Son Gohan and Trunks: Another Road

by Lucky8ofspades

This is the story of how the time patrollers from Universe 7/Timeline 9 defeat The Demon God Demigra. Strap in boys and girls as the master and student find out what happens when you try to traverse timelines. This kind of stuff could get messy if someone as smart as myself wasn't in charge. Thank goodness for that, am I right? Ciao, With Love, The Supreme Kai of Time: Chronoa

4. The Room of Spirit and Time

Son Gohan and Trunks: Another Road - Android Saga Act II (Chapter 1)

Hey. It's Chronoa again, so I know what you're thinking. 'Chronoa, Urgh! Shut up!' But hear me out. Time isn't a linear concept for a being like me. It still has a beginning, middle, and end, but I have some degree of control. I can rewind, fast forward and pause, that's right, Pause events as they're happening, the difference is, is that I'm not allowed to influence the events of time and destiny has to take shape. New timelines can't be created on a whim, once they happen the timeline is set in stone and cannot be changed.

What I'm trying to say is, I only knew of Gohan and Trunks the second they broke their timeline. That's right, Broke. Unfortunately, the butterfly effect is a little different than how they tell it. You can technically travel to a different Time~Line just fine, but you can't actually travel back to YOUR past other than to have a look-see. If you make any choices that have weight, there is no more future for your timeline to return to, you have effectively reset your own unique timeline. There is a reason for this as it used to not be this way.

The Demon Lord Demigra is a man who has eluded the Kai for as long as I can remember. A menace that has existed since the dawn of time. I forget the details now, but all that matters is that he was wronged so utterly, so terribly, that he felt it wholly necessary to reset all timelines. Demigra is one of the first mortals to ever walk the plane of existence so unlike the majority of all existence, he wouldn't be erased by such an action. Only he and Lord Xeno would be privy to surviving such a cataclysmic event. Lord Xeno and The Grand Priest elected me to stand watch over time itself, and uhh, the only recourse I came to is~ unfortunately~ to seal the possibilities of new timelines.

…

Yeah. Sorry about that one guys but I didn't know what other solution I could come to. I'm not powerful enough to block off new timelines from being created AND stop Demigra but I can't stop Demigra in the first place, so my only solution was to set up this elaborate run-around and wait for the right time to force someone somewhere to break their timeline so that I could recruit them to defeat Demigra. I'm what's known as a Galactic Patroller, and by the power vested in me by the Grand Priest, I alone am in charge of violations made against timelines. If you break your timeline you have three choices; A: Return to the life you once knew with your memory wiped clean of however you broke your timeline. B: Doom your timeline to erasure (I personally don't ever want to have to do that) or C: Join The Time Patrol (My own special squadron in charge of taking down Demigra)

Lord Xeno holds all of existence together but he can't really fight if that makes sense. His power is crazy but uhh, he's too busy making sure existence exists and that we don't all collapse in on ourselves. And Grand Priest is forbidden from meddling in mortal affairs. So really, Demon Lord Demigra has no proper answer to him other than me and he has used this to his advantage for eons. I'm technically a new blood, one of the last of the Kai, born in Age 70,000,001. I'm way ahead of Gohan and Trunks here, but if you remember, I can rewind timelines.

I didn't want to have to do this, since they weren't Technically breaking the rules yet, but under Time Patroller law, those two did break it retroactively. I know, I know, kind of scummy since they didn't really break the law in Age 780 but I had no idea what I was gonna do otherwise.

Anyway, long story short, uhh, The Room of Spirit and Time is a crazy concept. Good stuff, Kami. I wish I coulda' got to see it.

Trunks

The door opened to the beyond and a beautiful aurora welcomed in the Earthlings. There were a few more steps of white tiles but just after that was a mystical light show that seemed to go on forever. It was something you'd assume to see at the end of the universe, an indescribable miracle of a landscape. He stood on nothing, yet everything. Trunks crouched down and ran his hand along the glossy surface. Colours shifted around and under his hands. Trunks pushed his hand down hard and soon enough.

Bwuomp.

"Whoa!" He yelped as he fell onto his ass, Gohan right behind him.

"Trunks, you okay?" He asked nervously, grabbing onto the boy's shoulders.

"Yeah-haha! It was just not what I was expecting." The boy remarked as Son Gohan helped him to his feet. Korin walked out into the lightshow with him as the others checked the rooms in the back.

"Where's the food at? A pig's gotta eat."

"You're always hungry, Oolong!"

"Well that's because I'm a bit tired of fish. Can't exactly go grocery shopping when the androids have taken over the world."

Trunks immediately brushed his hand along the bottom again. It almost looked like water, the way the shifting lights reverberated in the strange structure.

"What is this?"

"Truth be told. I have no idea." The green cat replied as he poked his staff all along the 'ground'.

"My hand dipped in it last time, almost like… water."

SLOoOoP!

"Whoa~" Trunks yelped again as he sunk in deep this time, totally enveloped by the ground.

"Dah~" Korin let out dumbly as the boy was swallowed up.

"Trunks!" Gohan yelled again, jumping in to save him.

BONKK!

"What the hell!?" Gohan cried as he hit the ground hard. "I can't…"

Knott-Knock!

"What the hell is this place!?" The man shouted with fervor. "Trunks! I'm gonna get you out of-" He stopped himself short as he noticed his student climbing closer towards him. "Is he..? Swimming?"

Sloush~

The ground split and spilt like jello as Trunks breached the top. Gohan grabbed his arms and helped him out the rest of the way.

"What the hell happened?"

"I don't know. This place is wild. I just… I… it seems like this place is fueled by your imagination."

"... What..?"

"I… whenever I thought of it like water~"

Sluoupp! Dm.

"It…" He looked at the slightly warped ground before it changed back to a solid shape. "...changed."

Son Gohan raised a brow at the curiosity.

"What in the world?"

Korin formulated an idea in his mind and sure enough:

Vwuwuwu~

"Whoa~"

The trio looked on as a rainbow coloured Korin stared back at the green cat, staff and all.

"It would appear you're right on the money, Trunks." The cat said as he waved his staff and the opposing feline mirrored its movements.

Gohan looked about the area they came from, a small little palace standing out against the backdrop of glorious colours surrounding it. There were two gigantic hourglass shapes, one on each side, both hourglasses had emerald green sand trickling down as slow as could be.

"Korin."

"What is it?" He asked gruffly, stomping his staff down and forcing the mirage to sink back into the floor.

"Is that the sand you were talking about?"

"Yes. When the last bits of sand reach the bottom, we're sealed off from Earth, that doorway we come from won't lead anywhere."

"..." Gohan stared solemnly as the green minerals fell down one by one in an agonisingly slow fashion. He nodded, breathing out one sizable exhale.

"Whoa~" Trunks let out again from behind the Half-Saiyan. "This is…"

The boy walked forward and then walked back, seeming to draw a line with his footwork until the chamber responded in kind and made a line for him.

"Yeah~"

"What is it?" Gohan asked as he stood next to his student.

"Step over the line." He said with a point.

Tp.

"Jeez, what the..?"

"I think the gravity is denser across this point."

"No kidding." Gohan added as he stepped further and further away from the palace.

"Be careful, Gohan!"

"I'm gonna see how far this thing goes!" He shouted with cupped hands, a loud banging echo booming out as a result.

After a few steps, a mist shrouded his master, Trunks spooked and wide eyed as Gohan definitely wasn't far enough away to not be seen.

"G-g-gohan?"

"Hmm." Korin contemplated as he stepped back on the tile. "Hurry back over here, kid. We're checking for food."

"I'm gonna wait for Gohan."

"Suit yourself."

