Author's Notes: I'm really, extra sorry for the long wait, but here it is! Chapter 4! And it's not that short, too. XD I would love to take this chance to thank everyone who has ever given this story his or her attention, you have no idea how much that motivates me to keep on writing and bringing new chapters to you! Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DBZ!

Chapter 4

"I've been working on this for quite a while," Bulma said, her eyes gleaming in glee, "I'm positive that it's going to tip the balance in our favor!" she took a turn and Trunks followed. Their quick pace finally led them to an ordinary looking door. However, Trunks knew that he hadn't been in that part of the hideout before. Bulma's hands were practically shaking with excitement as she all but ripped the door open. She quickly ushered the teenager inside and shut the door closed behind him as if the chamber itself were one of the world's biggest secrets.

"No one but my most trusted assistants know about this room. You probably don't know this, but in all our previous hideouts, there was a space like this one," she said, "Nobody, except them and myself, was ever allowed into them!" she searched her pocket for a couple of seconds and finally, the room was engulfed in the glow of a flashlight. The first thing Trunks noticed was that it was small. The second thing that immediately occurred to him was that most of the space was occupied with a weird looking device; it had a big, metal body, the hatch was open and he could see a make-shift seat inside, the lid was made up of a transparent substance and he could make out arms and legs protruding from the body.

"What is this?" Trunks asked as he extended his hand to touch it. Before he could, however, his mother batted his hand away.

"No touching!" she reprimanded, the light cast an eerie look upon her face that Trunks couldn't help but cringe, "It's just a prototype, and I don't want you touching it and end up breaking it!"

"Sorry… so what is it?" he asked again.

"It's a fighter bot," Bulma replied, that same sparkle returning to her eyes, "It may as well be our last hope,"

"Why? What does it do?" he prodded, cocking his head to one side.

"Well… this one's just a prototype still… but once it's ready, it will be able to defend us," she said, "It will be able to withstand ki blasts as well as fire its own. Also, it will be prepared for combat and flight will be available. Till now, it can fire weak blasts and the arms and legs aren't as strong as they're supposed to be… not to mention its frail defenses… but we'll get there…" her expression turned to one of misery with no small hint of desperation, "We have to,"

"So now, you only need to work on the body?" Trunks asked. Bulma nodded absent-mindedly.

"That's a big problem," she remarked, "These androids didn't leave much materials for us to use… and it will be risky to send people out in them in their current state,"

"Wait, what?" Trunks' eyes practically bulged out form his head, "You're sending out humans to fight androids off in these?"

"We have no choice," Bulma snapped, "To put it bluntly, we don't have the necessary electronic devices to use for a full-pledged robot… we could barely find enough to create this… and we need much more for the ones we are going to make later. I don't have to remind you that we don't have enough time to turn these people into warriors,"

"I know that, but still…" Trunks bit his lower lip nervously, "You'll be sending them to their deaths,"

"We're dying here anyways," she said, "And dying while hiding will not help us in any way. If we were to at least try to defend ourselves…"

"Do what you think is best, Mother," Trunks forced a smile, "Regardless, I still need to get stronger," Suddenly, Bulma's face lit up.

"And I just might know how to do that!" she exclaimed, "I just remembered something important! You can go to the Lookout!"

"Lookout?" Trunks raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

"It's Kami's Lookout," Bulma hastily explained, "Mr. Popo can tell you all the details, but really Trunks, if you want to get stronger fast, then that's the place to go!"

"Well, okay. But how do I get there?" Trunks asked. Bulma pointed off into the sky.

"It's up there… somewhere," she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "It used to be connected to a sort of tower before… but I'm not sure it's still there what with the androids and all. The tower was in the Sacred Land of Korin."

"Do you know the exact location of that area?" Trunks asked.

"Well," Bulma rummaged through some papers and finally came up with a map, "It's supposed to be somewhere here," she pointed at a specific location.

"What should I do if I don't find it?" Bulma shrugged.

"I don't know of any other way to find the Lookout. You need to find the tower," Bulma said, "Rest up first and then go; it sure won't be going anywhere," Trunks nodded and exited the room, his mother followed suit and they both returned to the living quarters in the hideout.

The sky was swallowed up with the bright combination of different shades of orange and red when Trunks finally decided that it was time to leave. He had rested up, eaten and gotten his things ready for the trip ahead of him during the last couple of hours. He took one last glance at their hiding place before bidding his mother farewell and marching off into the distance. According to the information given, he would need no less than an hour just to get to the general location of the tower. It would definitely take him longer to search for it and get to the Lookout. He let out a sigh as he finally reached a safe enough distance from the hidden sanctuary to start using his ki. He felt the familiar rush of power as he prepared for take-off.

-oOo-

"So was it fun?" Seventeen asked his sister, eyes wide in curiosity.

"Was what fun?"

"Oh, you know, killing that boy," Seventeen licked his lips in anticipation. Eighteen disappointed him when all she did was hum, "Is that a yes or a no?" he prodded, his tone taking a hint of annoyance, "I gotta say, he didn't look like much… Could have beaten him with both hands behind my back, an injured leg and both eyes closed,"

"Sure you could have," Eighteen rolled her eyes when her brother proceeded to defend himself and protest loudly. Very, very loudly… and infuriatingly. At some point, his voice started becoming whiny that it seemed to grate on her nerves. She chanced a glance at their companion and it didn't surprise her when she saw how aloof and uncaring he was. To her, it seemed he was more interested in the plain desert around them than anything else. They had come here, at Seventeen's request as was usual, for some reason or the other.

