CHAPTER 13:

I've changed the name 'Orange Trunks' back to 'God Trunks'. It's way more menacing. After watching an episode of the Annoying Orange, the name just sounded stupid. Since we're having 3 Trunks in the same chapter:

Future Trunks is 'Mirai';

Little Trunks is 'Kako', which is japanese for 'past';

Goten Black is still the villain Goten.

Young Goten will just be 'Little Goten'.

Today we get to see HALF of the enemies' origin story. Something most of you have already deduced. But keep in mind that's only half. Enjoy.

Firegodslayer98 - I can't promise I won't kill anyone. But don't worry, Young Goten and Kako Trunks are plenty motivated now. But even if they trained day and night, they bad guys are still way above their league. Maybe for the next enemy...

There was the traditional staredown that preceded every battle. The opposing sides sized each other up. Goten Black and God Trunks looked down on their cadre of opponents. Last time they had acquired Goku. Now Vegeta and Mirai Trunks were accompanied by Gohan and Picollo. And...God's eyes widened when he spotted the miniature versions of himself and Goten Black.

"Are you so desperate to beat us you even recruited those pathetic excuses?" God Trunks mocked, equally amused and furious that they brought another imposter version of himself.

"Enough talk." Mirai powered up and went straight for his counterpart, re-starting their fated battle. Goten Black stood aside and let the counterparts fight to their hearts' content. He looked back down at the remaining enemies and made his descend calmly. Vegeta remained glued to the ground, arms crossed, staring intently at the battle. The other four, however, were solely focused on him.

"So this is the monster wearing Goten's face." Gohan spoke, getting a feel of Goten Black's energy. Like his father and Picollo, Gohan was attuned to the nature of the soul via ki-sensing. He thought to himself. "This man isn't the same evil as the likes of Freeza, Cell or Majin Buu. Those guys admitted they were demons or simply didn't care. This Goten Black doesn't exude the same cruelty and most definitely doesn't see himself as evil." He had a calm, smooth and patient soul, but there was a great, cold darkness beneath it. He was a villain that, despite not delighting in his atrocities, would do them a thousand-fold if it accomplished his goals.

Gohan turned to Picollo, who nodded subtly.

"Goten, we will fight you." he and the Namekian stepped forward. Goten hummed and shrugged:

"It's not like we need either of you for our plan. I was rather expecting to fight Vegeta again, but I feel he didn't progress much since last time. Didn't you use your little Time Chamber?" he asked with honest curiosity.

"We were the ones using it." Picollo answered curtly. That had the desired effect of peeking Goten Black's attention.

"Alright then, I'm game!" his chuckle almost sounded a good-natured one. "I had seen a few scenarios where you two would show up, but didn't look much into them."

"He must be talking about that future vision of his." Picollo concluded.

The three warriors flew up calmly to start their battle...

"Hold on!" everyone was stopped by Little Goten's shout. It had been meant for Goten Black, who gave him an unfazed look. The boy stepped forward, nervous but firm. "Please, let's just talk. Why are you doing this?"

Goten Black glared neutrally for a moment before wordlessly flying upwards, Gohan and Picollo on his trail.

Vegeta growled, staring daggers at the Goku look-alike. "You are even more pathetic than I ever gave you credit for!"

Goten cringed at that.

"Did you honestly think your enemies will ever listen to you? That you can make peace by talking? Just to think you have Saiyan blood in your veins makes me sick!" Vegeta snarled louder. "It doesn't matter if that enemy used to be like you, or was even you to begin with! He wants to murder people that you care about. And you think you can talk him out of it!" faster than they could track it, Vegeta hurled a ki blast at Goten strong enough to just knock him down. Shocked, Kako Trunks went to help out his friend. Vegeta's hard glare never left Goten. "If you want to help, runt, you have to fight! Your enemies won't listen to kind words."

Awkward silence fell between the three until Vegeta spoke again:

"If you two want to do something useful, go find the survivors and protect them. You're not strong enough to be on the front lines."

The two boys had no choice but to do as they were told. When they stowaway, Kako Trunks still held some hope of confronting the enemy, but after feeling the pressure of their godly ki, it finally died. They flew towards an amalgam of low power levels hiding in the ruins of the city.