The green cat joined the other two animals as Trunks sat by his lonesome on the last step of the palace, both hands over his mouth as anxiety crept in.

"Yes~" He whispered to himself as Gohan walked back into view. "..?"

Blood, sweat, and torn clothes marked his frame.

"Gohan!? What happened!?"

"This chamber is a fucking nightmare~ I don't know how long we're gonna spend in here but it's not gonna be easy."

"How did you..?"

"This room likes to play tricks. I know we just found out that our imaginations fuel the room but… it looked so real anyway."

"..."

"The androids."

"Oh…"

Gohan put a reassuring hand on Trunks' shoulder.

"We can get through this."

"I thought I wanted to do this, Gohan but… I'm scared. Terrified."

"..."

The pair looked past each other, Gohan towards the door they came in and Trunks into the empty abyss.

"Fear is what makes you human, Trunks. But if you can't take that first step, you'll never be able to fight alongside me."

Gohan left Trunks to his own devices as he wiped away the leftover sweat with his gi top, taking it off and slinging it over his massive shoulders. Trunks collapsed on himself, looking out into the shifting colours and warping perspective of the chamber. He sighed emphatically before lazily placing his head on his left palm.

Gohan

The five guys sat around at a wooden table, slurping up some rice and curry.

"You know, the last thing I expected in here was a fridge, pre-cooked meals, a microwave, an oven, and a stove. Kami kinda had this stuff figured out." Oolong commented as he chowed down.

Puar stuffed himself full of rice, little white nodes dotted his face as he chewed.

"The only thing I noticed is there's not very many sets of clothes here, only about a week's worth, and it doesn't look like you're very well accounted for, Oolong."

"Bustin' my balls. They never look out for the little guys I swear." He replied as he took a drain from a tall glass of water.

"Well there's a lot of soap but how much of it do we use to wash the clothes and how much of it do we use to wash ourselves?"

"Now we're askin' the real questions. I'm gonna be honest. I didn't see enough food in here to feed five people for over a year. I'll keep it real." Oolong replied again.

Gohan stayed quiet for most of it, letting Trunks and Oolong hash it out for the rest of them. Puar and Korin doing much the same, just eating.

"I'm gonna go get more sauce."

The Pig hopped off his seat and made a mad dash for the back room.

"You're pretty quiet, Gohan."

Son Gohan just shrugged his shoulders and finished chewing before speaking, wiping his face with a cloth, showing great manners.

"Piccolo taught me one of his more low key techniques which allows me to create clothes on the spot."

A yellow sparking energy gathered in Gohan's palms which he used to create a small blue wristband.

"We don't really need to use those clothes in the back if we don't want to. Don't need to wash em' either if we just destroy em' when we're done. If we plan on staying here a while we need to plan our resource management accordingly and stay on target."

"...Right."

Oolong came back in a frenzy pouring the red liquid all over his meal and going to town on it.

"Trunks?" Gohan prompted.

"Yes, Gohan?"

"Don't cut your hair while we're in here."

"Why..?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"We don't have many ways to tell the time in here, your hair should do the trick."

"Why not yours?"

"Mine doesn't actually grow past a certain length."

"Really?"

Gohan answered with a nod as he stuffed his face.

"Mmhmm."

Soon enough, everyone was clamoring for a night's rest, or more accurately, the majority were tired, as the chamber didn't have any stars or lunar bodies to attach a sleep cycle to. Gohan gazed upon the two cats, the pig, and his student as they laid in their white beds with white sheets and white pillows comfortably. Gohan just tapped his finger restlessly on the dinner table as he thought.

"What do I teach him?" Were all that filled his being as he stared at Trunks' sleeping figure. "If I go all out the way Piccolo did, I'm not sure that's the right move. He doesn't need to go for the throat if I just make him powerful. We have more time to train here than we ever did outside. We always had to make time for lacklustre training in fear of being discovered, all martial arts and very little ki…"

Zzzzzzz~

Oolong's snores were particularly loud but they didn't seem to perturb anyone from their rest.

"But those androids have that barrier move."

Gohan recalls one of the last times he saw Piccolo. A big yellow blast from his master rendered completely ineffective by a green orb-like aura.

"So maybe ki isn't the way to go…" His restless rapping of his fingertips only increased in speed and nervousness. "Maybe I just try and sharpen his instincts? Those androids are fast but they Do play around, if I can get him to learn how to look for tells that could be how we want to approach it… I just…"

He looked at the little boy's smiling face as he slept.

"I don't want a boy like that to have to jam out someone's eyeballs. I don't want to teach him that…"

Tap-Tp-Tap.

"But maybe that's how Piccolo felt…"

Tap-Tap-Tp.

"Tcheh." He smirked, gazing at Trunks as he rolled over in bed. "Mongrel."

Oolong

The Pig walked out into the open air with a raised brow.

"Okay, now that I'm seeing it, this place is pretty wild." Oolong stated as he walked out into the myriad of lights. The Pig walked a little too far, the heftiness of his frame hitting particularly hard at a certain point. "Whoa~Hoa~Howw! What tha!?" He questioned as he fell back on his butt. "Jeez, this thing trying to kill me!?"

"Don't go out too far, Oolong!" Trunks commented from the palace. "The gravity increases from that line!" He shouted, a small line forming in front of The Pig.

"Sheesh."

Korin waltzed next to The Pig, Puar in tow.

"Oolong."

"What is it?"

"Both you and Puar are a little out of place here. You sure you're up for this?"

"To be honest? No. Of course not. I took up Shapeshifting in school because I was too small and not strong enough. If I Look intimidating I don't have to Be intimidating. Who am I kidding? I can't beat the androids…" He said with a sigh, letting his hands rest on his legs.

"Come on, Oolong! You've got to try!"

"What's the point? If you try you get killed, Roshi, Tien, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, Raditz, Yamcha, Krillin, … Goku…"

Puar started to tear up at the names.

"We're not strong enough, Puar, let's face it. Leave it to the big guys to handle this one."

"Oolong!" He screamed.

Korin and Oolong had their stares stolen by the flying cat.

"Why'd you come along then!?"

"Ehh~ Safer to go with someone stronger like Gohan. No offence to that old coot but I never saw him training once that whole time in the submarine."

"Don't you remember!?"

"Rememba' what?"

"When the Saiyans came!"

The Pig just raised a brow.

"What are you on about?"

"We helped fight them!"

"... Puar… we were a fuckin' distraction. We're not fighters. Not like Gohan, not like Goku. We're only good for fooling people. That's all we ever were."

"..."

"You're full of it." Korin stated.

"Oh yeah?" Oolong fought back. "Tell me I'm worth a damn, that'd be the surprise of the century."

"If you can Shapeshift, that means you can use ki."

"..."

"..."

"What?"

"Mmhmm." The green cat replied with a hum, walking forward and standing in front of them with a regal air.

"You telling me, me and Puar can shoot a Kamehameha?"

"... Maybe."

"Now You're full of it."

"You just don't know where to start. That's all. I can teach you where to begin."

"Let's do it, Oolong!"

"... Really? You think a pig and a cat can do it?"

BONKK!

"Oww!"

"You numbskull, I'm a cat and I did it. I was the strongest in the world before Kami came around."

"You were here before Kami?" The Pig questioned as he started getting into it, brushing his pant legs as he stood up.

"Mmhmm. Drank from the fountain of youth back when it still existed."

"Oh great, so we don't get a drink?"

"Nope."

"Fantastic."

"Shapeshifting requires a great deal of inward control with your ki. You might not be physically strong, but you have the potential to be. The smaller you are, the easier it is to Ki Source."

"You're talking a bunch of nonsense. I have no idea what any of that means, Furball."

