Tales of the Future

Gohan collapsed from exhaustion, his arms spread wide as he gently landed in the soft dirt. He was smiling and extremely relieved; not only had the Earth been saved again, but his father had somehow survived. It had taken every ounce of willpower he had to fire against his dad, knowing that it would likely mean he would never see him again. But the boy was growing up, each battle building both his confidence and his battle senses. The thankful seven year-old opened his eyes, seeing the tall outline of his Namekian mentor outlined by the sun.

I'm proud of you, Gohan, the voice said telepathically. You were the only one brave enough to help, in spite of all the fear you must have felt about hurting your dad.

The half-Saiyan widened his grin, turning his head to the side; he wanted to see his dad. There, not ten feet away from him, stood the exhausted form of Goku. His strange, ornate clothing was now shredded and his body was scorched and bruised all over, but he was smiling contentedly. The boy's father had relaxed from his Super Saiyan state as well, and wore a look of pride when his eyes met with Gohan's. No one had spoken yet.

Vegeta, still in his Super Saiyan form, strode angrily towards the golden-haired youth and grabbed him by the jacket. Goku's smile evaporated along with Piccolo's, each waiting to see what Vegeta would say to the newcomer. They had determined from his energy that he was good-hearted, but the boy was still shrouded in mysteries, not the least of which was how he could possibly be a Super Saiyan.

"Who are you, anyway!? Where did you come from? I demand that you answer me immediately!" Vegeta wasn't beating around the bush. Clearly still the strongest, he wasted no time asserting his dominance.

The young Super Saiyan relaxed his aura, returning to his normal state. His fiery yellow locks fell back down around his head, returning to their normal greyish-purple. Despite being literally hoisted into the air by Vegeta, the boy showed no sign of fear. His tattered clothes and wild unmanageable hair were overpowered by the confident smile he bore.

"Sure thing…dad."

The prince froze in stunned silence for the briefest of moments, his eyes nearly doubling in size. "What did you just say?" Unsure how to properly react, Vegeta tightened his grip and readied a threatening punch with his right first. But Bulma interrupted.

"Hey, wait just a minute here, what's going on? Did he just say YOU were his father? UGHH! You'd think this is the type of thing SOMEONE would have the courtesy to mention before now!"

For Vegeta, it was the first time Bulma had been present when he was around the other Z fighters. He had accepted the annoying woman's overbearing personality, at least in private, but being addressed with such disrespect in public was an assault against his honor. He turned to the woman, determined to put her in her place.

"Silence, woman! It's not your concern." Vegeta's mind was racing, trying to recall all his past lovers at once, wondering if it could really be possible. 'There is no way he could be my son! It's just not probable. He's far too old, for one thing.'

"Well, Mr. bossy-pants, I'll have you know that it IS my business! Now you tell me the truth! Is he your son or isn't he?" Bulma suddenly noticed the Capsule Corporation logo on the boy's jacket, something she found incredibly odd. "Why would a Saiyan be wearing that, anyway?"

Vegeta grunted. "He looks more like YOUR son than mine, woman! Just look at that ridiculous hairstyle. No offspring of mine would ever have such outlandish, unkempt appearance!"

The young man suddenly interrupted them.

"Actually," he smiled, "you're both my parents."

The silence that followed this stunning revelation was awkwardly broken by a burst of uncontrolled laughter. Goku fell on the ground in hysterics. "Those two are your parents! BAHAHA!" The Saiyan's hilarity had taken some of the tension off, setting everyone a little more at ease. Bulma and Vegeta shot him threatening glances, but he ignored them. Picking himself up, Goku continued. "Bulma and Vegeta, huh? I always thought she was going to end up with Yamcha, but Vegeta? Wow!" At the mention of the scar-faced weakling, the prince of Saiyans narrowed his eyes. He hated that Earthling.

A puzzled look crept back onto Goku's face. "Hey, kid…just one question. How can you be the son of Bulma and Vegeta when it's obvious they've never seen you before?"

"That's a good question, Goku. The answer is simple-" Trunks was interrupted again by Vegeta before he could continue.

"You'd best explain yourself quickly, boy. I've no time for the games of foolish children, especially disillusioned ones who claim such absurdities as kinship to me. Answer the question and state your business here or else I WILL get violent."

The grey-haired boy's face turned stern as he walked over to a nearby rock, his back to the Z fighters, and placed his hand against it to rest. "All right, listen up. You all might want to have a seat, because what I'm about to tell you may come as quite a shock."

