014 [Action] OPEN TO ALL - 4th wall characters included

[fashionably_strong]

[Bulla is walking throughout Balamb Garden and being particularly alert. Time Compression has brought the Garden a new surprise lately - people who appear for a couple of hours at a time and then vanish again. She's had a few experiences with it, but there are particular people she's looking for. Trunks had found a younger version of their father, and she's on the look out for anyone who might be from her world. There are some people she'd like to see, and others that she and Trunks would have to protect most other people here from.

There are a few she not only would trust to have her back, but also wouldn't worry too much about. As for everyone else...they are best kept away from some of the dangerous people of her world. Bulla knows that she probably isn't strong enough yet to take on many of the enemies her family and friends have - but she is stronger than before, and far more focused and determined.

The expression on her face as she walks around is uncharacteristically serious. Not angry or stern. Just very serious. She feels a responsibility to Balamb Garden that she didn't feel when she first arrived here nearly two years ago.]

Comments

[fashionably_strong]

[Bulla's expression softens and she has the vague urge to introduce her palm to her face for her own haste.]

Alternate timeline, remember? In my timeline, Cell was defeated.

[As for explaining that your dad was de-aged more recently, she'll just skip that. Better to stick to the more pertinent and reassuring information.]

Most of my life was pretty peaceful.

[neededahand]

It must be. I've... Cell? Do you mean... the androids' battery cells? I probably would have stood a better chance against the damn things if they'd ever run down.

[That last part is extremely vicious, almost growled. Not really consistent with nerdy scholar Bulla's known most of her life.

But that last sentence catches him off-guard for a moment, before he smiles.]

Thank goodness. Your mother... must have finished her time machine. Trunks must have made all of the difference. I'm grateful there was a peaceful world for you, and... my daughter, I suppose.

[fashionably_strong]

Yes, they managed to change everything when Trunks went back in time. In my timeline, you're working for Capsule Corp and our families have dinner together pretty regularly. Grampa retired and Trunks just became the new company president, actually.

[She's glad it seems to be helping. It's odd to think of an older Gohan being unmarried and with no daughter, but such is the alternate future he and Trunks came from.]

[neededahand]

[That makes him laugh.]

Poor Mom. I guess she gave up on the idea of Dad's friends all being terrible influences?

[He shakes his head, smiling fondly. Even proudly; he'd helped raise the kid from infancy, started from when Gohan himself was ten. This wasn't the same Trunks, of course, but...]

Trunks running Capsule Corp. I can hardly imagine it. He's a bright kid, but it just seems to clash with the life he's lived--but I guess that wouldn't be a problem in a peaceful world.

Hey! How are the others? Piccolo and Krillin and our dads, and everyone else?

[fashionably_strong]

His biggest problem with having to run Capsule Corp is that whenever he's not at work, dad gets on his case for not training enough.

[She laughs a little. Being daddy's girl means she gets away with not training as much.]

Everyone's doing well. Krillin is married, too. His daughter Marron is my other best friend.

[neededahand]

[Gohan grins hard enough that his face may actually begin to hurt. Naivete, it comes out--]

That's fantastic, that's what he'd wanted-- did Maron come back? Or somebody else?

[fashionably_strong]

[This might not be the best news, but she can't lie to Gohan.]

Well...actually, things turned out way differently than you might have expected. He married Android 18.

1/3

[neededahand]

[What. Well.

Trunks. Did the thing. That permitted his father-- and-- but still--

Well.]

2/3

[neededahand]

[If I'm being strictly, strictly fair, it's not at all different from Vegeta and Bulma getting together, or even me being friends with Piccolo, after Piccolo tried to kill Dad at the tournament. I guess Trunks ensuring Dad's survival really was the difference-maker...]

[neededahand]

That's nightmarish, but... I guess if she never killed them, there's nothing for me to hold a grudge over.

[Changes nothing about what he feels for his own world's 18.]

I mean-- Everyone thought Piccolo was a horrible monster, but he didn't kill any of the group and he warmed up to us, right?

I'd want to be rational for Krillin's sake. That's. Fair, isn't it?

[fashionably_strong]

If it helps, she's actually pretty protective of both Krillin and Marron.

[Sarcastic, yes, but there's no doubt as to whether or not she loves her husband and child.]

I think you're being fair.

[neededahand]

[It doesn't. It's. With that-- how is that-- even-- ANDROID. CHILD. Does not. Will not.]

It's painful thinking about it. Strange. I mean, I'm happy for him-- but it's... after.

They're all happy, right? How long has it been?

[fashionably_strong]

Well, Marron's older than me, but I've been here for almost two years and when Time Compression sent me home once last year it was like I'd only been gone for three days...so it's hard to tell.

But over sixteen years, anyway.