"Don't take what my dad said too personal, okay. He once in awhile attacks me to see if I've been training or not."

Goten nodded, not as upset about Vegeta's attack as he was about his words. He asked to distract himself. "Why isn't your dad fighting?"

Kako Trunks looked back at the shrinking image of his father, rooted to the ground. "Dunno. Maybe he thinks Future Me can handle it." on that moment, Kako Trunks felt a great admiration (and a little bit of jealousy) for his future counterpart.

Their search was interrupted when Trunks felt something zooming by his cheek so fast it cut him. Before they knew it, the two were under attack by more of said in-coming projectiles; bullets.

"Ah, they're firing at us!" Little Goten shouted. The two boys dodged every bullet until they got tired and raised their ki higher, naturally deflecting all bullets. Then there was a louder, whistle-like sound.

"Missile!" on instinct, both boys fired a joint ki-blast at the projectile, vaporizing it at a safe distance. Goten warned Trunks to close his eyes and carpet-bombed the area with a Solar Flare, successfully blinding all the hidden shooters. The boys quickly used the short reprieve they had to track one of the shooters and landed right before them. A woman in her late twenties. She recovered her sight remarkably quickly and on instinct aimed her riffle at the two boys.

"Hey, calm down, please! We don't wanna fight." Little Goten pleaded, hands up.

The woman halted, eyes widen travelled from one boy to the other. They lingered more on Kako Trunks. "You! You look just like...! Who are you?"

"I'm Goten and this is Trunks, miss." he explained briefly that they came from the past with Mirai Trunks and the rest of their friends to help fight the villains. She wasn't entirely convinced, though.

"How do I know you're not working for those bastards? For all I know you could be their minions." she eyes the two children with warranted distrust. Young as they were, she knew they could have the same powers as those demons. They even looked like miniature versions of them.

The boys shared a nervous look. "Uh, we...don't know how to prove we're the good guys."

Mai's finger tensed on the trigger.

"But please, we wanna help." Goten pleaded.

"Then why don't go fight them?" she pointed at the colorful blasts in the sky.

Kako replied begrudgingly. "Because we're not strong enough."

She scowled. "Then why did you even come?"

"We wanna help. We can't just stay put and let others do the fighting!"

Mai blinked. Recent words spoken by herself to her Trunks echoed in her memory:

"I don't care how strong those monsters are, Trunks. I'm staying out there and do whatever I can, even if it's little."

She sighed and slowly lowered her riffle. "Alright, I guess I can trust you a little. But whatever happens, you stay with me and keep watch. Do anything funny, and I'll shoot you both death. Was I clear?" she shot them a steely look. Pun intended.

"Yes, ma'am!" they both replied loud and clear. However, whereas Goten was pale, Kako Trunks gained a small blush as he noticed this lady was kinda pretty when she was mad.

Goten Black was easily dominating his fight.

Picollo and Gohan worked in such synch one would think they could communicate telepathically. On occasion one would perform a move that the other would use to launch their attack. Like when Gohan got close enough for a Solar Flare which was followed by Makankakosappo. A deadly combo, which was useless against Goten Black. He had trained his senses in order to read and predict up to three opponents, simultaneously. He closed his eyes right in the nick of time of the Solar Flare and reopened them again when Picollo's energy spiked and dodged the drill-like beam.

"Is this your strategy? Team up and hoping you can surpass me?" Goten Black shook his head in disappointment.

Now, as he has been exploring his new abilities more and more, Goten noticed less and less times he was caught by surprise. Between been able to anticipate his opponents and gaining the still raw gift of seeing the future, there were few things that surprised him nowadays.

Picollo and Gohan smirking was one of such things.

"Now that we've seen your technique first-hand," Gohan started.

"Allow us show you ours." the Namekian powered up. Goten prepared himself for a new attack. Without warning, the green man fired a large amount of energy...at Gohan?!

"What the?!"

Gohan was struck dead on...wait, no, not struck. He was still standing. The energy Picollo fired didn't explode on his face. It spread around Gohan, mixing with his own white aura. The imposter wearing the face of his brother went for the attack. Goten instinctively prepared to catch the coming right hook and reciprocate with a left one of his own. To his utter shock, said predicted right hook never came. Instead he got a kick in the torso, and then some. Desperately, Goten blocked the hits with his arms. He was able to grab Gohan's arm and hurl him away to get his bearings.