"My name is Trunks, and I'm from the future; twenty years into the future, to be exact. I will be born about 8 months from now, but you already knew that, didn't you...mom." The boy's stern expression melted into tenderness as his eyes met Bulma's. The girl's heart fluttered wildly. 'Could it really be? …My son?' She glanced away, taking a deep breath; she needed a moment to let the news sink in. It was both startling and overwhelming; only earlier that morning had she discovered that she was with child. 'My…my little boy.' Her tearful eyes looked warmly at the newcomer.

Things were starting to make sense, the pieces coming together – a Super Saiyan from the future, half Saiyan and half Human. He bore the Capsule Corporation logo on his clothing because he was the son of Bulma; he had definitely inherited his wildly-colored hair from her. On the other hand, his features were sharp and handsome like Vegeta's, and though he was a little taller than the prince he definitely had the same build.

Vegeta finally relaxed from his Super Saiyan form, momentarily allowing that it was at least possible this boy could really be his son. 'I suppose if he is indeed MY offspring, that explains how he was able to become a Super Saiyan. But he's so young!' The prince maintained his serious frown, but felt an inward rush of pride. 'He clearly isn't as strong as I am, or as strong as Kakarott for that matter, but at least he could whip Frieza's ass.'

"It's so good to see all of you," Trunks made individual eye contact with each of the Z fighters present, "but unfortunately I didn't come here for a reunion." His expression showed kindness but also insistence. "The future I come from is a wretched world, overthrown with fear and destruction. Chaos reigns supreme, and unfortunately…" he grit his teeth "…there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Trunks clenched his fists at the very thought of the terrible monsters. "It's like living in one long nightmare that you can never wake up from!" His impassioned voice evinced a heavy heart. "Each new day is filled with more death, and there's no way out – no way to win!"

Vegeta interrupted. "A true son of mine would always find a way to achieve victory. There is no such thing as a no-win scenario, boy. What about your Saiyan pride? Did I teach you nothing at all?"

Trunk's head sunk low. "No, father…unfortunately, you died when I was very young. I have only vague memories of you, but…well, let's just say you weren't around much."

"You're lying! I am the strongest being alive, now that Cold has been defeated at my hand; no one can stand against the true prince of all Saiyans!"

Goku was deep in thought. 'What could have possibly been strong enough to kill Vegeta?' he wondered to himself. 'And what about everyone else? Surely we would have helped out in the fight…'

"Uh…hey, Trunks! What about the rest of us? You sound you're all alone fighting this threat in the future, whatever it is. Are we…around?" Goku asked the question the others had feared to ask. Based on the tone of the story, those in the group with any gift for deduction had realized that something terrible had happened.

"Well, Goku, that's the part that is going to be tough for everyone to hear. But you all need to know…you deserve to know. I came back in time to change the future, to warn you and give you all a chance to do things differently. Some futures deserve to change; if I couldn't save my own, at least I could try to save this timeline from the same fate." Trunks looked over at Bulma. His mother looked incredibly young, but she had the same soft eyes he knew so well. He could already tell that she had fully accepted him as her son. It gave him increased confidence to get through his story.

The Z fighters were all imagining what the terror might be. What could have been so strong that it could have beaten all of them, especially now that Goku and Vegeta were both Super Saiyans? Goku found himself both concerned and excited, a large part of him thrilled at the prospect of new, stronger opponents to fight.

Vegeta, for his part, was impatiently waiting to find out just what had happened to him in this alternate future. 'How could I possibly have lost? I must find this threat and destroy it!'

"Three years from now, the morning of May 12th at 10 a.m., on an island nine miles southwest of South City, a pair of killers emerges and begins to terminate the Earth's entire population."

Gohan was trembling, but felt his father's hand rest down onto his left shoulder and Piccolo's hand on his right. Reassured, he built up the confidence to speak.

"What are they, Trunks? Are they like Frieza and his Dad?"

"No, Gohan, I'm afraid they are much worse." As he spoke, Trunks began to wonder how accurate his statement was. King Cold had turned out to be far stronger than he had ever imagined; perhaps at full strength he WAS as powerful as the two monsters the boy knew so well. It was hard to be sure; he could clearly gauge Cold's power in comparison to his own, but the enemies in the future had no measurable energy signature. In any case, there were two of them, and his sword held no special advantage against the machines.

