The morning light streamed through the guest room window at Capsule Corporation.
Trunks sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, attempting to meditate as Gohan had once taught him. But peace eluded him.
Behind his closed eyelids, memories flashed: Gohan's body lying broken in the rain, his mother's face tightening with worry as she watched him climb into the time machine, the constant fear that had been his companion for as long as he could remember.
His eyes snapped open as a particularly vivid image of the androids tearing through a shelter full of survivors filled his mind. He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his lavender hair.
"Focus," he muttered to himself. "They can't reach Mother while I'm here. The bunker is secure."
Yet the anxiety was still there.
He'd been in this timeline for a week now, surrounded by peace and abundance that felt almost obscene after the scarcity of his world.
He found himself jumping at sudden noises, scanning for exits in every room.
Old habits died hard, especially when they'd kept you alive.
A knock at the door jolted him to his feet, hand instinctively reaching for the sword that wasn't there - he'd left it propped against the nightstand.
"Trunks?" Bulma's voice called through the door, vibrating with barely contained excitement. "You need to come to the lab right now! I've done it!"
His heart skipped a beat.
Could it be?
"I'll be right there," he called back, already reaching for his Capsule Corp jacket.
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Bulma's laboratory never failed to impress Trunks. Even in his timeline, where his mother had worked with salvaged parts and intermittent power, she'd created wonders.
But this version - with unlimited resources and no fear of android attacks - was something else entirely.
The room was crowded when he arrived. Goku and Vegeta stood near one wall, the former grinning easily while the latter maintained his characteristic scowl.
Piccolo loomed in a corner, arms crossed, while Krillin chatted with Gohan near a complex-looking machine.
Toji Fushiguro - still an enigma to Trunks - stood examining a holographic display with casual interest.
Beside him floated Megumi, the six-year-old son who behaved like a toddler, poking curiously at floating diagrams with delighted giggles.
"Gumi make picture go boom!" the child exclaimed as he batted at a molecular structure, causing it to spin wildly.
"Careful there, little guy," Bulma said, though her tone was indulgent rather than scolding. She turned to address the assembled group, holding up a vial of luminescent blue liquid with the flourish of a magician revealing her greatest trick.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: successfully reverse-engineered temporal displacement fuel!"
Trunks stepped closer, eyes wide. "You really did it? That quickly?"
"Of course I did!" Bulma winked at him. "Never doubt my genius!"
She launched into an explanation, her words flowing with increasing technical complexity. "The molecular stability was the real challenge. Temporal particles tend to decay when removed from their native chronological field. I had to develop a quantum stabilizing matrix using modified Heisenberg compensators that could-"
"Will you get to the point already, woman?" Vegeta interrupted, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Not all of us want to spend our day listening to your scientific babbling."
Bulma whirled toward him, "Well excuse me, Your Royal Highness! Some of us actually appreciate the complexity of temporal displacement fuel synthesis! Maybe if you spent less time grunting in the gravity chamber and more time exercising your brain cells, you'd understand the significance of what I've accomplished here!"
"I understand perfectly well that you enjoy hearing yourself talk," Vegeta fired back. "Some of us have more important things to do than listen to you drone on about particles and matrices!"
"Oh really? More important things like what? Scowling at walls? Perfecting your brooding pose?"
As they continued bickering, Trunks felt a strange sense of déjà vu. In his timeline, his mother had occasionally mentioned arguments with his father, but he'd never witnessed them firsthand.
There was something almost... comfortable about their conflict, like a well-worn routine.
A single sharp clap cut through the argument. The sound reverberated with subtle ki enhancement, immediately drawing everyone's attention to Toji.
"Perhaps," he said with a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes, "we could focus on the matter at hand? The fuel?"
Vegeta fell silent immediately, his posture stiffening slightly. Even he seemed unwilling to test the patience of a 'God' - especially one being the candidate for Destruction.