"What's going on? I can't make heads or tails of his ki."

"Not so easy to win when you lose your trump card, is it?" Gohan came in hot for another onslaught. He superspeeded before Goten and delivered a punch that got him in the jaw. "You've become so reliant on your ki-sensing to predict your opponents that you let your other skill grow rusty."

Picollo appeared behind Goten, using his stretching arms to hold him.

"A true warrior" the Namekian spoke. "does rely on a single technique. You're so used to read your opponents' energy, you don't even bother to know them as fighters. That narrow-mindedness will your downfall."

Gohan fired a full-powered Kamehame ha at the immobilized villain. Goten Black took the hit. Picollo's arms were burnt but he was at a safe distance and regenerated them. Goten, on the other hand, was roughed up quite a lot. His clothes were a little burnt and smelled of it. He survived by rising his ki to maximum at the last moment, creating a semi-barrier that shielded him from greater damage.

The opposing sides shared a staredown. Then Goten Black applauded.

"Bravo! A brilliant tactic." his hand travelled to his singed chin. "You coated yourself on Picollo's energy, making a sort of filter around you. When your own ki leaves your body, it mixes with Picollo's. It makes it much harder for me to get a read on that amalgam of energy." he paused. "I take it was Gohan who came up with that idea."

He took their silence as a 'yes' and chuckled.

"My Gohan, the real Gohan, he also came up with good tactics, even after he stopped fighting altogether. He never ceased to doing his best and more to protect the planet."

Gohan finally relented. If this guy wanted to chat...

"Why are you doing this?"

Goten Black looked him neutrally. Picollo stood silently to the side, feeling this was a matter between 'brothers' or close enough. Gohan continued.

"You say you want to bring back your world. But you admit our timeline is very similar to your own. You could have chosen to settle there, peacefully. We would have welcomed you with open arms. Is it really worth bringing back your world by destroying this one?"

Goten scoffed. His energy become more violent. "Why? Because no matter how similar or different, this timeline and yours are counterfeit copies. Imposter realities. Ours was the original. And ours will return as it should be."

Gohan became aggravated by that. "The Goten I grew up with would never cause someone else pain to get what he wants. In my eyes, you're the imposter. I won't allow to cause anymore harm!" Gohan ki flared up and beyond his maximum level.

Picollo eyed his pupil. "Even now your power keeps growing, Gohan. But we're not fighting against an ordinary opponent. He knows you and your weaknesses."

Goten Black hummed. "Since Vegeta didn't progress at all, this imposter might be a good replacement." he then voiced aloud.

"That's the spirit! The real Gohan was always at his best when he was in a pissed off mood. Hell," the villain's tone became strange, like nostalgic and mournful. "when Pan died, his power was enough to tear a whole dimension asunder."

"What?!" Gohan exclaimed. Did he hear that right?

Goten Black instant transmission right before him. "Enough chat. Time for round#2." and the fight reignited.

Blue and orange energies collided. Mirai and God's auras seemed to fight one another for dominance, like their owners who were trading punches.

"Not so easy to drain my power now, is it?" Mirai jeered.

"Like I need that to beat you." God jeered.

Mirai was smirking internally. "He's indulging me in close-combat. He must not know what I'm really trying to do. Last time, when our kis mixed, we saw each others' memories. Then it was accidental. But now, with the right proding..."

Majin Buu defeated...

Couple of peaceful years passed...

Two strangers arrive on Earth, the blue man and purple kitty-cat.

Gohan's gonna be a dad!

Dad and Goku go off to train.

Freeza's revived!

An awesome tournament against another Universe!

There's a 'him' from the future?!

There's an evil Goten on the future?!

THERE'S ALSO AN EVIL 'HIM' ON THE FUTURE?!

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Majin Buu defeated…

A few peaceful years passed...

A new enemy arrives. It's a younger-looking Goku!

He fights him and fails repeatedly

Time to return to the past

Mother is dead! Young Goku killed her!

He's made it to the past...wait, Goku's alive again?

Young Goku has followed him. He calls himself 'Son Goten'.

Gohan has a little brother! One named 'Goten'. Could he be...

