This starts off in an alternate universe where the Buu saga never
happened.  Something else did, though.  All comments to
rhionae@hotmail.com please.

Disclaimer: The characters portrayed within are not mine, but the
property of Akira Toriyama and a whole lot of other people who are not
me, and who actually have money (which I don't), so please don't sue me!


What Friends Are For - Part 2

Trunks' workshop was ordered chaos.  <I'm sure he knows where everything
is, not to mention *what* everything is, but *I* wouldn't touch anything
in here without him around.>  Trunks had picked up from where his mother
left off, designing and building new inventions for Capsule Corp. 
Trunks was officially the President of Capsule Corp, but he left most of
the business management up to the managing board.  It was after all, as
he had pointed out, what they were paid to do - and they had done well
enough since Trunks had inherited the family business.

<He inherited the family brains, too.>  Goten picked up a small metallic
sphere from a bowl on the counter containing a half-dozen similar
looking objects.  <For all I know this could be anything from a
holographic projection unit to a simple juggling ball.>

"Goten!"  Trunks shrieked.  Goten froze.  Trunks spun around from the
computer terminal he had been sitting at with his back to where Goten
was standing, glancing around wildly, his expression panic-stricken
until he saw Goten standing as still as an ice-statue with the silver
sphere resting on his palm.  He relaxed, letting his whole body go limp
in the chair, heaving a sigh as he covered his eyes with his hands. 
"Don't *do* that to me!  You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Do what?"  Goten didn't dare move, uncertain as to what it was he had
done.  Trunks levered himself off of the chair with both arms, and
walked over to stand next to him, plucking the sphere out of his hand.

Trunks' presence suddenly vanished from Goten's senses.

"What the hell is that?" he demanded.  "I can't sense your ki anymore!"

"Exactly."  Trunks shrugged.  "It's a ki-shield.  It hides your ki from
everyone else by kind of blending it into the surroundings.  It's better
than just hiding your ki because it doesn't matter how much power you're
using, it'll still shield your power level from everyone else.  And you
can still sense ki through the shield." Trunks tossed the sphere,
catching it lightly.  "Try to sense my ki again."

Goten narrowed his eyes as he strained his senses to the limit.

"I can sense *something* where you are," he replied after a few
moments.  "It's faint, but it's there."  Trunks nodded.

"That's the blending effect - only there isn't anything else alive in
here besides the two of us, so it can't hide the fact that there's
*someone* in here besides you.  If we were outside, though, you probably
wouldn't be able to sense my presence at all.  People are the best for
blending, but it works with any living thing."  He flipped the sphere
over to Goten.  "I'm still working on it, though."

"It seems to be working pretty well to me!"

"Uhn.  But I'm trying to make it a shield in truth - one that can either
absorb ki attacks or deflect them."  He turned back to the computer.

"But why would you need -" Goten started, before his brain kicked into
gear.  "Oh."

"Keep that one if you want," Trunks resumed his typing.  "It just needs
to touch your skin for it to work."  Goten stared at his friend's back
for a moment  before slipping it into his pocket.  He moved to get a
clear view of the screen.

"So where's this dimension hopper of yours?" he asked.

"You're looking at it."

"I am?" Goten's tone was skeptical.

"The computer analyses the frequencies of different dimensions and
calculates the power distribution required for transportation of objects
between them.  And don't ask me for the simple version," Trunks turned
to give a mock scowl to his best friend.  "That *was* the simple
version."

Goten grinned at him.  "Then I won't ask.  So we just sit here, push a
few buttons and get zapped to another universe?  I'd hope they had
chairs waiting for us in this spot!"

"Baka," Trunks snorted.  "I set it up so that the transportation can be
triggered by a remote."  He open the metal box lying next to the
terminal to reveal six devices which, as Goten pointed out, seemed to
bear a marked resemblance to wristwatches. 

"They are," Trunks informed him.  "Among other things."

"Such as dimensional transportation devices?"

"Exactly."  He handed two to Goten.  "Strap them on each wrist."

"You need two of them to work it?" he asked as he complied with the
instruction.

"No, but this way you won't lose the spare,"  Trunks slipped his own
pair on, considering the point. "Unless you get your arm chopped off,"
he added.

"Gee, thanks, that's just what I wanted to hear."  Goten turned serious
eyes towards his friend.  "So, where did you want to go?" he asked him. 
<I wonder where he's been already - he must have had something in mind
when he built this.>

"I thought we might go see your father."  Trunks tilted his head
questioningly.  "You do want to see him, don't you?"

"Of course I do."  Goten folded his arms across his chest.  "But why do
*you* want to see him?"

Trunks' eyes widened a trifle.  <Bingo.>

"I - I just thought -"

"*Trunks*," Goten admonished.  "Talk to me."

He lowered his head, long wisps of pale hair obscuring Goten's view of
his face.  Goten brushed them aside, one hand lifting his chin, forcing
him to look into his eyes.