"What it means is that with enough training, you can get on that man's level." The green cat stated as he pointed his staff towards the palace.

"Gohan? … You're serious?"

"Maybe not as strong as him, but if you don't practice, you'll never know what you're capable of."

"..."

"I'm ready." Puar bowed with stoicism. Floating in front of Korin, ready to receive his wisdom.

"You in?" Korin asked one last time as he stared down The Pig.

"Guess I signed up for it when I left Roshi's Island. Do your worst."

"I'm gonna do a lot more than that for calling me a Furball."

"I got more where that came from, so if that's got all your hair in a pinch you might not be built to train me, Squinty."

"Hmm~"

BONKK!

Gohan

"Whoo~" Trunks let out a harsh breath as he tried to stand against the tide, pressed down harshly by nothing as he broke out in a sweat.

Gohan locked eyes with his student as he crossed his arms and nodded.

"You're getting there. Training against gravity is what my dad did whenever he was in Other World. This is good for building a strong body, I want you to be able to go out with me to the deep end as soon as possible."

"The deep end..?" He asked with a shaky disposition.

"Yup. The gravity gets even heavier and the air gets harder to breathe."

"It's already pretty hard~" Trunks let out in a strained whisper.

"I know, we're only a few feet away from the steps and you can barely stand. We need you to conquer this fast so we can get on to more of our hand to hand practice."

"Wouldn't it be more efficient to do it now?"

Gohan nodded his head to each side, weighing the options.

"We'll practice more of your form back at the palace but when it's time to spar, we're doing it out there." Gohan replied as he pointed behind him with his thumb, a misty ethereal fog blocking the path somewhat.

"Okay~" He answered with a solemn nod as sweat drained down his forehead and purple bangs.

"Trunks."

"Yes Gohan?"

"I'm your master, remember?"

"Oh, sorry. Master?"

"... That's gross. Just call me sir."

"My bad. Sir?"

"We're training ki, and we can still do that while you're learning to take control over the gravity. Are you ready to begin?"

"Whoo~" He let out another strong exhale before standing up as straight as he could. "Yes sir!"

"Good. The first principle of ki is?"

"Visualisation. You told me on Roshi's that ki can't come from nothing. You have to have an idea in your head first, right?"

"Yes. Good job. Now~"

Gohan took a low stance, gathering auras in his right fist before rearing his arm back and firing a bolt of nondescript energy.

Vuu!

"Something like the Masenko is gonna be too many steps to remember all at once for your first time, let's keep it simple. Which hand is your dominant?"

"This one." He replied, raising his right.

"Then I want you to visualise almost like a light bulb. It doesn't need to accomplish anything other than exist. If I can get you to make something in your hand then that's good enough for me."

"Right!" He replied with fervor, his white and blue baseball tee with Capsule Corp. on the front drenched in sweat already.

"Stick out your left hand."

Trunks complied just before Gohan stepped forward and mimed screwing in a lightbulb in his pupil's left palm, conjuring another orb of ki.

"So just do that, but in this one."

"Okay!"

Trunks focused up and focused up hard, shutting up immediately and sharpening his brow at his right palm. He clenched his jaw harshly as he felt something ethereal pull at the muscles in his hand. Gohan raised a brow at just how quick it was.

"No way."

Sparks of light came in and out of existence before a small thin bulb popped in and subsequently out of existence.

"There you go, Trunks!"

Zzzz~Poppop! Zzzzz~

"Keep at it!"

Zzzz~ZzzttTttZzztt~Poppoppop! Zzz~

Vwuuu~

"Nice! That was fast. Damn. Great work."

Trunks closed his hand tightly around the orb, dissipating it immediately.

"Did I do it?"

"Yes you did." Gohan replied as he smacked the back of his left hand against Trunks' chest. "Nice work."

"Haha! Yeah!" Trunks yelped as he jumped for joy, the orb in his left also disappearing. "Whoa~"

FLOMPP!

"Ahh~" He lamented as he rubbed the back of his hand while laying on the ground.

"Yeah probably shouldn't have done that out here."

"Now what?"

"Practice adding solidity to your ki." Gohan responded as he conjured a bunch of small orbs in front of his pupil, grabbing his arm and standing him up. "Once you can do that, or, you've run out of ki, then your practice is over for today."

"Okay." Trunks answered with a firm nod of the head before his master headed off into the aether, disappearing behind the wall of fog that existed just beyond the line.

Trunks furrowed his brow as the son of Son Goku left the premises, another stark line forming as a result.

"...That's... actually really useful. I need to remember, as scary as this place is, it's actually on my side. And I need to use that to my advantage."

Trunks went right back to it, trying his best to get a grasp on his ki.

Puar

"Do you grant me permission to stare deep into your mind?"

"Ohw~ That sounds scary~"

"..."

"I guess so. Just get it over with." Puar clamored as he covered his eyes with his paws. Korin placed his staff over the cat's little blue shoulder and caught glimpses of his memory.

"Ahh~ I see."

"What? What do you see?"

"I see that you were at the top of your class, better than the other students."

"Wow! You can see back that far?"

"More or less. Give me a moment here."

Puar stayed patient as the other cat took his time trying to find relevant information.

"Aha!"

"What is it?"

"Whenever you turned into a pair of scissors. The first time you ever saw Goku turn into a giant ape."

"Oh! That was a long time ago. Yamcha wasn't even an adult yet."

"Mmhmm. Low level Shapeshifting doesn't actually allow you to perform the actions of what you shift into, it just lets you take on the form, but on that day, you actually were able to cut off Goku's tail. Which proves me correct."

"How so?"

"Oolong and yourself have more potential than you realise. If you start training and take it seriously, you have a real chance at Shapeshifting and making an impact. But it all starts with building a stronger body and increasing your potency with Ki Sourcing."

"What's that?"

"Long story short, it's the ability to focus ki inside your body to specific points. If you get real good you can have it be focused everywhere at once, but that mostly just comes with time. It's not something you can do in a day, or hell, even a year. It's a lifelong process."

"Oh wow!" He shouted with a smile, floating around in a teardrop loop. "That sounds awesome!"

"But you can't get stronger without training so you'll have to put in the work. Are you ready for your first lesson?"

"Yes I am!"

"Good, keep up that enthusiasm and you'll be ready in no time. Probably be better than that lousy ol' pig over there."

"What was that? You got something against the porkers!?"

"Puar's gonna speed right on by you if you're content to sit on the stairs all day."

"I'm not letting that little blue bastard get better than me for free!"

"I was always better than you, Oolong! Just admit it!" Puar shouted with the huffy disposition of a child. "Hmm!"

"I ain't admittin' squat, now let's hurry this thing up so I can go eat."

Korin chuckled to himself before licking his green palm and white toe beans.

Gohan

The Half-Saiyan scrubbed himself clean in the bathtub, laying down and looking up at the ceiling. Oolong's snores could still be heard throughout the facility even as far as the bathroom. Gohan shook his head and laughed a bit at the absurdity of it all before defaulting to a more cold demeanor.

"What if this whole thing is a ruse?" Gohan thought to himself. "What if the androids are banging on the door as we speak?"

Sloush~

"... Nah."

Slosss~

"They can sense energy from miles away. They'd already be here by now if they wanted. Besides, the rest of this place is crazy. I've seen what it can do and there's no doubt in my mind that it's probably capable of a lot more. What I'm worried about is the sand. When it runs out we're stuck in here, but it doesn't really look like it's changed at all since we arrived. I can't tell, but… this'll be the second 'night' here. I guess I expected a more tangible difference."

