and we can go.”
Mom! Gohan! But …
Trunks suddenly scanned around looking for his mom's ki. She … there!
“Easy, you'll destroy the spaceship. Power down.”
Trunks turned on Bokhoy, rage still burning hot through him. But it was his mom, and Gohan. Trunks nodded his head, through it still took a surprising amount of will power to let go of his power.
Even untransformed, he flew at top speed towards the spaceship. He reached it faster than Bokhoy.
“Mom.”
His mom looked spooked. What had …
“Are you all right?”
Bulma, very shakily, nodded her head. Trunks just nodded in return, his eyes now scanning the room. Yakisoba unconscious …
Gohan. His eyes caught his corpse.
I've got Gohan, the fury nearly came, but failed to erupt. Right, Nappa's kid had … retrieved Gohan's body. So they could … so they could …
Nothing more was spoken. Trunks, and eventually Bulma (after Bokhoy had come in, taking the pilot seat from Bulma), came over and just stared at Gohan's corpse.
And, eventually, grief overtaking them. Both collapsed, weeping in anguish for their lost friend, lost mentor, and the last Bulma had of son. Right as they had dared hope to set things straight.
Bokhoy wished to comfort them, but right now, he had to get this ship away from Cereal, before Temp or Taf decided to come snooping around.
It truly was a future with little hope.
* * *
Bulma sat, just … staring out the window. At endless stars, and those stupid auroras.
It was the next day. Neither she nor Trunks were in any condition to pilot the ship properly. Bokhoy tended to that, ever watchful over the two. Trunks sat near the Medical Machine, arms wrapped around one leg, just staring at the floor.
The Yardratian, Yakisoba, had been placed into the Medical Machine to recover. Afterwards, in a bed to rest. Gohan had befriended him. She and Trunks waited for him to awaken to hear what he knew.
Gohan. She … another sob broke her. The only way the could preserve his body was by storing it in a capsule. That memory repulsed Bulma, as she sobbed it off. Family technology, a capsule marked horrid black, to preserve what she had left of Gohan until he could be properly buried. Someday, she would get back to Earth to bury him. She … she ….
Time travel … seemed … Bulma wouldn't think it. She just … stared.
She figured Bokhoy was taking them back to Arachi. The one place they had allies.
It would be many hours later before the Yardratian finally awakened, and, alongside Trunks, came into the central room.
“I am sorry for your friend.” Sincere, if cold. Bulma could only nod.
Yakisoba continued. “You are not the only one to suffer such loss. Family and friends of mine, Soba and Udon, were … similar to what you saw with that Broli character. Ill comfort, I know, but to die is better than for Temp's 'Big Gete Star' to convert one into a robot.”
Hmm. Ill comfort indeed, judging by Trunks' reaction. Best not to dwell on this.
“Your friend, Gohan. He spoke of the auroras as a foreign thing in the galaxy, unlike all others. He said you, too, knew the secrets of time travel.”
All eyes were now on him.
“I still have the coordinates of my home star system, where Yardrat and Schroon once were, as well as all space lanes that lead there. Well-traveled, and forgotten. The auroras and their fell power are weak there. The only place where they are weak. If your Time Machine is true, then should we go there, we may yet turn back the flow of time.”
No response. Too dumbfounded to speak, Trunks and Bulma both. Bulma looked at him with eyes torn between grief-stricken disbelief, and desperate hope. Trunks, too, wrestled, if this Yardratian Gohan was with was true, or manipulating the grieving.
Nappa's kid, noticing this, spoke before the other two could. “Do you have the directions? On you?”
The Yardratian nodded, pulling out a small drive from his clothing. “Here.” He handed it to Bokhoy – or, would, except that Bulma suddenly bolted up and snatched it from him.
Yakisoba was unfazed. “You can verify them with your own maps, if you believe me lying.” He paused, as if to add something, but thought better of it.
Bulma looked at it. And then suddenly found the mad strength to dash over and take the pilot from Bokhoy.
“You three!” She barked. “Go get some food!” Her stomach growled. “And get me something too! I'll verify these!”
Trunks stared for a second, and then nodded.
* * *
“What did Gohan tell you?” Trunks asked Yakisoba, after their meal.
Yakisoba thought within himself. Grief-stricken and powerful. Depending on how emotional Trunks was, what he said could endanger him.
What a stupid power. Had he that golden power at the start of the fight, that Broli would've been skewered like a sweet potato. How worthless; a power that only comes after one needs it.
Best not to say those words.