Bulma blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Right. Sorry about that." She cleared her throat and continued more directly. "The fuel works. I've tested it extensively in simulations. It should get Trunks's time machine back to our timeline after your mission is complete."
A moment of silence fell over the group as everything sank in. Piccolo broke it with a question.
"There's something we haven't addressed," the Namekian observed, his deep voice resonating in the laboratory. "The Dragon Balls can't revive someone who died of natural causes, like Future Goku did with the heart virus. How will we handle that?"
Trunks felt his stomach sink. He hadn't considered this, since he himself never was that knowledgeable about them.
After all, why should he be when he had no access to them?
"That's... true," he admitted, frustration evident in his voice. "Even if we defeat the androids and revive everyone else, my timeline's Goku would still be gone."
The room fell silent as everyone contemplated this problem. Megumi, sensing the shift in mood, floated over to Toji and perched on his shoulders, suddenly quiet.
After a moment, Toji spoke up: "No, the Dragon Balls can still revive him - he'd just die again from the same causes."
"How does that help?" Krillin asked, confused.
"The key," Toji continued, "is to have him cured of the heart virus immediately after revival, before it can kill him again."
Bulma frowned thoughtfully. "Even if you administer the medicine the instant he's revived, it wouldn't work fast enough. The virus would already be too widespread in his system."
Toji nodded, then extended his palm. A small orb of white ki formed above it, glowing with a cold, pure light that seemed different from normal ki energy. Everyone stared at it instinctively with fascination.
"This is a portion of my 'God' Ki - divine energy from one who has achieved 'godhood'," Toji explained, "Divine Ki has healing properties."
Toji's mind flashed to when Goku was stabbed near the heart - if he remembered correctly - by Beerus as a Super Saiyan 'God' and the wound completely healed.
He turned to Goku. "Push this into Future Goku's chest immediately after revival, then give him the medicine. It should purify his system enough for the medicine to work."
'It should maybe make him a Super Saiyan 'God' long enough that he'd survive.' thought Toji to himself.
Goku approached, carefully accepting the orb of divine ki. "Wow, it feels... different. Heavier somehow, but also lighter?" He looked up at Toji with his characteristic grin. "That doesn't make any sense, does it?"
"It makes perfect sense," Toji replied. "The heaviness is you sensing how dense it is, but lighter in the sense how easily calm and controlled it is. You're simply wording it as best you can."
"Wait," Krillin interjected, catching Toji's choice of words. "You said it 'should' work? You're not sure?"
Toji shrugged. "This is new territory. I've never seen this done before, but it's your best chance. Worth trying."
"Okay... But, I got another question then, what if the fuel doesn't work?" Krillin asked, looking concerned. "Goku would be stranded in the future timeline."
Bulma sighed, slightly annoyed at having her creation doubted. "I've thought of that. Goku won't immediately use the fuel in the time machine. After defeating the androids, they'll contact King Kai, get Namek's coordinates, and use the spare Capsule Corp spaceship I'm providing in capsule form."
She held up a small capsule case. "Future me can after everything is done, take a look at the fuel. If the fuel is good to her, then it works and Goku returns via the time machine."
"If not, he stays until Future Me perfects it based on my notes on how I made it, fixing what I did wrong. Either way, worst case scenario is Goku stays a few weeks in the future. No big deal."
Relief visibly washed over the group. Trunks felt something he hadn't experienced in years - genuine hope.
He blinked rapidly, determined not to show the tears threatening to come out.
"Well, let's go save your world, buddy!" Goku exclaimed, clapping Trunks on the back with enough force to nearly knock him over.
As they prepared to depart, everyone offered brief goodbyes.
Megumi suddenly darted forward, grabbing onto Trunks's leg. "Purple hair man leaving? Gumi sad!"
Trunks awkwardly patted the child's head, still not used to the boy's strength and energy. "I... have to go help my friends."
Megumi looked up at him with wide violet eyes, pouting slightly before releasing his leg and floating back to his father.
Vegeta simply nodded to Trunks, arms crossed.