Sloush~

"I need to shut the hell up, stop thinking and get some sleep. I feel like I haven't gotten a night's rest since I was a kid. This is the only real chance I've had in forever. No negative thoughts, no interruptions. I'm gonna sleep like a baby."

And that's exactly what he did, only falling asleep where he probably wasn't supposed to.

"He really digs the bath huh? Hey! Buddy! Wake up! You're not the only one around here who needs to use the can ya know!"

"...Huhhn..?"

"Sheesh. Out like a light. Gohan!" Oolong shouted as he flicked him right between the eyes. "Wake up, breakfast is ready and I gotta take a number two. Didn't want to wake you up with the fumes so you'd better be grateful."

"Tcheh." Gohan replied, finally stirring as he got out the bath, body pruned and water wading.

Slassshh~

"Easy." Oolong laughed a bit as he hit a couple backsteps, the water from the tub draining out onto the white tile of the bathroom.

"Oh." Gohan commented as he looked down at his clearly-non-clothed body. "Whatever." He stated with shrugged shoulders, letting it all hang out as he grabbed a towel and waltzed out of the room.

"You forgot your clothes in here, hot shot!"

"I can just make new ones."

"What? You see a sowin' machine around here somewhere pal!?"

No response.

"What is he on about?" The Pig asked to himself as he slammed the restroom door closed.

Trunks

"Gohan?"

"..?" The Master didn't spare more than a glance, sticking true to his workout a fair amount deeper into the aether.

"How much did you know about my dad?"

"Not much. He gave me a cool hat a long time ago but… I haven't seen it in forever."

"Wow~" Trunks laughed. "A hat?"

"Yeah. Bulma told me he used to be the world's best baseball player."

"..."

"I really liked that hat."

"..."

Gohan saw the nervousness creep across him.

"You okay there, Trunks?"

"I just don't know if we can win, Gohan. We're just two guys. And… I'm a kid."

Tp. Tap. Dmp. Tp.

Gohan put a stern hand on Trunks' shoulder.

"Look Trunks, you're a nervous wreck. Just like I was when Piccolo started training me."

Trunks looked up at Gohan's sharp eyes and serious demeanor.

"You have to find a way to channel those nerves. If you can't, the androids are gonna eat you alive."

"..."

"I can't… be your therapist. I can only tell you that I'll stand right next to you at the end. That's all I can promise."

"Heh~ you don't think we're gonna win?"

Gohan smiled with arrogance.

"No. The end is when we destroy those Mongrels. That's the end."

Trunks broke out into a more happy attitude.

"Come on, we've got a lot more ground to cover, Trunks. You're doin' good but we have to get as much out of this place as we possibly can."

"Right!"

"That means stepping out to the deep end."

"..." Trunks swallowed harshly as the deep line in the ground formed and Gohan stepped over into the other side. He breathed in slowly and out slowly. His hair matted and his clothes pressed down harshly.

"There we go."

Trunks' teeth chattered as he felt the cold and the gravity.

"W-w-w-w-what th-th-the hec-c-c-c-cc?"

"Heh-Hah! You gotta use your imagination, Trunks. Remember?"

FWOFFFF~

"Whoa-ho! Maybe not that hot!" Gohan laughed as flames spewed from the ground in large gouts.

The pair laughed as Trunks struggled to walk the line to the end. After a certain point Trunks started to drag his feet.

"Come on!"

"..."

"I'm Not gonna babysit you! This is Your training! Not mine! I can't solve your problems for you, Trunks! Come on!"

The son of Bulma took careful and powerful sumo wrestler stomps to near the end. Gohan had his hand pressed up against something, an invisible wall of sorts, looking like every other thing in the vast colourful expanse. He waved Trunks in as the little teenager tried his best to wade through the intense downward pull.

"Is this it, Trunks!? Is that all you've got!?"

Trunks wouldn't dare open his mouth even if he could, he just bared it as his master yelled everything at him to get him to the finish line.

"What if those last couple seconds are all it takes for them to kill Bulma too!?"

"..!"

"They do everything on a whim!"

Trunks got his ass into gear, stomping forward with more determination.

"They don't care! It's all a game! Nothing more!"

Tomp! Fwomp! Tomp!

"Gyahhh!" Trunks bellowed as he fell over and touched his fingertip against the wall.

Shwiff~

Gohan caught him on the way down, sweat draining onto his hands.

"Good job, Trunks."

"Hehhh~Huh-Hehhh~Huh-Hehhh~"

"We're not going to practice near the palace anymore."

Trunks let out a few 'damn' kind of laughs.

"Until you can handle the intensity of this outer region it's not going to be worth it. We need to make the absolute most out of our training while we don't have pressure from the androids."

Sweat fell down Trunks' face like a waterfall as Gohan stood him to his feet.

"But that's enough for today."

"Hehhh~Huh-Hehhh~"

Gohan nodded as he flung his student's arm over his shoulder and walked him the rest of the way.

Gohan

Gohan laid awake in bed. It would seem that everyone but him had trouble sleeping. He stared up at the popcorn ceiling as thoughts filled his mind.

"I've got to get some sleep." Gohan stated aloud, eye bags deep as always.

Gohan awoke only to see green grass, and rushing blue water. He raised a brow only to:

"Gohan! Where were you!?" Piccolo shouted.

"I-Uhh~"

"You're asking for the androids to come kill you if you just run off like that from the rest of us!"

"I'm sorry, Piccolo."

"Tcheh. Unbelievable. The others are waiting."

Gohan looked over the edge, his hair shaggy and his frame small. He had some muscle on him but he looked anywhere from 10 to 13 or so. He splashed some water on his face and got going, walking right behind Piccolo.

"What are we learning today?"

"The various ways on how to break arms."

"Okay." He nodded a little hesitantly.

The pair practiced for a long while, Piccolo conjured wooden boards for the little boy to work with.

Fwm!

Piccolo demonstrated.

"The easiest way is to hyperextend. If their arm is fully outstretched and parallel with the ground, they have much less leverage with their bones. See?" He let out his wingspan. "If you attack the arm at the elbow with enough force, it bends the opposite way."

Gohan cringed, tightening up at the explanation.

"I'm gonna have you practice on boards and then on me."

"On you!?" Gohan questioned.

"Yes, on me."

"You want me to break your arms..?"

Piccolo nodded with solemnity, forcing a wide eyed look from the kid.

"Look! In case you forgot."

Sklutt! Zmm! Slushhh!

"Hmm!" He shouted as he tore off his arm and grew a new one. "I can grow my limbs back!" He barked. "The only way you'll figure out how is by practicing on a real target! We can't beat the androids by playing around! Is that understood!?"

"Yessir!" Gohan replied quickly.

Gohan practiced for a while on the boards, breaking them without difficulty.

"It's time."

Gohan swallowed harshly, wobbly placing his palm into position.

"You afraid, boy!?"

"..!" Gohan just about jumped out of his clothes at the taunt.

"The androids certainly aren't going to wait around for you to get your bearings! You hear me!?"

"Y~y~yessir."

"If you can't make that first step then the Earth goes and it's your fault! Do you want that on you!?"

"N-n~"

"Speak up! I can't hear you!"

"No ssir!"

"Louder!"

"No Sir!" Gohan cried.

"Do it, Mongrel!"

Skllamm! Krrrackk!

"Eyagh!" Gohan whimpered as he fell back onto his ass, Piccolo's arm bent in an unnatural contortion before snapping again and whipping into position.

Piccolo glared down at the little boy as purple blood spilled onto the grass and the large Namekian before him separated his arm.

Sklutt!

Gohan woke up right there, filled to the brim with sweat, sheets stained, heavy breath.