“Aside from knowing one could time travel, but denying the power to mass resurrect the dead? He was insistent in offering to help me reclaim my world.”
Best not to speak of Goku right now. Perhaps after they had grieved and knew to trust him.
“That sounds like Gohan.” Trunks stated. “Anything else?”
“After confirming that knew of time travel, I was insistent that we gather our supplies and leave. Unfortunately, that is about the time we were attacked.” Hmm. “I can offer to teach you some of what I know of spatial manipulation, though I'm uncertain how safe the power is as we travel.”
Trunks nodded. Understandable, and the power would be useful. And … he caught the subtle hint. Don't transform while we're in space.
Little more was said as the conversation turned towards logistics. For being prepared for when they arrived, and for what they do on Yardrat and Schroon after they rewound time. The conversation came to an obvious conclusion: go back in time, and with that golden power, destroy Frieza, King Cold, and their forces before they could wreck havoc.
Dangerous, as the repercussions to their own time were unknown. But this galaxy, broken by a tyrant, by two warring powers, haunted by the living dead in body and mind? It was a risk they were willing to take.
As they turned to leave, Bokhoy placed a hand on Yakisoba's shoulder. Once Trunks was out of earshot …
“You know something else.” A statement.
Yakisoba hmm'd inside himself. The titan was more perceptive than he had expected. “Let them grieve for now. I do not wish to burden them with more knowledge. Especially as we are about to rewind time anyways.”
Bokhoy nodded. Fair enough.
* * *
Yardrat. Schroon. The Planets of Space and Time respectively.
Or, rather, the Moons of Space and Time. Each orbiting a planet tidally-locked to it's red dwarf, the twin red dwarves of a binary star system. Small stars, even for a red dwarf. Fitting the Moon of Time once stood here. Such a red dwarf, burning low and cool, would give off energy for trillions of years.
Why the Ginyu Force had spared Yardrat for three years after conquering Schroon, Yakisoba knew not. Both moons were gone now. Destroyed by Temp.
Bulma stared out the window at this star system.
The auroras really were weak here. It was almost like before everything went to HFIL.
Trunks turned to his mom. “Are we certain we can time travel? The auroras are still here.”
“What choice do we have? It's either now, or never.”
Not really, but … crapbaskets. Trunks braced himself, as did the others.
“Now,” Bulma said, “watch! I haven't gotten the chance to show you all yet. How this whole ship is now a time machine!”
Yakisoba's eyes went wide. “Wait, you haven't tested this?”
Bokhoy grinned. “Oh, we did. Back on Earth. When it was just a time machine.”
“Just a time machine? Are you ...”
An stiffened as Bulma activated the time travel capabilities of their modified PHO ship.
And time began to flow backwards.
“Trunks,” Yakisoba asked, “are you capable of lending me some of your energy?”
“No, why?” … “How?”
“... nevermind. The auroras may still fight us. I'm going to ...”
Ǵ̸̶̨̜̩̟̣̘͎̣͍͔̼͚̫̗͍͓̆̒͂́́̊̏ͫͦͪͪ͑ͥ̓́͊̍̃̋͗̔̋̚͢o͇̬͖͖̭̺̝̝̙̿ͩ̾͆̌̾̋̊ͥ̀̆ͧͣ͠͝ b̵̸̡͇̭͓̔͋̄̑͒͂̊́͜a̭̖̋ͭ͊_̠͉̥̮̻̲̦̻͐̀̀̆ͪç̸̵̡̧̣̱̮̥̝̻̣̹̹̯̪̳̻̐͋ͣ͒ͤ̇ͮ͒̃ͩ̍̊̕͢͡͝ͅk̶͓͇̙͈̓̏̕
Trunks and Yakisoba suddenly lurched forward, as that ki suddenly arose like a serpent, and oppressed them.
Ǵ̸̶̨̜̩̟̣̘͎̣͍͔̼͚̫̗͍͓̆̒͂́́̊̏ͫͦͪͪ͑ͥ̓́͊̍̃̋͗̔̋̚͢o͇̬͖͖̭̺̝̝̙̿ͩ̾͆̌̾̋̊ͥ̀̆ͧͣ͠͝ b̵̸̡͇̭͓̔͋̄̑͒͂̊́͜a̭̖̋ͭ͊_̠͉̥̮̻̲̦̻͐̀̀̆ͪç̸̵̡̧̣̱̮̥̝̻̣̹̹̯̪̳̻̐͋ͣ͒ͤ̇ͮ͒̃ͩ̍̊̕͢͡͝ͅk̶͓͇̙͈̓̏̕
Bokhoy rushed to their side. “Uh, Bulma?”
