After flying for approximately ten minutes, Goten and Trunks eventually landed in an open field with a forest and waterfall nearby.

"This'll do for now." commented Trunks, throwing his backpack down and sitting beside it exasperatedly. For a minute or two, he appeared to simply stare into the horizon, but Goten knew that he was in deep thought considering their options.

"We could use the dragon balls in a year or so. I think they've only just been used to wish everyone back to life." Goten suggested feebly.

Trunks hummed in agreement. "That's probably our only option, yeah. But shit, a whole year? How are we going to cope for that long?"

Goten collapsed beside Trunks, lying himself on the ground and looking up at the clouds. "That is an awfully long time. Where will we live?"

A grim laugh escaped Trunks' mouth. "Here, I suppose. There's really nowhere else. I mean, being in this timeline is bad enough – there's no way we can associate with the others unless we want to alter it drastically."

Punching the ground angrily, Goten let out a frustrated yell. A small crater formed beside him and he glared at it as though it had personally wronged him. "Why do I have to screw everything up? No house, no family, no food…"

Trunks spread himself out so he was lying beside Goten. "Don't be so harsh on yourself. I mean, everyone knows Shenron's a sneaky little bastard. Besides, food will be easy enough to get, your family is technically here, and well… I'm sure sleeping out here won't be that bad."

Goten offered a small grin. "I guess you're right…"

"Everyone back home will be worried sick, though. And it's meant to be Mai's birthday tomorrow." Trunks continued, immediately sobering the smile on Goten's face.

"Yeah, true." he replied quietly.

Trunks sat up, mind racing. "Surely we can figure out a way to contact everyone back home. Like… a phone that works between timelines or something."

"With you and what equipment? Sorry to break it to you, Trunks, but all we have out here is your backpack and a book about frigging menopause."

Glaring at Goten, Trunks exhaled loudly. "Surely I can ask my mum for one favour. Unlike you, I don't look Saiyan at all, so no one would suspect anything."

"Let's just wait a bit first, okay? Let everything settle down."

A silence passed between the two. Goten continued to stare at the clouds above, a sudden sensation akin to nostalgia pulling at his gut. He glanced at Trunks out of the corner of his eye. He too appeared solemn, eyes unseeing as the sunlight reflected off his face. Goten let out a heavy breath. The sun was warm against his skin, but despite the nice weather, the worry in his veins prevented him from feeling content. He couldn't help but let his thoughts wander to his family back home. He wondered vaguely if they'd noticed his disappearance yet. The cynical side of his mind said 'probably not.'

Trunks on the other hand…

Mai was probably making a huge fuss. 'He's late for our date. Trunksie would never leave me like this! It's all Goten's fault.'

He snorted at the prospect, eliciting a confused look from Trunks. Goten shrugged in response to the unspoken question.

"Just thinking."

Trunks hummed. "Me too."

"Do you reckon anyone's noticed we're gone yet?"

"Probably not. I mean, our fathers are probably sparring and not everyone can sense ki. I don't think we've been gone that long, anyway."

Goten supposed that was true. As soon as he'd made his wish, they'd gone from Earth to Namek to Earth within mere minutes. And already, he was struggling with boredom. With a lack of anything better to do, he turned to Trunks. "You hungry?"

"Starving." His gaze turned to the nearby river. "Guess we'll be having fish for a while."

Simultaneously, their stomachs grumbled at the prospect, and it wasn't too long before Goten was stripping off his garments and diving into the stream. Trunks followed suit, forever eager to not let his friend best him. "Hey, wait up!"


Piccolo stood, Gohan by his side, in deep contemplation. The two men who had appeared alongside them confused him greatly, leaving an unsettled sensation in the pit of his stomach. They had claimed to be foreign aliens from a planet named Narga, but the facts didn't add up. Not only had they appeared uncannily human, but they didn't seem at all surprised by the circumstances. He recalled neither had questioned the dragon balls' power, accepting the fact that a mysterious force had teleported them to another planet without warning. Not to mention that Goku had specifically wished for everyone on Planet Namek to be wished to Earth, not around Planet Namek. They'd been awfully eager to leave too, blasting off without hesitation at Bulma and Gohan's farewell. Planet Narga? His Kami knowledge nor Nail's had any recollection of such a planet, and he strained his brain to determine why the one called 'G' irked him so.

He was vaguely aware that Gohan was calling for his attention, and grunted to acknowledge that he was listening.

"Mister Piccolo, don't you reckon those two were super strong? The one with black hair fended off Vegeta!"

That caught his attention. It was true. If Vegeta wanted to harm those two – which he did – then he would have done so. But 'G' had blocked all of Vegeta's blows without issue, even managing to defend his innocence while doing so.

"Alarmingly strong." he agreed.

Gohan's face twisted at this. "What if they're evil? We wouldn't stand a chance without my dad."

Piccolo shook his head. "No, they didn't have a sinister energy. If they're as strong as they appear, we can only hope they're our allies."

Gohan nodded, adding as an afterthought with a light chuckle. "G really looked like my dad, too. How cool!"

Piccolo's mind provided him an image of the man's face, and he found his eyes widening in realisation. No wonder he had seemed so eerily familiar. Everything, from the sheepish grin to the way he scratched the back of his neck when nervous. "You're… right."

He narrowed his gaze. "There is something those two are lying about, Gohan. Planet Narga, my ass."

"Should we… go and confront them about it?" Gohan looked unsure.

