//------------------------------// // The Unknown Time Rift // Story: Dragon Ball Xenoverse: Equestria Arc // by SilverWind14 //------------------------------// “Phew! That was quite the fight! You really are getting stronger.” Goku said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. He was wearing his custom gi that his teacher Whis made for him. “I can’t tell ya how proud I am.” “Thank... you... Goku…” Nora said in between breaths, sweat dripping from her chin and onto her legs as she sat on the grass. She was wearing her usual purple gi uniform with black fingerless gloves and light blue sports shorts. Nora had just finished a quick sparring session with her teacher, Goku. Like all their other sessions, Nora was left bruised and out of breath. Of course she’d expected nothing less. Goku has saved the universe more than once, fought a God of Destruction and lived, and even had said God of Destruction’s teacher teach him. He has unlocked the power of a god and surpassed that! She would be lying if she said that Goku wasn’t a truly unbelievable person. He was a great fighter with the purest heart she had ever seen for a saiyan. Being a saiyan herself, she knew that it was rare for them to care about anything other than fighting and eating. After a few minutes of catching her breath, Nora spoke again. “Phew! That’s another session I couldn’t finish. Let’s face it Goku; you’re just too strong. I’ll never catch up at the rate I’m going.” “Hey now, don’t say that! Vegeta has been able to catch up and even surpass me at times. If he can do it, then I have faith that you can do it too!” Goku said as he gave his student a thumbs up. Nora chuckled at her teacher’s encouraging words. She got to her feet and started stretching. “Thanks, Goku. Though, I’m still kinda jealous that you have a sweet blue transformation. You gotta tell Whis to teach me how to unlock it one day.” Goku chuckled. “I’m sure he’d be more than happy to teach you.” Nora finished her stretching and took her initial fighting stance. “What do you say, Goku? You up for another round? No holding back?” Goku smirked and took up his fighting stance. “You bet! Let’s do this!” Just then, a loud growl filled the air. The two fighters smiled sheepishly. “How about we go grab a bite to eat first? I’m starving!” Goku said. “Great idea,” Nora replied. They both took to the sky and flew off towards Conton City. ****** “Oh man! I’m stuffed!” Goku said as he put down the last plate onto the table. Nora finished slurping down her ramen and did the same. On the table were a bunch of empty plates stacked on top of each other. “Oh man that was delicious!” Nora said as she put her hand on her stomach, mirroring Goku. “How much do we owe you?” She asked the waiter, who was was standing there smiling. Being a waiter here for so long, he had witnessed many races come and go, so seeing these two saiyans stuffing their faces full of food was no surprise to him. “Oh nothing at all ma'am. This one’s on the house,” the waiter said with a smile. “Wait, seriously? Nothing at all? Are you sure?” Nora asked unsurely. “Of course! Anything for the hero of Conton City.” the waiter replied cheerfully. Nora had almost forgotten that she was now considered a full fledged hero. After stopping the evil scientist, Towa, and her creation, Mira, from destroying the multiverse, with the help of her teacher, Nora was now a well-known celebrity. Not as famous as that Hercule fellow, but still pretty famous. “Oh. Alright then. Thank you so much, sir!” Nora said with a grin. The waiter nodded and returned the smile. “Alright, Goku, let’s go!” “Right!” Goku said with just as much enthusiasm as his student. “Ah, there you guys are. I knew you’d be somewhere in here.” came a voice that got both warrior's attention. They turned around to find Trunks standing  at the entrance of the restaurant. Trunks had a hand in helping Nora with her missions. He and both the Elder Kai and the Supreme Kai of Time were people she could count on when one of her missions wasn’t going so well. She couldn’t have stopped Towa and Mira without their help. “What’s up, Trunks! Gonna grab a bite to eat?” Goku asked. “Not right now. I actually came looking for you guys. The Supreme Kai of Time wants to see you. She said to meet her in the outskirts of the city.” “Why? Did something bad happen?” Nora asked, slightly worried. “Well, nothing bad yet. Just something strange. You’d better come see for yourself.” Trunks said. “Alright then.” Nora turned to Goku. “Sorry, Goku, I guess our match is gonna have to wait.” Goku chuckled lightly. “Hey, no problem! Let’s just get going. The sooner we take care of business, the sooner we can fight!” “Right. Can you take us to the Supreme Kai of Time?” Nora asked. “Sure. Just grab onto me.” Goku said as both Nora and Trunks put a hand on either of his shoulders. Goku then put two fingers on his forehead and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them and said, “Alright. Let’s go!” And with that, the trio teleported away. ****** Goku, Trunks, and Nora appeared at the the outskirts of Conton City, and sure enough, the Elder Kai and the Supreme Kai of Time were there waiting for them. The Supreme Kai of Time saw the trio of saiyans and smiled and waved. “Hey guys!” she greeted. “Glad you could make it.” “Hey guys!” Nora repeated the greeting. “So what’s up? Is there trouble brewing up again?” “Not exactly,” Elder Kai replied. “But something strange did appear. Take a look.” He pointed his finger up in the air. Nora and Goku both look up and