The Final Round: Chapter Six by Katie ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trunks wiped the sweat off his face with his hand. Nothing like a hard day of training to get your mind off of things. He sat down on the ground and drank from his water bottle he had brought with him. It was hard to believe that it had only been two years since he had gone to the past. Seemed like only yesterday. Things were slowly getting better, very very slowly. Didn't mean that things were okay. There was still a lot of work to do. Things would never be the same again, he already knew that. They cities were still being rebuilt, he had helped out with that. It wasn't easy due to the fact that there weren't as many people in the world as there used to be, and it was hard to get supplies like that. His mother was forever going to conferences to try and get people to help those who were homeless, needed food and shelter. The first winter was the worst. Seemed like there was never enough food to go around, and not enough space in shelters for everyone. But in the spring food started to grow again, more homes were being built, and people were trying putting the terror of the androids behind them. But it would still be many many years before they could say that everything in the world was okay. It was a joyful day when they had heard that the androids were gone. Some people were wondering how it had happened and where they went. Others really didn't care and were just glad that it was over. Trunks had his good days and his bad days. On his good days he tried to get out and meet new people, make some new friends. But on bad days he simply moped around the house, or left to go train somewhere all day. Today was one of those bad days. It seemed that everything around him reminded him of the past. Of his past and the one he went back to. So he trained. He trained to become stronger, so in case anything like the androids came around again he would be ready. He had become stronger. But he would be getting better a lot faster if there was someone to spar with. He had been training under Super Saiya-jin 2 now. He was able to control the power better now that ever before. Remembering how Gohan had used it against Cell. He smiled, thinking about the good times he had with him and all the others. He wondered what they were doing now. If things had changed any. He stood up. It was getting late. He should probably go home. His mother would surely worry if he was out late, even though he always told her he was a big boy and could take care of himself. But still she was a mother, it's their job to worry. Just as he was about to fly off, he thought he heard someone call his name. He looked around. "Someone there?" he called. But got no answer. "It's been a long day." He said to himself. "I'm probably imagining things." He was about to take off again when... 'Trunks' There it was again. 'Am I going crazy?' He thought. 'Trunks' Okay this was too weird. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was my father's voice.' Next time he heard it, he decided he was going to concentrate on it. He sat down, thinking and listening. He closed his eyes. Everything around seemed to disappear. Images started flashing inside his head. Just quick things, he couldn't see them clearly. He concentrated harder. Then the sudden flashes became a clear picture. He saw people in a place with rocks and mountains. He saw the people's faces. His father, Son Goku, Son Gohan, but it was the Gohan he had remember from his future, the one who was killed. And then he saw himself, but it couldn't have been him, could it? Then next to him was a boy, about his age who he had never seen before, and all of his friends from the past. Then in the image he saw, Cell! The picture moved on to his father getting beaten up pretty badly, witch made him shiver. Then Goku, who was in a new stage in Super Saiya-jin, fought Cell and won. But then it went onto a new battle. This time Cell over powered them all. Then he heard his father's voice say 'We have a plan, but we need your help.' His eyes snapped open, the images had stopped. They had disappeared as quickly as they had come. He looked around. He was still in the valley were he had been training. Nothing had happened, but he knew what he saw. They needed his help. He flew home as quick as he could. He was going to have to time travel again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vegita doubled over, gasping for air. He had used up a lot of his energy to send that message to his son in a different future. "Trunks had better hear that. Because if he didn't I'm going to get that brat of Kackorot's for making me use up so much of my energy. Energy which could have been used to rip Cell apart." He said to himself. He lay down. He thought he would rest awhile. It would be all he could do until he found out if what he did had worked. