Chapter 24: The Parallels

('Flashback narration')

After the events that transpired from team RWBY's mission in Mount Glenn, and the unleashing and destruction of Grimm by Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta, and Black in Vale, the first year students were allotted some days off from school to rest and get ready for the Vytal Tournament starting very soon.

However for Gohan and Trunks, who came from across time and space, this gave them an even bigger headache.

Explaining who they were and where they came from.

The four men from different times all sat on the roof of the school, Team RWBY and Team JNPR came along to hear the stories of the two newest saiyans they've met.

"So, you just showed up here? After we defeated you?" Trunks asked Black.

"Yeah, no idea why I was drawn here."

Black told him.

"You said your time machine brought you here, why is that?"

"I thought it was following you. But mom knows more about this type of thing."

Black frowned in remembrance of Trunks' Mother.

Team RWBY and JNPR sat silently, listening in on their conversation.

Gohan leaned forward towards his old student, "So in your time....I'm the one who died..." Trunks looked over and nodded sadly. "And I died in your time?" Trunks asked him.

Gohan looked away and Vegeta looked down.

"Gohan? Dad? Whats the matter? What happen to me there?" Trunks asked them.

"Trunks, in my time, Black didn't take my fathers body......he took yours." Gohan told him.

Trunks looked at Gohan in horror. "No....no he couldn't have taken....me?"

Gohan nodded. "It was a few years after we beat the wizard Babadi. You went missing after the fight, Me and your Bulma didn't stop searching until North City was attacked. They were just finishing up on rebuilding the last cities when we were attacked all over again."

-Flashback, Age 797, North City in Ruins-

'I arrived at least an hour after North City fell.'

Gohan flew into the ruins of the recently rebuilt city. His face twisted into one of anger and horror as he continued through the destruction.

'I remember thinking "We just found peace, after so much horror, will this ever end?"'

Gohan stopped near one of the few still standing buildings, scanning one of its many damaged sides for survivors when a purple bladed wave of ki flew out of the dark clouds above and nearly hit Gohan before he moved away.

"Who's there?!" Gohan powered up and fired a few blasts into the clouds. The blasts lit the dark clouds filling the sky with golden lights.

Several more purple blasts came flying from the clouds but Gohan just deflected them into other buildings causing them to crumble to the ruined streets below.

"Well, well-" A familiar but different voice fell from the sky, "-Look at you all heroic. You pathetic mortal." A dark world wind floated down from the sky. More blasts rained down from the world wind.

Gohan moved side to side avoiding the blasts before flying up onto a building.

"Who are you?!" Gohan screamed into the dark storm.

The world Wind floated down into the city before dispersing in a burst of winds. "Silly little Gohan, you know who I am." The voice said again as the dark winds finally receded and revealed the man behind the voice.

"No......You......Trunks?!" Gohan stared at the man floating over the ruined city.

He wore a purple jacket with a black undershirt, a red scarf, black pants, a red belt, and white boots. He had a blue shade of hair and onyx eyes that didn't match the viscous smile on his face.

Gohan growled in anger "What do you think your doing?! Why did you destroy this city?!"

"To rid this planet of infestation of course." This version of Trunks spoke with conviction.

"Infestation? What are you talking about? We've been looking for you for months! Where have you been?!"

'I didn't know what had happen to you.....It wasn't until father and Vegeta came back did I know the truth.'

"Oh, Gohan you sad, sad, boy. To think you shouldn't even exist, alas there must always be a thorn in the side of justice." this Trunks said while reaching for his sword.

"Justice?! You think destroying a city, destroying peoples lives is justice?!" Gohans aura flared up and cracked the buildings roof under him.

This Trunks unsheathed his blade and stared into his reflection in the metal"Yes, Gohan. This is the only true justice. Divine Judgement, Godly Intervention, Holy Wrath........Pure Eradication."

"What has gotten into you?! Who's made you think this way?!"

This Trunks pulled his blade away and looked down to Gohan. "I've come to this realization myself. And now the time for talk is over, now the time for eradication begins."

Gohan assumed a stance as This Trunks charged forward with his blade in hand.

'This was the first of many battles to come, so you can guess what happen next.'

-End of flashback-

Trunks looked down at the ground in shock.

"Father and Vegeta came to help after I traveled back. The rest happen as it did in your time only with you being...him."

Black looked of into the distance, ashamed of his counterparts actions in Gohans alternate world.

"So....did I....did He kill her?" Trunks asked.

Gohan needed no name to know who he was talking about.

Vegeta leaned in realizing his wife was involved.

"Just before I went back to the past. I'm so sorry Trunks." Gohan told him.

Black looked at Trunks who was reeling from the story.

He knelt down beside Trunks and told him "Trunks....I know there is nothing I can say or do to let you know how deeply sorry I am for my other counterparts and my own actions in the past. But I am truly sorry."

Trunks looked up slightly and shook his head "I know that it was a different timeline, and your still trying to change. But it doesn't mean I'll just forgive you quite yet."

A loud crunch from the buildings shingled roof pulled the attention three time travelers towards Vegetas direction.

He had punched through a portion of the roof.

"Vegeta...." Gohan looked at his old friend.

"Bulma.....is dead? My....Bulma.....she was killed by that version of Black?" Vegeta asked.

Gohan nodded and looked down.

Vegetas cold and menacing gaze turned towards Black.

"In your time.....did you kill her?"

"Vegeta I-" Black started but he didn't get to finish.

"Did....you....kill....her?" He asked slowly getting to his feet with an anger that was beaming across his face.

Black stood up and looked him in the eyes. "....Yes." Black honestly and solemnly told him.

Vegeta breathed in and then breathed out very slowly.

His fist gripped so tightly that he pierced his gloves and his skin. Blood ran down his fist and dripped off his knuckles.

