With Frieza officially erased, Lisette allowed her tension to ebb. It was a surprise that Turles—not Goku—had been the one to strike the final blow, but the result was the same. The immediate threat was gone.
However, this was only the prelude. It was merely the prologue to the war that would begin in three years. Lisette walked toward Goku and pulled him aside.
"Goku."
"Hm? What is it, Lisette?"
"Can we talk? Just us."
The information she was about to receive was meant for Goku's ears alone. She knew Piccolo, with his sensitive hearing, would likely listen in anyway, but she trusted him to keep the secret. Sure enough, the Namekian was already casting curious glances their way.
"Sure thing. I've been meaning to catch up with you anyway."
"Let's head over to that hill."
Lisette led him toward a specific energy signature she had been tracking—a power suppressed to the level of a normal human, but distinct enough for her to identify. She had been worried when he didn't appear during the fight with Frieza, but it seemed 'he' had successfully made the trip to this era.
The fact that he was here confirmed one thing: this wasn't the "Timeline of Despair." Not yet.
At the top of the hill stood a silver-haired youth. He had his father's sharp eyes and his mother's refined features. He wore a jacket bearing the Capsule Corporation logo and carried a sword on his back.
There was no mistake. It was Trunks.
"I've been expecting you, Lisette... or rather, Goddess."
"...So, you already know who I am."
Lisette had harbored a lingering fear: Does a version of me even exist in the future? She was, by definition, an Irregular. Had she not regained the memories of her past life, she likely would have lived and died as a simple village girl. Trunks's reaction settled it. Future Lisette existed—or at least, she had.
"What's this? Do you know him?" Goku asked.
"No, we've never met. Though it seems he knows quite a bit about us," Lisette replied honestly.
Goku looked puzzled, but since he sensed no malice, he remained relaxed. Trunks, on the other hand, offered a strained smile, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
"I'm amazed. It's exactly as I was told. Even though we've never met, you already know exactly who I am."
"...Did you get that information from 'me'?"
"You really do know everything. As expected of the Goddess... then you likely know why I'm here as well."
Lisette nodded slightly. She had no intention of explaining the meta-knowledge to Goku; it would be too much of a headache. Trunks asked Goku to turn Super Saiyan, then transformed himself. After a brief, friendly clash to test Goku's strength, Trunks turned serious.
"I'm going to tell you both everything. But please, keep this between us."
"Don't worry," Goku said. "I can keep a secret."
"I'm not one to leak sensitive information needlessly," Lisette added.
Trunks began his tale. At first, it followed the script Lisette knew: He had traveled from twenty years in the future. He was the son of Vegeta and Bulma. On May 12th, three years from now, at 10:00 AM, two Androids would appear on an island nine kilometers southwest of South City.
But then, the story took a sharp turn into the absurd.
"In my time, the Goddess defeated Androids 19 and 20, but that was only the beginning. The following day, 17 and 18were activated. A few days after that, Androids 13, 14, and 15 joined them. The entire Earth became a battlefield."
Wait a minute, Lisette thought, her eyes widening. The movie villains are showing up in the main timeline? And 19 and 20—who don't even exist in the Future Trunks timeline—were there too? What happened?
"Did the future version of me not destroy Gero's lab?" Lisette asked.
"No... apparently, you tried to launch an attack, but Gero had already abandoned the lab and vanished. Future Lisette believed that Gero moved his operations specifically to hide from your 'Far-Sight' ability."
So it was my fault... Lisette felt a wave of self-reproach. It made sense; a genius like Gero would naturally go into hiding if he knew an Irregular like her was hunting him.
"Piccolo and the Previous God assimilated to try and counter the threat, which meant the Dragon Balls vanished from Earth. We gained a temporary advantage, but then Android 13 absorbed the parts of 14 and 15 to become Super Android 13. My father... Vegeta... was the first to be killed."
"Vegeta was the first to fall?" Lisette echoed.
"Yes. To change the tide, you went to King Kai to find the coordinates of New Namek. You intended to use their Dragon Balls, but you ran into another disaster."
"Another one?"
"Namek had been seized by a mechanical planet called the Big Gete Star. You couldn't get to the Dragon Balls."
Lisette wanted to bury her face in her hands. I killed Cooler! I sent him into the sun! How did the Big Gete Star still happen?
"The core of the machine was Cooler. You thought you had killed him, but Future Lisette said the logic was backwards."
"Backwards?"
"Yes. You knew about the Big Gete Star and assumed Cooler would never find it. But Cooler didn't find the star... the star found him. His sheer hatred was a beacon that drew the Big Gete Star to him. No matter where you killed him, they were destined to merge."
