That night, everybody was back at the mansion, except for #17. Marron laughed till her stomach ached when Bra and Pan told her what happened earlier in the city. Later, when she's recovered, she told the others what she's discovered from her research.
"Apparently, uncle #17 is a famous rock star in this world. That's why all the girls were crazy over him."
"You can say that again." At that moment, #17 walked in, looking quite dishevelled. Everybody turned to look at him. "Are you all right, uncle?" Marron asked. "I never knew girls could be so vicious," #17 said, slumping down on the sofa. He wasn't wearing the same clothes he wore this morning, though none of the others noticed this. (How this happened is left to the reader's imagination ^_~) "So, what else have you found out?" he asked, changing the topic.
"Well," Marron continued her report, "My mother in this world is an award-winning actress. What we saw on TV last night was her acting in a movie."
"Wow, she sure was convincing. I'd never have thought #17 and #18 could become pop stars," Goten remarked.
"Well, this might explain how," Marron said, holding a page taken from an entertainment magazine. "According to the story here, #17 and #18 were saved from the Red Ribbon Army when they were little by a mysterious 'handsome' man and a girl named Marron, and some other people they couldn't remember and were handed over to a couple of artistes who were staying nearby. They raised the twins to become artistes like themselves, and they decided to keep the only names they remember: #17 and #18. They've searched for their saviours all these years, but have never found them and to this day they're still searching."
Everyone was quiet, as the meaning of the story sinked in. #17 and #18 may well find their saviours now: it was them! "What have we done...?" Trunks asked. "What have I turned MYSELF into?!" #17 asked, aghast, as he recalled some shows he's seen about the kind of lifestyle artistes lived, and how the girls treated him this morning.
Marron cleared her throat. "Anyway, the Great Saiyaman is a regular super hero here. He always battles the Red Ribbon cyborgs, but so far he's always won. They're no match for him."
"The Red Ribbon Army is still around?" #17 instantly turned serious.
"But they're not a big threat," Marron said, to calm him. "In fact, just today I saw the Great Saiyaman defeat a Red Ribbon cyborg in the city." She didn't mention her encounter with the alternate timeline version of her father.
"What about our families?" Goten asked. "I found this obituary in the paper archive," Marron replied. "It says Son Goku died 20 years ago leaving a wife, ChiChi, and a son, Son Gohan. So you don't exist in this world, Goten," she said. "Like me."
"What about us?" Trunks asked. "I can't seem to find any news on Vegeta," Marron said, "but your mother married Yamucha, so you two don't exist here, either," she handed him a copy of a wedding announcement.
"About the dragonballs--"
"They're here," Trunks said. "How do you know?" Marron asked.
"We met Piccolo today," Trunks said. "He knows about us now," he continued. "I told him." "Why'd you do that?" Marron demanded. "I suppose he had a right to know, after the beating I gave him," Trunks explained. "He wasn't fused with Kami-sama, so he wasn't as strong as he was in our world. I didn't know at first, or else I would've held back."
Elsewhere, Piccolo was nursing his wounds. He had to think. Two Super Saiyajins from another timeline are here. Was this the bad premonition he had been getting this past year? But they didn't seem to be bad people. Piccolo grunted in pain as he tried to get up. "Damn." He had forgotten how powerful a Super Saiyajin was. But he had a feeling the worse was yet to come. Earth could be in danger, but from what he didn't know yet. He must train harder to prepare himself for whatever it was to come.
Back at the #17 mansion, everybody got ready for bed. It was agreed that tomorrow Trunks will go and borrow the Dragon Radar from Bulma. They'll start searching then.