He returns to the future with father and Goku.

Goten Black is there. He has a partner in crime. It's...another 'him'?!

Pain, pain, pain. God Trunks did more than a few numbers on him.

THE KIDS! It was them, all along! They're the ones who made his world a wasteland! They won't get away with it! He'll snuff them out before...

He and Gohan talk. Remorse soon follows.

Back in the Time Chamber. Yet this time, his father is a much calmer person.

This power! It's immense! And yet so calm. He had done it. He had mastered godly ki.

So the bastard had reached his own godly transformation.

Goku has been taken away! This was bad.

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Majin Buu defeated...

Many peaceful years passed...

He's no longer a fighter. He's an inventor. He's the future CEO of Capsule Corp.

Goten gets a new girlfriend every month.

Pan is growing up to be quite the squirt.

Goku's been gone for years. He finally returns...as a child?!

Black-Star Dragon Balls are the cause. They have to search them in outer-space.

He, Goku and Pan embark. Goten was supposed to come, but he was too busy wooing some new girl.

He has to dress up as a princess?! The hifl?!

GET OUT OF MY BODY, BABY!

All the balls are collected. Time to return home.

Baby is back! Father is baby!

He was a Tuffle. He was the scourge of all Saiyans.

Baby is no more. The Earth was free.

Someone tore-open a hole in Hifl. Bad guys from the past are pouring out.

Android 17 has gone bad. Krillin's dead. Goku beats him.

Time to gather the regular Dragon Bal-wait a second! They're all cracked.

He summons Shenron. The sky turns red. Smoke emerges from the balls. They've made a terrible mistake.

Now they have the Shadow Dragons to deal with.

The Earth is once again on the line. Pan and Girugo with Goku.

Capsule Corp gives humanitarian aid to the destroyed cities by the attack from Hifl. Mom has taken back the reins of Capsule Corp. Dad has gone back to training. Trunks flies to several locations to help out with reconstruction. Goten does the same.

They meet Uub again, or is he Majuub now? He's been travelling all around the planet, helping people in need.

So much destruction. So many lives lost. All this time, he never realized how much loss the world suffered because of evil. The dragon balls made it so easy to erase it all.

Earthquakes. Tsunamis. Super storms. Floods. Droughts. Natural disasters are becoming more often. It's the Shadow Dragons.

Omega Shenron is unbeatable! Father and Goku at SSJ4 couldn't beat him. Gogeta couldn't beat him. It takes a Universal Spirit Bomb to wipe out the bastard.

The threat is over. Shenron takes away the Dragon Balls and Goku. Goku and the Dragon Balls. Two constants in the worlds are gone. Everything will be different now…

"NO MORE!"

There was an explosion of godly energy. The mental connection was severed and all three versions of Trunks came out of the trance. Kako Trunks fell on his back, semi-conscious. Mirai and God were still fully conscious, the former having dropped his sword during the ordeal. One was stunned by the experience. The other was enraged. Guess which?

"YOU BASTARD!" God Trunks flew in a rage. His first fist connected a still half-dazed Mirai Trunks. The second was blocked and reciprocated, though. The two Trunks glared each other down.

"So I finally got a glimpse of the man you used to be." Mirai spoke softly. God clenched his teeth. "You were not so different from me."

"Shut up! Don't you dare presume you know me, you self-righteous shit!"

Mirai continued. "But your story didn't end there, did it. What happened that turned that man into what you are?"

"What happened?" God smirked mockingly. "Is this the part when I get pissed and spill out my past? Fat chance."

"Honestly, that was never my end goal. I promised I'd beat you with my own fists, and I'll keep it. Whether I know what twisted you or not, I'll show you you're wrong. I'll prove to you I can save my world."

The battle restarted. Only difference was that God now favored long range-attacks to prevent physical contact. He would not allow this imposter shit to pick his brain, again!

Meanwhile...

"Trunks! Wake up!"

The purple-haired boy from the past woke up with a small ki shock, courtesy of a worrying Little Goten. He gasped, startled, and looked frantically around only to see his friend standing beside him and the grown-up Mai a few steps away, but eyeing them both with suspicion.

"I'm awake." he took a few breaths. "What happened to me?"