“What's going on?”
Pain! Awful, horrid, black hole, trying to suck him in.
Trunks muscled through it.
“It's … that ki. Just … keep going!”
Bulma grit her teeth. Stupid auroras! She pushed more power into the drive.
The Moons, Yardrat and Schroon, reformed back into existence. Spaceships traveled to and fro, in reverse. Planets orbiting in reverse. Good, now alls they had to do …
Ǵ̸̶̨̜̩̟̣̘͎̣͍͔̼͚̫̗͍͓̆̒͂́́̊̏ͫͦͪͪ͑ͥ̓́͊̍̃̋͗̔̋̚͢o͇̬͖͖̭̺̝̝̙̿ͩ̾͆̌̾̋̊ͥ̀̆ͧͣ͠͝ b̵̸̡͇̭͓̔͋̄̑͒͂̊́͜a̭̖̋ͭ͊_̠͉̥̮̻̲̦̻͐̀̀̆ͪç̸̵̡̧̣̱̮̥̝̻̣̹̹̯̪̳̻̐͋ͣ͒ͤ̇ͮ͒̃ͩ̍̊̕͢͡͝ͅk̶͓͇̙͈̓̏̕
And now even Bokhoy and Bulma felt it, something horrible, pounding, sucking them in.
Time begin to rewind faster and faster. Bulma tried to kill the drive, but failed, as she felt that ki sucking her in, horror and fear and despair dawning and trying to overwhelm her.
NO!!!
She did not come this far, dang it! Just to have whatever this crap was ruin it again.
Time rewound faster and faster, as all four fought against whatever it was oppressing them. Even fragile Bulma, pulling herself together, slowly.
Pounded down again. Awful sucking feeling, trying to drag them in. But she had still helped Gohan and Trunks all those years, she was NOT disappointing Son now.
And, so, they fought against an unnatural power, Bulma inching closer and closer back to wrestling control from this thing.
In time, she did. And the flow of time returned to normal.
Everyone collapsed, as the sudden awful feeling abated. No one did much of anything for a while, just recovering themselves.
Trunks spoke first. “Hey, mom, Yardrat and Schroon are there, right?”
No response. Trunks turned back. Bulma was alive, just … recovering.
“Mom?”
“I got it Trunks.” She finally gasped back.
Still, Trunks recovered before the others. He helped Bokhoy and Yakisoba into a more comfortable position, before walking over to Bulma, and helping her.
“Thanks.” And with a few checks. “They're there.”
Trunks breathed out a great sigh. They had done it after all.
“Take us down.”
To the Moons that were gone in their time, but still here in the past.
And to find out just how far back they had gone.
Notes
I call BS on Broli dying like this – Notice how his mind and reflexes are severely dulled by what's basically a suped up version of what Paragus was using on him in Movie #8? Yeah. And if Sorbet can take down “God Goku” with a little ring finger beam, I think a strong ki blast in the stomach will work on Broli.
Makyo Star – Garlic Jr.'s planet in the anime adaptation. Yes, I know, in the anime adaptation, it was destroyed in the time between the Frieza and Android arcs. But recall: this timeline diverged from canon with the change of a wish to Shenron. Seems something different must've happened.
Cereal, Sugarians – Right from the Dragon Ball Super manga, the Granolah Arc.
Mind-controlled Broli – Rough life. This future sucks.
Aliens – The Heeters, from the 'Granolah the Survivor' Arc in the Super manga. I, uh, have never actually read it. So, forgive me if I didn't quite nail their personalities. Arc seems to have a cool concept. I know some people describe them as “Bojack 2.0”, and while they sorta are – they at least tie into some interesting story-telling, while Bojack and his men are mostly “monster-of-the-week.”
Big Gete Star 'converting' people – Into robots. … This is a screwed up future. Unfortunately, since the Dragon Crew would never stop the Big Gete Star if the Namekians didn't go to New Namek, it's a real possibility, even in the present timeline.
Super Saiyan – Dang, that tragic scene was hard to write. Can't have Super Saiyan without it though. My poor boy, Gohan. ;_;
Nobody – You, the reader, know who Broli is. As far as Trunks is concerned, he's a nobody. A nobody who gave Gohan an unfitting end.
Skewer it like a sweet potato – If my obscure DBZ trivia is correct, Yardratians grow and eat sweet potatoes.
Moons of Space and Time – If I've read my “possible planets that can support life” correctly, this is plausible.