Begin to Lose Control
 

4: The Horror Begins

 

Gohan sighed for the umpteenth time, and glanced at the clock. Where were they? They’d been gone for far too long. The police had since left, promising to call if they heard or found out anything. Gohan looked over to where Goten was trying to keep Bra occupied. The eight-year-old caught his eye, the worried look on her face probably mirroring his own. He sighed again, and started striding across the room.

 

“Gohan, please stop pacing,” murmured Videl. “You’re making me nervous.”

 

Gohan complied, and sat down. He reached out with his mind, searching for Vegeta or Trunks’ ki, but he could no longer sense them. He had felt Vegeta a little while ago…everyone had. A power-surge like that was impossible to ignore, even for the most inexperienced fighter. But since then, they had felt nothing. Gohan had a horrible feeling that Vegeta at least had met the same fate as Piccolo. 

 

His head snapped up. “Trunks is back!”

 

He ran to the door, but stopped short when he caught sight of the younger demi-Saiya-jin. Trunks’ shirt was splattered with blood, his face was streaked with tears, and his eyes did not appear to be focusing properly. Gohan glanced back behind him, and Bra who had stood up eagerly the minute her brother’s name had been spoken. Gohan’s own daughter was standing next to Bra, equally anxious. Gohan knew what seeing Trunks in his current condition would do to them. 

 

“Goten! Trunks looks thirsty. Why don’t you, Pan and Bra go and get something for him?” he quietly said.

 

“But Gohan…” Goten began to argue. Then he saw the look on his brother’s face. “Sure thing. Come on B-chan, Pan.”

 

“We’ll come too,” said Marron, pulling Uub along with her.

 

“Goten-san! I want to see Trunks!” Gohan could hear Bra complaining as she was dragged to the kitchen.

 

Goten managed to get the girls out of sight just before Trunks entered the building. Gohan caught Trunks, afraid that he would faint from loss of blood.

 

“Trunks, what happened? Who did this to you?” he demanded.

 

“Uh…did…what…?” Trunks mumbled. Then he seemed to regain some control of himself. “T-this isn’t my blood. Nothing happened to me. But my parents…” He glanced around. “Where’s Bra?”

 

“In the kitchen. I didn’t want her to see you like this.”

 

“Arigatou, Gohan.” Trunks sat down, with his head rested in his hands. It was a while before anyone realised that he was trembling with sobs. ChiChi sat next to him, and put a hand on his back.

 

“Tell us what happened, Trunks,” she quietly requested.

 

Trunks took a huge gulp of air. “I-I was too late. I don’t know what happened. I j-just found them, and they were…otousan…he…he was still alive, but only just. I saw other people there. Well, I can’t say people…I didn’t see them well enough…but figures. They-they were the ones who did it. They were wearing purple.” Trunks looked up. “Who would do this? Who would kill my parents?”

 

Krillin was going to point out that many beings in the universe would probably want to kill Vegeta, but he held his tongue, and took one of Juuhachigou’s hands in his own.

 

“Oh…Bulma…” ChiChi sobbed. 

 

“Onii-chan? Where’s otousan? And okaasan?” a small voice asked.

 

All eyes turned toward the kitchen entry, where Bra was standing, looking lost and confused. She took a few small steps forward, then ran to Trunks.

 

“What happened, Trunks? Where are they?” she begged.

 

Trunks pulled his sister into his arms, forgetting for the moment that he was covered in his father’s blood. “The-They’re with Goku-san, Bra-chan.”

 

Trunks had never had to do anything more painful than that. To tell his younger sister that their parents were dead. To tell Bra that her beloved father would never be around. That she wouldn’t be able to annoy her mother while she was working ever again. 

 

Bra’s face crumbled. Her legs failed to hold her upright, and she collapsed. Only Trunks’ embrace stopped her from crumpling onto the floor.

 

Goten came running out of the kitchen, obviously in vain pursuit of Bra. When he saw the scene in front of him, he stopped short and cursed himself. Marron and Uub came up behind him, Pan on Uub’s shoulders.

 

“Oh, Kami,” Marron whispered. Uub placed his free arm around her, and she started sobbing on his shoulder.

 

“Do…do you suppose that this was the same thing that destroyed Kami’s Lookout?” Videl asked.

 

“Yes, I do,” replied Trunks, looking up. “And so did my otousan. Something big is coming. Something like we’ve never faced before.”

 

“And we have to face it without Piccolo, Goku and Vegeta. And without DragonBalls and senzu beans,” Krillin sighed. “Kusottare!”

 

“I think we should start training,” said Juunanagou. “We’re gonna need it.”

 

 

*   *   *   *   *   *

 

 

Every morning for the next week, Trunks to find Bra was sleeping next to him. And every morning he realised that the awful night had not been simply a terrible dream. His parents were dead. 