Trunks sighed.

"Remember what Gohan was telling us about the way our fathers always
fought?  I thought that maybe if he sensed your father's ki..." he
trailed off, blue eyes gazing anxiously into Goten's.

"I see," Goten murmured thoughtfully, releasing Trunks' chin.  "We'd
have to be certain that he's stronger than him, though.  From what
Niichan says that there wasn't all *that* big a difference between the
two of them, and it's been fifteen years since then.  I don't want to
make Niichan bury our father again.  He's been through enough as it is."

Trunks nodded.  "I thought of that already," he agreed.  "And I think
I've found a version of your father who we can ask."

<Ah. I was right.>

"You haven't talked to him yet?"

"No, I've just watched them.  That's all!"  Wide blue eyes emphasized
this point.

"All right," Goten acquiesced.  "Now what?"

"I've set the computer to give us a certain number of options, the most
important of which is the purple button."  Trunks pointed out the little
button on the watch.

"What does it do?"

"It gets us back home.  The green one sends us to whichever dimension
we've selected. Got that?"

"Uh huh."  Goten looked up from his investigation of his new watch.  "I
can't believe I'm doing this."

"Why?" Trunks frowned.  "Don't you think I know what I'm doing?"

"Oh, I trust *you*," Goten reassured him.  "But I can't help thinking
that *something's * going to go wrong."  He shook his head.  "Maybe we
should tell Gohan."

Trunks gave him a flat stare.  "I'll leave him a note."  He grabbed a
pen and pad, scribbled something swiftly and stuck it to the computer
screen.  "Let's go!"  He grabbed Goten by the hand, dragging him out of
the lab, outside Capsule Corp and into the nearby countryside.

Beneath the bright afternoon sun, two boys stood.

A flash of green light.

A wandering breeze.

The boys were gone.

******************

"*Vegeta!*"  The name was a violent hiss coming from between Goten's
clenched teeth as he prepared to attack  the source of so much pain,
propelling himself upwards with his ki - 

- only to be dragged back down to earth by hands which, despite their
frail appearance, were more than powerful enough to hold him still.

"Wrong Vegeta, baka!  Hide your ki!"  Trunk's frantic whisper penetrated
the blind fury which had come over him.  He breathed deeply, slowly
relaxing his muscles, lowering his power level.

"Sorry," he breathed.

"It�s okay," Trunks told him.  "I kind of did the same thing when I
first encountered another version of him."  Trunks released him from his
tight grip, and he looked around, taking in his surroundings.

The scenery hadn�t changed much.  A few out of place trees, some
buildings that differed in design�

<And Vegeta�s ki, at a workout level, coming from Capsule Corp.>  He
glanced at Trunks.  Who was watching him with unblinking eyes.

"You okay?"

"I�m fine.  You?"

"Fine."

He nodded, considering.

"Your place or mine?"

In the distance they felt a familiar ki rise to match Vegeta�s level. 
Trunks shuddered.  Moment�s later they were headed to Goten�s home.  Or
rather, what his home could have been.

"So what�s this world like?"  Goten slowed up a little, so that they
could talk comfortably.  

Trunks was quiet a moment, before replying,  "Nobody�s dead."

<Nobody?  Then Kaasan�s alive too, and Bulma�>  He gave Trunks a
sidelong glance.  "Anyone new?"

He waited.

"This Trunks has a sister," Trunks answered eventually.  "Bra."

"Ah."

"Her father adores her."

"Oh."  <And you�re jealous.>  "What about this world�s versions of us?" 
He couldn�t help it - he just had to ask.

"Trunks is a brat."  <Definitely jealous.>

"And Goten?" he prodded.

Trunks sighed.  "He seems happier than you."

"He should be." Goten shrugged philosophically.  "But that doesn�t
matter.  After all, with all the possible timelines, not everyone could
have the best lives.  Somebody has to get the raw deals."

Trunks chewed his lip.  "Uhn.  But that doesn�t mean we can�t improve
our hand."

They continued in silence.  It wasn�t long before they neared their
destination.  They dropped to the ground, Trunks lifting one finger to
his lips for silence, and slipped one hand into his pocket, bringing out
a small, shiny sphere.  Goten blinked, then nodded in acknowledgment,
grasping his own ki-shield.  Stealthily the made their way towards the
house which held such hope for them both.

<I can sense Kaasan in there! And me!  Heh, weird�>

Goten suddenly stiffened as a new ki appeared in the house  <That ki -
whose -?>

Trunks gazed back at him in concern.  "Goten?" he whispered.

<So familiar - but I don�t know� Is it�?>  He crept past Trunks, up to
the window, to take a quick glance - 

- that turned into a deeply absorbed stare.  He stopped breathing.

A tall, well built man was standing next to him.

Two copies of spikey black hair, smiling dark eyes, irrepressible grin�

Son Goku.

<*Tousan!*>

****************