Bringer of Death

*Future Saga, Part 1: Nightmares Never Last*

A shiver of excitement ran down his spine.

In a few seconds, Trunks knew he would emerge in a familiar world—one he

hadn't seen in almost over four years. The half-Saiyan couldn't help but

feel a hint of anxiety at the thought...the world he had grown up in was

fraught with danger. The cyborgs had a knack for showing up at the worst

and most unexpected times, and he had never felt at ease for a single

moment. Relaxing, resting, being at peace...these were things he'd only

learned to enjoy while in the company of Goku and the other Z fighters

of the past.

But the cyborgs in his world had been vanquished, by none other than

Goku himself. And although the biological chimera known as Cell had

followed him all the way back to the past, the Z Fighters had beaten it

as well. With all of Gero's abominations destroyed in one way or

another, the world Trunks had grown up in could finally have a chance at

peace once more.

He didn't know quite what to expect. Goku had been the only source of

news from his timeline, and it had been torture to wait. Had everything

gone as planned? He knew Kami and Piccolo had already been revived by

Porunga, so there was a good chance Shenron had already been summoned.

Who would be waiting for him upon his return? Gohan, Krillin, even Goku

himself?

It was all he could do to sit still. His mother's time machine whirred

to life, then began to hum as it broke out of the space-time manifold

and entered the void between timelines. A kaleidoscope of indescribable

color filled his vision once more...and suddenly he was back.

The ground below rose to meet the four extended legs of his ship. A

dozen meters away, the ruins of Capsule Corporation glowed red in the

setting sun. It wasn't much more than a pile of rubble against the

backdrop of an altogether destroyed cityscape—but it was home. He

hurriedly hopped out of the cockpit.

"It's falling apart," he chuckled. "But there's no place like it."

The outer dome was in shambles, but several of the interior walls had

been remodeled into a new exterior. The pin code on the door was still

the same as he remembered, and with a few steps down the hall, he really

was home.

She sat in an office chair at her desk, looking to be just as hard at

work as ever. It might have been four years, but to him, his mother

looked exactly as she had the day he'd left.

"Hey, I thought you were gonna re-decorate this place," he said, smiling

ear to ear.

The blue-haired woman gasped, jumping up from her desk. Her face