Son Goten hovered in midair, waves of Ki churning beneath his feet and scattering the smoke and dust around him.
Several hundred meters ahead, that familiar figure knelt on one knee.
His short blue hair was a tangled mess, mixed with blood and dirt, covering half his face.
His outer clothes had been reduced to strips hanging from his body, exposing the taut muscles beneath.
He held up one hand, a deep gash split between his thumb and forefinger, facing three hovering figures ahead.
The three wore pitch-black armor, black energy coiling around them. The fluctuations of that energy were cold and violent, utterly foreign to this world.
The one in the middle raised his right hand. A mass of black energy the size of a basketball was gathering, compressing the air until it gave off a piercing grinding sound.
"The last Saiyan bloodline-vanish here."
His voice was sharp and grating, like a sheet of metal scraping against glass.
Kneeling on the ground, Trunks panted heavily, his chest heaving as blood ran from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the rocks.
He tried to push himself up off the ground, but the moment he put weight on his knee, his whole body swayed again.
"I... ain't done yet!"
Trunks forced the words through clenched teeth, the muscles around his wrist bulging as he gathered his last bit of energy.
The energy ball left its wielder's hand, trailing a long tail of black flame as it shot straight toward Trunks.
At that distance, there was no dodging it.
Only one hundredth of a second remained before impact.
A streak of golden light descended from the sky.
A figure stepped in front of Trunks.
He spread his five fingers, his palm facing the ball of black energy.
A golden Ki