Authoress' Note: It is becoming more and more rare for me to write stories, let alone snippets as of late. As such, I found myself wanting to strangle Cell after reading Espeon804's latest chapter all because he was being so egotistical and thinking he was invincible. It took a death to realize that I was going to have to write something about this chapter overall. As for the death mentioned, please read the story before delving into this snippet!

(Prior to adding this, it's been a little over four years since I last posted one of these, so I am WAY overdue to get something up.)

As such, this is one of my responses to something that had me wanting justice during the chapter. Justice which was not delivered until it was too little, too late.

With that said, I am going to focus on someone who I think had gone through so much turmoil, so much pain in their life this time around.

And this might be one of my deepest explorations I've written! Events in the first scene may or may not have happened, but this is my exploration story dang it!

A Young Man's Burden

One-Shot

"Again!" his teacher's voice yelled harshly as a young Trunks felt his body ache from the pain he was forced to endure for hours. He grunts, forcing himself to get up despite how tired he was, how much he wanted to stay on the ground and just give up.

"Teacher, I haven't eaten since this morning," the young half-Saiyan complained, earning a scowl from Tarble.

"Neither have I, but you don't see me whining like you are," the blind prince answered with disdain towards his student. "We don't have as much food as we used to because we relied on Karot, but you had to let him get killed!"

Killed. Trunks still felt a pang of guilt knowing that Karot was dead, and it was all his fault. Had he been stronger, perhaps they would have had a better chance fighting the androids now that Trunks too had managed to become a Super Saiyan.

However, it took Karot's death to trigger it. Even if he had managed to do it on his own, there was no guarantee that he would have been much help in the battle. It was just him, a newly fledged Super Saiyan with a veteran warrior who had taken the life of his elder brother long before he could take his first steps.

He wanted to prove his worth as a warrior, but he screwed up terribly.

Sadly, it would only get worse.

________

Kakarot's body fell to the ground. Unmoving. The energy that burned like a candle that struggled against the hurricane forces in vain was extinguished with a violent blow. The final words he spoke only moments ago were now an echo, a memory of one more man who had to die in absolute vain because he was not strong enough.

"That is... where you are wrong, Cell," Kakarot was breathing heavily, smiling broadly as though he was the one winning instead of being beaten up badly. Even in the face of an adversary, he was not showing any ounce of fear at the thought of dying. "We were both already dead the moment this tournament bega-"

His last word was cut off before Kakarot could finish his sentence, but it was obvious.

Kakarot knew.

He knew all along that he was going to die.

And Trunks and Karot could not stop it from happening.

It happened again.

'No... no, no, no... I let someone else die because of me...' Trunks was in denial.

Even before his father Raditz managed to crawl over to the fallen warrior's body, there was no denying the deadened, vacant expression on his uncle's face.

The lifeless eyes, just like Karot's were like from the timeline he had traveled from.

A breath hitched as he glanced over at Karot who looked clearly troubled by the news.

Everyone's words were muffled, Trunks felt his mind racing at the thought of everyone he had let down throughout his life.

Karot...

Teacher...

And now, the man who the world seemed to despise all because of his past actions.

Kakarot was taught to hate the humans who captured him, forcing him to endure three years of abhorrent abuse mentally, physically, and psychologically. He was not entirely a monster like they were when they decided to inflict their hatred upon him. He did not deserve their ire for not wishing to be like the other Saiyan that came to Earth.

No, he was forced into that role against his wishes.

Cell goaded Karot further, saying that he had granted the boy's wish that his father was dead. While the boy had said that in the past, Kakarot had tried, he really tried to prove to his son that he knew what he did was wrong. He even apologized to them before he met his demise at the monster that was truly amused that he had succeeded where no one else had by killing Kakarot in cold blood.

Had Trunks never come to this timeline...

Had he helped Tarble...

Had he never gotten involved with matters further...

'It's my fault... it's all my fault...' Trunks thought silently to himself, clearly wanting this all to be a nightmare.

Was it bad that Trunks wanted to wake up from it and be scolded by Tarble for sleeping in so late? He could imagine how irritated he would be...