gasped. Right where Elder Kai was pointing, was what appeared to be a time rift. But, unlike the other time rifts Nora had seen, this one was slightly larger and was a rainbow color instead of it’s usual pinkish color. “Is that a time rift?” Nora asked, still surprised. “It looks like it. But we aren’t so sure. As you can see, this is unlike any time rift we’ve seen so far,” Supreme Kai of Time said. “This time rift doesn’t feel any different from a normal rift aside from its peculiar look,” Elder Kai said. “I don’t get it,” Goku said as he put his hands behind his head. “Are all time rifts suppose to look pink and small? There aren’t any special looking ones like this?” “From what we’ve seen, no,” Elder Kai replied. “I see,” Nora said. “Let me guess, you called me here to go in and investigate it.” “Yup, pretty much!” Supreme Kai of Time replied. “And if anything bad happens, your teacher will be right here. We aren’t sure what you’ll find in there, so be on your guard.” “And do come home safe. I really am growing tired of you strong people going in all confident and coming out half dead.” Elder Kai said as he narrowed his eyes. Both Nora and Goku laughed. “Sorry, old timer. I promise I’ll be careful,” Nora said. “And besides, for all we know it could just be a normal rift.” “Maybe,” Trunks said as he put a hand on his chin. “Well, of course it is!” Goku cheered. “And those things are a piece of cake to get rid of, right? You be outta there in no time, I’m sure.” Nora chuckled before looking at the rainbow rift and floating towards it, stopping right in front of it. “Alright guys, wish me luck!” After everyone wished her good luck, Nora flew right into it. However as she did, the rift started to flicker, catching the Supreme Kai of Time’s attention. ****** Nora flew out of the time rift and shivered. “Oh man. This one felt all weird. Left my body all tingly.” Nora looked around. She was standing in the middle of what appeared to be a forest. “Huh. Well this is definitely different,” Nora said to herself. She took a few steps forward before pausing. “Woah. That’s weird. My power feels different. Almost like it’s being compressed or something.” Come in, Nora. Can you read me? Nora heard Trunks’ voice coming through her communication device in her ear. “Loud and clear, Trunks!” Nora replied. Good. Tell us what you see. “Well, it’s definitely different from any time rift I’ve been in. I’m in the middle of a forest that I’ve never seen before. Apart from that, my power feels different. Almost like it’s been nerfed somehow.” I see. That is strange. Time rifts don’t usually mess with one’s power. Well, keep looking around and- what the...? “What? What is it?” Nora asked. Nora! Get out of there now! The Supreme Kai of Time spoke this time, and she sounded terrified. “What?” Nora turned to see the rift flickering on and off. Like it was disappearing… “Oh crap!” Nora shouted as she flew towards the portal. She was just about to go through when it disappeared right at the last second, causing her to fly head first into a tree. “Ow ow ow ow,” Nora hissed as she held her head. She immediately got back to her feet and went to the spot where the rift was. She saw nothing. She felt nothing. “Crap crap crap crap crap!” Nora started to panic. “Supreme Kai of Time! Can you hear me?” No response. “Elder Kai? Trunks? Can anyone hear me?” Still no response. “GOKU!!!” No answer. Nora started to panic even more. “Ok ok. Calm down, Nora. So you’re trapped in an unknown place in history. I’m sure the others will figure out a way to-” Nora stopped speaking and sniffed the air. She gagged and covered her mouth and nose up upon smelling a horrendous stench. “Ahh gross! What the hell is that smell?” Nora asked through her hands. She immediately froze when she heard howling nearby. Nora immediately went into her fighting stance as she heard rustling in the bushes. What she saw took her by surprise. Out of the bushes came five wolf-like creatures that appeared to be made out of... wood? “What the…” One of the wolves suddenly went to attack her. When it was close, Nora jumped to the side and kicked it hard in it’s side, causing it to go flying towards a nearby tree and explode on impact. Two other wooden wolves went in for the attack. Nora threw a left hook as one of them got close, shattering it into pieces. She jumped out of the way of the third wolf and fired a ki blast at it, causing a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, all that could be seen were it’s wooden remains. Nora smirked and turned to face the last two wolves. “You guys want some too?” The wolves both made the same mistake and jumped at her. “Tch.” Nora grabbed the two wolves out of the air and held them by the throat. The wolves were struggling to break free. “Aw man. If you guys weren’t freaky freaks of nature, I’d totally feel more bad.” Nora said before slamming both wolves on the ground with all her might, causing them to explode. “Oh man. That was weird. What were those things?” Nora asked no one in particular. “Well whatever. Right now, I gotta figure out where I am.” As she was about to leave, something even weirder caught her attention. She saw that the remains of the wolves started to move. They began to slowly reconstruct themselves until the wolves were back together again, snarling and growling even more now. One of them let out a bone chilling howl into the air. Nora snapped out of her trance when she saw that even more wooden wolves started coming forward. Now she was surrounded by the creatures. “This ain’t good.”