"Hehh~Hehh~Hehh~" Gohan took a deep inhale and looked all around at the sleeping figures. He took another breath before plummeting back into the sheets and grabbing them with tight claws. "Did the room..? Do that? Did it enhance my dreams?"

Gohan got up and wiped himself off with one of the white shirts on the wall, he took a long walk and sat down at the edge of the palace, a light breeze brought in by his thoughts.

"..."

The son of Son Goku gazed at the green sand in the large hourglass.

"I'd go fucking insane if I didn't have them in here, huh?"

Oolong

"Give me a break!"

"We ain't in here to take breaks. The only reason you can't keep up is because your cardio sucks."

"News flash buddy." Oolong protested with a raised finger. "I ain't never been- one of the fighters! That was always Goku, Roshi, Krillin, and Yamcha's job! That ain't me!"

"You signed up for this."

Oolong fell onto his butt on the steps of the palace.

"Heh~"

"Get up, Oolong!" Puar shouted as he brought The Pig to his feet. "We have to get that cup!"

Oolong nodded and put up his dukes. Korin had his staff and hanging off the edge was a white clay mug of some sort. Korin nodded as the pair worked in tandem to acquire the item.

"This is a little unfair." Korin thought to himself through a smug smile as the animal duo had great difficulty snatching the item. "Thanks to this added gravity, I'm getting stronger while trying to train them. It'll take them much longer than it did Roshi. They don't even have a basis in martial arts. Can they even get it while we train in here?"

Fwsh! Fsst~Wsht!

"Should I change my approach to acclimate better to the time we have?"

The green cat ran laps around Oolong and Puar, sweat matting their fur until Puar finally flopped onto the everchanging flooring below them.

"That... all you got..?" Oolong let out with a shiteating grin as Puar struggled to stand.

"No~" He squeaked.

"Lot to think about." Korin mused as he dodged the pair effortlessly, weaving through their strikes and using After-Images to supplement his movement.

"Oop!" Puar chastised himself with a bonk on the head with his little paw. "You have to sense for him."

Korin smirked.

"Maybe it won't take that long after all." He thought as he eyed the hourglass. "Only time will tell."

Trunks

"Just punching?"

"Yup." Gohan answered as he stretched it out in the abyss. He rotated his frame and cracked the bones in a satisfying sound.

Ca-Criccle~

"Ahh~"

Trunks laughed a bit, forcing a smile out of the son of Son Goku.

"Look at you! You can stand upright now. You don't look like an old man anymore."

"Well, didn't take me as long as I thought it was going to. I guess teaching me ki helped."

"..?" Gohan raised a brow. "How so?"

"I started trying to gather it in my body the same way you told me to gather it outside… and I can stand up easier. Korin helped with that."

Gohan nodded with approval, tightening his loose gi strands.

Cricc-Crocc.

Gohan cracked his neck and knuckles before showing Trunks the ropes.

"Throwing a good punch is about balance."

Trunks paid very close attention, all eyes on Gohan.

"You don't throw a punch with your arm because well…"

He demonstrated, throwing a very literal straightline punch in front of him, his gi vest and sleeves flapping with a bit of grace.

Fwuu~Fwuu~Fwuu~

"Nothing happens. Not to mention that you get no power like that."

Gohan lowered to the ground a little, bending his knees.

"You Really throw a punch with your Waist-" He patted each segment to emphasise.

Tap-tap.

"-Feet, and your Shoulder."

He mimed the action a few times.

"It should all be one solid movement, like a machine. Each movement should be an action that causes a reaction."

Trunks looked all around at the focal points.

"We start with our feet, our Positioning. Our balance. Once we have that established we turn our waist, or core, and abs. And that in turn allows us to go all in with our shoulders."

"..." Trunks said nothing, trying to soak it all in like a sponge.

"See- look."

Fwsh!

Gohan threw a really dopey looking punch just by leaning into his right arm, his feet standing still and his torso not moving an inch. He only crossed the centreline of his frame with his shoulder.

"I threw with my shoulder but because my core and my legs weren't in alignment, I can't get the necessary power to do anything with that."

Trunks nodded.

"But this is what a punch looks like when I go all out."

Gohan hopped up and down off the ethereal painterly ground and entered a stance.

"Hyah!"

Fa-SHOOOMM!

Wind tore off his hand and blasted back some of the mist surrounding them.

"Whoa~"

"No ki. But I'm much stronger than a human with no training so that's the natural result with good form. You can do that too. And I expect you to be able to do that by the time we leave here."

"..."

"Got it?"

"Yes Gohan."

He gave him the stink eye.

"Yes sir."

"You don't have to salute me~" Gohan let out with a few laughs.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Come on. Show me your form. We have to practice."

"Right."

Fuu~ Wuff~

"There we go. Nice."

"..."

Fshuu~ Whapp~

"..." Trunks and Gohan shared awkward eye contact as the student kept glancing up for approval.

"..."

"Gohan?"

"What's up?"

"What happened to your eye?"

"Oh… well. You should be able to guess."

"No."

"..? No? What do you mean no-"

"Well I uh-"

They both stopped and started over each other, each looking to get the word in before Gohan gave a nod that said: 'go ahead'.

"Your right eye."

"..? What do you mean?"

"It's blue."

"... No it's not."

"There's no mirrors in here or anything but I thought it was just due to the strangeness in the chamber but your eye is blue."

"What?"

"..." Trunks thought for a moment. "Hey uhh~ Room of Spirit and Time!" Trunks called out. "Make a mirror for Gohan!"

Fwannt~

"Nice. There are mirrors in here after all."

Gohan stared down at the floor as it formulated a sharp reflected image.

"What the-"

He examined it curiously.

"You're right. Why is that..?"

"Your hair too."

"No~ you're actually off the money with that one. I think the room has made us all a little stir crazy."

"No I meant before that."

"..?" He sharpened his brow and took a stern look at his pupil.

"I swear…"

"..."

"I saw your hair when you rescued me. It was gold."

"... What? You're talking out of your ass now." Gohan claimed as he put his hands on his hips.

"Your eyes were the same colour then."

"..."

"..."

Gohan looked out into the shifting clouds and pondered.

Puar

"Oh gosh!" Puar pouted, covering his squinty eyes with his paws. "I can't look!"

"Believe in yourself, Puar." Korin commented. "This is the easiest way to test if your Ki Sourcing training has gone well or not."

"You can't let me sock him one?" Oolong cheesed.

BONK!

"Ow! I thought you were hitting Puar."

BONKK!

"Ow-how-how!" Puar cried.

"Ehhh~ still got a lotta work ahead of us it seems." Korin commented as he walked off the steps of the palace. "Continue your meditations, I'm going out for a bit."

"Okay!" Puar shouted as the green cat entered the aether.

"What now?"

"We meditate! Duh! Can't you follow any instructions!?"

"Oh yeah!? Fight me! We'll see who's really been the better one this whole time!"

"You're on!" Puar shouted back.

Bom! Bom!

After the smoke cleared:

Shwingg! Ta-Tingg!

"No fair!" Puar cried. "I can't hit you if you just become a shield!"

"Hu-Hahh!" Oolong taunted, eyes poking out from his metallic shell. "You can't hurt me if I just armour up, can ya!? Hu-Hah! All that training was worthless!"

Puar frowned as his face was the hilt of the sabre, poofing back into smoke and then crossing his arms on the staircase. Oolong wore a shiteating grin and the pair went right back to their meditation.

"Hmm!"

Oolong just cackled to himself like a bastard.

Trunks

Trunks feverishly pursued Korin with tight strikes and even tighter footwork.

"There we go!" Korin shouted as he leaped and hopped over the teenager's attacks with swift acrobatics.

Fshuu! Wshtah! Wsst! FuFuFwuu!

