Art by Kuroinamida91

 

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Blake Bog

 

Trunks unsheathed his sword just as the sky faded back to blue. He looked across the many hills of Blake Bog, where he'd spied the Red Dragon, and knew it was too late. Someone had already made a wish, at least one.

"Dammit!"

He flew as fast as he could to the epicenter of the hills and valleys, looking down to see several small dragon creatures sniffing around for food. Blake Bog was mostly uninhabited by humans, as they were too afraid to live near the Dragons and flying Pterodactyls. Those were nothing to a saiyan warrior like Trunks, who ignored their hungry looks in pursuit of his prey.

'There's nobody here.'

Indeed, his senses couldn't detect any life form above the animals of Blake Bog. Not only that but the Dragon Radar he held in his hand, which had led him there, had went offline due to not detecting any Dragon Balls. He was on his own, then. Trunks continued to fly over the area, intending to search every nook and cranny just to be sure. He knew of one spot in particular which would house a base, having been here since he was smaller and adventurous. It would be perfect for a secret getaway.

"It should be over there," he murmured.

As he zoomed through the blue sky, Trunks tried his best not to fret over his wife Chisato, but it was a lost cause. 'Kolard's a Legendary Great Ape. Chisato shouldn't be anywhere near him. Gohan...you better protect her!'

At last he was to the area some ways into the marsh land. There, among the wet ground and trickling water which came from the far away craggy mountains, was an alcove. He tapped down outside of it, hiding himself next to the outside of that alcove and listened.

'I don't hear anything...wait!'

"...Ah ha! That was too easy," he heard someone say.

Trunks grit his teeth. That voice was familiar to him from somewhere. But who was it?

"Boss, are you sure those Dragon Balls were the real thing?" A male voice asked.

"Of course I'm sure! You saw the Dragon, Shu!"

'Shu...'

Trunks hopped from his spot and startled the tiny group. Inside the cave, among bones of old dragons were none other than emperor Pilaf and Shu. "You two!" Trunks shouted.

Pilaf was all grown up and so was Shu, having aged normally from their tiny size. Pilaf jumped and hid behind his dog companion, Shu. "Not you again! Go away!" Pilaf said, waving him with his hand.

"Oh, it's just Trunks," said Shu with relief. The dog relaxed and walked over, "We thought you were a bandit or something."

Trunks put away his sword and walked into the cave, looking around. It was the same as ever, with tiny crystals growing from the top of the ceiling. "Someone want to explain what's going on here?" He asked sharply.

"We made a wish! You're looking at the new, improved Emperor Pilaf!" Pilaf declared.

"...."

'I don't see anything different...'

Trunks put his hand under his chin. "Uh huh. What did you wish for, Pilaf? It had better not be world domination."

Shu shook his head. "No, no. Nothing like that! You see, we gave up on that decades ago."

Pilaf nodded his head in agreement. "That's right! We know better than to mess with you all. Well, anyway, my wish wasn't so bad, so don't give me that look!"

Trunks chuckled and shook his head. Pilaf was the same as ever. "Alright, then. I'm actually surprised you two found the Dragon Balls so easily."

"We had Mai to help us," Shu said. "She stole the old Dragon Radar right out from under Bulma's nose! It worked like a charm, see?" Shu pulled from his pants a Dragon Radar, and Trunks knew it to be his mothers older model, from her teenage years.

"Yeah...Mai, huh."

'I need to have a talk with my other self, looks like.'

Trunks turned on his heel. "You two shouldn't be here. It's dangerous. In case you didn't see them, this place is full of Dragons."

"Yeah, yeah. We know. Now scram!" Pilaf said.

They still hadn't told him what PIlaf wished for, Trunks realized. "...I'm going. But first, what was your little wish?"

"Well uh...you see..." Pilaf's face became red as a tomato and he cleared his throat, "I--I wanted to be better with the ladies!"

Shu nodded. "Me, too. We just want a girlfriend, right Boss?"

"Be quiet Shu! He doesn't need to know that!"

Trunks smiled and shook his head. "Good luck with that, you two."

He left the cave and with it Pilaf and Shu, taking to the sky with relief. "That could have been a lot worse. I'm glad it was nothing. Still...."

Trunks couldn't help but think it had been a clever ploy by Game Master, getting Mai to help them in order for Kolard to transform. It made too much sense to him to deny that theory. Just as he was out of Blake Bog and headed to Orange City, his wedding ring lit up with a missed call.