Bulma approached, handing him the capsule case. "This contains the spaceship and fuel. Be careful with it." Her eyes softened. "And be careful with yourself too."
As Trunks thanked her, Toji pulled Goku aside, speaking in a low voice that Trunks could barely overhear.
"When you use Porunga," Toji whispered, "ask if there are any other threats besides the Androids on Earth. Deal with them too. We don't want the future caught off guard, and it might help us here as well."
Goku nodded seriously, understanding the wisdom in this precaution.
Minutes later, Trunks and Goku climbed into the time machine. The glass dome closed over them with a hiss. Trunks's fingers moved across the controls.
"Ready?" he asked Goku.
"Let's do this!" Goku replied, his excitement clear despite how serious their mission was - typical him.
Trunks activated the machine. Energy crackled around them, distorting the air. The laboratory and its occupants seemed to stretch and blur, colors smearing together.
With a flash of light and a thunderclap, they vanished.
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The time machine materialized in a clearing surrounded by half-collapsed buildings.
Unlike the pristine cityscape they'd left behind, this world was a monument to destruction.
Crumbling skyscrapers jutted from the ground like broken teeth. Abandoned vehicles lay scattered across cracked streets, many crushed or overturned.
Nature had begun to reclaim the urban landscape - vines crawled up concrete walls, and small trees pushed through fractured pavement.
As they climbed out of the machine, Goku's expression grew increasingly somber. He turned in a slow circle, taking in the devastation.
"This is... your home?" he asked quietly.
Trunks nodded, his jaw tight. "For the last seventeen years."
Goku closed his eyes, extending his ki sense across the planet. After a moment, his expression darkened further. "I can feel them. The survivors. They're hiding underground, in wilderness areas... scattered in small groups."
His eyes opened, now hard with an emotion Trunks had rarely seen in the normally cheerful warrior. "And the others... our friends... I can't sense any of them."
"No," Trunks confirmed. "They're all gone. Piccolo, Krillin, Vegeta, Tien, Yamcha, all killed in the first few years."
Goku's fists clenched at his sides. "Gohan too. I can tell he's not here anymore."
"He lasted the longest," Trunks said softly. "Trained me until the end. He was the bravest person I've ever known."
Something shifted in Goku's demeanor - a coldness entering his eyes that made Trunks take an involuntary step back.
This wasn't the playful, good-natured Goku he'd come to know over the past week.
This was something else entirely.
"Let's find them," Goku said, his voice unnaturally calm. "I can sense where people are dying and the Earth is being destroyed the most right now. That's where the androids should be."
After turning the time machine back into a capsule, they took to the sky. They flew in silence, Trunks occasionally glancing at Goku.
The Saiyan's normally open expression had closed like a steel trap.
They arrived at a partially destroyed city where smoke rose from several buildings. From their vantage point high above, they could see two figures moving through the streets below.
Android 17 was using abandoned cars as bowling balls, sending them crashing into fleeing humans who screamed as they were crushed.
He laughed after each "strike," keeping a running tally of his score.
Nearby, Android 18 browsed through a broken storefront, occasionally trying on clothes she found interesting.
Whenever a terrified survivor ran past, she would casually extend a hand and blast them into oblivion, never breaking stride in her shopping.
"Look at that one run," 17 called to his sister, pointing at a middle-aged man desperately trying to carry two children to safety. "Bet you can't hit him from here."
18 sighed, holding a blouse against herself. "I'm busy. Does this color work with my looks, or is it too washed out?"
"Come on, just one shot," 17 goaded. "Triple points for getting all three with one blast."
18 rolled her eyes but raised her hand anyway, energy gathering at her fingertips.
Trunks began to shake with rage, his aura flickering golden around him. Before he could move, Goku placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Stand back," Goku said, his voice eerily calm. "This is my fight now."
Trunks stared at him, but nodded, and forced himself to calm down.
Goku descended slowly, landing in the middle of the street between the fleeing family and the androids.
