Open-Log--less talk, more action? With Prompts and OTA [Month of Horseshoe]

[light_of_willpower]

Trunks had finally found his cabin, and met his room-mates. One of whom was a book. With very odd ideas, that had Trunks raising an eyebrow at it. (He didn't really do well with 'overlords' okay?) After that it had been investigating his rucksack--and he had his capsule case. With his mini-fridge (yay), but two capsules of clothes (his armor and his normal stuff) otherwise. WHERE WAS THE TIME MACHINE?!?!?!

Still, not much he could do now. Besides, he had a whole train to explore. Along with a spar--and Cassie had said she'd usually be in the gym car. Come to think of it, Trunks would probably be spending a lot of time in the gym car himself. So, time to explore his new 'home'.

Comments

[light_of_willpower]

Deep breath in, and deep breath out, as that wasn't as bad as some of her teasing yet. Still red though, and as she hops on, his arms come up to go around her legs as he stands straight again. A pause to make sure she's settled, then he's moving back down the hall at an easy pace. "I have direct experience with it, and it's definitely confusing."

[nutkrusher]

"Doesn't help that the person I know who has it is really cryptic and evasive whenever he's asked to explain it," Cassie says.

She leans into his shoulder, resting her head on it. She yawns, trying her best not to fall asleep right here.

"And, uh...isn't exactly a person."

[light_of_willpower]

"I can try and explain. I've done it. Twice now." Finally his blush is starting to fade, focusing on other topics. And without her teasing.

[nutkrusher]

"Go right ahead," Cassie says.

"I'm guessing it's not exactly a soothing bedtime story, though."

[light_of_willpower]

"Not really." Trunks agreed, and then tried to figure out the best way to start. Maybe stick to the basics? "I mentioned my world is under constant siege by two homicidal androids right? Well, part of the reason why is because Earth's greatest hero died a few years before I was born. He was named Son Goku, and he wasn't taken down by an enemy, but by a new heart virus. A cure was developed, but not in time to save him."

It had to be a pretty strong virus too, to take out a saiyan.

"So, about 3 years later when the androids appeared, he wasn't there to help fight. Piccolo and the others tried, but they were killed. And with Piccolo dead, there was no hope of using the dragon-balls. The only ones who survived were my master and Goku's son, Gohan, and my mother." A brief pause. "She's not a fighter in the martial arts sense, but she's a genius in multiple fields and has helped save the world before." Another brief pause. "I was about 6 months old."

[nutkrusher]

"It's a lot to carry," Cassie says. "Everybody else steps up and swings and misses. Then your turn comes up, and all anybody has to say to you is 'You're up, kid, there's no one else.'"

[light_of_willpower]

"Gohan bore that weight well, and I'd have helped him carry it more if he'd let me." Trunks said softly, almost too softly. Because in the end, Gohan hadn't let him help--and died. Maybe he knew Trunks wasn't ready, and that's why he'd knocked him out--to save him. It still hurt though.

"Gohan was half-saiyan, like me. He taught me, and originally he was Piccolo's student." So she'd have the connection, as he'd mentioned the Namekian training his master earlier that day. "He...he died when I was 14. Murdered by the Androids."

[nutkrusher]

Cassie shuts her eyes. "I'm sorry."

She pauses.

"So your mother built the time machine to stop all that from happening?"

He had said she was a genius inventor.

[light_of_willpower]

"She did, and I went back when I was 16. I went to a point 3 years before this all happened, to meet Goku when he came back to Earth, and to stop Freiza in his place. Frieza was an intergalactic emperor who wanted revenge on Goku, and would take it out on Earth. That was the first time I met pretty much everyone but my mother."

Which had also been awkward as anything. "I warned Goku, and gave him the cure for the heart virus. I couldn't tell anyone who I was though."

There's a deep sigh, easily heard and felt from how Cassie was draped across his back. "It didn't change anything in my world, though."

[nutkrusher]

"Because it wasn't enough? Or because that's just how time travel works?"

[light_of_willpower]

"Probably because that's how time travel works. I found out when I came back later to help the past, that I'd also managed to change things. There were androids that showed up that I had no clue about. It...was kind of a mess." Which is part of why he'd stayed---he felt responsible.

"I went back when I was 17, to help them fight. I can say, that Goku lived. But I didn't necessarily really change anything for the better. That's how I know Piccolo however, and I'm from a point in his timeline's past, relative to where he is on the train. We were all in a tournament against an even more advanced homicidal biologically engineered android named Cell, for the fate of the world."

[nutkrusher]

So it sounds like an alternate timeline. Star Trek reboot rules, she'd say, if this weren't entirely too serious a conversation to bring that up.

"I...think the name Cell sounds familiar. Piccolo must have brought him up. How long have you been in the past fighting him?"

[light_of_willpower]

"It gets a bit tricky, as technically it's only been a few months. But I've spent two years in the room of space-and-time, roughly, trying to get stronger."

[nutkrusher]

Cassie holds her question for a moment as they pass through another threshold. The distraction gives her time to bury any...questionable thoughts she might have been having about his age.

"And how's that work?"

[light_of_willpower]

"Every day out here is one year in there. It's...a tricky and interesting dimension found on Kami's tower. Not used lightly, trust me."

[nutkrusher]

"Sounds handy," Cassie says. "Definitely believe you that it's serious shit, though. I wouldn't think you'd use something like that just to cram for a final."

[light_of_willpower]

"Not unless you like having the gravity shift on you randomly, in terms of how much pressure it puts out. Or sudden freezing cold weather, or a burning inferno. It's not a vacation at all."

[nutkrusher]

"Never heard of a pocket dimension that was," Cassie says.

Actually, her visit to one had been considerably less pleasant than that.

[light_of_willpower]

"If you find one, let me know. I could use a vacation." Oh look, he could joke back! His blush has just about faded too, which probably had something to do with it.

"Anyway, I was in the middle of that tournament when the train picked me up. I'm hoping, based on some things Piccolo said, that things will go well. But I'm also scared to ask for more information, because that could make things tricky when I go home, y'know?"

[nutkrusher]

"I...know how that goes, actually," Cassie says. "My mother came onto this train wounded. And about two years into my future. If the train hadn't taken her she wouldn't have made it."

She sighs.

"Not exactly sure what to do with that information."

[light_of_willpower]

Trunks winces in sympathy. "That's definitely rough. IS she healing alright here?"

[nutkrusher]

"Yeah," Cassie says. "Though she needed the break we took on that resort planet a couple weeks back more than pretty much anybody else."

She shuts her eyes and exhales again.

"Really hope you make it through without losing anybody else who's close to you."

[light_of_willpower]

"I appreciate that. It's definitely been...interesting. Getting to know all these people I'd only heard about from Mom. And Gohan--he's younger than the Gohan I knew." Obviously. "But seeing some of the similarities has been startling, as well as the differences."

[nutkrusher]

"It'd be something to meet the heroes my parents always told me about," Cassie says. "Liu Kang, Kitana, Kung Lao, Nightwolf. The real, living versions anyway. They all died before I was born, during the Outworld invasion. All of Earthrealm's best, except for Mom and Dad. Then the Netherrealm attacked, and Quan Chi brought them all back as revenants serving Shinnok."

She shuts her eyes and shudders a little.

"Then they came back twenty years later. My team and I had to fight them all when we made our last-ditch assault on Shinnok."

[light_of_willpower]

"That's rough." It was more than rough, but it was all he could think of to say. Pausing as he walked, and tilting his head briefly against hers--it was the closest he could do right then to a sign of solidarity.

"Like I said, this Shinnok shows up, you won't be facing him alone."