"Hm?"

'I must not have had a signal in that cave.'

Trunks swiveled it, hearing his wife's sweet voice. But her words weren't sweet at all. "Trunks. I'm going to the real world with Granola. Come find Gohan when you can. And...stay safe. Please! And remember that I'll love you always. I'll be waiting."

"No!"

He sped faster to Orange City, hoping he wasn't too late.

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Orange City - Gohans Home

It was in ruins. Gohans home only had one wing which hadn't been obliterated by Kolard, and as Trunks flew down, sensing Gohans energy, his stomach churned into knots.

'Chisato...! I have to stop her from leaving!'

Trunks knew from his notebook hidden within the safe vault at his parents home that Rhuda going to the real world was a horrible idea. It had been circled three times and wrote hastily, as if in a hurry. Just what would happen he didn't know, and perhaps his future self didn't have time to give him further clues before something dire happened.

"Trunks!"

Gohan shouted, looking out from rubble with Kolard in his arms.

Trunks landed with a thud and ran over, "Where is she?! Is she still here?!"

"No, sorry Trunks. She left about three minutes ago with Granola." Gohan said with a shake of his head.

"Damn!" Trunks spun around, "Did she leave to Conton first?"

"I have no idea. But I think Granola might have had the Realm Time Machine with him. Is that bad?"

"It's very bad," Trunks said, feeling his anger and worry almost destroying what was left of Gohans home. "She's not supposed to go to the real world again, ever! Something very bad is going to happen!"

Gohans eyes grew wide. "I didn't know that. What should we do? Is there any way to reach her, over there?"

"No.." Trunks hung his head. "I don't have any way to get to her without the Realm Time Machine. There's only one."

"I see..." Gohan clutched his son tightly. "...Then we have to hope for the best. We can't give up just yet, Trunks. It's our job to protect her."

"Yeah it is." Trunks looked down at his wedding ring.

"There's something you should know. Granola told me that her game was stolen from Shallots home today." Gohan said.

"WHAT!" Trunks Ki caused a crater to expand around his boots. His hair lifted, burning red.

'That dirty, rotten scum! That's the reason he needed me to go on a wild goose chase! It was to force Chisato to go to the real world!'

"Calm down!" Gohan said, touching Trunks shoulder, "You can't help her being this upset!"

"She could die! He could--he could kill her! Not only that, but she's a human there, without any power!" Either way was bad, Trunks knew. She was in grave peril.

"There has to be something we can do." Gohan told him, dark brows lowered, "Chisato is relying on you, Trunks. We all are."

Trunks ran his hand through his short hair, a nervous habit, and began pacing. "Even if I come up with something I can't tell you what it is. Game Master will know whatever we say. I'm sorry, Gohan, but you're going to have to stay here and keep an eye on things."

"I understand."

Trunks nodded and said, "I'm leaving now. I'm wasting time here."

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Real World - Tokyo

Shallot saw the approach of Granola and breathed a sigh of relief. Until he spied the injuries on Chisato's tiny body.

'Like I thought all along...what I'm doing is for the best. It has to be. Even if she hates me for it, I...can't let her get hurt anymore!'

Tap,

Went Granola's boots.

Chisato groaned and opened her brown eyes, looking around the rooftop where Shallot and his group were waiting for Granolas return. Seeing them all, she lifted her head and sought Shallots eyes. "Hey..."

"What happened!" Shallot shouted, running to her and forcefully taking her from Granola's arms.

"I'm okay. Kolard turned into a Legendary Great Ape. My son is...very strong," she said with a tired smile. There were bruises on her face, red and purple, and one eye was squint, as if breathing hurt. Shallot quickly pulled a sensu bean from his shirt.

"Eat this already."

She crunched into it and fluttered her eyes as the wounds faded away. "Much better. Ano...thank you very much, Shiroui."

"Quit getting hurt all the damn time!" He barked, squeezing her tightly.

Granola shook his head at Shallots behavior. "You're going to break her like that," said the Cerealian. Granola then began an explanation which entailed the newest version of red Dragon Balls, which had been utilized at some point for an unknown reason.

Shallot listened solemnly. 'New Dragon Balls...that's gotta be Game Master at it again. This time...it will be different!' Shallot lessened his grip on Chisato, not privy to the gaze of Bra some feet behind, whom was shocked that Chisato had called him 'Shiroui' without consequence.

