Beyond A Failed Future - Chapter 5.1 (Patreon)

It was amazing just how much of a figurative weight was lifted from Ronan's shoulders as he left the Hyperbolic Time Chamber behind and closed the plain wooden door behind him.

He felt a difference in the air itself as soon as he stepped out. It was lighter, more pleasant on his skin.

Honestly, he didn't even notice how oppressive the air of the time chamber itself was until he stepped out.

'If I have my way, I'm never going back there again.' the teen shuddered. It was a hell beyond hell. Actually, in comparison the hell he'd saw that Frieza, Cell and the like ended up in…seemed far more pleasant.

It helped that by his estimations, without Cell down there, he'd rule that roost as the strongest guy around.

…Until some other massively powerful villain ended up getting ganked and he was surpassed, after all denizens of hell couldn't increase their power through training.

"Not that I should be bound for there anyway." he snorted to himself as he continued on his way through his home and out into the open space of the lookout.

He surveyed it fondly…it had been so long since he'd seen it. Those amazing, luscious and skillfully grown vegetables, that broken roof and all those shattered tiles and piles of debris spread over the area that he'd never got around to fixing up.

His grandfather was a tiler and home renovator and he'd helped a lot with it growing up, but he didn't have any materials or anything or even know where to look to fix this place up previously.

"Wait…that isn't an issue anymore." Ronan grinned, and jabbed both index fingers out, "Pew pew!"

Twin lances of light shot forth from his fingers, hitting large swathes of broken tiled surface.

And in a flash, they pristine gleaming white, unbroken tiles replaced them. He then whirled around, adding the middle finger to his right hand under the index finger, shifting into double barrel mode, "Baboom!" he declared grandly generating a larger lance of light.

It struck the broken upstairs area of the look out and enveloped it in light that hummed and vibrated quite magnificently in Ronan's opinion….before!

Suddenly the broken area was repaired in full.

Magic Materialization was badass like that.

"…To bad I can't make electronics or food with it." he shrugged. Clothing, metal, ore and the like? No problem. But not anything else.

Well, whatever.

Now he could fix up the outer area of his home at least, then he could go meet Son Gohan.

__________

"That's it!"

Gohan's voice was proud, approving and most of all encouraging as he back handed a massive blast of compressed yellow power harmlessly into the sky.

Trunks was upon him a moment later, the young lavender haired half saiyan launching into a flurry of rapid fire blows.

He was gutsy, skilled and determined and he'd grown massively in the last six months since he'd started teaching him.

His only flaw at all, was his inexperience.

Gohan, even with his power suppressed to just a bit higher than Trunk's own, easily and effortlessly evaded each and every single blow without even taking so much as a glancing touch.

Unfortunately for Trunks, not only was he used to fighting at way higher levels, he was also used to fighting foes immensely stronger than himself, while outnumbered at that.

The androids would have long since killed him if any of these blows could touch him even with his lowered power.

Trunks gagged in pain as Gohan buried his knee in the younger boys stomach and sent him flying back.

The boy was sent soaring back, but managed to reorient himself in just a few moments, "Good recovery." he praised him.

Just a few months ago a single blow like that would have left him on the ground gasping for breath.

"Damnit…why can't I land a single blow?" Trunks huffed angrily.

"You're getting closer every day," Gohan assured him, "These things take time, but you're already at the point that if you were on the same level as the androids you'd run circles around them, they're just brutes that rely on their power and endless energy."

Honestly, he was sure at this point, even with the rather large power gap between them that if he could get her alone he could defeat Android 18. The problem was he'd never get the chance to have either of them alone, away from the other for any significant amount of time.

Not taking Trunks as his student earlier, truly was a lost opportunity, if he'd had the chance to train the teen since he was a boy, no doubt he'd have grown strong enough by now to work at least as a good sparring partner to help his own power increase quicker.

Alas, he could never find it in himself to force the boy as a child into it, not after his own childhood and wouldn't have trained him at all until the boy had pleaded with him.

Trunks lips twitched up into a smile at his praise, "…Maybe once I'm a super saiyan, I'll be strong enough to help you beat them." he said, optimistically.

"Maybe." Gohan just smiled back. If only super saiyan was that convenient a thing and the answer to all their problems.

He'd have defeated them long ago.

But there was no point in dashing his hopes. That was the only thing they had at this point.

Suddenly, Trunks looked up and stared off into the distance towards the right, "…Hey Gohan…"

"I feel it." Gohan nodded. A power that stood out far beyond any other on the planet beyond their own was heading towards them at quite a rapid pace.

Over the last half a year, he'd felt it here and there. Steadily growing at a rather rapid rate, though nothing too shocking compared to what he was used to now.

It hadn't felt evil and felt distinctly human, so he'd left whoever it was be. This was the first time he'd felt them in a month though.

…And they felt a little bit different. Their ki, it still felt the same, but their was a heaviness to it that wasn't there before and there were some other changes to it as well.