"There was a big light where the two 'yous' were fighting. Then you went Super out of nowhere and just stood there like a statue. I tried to snap you out of it, but nothing worked. Then the light stopped, but you were still paralized. So I buzzed you."

Trunks blinked. His mind, still in a frenzy, slowly settled down. His memories arranged themselves.

"I saw stuff." he muttered, half in thought. Information he never knew before begin arranging itself on his brain. Goten listened as did Mai, though she didn't drop her guard. "I get it now. The good future 'me' had this plan. He knew if he fought the evil 'me', they would see each other's pasts. He wanted to know his to find a weakness. Maybe because we're all Trunks, so I saw stuff too. We all saw bits and pieces of what each lived after Majin Buu."

A quiet pause followed.

"Did you find anything that could help beat the orange one?" Mai asked.

Trunks hesitated. "Uh, maybe. I don't know how much it can help."

"Then go out there and help him."

"My dad said we were no good for this fight." Trunks retorted, not liking to admit it. Mai eyed him sternly.

"And you said you wanted to help our world. Are you going back on your promise?" she pointed outwards to the sky where a simple human eye could only spot two super fast flashes of light, blue and orange, colliding occasionally. "Our Trunks has been fighting for our future. He is our hope. Are you going to help him or not?"

Trunks looked at her, then at his counterparts fighting, and back at her. "I will." he powered up and prepared to take off. But he was stopped by his best friend.

"Hold on, Trunks! Are you going to fight the orange 'you'?"

"No, but I have an idea that might work." Trunks muttered.

Goten argued he wanted to join the fight, too. Trunks said this was his battle, a battle of Trunks.

He flew as fast as he could to the battle, but was intercepted by his father:

"Boy, didn't I tell you to stay out of this battle?"

"Sorry, dad. But I gotta help the future 'me'."

"You're not strong enough. Go back." Vegeta retorted, unfazed.

"But, dad..."

"No buts!"

"...do you trust me?"

That brought a reaction out of the father, who looked at his son strangely. He quickly regained his stern demeanour. "Trust you? What is this about?"

"Do you trust me, like you trust him?" the boy pointed to the blue blur that was Mirai Trunks. Vegeta eyed his son with an incredulous, angering look.

"That's what this is about? You are jealous of him?!"

"I'm not! He is." this time the boy pointed to the villain clad in orange energy. "I saw things when they fought. I know a way I can help the future 'me' beat him."

Vegeta looked from one Trunks to another. The youngest one was no fit for a battle between warriors with the power of Gods. Kako Trunks was, as painful as it was to admit, no warrior. He didn't face constant trials, battles and savagery like Mirai. Still...

"You want to help on their fight? Even if you can't make an ounce of difference?"

"It's my fight, too. I'm as much Trunks as they are."

Vegeta suppressed the speck of a smile. "Then, go. But if you get yourself killed stupidly, I'll scour this timeline for the Super Dragon Balls to bring you back and then murder you all over again! You got that?"

"Crystal clear, dad."

The two adult Trunks were locked in a long-range battle when a beam passed between them.

"Hey, you dork!"

"Get lost, loser!" God sent a ki blast at him, which Kako easily dodged. Truly, God didn't risk focusing too much energy and attention on that. He had to keep his eyes on Mirai.

"You're the loser!" Kako shouted. "I know 'cause I saw all those times you messed up."

God became stiff like a corpse.

Kako Trunks continued. "You let yourself be possessed by that Baby creep, twice. You couldn't beat Android 17 on your own. You couldn't do a thing against that Omega Shenron." the knowledge of those names and events had been infused in Kako Trunks' brain. At first it was all an overloading mess in his memory. Mirai listened curious; he too had experienced the exchange of memories with his counterparts, yet he could not recall God's with such detail.

...

...

...

"Shut up." the unmoving God spoke softly, a storm contained inside a thin bag of calm.

"Face the facts. You're jealous of him!" Kako pointed his finger to Mirai. "He's still kicking and fighting for his world. While you let yours die."

God's fists trembled. His pupils contracted. The storm was tearing its way out of the bag. And Kako was just about to rip it open.

"That's why you want to beat the good Future 'me' so badly. If he fails, then you won't be the only loser who failed his planet!"

"Sensei Trunks, save us."

