(A/N: It's been a long one, my longest story yet, and it's been great, but the end has come. Enjoy the final chapter, and I hope you'll look into my other fics. I'm even planning on another Dragon Ball Z fic, this one about Bulma and Vegeta. Coming soon.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Epilogue

They'd tried not using the Dragon Balls. Really they did, but things happened that required the use of them. Super 17 may have been the strongest of all the evildoers they faced, but he was by no means the last.

Trunks knew that Dr. Raichi was out there somewhere, and would be coming for him; the last of the saiyans. And eventually he did, sending his Ghost Warriors along with the deadly Destron Gas to wipe out all inhabitants on Earth. Trunks and 18 had managed to defeat the mad scientist and his evil creation, Hatchiyack, but with only the two of them to stop the machines that created the Destron Gas, along with the trip to the Dark Planet, so much time had passed that and most of the earth and its residents died from the deadly gas. This was one of the times when Shenron was needed to bring everyone back to life and heal the planet.

Zangya never did cause any trouble again. In fact, she even became an ally when danger came in the form an evil alien imp named Hoi who had a strange music box in his possession. With Shenron's aid, using up another wish, he unleashed the mighty Hirudegarn on the earth. Her own life being at stake, she sided with Trunks and 18 to take out the monster.

The damage was devastating, but Hirudegarn was defeated soon enough, before he even got the chance to evolve as he had in the alternate timeline. Still, it once again required the use of the Dragon Balls to undo the damage.

But good did come out of this. The earth had gained another defender when Tapion, who had been sealed in the music box, decided to stay rather than go back to his own planet. Zangya seemed to take a liking to Tapion after he saved her from being devoured by Hirudegarn and began traveling with him. Her crush on him classified her as somewhat of a protector since she regarded all of Tapion's enemy's as her own.

Fortunately, unlike in the alternate timeline, Bio-Broly was never born since all those that would have been responsible for his birth hadn't survived the destructive rampage of 17 and 18. And so, the planet was allowed some time of peace.

There were also a few incidents that involved minor villains. One example was when a saiyan known as Tarble, the uncle Trunks never knew he had, and his wife, Gure, came to Earth, seeking Vegeta's help. It was both a happy occasion and a sad one as Tarble learned of the existence of his nephew and the death of his brother.

The help he had been searching for was in defeating a few aliens that were pursuing him and his mate. Like in the alternate timeline, these aliens were Abo and Kado, but since things were different in this time, a time displacement resulted in a third enemy coming with them in the form of Frieza's son, Kurīza; who was still only a child by his race's aging process.

But by this time, Trunks' power was far greater than theirs was, and the three aliens had been quickly and easily dealt with. He didn't kill them though, for they were too pathetic to kill. Besides, they were really more like troublemakers rather than evildoers.

After their defeat, Abo, Kado, and Kurīza, along with Tarble and Gure, were invited to stay on Earth, as long as the former three swore not to cause any trouble. And so, Earth's defenses grew a little more. But the three aliens had caused quite a bit of destruction to the planet, which once again required the use of the Dragon Balls.

There were also other cases during which Shenron was summoned. And during some of those cases, it wasn't always the new Z Warriors that summoned him. Greed was a powerful thing among humanity, and there were those that sought out the Dragon Balls for their own selfish desires. And one year ago, when the Dragon Balls turned back from stone, they began to crack. The threat of the Shadow Dragons was approaching.

Trunks and 18 planned things out carefully. They'd trained really hard, and now believed that they were ready. And so, they gather up the seven cracked Dragon Balls, and took them to a remote location, bringing only the strongest of fighters that they had trained over the years in the school of martial arts they had opened. Also among them was Tarble, Abo, Kado, Kurīza, Zangya, Tapion, and a very powerful eight-year-old girl with the eyes of her mother and the hair of her father, though it was a darker shade of purple rather than a light lavender.

"Mother, Father, what are you waiting for?" she asked.

Trunks and 18 glanced at their daughter. "We're just thinking this through again." said the former. "We want to make sure we're making the right decision."

Tarble glanced at the Dragon Balls. "Whatever we're up against, it can't be any worse than that Hirudegarn monster."

Trunks looked back at the Dragon Balls. "I don't know. Baba said that these dragons were bad news. According to her, the negative energy will give birth to an evil dragon who will then give birth to seven more dragons. We want to destroy it before he brings to life the others. So make sure you hit it with you're strongest attack, don't hold anything back." He received nods from everyone else. "All right then, here we go." He turned back to the cracked Dragon Balls. "Arise eternal dragon!"

