This involves an alternate universe where the Buu saga never
happened.  Something else did, though.  Read on and find out!  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 3
By Rhionae

<That's Tousan!  And me...>

A sharp poke at his ribs brought him back to reality.  He ducked swiftly
out of sight of the occupants of the house.

"Breathe, baka!" Trunks whispered the command into his ear, concerned
hands gripping his shoulders.

Goten flashed him a quick grin.  "Keep calling me that, and I'll answer
every time somebody calls it out."

He gained a brief smile in response as Trunks released him, sinking back
against the wall beneath the window.  Goten joined him, drawing his
knees towards his body in a close hug.

"This is just too weird," he chuckled, carefully keeping his voice low.
"I mean, I've seen photos of him, but..."

"I know," Trunks told him quietly.  "It's just not the same, is it?"

The minutes passed by, the two of them wrapped in silence, listening to
the happy family that lay just on the other side of the thin wall.
Chichi was scolding both husband and son for their neglect of the
household chores she had assigned to them, instead going out to 'play'.

<Just like *my* Kaasan...  Only my father never appeared out of thin
air...>

"How'd he just appear like that?"

"He can teleport.  Useful trick."

"Hnnn."

Fabulous aromas wafted outside from the kitchen, while inside the house
Chichi was ordering her family about, preparing to have guests over for
dinner.

"So, what do we say to him?"  Goten finally asked.

"He's *your* father."

"And I've never seen him before today!"  His outburst earned him a hasty
signal from Trunks to keep his voice down.  "So what do we do?  We can't
just walk in there and say 'Hi, we're from a parallel world which Vegeta
is single-handedly destroying a piece at a time, and we want you to be
bait to lure him out so that we can stop him'!"

"Why not?"  Trunks raised one eyebrow questioning.  "That's basically
what Mirai Trunks did, and he helped him.  Besides, we may be from a
different dimension, but you're still his son."

Goten snorted.  "Mirai Trunks was warning him of what would happen in
his *own* timeline.  Whatever happens in ours, it won't involve theirs
unless they come with us.  Besides, we don't even know if Mirai Trunks
visited this timeline."

"I'm pretty sure he did."  Trunks flipped his hair out of his eyes.  "If
you don't want to involve them, just say so.  As long as they don't know
that we were here their world won't be affected by whatever curse is on
ours."

"Trunks..."  Goten sighed.

"I know, I know," Trunks cut him off.  "But it sure seems like it's
cursed."

"Uhn.  I guess I have to agree there."

"Or maybe it's just me..."  The words were barely audible, but to Goten
they may as well have been blasted into his ear.

<Oh shit! Not this again!>  He turned to Trunks in alarm, grabbing his
wrists and twisting the pale skin upwards to the light, oblivious to the
flash of silver that dropped to the ground.  Trunks' ashen flesh was
marred by several thin white lines running from palms to elbows.  <I
don't see any new scars...>  The last had been made two years ago.  <He
came very close then, about as close as when Vegeta had - >  He shook
his head, letting go of his wrists.

Trunks was scowling at him.

"I made you a promise, Goten.  I will *not* break that promise."  Blue
eyes were darkened with emotions Goten could sense roiling beneath the
surface.

"Good," he replied, relieved.  "Because if you do, I swear I'll join
you."

"Baka."

"Uh huh."

Cries of greeting came from the other side of the house, startling them
both with their suddenness.

<That's Bulma! And Vegeta's with her... I can't believe I didn't sense
him!>  One glimpse of Trunks' bloodless face told him that he wasn't the
only one who had been caught unawares...  <No wonder we need help - we
must really be slipping...>  He lifted himself up to cautiously peer in
through the window once more.

"NANI!?!"

Goten almost tripped in his haste to face the source of the sudden
outburst, Trunks hastily getting to his feet beside him.

It was Trunks.  With short hair.  Taller.  Tanned skin.  And he didn't
look like a walking skeleton.

<He looks so much healthier he may as well be a different person.  I
guess in some ways he is.>  Goten's gaze flicked between the two.
<Although they look pretty similar at the moment!>  The two versions of
Trunks had identical expressions on their faces - a curious blend of
horror and rapt fascination.

"Hey, what's going on?"  Goten blinked at the sound of his own voice
coming from someone else.  From himself, in fact.  He blinked again.  So
did the second Goten, as he froze just outside the back door.  For a
long moment all four of them looked back and forth amongst themselves.
Then the second Goten started to laugh.

"Snap!"

Both Trunks stared at him.  "Baka!" they cried in unison, then turned to
glare at each other suspiciously.

<Heh, they sound pretty similar now, too!>  He started to chuckle, and
soon joined the other Goten, succumbing to gales of laughter.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Vegeta snarled, stepping out of
the house.  He was followed out of the house by the curious Chichi,
Goku, and Bulma holding a miniature copy of herself by the hand.  They
all stopped to stare at the two pairs of laughing and glowering boys.
Both Gotens made a concerted effort to calm themselves, although the one
by the door was still suffering from a few fits of laughter.

"I sensed Goten's ki out here as well as in the house," the short-haired
Trunks growled.  "I found *them* out here!"

<Oops... must have dropped the ki shield...> He bent swiftly to retrieve
it, returning it to his pocket.

"Eh? Mirai Trunks, what're you doing back here?"  Goku wondered, tilting
his head in puzzlement at the long-haired Trunks.

"That's not Mirai Trunks, baka," Vegeta snapped.  He stalked toward the
boy in question, who was flinching away from the attention -

- only to be blocked by a now-serious faced Goten, who placed himself
between them.

"What's your problem?"  Vegeta scowled furiously at him.

"You are," Goten informed him coolly. He glanced back at his Trunks, who
had lowered his head so that his pale hair hid his face like a curtain.
"Or rather, our world's version of you."

