0.8

Broly walked back and forth in the Time Vault, watching his good friend Kakarot dig through Time Scrolls. Beside Kakarot was Vegeta, who was frowning so hard his mouth could have cracked off.

Vegeta tossed aside the scroll he read to the long table in the middle of the room and growled out, "Useless! There's no sense in wasting time here."

Kakarot sighed and sat down his scroll and nodded. "I think you're right. But we can't just wait for him to strike again. There has to be something!"

Broly's hand rove across his green furry pelt. It was an old habit of his but he needed it right now. He loves his sister Rhuda, and would do anything to protect her. He just needed to know one thing: How?

"I'll hunt him down." Broly said lowly.

"Hm, and how do you suppose you'll accomplish that? We don't know where or when he's hiding," Vegeta replied.

"All we know right now is that there's a lot of baddies working for him. Some we've already beat before." Kakarot added. He walked over to Broly and gave him reassurance, "we won't let anything happen to Rhuda. She's our friend, too."

"Sister...is all that I have left," Broly explained sadly. His chest tightened with that admission. Having been alone most of his life on Planet Vampa, when Rhuda had came and told him she was his twin, well, he'd finally found his home--and his place to belong, by her side.

"..." Kakarot watched Broly stroke his green pelt and glanced to Vegeta, who had began searching some more. At length Kakarot said, "family is important to us too. Whatever Fu has planned, we won't let him get away with it."

Rhuda fidgeted and veered her eyes from Trunks, who had sat down at his bed. It was beyond awkward being alone together. She had only been to one boys house and that hadn't ended well, and as such kept quiet.

Trunks broke her train of thought. "...you're nervous. Don't be."

Rhuda tensed a little. Why did he have to say it out loud? It only made her more anxious. "...I'm not. Not nervous. Why would I be? You're not a--you're not a creep."

While trunks wasn't a creep, he was quite good looking. All of his features fit him perfectly. A straight pointed nose brushed by long lilac hair that shone silver in the light of his room, broad muscular shoulders, dark rimmed blue eyes the likes of which one could find in an erotica novel, and a light hearted smile that hid the deep thoughts he probably always had.

She wondered what kind of conditioner he used, but didn't dare ask. Instead she motioned to his rack of goods, "you've got a lot of stuff collected."

He glanced up briefly to the shelf and nodded. "Yeah. These are from all my timelines, not just the history I'm from."

"Why did you, why did you decide to keep them?"

He shrugged. "Beats me. I was younger then. Some of this was given to me by the other me." Trunks paused to really think it over, "Well, when your history keeps being changed...it's nice to have something physical to show it actually happened."

"The other you?"

"Yeah. You've met him before. The one who defeated Goku black--Mai's husband?"

It didn't ring a bell. He didn't need to know that though. "Oh! That one. Right! He's...pretty cool."

"..."

"..."

The edges of his mouth twisted. He covered the smile behind his brown gloved hand. "...He's alright."

As her eyes glanced around the room some more, Rhudas saw something interesting. Beside his immaculate western bed was an end table. On it sat an alarm clock, a wrinkled cloth with darkness tinging it, and a framed picture. The picture was of a man wearing an orange gi. He was smiling from the photo admist a beach background.

"Who's he?" She asked.

Trunks cradled the picture in his hand gently. It was his master and friend, Gohan before he died at the hands of the androids. With a tiny sad smile he answered, "That's Gohan."

"Gohan..."

She had heard the name somewhere. Wasn't it the same boy who had went Super Saiyan and killed Cell? That Gohan? Rhuda cleared her throat. "Ah. Gohan. yes. I see that he's... older there."

"Yeah. He was my mentor. He taught me what I know about being a Saiyan, and a hero. Without him, I don't know what I would have done. I owe him everything."

The 'was' in his words gave her pause. So he was dead then, she deduced. But didn't he bring everyone back with Super Dragon Balls? "Those Super Balls," she said slowly, "didn't they work on him, too?"

"...." Trunks stood up and looked off. Perhaps off into the past where his memories lay. After a moment's silence he said, "...He told me he didn't want to come back. I tried, but..." his fist clenched, "...he wanted to be remembered for what happened, as a hero."

The sadness behind his voice was heart breaking. Rhuda didn't realize that a video game character could be so emotional.

Trunks straightened his spine and sighed away his thoughts. "Anyway. You have a parallel mission to do. Let's go. Oh, you should also have a boost from that near death experience."

A loud bell sound deafened the conversation. Trunks pulled back the leather of his sleeve and saw that his wrist watch was lit. He quickly tapped the screen. "Supreme Kai of Time, Trunks here."

"This is bad!" They both heard the tiny Kai say.

"What is it? Another rift?"

"He's coming to you! Do you have anything made? Please tell me you have some food ready!"

