(A/N: this is post cell saga trunks, the wording may have gotten a bit too confusing.)
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"Argh… W-what… happened…?"
Trunks groaned as consciousness slowly returned to him. His body felt heavy, unresponsive, as if every muscle had been drained of strength. For a moment, he didn't move and just lay there, trying to gather his thoughts.
Above him stretched a vast, open sky.
A beautiful night sky, scattered with stars that shimmered softly in the darkness.
For anyone else, it would have been a peaceful sight.
For Trunks, it was horrifying.
His eyes snapped fully open.
"…No…"
He pushed himself up slightly, his hand sinking into the ground beneath him. Something soft brushed against his fingers. He froze, then slowly lifted his hand, staring at what he held.
Grass.
A small patch of it, torn from the earth.
"…W-what?"
"No… how could this be…? Why was I knocked out? Th-that… that wasn't supposed to happen…!"
His voice trembled as panic began to set in.
"And where am I…?"
He forced himself upright, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to drag him back down. His eyes darted around frantically, searching before finding it.
The time machine.
His heart stopped.
It sat only a short distance away, half-submerged in what looked like a small decorative pond. Smoke curled from its broken frame, rising into the night air like a cruel signal.
The machine was… destroyed.
"No… no… no…!"
Trunks stumbled forward, his legs barely keeping up with his urgency as he rushed toward it.
"NO!!"
He dropped to his knees beside the wreckage. Up close, the damage was even worse. The outer shell had collapsed inward, metal bent and torn apart. Wires hung loose, sparking faintly, and parts of the internal system were completely exposed.
"…No… this can't be…"
His hands hovered over the machine, shaking.
"This… this wasn't supposed to happen…!"
Desperation took over. He leaned closer, trying to look inside trying to find anything that wasn't half broken.
But the moment he did the machine trembled violently.
"W-what—?!"
Sparks burst out in all directions. The entire structure shook, unstable, on the verge of collapse.
Trunks immediately jumped back.
And then..
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the silence of the night.
"—!"
The force knocked him off his feet, sending him crashing onto the ground.
THUD.
For a moment, everything rang. His ears buzzed, the world spinning as smoke and heat filled the air.
A piece of the machine landed a few feet in front of him, twitching and flickering weakly. Light sparked from its broken circuits, struggling… failing…
Then it exploded again.
Right in front of him.
In the burning glow of the flames, something flickered, A vision of two figures, laughing at him
"…No…"
The Androids.
Their mocking expressions burned into his mind as the fire crackled across the ground.
"N-no… That's impossible…!"
His voice cracked as he pushed himself up, staring at the flames in disbelief.
"That couldn't be… Before I left… Mom checked everything… she made sure it would work…!"
His thoughts were falling apart.
His body felt heavy.
So, so tired.
For a split second, it almost felt like they were really there, standing in front of him, watching him fail all over again.
"No… no…!"
His hands clenched into fists.
"WHY?!"
With a roar, he slammed his fist into the ground.
"GRAAHH!!"
The earth shattered beneath the impact, cracks spreading outward as a small crater formed under him.
His breathing was ragged and unstable.
Memories flooded his mind all at once, the ruined future, the endless battles, the fear, the loss, his first time travel, his first meeting with his dad.
Even his own death at the hands of cell.
And the people, The ones he fought for, and the one who fought for him.
The ones who believed in him.
"…Gohan… Dad… Goku… Mom…"
His eyes widened.
"…Mom…!"
Reality hit him all at once.
Despite everything, despite all the suffering he endured, despite managing to save the past, he failed at saving his own timeline.
"…I… failed…?"
"I refuse… I refuse to accept this…!"
He forced himself to stand again, staring at the burning remains of the machine.
"How could this even happen?! The time machine shouldn't have broken…! Mom… she's still there… she's alive… and the Androids too…!"
His breathing hitched.
"Oh… no…"
His legs gave out beneath him.
Trunks fell to his knees.
The flames reflected in his eyes as another image flashed through his mind.
His mother, alone, defenseless.
"…I was supposed to go back…"
His voice trembled, barely audible now.