"Keep pushing it!"

"Son, you are the future."

"Trunks, you are everyone's hope. You must survive."

"SHUT UP!" the storm was free. God's orange ki exploded like a supernova, the whole world turned to that hue. Black, Gohan and Picollo's fight came to a pause when that energy reached them. Vegeta, still on the sidelines, uncrossed his arms and scowled. The Resistance, though unable to feel ki, divine or not, sensed the raging pressure. God's eyes were like orange headlights and Kako Trunks was the deer caught in them. The villain's power surged focused on him as its single target. "FINAL DEATH RAIN!"

"Oh no, you don't!" a quick Masenko struck God dead-on, breaking the concentration needed for his most destructive move. Mirai Trunks was now up close to God and he made sure it stayed that way, this time.

"Thanks, Trunks." Mirai said in his own mind. He didn't want to risk losing focus on his enemy, but he realized this was Kako's intention all along. "You did what I was trying to and figured out his Achilles' heel. I won't waste this chance."

Mirai infused his fists with his blue ki and wailed on God. The contact of the two opposite energies slowly restarted the sensation of before; the first time their kis collided and they shared each other's memories.

"I knew you'd try that!" God made a desperate gamble. "Solar..."

"No way! Galick Sword!" Kako made himself known by firing an energy beam similar to the Galick Gun, through Mirai's sword aimed at God. The blast was a thin, much more focused beam, though not as potent as the original article. But it had the desired effect of disrupting God's escape attempt.

"Thanks again. And you found my sword." Mirai noted while flying at God's. Kako followed him suite.

"Saw it lying around." Kako made a gesture to return it, but Mirai shook his head.

"You use it. It's yours." Were the circumstances different, Kako would have leaped for joy. But right now there was an enemy they had to pound into the ground.

God Trunks found himself in a corner. He tried to fight to get some distance from Mirai, but Kako kept intercepting him on every occasion.

Two individuals, the same but different, united against a third one who had lost his way.

God attempted a quick Big Bang Attack, but Kako came at his side.

"Buster slash!" with a cutting motion of the blade, Kako fired an attack similar to a Destructo Disk. God dodged it easily enough. He was much faster than a regular Super Saiyan, after all. Yet that little distraction was enough for Mirai to shorten the distance between them. Frustrated, God turned his attention on the pipsqueak.

"Die, you pest!" he fired a potent Galick Gun at Kako, but to his irritation, Mirai got in the way and deflected it.

And so it continued. Kako kept God uncoordinated while Mirai di most of the attacking and defending. God soon found himself backed against a barely standing building. Mirai and Kako had him cornered.

"Done running? Or are you gonna keep fleeing like a coward?"

God laughed humorlessly. "You think I'm scared of you?"

"Are you?" Mirai asked.

"Not at all."

"Then what are you afraid of?" Kako asked.

God blinked. He didn't know how to answer that. He knew he wasn't afraid of those two imposters. So what was he running from? Why was he running away?...

...Because those two imposters wanted to see further into his past!

"Or are you running away from your past." Mirai said as if he knew what was going through the enemy's head. "I never ran away from my mistakes or my sins. If that's what you're doing, than you're even more pathetic than I gave you credit for."

God and Mirai stared each other down. Then the villain spoke out smoothly and almost politely, for the first time. "You know what, you're right. I've already been through hell and back. I've got nothing to lose."

Calling out every shred of power, God flew straight at his enemy. This time he was the one closing the distance. Mirai Trunks followed suite. Kako Trunks powered up as well, but Mirai raised an arm to stop him.

"This is my fight alone. Thanks for everything, Trunks. But I must do this alone."

Kako wanted to retort, but he knew full well he was out of their league and he could only hope to do sidekick work. He reluctantly nodded as the two godly forces collided with one another, Kako vowed to himself he'd become strong enough to one day fight beside Mirai.

Orange and blue collided with everything they had. The blinding light that surged drowned every Trunks.

The time has come to reveal the villain's full backstory. What do we know, so far:

Goten Black and God Trunks are indeed the GT versions, but they lived through other events in between that and this. They fought off an alien invasion lead by Freeza's son, at some point. They used to be teachers of some kind. Their Pan died for reasons unknown. Now, their timeline is gone and they want it back.