Trunks and Rhuda blinked in bewilderment at one another. Slowly Trunks said, "... I don't understand, skot. Who's coming here?"

"Lord Beerus the Destroyer!"

***

Beerus and his angel attendant Whis popped into present time, Earth, just inside Capsule Industries. The feline God took a good look around. "It hasn't changed one bit. Still as boring as ever."

"I have to agree with you. It's so...stark," Whis said with a vague wave of his hand. "If it were me I'd paint the walls with a nice wash of yellow. It would really brighten the mood."

Beerus rolled his eyes. "Yellow hurts my eyes and reminds me of piss. Blue would be much better." After saying that his stomach growled. "Where's that Earthling Bulma at when you need her? I'm starving!"

An odd energy emanating from above caused his narrowed eyes to flit upward, to the higher floors. "Hm. I can't get a reading on whoever that is. But, yes, Vegeta's half breed son is there."

Whis chuckled a little and replied, "That would be Rhuda. The one I told you about."

"Broly's twin? I see." Beerus rubbed his chin, purple tail swaying thoughtfully. While he was here for food, a pleasant surprise had came to entertain him. He would use this to his advantage. "I think I'll pay them a visit."

"Are you sure, My Lord? They are 'together' right now."

It took a moment before Beerus realized what Whis meant. When it dawned on him he made a sound of disgust. "Yuk! You mean they're doing that during the day? Have they no shame? No decency?"

"Apparently not. While we wait, let's see what Bulma has to offer us today." Whis' eyes shut thinking about all of Earth's delicacies, just waiting for him to try. It had been too long since he'd partaken of those little meatballs sitting atop a platter of intestine like ground wheat--truly, spaghetti was heavenly, what with it's sauce the color of blood. He shivered in delight.

"Fine with me."

Together they strode silently down the hall, down the stairs at the end of the hall, and down even more stairs. Once at the bottom Beerus sighed. "You'd think they'd install an elevator. This is ridiculous."

Politely Whis pointed towards a black double door clearly marked elevator. "Oh look, they do have one."

"..."

"..."

Beerus shot him a glare. "You enjoy yourself too much."

"Oh ho ho!"

The elevator door's opened and out dashed Trunks, the time patrol hero of Conton. His blue eyes widened. "Lord Beerus the Destroyer..." quickly he dipped into a formal bow, "can I assist you?"

"Perhaps," Beerus answered. He was more interested in the tiny little thing standing behind Trunks. With a flick of his finger he moved Rhuda towards him, lifting her into the sky with his God energy. "So, this is her? She's rather scrawny if you ask me."

Rhuda squirmed. To Beerus she favored a frightened animal more than a saiyan warrior who could parallel Broly. Beerus frowned. "I came for a good time. But it appears I was mistaken in thinking there would be anything worthwhile here."

He dropped Rhuda. Trunks moved in front of her again. "Lord Beerus--if it's a fight you want, I'll take you on. Leave her out of this."

Whis lifted a brow at Beerus, who sighed at the ceiling and placed his hands behind his back. "It would be an utter waste of my energy." Beerus said.

Trunks was calculating, Whis noticed. Inside his eyes the attendant could see his mind was churning with possibilities, going through strategy's. At last Trunks put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "...Then let's make it a challenge. If I manage to scratch you...you'll leave her alone."

The interest of Beerus the destroyer rose in that moment. His teeth pulled back in a smile, none to kind. "If you fail in this I'll destroy her."

Rhuda looked up fearfully at Trunks. He glanced at her and nodded. "Fine."

"Don't I get a say in this?" She asked him.

"Just trust me, Rhuda," he replied. "I have a plan."

"Oh?" Beerus' tail flicked around, "A plan, you say? I hope it's entertaining at the very least."

Food was postponed for the moment. The group left the hallway and went to the Gravity Chamber, where Trunks told Rhuda to watch from a safe distance. She obeyed, reluctantly, wondering if her wish to go back home would be granted.

Beerus and Trunks stood opposite one another, calmly waiting for the signal to begin. When Beerus rose his hand, beckoning his opponent, Trunks answered by charging his power to red hair heights. Rhuda watched as he threw off his jacket, grabbed his sword, and leveled it at Beerus evenly. "I won't even use my sword," he said to the destroyer. To prove his point Trunks tossed his sword to the floor.

"Now you're mocking me." Beerus said. "And I don't appreciate that one bit. I think you're more like your father then I originally thought." He lifted his finger and began charging dark purple energy. "...All bark and no bite," he said.

Trunks moved out of the way as Beerus' orb of destruction crashed into the wall of the gravity chamber and disintegrated it. Trunks pushed off with his front foot and vanished, appearing before Beerus who only moved his head backward to avoid the punch to his face.

It was hard for Rhuda to keep up. All she could see where flashes of light as Trunks was continually advancing on Beerus, who didn't seem bothered in the least. He hadn't even used his hands to block, which she knew was a sure sign that Beerus wasn't taking the fight seriously.