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trunks burst through the door. "Kaa-san!" He yelled for his mother. "In here Trunks." She said, her force coming from her lab. She was trying to some kind of new invention. She looked up up at him and smiled. But she didn't like the look on his face. "Oh no, what's wrong?" she asked in concern. "I need to use the time machine again," he said to her. "What?! Why?" she asked in confusion. So he told her about hearing his father's voice and the images that he was shown, and how they had asked for his help. "Well," she said pondering this. "With the Saiya-jin's telepathic ability I suppose it would be possible. But Trunks I'm not sure I want you using the time machine again. Its just too dangerous." "Kaa-san they asked for my help. I can't just forget about it," he said to her. There was silence between them. They just looked at each other. Then Bulma nodded. She new that there was no way that she could stop him anyway. So she may as well just agree so that they didn't have to get into a big fight about it. He went over to the time machine, and looked at the controls. Bulma joined him. "How do you know what time to put in?" she asked him. He shrugged. "I don't." She was about to ask him how he was planing on helping when he didn't even know what time it was, but she stopped herself when she saw what he was doing. He had his eyes closed. He was concentrating on something. He slowly let his hand come up and move across the controls. With his eyes closed, he punched in a time, and place. She looked at him amazed. "You sure that's right?" She asked him. Trunks opened his eyes. "Well, yeah." He said. "I don't know how, but I know its right." "Are you sure about this Trunks?" She asked him again. "I mean you don't know what you're going into, you haven't had any time to prepare....." "I know," he cut her off before she could go any deeper of how this may be a bad idea. "But I have to go. They want my help." Bulma sighed. "Well okay," she said with deep concern in her voice. "But you be careful, you hear." He smiled at her. "I will, I promise. And I'll be back before you know it." He hugged her. Then he climbed into the Time Machine and started it up. He gave her one last wave goodbye, then he was gone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Almost two hours had past since Vegita had sent the message to Mirai Trunks, and still he felt nothing of the boys ki. It probably didn't work. They were going to have a real problem if it didn't. It had been a stupid idea anyway. He may as well go back home and tell them that they had better start thinking of another plan fast. This had only wasted important time. Vegita was about to lift off into the air when he felt a familiar ki. It was mostly hidden. You wouldn't have noticed it unless you were looking for it. But he was sure of it. It was the ki of his son, his son from the future. 'So it did work.' He thought to himself. 'My telepathic powers must have been better than even I suspected.' he chuckled. Better go meet the boy. He wondered how much stronger he had gotten in his time. In a way, he was looking forward to seeing him again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mirai Trunks turned the time machine back into a capsule. He looked around. Things seemed pretty much the same. He kept his ki low. Only leaving it out enough so that they would know he was here. He didn't want to attract the wrong crowd. Well, he may as well start heading toward the Capsule Corp. Most likely that is were everyone is. He started to fly off. He only got a few miles when he stopped. "Hello Trunks." He heard a voice say. He knew this voice. It was the voice that had called him to come to this time once again. He turned to see his face. "Hello Otousan." They looked at each other for awhile. His father had aged. Too much for it to only been two years. Maybe it had been longer for him in this time. "Been a long time." Vegita said with his usually cold smile. "I trust you got my message." Mirai Trunks nodded. "Hai." He said. "How did it happen?" He asked. Vegita was just about to open his mouth to say something when.... "HI GUYS!" Goku appeared before them. Vegita looked at the warrior, annoyed. Mirai Trunks smiled at his friend. "Good to see you again Trunks." Goku said to the young man. Vegita stared at him. "Did you come here for a reason, or just to get reacquainted?" Vegita asked him, not giving Mirai Trunks a chance to say hello. "Yeah, yeah, Vegita." Goku extended his arms. Vegita took one, Mirai Trunks took the other. Then they vanished. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goku hadn't been gone that long. Bulma was assured by everyone that Mirai Trunks was in this time. Goku had used Shunkanido to go pick him and Vegita up. It would be good to see the boy from the future again. Ask him how he was, what his future was like now. She was certain that Vegita would tell her that they had business first, but she didn't care. They all appeared in front of Gohan. She smiled. He was just as she had remembered him. Trunks, Goten, Pan, Bra, and Marron were all in a state of shock. Mirai Trunks seemed to be too, but was doing his best to hide it. Goku broke the silence. "Well you know most everyone here. But you don't know some of these people." He said. He pointed to the people as the said their names. "My youngest son Goten, Granddaughter Pan, Daughter-in-law Videl, Kuririn's daughter Marron, and Vegita and Bulma's daughter Bra." They all did their own little hello nods. Then Goku pointed to Trunks. "And you remember Trunks. Well if you don't Trunks meet Trunks." Trunks couldn't say or do anything. It was just too weird. Goku laughed to himself. Vegita hit Goku on the back of the head. "Hey what'd you do that for!?" "Baka! I'm glad you think this is so amusing. But there are serious things to discus!" he yelled. "Oh leave him alone Vegita." Bulma stood up and said. "Lighten up a little." "Don't tell me to lighten up." Vegita said, trying to sound calm. "Cell's running around out there, and he's in here cracking jokes." "Maybe he's just trying to make people feel better! Witch is more that I can say for you!" Mirai Trunks smiled and put