"The pair I'm talking about aren't aliens. They are androids…both incredibly powerful, even by our standards, and they're from right here on Earth. Their creator is none other than Dr. Gero."

"Dr. Gero?" Goku exclaimed. "I had hoped I'd never hear his name again."

"Query: Is the technology for such a thing possible? Can machines really possess strength even greater than the master's!?"

The ever-attentive C47 was immediately elated by the news, though he hadn't properly calculated the effect of his question.

Trunks immediately drew his sword and held it to the droid's mechanical head. "Since when do you keep company with a heartless machine like this one? Don't you know that its kind is responsible for destroying my entire world!?" While the boy had grown up hearing plenty of stories about the golden days from his mother, somehow the maniacally bloodthirsty C47 had never come up.

"Obvious Statement: While I certainly regret that a fellow machine was involved in the death of the master, I must remind you that you are, after all, just fragile meatbags, far too easily killed. You cannot blame a superior being simply for existing."

"Hopeful Suggestion: Perhaps you would allow me to seek out this scientist and acquire upgrades for myself. I would certainly welcome the chance to engage these 'other androids', ripping their filthy little gears apart, and preventing them from causing the master's death."

Bulma interrupted. "We've gone over this, you bucket of bolts. You aren't getting any special upgrades, at least not until I have a thorough look at your programming – which I have no time to do! And, besides, you're interrupting the story of MY Trunks. Don't mind him, son; please go on."

The way she had said 'my Trunks' had at first seemed weird to everyone, but it was becoming clear that her maternal instincts had kicked in rather quickly. Trunks, too, thought it sounded possessive and a little strange, but despite her age she was still his mother. He smiled.

"Fine, mom," Trunks said, slowly sheathing his blade; his gaze fixed on the android. In the robot's eyes, he saw the same monsters who had haunted his dreams as long as he could remember. "Well, continuing: Dr. Gero unleashed these two androids on the world with one objective: realizing the doctor's dark dream of revenge on Goku. They were programmed to be mindless killing machines; without mercy, without humanity, without remorse. Their very first act after being activated was to destroy their creator and master, Dr. Gero himself. I don't know whether the doctor had any control of them at all, but once he was out of the way there was nothing to stop them."

The boy's voice was sober. "They unleashed their hate on the world, killing millions of people in only a few days. That was the beginning of the end. Not long after that, the androids encountered Vegeta. You fought fearlessly, father, but their combined power was far too much for even you. What's more, you provided them a new sort of entertainment, a new game for them to play; hunting down powerful foes. They sought out Piccolo next, and easily overwhelmed him. Tien and Chiaotzu suffered a similar fate, followed by Krillin after that. Within a year, all of the Earth's Special Forces were dead except for one. That's my best friend and mentor…Gohan. But then, 13 years later…they got him too. I've been all alone for the past four years and now it's two against one. There isn't much I can do besides try to survive."

Gohan's eyes bulged, his mind spinning scenarios in his head. 'How could I have survived when no one else did?' Trunks looked right at him, smiling at his old friend. "What else can you tell us about the future? What happens—happened—to me?"

Trunks became even more sober. "Well, it's no fairy tale, that's for sure..."

A universe away…

The two remaining protectors of Earth flew low over a city that, only hours before, had been filled with people. Now, smoke rose from the streets in grey columns. Buildings were smashed; cars and trucks were strewn across the urban sprawl, many still burning.

The older of the pair, a tall, muscular man with short black hair, dove low. His brow tightened as he concentrated his search for signs of life. "They're stepping up their game, Trunks. I haven't seen devastation like this since...well, you know." Pain showed on his face, deeper than the scars that traced their way down his jawline and neck.

"Is this really how it was before?" The boy was obviously affected by the sight.

Gohan nodded. "It was even worse. When the monsters first emerged, they destroyed everything in their path. Entire cities were systematically leveled, the population wiped out in a matter of hours. That's when your father, Krillin, Piccolo—everyone was killed in that first terrible year."

Trunks swallowed. His mentor's anguish at recalling these memories was obvious. "Well...at least they stopped destroying absolutely everything."

"I don't know, man." Gohan's voice faltered. "Sometimes I think it would have been better if the androids had simply wiped out everyone right at the start. This game they play - attacking randomly, always leaving enough people behind so that they can come back to kill again and again—it's more suffering than any world should have to know."