The man with the children stumbled to a halt, staring in disbelief at the orange-clad warrior who had appeared from nowhere.
"Run," Goku told him without turning around. "Get as far from here as you can."
The man didn't need to be told twice. He clutched the children tighter and disappeared down an alleyway.
The androids noticed Goku, confused by his appearance.
"Well, look who's here," 17 said, approaching with casual confidence. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"He does look like Son Goku," 18 observed, dropping the blouse she'd been examining. "But our data says he died years ago. Heart virus or something equally pathetic."
Goku stood silently, studying them with cold eyes.
17 circled him curiously, hands in his pockets. "Silent treatment, huh? Not very sporting." He leaned closer to Goku's face. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
Without warning, Goku moved - faster than either android could track. His fist connected with 17's stomach with such force that the android's eyes bulged in shock.
A follow-up strike sent him flying through three buildings before he crashed into a fourth, bringing the entire structure down on top of him.
18's expression shifted from boredom to surprise. "What the-"
She didn't finish her sentence as Goku appeared before her, catching the punch she instinctively threw. He held her fist in his hand, slowly increasing pressure until the her wrist began to crack.
"I am Son Goku" Goku asked, his voice unnervingly calm. "Just not the one from your timeline."
18 tried to pull away, but Goku's grip was unbreakable. For the first time, something like fear flickered across her face.
"Let go of me!" she demanded, attempting to kick him. Goku caught her leg with his free hand and twisted, sending her spinning through the air.
Before she could recover, he appeared above her, driving both fists down onto her back and sending her crashing into the street below.
The impact created a crater in the asphalt. 18 pushed herself up, hair falling across her face, expression shifting from shock to rage.
"You're going to regret that," she snarled, launching herself at Goku.
What followed was not so much a battle, more a slaughter.
18 unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, each one effortlessly dodged or blocked. Goku moved with ease and grace, his face showing no strain or effort as he evaded everything she threw at him.
From the rubble of the collapsed building, 17 emerged, brushing dust from his clothes. His perpetual smirk had vanished, replaced by confusion and growing anger. He flew toward the battle, firing energy blasts at Goku's back.
Without looking, Goku raised one hand and deflected the blasts, sending them harmlessly into the sky.
"You killed my son in this world," Goku said, his voice still eerily controlled. "You killed my friends. You destroyed everything these people built."
17 landed beside his sister, both androids now facing Goku with growing unease.
"So what?" 17 retorted, though his usual cockiness sounded forced. "They were weak. That's how the world works - the strong survive and the weak die."
Goku vanished, reappearing behind 17. Before the android could react, Goku delivered a strike to his spine that sent him crashing face-first into the ground.
"Then let's play by your rules, Android." Goku stated, his voice calm, standing over 17's prone form, looking down at him with a cold look. "Let's go."
17 rolled over, firing an energy blast point-blank at Goku's face. The Saiyan didn't flinch as the attack washed over him, leaving him completely unharmed.
"Impossible," 17 whispered, scrambling backward.
18 attacked from behind, aiming a kick at Goku's head. He caught her ankle without looking and swung her into her brother, sending both androids tumbling across the broken street.
"You think you're strong because you kill?" Goku continued, walking slowly toward them. "Any coward can destroy. It takes strength to create, to protect."
The androids regrouped, sharing a look before splitting up - 18 taking to the sky while 17 charged directly at Goku.
"We don't need a lecture from a dead man!" 17 shouted, throwing punch after punch that Goku dodged with minimal movement.
From above, 18 rained down energy blasts, creating explosions all around Goku. When the smoke cleared, he stood untouched, not even his clothing damaged.
"You're not just fighting me," Goku said, catching 17's fist and squeezing until the android winced in pain. "You're fighting for everyone you've killed. For every city you've destroyed. For every child who's grown up in fear because of you."
18 tried to flee, suddenly realizing the danger they were in. Goku appeared in front of her, blocking her escape.