"Later." Piccolo hummed. "After we've sorted everything with Goku and Krillin out."

Gohan agreed with fervour.


The rest of the day for Goten and Trunks passed uneventfully. They cooked their fish with some carefully administered ki blasts, picked some fruit from the nearby trees, and ate their food with enthusiasm. Not too long after landing in the open field, they felt the gathered group depart for Capsule Corp, breathing a sigh of relief in knowledge that they were now entirely alone. The sun began to set on the horizon, Goten bathing in the river as Trunks organised his scarce supplies into something that might be useful.

Laying the items before him, Trunks slumped onto the grass with a loud exhale. Two granola bars, the book, the dragon radar, an empty storage capsule, his mobile (which was useless without its charger), and his jacket.

He looked over at Goten's things. The outfit he'd been wearing that day, his equally useless mobile, and four zeni he'd found in his back pocket.

Great.

If he'd had any hope that things would get better, it was gone now. If they wanted any chance of surviving and not succumbing to boredom while they were stuck in this timeline, they needed to tell someone as soon as possible. Despite his desperation, however, Trunks could not devise any scenario that didn't end in complete and utter chaos.

"Goten," he called loudly. "We are screwed."

Beat.

"I know!" came the delayed reply.

Trunks snorted loudly. He grabbed a tuft of grass and pulled it out, opening his hand to let the blades drift away gently in the wind. His thoughts drifted to Mai, briefly wondering what she was currently up to. But it was fruitless. Somehow, they'd ended up in this timeline, and if Trunks' predictions were correct, it would be a long while until they returned home. He rubbed his hands over his face exasperatedly.

"What's up, Trunks?" came Goten's concerned voice.

Trunks looked up, noting with amusement that Goten's entire body (including his boxers) were soaked. "Just thinking about Mai. And how long it'll be until we see everyone again."

Goten's face visibly dropped, and Trunks attributed it to the fact that he was similarly dismayed by their extended absence.

Looking at his feet in silence, Goten shrugged. "I... It might not be too long. It'll probably pass really quickly."

"Goten, always the optimist." Trunks smiled warmly. He watched as Goten flared his ki lightly to dry off and slowly began to dress himself, considerably less chipper than he had been before. "You tired?"

"Hm?" Goten looked up, cheeks reddening slightly. "Oh, right. Yeah. A bit."

"Me too, I reckon I'll sleep soon."

"It's still pretty early."

"It's been a long day."

"True, I guess I'll sleep too then." nodded Goten, finishing the final button on his jeans.

Trunks raised a brow. "You really gonna sleep in them?"

"Do you see anything else lying about?"

"Just wear your boxers. Who cares?"

Goten looked sceptical. "It's getting cold, no way."

Trunks laughed, reaching into his backpack and pulling out his jacket. "Here." He threw it over to Goten, the latter catching it with confusion.

"Just put it over your legs or something to stay warm. We're sleeping on fucking grass, you may as well be a little comfortable."

Goten looked back up at Trunks, an unexplainable emotion swimming in his eyes. "Thanks." he grinned.

"No problem, runt."

His comment was replied to with a pair of jeans suddenly thwacking him in the face. "Oi!"

"You asked for it." Goten replied amusedly, lying down with Trunks' jacket draped over his body. He yawned loudly, closing his eyes as he allowed Trunks' warm, familiar scent to wash over him and lull him into a peaceful slumber.

Trunks rolled over, glancing at Goten with a fond smile on his face. "Goodnight, 'Ten."

"'Night, Trunks."


Both exhausted from the day's events and quickly conceding to the inviting pull of sleep, the two teenagers were blissfully unaware of the appearance of two figures in the distance.

"Are you kidding me?" came a disgruntled voice. "Asleep at seven o'clock?"

"Awh, I really wanted to talk to them."

"Lower your power level, Gohan. Let's go take a look at their stuff."

"Mister Piccolo, isn't that rude?"

"Stuff 'rude', kid. If anyone's being rude, it's them by not telling us the truth."

Gohan still appeared unsure, but followed behind Piccolo quietly nonetheless. The aliens' few belongings were tucked away in T's backpack which he was currently using as a pillow, causing Piccolo to snarl quietly. With a lack of any other evidence, the Namekian and Gohan began to carefully study the boys' clothes.

T donned a simple black t-shirt with grey sweatpants – nothing baring obvious clues. Piccolo looked over to Gohan, eyes widening in alarm as he realised the boy was attempting to lift the jacket covering G's legs. Before he could signal for him to stop, however, Gohan let out a quiet yelp and jumped away, letting the jacket fall back to where is sat previously. He looked over at Piccolo with wide eyes.

Piccolo quirked a brow in question.

'No pants.' mouthed Gohan.

If Piccolo felt himself struggling to contain a laugh, he would never admit it.

He gestured for Gohan to come back so they could leave, but it appeared that the boy had found something of interest. He frantically waved his hands and Piccolo carefully stepped over to see what the fuss was about. Pointing at a logo on the sleeve of the jacket, Gohan smiled triumphantly.

Capsule Corp.

Piccolo smirked. There was no Capsule Corporation in outer space. Of that, he was certain. "Good eyes, kid." he whispered, reaching down to ruffle Gohan's hair. "Now let's get out of here before they wake up."

With that, the two blasted off hurriedly back to where they came from, eager to share the news with the other occupants of Bulma's house.