 

The Sons were staying at Capsule Corp., knowing that Trunks would need help. He was 22, and had no idea how to raise an 8-year-old. Trunks wandered down to the kitchen in this particular morning, and found ChiChi making breakfast.

 

“Konnichiwa, ChiChi-san,” Trunks murmured.

 

“Good morning, Trunks.” ChiChi turned around, and smiled sadly. They had not spoken about what had happened since Trunks had told them all, but ChiChi felt that Trunks needed to let it off his chest. “How are you?”

 

Trunks shrugged. “I supposed I’m doing alright, considering the circumstances. I have to be strong, for Bra.” He sat down, and rested his head on his hands. “And more than that, too. How are we gonna explain this to the world? The police know okaasan was missing, but not otousan.”

 

ChiChi came over and gave Trunks a hug. “Try not to worry about that now. You and your sister are the only people you have to worry about.”

 

Trunks looked up and attempted a smile.

 

“Morning,” greeted Gohan, entering the room. He walked over, and squeezed Trunks’ shoulder. “You okay?”

 

“Relatively.” Trunks suddenly remembered his father’s last words. He had pushed them to the back of his mind, but now that he thought of them, he realised he didn’t know what Vegeta had meant. Gohan was the perfect person to ask. “Gohan, I need to ask you something.”

 

Gohan took a sip of tea from the cup his mother had handed him. “Sure thing.”

 

“Otousan – he said something to me, before he…you know. It was kinda weird. He told me that I had to look after Bra; that she was precious.”

 

“I don’t see what’s weird about that. Everyone knows how much Vegeta adored Bra.”

 

“That wasn’t the weird bit. He also told me to train her, because she was special. It doesn’t make any sense. Like you said, otousan adored Bra – and he’d never want her to get into any trouble. So why would he want me to train her?”

 

Gohan thought about this for a moment. “I don’t know, Trunks. But I will tell you this – Vegeta would not have said that, if he didn’t mean it, even if he was an inch away from death. Honour his request. Train your sister. We need all the help we can get anyway.”

 

 

*   *   *   *   *   *

 

 

Trunks looked at Bra’s sleeping form. It was 5am, and she looked like an angel. He gently shook her. She growled, but did not wake. He shook her again.

 

“What!?” she snapped, waking up.

 

“Get up, Bra-chan. We’re starting your training today.”

 

“Training?” She looked confused, then scowled. “I’m not training! I don’t want to fight.”

 

Trunks sighed. He had been expecting such a reaction. “Bra, I know you don’t want to fight, but you’re a Saiya-jin. If something is out there, we will need your help.”

 

“But, Trunks…”

 

“Bra, quit arguing! Look, before he…before he died, Otousan told me to train you. And I intend to follow that through.”

 

“Otousan told you to train me?”

 

“That’s what I said.”

 

Bra’s eyes filled with pride. “Alright then. When do we start?”

 

Trunks playfully hit her. “I already said we’re starting today, stupid. Put this on.” He tossed a spandex training suit at her. “I’ll meet you in the Gravity Room.”

 

Bra joined him in the Gravity Room around ten minutes later. She looked uncomfortable in the suit. She screwed up her nose, and stated, “It feels weird. I don’t like it!”

 

“Deal with it,” Trunks growled, already starting to fill his father’s empty shoes. He pondered at the gravity controls. This is her first time training. I’d better not put it too high. He set it at fifty times Earth’s normal gravity. 

 

“TRUNKS!” Bra whined, as she hit the floor. Trunks stood above her prostrate form, completely unaffected by the higher gravity; he was used to much higher levels.

 

“Bra, this is nothing. If you can’t handle fifty times gravity, then there’s not much hope for you, I’m afraid.”

 

Trunks’ attack at her pride worked amazingly well. He knew how she worked – she would do anything that her father wished, and anything that would make him proud of her, even if he was no longer with them. Bra staggered to her feet, stumbled several times, then steadied herself in a fighting stance.

 

“Not bad,” Trunks allowed. He smirked. “But this is just the beginning. Let’s see how you handle movement.” He aimed three consecutive blows at her. She managed to dodge two of them by simple moving her head, but the third caught her in the face.

 

“OW!” she cried, holding her nose. “You better not have broken my nose, Trunks! You’re paying for the nose job if you have!”

 

Trunks laughed, and stirred her a little more. “No one will notice on that ugly face of yours!”

 

Bra filled with rage, her power increasing dramatically as she did. Trunks was completely shocked, so much so, that he was not able to dodge as she aimed a punch right at his face. He fell backwards.

 

“OW!” Trunks cried, echoing his sister’s earlier words. 

 

Bra stood above him, also amazed at her own strength. She looked at her fist in awe. She grinned. “Oh, yeah! Who’s ugly now, Trunks?”

 

Trunks sat up, and shook his head. Amazing! I never thought she would be so powerful! He started laughing, but not cruelly, as he had before. “Now this is what I’m talking about. Bring it on, Bra-chan!”