"Going somewhere?" he asked.
"What are you?" she demanded, genuine fear in her voice for the first time. "This isn't possible! Our data shows you're weaker than us!"
"Your data is outdated," Goku replied. "I'm not the same Goku who died in this timeline. I've faced enemies you can't imagine."
On the ground, 17 spotted Trunks watching from a rooftop. A desperate plan formed in his mind. If he couldn't hurt Goku directly, perhaps a hostage would work. He launched himself toward Trunks, moving at maximum speed.
Before he could reach his target, 17 found himself frozen in mid-air. Goku had raised one hand, his telekinetic force seizing the android.
"I'm done playing," Goku announced, his voice still terrifyingly calm.
Golden light exploded around him as he transformed into a Super Saiyan. The shockwave from his transformation knocked both androids back, 18 crashing into a building while 17 remained suspended in Goku's telekinetic grip.
Trunks watched in awe as Goku's power surged to levels he could barely comprehend. This wasn't the transformation he'd witnessed in the mirror or from Gohan - this was raw, primal power beyond his understanding fueled by righteous anger.
18 recovered and charged at Goku, desperation clear in her movements. Goku casually slapped her aside with his free hand, sending her skidding across the ground. Before she could rise, he placed his boot on her head, slowly increasing pressure.
17 struggled against the invisible force holding him, his eyes widening in panic as he watched his sister pinned beneath Goku's foot.
"Let her go!" he shouted, his voice cracking. "We'll leave! We'll never kill again! Just let her go!"
"Like you let my friends go?" Goku asked quietly. "Like you let all those innocent people go?"
18 began to scream as the pressure increased, her skull starting to crack. "17! Help me!"
17 thrashed desperately but couldn't break free of Goku's telekinetic hold. It was as if an infinite distance separated them despite being only feet apart - his sister's cries driving him to increasingly frantic efforts.
"Please!" 18 sobbed, tears streaming down her face - a human reaction the androids had likely never known they could have before. "Please stop! It hurts!"
Goku's expression remained unchanged as he continued to apply pressure with his boot. With his other hand, he began to close his fist, the telekinetic pressure around 17 increasing proportionally.
The android's body began to compress, metal components inside groaning and bending inward. Blood - evidence of them still being human - began to seep from his mouth and nose.
"This is for Gohan," Goku said, his voice barely above a whisper. "This is for all of them."
With a final look, Goku crushed 18's head beneath his boot while simultaneously clenching his fist completely. 17's body imploded under the pressure, reduced to a grotesque mixture of blood, flesh, and mechanical components that rained down onto the broken street.
Silence fell over the ruined city. Goku stood motionless for a long moment, golden aura still blazing around him.
Trunks landed beside him, staring in shock at the remains of the androids who had terrorized his world for so long.
In all his years of fighting, he'd never managed to cause them more than minor damage. Yet Goku had destroyed them completely in minutes.
Slowly, Goku's Super Saiyan aura faded as he powered down. He took a deep breath, the cold fury leaving his eyes.
When he turned to Trunks, his usual cheerful expression had returned, though tinged with sadness.
"Let's go find your mother and tell her the good news," he said, his voice once again warm and friendly. "Your world is free now."
Trunks nodded, still processing what he'd witnessed - a side of Goku he never knew existed, a glimpse of the warrior beneath the smile.
As they took to the sky, the few survivors began to emerge from hiding places - staring up at Goku and Trunks with newfound hope in their eyes.
For the first time in nearly two decades, the future held promise.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! Been a while!
Goku truly showed them huh, letting that Saiyan brutal side slip out.
Also... Yeah, I'm back. I took a long break from writing here, and well, I got my rest.
I for a time kind of became tired of writing, had been neglecting other things in life too much, not sleeping enough, and all of that - that plus, a lot of negative comments in some reviews, and this and other fics, just made me well, tired.
But I'm back, decided I don't give a shit anymore about those comments, and am fully rested.
So, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)