Work Text
The following is a non-profit fan based - Oh fuck it, like these disclaimers matter. Enjoy.
"Oh, one more thing before we get started. Do you mind holding still for a second?" Trunks asked as he pulled a phone out of his pocket."What are you – " Frieza started and was cut off by the flash of the camera."Sorry, my mom wanted a picture of you… for some reason.""I'm just going to ignore that one. Would you like an autograph?""I don't think you can sign digital pictures.""Because usually the only signature I'm going to leave is the conspicuous absence of the third planet in this miserable solar system."Trunks sighed and drew his sword. "Well you clearly were just waiting to say that."
After killing King Cold and his little princess.
"Great, just over three hours till Goku gets here… Looks like there's enough time for plan B.""What's Plan B?" Bulma asked, taking a sip of her Hetap."Can I borrow your dragon radar?" Trunks said.Bulma smirked and slid closer to him, pulling the dragon radar out of her bra.Trunks recoiled. "Why do you keep that there?!""What? I never leave home without it and this dress doesn't have any pockets.""Not the point!""Well here's my point – I think I can feel a connection between us. Do you feel it too?""Not that kind of –""So, if you want this dragon radar, since I'm doing a favour for you, maybe you could do a favour for me in exchange…"Trunks narrowed his eyes. "What kind of favour?"Bulma grinned. "The fun kind."Trunks screamed internally then cut it off abruptly as he smiled a deranged smile and snatched the dragon radar from her hand. "Yes! I'll do you a favour, tomorrow! Anything you want, as long as its tomorrow!"Bulma was startled by getting the dragon radar grabbed from her, but smirked and leaned back suggestively as she heard Trunks' answer. "Looking forward to it, momma's boy.""Not as much anymore!" Trunks yelled, then blasted off into the air.The Z-Fighters watched him leave. The silence was broken by Tien."You know, you look desperate when you lay it on that thick."She glared at him. "Look, my options are Yamcha, or Vegeta, I am desperate!"Yamcha groaned and Vegeta continued to try and work out where the couldn't-possibly-be-a-Super-Saiyan had come from.
One dragon ball collecting montage later (RIP General Tao)
It took less than three hours to gather the dragon balls."Somehow I thought that would be more difficult." Trunks said as he watched the dragon balls glow and the spectral form of Shenron shoot out from the balls and fill the darkened sky.
"I AM THE ETERNAL DRAGON. SPEAK YOUR WISH AND IT SHALL BE GRANTED. And let me just say, I'm happy to be summoned by someone besides those bald assholes."
Trunks laughed. "I'm not even going to ask! Dragon, teleport me to the lab where Dr Gero is working on the cyborgs!"
"Your wish shall be granted! But uh, this is a bit of a waste. You could've just asked your mom."
"First of all, how do you know about that? Secondly, why should I ask her? It's not like she knows where Dr Gero's lab is."Shenron was silent for a moment, then made a mental note to add a monkey's paw condition to the next wish he granted.
"That's a conversation for you two to have later. Granting wish now."
Dr Gero's Evil Lair (the evil basement cost extra)
Dr Gero cackled evilly. "Yes, now the next step of my plan is ready to commence! Time to kidnap two rebellious, strong willed delinquent teenagers with a penchant for defying authority figures and turn them into the strongest beings on the planet! I feel like there's some serious flaw in this plan I'm overlooking, but I'm so high on medication right now I can't possibly imagine what it could be!""I could tell you, but I'd much rather show you."Gero spun around and saw the purple haired youth standing behind him with a ki blast aimed at him."Who are you?!""Karma.""But I haven't done anything yet!""You will. But let me ask you a question, what are those?" Trunks pointed at the schematics lying on the metal table.A bead of nervous sweat rolled down Dr Gero's forehead. "Those are plans.""Plans for what?""…A gas-powered toaster oven""You're a terrible liar."Before the Doctor could do anything there was a blur and the blueprints were in Trunks' hands."These are plans for the cyborgs! Oh these are so gonna come in handy.""Glad to be of assistance. Well, I suppose you must be going." Dr Gero said, taking small steps backwards towards the door."Yeah I suppose – Oh no, you're not getting off that easily."Before Dr Gero could respond, Trunks fired a blast and annihilated the lab and the entire top of the mountain it was in."Well, that takes care of that." Trunks said, stuffing the blueprints into his jacket. "You know with all these changes to the timeline I'm surprised I haven't disappeared already. Guess we're working on Back to the Future rules."