Lisette went silent. It was a terrifying realization. The "red string of fate" between Cooler and the machine was absolute.
"After that, an army of Metal Coolers invaded Earth. The war intensified. Then, a Saiyan named Paragus and his son, the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly, arrived to settle a grudge against my grandfather. In that battle, the primary defenders—Piccolo and Turles—were killed. They were followed by Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Boss Rabbit, and Nappa."
Lisette felt like going back to the Lookout and hiding under her covers. A movie villain rush? Broly? How were they supposed to survive that?
"Then came Dr. Lychee and his phantom warrior Hatchiyack, fueled by hatred for the Saiyans. Then the Hera Clan led by Bojack. Earth was no longer a planet; it was a mass grave for galactic terrors."
"...Yeah. That sounds like a battlefield, alright," Lisette muttered.
"The barrier between the living world and the Other World collapsed. Dead villains began to return. A sorcerer named Babidi arrived with his crew, followed by a monster from another galaxy called Hirudegarn. Earth was on the brink of total extinction."
Lisette was genuinely impressed that her future self was even still alive at that point. Broly, Bojack, Hirudegarn, Dabura, Super 13, Hatchiyack, and an army of Metal Coolers? That's not a timeline; that's a joke.
"Faced with the end of the world, you launched one final assault. You managed to seal most of the hostile factions into a sub-space barrier, forcing them to fight each other. Finally, you faced Broly in a one-on-one duel. You won, and Earth was saved."
Lisette blinked. Go me! I actually beat Broly in a 1v1? I have no idea how, but that's incredible.
"But Gohan, who acted as a decoy to draw their attention, was killed in the crossfire. And you... after using every ounce of your power in that final strike, fell into a deep sleep. You haven't opened your eyes since."
So I'm likely dead, Lisette concluded. She knew herself. She had probably pushed her Burst Limit so far beyond her capacity to kill Broly that her soul had burnt out. Her "Invariable" body would keep her looking like she was sleeping, but the pilot was gone.
"Earth was saved at a terrible cost," Trunks continued, his voice trembling. "But then... the humans destroyed it themselves. Foolish scientists tried to create a 'Ultimate Warrior' using Broly's DNA to protect against future aliens. They created a mindless, uncontrollable monster: Bio-Broly. It's a mass of organic chemicals that consumes everything it touches, growing larger every day. And it's far too strong for me to handle."
"Is there no way to stop it?"
"It turns to stone if it touches seawater, so it hasn't crossed the oceans yet. That's the only reason humanity survives. But it's slowly absorbing the minerals from the water and growing. My mother estimates that in ten years, it will swallow the entire planet."
Lisette wanted to scream. Why would they make Bio-Broly?! After all that, they made Bio-Broly?!
"In the end, all that's left is a hellscape. Everyone is dead. New Namek was destroyed by the Big Gete Star, so we can't use their Dragon Balls. We have no way to bring back what we lost."
Trunks looked ready to cry. Lisette felt the same. This wasn't just "The Future of Despair"; this was "EX Hard Mode" Dragon Ball. It seemed that in a world without Goku, the movie villains just kept coming until the planet broke.
"Wait," Goku interrupted. "What about me? What happened to me in that future?"
"You didn't get to fight. Soon, you'll be struck by a viral heart disease. And you'll die."
Lisette nodded. If Goku was out of the picture, the "Movie Rush" would naturally result in a total collapse.
"Did I not use the Dragon Balls to save him?" Lisette asked.
"You tried. But the timing was cursed. Just a few days before Goku collapsed, someone else had gathered the Dragon Balls and used them for a trivial wish. They were inactive when we needed them most."
Lisette sighed. Of all the times for a random Earthling to find the balls...
"The disease moved too fast," Trunks added. "Future Lisette said that your training as a Super Saiyan made it worse. The transformation accelerated the virus. She tried to tell you to stop training, but..."
"Goku!" Lisette snapped. "Who trains until they literally die of a heart attack!?"
"Hey, don't look at me! I haven't done it yet!" Goku protested.
Trunks offered a small, hopeful smile. "I wanted to change that world. And then I remembered something Future Lisette once said: 'If only Goku were alive, none of this would have happened.' I decided to bet everything on that sentiment. I'm betting on the man the Goddess believed in."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small glass vial.
"Take this when the symptoms appear. In twenty years, we have a cure for that virus. This is the key to changing the future."
He handed the medicine to Goku—the final hope to stop the "Future of Despair" from becoming a reality.
***
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