...before he recalled the last moments with his Teacher who sent him here.

________

"What are you doing?!" Trunks pressed his hands on the window of the time machine. "You said you are coming!"

"This is for your own good. Stay alive for us in the past! Whatever you do, make sure you don't tell my past self that I was your mentor until the time is right!" Tarble called over his shoulder at his pupil. The man's focus was on the androids before him.

The ones he could not sense at all...

"Teacher! You can't fight them alone! You're blind! You're at a disadvantage!" The time machine was humming softly, gears turning as it started up.

The former Saiyan prince, the last pure-blooded warrior from a planet long destroyed, stood there with determination on his face. He knew things did not look good, and there was a good chance he was going to die just to buy Trunks the time he needed to escape and save as many lives as possible in the past.

"If I'm going to die, I'll die like a true Saiyan. I won't run away!" Tarble proclaimed firmly as he slid into a fighting stance.

Trunks attempted to break out, calling out to his teacher in vain even as the androids lunged at Tarble. They attacked the former prince mercilessly, and even then, he refused to allow them anywhere near the time machine that Trunks was in at that moment. He felt helpless as it finished warming up and began to hum with life, a warning that at any moment, he would no longer be able to save Tarble.

'No...' Trunks slammed his fists into the time machine's window once more, wanting to do something, anything to preserve what familial connections he had left. By now, the glow was so bright that everything was starting to become hard to see. The young teenager did not want to lose him too. "TARBLE! DON'T...!"

His pleas were for nothing as he saw everything he knew, the timeline he had endured, vanished without a trace as he was sent spiraling back in time...

________

Tears were rolling down Trunks' face, the thought of losing one more person he had wanted to ensure lived through this madness that Dr. Gero had started years prior. He fell to his knees, wanting to deny everything that happened, but glancing up, he could not get the limp body that Raditz held out of his line of vision.

It wasn't fair...

________

"Nothing in life is fair..." Tarble once told Trunks after his mother died and the young child was brought to the former prince. The man's clouded eyes were unsettling, as though he could see right through the half-Saiyan without much effort. He may be blind, but he was no pushover when it came to training him ruthlessly.

"You need to understand Seleriak that no one is going to hand you everything you want in life... you need to fight for everything you want... tooth and claw... if not, they're going to tear everything you want in life apart..."

________

The air around Trunks was unsettlingly growing hot. Anger was burning within him, something wanting to push away. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cell approach Kauli who laid there helplessly. The others tried and failed to stop the monster, but he swatted them away like unwanted pests.

It wasn't fair...

Cell's main goal was to kill the Saiyan that had once been kin to Aqua before she learned of her true heritage. It would have been easier had she been kept in the dark about her heritage as Trunks had been for nearly half his life before that choice had been torn away from him.

But then, would her life be a lie like his had been? Would they have still killed her for being who she is despite society hating Saiyans?

It wasn't fair...

It had never been fair!

"I caused both of you to lose something no kid should. You both deserve happy memories, but there are none. You both went through so much pain, and Cell here... is a living combination of all of it..." Kakarot spoke in remorse for his actions, wanting to be absolved of his guilt and shame.

He knew that he had screwed up and found out the hard way that he should have not turned his back on humanity like he had. He should have walked away from Raditz and not given him the time of day...

...but he was dragged into a group that thought they were superior to humanity and alienated themselves from everyone. They dragged him out into space, to face Frieza, and returned to slaughter more humans despite Kakarot's protests. Because of his soft-hearted nature, he was cast aside, exiled before he was eventually captured by Chille who wanted to torture him.

It was only worsened when he 'befriended' a demon named Yozai, a demon who by all accounts now has claims on his soul...

IT. ISN'T. FAIR!

Raw energy was starting to flow through him, but it was not alone.

Anger.

Shame.

Grief.

Fury.

All the negative emotions, everything that he felt due to his accursed humanity. He cursed his existence, his birth, and at times, he wished that he never had been born into a world where he was treated less than.

Less than human.

Less than a Saiyan.

Where was someone like him supposed to belong in a world that constantly was meant to reject him for even existing?