Back at the site of Goku's pending arrival
"Man, he is taking forever to get here. Did Frieza just kill everyone in my time?" Trunks muttered, then reluctantly landed next to his future mom."One dragon radar, thanks.""You're welcome." She said, inserting it into her cleavage again."By the way, do you know where Dr Gero's lab is?"She nodded. "Of course I do. All scientists know where every other scientist's lab is.""Why didn't you tell me!?""You just asked!""Not what I -! Nevermind." He sighed.Bulma glared at him with her hands on her hips. "Look buddy, I don't get what your deal is, you're cute and all but if you keep giving me attitude I'm going to lose interest. You're not my only option you know, Vegeta is right there, and you wouldn't like that, would you?"Trunks looked from her to his father, whose pink shirt now had 'Joy Toy' written on the back, and cracked a smile. "Actually, I would like that very much!"Bulma frowned. "Is this reverse psychology?"Goku's abruptly crashed down a few hundred meters away, cutting off that awkward conversation.
Off-screen exposition later
After giving Goku his heart medicine, Trunks was back in his time machine, contemplating the mechanics of time travel. He thought about how even if it worked on Back to the Future rules, there should still be another Trunks in that timeline who had grown up without an apocalypse. He pictured a tool in a business suit who never used his sword. He shuddered.When the time machine popped back into existence in the ruined city he was used to, he almost breathed a sigh of relief. Then facepalmed."It just had to be multiverse theory! So, I just inflicted psychological damage on myself for no reason!"He exited the time machine. His mother was standing there with her arms crossed, smoking nonchalantly."So, multiverse theory is real. That would've been good to know. How was the past?"Trunks hopped out of the time machine and did his best not to raise his voice. "Why didn't you tell me where Gero's lab was?!"Her eyes widened in surprise. "Gosh, I completely forgot about that. Whoops."Trunks fought the urge to facepalm and chose to do something constructive instead, reaching into his jacket. "Well at least the trip to the past wasn't a complete waste of time. Check these out."Bulma looked at the blueprints Trunks handed her with confusion, then realisation dawned on her."Are these what I think they are?""If you think they're plans for the cyborgs, then yes."She smirked. "In a few hours, our cyborg problem is going to be a thing of the past. Aren't you glad you have a mom like me?"Trunks chuckled. "Yeah, but not as much as I used to be…""What's that supposed to mean?""You don't want to know."The two of them walked into the Capsule Corp bunker, Bulma pouring over the plans, Trunks trying desperately to forget the side of his mom he'd seen in the past....And in Otherworld, King Kai wondered if he should check how things were going on Earth in the past decade, then remembered how unpleasant it was to share a planet with Yamcha and Tien and decided to go back to watching daytime TV.
Fin
Bonus scene
Outside Dr Gero's lab
"Hey Trunks, Vegeta, you made it! We tried following Dr Gero but this door is way too tough! We all hurt our shoulders trying to get through, do you guys want a try? I bet as Super Saiyans you have really strong –"Krillin was interrupted by a scream of rage and frustration from Trunks as he powered up and charged blast in his hands."OR INSTEAD OF STANDING AROUND TALKING, YOU COULD TRY FIRING A [BLEEP]ING ATTACK AT IT!"The heroes dove out of the way as Trunks fired the attack, annihilating the lab they had spent the last five minutes unsuccessfully trying to break into.Of course, when the smoke cleared 17 and 18 were standing there unscathed, so it didn't really change much. But if one of them had done that earlier, maybe it would have.AN: I am being eaten alive by stress doing research, so I wrote this whole thing one morning. Minimal edits later, here it is. I hope someone else writes HISHE for the Android and Buu Sagas, those are rife with opportunities to end early.