Bringer of Death

Android Saga - Part 7: Judgment Day

Android Saga - Part 7: Judgment Day 

As the time machine vanished into thin air, carrying the feverish, unconscious Goku through the wormhole of spacetime, Trunks felt more disconnected from his home than ever before. "What if I never make it back to the future?" He hadn't had any other choice...but still, his heart was pounding. 

Sure, he was comfortable with the past, but as much as he enjoyed spending time with the Z Fighters, it wasn't his home. His real mother - the one who had protected him and shared all the hardships caused by the androids - was still many years in the future. That was the world he had fought for, a world he both dreaded and embraced. The sight of his only link to that earth vanishing, carrying Goku away, shook him to his core. An acute sense of loss crept into his mind. 

He had known this was inevitable from the moment he recognized the virus. The symptoms were obvious, though he had no idea how the deadly disease could have struck so early. The virus wasn't supposed to become well-known for several more years, after the androids had emerged. At least, that was what his mother had told him. Thousands had fallen prey to the condition until she and a few other surviving scientists had put together a cure. He desperately hoped that she still had enough of the serum to save Goku's life. 

There had been no time to think, though. He only briefly explained things to Gohan - the poor boy was both panicked and inquisitive. 

"What's gonna happen to my dad, Trunks?" the shocked boy finally asked as the yellow time machine vanished completely. The two warriors were staring at the place where the machine had floated. It was hard to believe that Goku was just...gone. 

"My mom will be able to help him, Gohan. We developed a cure for the virus in the future - it's one of the few good things we were able to actually accomplish." 

The other Z fighters would have to be told as well. Without Goku, what chance did they stand against the androids? What plan could they formulate? For the moment, though, Trunks was too distressed to even think that far ahead. 

"I can't believe it. After everything I did to make sure we would have Goku's help - even after I changed the course of history - I still failed. Was this fated to happen?" Perhaps, the boy thought, it was impossible to truly change history. "Was Goku meant to die all along? I never could have anticipated this." 

Though he was the younger of the two, Gohan had grown up a lot in the past three years. "Well, we've all been training hard, Trunks. Maybe you and Vegeta will be strong enough on your own! Plus, Mr. Piccolo has gotten to be pretty formidable too!" 

The young man from the future smiled-Gohan was the most hopeful person he had ever met. Plus, the boy made sense. 'Maybe he's right. Maybe we CAN do this on our own. The androids aren't invincible. Maybe I've been dreading this for so long that I've underestimated our chances.' He allowed himself to smile. "Well, Gohan, whether we like it or not, we're on our own now. And don't worry about me, bro - I'm not going anywhere until this is all settled." 

The boy spoke up again, ever hopeful. "But, Trunks - once my dad gets better, won't he use the time machine to come back and help us?" 

Trunks frowned. "I wish it was that simple, Gohan. But it isn't." There were so many variables in time travel, so many things that could go wrong. "We can't be sure that Goku will be able to come back at all. In his current condition, he'll be helpless if the androids find him. And it will take weeks at the very minimum before the medicine heals him. We can hope for the best, but we have to plan on being alone." 

Trunks knew that his mother was very particular about time travel. Even after Goku recovered, he wouldn't be able to come back to the same moment he left. Bulma's equations hadn't been able to predict what might happen if two journeys came too close together. Fearing that they could create even more parallel universes unless, they were very careful; she had decided that a buffer of several weeks - at minimum - was necessary between each departure and arrival.