Trunks was leading Beerus exactly where he wanted him to go. All of his offense would come down to how Beerus responded, and as Trunks had suspected, the God of destruction was toying with him. That would make it easier for Trunks to fool him; lure him right into his trap.

"Hyah! Dah dah dah!" Trunks well timed punches went unanswered as Beerus jumped, hopping from place to place to avoid a direct hit.

Beerus yawned. "Are you done? In case I wasn't clear earlier, if you can't hit me I really will destroy her."

Trunks saw that Beerus' guard had dropped. With a smirk Trunks blasted him, "Masenko!"

Beerus vanished.

He appeared behind Trunks, tapping the back of his head with his dark nail. Trunks was sent careening into the wall and through it.

Just a little more, Trunks thought.

Beerus waited for Trunks to return to the fight. Now that Trunks had given Beerus a false understanding of his power, the boy attacked faster and faster, pushing Beerus until he was just beside the sword he'd thrown earlier.

Trunks blasted him point black. Through the dust Beerus was unscathed. But at that precise moment while Beerus was blinded, Trunks had sent a second blast to his sword. Not to destroy it but to charge it with Ki--and as he swept his booted foot down, Beerus jumped into the sky as Trunks had predicted he would.

"Raaah!" Trunks unleashed Burning Attack.

Beerus didn't so much as move. He was so confident it couldn't hurt him that it annoyed Trunks immensely. Sometimes it sucked to be a genius, but at that moment it paid off for Trunks.

Before the Burning Attack could fade away Trunks met him head on--kicking, jabbing, swinging his legs. All were wasted efforts, of course, but it was a fake out that Trunks needed.

Rhuda gulped down fear. She could see her end was coming--all until Trunks shot a blast down to his sword. He was still pummeling Beerus, so fast she couldn't see anything but vanishing limbs, but the blast connected to his blade and bounced back.

Beerus saw it coming--

He raised his hand to block the blast. Trunks saw it, vanished to grab his sword and threw it to the sky.

"What a wasted chance," Beerus started to say, when Trunks came at him again--and this time, faster than Beerus had expected. Trunks had charged his God Ki higher to rise to the demands of a God fight, and the cocky look in Beerus' face changed to interest.

Sword thrown to the sky and looking like a useless move, Beerus was focused on Trunks melee and thus didn't see that his sword was moving now, moving at Trunks will due to being infused with his Ki.

Beerus didn't spot the sword that had become hidden behind Trunks back until the boy moved, and sent it flying to his head. Beerus dodged, of course--

But a trickle of blood slid down his cheek.

"Oh ho ho!" Whis chuckled, "I do see a scratch, My Lord~"

Beerus seethed. He dropped down to the gravity floor which had become a pile of debris and swiped off the blood, staring at it. "...One scratch." He said, "Hn. It seems you have more tricks that I realized, saiyan."

Trunks tapped down. He was out of breath but satisfied that his ploy had worked. By faking that his 'secret' attack had failed, Beerus had been sure of victory, and thus had lowered his guard down even more.

"Still," Beerus shook his head, "You said you wouldn't use the sword. The victory is void."

Trunks smirked. "If we're being technical, I didn't use the sword. From what I could see it moved all on it's own."

Whis chuckled again. Beerus, with a glare and smack of his tail replied, "I said it didn't count, so it doesn't count!" He then added, "And I don't appreciate how you held back during that fight. If you could fight me so well, why go through all the trouble of pretending you were weaker?"

"....I know I'm weaker than you," Trunks replied. "The only way I could hope to even scratch you would be a trick. I hid my energy because I wanted to give you a false sense of security. It worked, from what I can see."

"Hmm..." Beerus shut his eyes. He had underestimated Trunks, thinking him like his father and would surely go all out at the beginning. That had been his own demise, comparing the two as the same. "...Fine. I won't kill her. Today."

Trunks gave Rhuda a relieved stare.

Too handsome, she thought, Trunks is too handsome, dammit.

Her eyes were glued to him and his fiery hair, and impressed by the wit he showed in the fight. Trunks hadn't backed down or even looked scared for one second, as she would have likely done. He had plotted every move carefully and Beerus had been trapped by his own logic.

Rhuda's body warmed. It was a first to have someone fight for her instead of at her, and she could feel the stinging of hot tears but swallowed them down, looking away shyly. It would be all too easy to fall for a guy like Trunks, she thought.

Discreetly she pulled up her [Menu] and checked their relationship, staring at the unlocked love interest section which now had three filled hearts.

"I for one was quite entertained by that fight," Whis said. "But I do confess that I'm rather interested in filling my stomach with yummy food. You can do that, can't you?" He asked to Trunks.

"Yeah. Follow me."