Mirai Sugi no Iji
"Memories of a future past"
Chapter 4
Written by Michael "supersaiyan2mvegeta" Weiss

22 stood in the bleak forest, contemplating the last several days. From starting as a scared, raving maniac; to a fully understanding automaton. One thing he noticed was that his facial features were now what were referred to as his pre-configuring face in his memories. The reason why eluded him, but he deemed it unimportant, and pushed it to the back of his mind. He finally settled on his current situation. "MAIU, what is the status of my main objective?"

//As you may remember, your main objective is to destroy Trunks.// MAIU replied mechanically, //But there are conflicting events as to the completion of the main objective. Your memory banks contain a file of you destroying Trunks, while my sensors indicate Trunks being alive.//

"What does this mean?"

//I suggest you consult this memory.// The ever-present advisor answered.

"Very well." The Android replied, and then accessed his memory banks. Now that he was yet again complete, he knew exactly where to look. He soon found the memory in which he killed Trunks, and quickly accessed it.

He was standing away from a broken, desolate alley. To one side, he saw Trunks stepping into a large, strange contraption. To the other side, he saw himself charging headlong at the Trunks. In one swift motion, 22 was on the odd contraption. Claws extended, he shattered the glass bulb surrounding the interior. Trunks was completely off-guard, and was soon struck down with incredible ferocity. In the blind rage that 22 was in, he slashed the pod apart. Then the memory fizzled out.

22 was sent back to reality. "MAIU, what happened?" He asked, confused.

//It appears that at that instant, the failure occurred. All space in-between that memory and the memory of you running through the forest is irretrievable.// The program replied.

"Hmm.. Well, I believe the best course of action is to examine that object in the memory." 22 said to himself logistically. "Scanners on!" His vision blipped red, and he began scanning for a contraption similar to the one from his memory. After a couple of minutes, he came upon one such item. After gauging the distance, he raced off towards it. Within minutes he entered a small clearing. Although this clearing was anything but clear, as it sported a large contraption in the center of it. "Well, let me see here." He stepped into the strange pod, and pressed the startup button. "Yeesssss... hmmmmm." 22 mumbled to himself as he typed away at the counsel. Suddenly, the schematics blipped up on the screen. "Ah, I see! This pod appears to be a time machine!" He stood up and flew silently out of the pod and headed slowly back towards the forest. "Well, it seems that I must have traveled in to the past." Said the automaton in a debating voice.

//I do not believe that is the case," Said the body-less voice from within his head. //If you would check your scanners, you will see why I think so.//

"Well, okay." Replied the confused cyborg, as he switched on his ki-detector. "Hmm... well, there's trunks ki signature. His current power level is.... What the!?!" He watched through green-tinted eyes as the power level settled at about six million more than the one he had killed. "Any ideas, MAIU?"

//Well, my only reasonable suggestion is that when you had damaged the capsule, it had somehow transported you into this alternate timeline. This would explain the increased power.// Chirped MAIU.

"I suppose that is reasonable. Well, I still find his power to be below my own, so I suppose I should destroy him." 22's eyes were filled with malice. "So, shall we go?" He asked to no one in particular before blasting off.

********

"Well, that all sounds on the mark," Trunks said to Mr. Trundle. "But, what about times. When will this be taking place?"

"Well, the event itself will take place in... Nine days." Confirmed Mr. Trundle, counting the days on his fingers. "The event time has yet to be determined, but will probably take place at seven O'clock."

"I see." They walked on in silence for a while. They neared the end of the city, and Trunks turned to Mr. Trundle to say goodbye. "Well, Mr. Trundle, I must get to my training." He said, shaking the mayors hand, and smiling broadly. "Good bye now."

"Yes, good bye Trunks." Said the politician as he turned back towards town.

"WAIT RIGHT THERE, TRUNKS." A mysterious voice called out from the shadows that were created by the thick trees. He stepped partially out of the shadows, his face still shrouded in them.

Trunks reached out his ki to feel the strength of this new threat. He met with something he hoped he would never have to face again. "... No ki... That means!" In a quick flash, Trunks was enveloped in golden radiance, and took to the sky. Ki field thrashing wildly, he whipped out is broken sword, protecting it from further damage with his ki, and yelled out to his friend, "Mr. Trundle! Get out of here, QUICKLY!"

"WAIT!" Mr. Trundle yelled out.

********

22 was startled, to say the least. When he first found Trunks, he was startled incredibly badly. He was in his regular form, rather than a super saiyan, and then transformed into a super saiyan. His raw power and speed were completely off the scale. Then he was startled more by the insignificant bystander. Then was startled again by the strange familiarity etched on the man's face.

"Ca... can it be???" The man stepped forward, tears forming at the base of his eyes.

22's mind raced with unknown thoughts, emotions, and impulses. A small voice in his head (possibly MAIU) told him that this human was insignificant, but what was left of his heart told him to look on, and discover the source of this puzzlement. Following his heart, he stepped out of the forest.

"I... it is you!" Said the strange man, tears now flowing freely.

"Mr. TRUNDLE! What is going on?" Trunks said, just as confused as the android.

22 went through a million thoughts, searching for the answer. He searched beyond his memory files, beyond MAIU, beyond himself. "F-Father?"

Then MAIU exploded.

********

Trunks was confused about what just happened. First, he was preparing for an attack from this new android, and now the beast was lying unconscious at the hands of Mr. Trundle. What confused him even more now was that a glimmer of ki was coming from the unmoving android. He flew down to Mr. Trundle's quaking body. "Mr. Trundle! What's going on?"

"You don't understand!" The mayor yelled out in torment, before his voice lowered, "He's my son." He whispered almost silently as his tears soaked the soft dirt.

********

End of Chapter 4