As harsh as Gohan's words sounded, Trunks understood. He knew all too well the perverse delight the machines took in their "game". Though a remnant of the human race still survived, hope was all but extinct.

Gohan broke the silence. "Wait, I think I sense something. Someone might still be alive." The pair dove quickly toward a pile of rubble in the heart of the ruined city. "There's a person in there, I'm sure!"

The pair worked quickly, lifting chunks of concrete and tossing out steel beams. It was something they were used to doing; cleaning up after the androids had become second nature to them. They were determined to save anyone they could.

Trunks lifted a large girder to reveal an elderly man, his leg pinned by a section of the building. "Please, please, you have to help me! They…they're going to come back."

Gohan responded softly. "It's all right, gramps. You're going to be just fine." He carefully started to lift the wall that was pinning the man down.

BLAM! A gunshot rang out, and the old man's eyes rolled back, lifeless. "NOT NOW!" Gohan shouted, spinning around.

Only a few yards away, the two monsters stood, leering at them with heartless and penetrating eyes. The taller one, Number 17, held a smoking pistol. "So, Gohan—have you missed us?"

The two heroes instantly exploded into their Super Saiyan states, golden light bursting out around them. Gohan glared at the two murderers. "How dare you! He was defenseless – you didn't have to kill him!"

The blonde android spoke. "Oh, Gohan…always trying to be the hero. You haven't changed a bit, have you? See, we were getting bored of just killing all these worthless humans day in and day out. So I decided that we'd do something special." She winked playfully. "You can't sense us, and we can't sense you, but we figured that terrorizing this particular city, the same one where we killed those other friends of yours all those years ago, would be just the trick to get the two of you to crawl out of whatever holes you were hiding in."

"MONSTERS!" Trunks shouted, lifting both his hands. "THIS ENDS NOW!" With no time to draw the sword hung on his back, the boy released a Super Saiyan blast that immediately incinerated the entire block.

Both the androids flew upward, out of the blast radius of the boy's attack. Suddenly, Trunks felt a hand grab him by the neck.

"Now, now, that won't do. You can't just blow up anything you don't like. We're the only ones who are allowed to do that." The blonde's face was twisted in a sadistic grin. She had been playful before, but realized that her favorite jeans were now scorched from the explosion. "GRRR. Stupid boy, I'm getting really pissed off at you!"

"LET HIM GO!" shouted Gohan, dashing toward the pair. Trunks was struggling to get free in vain, he had to hurry. But a vicious double fist slammed into his back, sending him spinning into city debris below. The other android grinned. "Let 18 have her fun, Gohan."

Still gripping the boy's neck, Number 18 twisted him around and drove her knee into his stomach at full strength. It was more pain than the boy had ever felt; he coughed and spit blood. She twisted one arm behind his back and placed him in a headlock. "Now, watch as 17 teaches your friend a lesson."

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We hope you've enjoyed the little glimpse into the history of Trunks, set to continue in the next chapter. David thought this would be a good place to stop; otherwise it would have been awfully long!

Seeing the power of King Cold will definitely make it easier for Vegeta to accept that he isn't strong enough yet. Maybe, just maybe, he will accept what Trunks is telling them all.

The next chapter will complete the history of Trunks and show the reactions of the Z Fighters, particularly Vegeta. It will also explain what Goku has been doing for the past nine months – his training, ascension, and all his other adventures in space. As usual, I will now attempt to shed some light on your questions…

Q: I doubt that it will transition directly into the android saga because of vegeta wanting the defeat goku. Bulma is likely already pregnant, so trunks revealing himself had little risk. I'm impressed how well you put everyone into the conflict.

(There were several other comments noticing these same things, so I shall only answer one)

A: Good call about Bulma. I am going to try and avoid doing a massive 3 year skip straight to the androids as they did in canon. And thanks! We wanted the defeat of Cold to be more than just the three Super Saiyans. I mean, if I was there and only had Krillin's strength I'd give all I had to try and save the Earth.

Q: Good story loved it but WHY leave out Yamcha?

A: Clearly, you don't recall that he was brutally slain by Vegeta when our favorite scar-faced punching bag was still under the influence of the black water mist. Yamcha be dead…I say you he dead.

Q: I smell Cold coming back as metal Cold.

A: Haha! Adamantium Cold, either rebuilt by the Big Gete Star or by scientists like Frieza? Haha, no. I think you just remember how we pulled a fake Frieza death earlier and don't think we would actually kill the last frost demons…but seriously…even a metal Cold would be outclassed by an ascended Saiyan (i.e. Super Vegeta).