"I was supposed to end it… I was supposed to save you…"
All of it, everything he fought for...
Gone.
"H-ha…"
A broken laugh escaped his lips, hollow and empty.
"…Mom…"
"Hands in the air! Now!!"
"—!"
The shout came from behind him, sharp and sudden, cutting straight through the crackling of flames and the ringing in Trunks' ears. He froze instantly. The voice was rough, clearly trying to sound intimidating, with a thick accent, and even in his current state he could tell the person was nervous… the slight tremble in their tone gave it away, but what mattered more was the cold, unmistakable feeling of a shotgun pressed against his back.
For a brief second, he thought to react, but he didn't move.
He didn't know where he was, and he doesn't want to scare off random people, especially since he could feel no malicious intent from them.
"Okay… I mean no harm, sir, I—"
"Shut up! You literally blew up my backyard! Do you have any idea how much money that cost me, asshole?! My fucking imported Italian marble fountain is on fire right now!!"
Trunks flinched slightly at the outburst, his hands slowly raising as instructed, his movements careful, making sure not to startle them any further.
"L-look, I didn't mean to do that, let's just calm down first so—"
"YOU! Turn. Around. Show me your hands, and don't you dare move an inch toward me! Or I swear I'll pull this damn trigger!"
Something in his voice— no, her voice?cracked at the end, like the anger was barely holding together over panic, and that only made trunks feel worse.
Trunks nodded slowly.
"…Alright."
He turned, carefully, deliberately, every movement slow enough to show he wasn't a threat, even though he knew full well he could end this in less than a second if he wanted to. But he didn't.
"Okay, asshole, don't move. Stay right there while I call the cops—!"
The moment he fully faced them.
They froze.
"…?"
That wasn't right.
The voice didn't match.
Not even close.
'…Is that… a woman?'
Standing in front of him wasn't the angry man he expected, but instead a slender blonde woman holding the shotgun with both hands, her posture tense but her expression… completely thrown off, like she was the one who had just been caught off guard.
Trunks stared for a second, trying to process it, but with everything else happening, his brain refused to keep up.
"O-oh… you're cu— I mean—!" She suddenly coughed, straightening up slightly as if trying to recover. "W-why are you here?!"
Her voice, somehow had shifted entirely, losing that roughness and weird Russian accent instead becoming noticeably more feminine.
Trunks frowned slightly, confusion stacking on top of everything else, but he quickly pushed it aside. This wasn't important.
"Look, I won't do anything, sir—"
"I'm a WOMAN!"
"—Ma'am," he corrected immediately without missing a beat, "I promise I didn't mean to… blow up your backyard, it's—"
"…Actually, it's fine."
He paused.
"…What?"
She lowered the shotgun slightly, then all the way, letting it rest against her side as she stepped closer, leaning in just a bit as she looked him over more carefully, her earlier panic melting into something else entirely.
"So…" she started, tilting her head slightly, "you listen to Weezer?"
Trunks blinked.
"…W-what?"
"…Wait, no—oh my God, that was a terrible line…" she muttered under her breath, visibly cringing as she rubbed her face with one hand. "Okay, ignore that, ignore that, that didn't happen—A-alright, just… tell me, what is it?"
Trunks stood there for a second, unsure how the situation had flipped this hard, but in the end… he didn't question it.
"I need your help…" he said quietly, his voice noticeably weaker now. "Just… one question."
"…Uh… okay?" she replied, her tone softening a bit, though a small, awkward smile still lingered. "What is it… cutie?"
"...."
Trunks ignored the nickname completely.
"…What year is it?" he asked, "And… where are we?"
Silence.
Her expression changed instantly.
"…Oh. My. God."
Clack.
The shotgun slipped from her hands, hitting the ground with a dull sound.
Trunks tilted his head slightly, confusion creeping back in.
"…What?"
"You're a time traveler!"
"—! How?!" he snapped back immediately, his eyes widening in shock.
"Seriously? Who else asks what year it is except time travelers? Trust me, I've seen this trope so many times. Like, don't you think it's exhausting how every movie does this? It's always the same thing, wake up, confused, ask the year boom, time traveler."
