The dry winds of the wasteland carried grains of sand that struck Mecha Frieza's half-metal, half-flesh face with faint tapping sounds.
"Monkey..."
Blood vessels bulged in Frieza's remaining organic eye as he glared at the purple-haired youth standing before him.
"You say you're going to kill me? You?"
Behind him, King Cold stood with his arms crossed, his massive frame casting a long shadow across the ground. A contemptuous sneer curled at his lips.
"Frieza, is this the Super Saiyan you told me about? He looks more like an ignorant little rat that doesn't know his place."
Future Trunks didn't waste a single word.
His eyes were calm, yet utterly devoid of warmth.
He wasn't looking at enemies.
He was looking at garbage waiting to be removed.
"If you're that eager to die, don't blink."
The young man rested his right hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his back.
BOOM!!!
The ground collapsed without warning.
Golden flames erupted skyward like a volcanic explosion.
His lavender hair shot upward and turned a brilliant gold, while his turquoise eyes became frighteningly calm.
Super Saiyan.
Behind a distant rock formation, Vegeta's dismissive expression instantly froze.
His pupils shrank violently.
"T-That's impossible!"
His fingers dug deep into the stone beneath him.
The force was so great that blood seeped from his knuckles.
"Besides Kakarot... there's actually another Super Saiyan?!"
"Who is he?! The Saiyans were wiped out!"
"Other than me, Kakarot, and that half-breed brat, there shouldn't be any Saiyans left in the universe!"
The sound of his worldview shattering echoed inside his head.
He had tortured himself under hundreds of times Earth's gravity just to reach the threshold of Super Saiyan.
And now some random kid appeared out of nowhere and had already achieved it?
Was Super Saiyan some common vegetable sold at the market now?!
At the center of the battlefield, Frieza stared at the familiar golden aura.
His body began trembling instinctively.
The fear engraved into his DNA resurfaced.
The nightmare of Namek was happening all over again.
"N-No... impossible... who are you... how can you become a Super Saiyan too...?"
"Die."
Trunks moved.
Fast.
So fast that not even an afterimage remained.
Frieza hadn't even managed to raise a finger to fire a Death Beam before his vision suddenly shifted.
He saw the sky.
He saw the earth.
Then he saw his own lower body spraying blood beneath him.
"Huh? That's... my body?"
Those were Frieza's final thoughts.
SHING!
Sword light exploded into a silver web.
Trunks' blade transformed into a storm of flashing steel.
There were no flashy techniques.
Only absolute speed and perfect precision.
Frieza's falling body was instantly sliced into dozens of neat pieces.
"Hah!"
Trunks thrust out his palm.
A golden energy blast erupted forward.
BOOM!!
The fragments of Frieza, along with his consciousness, were erased completely in a blinding explosion.
Not even a speck of dust remained.
The tyrant who once ruled the universe had survived resurrection only to arrive on Earth and die less than ten minutes later.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Watching from above, Krillin couldn't help but admire the performance.
"Clean, efficient, and ruthless. Future Trunks really is the only Saiyan who never wastes time."
Below, King Cold stood frozen.
His son was gone?
Just like that?
He hadn't even processed what happened.
"W-Wait! Young man!"
Cold wiped the sweat forming on his forehead and forced himself to remain composed.
"You're powerful. Extremely powerful!"
"But I can see the truth! The only reason you won was because of that sword!"
"If you didn't have it, you'd never beat me!"
"How about giving me the sword so we can have a fair fight?"
Even Gohan found the childish provocation amusing.
Expressionless, Trunks casually tossed the sword toward him.
King Cold caught it.
His face instantly twisted with delight.
"You fool! Die!"
He swung the sword at Trunks with all his strength.
CLANG!
Trunks raised one hand.
Using only his palm, he effortlessly caught the blade.
King Cold's smile froze.
"You can go join your son."
With a flick of his wrist, Trunks reclaimed the sword.
At the same time, his other palm struck King Cold's chest.
BOOM!
A massive energy blast pierced straight through the giant tyrant's body.
Double kill.
The entire battle lasted less than two minutes.
Trunks sheathed his sword.
The golden aura vanished.
His hair returned to its natural lavender color.
After straightening his slightly rumpled denim jacket, he flew toward Krillin and the others.
Landing lightly, he gave a polite bow.
"Hello, everyone."
Gohan blinked in confusion and awkwardly waved.
"Uh... hello."
Vegeta, meanwhile, stared at Trunks as though he wanted to dissect him and examine his genetic code.
Trunks' gaze swept across the group.
When he saw Goku, he paused briefly.
But the moment his eyes landed on Krillin...
His entire body stiffened.
It was as if he had just encountered some indescribable cosmic horror.
In his future timeline, Uncle Krillin had died long ago at the hands of the Androids.
His strength had only reached the limits of an Earthling.
But the bald man sitting before him...
Krillin wasn't releasing any aura at all.
He was casually lounging on a rock with a can of cola in hand.
Yet as a warrior who had spent his life dancing on the edge of death, Trunks instinctively sensed something terrifying.
The energy hidden within that body felt like a compressed universe.
Far beyond any legend recorded on Namek.
"Are... are you Uncle Krillin?"
Trunks' voice trembled slightly.
"Haha, yep, that's me!"
Krillin waved cheerfully.
"Relax. I don't bite."
"Now then, since the trash has been cleaned up, let's talk about the important stuff."
Even the wind sweeping across the wasteland seemed to quiet down.
Trunks took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm raging inside him.
This version of history differed wildly from the one he knew.
"Um... Mr. Goku."
Trunks turned toward Goku, confusion visible on his face.
"According to history... I mean, according to what should have happened... after defeating Frieza, you traveled to Yardrat to learn Instant Transmission."
"You were supposed to still be aboard your spaceship and return to Earth three hours from now."
Goku scratched his head and grinned.
"Huh?"
"We came back from Yardrat ages ago."
"Krillin used Instant Transmission and brought us all back to Earth."
Trunks: ...
Instantly transporting people from another planet to Earth?
Was that even something a human could do?
"Instant Transmission?"
Unable to stop himself, Trunks looked at Krillin again.
Krillin shrugged.
"Ahem... pretty basic stuff."
At that moment, Vegeta finally lost his patience.
Taking a large step forward, he blocked Trunks' path.
His eyes burned with intensity.
"Hey, brat!"
"Enough dodging the question!"
"Who are you?!"
"Why can you become a Super Saiyan?!"
"The only Saiyan families left are mine and Kakarot's! Where did you come from?!"
Trunks didn't feel any emotional connection toward this version of Vegeta.
"Sorry."
"I can't tell you yet."
"Can't tell me?!"
Vegeta's forehead bulged with veins.
He reached for Trunks' collar.
"Don't you dare play mysteri..."
Tap.
A hand gently landed on Vegeta's shoulder.
Krillin smiled at him.
"Take it easy, Vegeta. He helped us clean up the mess. At least treat him like a guest."
"Besides, you can't beat him right now."
"What did you say?!"
Vegeta nearly exploded.
"I'm saying you're still not fully comfortable with your Super Saiyan transformation."
"He cut down Frieza like chopping vegetables. If you fought him right now, you'd lose."
Krillin spoke nothing but the truth.
Every word stabbed straight into Vegeta's pride.
Vegeta's face turned green.
Unfortunately, logic told him Krillin was right.
With a furious snort, he turned away and sulked in silence.
Trunks shot Krillin a grateful look before turning back to Goku.
"Mr. Goku, could we speak privately?"
Goku nodded.
"Sure."
"Let's talk over there."
Trunks pointed toward a giant boulder in the distance.
...
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