They felt kind of familiar actually, but he couldn't place from where.

Gohan couldn't deny that he was curious about whoever it was. He hadn't felt a human with this kind of strength in a long, long time.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for long before they arrived. A figure blasted through the air and stopped above them less than twenty seconds later.

Gohan blinked as he took in the stranger. It was a teenager by his estimates, not much older than Trunks, though much taller, by his estimates Gohan guessed him to be roughly his size if not a little larger, and had a large, muscular and wide shouldered build which was easy to note considering the boy was shirtless and only wore a pair of white gi pants and black boots, with what looked like a large fan hanging from a holster over his shoulder.

The teenager dropped from the air to land not far from him and Trunks tensed up. Close up now, Gohan could see the boy actually was about near two inches taller than him, and he had short, spiky black hair a bit longer than his own, though it was a bit jagged and rough, as if sheared for quickness sake and striking crimson red eyes.

"Yo." the teen greeted them with a smirk as he did, one of his teeth poked out from between his lips, looking like a sharp fang.

It reminded him almost of Piccolo.

Gohan's eyebrows rose, "Hi." he replied simply.

"Who are you?" Trunks asked straight away.

"The name's Ronan," the teen shrugged, "And you're Trunks and Son Gohan, right?"

Hmm, so he knew whom they were. Which meant, this wasn't him simply seeking out the other powers he could feel on the planet that stood out above his own.

"That's right," Gohan confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest, "So what brings you here Ronan? Seeking us out specifically."

"Isn't that obvious?" Ronan snorted, "I've come to help you defeat those tin cans running rampant across the planet."

Oh?

"Well, I'd be glad to accept your help," Gohan replied, "Though, it'll be a while before you'll be able to put up any form of fight against them."

He was goading him a bit. He was sure Ronan was suppressing a large chunk of power.

The question though was.

How much?

Maybe around Trunks' level at most?

"Well, you're not wrong," Ronan surprised him by shrugging and easily accepting his words, "You can't even beat them as a super saiyan, so there's no way I can right now. But, I'm betting I'm a lot stronger than you think."

'So he knows about us then.' Gohan wasn't all that surprised. Considering he could no doubt sense ki, he must have at least sensed Gohan's own when he transformed.

Though just who did he learn about saiyans from and-

"Hah!" Ronan gave a shout, clenching his fists and powered up straight to what was most likely his maximum.

Gohan's eyes widened in absolute shock at what he felt.

"….What power!" Trunks gasped in awe from beside him.

And he couldn't blame him.

Because currently, Ronan's power…dwarfed that of his own without transforming, four times over.

He was almost as strong as Frieza was back in the day!

It was mind boggling. How had he gotten so strong? When? Where even had he come from? How had Gohan never noticed such power before?

"How…what?" Gohan was utterly lost.

"Don't lose your head yet, cuz i'm not finished!" Ronan laughed and gave a roar, "Kaioken x 5!"

The ground shook beneath them, the sky darkened over head and rumbled ominously from the sheer pressure that suddenly began to permeate the air.

A burning crimson aura then burst into existence around his body And Gohan's mouth dropped though in absolute shock as his power multiplied massively.

A sense of glee filled the half saiyan. This kind of strength would be a massive help. But it was muted almost immediately.

"Who….are you?" Gohan couldn't help but ask.

That technique…he knew it well.

"I told you, I'm Ronan," he smirked through the burning crimson aura radiating off his form, before allowing it to fade, his power dropping down again as he did, "But I guess you can also refer to me as the student of Son Goku."

!

It took Gohan a moment to compose himself.

"That's impossible," Gohan shook his head, denying the boys statement, "My father died nearly 16 years ago now, you would have been a toddler at best."

"You're not wrong," Ronan shrugged and agreed, "I suppose it's more to accurate to say I trained under a simulation of Son Goku. To be exact, there's a place called Kami's Lookout that resides above Korin Tower in the Holy Land's, high in the sky. It's empty now, or was at least until I found it. There's a lot of things up there, one in specific is called the Pendulum Room that can send you into a dimensional space that creates a simulation of the past."

Gohan's eyes widened once more. Something like that existed?

"That's possible?" Trunks shook his head in wonder

"So…you trained under a fake version of my father then." Gohan noted. That would explain the kaioken, though that didn't quite explain that incredible power of his.

And just the ability alone to talk to past versions of his father, Piccolo and such…held so much potential. There were so many things he never had the chance to finish learning from them that slowed his growth down considerably.

"Among other things," Ronan shrugged, "Like, did you know there's a room up there called the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? Inside there, you can spend an entire year and only a single day will pass out here."

Gohan's eyes flew wide open, "….Let's go find somewhere better to talk," he decided then and there, "I really want to hear more about this."

"We can go to my place, it's not that far away." Trunks offered, nodding his head wildly.