Unlike before when the dragon was summoned, the sky turned blood red rather than black. The ground began shaking and a monstrous dark energy surrounded them. The Dragon Balls cracked open, unleashing a cloud of black smoke. The smoke rose high in the air and took on a physical form.

The Eternal Dragon of darkness had arrived.

"Ah, finally!" Black Smoke Shenron roared. "It's been far too long!"

"Now!" Trunks shouted, transforming to a Super Saiyan Three. "Hold nothing back!"

Everyone present unleashed their most devastating attacks. And with his guard down, the evil dragon never stood a chance.

"What the?"

He was bombarded by a series of powerful energy blasts. Overwhelmed by the power of it all, he was instantly destroyed.

The black smoke vanished and the sky returned to normal. The Dragon Balls, which had turned a pale bluish gray color, turned a golden orange again, and the cracks vanished, leaving them perfectly intact.

Now in a Super Saiyan state, the eight-year-old girl looked at her father. "Is the bad dragon gone, Daddy?"

Trunks slowly lowered his hands and returned to his normal state. "I think so."

18 looked at the Dragon Balls curiously. "So does that mean we get twenty more wishes before this happens again?"

In response to her question, the Dragon Balls began to glow, and Shenron appeared without being summoned. With a low growl, he looked down at the people gathered beneath him.

"That was a very dangerous stunt you pulled!" he scolded them. "Had your plan not worked, the planet would now be in great jeopardy!"

Trunks looked up at the mighty dragon. "We're sorry, we just didn't know what else to do. We figured if we destroyed him right away that everything would be ok."

After all, the evil King Piccolo had managed to kill Shenron once before, and the evil Namek was a weakling compared to them. So how bad could this evil dragon had been? Fortunately, his theory had been right.

"This never should have happened in the first place!" Shenron growled. "This was a result of overusing the Dragon Balls! You may have defeated my brother this time, but if the Dragon Balls are overused again, he will be revived! This must not happen! Therefore, I must now go away for a long time!"

Trunks gasped in surprise. "What, you're leaving? How come?"

"It is necessary!" Shenron told him. "Learn to live without depending on the Dragon Balls, and I shall return! Until then, fair thee well!"

The Dragon Balls rose up in the air and began rotating around Shenron's head. He turned away from the others and began flying high up into the sky. The others watched him until his large form disappeared behind the clouds.

"I guess that means we're safe." Said Aka, the combined form of Abo and Kado, who had fused together before attacking for extra power.

"Yes." Tarble agreed. "I can't wait to tell Gure the good news."

Kurīza sneaked up on Zangya and tugged on her hair. "Hey, Zangya, how about the two of us have our own celebration party."

Aka split up into Abo and Kado again, both of them glaring at their former master's son furiously. "You're too young for that!" the former shouted.

"Yeah!" snapped the latter. "Don't go hitting on my girl!"

Abo turned to his brother. "What do you mean your girl? Zangya's my girl!"

"No, she's mine!" Kado shouted back.

Kurīza stomped his feet in a very childish manner. "No, mine!"

The two brothers turned to him. "Little kids should stay out of grownup things!" they shouted.

Zangya groaned irritably and turned to Tapion, clinging to his arm. "These guys are giving me a headache, lets head back."

Tapion nodded, and he and Zangya took off.

"Hey, Zangya, wait up!" the other three cried and flew after them.

As they took off, they were followed closely behind by Tarble and the martial arts students they had taken along. Trunks, 18, and their daughter stayed behind a little while longer, looking up where Shenron had disappeared.

"Mommy," said the eight-year-old, "where's Shenron going?"

"I don't know." 18 replied. "To some place far away."

The girl pouted. "Will we ever see him again?"

Trunks smiled. "Oh, I think so. But from now on we're going to have to focus all our energy on preventing problems rather than relying on the Dragon Balls to solve them. Once we're capable of that, I have no doubt in my mind that the Dragon Balls will appear once again."

THE END

(A/N: I decided to end it with the same little speech that Trunks gave Pan in the alternate timeline. Seemed like a good conclusion to the story. So, all the bad guys are gone, and there's a new Z Team. The thought of Tapion and Zangya being together just randomly came to me, but I realized that I like it. Maybe I'll do a continuation about the two of them, no promises though. Also, I know that a lot of you were hoping for Marron to be there, but she's the daughter of 18 and Krillin, not 18 and Trunks. Oh, and for those of you that don't know who Kurīza is, he's a character that appear in someDragon Ball Z games and in an alternate manga retelling of the series, so I decided to throw him in there, time displacement and all that. Well, I'm all out of things to say, so goodbye everyone, and Happy New Year.)