"I—uh…"
"Oh, right, yeah, your question," she continued, snapping her fingers slightly as if remembering. "It's 2021, and we're in Dayton Ohio."
"…2021…?" For a moment trunks froze at her words unable to say anything he immediately falls onto the ground.
"D-damn it…"
---
"Oh… crap baskets."
Trunks muttered under his breath as he pulled out another piece from the exposed engine, turning it over in his hand. The metal was warped beyond repair, the internal wiring completely fried, whatever function it once had was long gone.
"…Yeah. That's done."
He let it drop beside him with a soft clank.
"So… this must be your… time machine?" the girl said from behind him, her tone a mix of curiosity and guilt. "I mean… I wasn't really expecting it to be this… busted. Uh… sorry."
"It's fine."
Trunks slid himself further beneath the machine, his back brushing against the damp grass as he reached deeper into the ruined interior. The air still smelled faintly of smoke and burned metal, but the night had already begun to fade.
Morning was coming, yet he hadn't slept, not even for a second.
Most of the night had been spent like this—digging through scraps, checking systems, trying to salvage anything that could still function. But the result was always the same.
Useless.
The outer shell was beyond repair, the internal systems were destroyed.
And worst of all—
The fuel source had completely detonated along with everything else.
There was nothing left.
Creak.
"…?"
Trunks paused.
His hand brushed against something lodged deeper inside the wreckage. He carefully pulled it free, the metal bending slightly as it came loose.
A small fragment.
Burnt.
Bent.
But still intact enough to read what was engraved on it.
"…'Hope'…"
The word lingered in his mind.
For a moment, he just stared at it.
"…That's right…"
His grip tightened slightly.
"…I can't give up yet."
Carefully, he slipped the piece into his pocket, pressing it down as if to make sure it wouldn't fall out.
"Ahem—!"
The girl's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.
"Don't you think it's been long enough?" she said, crossing her arms as she leaned slightly against the doorway. "Look, not to burst your bubble or anything, but you've been messing with that thing for, what, four hours now? The sun is literally rising."
"…Ah."
She was right.
"…You're right," he admitted, pushing himself out from under the machine. "And… thanks for the tools."
"It's fine," she replied with a small shrug. "But seriously, if you need a break, just come inside. I'm gonna make breakfast. Well… I never wake up this early, so this is kind of new for me."
She let out a short laugh before turning and heading back into the house.
Trunks watched her go for a second… then looked back at the wreckage.
'…So far, everything seems peaceful…'
'No destruction, no distant explosions, no signs of fear or ruin.'
'Does that mean… the Androids are already defeated…?'
He frowned.
'…Maybe. But I can't be sure.'
This could just be another timeline.
"…Tch."
He shook his head slightly.
'No. I can't rely on assumptions.'
Every second he wasted here was another second his mother was alone.
Another second the Androids could be rampaging further.
'I have to go back.'
"HOLY SHIT!"
The scream shattered the silence with the sound of glass breaking followed immediately after.
Trunks's head snapped toward the house.
Without hesitation, he rushed inside, though he couldn't sense anything threatening that made it far worse and only reminded him of the androids.
"What's wrong?!" he asked sharply as he stepped inside.
"I-it's.. oh God—!"
She stood frozen in front of the television, one hand covering her mouth, the other trembling as she pointed at the screen.
"The Guardians of the Globe… they're dead?!"
"…Huh?"
Trunks turned toward the TV.
The news was already playing.
> >"In shocking news, reported late last night, the Guardians of the Globe have been found dead inside their headquarters. Alongside them, Omni-Man was discovered severely injured. Authorities have yet to determine the full details, but initial reports suggest the team was ambushed and overwhelmed…"
"…Are they… important?" Trunks asked quietly.
"They're superheroes," she replied immediately, her voice shaking. "No, not just superheroes… they're the strongest team on Earth. The Guardians… they're supposed to handle everything—threats, invasions, disasters—everything!"
Her hands clenched slightly.
"Whoever did this… whoever killed them… has to be—"
[INVINCIBLE]
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(A/N: Dun dun dun, first title card along many others, hopefully it won't piss you off too much.)