Trunks sweat it out, but unlike before, he wasn't wearing his Capsule Corp. baseball tee and was a fair bit more toned. He was not the same little kid but still distinctly an adolescent.

"Very nice." Korin commented as he got closer and closer to grabbing the cup overlaid on his staff.

Fshuu! Wsst!

"Ya gotta be faster'n that."

Trunks didn't respond, only letting his hands fly with determination. Trunks kept his balance low and bouncy, weaving and bobbing his head as he chased down the green cat relentlessly. Korin looked up at the time.

"Hmm…" He mused as the eager teenager pursued the target, barely missing it by a hair as Korin shifted his weight just slightly. "Come on, kid. I'm not gonna give it to you for free, ya know."

Oolong and Puar gazed into the mist from the steps. They only saw silhouettes of the pair training in beyond, their voices echoed and distorted, barely resembling the original octaves or pitches.

"That's enough!" Korin yelped as he stopped on a dime, Trunks stopping on the same dime, sweat beading down his chest, covered by a black tank top.

Trunks nodded and sat down on the floor, light winds rolled in from the aether and he smirked.

"This place isn't so bad." The boy commented.

"What, you like this place?"

"... Yeah… I do."

"Damn."

"..."

"This place gives me the heeby jeebies." Korin stated as he walked the lightshow with his staff. "Keep seeing weirder and weirder stuff in the mist the longer we're cooped up."

"..."

Trunks squinted his eyes in the mist, flashes of a man with an orange gi top and orange pants. The son of Bulma just laid there staring as the man walked into the fog.

"That didn't look like Gohan…" Trunks thought to himself.

Gohan

Gohan stirred in his sleep, tossing and turning up a storm as he furrowed his brow.

A lush field full of green, nearby water, still as could be. He looked down into the pond only to see a reflection of a teenager. Younger than Trunks. He splashed his face in the water and shook out his long black hair.

"Yo! Really good to see you, Champ."

"Krillin!"

"Howya' doin', Gohan?"

"Good. You?"

"Well, the prospect of finding a wife while the androids are out and about are uhh… in a weird way both good and bad."

"..."

"But that's probably not what you were talking about. I'm alive."

"..."

"That's good enough, right?"

"Right!"

The pair walked along the bank talking about this that and the other until they met up with a tall man with three eyes.

"Mister Tien!"

"Hey, Gohan! You're a sight for sore eyes. How the hell are ya?" He questioned, shoving his big hand on his back.

"Good."

"Piccolo been teaching you well?"

Another smaller figure with chalk white skin and red cheeks floated by, waving at the boy.

"Hey Chiaotzu."

"Gohan." He responded with a respectful nod.

Tien's intimidating three eyes continued to bare down on him until he caved.

"Okay. He's been doing okay."

Tien nodded solemnly.

"You know…" He prefaced, drawing Gohan's attention.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not sure Piccolo is doing the greatest job."

"Why is that?"

"Well he's not teaching you about respect, honour."

Krillin looked away as Tien spoke.

"He's teaching you how to dismember people, maim them for the rest of their life."

Gohan looked up at the tall man as he spoke passionately.

"I would know. I've broken limbs before in competition. It's a disgrace to martial arts. Sins I deeply regret."

"Get off your high horse." Krillin responded plainly as he gazed into the horizon, the sun hiding behind a green mountain in the distance, orange cascading onto the water.

"Fuck outta here with that, Krillin. We got this strong because we took our arts seriously."

"If martial arts was about who was the most virtuous, then Goku wouldn't be dead."

Silence. The wind rolled in a single time.

"..."

"Gohan's the next generation." Tien spoke, looking at Krillin's back. "I'm not sure how much time we have left but I want him to be better than us. And I'm not sure fighting dirty is how we get there."

"Fighting dirty is all we have left, Tien. I wish it wasn't the case but I'm starting to~"

"-You're not telling me." Tien interjected.

Fuwu~

Chiaotzu floated around the outside, content to sit next to Gohan.

"You agree that teaching a 10 year old how to break people's arms is the way to go?"

"It's not about honour anymore." Krillin retorted as he finally looked back at Tien's piercing three eyes. "It's about what gets the job done."

"..."

"We thought Piccolo fusing with Kami was gonna finally give us the edge but apparently all that did was give Piccolo the ability to outrun them."

"..."

"Kid?"

Gohan looked up at Tien.

"I want to teach you something."

"Okay." Gohan replied earnestly.

"If you intend on seeking Piccolo's tutelage over ours, I have a couple pointers."

"Mmm." Gohan replied with a nod.

"If you ever fight dirty with someone, it signals to them that they are allowed to fight dirty back."

"..."

"That means eye gouges, nut shots, bone breaks."

Gohan cringed at just the thought, seizing up a bit.

"I'm not saying it's flat out wrong… but there are consequences for fighting dirty. I just want you to know that."

"Ye-yeah~ Thanks."

"Be safe, kid. I like you a lot. Would be a shame if your tale ended so soon."

"Thank you, mister Tien."

Tien nodded and motioned to Chiaotzu.

"See you around."

Gohan waved them off as Krillin stood next to him on the bank.

"..."

Fwuuu~

Gohan twiddled his thumbs next to the grown man his size.

Korin

The green cat rolled over in his sleep, waking up abruptly as he fell off the bed.

Whumpp!

"Whossat!?" The green cat shouted in a frenzy, swiping at nothing with his paws before groggily stirring awake.

"..."

He saw Gohan by his lonesome, head in his hands at the dinner table during their resting time. He licked his paws before strolling up to the young man.

"Can't sleep?"

"..." Gohan just eyed him before staring back at the chocolate coloured door.

Korin raised a brow and hopped on a chair opposite the Half-Saiyan.

"Long couple of weeks, huh?"

"We don't have that much food left."

Groooah~

"So I haven't been eating."

"..."

"It's been difficult to get any sleep."

"..."

"I really wish we had some more so I could take this training more seriously but I want to make the most of the time we have in here, I'd prefer Trunks get on my level than me get any stronger."

Son Gohan shifted his gaze to that of the pantry only to realise.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

The whiskers on Korin's face stood up as he had his attention stolen by the stockroom as well.

"How did Kami create this place?" Korin asked genuinely as he stepped into the stark white room filled with more rice and other various spices, sauces, prepped meals and the like.

Fwuf~Kshhhh~

"Damn."

Swuff~Skk!

Gohan threw up a bag and caught it on the way down before setting it back on the shelf.

"Ask and you shall receive huh?"

"Guess so." Korin stated as he looked around.

Gohan looked back at the mostly empty rack of clothes and sure enough:

"Thought so. So what are the limits?"

"I don't want to jinx anything. Kami's been gone for a long time so he himself can't conjure something he didn't set up."

"I see."

"He's told me he was working on this room ever since he became Guardian of Earth. That was over 400 years ago."

Tssssingg!

"No kidding…" Gohan replied as he strung the white clothes along the rod.

"When you hold the title of Kami you can do some insane stuff with enough time."

"Yeah."

"..."

The pair sat back down at the dinner table.

"You gonna eat?"

"..."

"..."

"Yeah. Guess I will. Don't have to feel guilty anymore so~"

Kshhhhhhh~

Son Gohan looked back into the abyss, warping blues, reds, greens, anything. The clouds shifted and stirred majestically.

Puar

"I'm scared."

Cricc-Crocc.

Oolong cringed at the sight, Gohan revved up with some stretches and the cracking of his knuckles.

"Puar."

"..."

"Puar, look at me!" Gohan erupted, the flying cat peeked through his paws at the intimidating Half-Saiyan. "The androids are far stronger than I am, if you can't take a punch from me then don't expect to be able to take one from them!"

