My first Dragon Ball story. There are some things in Dragon Ball Z and Super that I'm not fond of, like Toryamma not knowing what to do with side characters. That's something I'm gonna fix with this story by immersing two of my favorite characters in it, rather than letting them rot. And while I personally enjoyed Zamasu, the appearance of an evil clone of Goku had so much potential that I used it for this story. So, the evil Goku attacking the Future has no connection to Zamasu.

The air that filled his lungs tasted like dust. It was a taste that Trunks had grimly grown accustomed to over the last few months.

In the ruined city, he hastily ran from one hiding place to the other. Stealth was a necessary shame nowadays and it revolted him! Lo and behold, Trunks Briefs, slayer of the Androids and protector of the world scurrying away like a scared mouse from its predator. He couldn't fly or even run too fast, or else his ki would spike and the dark enemy would sense.

"Almost there." He avoided ki blasts that aimed poorly. The enemy knew he was on the city, but couldn't pinpoint his location. That was a small comfort; he knew if he made one false move, too much noise, and the he would be upon him like a vulture over a carcass.

Luck was on his side, though barely. He finally reached his destination, one of his mother's off-site laboratories. Inside was the noise of machinery softly humming in a pattern.

"Mom!"

"Trunks! Thank goodness you're alright!" Bulma Briefs was aging. Trunks noticed she looked a bit older than he remembered. It had been a handful of exhaustive months since he had seen his mother. He was all over the world rescuing civilians from the enemy's rampage. She spent days and nights tinkering for a last ditch solution. He could tell the work had fatigued her.

Still, seeing her warm face again brought a smile to his own. A smile which promptly failed upon seeing the object of her endeavors. A recipient of blue fuel for the time machine, barely half-full.

"It's only enough for a one-way trip." She said like reading his doubts.

"But if we go, we won't be able to come back."

"Are you forgetting who I am, son?" she gave him a playful look. "I'm Bulma Briefs, the smartest genius in the world. And when we get to the past, there will be two of me. We'll manage."

Somehow, her hopefulness infected him and he felt his own spirit rejuvenating a little. He suggested that she rested before they made their way to Capsule Corp HQ where the time machine was locked up. But she stubbornly insisted work was like rest for her. He couldn't argue with his mother; Vegeta himself, the Prince of all Stubbornness, had to struggle when arguing with Bulma Briefs.

She picked up the recipient and turned it to her son. "Trunks, the time and resources I used up to make this was bought with innocent blood. Many lives were lost. Whatever happens, don't let their sacrifices go to waste. You must throw everything else away. All that matters is saving the world, no matter the means or the sacrifices."

He understood that. He truly did. Over the last year he had seen friends die, one after another. Sometimes he had reluctantly left them to die. That alone aggravated him almost as much as the bastard that caused all of this pain in the first place. He also comprehended the implied meaning of his mother. That if need be, he would have to abandon her, as well.

Trunks nodded grimly. "I understand. This is everyone's last hope."

"No." her features softened. "You are everyone's last hope."

The moment was cut short by an explosion. Trunks protected his mother and the vial with his body.

"He's here!"

"Trunks, take the fuel and go!"

"But, mom…"

Another explosion right after Bulma forced the recipient on to his hands. Trunks was thrown aside and when he collected his sense, his heart stopped. There he was, him, clouded by dust in the air but Trunks could feel his presence even without checking his ki. The monster that had caused so much death and pain. The enemy he both feared and hated. And he was holding his mother by the neck.

"Trunks, go!" she cried out.

"Mom!"

"Remember what I told you! You must survive! Leave!"

Trunks clenched his grip on the recipient. He looked from his mother to the enemy. The bastard remained still, daring him to make the next move. Trunks wanted to badly for that move to be cutting him down with his blade.

"Hurry!"

He gave one last desperate look to his mother before taking off as fast as he could. Bulma felt a pinch of relief before she saw the dark one looking at her. She could recognize his youthful face, now being so close to the mass murderer. She came to recall some of the villains she briefly saw during her adventures with the defunct Z Fighters. All of the bad guys smirked. This one did not.