Even as Cell continued to taunt his superiority in such a manner that demeaned everyone else, he had forgotten the limitless potential that even a half-Saiyan like himself can possess.

Maybe that was why Kakarot had so much hope in ensuring that the future could be in their hands if they just fought for what was right.

Because he knew that the future had yet to be determined.

Despite the sadness and grief he felt, he started to feel something stronger rising.

Something he never thought he would rely on.

Rage. Pure, reckless rage that had gotten him in trouble in the past.

He never wanted to rely on it, but now, after everything he lost, he did not care what happened to him anymore.

Dropping everything, he opened himself to the rage that threatened to swallow him whole otherwise. In moments, it took hold, burning like an uncontrolled wildfire. For once, the time traveler from a hellish world no longer cared about the consequences as he reached for the power without care of what would happen to him.

The world where he came from was all but dead to him now.

The men he looked up to growing up were long gone.

The last hope he had here was in his father's arms, his body growing more stiff and cold by the moment. His soul is nowhere near the Other World, rather in a demon's clutches since he had laid claim on it out of the man's desperation for someone to trust. Sadly, it was a hand only meant to drag him down to a hell that made the real one seem like a prison in comparison.

While Kakarot had caused so much trouble to humanity, he was unfairly punished for his misdeeds by those who kept him imprisoned and treated him horribly. The death he received in return only left a void in his absence.

A void that made the fury he felt even stronger.

Another, younger scream of malice joined his own, the ground shattering, breaking around them both as he no longer cared who was caught in the crossfire of his pure unadulterated anger.

The target of his anger is Cell. The one who brought the horrors of his future to the present.

And as long as he drew breath into his burning lungs, he would be damned if he let the murderer continue to gloat about his supposed perfection as though it was a reward he was given.

Screw perfection.

Screw Cell.

This man killed too many people.

The bio-android's eyes seemed to stare at them both in utmost disbelief.

Had he finally realized his mistake?

If so, it was too little, too late.

Between Tarble's horrendous transformation to the small abominations of the monster that stood before him, Trunks was done.

Absolute, completely done with this mess.

He lost an uncle. Karot lost a father he had hated.

Yet, Kakarot had shown them both kindness, ensuring that they could continue to live in his absence. How can he ever repay that despite giving everything to protect them?

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Cell's jovial voice cut through the blazing fire of gold that surrounded them both. "Your power... is a raging fire now. What's different this time? What sort of resolve?"

"None." The one-worded answer would have made Trunks tremble in fear in the past.

Instead, he felt the same as his cousin from the past, especially after what atrocities happened not long ago.

"There is... no resolve," Trunks spat out, agreeing with Karot. "None... except your death warrant."

He felt Cell's eyes fall upon him while he rose up to his feet, making a slow, intimidating stride towards the one who left pain and destruction in his wake. After all he did, he was ready to ensure Cell paid for his actions ten-fold.

No, a hundred-fold. He deserved much worse after what he did to everyone upon arriving to this timeline that he had been determined to save.

"But death... is too good of a punishment for you. Your body will be nothing more than a twisted abomination once I'm done..." the teenager continued, his darker blue eyes falling upon Cell as though he is lesser than himself. "I'm going to savor the melody of your suffering... starting with your children..."

Usually, he would have never resorted to such measures of threatening to kill children, but these things were not children.

They were abominations just like Cell.

And they too would join their 'father' in the deepest pits of hell.

That was not just a threat.

It was a promise.

________

With that, I leave the story right there. I know you want more, but I am quite plagued by other ideas that involve Tarble, a demonic monkey, Kakarot himself, and perhaps a few other characters that I wish to explore.

Considering that I hadn't really seen Kauli training with Kakarot, I am somewhat disappointed at what he taught our lovely female Saiyan who I consider a queen the way she handles Turles and Tarble in this story.

Which snippet should I post next though? I can't wait to get to the others I have planned since there are so many questions I have, but I have to wait like everyone else. Meanwhile, that doesn't mean I can't build a fantasy of what might happen.

Anyway, thank you for reading!