"Eek!"

Trunks raised his fist as a declaration, trying to bolster the spirits of the blue cat.

"You got this, Puar!"

"Eee~" He cried. "Get it over with!"

"Here it comes!"

DMM!

"Eyaaaaaa~" The blue cat wailed as he flew off into the aether.

"Puar!" Trunks shouted.

Thumpp!

"I'm okay! It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

Korin smiled.

"Damn." Gohan commented as he shook out his right fist. "I didn't think he had it in him. Little guy can take a punch." He said as Puar parted the clouds and floated back to the palace steps.

"What's next?" A red fist mark staining his furry cargo coloured cheeks.

Trunks

Vyuu! Vashh~ Vyuu! Wamp.

"Nope." Gohan commented as he stuck out his left palm to receive. Lame ki blasts fell to the ground as they made contact with his flesh. "You're throwing cotton balls at me, Trunks."

Trunks breathed out with great strain, forehead veins shining through.

"Try harder."

Vyuu! Zwerr!

"Yes!"

Vyuu! Zwuu!

"Put your back into it!"

Zyuu! Fvyuu!

Gohan nodded with intensity until Trunks' hand refused to conjure a blast.

"Damn!" Trunks shouted preemptively.

"It's okay, Trunks. Ki is not infinite. You have to use it wisely and sparingly. We'll get back on track tomorrow. Let's focus on our striking."

"Are we still doing boxing?"

"Yup. It's the most basic form of martial arts. I can teach you the most amount of concepts with the least amount of deviation."

Trunks nodded as they squared up. The two sparred out into the deep realms before the son of Bulma spoke up.

"Gohan?"

He nodded as if to say 'go ahead'.

"I never asked what your father was like."

"..."

"Oh."

"..."

Gohan stood up tall and cracked his neck.

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"My bad. We'll juss-"

"But you asked. So I'm going to tell you."

"You don'-" Trunks feverishly tried to usher in his respect before Gohan cut him off.

"No. You asked. I'm going to tell you."

Trunks nodded and took a seat on the shifting colour pallet below him.

"My father…"

The world warped around the pair, the deep aether seeming to provide even more illustrious illustrations of the mind the farther one went in. The shifting blues and purples gave way to brilliant whites and yellows just before a man with an orange gi, blue undershirt, blue belt, blue wristbands, and blue boots walked past them. His hair was wild and sticking out every which way.

"Let me see…"

Trunks gazed at the man's wide back before he disappeared into mist again.

"I don't remember much from that time but I Do remember one thing…" He shook his head and sharpened his brow at the remaining thoughts. "It never really made any sense to me so I don't even know if it's even true."

"What is it?"

"Ehh~" Gohan sighed frustratingly, holding onto his head as he sat criss-crossed, looking down at the white marblesque design below them. "We have magic in this world. Me and you~ you might not be there yet, Trunks, but we're super humans. We can do incredible things and this world is incredible."

"Yeah..?"

"So it stands to reason that if one man can create all this…" He motioned to the ethereal quality of the chamber. "Then there is probably an after-life."

"..? Why do you say that?"

"Because apparently my father was there, as was Piccolo, Chiaotzu and Tien."

"They were in the after-life?"

"Yes. They all claimed to train with a martial arts teacher that was also a master Telepath."

Trunks' eyes widened at the story.

"His name was King Kai. And dad claimed he could communicate with the living And the dead simultaneously."

"..."

"From anywhere in the universe."

"That's wild." Trunks blinked rapidly.

"Here's the kicker."

Trunks leaned in as Gohan prefaced it with a raised index.

"King Kai!"

Trunks almost fell over, spooked from the throaty yell.

"..."

After many echoes, silence. Gohan shrugged his shoulders dramatically.

"Apparently all you have to do to get into contact with a master Telepath is to say their name."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm."

"Allow me to demonstrate."

Trunks raised a brow.

"Can you hear me?"

"What!?" Trunks yelped as he fell over. "How can you..?"

"I'm a Telepath too. Piccolo taught it to me a long time ago. I'm very rusty at it so I can't do it for long."

Based on Trunks' face and the warpy ethereal quality of the transmission, Trunks looked to believe it.

"Say my name from the left end."

"You want me to go all the way over there?"

"And I'm going to sit at the right end. Don't yell my name, just say it."

"Okay." Trunks responded as he dusted off his black sweatpants.

The pair took a few minutes to get into position and Trunks finally spoke.

"Gohan?" He asked in a whisper first. "Ahemn! Gohan?" He spoke at a more palatable volume.

"You spoke my name moments ago."

"Whoa!" Trunks shouted.

The echoey warp resonated in the teenager's mind for a while.

"Hurry up back to the middle and we'll talk more about it."

Trunks answered with an:

"Okay."

And the pair sat in the middle of the yellow ring across from each other.

"So..?" Trunks offered with his hands.

"This whole roundabout explanation is for one thing and one thing only:"

Trunks leaned in with a serious demeanor.

"It's true. The easiest way to contact a Telepath is by speaking or thinking their name. It's the first rule of Telepathy and how you use it to teach someone. Piccolo taught me this."

"Okay."

"So the strangest thing is. Three separate people claim to know King Kai. But all three have yet to use him to talk to me from the Other World."

Trunks raised his brows, a bit lost.

"They all claimed, well more so my father, claimed there to be another life after this one, with someone who could talk to living mortals and the dead simultaneously."

"Oh! Now I get it!"

"Yes. I have tried to contact King Kai 8 times. When I screamed his name earlier that was my 8th. This 8th one being in The Room of Spirit and Time I can forgive because we're in another dimension if Korin has his facts straight." Gohan stated as he looked towards the direction of the palace.

"Yeah~"

"But what gives? I have tried multiple times to get in contact with everyone. Was my father bold face lying about there being an after-life? I don't think so. I know for a fact the Dragon Balls brought back my dad and they brought back Krillin."

"The Dragon Balls." Trunks commented. "Right. Mom told me about those."

"So what gives? Why don't they talk to us? Why don't they help us? This has been the most confusing shit out of everything!" Gohan let a shout escape him during his nostalgia. "It doesn't make sense. If dad wasn't lying back then I really need his help. I understand he can't assist me with the fighting but he could give me some relevant advice or something. I don't, I don't get it… Why?"

Trunks looked down at the ground.

"That's all I have to say about my father. Truth be told I just don't remember all that much. He died when I was 10 so…"

"..."

"..."

"Sorry I asked."

"Nah. Thanks for asking. I got a lot off my chest just now." Son Gohan commented as he laid back down on this white luminescence.

Gohan

Gohan looked down at the water once again, splashing his face as Tien, Piccolo, Chiaotzu, and Krillin trained just behind him. He put his hands down in the pond and flung out the liquid in a jazz hand display.

"Good work, Gohan." Krillin commented with a smile.

"Thanks~" Gohan replied sheepishly.

"Don't you think we're attracting too much attention?" Chiaotzu asked with diplomacy. "I fear we might have been using too much ki in our practice today."

"There's a reason we come out here, Chiaotzu. We've never seen the androids come out this far. For whatever reason… this place seems to be the sweet spot."

The low hanging sun in the sky glimmered off the water in beautiful shimmers. There were islands a plenty in the vicinity. The particular one they were on had a mound on the top, a low bank on the opposite side and a lone tree punctuating the landscape.

Piccolo furrowed his brow, forcing Krillin to ask:

"What's up?"

Fwoff~

Piccolo took off his turban and twitched his ears to make sure.

"They're here."

"What!? Here!?" Krillin shouted unintentionally.

The whole group freaked out in tandem.