"You look just like her. And yet, you don't. Just another imposter." he whispered those vague words before the air around him burst like a mini supernova and Bulma was consumed to her last atom.

Trunks found refuge in a rundown apartment where a friend, Mai, had a makeshift base. She was a member of the recently-formed armed resistance against the enemy. 'Resistance' was an inaccurate term, as their guns had less of a chance against the enemy than Trunks.

After a tearful retelling of the death of his mother and a short but much needed meal from a can of cat food, he showed her the fuel.

"We can go to the past, now. But it's a one way trip."

"One way? Then we're not coming back?!" the raven-haired woman was shocked, for a moment thinking that the plan was they abandoning their world.

"Yes, we are." He retorted with as much steel as he could. "I just…don't know. But my mother said we can. We'll meet my past mother. She can make more fuel."

A silence of uncertainty reigned shortly.

"I can only tell you this; if we don't get back to the past, we'll lose this war, Mai. Mother said I…" he stopped shortly. He remembered vividly what mom said about doing whatever sacrifices were needed. While he was certain Mai would understand that, he didn't want to tell that to her face. So he settled for… "She said I was everyone's hope."

Mai nodded, grabbing her trusted rifle. "Then let's not disappoint anyone."

Universe 7 in the past:

In an alternate timeline, four individuals, two Gods and two mortals, shared a meal of ramen. An angel, a God of Destruction and two Saiyan warriors indulged in the delicious warm ramen while exchanging a bit of idle chat.

"Maybe I should send some to Lord Zen-Oh." Immediately after those words came out of Son Goku's mouth, Lords Beerus choked on his meal. Whis, the angel, proceeded to explain.

"The Grand Lord Zen-Oh is the highest being in the hierarchy of the Gods. In power and authority no one else is situated above him. That being said, he has the power of erasing or creating anything in the fraction of a second. Be it a lifeform, or a planet, or a galaxy or even an entire universe. If it ever struck his fancy, he could without warning wipe out our entire multiverse."

"That's insane." Vegeta exclaimed. He was seldom shocked to his very core, but what Whis had just shared did just that. "Has he ever destroyed something on that scale?"

"Indeed. Originally there were 18 Universes in total."

"So he just wiped out 6 of them?"

"In a moment, six Universes ceased to be because each one displeased him in some way or another." Whis finished with a polite smile on his face and turned his attention back to his meal.

Once again, Trunks was reduced to hiding and running in the ruins. This time, however, he was not alone.

"Can you sense Young's energy?" Mai used the name given to the malicious enemy.

"No. I think we're in the clear."

He did think so. He truly did. There was no speck of energy besides their own. Then when he made the first step, everything exploded. Trunks' superhuman reflexes helped him grab Mai and the fuel safely before they were vaporized.

"Darn it all, he's here. He picked me up just by me taking one step." One thing that frustrated him to no end was that this enemy seemed to be getting better had tracking him down over the months.

The dark clouds parted away as a figure in somewhat contrasting bright colors descended. Trunks unsheathed his trusty blade and charged. The enemy fired several blasts. Trunks had to be careful to dodge each one. A hardship of fighting this enemy was that his attacks were not at where Trunks was but apparently at where he was going to be.

He drew a slicing motion with the blade, using it to create a ki blast with the same effect. The mass murderer dodged it at the last moment but with incredible tranquility. Like he meant to do that. And he probably did, the smug bastard! Young superspeeded towards Trunks with a deadly ki blast in hand. Trunks reacted just in the nick of time, blocking it with his sword. The ensuing explosion blew the hero backwards.

Mai ran to attend to him.

"Mai, get out of here!"

"You're the one that should be getting out of here!" she shouted back. "If you die, then everything is lost. Take this and leave." She handed him the fuel container.

He looked her in the eye. The words of his mother echoed in his brain. "You must throw everything else away."