Q: Your story is really good! I really hope you keep updating quickly.

A: Me too! I love that Bringer of Death has been able to keep its update schedule of every Tuesday and Thursday without losing chapter length (In fact, they seem to be getting longer)! Obviously both David and I have full time jobs, but we try to make BoD a priority without complaining too much about how busy we are.

Q: I love how final flash was introduced earlier. Too bad vegeta couldn't keep the king's head too. Woulda been awesome.

A: Yeah, the Final Flash is an awesome move, one of the few attacks that can be powered up enough to destroy a much stronger foe. After losing the beam struggle with Goku on his first trip to Earth and again on Namek, Vegeta was determined to win. He expected his Final Flash to be the attack to he would use to kill Goku, presumably overpowering a Super Kamehameha. As for Cold's head…I'm sure Vegeta would have liked to have it, but he was too distracted by Trunks to go flying out into space and chase down the body.

Q: Why couldn't you have described Vegeta's face at the end; the imagination is so limited when it comes to the word priceless; was it a funny priceless or one of those once in a life time opportunity type priceless.

A; Well, since we were going to pick right up at the same spot for 27, which you have now read, you see that we obviously went into more detail about his reaction. It wasn't something I ever intended to skip over, as Vegeta's reactions are vital to show in a Vegeta-centric fanfiction. I hope you're satisfied now!

Q: Even if Trunks sword has certainly abilities, how did it survive that blast... I mean, when Trunks sword cut through the blast. As seen in the battle against the Androids, Trunks sword got broken. So, is Trunks sword from BoD is different than Future Trunks or what? By the way I'm not familar with the DBZM... can you fill me with info on that?

A: First, this Trunks has not yet fought the androids of our time, who in DBZ canon were the ones responsible for breaking his sword. As David explained in his review, Tapion owned the enchanted Konatsian sword (known as the Brave Sword) originally used to cut Hirudegarn in half; this sword came into the possession of Future Trunks through a yet-untold story (U18's Brave Sword was given to Chibi Trunks after the events of "Wrath of the Dragon"). The sword's magic gives it a special protection against evil or malevolent power; in the hands of a pure-hearted warrior, it can be used to great effect to combat dark powers.

King Cold's strength, being tainted by his evil heart, was particularly vulnerable to the Brave Sword. Trunks used it to render Cold's ultimate energy blast harmless with a single slash. However, the androids don't have evil hearts; their power is mechanical and their actions are largely the result of Gero's programming. As a result, the sword had no special abilities against them, and it was easily broken in canon.

Finally, Dragonball Multiverse (DBM) is an online fan-comic, written by Salagir and Drawn by Gogeta Jr. Their work is of an extremely high quality, their site is free, they update the story with new pages 3 times a week, and they have heavily influenced a lot of DBZ fans everywhere.

Q: I have a few question... why didn't you have King Cold transform to his 5th form? Has he ever transformed to his 5th form before? Was the final form in itself too much for him to maintain since he almost never used it?

A: Several reasons. First, the first time he likely became aware of such a form was when watching Cooler and Vegeta fight. Second, he had to meditate for nearly a month to prepare and gain control over his 3rd form. His 4th form was clearly too much for him to handle, and I'm fairly certain that the 5th form requires a complete mastery of the 4th form before one can achieve it. There is really no question about it, the 5th form was just beyond his capacity.

Q: I couldn't help but notice how strong Gohan was, however. If he were a Super Saiyan, he'd top off at 153 million, correct? I bet he'd give BoD Future Trunks a run for his money if he became a Super Saiyan.

A: Very interesting observation indeed. It raises the question of just how strong Future Gohan was against the androids. Going by the history of Trunks special, it seems like the two androids had to team up to take him on. However, weren't those androids weaker because their power drains over time? (See Salagir's explanation on DBM) Hmmmm. More on that in the next part of the Future of Trunks chapter!

Q: Also, will you guys be including the DBZ movies? Hope so, cause there are a few that would be plausible in the timeline.

A: So far, we have included both Cooler and Garlic Jr., both movie characters. Also, Trunks has Tapion's sword, so that's another movie character. It's a good bet that some of the other ones may come into play. However, things will definitely happen differently than they did before. I can guarantee, though, that Bio-Broly will not make an appearance in BoD. There is no way to even fix that story; you just have to chunk it.