But when Grandpa Gohan stepped outside and looked down the mountain,
Goku was already out of sight.
He sighed. "Fine. I'll let him see it when he comes back."
He picked up the Dragon Ball, turning it in his hands.
"This must be some kind of treasure.
If it could stay lit all the time, it could replace a lightbulb. No electricity bill."
…
Parallel timeline — the future.
"Trunks, go! Run!"
"Don't go looking for Goku!"
"Forget me—go!"
Goku Black's energy wave was about to hit Trunks.
At the last instant, the time machine flashed—whoosh—and vanished.
Goku Black froze, the target gone.
Then, eyes savage, he grabbed the helpless Bulma by the throat and lifted her up.
"Mortal… you really surprise me.
To think filthy, tiny humans like you could build a machine that travels through time…"
Bulma stared at that familiar face—
but it wore a cold, cruel expression she didn't recognize. Her heart ached.
She knew he wasn't Goku.
And she wouldn't get the Goku from the past coming here to save her.
Because the time machine only had enough power for a one-way trip.
Still…
To send Trunks away before dying,
to see Son-kun's face one last time,
and even to die by Son-kun's hand—
She felt that was enough.
She closed her eyes. A crystal tear slipped down her cheek.
As her life faded,
memories rolled over her like a film.
At sixteen, searching for Dragon Balls, she'd climbed Mount Paozu.
That was the day she met Son Goku—like a little wildling—
and brought him out of the mountains.
No matter what danger they faced,
that clueless little boy always solved every crisis…
protecting her, and protecting all humanity.
Back then, Goku was still small.
Sixteen-year-old Bulma only trusted him as a friend.
Until the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, when she saw grown Goku.
Handsome. Radiant. Stunning.
She'd practically gone slack-jawed.
From the day she met him, through all their adventures,
the sense of safety Goku gave her was something no one else could ever match.
In that moment she understood:
Compared to the flirt Yamcha,
this dense battle maniac Goku was actually a better fit for her.
She understood him more than anyone, and he trusted her completely.
But before she could do anything…
Chi-Chi appeared and, without any mercy, whisked him away.
That year, the whole stadium cheered their engagement,
celebrating the couple about to step into marriage.
No one noticed Bulma's stunned, hollow look.
The next time she saw Goku,
he already had a four-year-old child.
Everything was too late.
Maybe that's what "fate" meant.
When Gohan was four, Raditz came.
With Dragon Balls able to revive the dead,
Goku sacrificed himself to stop Raditz from destroying Earth.
Facing the coming Saiyans, even Piccolo joined forces with them.
Everyone trained desperately for a battle one year away.
A year later, Vegeta and Nappa arrived. They killed so many people.
Yamcha. Chiaotzu. Tien Shinhan…
even Piccolo, fused with Kami, died.
If they lost, all humanity would be wiped out, and Earth would be sold off.
Then Goku returned.
Still as reliable as ever.
After a blood-soaked fight, he finally defeated Vegeta.
But he'd pushed his body beyond its limits.
He survived, but he was so badly injured he couldn't even move.
Not long after, Bulma and the others reached the battlefield.
And Goku's wife Chi-Chi only cared about lightly wounded Gohan,
showing no concern at all for Goku lying there unable to move.
She even scolded him for letting a child fight,
saying she didn't care if Earth exploded.
A lot of them felt she was going too far.
Goku had never done anything wrong. He'd protected Earth.
How could she treat him like that?
Even Yajirobe couldn't stand it, shouting that he'd beat her up.
In the end… it was Bulma who took care of Goku.
Chi-Chi only focused on tutoring Gohan's homework.
Goku hated needles, and for days afterward Bulma stayed by his bedside,
because Chi-Chi wouldn't.
Yet Bulma said nothing to either of them.
She knew Goku.
He didn't waste brain cells on anything outside of fighting.
She even knew that while he lay in bed,
he was replaying the battle with Vegeta in his head.
After that…
Namek.
Frieza and King Cold coming to Earth.
Again and again, Goku turned the tide and saved the world.
As long as Goku was there, everything worked out.
His presence alone was safety.
But no one expected that a man who could defeat the Emperor of the Universe
would die to something as small as a heart disease.
Earth couldn't live without Goku.
The Z-Fighters all died.
Humanity was scorched by war.
The world fell into apocalypse.
She remembered one thing clearly:
one-armed Gohan, on the brink of death, had whispered—
"If Dad were here…"