DB series Story collection

Point of no return II

Trunks tugged off one of his father's ripped and bloody white gloves, and then was going to do the same with the other when he realized that Vegeta was gripping a tight fist with that hand. He glanced at his father's bruised face but Vegeta was leaning his head forward, his good eye closed as he focused on simply breathing. Trunks narrowed his eyes and looked back down, seeing that Vegeta was holding onto something. Trunks gently tried pulling his father's fingers apart and found little resistance.

Trunks grabbed the item quickly and stuffed it in the top of his own suit under his armor where he was keeping Goku's antidote and his time machine capsule, not bothering to look yet to see what it was. He did it before Cui even noticed. He then easily removed the other bloody glove, before stepping back as Cui roughly ripped off the top of Vegeta's blue torn and bloodied fighting suit. Trunks cringed when he saw the nasty bruising littering Vegeta's body, particularly on his left side. His ribs looked like they were going to cave with every shaky breath the prince took. Trunks sighed and crossed his arms as Cui put a breathing mask on his father and hooked him up to get readouts.

"How long is this going to take?" Trunks asked as Cui stepped out and pressed some keys on the panel.

"Eh, not that long. Vegeta recovers faster than most since he's used to Frieza's beatings. Or he'll just get pissed off and blast his way out," Cui chuckled as the machine came to life. Trunks stepped forward a little, his blue eyes curious as he watched fluid began to rise in the tank. "Saiyan's got a temper that's legendary around here."

"I bet," Trunks said quietly. He watched for a while before turning to Cui. Trunks hesitated for a second, but decided it was worth a shot. "Hey, um..." Cui looked up from the readings he was getting on Vegeta, giving Trunks an annoyed look. Trunks forced himself to continue, "This scouter is acting up a little. I was wondering if you knew where I could find some tools to fix it?"

"Just get a new scouter," Cui said, looking at the teenager like he was an idiot. "Saiyans, they're all stupid, the whole lot of them," Cui muttered under his breath as he turned his attention back to the readouts.

Trunks scowled and figured this was going nowhere. He took a glance at Vegeta, but he looked fine. In fact, the tension had left his body now that he was completely submerged in the fluid of the rejuvenation chamber, and his trembling had finally subsided. The teenager hesitated momentarily, not fully trusting the purple alien before him. But then he recalled him mentioning something along the lines of Frieza being pissed if something happened to Vegeta. Trunks didn't understand that one bit since Frieza was the reason his father was so injured, but he didn't question it either.

The teenager turned and walked out of the room. He took a deep breath and was thinking about where the hell he could go to find some tools when he remembered the thing he had taken out of Vegeta's hand. Making sure there was no one around to see, he pulled it out and curiously examined it.

He was holding what looked like a small broken off piece from a chest plate of armor. It was jagged and about an inch across, and the coloring was an old, worn, pale yellow that betrayed its years. The material was as strong as ever though. Trunks gazed at it in curiosity, wondering why his father would be holding what looked like garbage to him, and where in the world Vegeta had been hiding it. He wiped the blood on it away and turned it over, and his eyes widened.

There was an intricate red design on the piece that Trunks instantly recognized. He reached down the front of his black suit under his armor and pulled out the chain his mother had given him shortly after Gohan's death. He raised the steel pendant at the end of his chain and held the two items side by side. The design engraved on his pendant matched the one engraved and painted red into the small, broken piece of amor...