"Damn!" Lapis shouted with fervor from behind the mound, stepping over it dramatically. "Sup guys!" He greeted with a wave. "Took me a while to find that energy signal!"

"Dumbass."

"Well… took Lazuli a while to find it."

"Thank you." She said sassily as she brushed back her platinum blonde locks.

The four men and one child stood stunned as the teenagers held the high ground above them. They didn't look intimidating on their own. It was their eyes. They just didn't quite look right. Even when making eye contact, it felt more like they were staring through you, just an obstacle to be discarded or ran through without a moment's hesitation.

"Now which one of you guys wants to die first cause I mean…" He gestured with a big grin. "It could be any one of you. It could even be none of you if you play your cards right."

"Oh please. We all know that's not happening." Lazuli chirped from behind.

"Gohan."

The little boy looked up at Piccolo who spoke through Telepathic comms.

"You have to get out of here."

"But~ What was all of it for then!? Three years!? Just to run!?"

"You're not ready yet. You'd only slow us down."

"..."

"Mongrel! Just go!"

"..."

Lazuli smirked with a cruel disposition as Piccolo offered one last word.

"They're Targeting You, kid! Move it! They know you're the weak link!"

Gohan tripped over himself as he turned around. The Sister lunged, a ferocious gale kicking up in response.

Tha~THOOOSHHH!

Whapp!

It was not with one arm or two arms, Tienshinhan blocked with four forearms, veins drawing to the surface and an eerie stain already marking his skin.

FOOSHH!

"You just gonna let him get away, Sis?"

"This guy just grew two extra arms, this is gonna be wild. What's a little kid gonna do? Let his little ass leave."

"Okay~" Lapis let out with a laugh. "... Nah."

Vyuuu~

Gohan was within earshot of that last comment as he blitzed away with his ki. Lapis prepared another bolt of energy only to be denied midway by a ki blast from the smallest of the four fighters.

Skwui! Ba-Bomm!

"Who's this little clown guy? Another kid?" Lapis laughed out loud as Chaiotzu took off his cap and readied his game face. "You're serious? That just makes it funnier." The Brother cheesed big time as the four entered their stances.

"I hope you guys aren't dogshit. What an anticlimax that would be." Lazuli offered as she stepped around her brother, flicking her well maintained hair once again.

"Should I read you your last rights..?" He offered, duck lips and all, trying to gauge interest. "Nah. Seems you guys are pretty set on this whole last warrior gimmick. I can dig it. But I'm gonna be honest… what do you guys even do? You're not lifting weights or anything. You're just chilling on remote islands like some hermits."

"We're martial artists." Krillin claimed with sharp eye contact.

"Martial artists huh?" Lazuli chuckled.

"Goofy ass. Spend your whole life doing kung fu and then we're gonna clap your shit just cause." Lapis laughed out, fixing his own hair this time.

"God damn monsters~" The Three Eyed man let out through his teeth.

"Whoa~" Lazuli looked to her brother with hype, the both of them excited at the outburst.

Tien broke out into red sparks and nearly grinded his teeth into dust before he responded with simultaneous valour and vitriol. A last ditch effort to hype his team.

"There's a reason it's called Martial Arts, it's because even if you manage to kill us, these techniques will live on forever in beautiful temple tapestries and dojo scrolls. There is no end for us. No. End."

"That's great that you feel that way, buddy." Lapis taunted with a thumbs up.

"It doesn't matter if you kill all of us right now."

Chiaotzu soft spoken words could have stopped time, everyone just listened.

"Someone stronger will surface and take our place. You won't win. Not really."

Clap-Clap-Clapp!

"Bravo. Lovin' the poetry you guys are spittin' right before your demise. Really moving stuff."

"He's talking about the kid." Lazuli stated as she nudged him with her elbow. "Yeah right."

Chiaotzu's eyes stole the pair's attention. Something ethereal finally stared back at them the way they stared at everyone else. Lapis furrowed his brow.

"What the hell are you looking at!?"

"Your death."

The sun finally set and evening gave weight to night at the drop of a hat. Rain started to fall and Gohan started to doubt. He closed his eyes mid-flight and sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing to check if they were still alive.

Kssssssssssssss~

"..."

KSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~

Gohan looked back, hair matted, water draining down his face. He let out heavy breaths. Another ping, nothing. He started hyperventilating. He couldn't keep a lid on it and flew right back into the fray. Minutes turned into enternities as he made his way back to the little island.

KSHHHHHHHHHHHHH~

He formulated a ball of ki in his hand to light the area.

"Huhh!" He gasped, Tien's body floating in the water like a dead fish. Eyes white and skin ghoulish. Rapid breaths fell out of him in whimpers. He grabbed Tien's heavy frame and put him onto the shore.

"..." Nothing. Gohan put his ear to the man's chest. Nothing.

The little boy skated along the edge, looking around for the androids. He snuffed his light and searched through the darkness.

Ka-KOWWWWWWW!

Lightning struck and revealed the next fighter to Gohan.

"Krillin…" He whimpered, his back against the mound. He looked like a hero, his last battle was simply too much. His right hand over his knee.

KSHHHHHHHHHHHH~

Gohan tripped on the mud from the hill and fell onto the grass.

"Chaiotzu~" He said as he landed face first on the man's black hat. "Where is he..?" Gohan picked up the black cap and squeezed it tight, taking it with him.

Da-Dunn-Da-Dunn-Da-Dnn-DaDnnDaDnnDaDnn~

Gohan's heart was already beating out of its chest and its pulse quickened at the sight of the tree. His green mentor, face down in the grass right next to that big tree.

"Piccolo~"

KSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~

That was it, Gohan had seen enough. Was it worth fighting? Really? Who could still fight? After this? Was it even worth it? Gohan cried out in frustration, his hair shimmering gold just a bit, shifting back and forth before it ultimately settled on its regular black sheen.

"Mongrels…" Is all the little kid could say as he flipped his mentor over and caressed his cheek.

Fwoffle~

"Khuuu!" Gohan just about screamed as he woke up in a feverish sweat. He looked all around the room only to see everyone else enjoying a peaceful rest. He fell back onto the sheets and slammed his fist into the mat. He furrowed his brow as he saw little white orbs flutter just above him.

He raised a brow at what he remembered in the dream as well.

"Wait… I didn't hear what they said that day… Is that what they really said or was that just a dream..?"

"There's a reason it's called Martial Arts, it's because even if you manage to kill us, these techniques will live on forever in beautiful temple tapestries and dojo scrolls. There is no end for us. No. End."

"I wonder…"

Gohan threw off the white blanket covering his frame and spawned a gi.

Tzzzttz!

He fluffed it over and over and cracked his neck and knuckles as he stepped out onto the white steps of the palace. He breathed in deep and began training. Something stirred in the teen with purple hair. He awoke only to hear the sharp cuts of air outside.

"Hmm..?" He groggily moaned as he rubbed his eyes and exited the bedroom.

FuFuuSwufFuuFwufFwuuu!

The echo was distant and ethereal, warped by the nature of the chamber. Trunks pushed on through, tired and restless as he walked barefoot through the mist.

"Gohan?" Trunks questioned as he breached the fog in the back half.

"HAHH!"

FuuFuFuFuush! SwufFwufFuFuFuush!

Gohan was going crazy, arcs of electricity reverberating in the air and harsh winds billowing off his hands and into the rest of the chamber. The frenzy stopped as Trunks neared, Gohan took a deep inhalation and gazed his way.

"What's up?"

"I've never seen you so riled up."

"..."

"..."

"We're gonna win, Trunks."

Fuush!

"I promise you that." He stated as he looked at his blue wristband longingly and tightened his hand into a fist. "We're gonna win."