Before he could make a reply, she shoved the container in his hands and engaged the killer with her riffle. The result was an unsurprising energy blast at her position. Mai was hurled into the air. Trunks flew to catch her in midair. Her clothes and skin had burn marks. No ki, no breathing. Trunks' heart froze.

"Don't worry. She's still alive. Barely. For now."

The smoke and dust cleared away by the ki propelled wind. There stood the villainous man that had systematically wiped out most of humanity.

"The weeks of hiding and seeking have helped me hone my sense. For that you have my thanks."

The enemy wore a traditional orange gi with dark blue undershirt. His hair was naturally arranged like a palm tree.

"But play time is over." Said the man who looked exactly like the spectacular fighter that Trunks met the last time he travelled back to the past. Except a few decades younger.

"It's time to die, imposter." Said the murderous man named Young Goku.

"You monster!" Trunks gently laid down Mai's body but everything else about him spewed rage at the clone. Said clone took all that anger with the same stoic face he always presented. "Why?!"

Young Goku sighed, closing his eyes in what appeared to be exasperation. "How many times do I have to answer that? This world is that mistake that was never meant to be. I'm doing this to correct it. All for the greater good."

"Greater good?! What good could ever come from this?" he waved his arms at the apocalyptic scenery.

Young Goku shook his head. "I'm not going to waste time arguing with you. You're not living beyond this point." And he began charging a ki blast.

Trunks gave a quick sideways glance at the fuel container in his hands. If fight broke out, he'd have to be very extremely careful so that it wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. His eyes drifted to something shiny discarded on the ground. The sword! In an act of thoughtless desperation, he hurled it at Young. The villain wasn't expecting it and his ki disrupted, exploding on his face. Trunks didn't waste the chance after giving one final short look at Mai. He had no reason to trust Young's words, whether she was alive or dead.

"Forgive me." Was his last thought before abandoning her.

Everything was done in a rush, but a careful one. Even though every second was precious, a time-machine couldn't be operated carelessly. One miscalculation could destroy his only hope of returning to the past. Fuel was loaded, engine started, coordinates input. He forcefully gripped the controls and prepared to take off. Just a few more seconds and Young…

TAP-TAP

Trunks' fingers froze on the controls. He slowly gazed up and a drop of sweat ran down his forehead. Young Goku floated in front of the time machine, with one fist tapping the transparent dome.

"Did you really think you could escape that easily? I knew you'd try to get to your time machine when you realized you couldn't beat me alone. Oh, don't make that stunned face. I did my homework before coming to this world."

Trunks' hands trembled. He had failed. Young Goku could easily destroy the machine with a minor blow. If he abandoned the machine to fight him now, it would fall to its demise. If he remained inside and tried to…

"Go ahead, Trunks. Go." Young Goku floated away from the machine.

…

"W-what?"

"You heard me. I'm giving you a free pass. Go to the past, find Vegeta and Goku and ask for their help. That's your mission, isn't it?"

Trunks blinked, not believing what he was hearing. "And you're just… letting me go?"

"You better go now, before I change my mind." Young Goku said a bit testily.

Trunks wanted to snap a retort but he thought wise to count his blessings and go. He shot a steel look at his enemy that clearly said: 'It's not over.' In a flash, the time machine disappeared.

Young Goku took a breath and looked up at the sky. "Don't judge me. One way or another we'd ended up fighting them."

A pause followed. The sky remained unchanged, unfazed. But Young Goku knew better.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a misbehaving kid! I know what I'm doing. Next time, it all ends. No more imposters. So shut up, let me image-train and go back to being 'God'."

He looks exactly like Goku in his late twenties. Though given how Sayians age, you could say he looks pretty much like present day Goku. However, Bulma was always a sharp one and having met Goku for so long, she could tell the differences in appearance as he subtly aged. Therefore, Future Bulma could baptize the villain as 'Young Goku'.

Notice that this 'Goku' doesn't smirk nor shows too much cruelty like all of Dragon Ball tip-top bad guys.