"Was she brought back?"

Team RWBY and JNPR heard that and didn't understand it at all.

"As far as I know..... Bulma wasn't brought back." Black told him.

Vegeta's breaths spread up and became much louder.

"Trunks.......I want an answer on this right now.....did your mother come back?"

Trunks looked up. "In a way I guess she did. After we beat Zamasu, me and a girl named Mai went to the timeline where Zamasu was erased by Beerus. So in a way she did come back there."

Vegeta calmed his breaths. His fists grip loosened.

He let out a single sigh, before he threw a hard punch into Blacks face sending him flying backwards onto the roof.

"Vegeta!" Gohan jumped to his feet unexpected of Vegetas action.

"Father..." Trunks just looked down.

Black pushed himself into a sitting position. He wiped a streak of blood from under his nose.

"That was for Bulma." Vegeta said quietly.

Black looked up at Vegeta. He went to say something but only looked down in regret.

Vegeta walked over to the downed Black.

"Be glad her death wasn't permanent." He told him while reaching down with a hand.

Black looked up before taking it.

After Vegeta pulled him up he tugged his arm forward and got close to him. "And don't you ever say her name in my presence. Ever." He told him threateningly before walking away.

He pasted by the three saiyans and the two groups before heading inside.

Silence pasted for awhile. Trunks got up and started to walk after his father. "I'll go talk to him."

Black nodded keeping his eyes on the ground.

Gohan just sat back down. "Your trying to amend for your actions. Vegeta understands that.....just be weary of mentioning his wife."

Black looked over at Gohan before sighing.

More silence pasted and then the two teams moved closer to the saiyans.

Ruby rugged on Blacks sleeve.

"Yes, Ruby?" Black asked her pitting on a small smile for the young child.

"You guys kept talking about if she came back....what did you guys mean?" She asked.

Gohan looked at her and then at Black.

"You haven't told them about the dragon balls?"

"Dragon Balls? Didn't you say something about those when you told us who you were?" Jaune asked him.

"I did, but I didn't tell you what they could do. See the Dragon Balls have the power to grant any wish inside their realm of power."

"They do what?!" The eight teens screamed at him.

Black let out a sweat of nervousness.

Gohan chuckled in enjoyment.

"They can grant wishes?! Like what?!" Ruby and Nora asked him with stars in their eyes.

"Well, I think the most often used one is the ability to bring anyone back to life who has died of unnatural causes. Like being stabbed to death or evaporated by a ki blast."

"So that's what you guys meant by bringing Vegeta's wife back." Blake said.

"Exactly, but they can do more than that. See, they can even make you immortal." Black told them while shaking his index finger back and forth.

"Immortal?! Like you can never die or be killed by anything?" Pyrrha asked him.

"Well, it definitely makes it a lot harder to kill you but unable to be killed by anything isn't quite right." Gohan put his experience of the dragon balls into play.

"So the wishes have limits?" Ren asked him.

"You hit the nail on the head kid." Gohan told him.

"The dragon balls can only grant wishes inside their realm of power, so asking them to kill someone like me or Vegeta would be impossible. For instance the pair on earth can only bring someone back to life once, right Gohan?" Black asked his bodies son.

"Yeah, but the ones on namek can bring someone back as many times as you want."

"Wait so there are more than one set of these dragon balls.?" Weiss asked.

"Well, technically if the legends are to be believed all the dragon balls came from chips of the super dragon balls. That set of dragon balls have no limits, any wish can be asked of from them." Black told them.

"So how many sets are there?" Yang asked.

"Well, let's see-" Black started to count on his hands "-You have the two sets on earth, the ones on Namek, and the super dragon balls plus the ones from the other Namek in universe six so.... One, two, three, four, five....five sets of dragon balls." Black told them while holding up five fingers.

"Yeah and each of them are different sizes." Gohan added.

"Right, the ones on earth are about the sizes of a decent sized stone, the ones from Namek are about the size of a persons head, and the super dragon balls are the size of a small planet."

"Woah..." The eight teens said in amazement.

"But, yeah those are the dragon balls. I'm actually pretty sure the entire reason the events of our times is because of them." Black told them.

"Yeah, dad told me story's of how Bulma found him when he was a kid and the two of them started on an adventure to gather them. That's how my dad met his future masters and even my mom. So yeah they are the reason for just about everything that's happen to us." Gohan said.

Black nodded and the group kept talking in awe of the wish granting orbs saying what they would wish for if they ever found them.

"That's enough talk about them. Its time to start heading back inside. The Vytal Tournament is starting in just three days. So let's rest up and start getting ready for it tomorrow. Gohan, I'll get you and Trunks introduced to Ozpin tomorrow. Maybe there's finally enough of us to form a whole new team." Black said excited. He wouldn't have to deal with his hopefully stress induced dreams of Yang doing stuff to him in his sleep.

'Good kai I hope those were dreams.'

"So you don't want to be on a team with us any more, huh?" He heard Weiss say angrily.

He slowly turned to see the four girls in utter rage looking at him.

"I believe I've said to much.... Gotta run!" He yelled and took off.

"GET BACK HERE BLACK!" The four girls yelled in unison and took off after him.

Gohan watched and chuckled nervously at the group.

"What have I gotten myself into now..he he...."

Dear God that was a while cooking, sorry for the wait it was ya know Christmas time and all. Ya know all sparkly and festive and jolly and what not.....I can't wait to get back to my regularly scheduled writing and I hope you guys enjoyed.

I am also changing up some story from Ruby, just one little thing....when Winter shows up....she's not gonna be leaving since ya know the whole Black-Winter thing....Blinter....Wack....Blinter-Wack....yeah....

Any ways I'll see ya next time on Dragon Bal- SH*T WRONG EXIT SEQUENCE!