his hand behind his head. "Nice to see some thing haven't changed." Everyone laughed, except Vegita. Gohan stopped laughing. "But really we do have to get down to business." He said. Mirai Trunks nodded. Everyone sat back down and they told Mirai Trunks what had happened, and of the plan that they had made up. "So you're going to use his own obsession against him." Mirai Trunks said, perfectly understanding the plan, and where he came in. Gohan nodded. "So will you help us?" Goku asked. "Sure I'll help." They entire thing sounded creepy to him. The thought of Cell being alive again, and stronger than anyone could have imagined. But he was determined to do everything he could to help. "Great! Thanks a lot Trunks!" Goku thanked him. "Now can I ask you something?" "Go ahead." Mirai Trunks said. "How come you don't look any older?" Goku asked. "I mean it has been a long time." "Well it may have been a longer amount of time for you. Its only been 2 years for me," he answered. Gohan felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over to see Piccolo, motioning him to go to somewhere so the others couldn't hear them speaking. They went into another room. "It's only been two years for him. We've all had more time to train and get stronger, he hasn't had all that long." Piccolo said. "Will he be strong enough?" "He only needs to fight for a short time so we can surprise Cell. And he is very strong anyway," Gohan said. "Yes, but can he stay alive during the fight?" "I sure hope so." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mirai Trunks didn't know what he was more shocked at. The fact that the Trunks in this time who was only a baby the last time he was here, was now the same age as him. Or the fact that he would have a sister. The most disturbing to him was seeing Gohan. When he came back the last time it wasn't as hard on him because Gohan was so young. But now, now he looked just like the Gohan in his time. Who had died. Gohan and Piccolo came out of the other room. Didn't like the looks on their faces. Then Gohan looked at him and smiled. So he smiled back. There would be plenty of time for talking later. "Well," Piccolo said. "We don't know when Cell is going to revel himself. So we may as well train a little." They all nodded. Goku, Gohan, Yamcha, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Chu zu all went out to the back yard. Mirai Trunks, Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo all followed Vegita to the gravity room. "Trunks, Goten, why don't you two start off." Piccolo said. "Which one?" Both Trunks' said at once. They looked at each other and smiled. Goten had started laughing. But the look on Vegita's face was enough to make him stop. "This is going to get very confusing." Piccolo said. Vegita 'hmphed'. "Goten sit this one out, I wanna see Trunks fight Trunks." Vegita said. Goten was about to protest, but again the look on Vegita's face made him stop. Mirai Trunks was annoyed at this. Was his father doing this for their own good, or for his own amusement? But he didn't say anything. It was his first time seeing his father in a long time, he didn't want to get off on the wrong foot. Goten stepped to the side to let the two counterparts fight. They lunged at each other. They started off slow, not going Super Saiya-jin. Trunks was the first go go Super Saiya-jin, Mirai Trunks followed. They gave a series of kicks and punches at each other, both getting in some good hits. 'He's good' Trunks thought, 'But lets see how good he really is.' Trunks powered up to Super Saiya-jin 2. Mirai Trunks looked at him and smiled, then he powered up as well. Vegita's eyes widened just a little at the sight of this. Piccolo also seemed a little shocked at how much the boy's power had increased. "So he has gotten stronger since he has been here." Mirai Trunks got a good hit in on Trunks. Piccolo smiled. "Looks like he hasn't done that bad considering he has been on his own." The two were still evenly matched. Both getting the same number of hits on each other, however their fighting styles were completely different. Trunks was just about to land a hit in Mirai Trunks' face, but Mirai Trunks blocked it and made a counter attack and kicked Trunks in the back. That sent Trunks flying a few feet, and also made him angry. He launched himself at Mirai Trunks again. "Hmmm," Vegita said, "He is as strong, maybe a little bit stronger than him." Piccolo nodded. "Which one?" Goten asked. Both Vegita and Piccolo glared at him. "No seriously I wanna know!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outside Gohan and Goku were sparing together. They weren't going all out at all. They were mostly talking. "So what do you think about having Trunks back?" Goku asked his son. "I don't know....." Gohan said. "Its kinda odd, because when he was here he was older than me. Now I'm older than him." "Yeah I guess that would be pretty weird on your part. But how do you think he feels?" Goku said. Gohan thought about this. It must be hard for him. Not having his friends around. Then all of a sudden he comes back again and everyone has aged but him. He hoped that he would get a chance to talk to him sooner or later. He wanted to talk to him, see how things were going for him in his future. Goku saw the change in his son's look. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Well I was just thinking," Gohan began. "What if this doesn't work? What's going to happen if Cell is way too strong, or something else goes wrong? What are we going to do then?" "Hey come on Gohan." Goku replied. "You've never been one to doubt yourself before. Why the sudden change in confidence?" "I've just been a little confused. Its brought back a lot of painful memories." Goku smiled. "I know how hard this must be on you. But don't worry. We all believe in you. It will work, don't worry." "I sure hope your right Otusan..... I really do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mirai Trunks sat outside alone. He had finished sparing with the other Trunks and Goten. They were both very powerful, he didn't think that they were holding back any, but they may have been. He had been holding back just a bit. So it seemed that he and Trunks were perfectly even. He didn't want to embrace him in front of his father. Gohan was still sparing with Goku. He hoped as soon as they were done they could talk. He knew it wasn't "his" Gohan, but it would be good to talk to him anyway. He didn't like the way things sounded with Cell. If Cell was so powerful that not even a Super Saiya-jin 3 Goku couldn't stop him....... Well he had never been one to back down from a challenge and he wasn't going to start now. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a little face looking at him. He looked over, then smiled. It was his sister. Well it would be his sister if his father was still alive his time. She was in a cute little red dress, and she looked just like his mother. Shyly she walked over to were he was and sat next to him. She looked up at him and smiled. "You look just like my nii-chan!" she said. Mirai Trunks smiled at the little girl. "Well," he said, "That's because I kinda am." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trunks and Goten came around the corner to the back yard. They saw Mirai Trunks playing with Bra. She laughed happily as he threw her up in the air and caught her, he tickled her and she giggled. Then she started climbing on his back and he laughed as she started swinging herself around in circles on his upper arm. Trunks couldn't remember the last time he and his sister had played together like that, if they ever had. He loved his sister, but it seemed like they were always fighting. So it felt strange to him, to see this other him and his sister playing, like he had only seen her play with Goten. Well he had done a lot of thinking. He had sparred with his other self, now he was going to do something that was going to take a lot more out of him. He was going to talk to him. "Goten do me a favor and take Bra, somewhere," he asked his friend. "Well okay," Goten replied, "But why? she seems to be having a pretty good time." "Just do it please," he said. "There is something that I have to do." "Sure Trunks, no problem." Goten walked over to Bra and Mirai Trunks. They looked over at him. Goten smiled at Bra. "Hey kiddo, why don't we go play for awhile." "No, I'm having fun playing with nii-chan!" she said to Goten sternly. "Please Bra," he pleaded. "Please, please, please, please, please." He said as he tickled her stomach. She giggled. "Okay," she said. They stood up. Goten grabbed Bra by the arm and swung her up on the back of his neck. They walked to the other side of the yard. When Trunks thought that they were far enough away he walked over to Mirai Trunks. He sat down next to him, looking for something to say, but found he was speechless. He didn't like the fact that he had come to talk to the guy and didn't have a thing to say. Then he heard him talk. "Did you," Mirai Trunks started. "Have a happy childhood?" he asked. Trunks turned to look at him, but Mirai Trunks' eyes were fixed on the ground. "Well yeah." Trunks said. He added quietly. "It hurt to think that Otousan only started realizing I was around when I was old enough to start training, but I always had Goten to hang around with." "Has Otousan changed any, since the time I was here last?" Mirai Trunks asked, still staring at the green grass below him. "From what I have heard of what he used to be like, yeah. He changed a lot when Bra came around." Trunks thought about how hard this must be on him. How he had a happy childhood, a sister, and a father, and look what this other him had gone through. Well he hadn't been told the hole story. Only a little bit of what his mother had told him when he got out of the tank. He wanted to hear the hole, entire, story. From the person who could tell it best. "What was your time like?" Trunks asked. Mirai Trunks looked up from the ground and over at Trunks. "What was it like when you were growing up? What is it like now?" "Do you want me to tell you everything?" Mirai Trunks asked. "Yes," "Trunks said. "I want to know what it was like." Mirai Trunks nodded. He opened his mouth to begin the tail of his torn, and shattered world..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A cold breeze blew across the empty terrain, but it didn't bother Cell. He was still very angry about how he had been distracted and let himself be hit. He cursed to himself quietly. That wouldn't happen again though. He would let nothing distract him, nothing would stand in his way. He looked over the area. It wasn't exactly like were they had the first Cell games, but it would have to do. It would be different this time. This time it would be strictly business. There would be no TV reporters, no ring, and no stupid weak pro wrestlers who thought they had a chance against him. However it would still be quite fun for him. But this would be it. This would be the final round. Slowly, ever so slowly, he released his ki and stood waiting for the arrival of his oponents....