Welcome Back, Goku! Confessions of the Mysterious Youth, Trunks!

The three-hour wait passes with growing anticipation. The mysterious teenager shares refreshments from a capsule and deflects personal questions with practiced ease, though Bulma notices his jacket bears the Capsule Corporation logo and he keeps glancing at Vegeta. When the moment arrives, a space pod streaks through the atmosphere and crashes nearby.

Goku steps out wearing unfamiliar alien armor, surprised to find all his friends already waiting. He learns that the teenager told them exactly where and when he would land. Despite never having met the boy, Goku is immediately impressed that someone so young achieved the Super Saiyan transformation.

Testing the Legend

The teenager asks Goku to demonstrate his Super Saiyan form, then transforms alongside him. In a stunning test, he draws his sword and swings it at Goku's head, stopping just short. Goku does not flinch, explaining he sensed no killing intent. They spar briefly, sword against finger, and the boy's faith in the stories he has heard about Goku is confirmed. Satisfied, he agrees to share his true purpose.

In a private conversation, the teenager reveals his name is Trunks, and he has traveled from twenty years in the future using a Time Machine built by his mother. His parentage is the most shocking detail: he is the son of Vegeta and Bulma, destined to be born within two years. The revelation nearly floors Goku, who assumed Bulma would end up with Yamcha.

Trunks delivers a grim warning. In three years, on May 12th, a pair of Androids created by Dr. Gero of the Red Ribbon Army will appear on an island near South City. In Trunks' timeline, these machines killed Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Krillin, and Chiaotzu. Goku himself never reaches the battle, falling to an incurable heart virus six months prior. Only Gohan survives initially, training Trunks before eventually dying as well.

Trunks gives Goku a vial of medicine from the future, instructing him to take it at the first sign of symptoms. In his timeline a cure exists, though it came too late to save Goku. By delivering it now, Trunks hopes to alter history so that Goku can fight alongside the others when the Androids strike.

Before departing in his Time Machine, Trunks asks Goku to keep his identity and parentage secret, fearing that any disruption to the timeline could prevent his own birth. Piccolo, who overheard everything with his sensitive Namekian ears, agrees to maintain the secret. The Z Fighters now have three years to prepare for a threat that destroyed an entire generation of warriors.