"Your world?"  Bulma questioned.  "You come from a different time?"

Goten shook his head.  "Same time, different timeline," he explained.
"I'm not sure what happened in this world's history, but -" he looked
around at them all, "- out of everyone here, besides the two of us," he
nodded at his Trunks, "only Vegeta is still alive in our world."  <And
boy, do I wish he wasn't.>

Half a dozen gasps accompanied the shocked faces he was presented with
upon stating this declaration.  Only the little girl - <must be Bra> -
was unmoved.  Even Vegeta's expression revealed his surprise - <And
maybe something more?>

"How did we - they - die?" Chichi asked tentatively, concern evident in
her tone.  Goten sighed.

"Tousan died fighting Cell - "

"Heh! So did I!" Goku interrupted.  "But I got resurrected eight years
later when we had to fight Buu!"

"I don't think we had anyone named Buu in our timeline," Goten paused,
considering.

"You'd know if you had,"  the other Goten assured him.  "But our
parents...?"

"Bulma died of a heart attack eight years ago -"

"Nani!?!"  He was interrupted again, by Bulma this time.  "I'm too young
to have died of a heart attack back then!  And if I died then -" she
looked down at her little daughter, then back up at Goten.  He shook his
head, confirming that Bra had not been born in their world.  "Oh..."
Vegeta's scowl deepened.

"And Kaasan died two years ago, in a car accident,"  Goten concluded.

"But what about Gohan?"  Chichi worried. "Who�s looking after you?"

"He's fine."  Goten was about to say more when he sensed his brother�s
ki approaching, along with several others.  Heads turned to the sky
where two aircars were visible.

"Looks like the others are here!" Goku commented cheerfully.  "Can we go
eat now?"

"Goku!" Chichi scolded.

"What about these two?"  The short haired Trunks questioned.

"Oh, I�m sure there�s enough for them, too!  Once we�ve eaten, we can
talk about why they�re here.  I can�t think properly on an empty
stomach!"  He grinned.

"You can never think properly, baka," Vegeta remarked as he headed
inside towards the food. Goku shrugged, still grinning, and followed
him.  Their wives exchanged exasperated looks.

"Ah well," Chichi sighed.  Come in, all of you, we�ll sort this out
somehow�"  She tugged on her own son�s hand, gesturing to the other
Goten to enter first.

The long-haired Trunks hadn�t moved.  His counterpart and
could-have-been mother approached him curiously; but as Bulma reached
out to touch his shoulder, he flinched violently away.

"Don�t touch me!"  He ducked between them and past the others into the
house, leaving them to stare at the empty doorway, before turning to his
Goten for answers.

He shrugged in response, and followed Trunks.  <Looks like he might be
having second thoughts about this little trip�  Then again, I don�t
think he ever intended to confront anyone besides my father.>  He took a
quick peek behind, to catch a glimpse of his counterpart in this world.
<*I* feel weird enough as it is�>

Gohan soon arrived with his family, shortly followed by Kurilin, his
wife Juuhachi-gou and daughter Marron, and Yamucha.  <Not too different
here, although it�s been a while since I last saw our world�s versions
of Kurilin�s family and Yamucha �>  Explanations were given promptly, as
was the food.  <Although some people here are just dying of curiosity�>
He and his Trunks were conspicuously studied throughout the meal,
dulling his appetite slightly with apprehension.  <I�d almost forgotten
how good Kaasan�s cooking is, though.>  Even Trunks was nibbling away at
the food on his plate.  <At least, food is disappearing behind that hair
of his.>  It quickly disappeared from the table, too, and it was soon
time for further explanations.

"So," Gohan fixed his �brother� with a serious gaze.  "Why exactly are
you here?  Did you want our help for something?"

Trunks was still hiding behind his hair, sitting with one knee pulled up
beneath his cheek, arms wrapped around his leg.  Goten sighed.

"We want to stop Vegeta."

"�Stop Vegeta�?" Bulma echoed, as her husband scowled.  "What�s he
doing?"

"He�s destroying our world, one town at a time."

"But why?" She persisted.

"How the hell should I know?" Goten snapped, temper flaring, before
closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.  "Sorry," he apologized,
opening dark eyes to meet her blue.  <Just like Trunks�>  "Vegeta
started acting strangely after his Bulma died, but three years ago -
three years ago, Niichan sensed that Piccolo was in trouble and we went
to help him.  By the time we got there, Piccolo was dead, and Dende with
him."  A ripple of shock swept around the room.  "Kami�s Palace had been
totally destroyed.  We didn�t know what had happened, but when we got
home we found Trunks bleeding to death on our doorstep."

"Nani!?  I would never kill the brat!"  Vegeta exclaimed angrily.  Goten
met his fierce gaze evenly.

"Maybe *you* wouldn�t, but *our* Vegeta certainly tried."  He looked
around the room.  Bulma and the �other� Trunks  and Goten were staring
in shock at the long haired boy sitting in silence, face hidden from
them.  Most of the others had reacted similarly; only Pan and Bra were
oblivious, playing quietly on the floor next to Videl.  "Since then,
none of us has seen him.  But cities and towns have been disappearing on
a fairly regular basis.  We�ve sensed his ki briefly, but never long
enough to track him down."

"So what do you want from us?"  Goku asked quietly.

"We�d like you to come back with us, to our world," Goten answered.
"Niichan told us that he always wanted to defeat you, but that you died
before he ever could.  We thought that if he sensed your ki, he would
come out to fight you�"

"And what would you do then?  Kill him?"

<I wish.>  He glanced over at Trunks, who was as still as a statue.
"We�ll think of something," he told his father.  Goku had followed his
gaze, and nodded briefly as their eyes met once more.

"Yoshi.  I�ll do it."