Sacred World of the Kai
The moment the Old Kai got his hands on the wrist-projector, his eyes bugged.
Folders sprawled across the hologram: US, EU, JP, Uncensored, CN, Wild, Web… every category under the suns.
"Sluuurp… excellent. Magnificent." The Old Kai actually drooled as his thumb hovered to open one.
"Hey, hey there's a kid here! Business first, browsing later." Gohan snatched the device and killed the projection.
Future Trunks was scarlet to the ears. He'd seen the thumbnails too and, against his will, pictured himself and Mai. His lower half ahem… reacted like any hot-blooded youth's would.
"What do you want, then? Spit it out!" the Old Kai snapped, impatient.
"Check him. See if you can do for him what you did for me unlock his potential." Gohan nudged Trunks forward.
"Another Saiyan?" The Old Kai's pupils narrowed. "Odd. You're not of this universe. No local imprint."
Gohan laughed it off. "Details, details. What matters is that he's Saiyan. Size up his potential, will you? The sooner you're done, the sooner you can, uh, 'study' those files."
That did it. The Old Kai hustled over and began his ritual muttering, prodding, and "reading" Trunks' ki like a physician takes a pulse.
"How curious. He isn't like you, kid." The Old Kai's brows knit.
"How so?" Gohan asked.
"His bloodline isn't just Earthling and Saiyan. There's a third strain faint, but lively. The cellular vitality is even tougher than a Saiyan's."
"Three?" Gohan instantly thought of the Brief family. Dr. Brief was an old gentleman, but his wife looked forty at most despite both being nearer sixty. And it wasn't cosmetics; her life force was still in its prime.
"Does that hurt him?" Gohan pressed.
"No. But he likely won't reach your 'mystic' state. He'll lean on the more… volatile Saiyan transformations. On the upside, his lifespan should surpass a Saiyan's." The Old Kai waved it off.
"Then please unlock him."
"That I can do and it won't take long. Sit."
"Yes, sir," Trunks said politely, folding his legs.
The Old Kai chanted, circled, then sat facing Trunks, palms up. Gohan waited and, out of sheer boredom, noticed something obvious.
No tail.
Huh. I've been ignoring that. In my memory, even Goten was born tail-less. Genes? Or surgically removed?
Half an hour later
"All right, he's yours. I'm busy." The Old Kai sprang up and left, abandoning a very confused Trunks.
"Up you get," Gohan said. "Push your power. Let's see where your limit is."
"O-okay. I'll try HAAAAA!"
The Sacred World trembled, though nowhere near what it had when Gohan had transformed. No anomalies warped heaven and earth this time the realm's tier was simply higher than the mortal world's.
Trunks snapped into Super Saiyan… and the power kept rising. No strain. He drew deeper.
Blue sparks crackled across his aura. His hair stood higher. The golden flame around him became a roaring jet.
"YAH… HA!"
With a final roar, he broke through Super Saiyan 2.
Gohan opened his mouth to congratulate him then felt Trunks try to push farther.
Don't tell me SSJ3?
No. Trunks' surge climbed less than halfway to that precipice, then settled.
"This power… I could punch a hole through those Androids," Trunks breathed, recalling their faces, their carnage.
"You could," Gohan nodded. "But don't get cocky. The universe is packed with monsters far beyond you."
"I… can still get stronger?" Trunks looked at him in disbelief.
Gohan smiled, and silver-white lightning leapt around him as he slid into Super Saiyan 2 with casual ease.
"You think you can beat me right now?"
"I want to try." Trunks' fighting spirit spiked.
"Then come." Gohan curled a finger.
"Don't blame me for not holding back!"
Trunks blitzed forward
and was blasted sideways before he even closed the gap, slammed into a distant ridge that shattered on impact.
Gohan didn't let up. Two crisp bang-bang blows, and Trunks went limp.
Three minutes later, Trunks came to, blinking at Gohan both eyes purpling into perfect panda shades.
"Done showboating?" Gohan teased.
"Master Gohan… weren't you a little too rough?" Trunks said, aggrieved.
"Drop the pout. Don't act like a crybaby." Gohan's voice went flinty.
"…Yes, Master. But why are you so much stronger than me in the same form?"
"Because you skipped a crucial step: temperance through experience. What I just did for you is, frankly, pulling the seedling to make it grow. Raw power matters, but so does combat sense. And you've ignored the most important thing."
"What's that?"
"Your base. Every Saiyan transformation multiplies your base battle power SSJ is ×50, SSJ2 is ×100. The higher your base, the more terrifying your forms become. I flattened you because my base is much higher."
"I'm an idiot… I overlooked something that basic." Trunks clenched his fists at himself.
"It's fine fix it. Your temperament is good: decisive, clean strikes, none of the reckless showboating Saiyans are infamous for. But this world gets much, much worse than Androids hundreds, thousands, millions of times worse. Never abandon base training. Use your mother's tech. Build a gravity chamber. Use every tool you can to raise your normal state. Then go home and end them."
"Yes, Master Gohan. I'll remember." The beatdown carved Gohan's words deep into Trunks' heart.
"Good. Then head back. You're more than enough for the fight you face."
"…That's it?" Trunks blinked.
"What else did you expect?" Gohan's tone was light.
"Right. Then I'll thank you properly after I take down the Androids." Trunks reluctantly pulled out a capsule.
"Hold it. One thing's been bugging me why don't you have a tail?"
"My tail? Mom said it was surgically removed right after I was born. She also used inhibitors so it wouldn't grow back," Trunks said after a beat.
"Figures. All right wait. The medicine?" Gohan suddenly remembered.
" You know about that? Right, right, no questions! Things escalated so fast I forgot." Trunks, cowed by Gohan's look, fished out the heart virus antidote and tossed it over.
"Perfect. Now go."
"Goodbye, Master Gohan!" Trunks climbed into the time machine. With a whoosh, he vanished.
"Hah… finally." Gohan let out a long breath.
He couldn't shake the worry that Trunks' appearance might nudge Bulma toward Vegeta. He didn't know why it bothered him so much.
He just knew he didn't want it to.
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