Being human once more, Chisato was tiny, both in height and in bone structure. She looked fragile, like a porcelain doll being held by Shallot and he sat her down reluctantly. Shallot noticed that her outfit was the same as when she'd left--a long T-shirt. But because time had passed since she'd went back to Xenoverse, her brown hair had returned to its previous length and ended at the middle of her back, bangs matching. Despite her tiny bones, she was a healthy weight, and even had grown breasts. Shallot couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again.

'She's where she needs to be. Right here, with me.'

He thought back to the night, remembering how she'd sat beside him in the floor and talked with him. If only he would know that she'd marry Trunks and rip his heart out and stomp on it. Shallot quietly reflected as his companions began talking:

"We need to hide her somewhere safe. She's dead meat like that," Xeno Goten said.

"No kidding. But where?" Asked X. Gohan.

Shallot forced his mind to lock away all of his memories and turned to his group. For a second he glimpsed hurt within Bra's blue eyes before he shouted, "I'm the only one here with knowledge about this world so I'm going to hide Chisato somewhere safe. You'll all wait for me here."

Without waiting for their likely protest he took off for the sky, hoisting Chisato to his chest and inhaling the sweet aroma that was her scent.

'I'm really...going to do this. I have to. It's the only way. Chisato, I love you. I hope one day you can forgive me.'

"So, any special request for your prison?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Somewhere warm. With clothes..."

"Wow, that will be impossible to find," he joked with a smirk. "You can ask me for anything you know."

"Ano...that's okay." She said, keenly avoiding his eyes. "Simple is best. That way he won't suspect me being there."

Shallot didn't think of that. "Guess you have a point. Alright, one simple prison for one coming right up."

The conversation drummed to a halt after that, as Chisato seemed to be thinking deeply and Shallot knew she was worrying. As such he let her have that time to reflect, until nearly an hour had passed of them flying. Shallot kept flying until he finally thought they were far enough away and outside of Tokyo.

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Yokohama - Japan

 

"It's so beautiful. What's that, over there?" Rhuda asked, pointing to a circular light structure. It resembled a Ferris wheel.

"That's the Cosmo Clock 21. Wait until it gets night time. See the spokes? Those light up every fifteen minutes with different shapes." Shallot said, flying past the Cosmo Clock 21. Chisato looked back at it in wonder. Yokohama was beautiful even during the day, and she could view Mt. Fuji off in the distance, a tower called Landmark Tower, beautiful hotels, and even Marine Bay. The sights were too many to take in at once.

"You've been here before, Shiroui?"

"Yep. A time or two. When I was small, anyway." Shallot stopped just above a boat, which had a dragon engraved onto the top portion and was two levels high, colored gold and red.

"Eh? Ano...I'm supposed to stay in a boat?" She asked as Shallot tapped down on the dock it was tied to.

"Don't tell me you get sea sickness."

"I...I don't, but...won't they come aboard?"

"Not until night time. I'll be back before then, don't worry."

It was their benefit that the dock was clear of people, aside from the stray person passing by. Chisato hopped down from her saiyan ride and walked across the dock, "You'll have to help me get in there. It's sealed shut."

"Duh..." Shallot chuckled and jumped, pulling Chisato onto the boat. "Just watch me in action."

With two swift kicks the door was open, lock broken. They waited for an alarm but nothing happened. She blinked a little, "I thought it would be more difficult than that. Is security lacking?"

"I don't think it's that, noodles. Probably just too cheap to hire guards. I mean, most people wouldn't dream of breaking and entering a fancy ass boat like this anyway. But they aren't saiyans." Shallot smirked and tugged her inside the boat.

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The inside was wall to wall gold and red, matching the outside, and heavily ornamented with statues and decorations. At the stern a two seating dining area was, with lacquered wood and velvet cushions. Beyond those and further back rest two long, plush gold couches. There was a door leading to something beyond. Chisato stopped and stared in awe. "It's beautiful here."

"Yep. Make yourself at home until I get back. Shouldn't be too long, alright?" He ruffled her head, noting its silky texture and made to leave.

"W-Wait. Shiroui?"

"Hm?"

"Ano...please, be careful. Whatever you're planning on doing....it's serious, isn't it?" She said, touching his arm.

Shallot nodded. "It is, yeah. But don't worry, I got this. Enjoy the view, noodles."

He waved a little and took off.