"Hey! Eighteen!" she woke up from her trance to her twin's noisy yelling in her ear.

"What?!"

"I've been calling your name for ages!" Seventeen dramatically crossed his arms and sniffed unhappily.

"Well, what do you want?!" she asked the now grinning man. She sent a cold glare his way when he opened his mouth. Realizing that it was not the time to disturb the girl, he snapped his mouth shut with a 'humph' and left the blonde to her own devices opting to try to crack his orange-haired companion instead. Eighteen saw a purple blur from the corner of her eye. She made sure that her companions weren't paying attention and slipped from the group before silently trailing a certain lavender-haired boy.

-oOo-

Trunks reached the Sacred Land of Korin at last, and he was surprised to discover that this area had not been destroyed. He relished in the cool breeze. His eyes roamed over the vibrant green plants. The soothing atmosphere and animal sounds put his mind at ease. He felt more relaxed than ever when all the calming factors blended in as one to impart a sense of harmony, of serenity… of life.

He shook everything aside, however, when he remembered his task. He had to find a tower. He looked around and was not surprised to find a white kind of pole standing in the distance. He quickly flew towards it. Once he was close enough, he flew upwards at top speed. He didn't care when he started feeling a bit of fatigue nor did he care when his breaths came out in rushed pants as the oxygen decreased. He didn't stop when he started feeling light-headed. Instead, he thrust upwards with all his remaining power. Finally, he reached what he thought must be the Lookout. Almost immediately, a black figure came into sight.

"Hello there," the new person greeted.

"Hello," Trunks said politely, "You must be Mr. Popo,"

"That is correct," Mr. Popo said with a smile.

"My name's Trunks. My mother, Bulma, said that you can train me to become stronger!" Trunks said, "Please, please help me!" he pleaded.

"No need for all this, Trunks," Mr. Popo said, "I will help you… you are the last of the Z fighters, after all. The Earth needs you. The survival of the human race depends on you. It might seem like such a heavy burden on your shoulders, but with enough guidance… you will be powerful enough to stop the reign of terror the androids started!"

"I'll do anything to stop them…" Images crowded in the teenager's mind and he shut his eyes tight to block the pictures of corpses, misery and helplessness.

"Very well…" Mr. Popo said as he clapped his hands together, "We'll start with one of the most essential skill you need… it might not do you good against the androids, but you'll need it,"

"How can this help me, if I'm not going to use it against my current enemies?"

"Trust me, Trunks," Trunks nodded, "Now, I'll teach you how to sense ki,"

-oOo-

Eighteen wasn't far behind Trunks, she quickly his in a not so far off place and listened to the two talk. Her ears perked up when she heard that he was going to learn new things from this strange persona. She watched the teacher instruct his student about how to sense ki. After Mr. Popo tried to explain how to read a person's ki, Eighteen had it down and could sense the two people in front of her. She closed her eyes and delved deeper into the boy's ki. She saw him in a new light. His life force was strong, its warmth radiating off of him in waves. She prodded into it more and she could feel the firm conviction he had inside. His ki jolted when he finally learned the technique and Eighteen jerked with it. She slowly opened her eyes and refrained from making any noise as not to attract attention. She never thought anything could feel so alive.

"Now, I'm going to teach you some attacks," Mr. Popo said, "Now these, you can use against the androids,"

"Okay, let's do this," Trunks' expression changed to one of seriousness.

"First, let's see how powerful you are," Mr. Popo said, "I don't think any of the androids can sense ki all the way here, so we should be safe," Eighteen almost snorted. With her finally acquiring this skill, there were now two androids who could read ki. Eighteen's eyes widened. Oh no… She quickly but noiselessly flew away from the Lookout. She let herself free-fall towards the Earth with one thought in mind. Trunks' rising ki from above jumbled her thoughts. She had to stop Sixteen from leading Seventeen to the Lookout. She had to stop them from finding Trunks. She didn't know why it was suddenly so important, but she didn't care either. She caught herself just before making contact with the ground and soared through the sky. She almost cried out in joy when she found the two other androids in the nick of time.

"And where do you think you two are going?" she demanded, her voice angry and expression even more furious.

"Oh, there you are, Eighteen. Where have you been?" Seventeen asked.

"It doesn't matter!" she snapped a bit too quickly, "Where are you going?"

"Sixteen said that there's something powerful up there," Seventeen said as he pointed upwards, "We're going to check it out,"

"You can't go!" Seventeen raised an eyebrow at his sister's sudden change in attitude.

"Why not?"

"Because…" Eighteen scrambled for an excuse, "I have to go get some new clothes," Definitely not the best reason she could come up with and she mentally kicked herself for a lack of creativity.

"What does that have to do with us?" Seventeen asked, his face showing nothing but annoyance.

"We always do what you want," she stated, regaining her composure, "Time to do something I want for a change," Seventeen opened his mouth to protest.

"The strong ki I felt earlier is now gone," Sixteen stated matter-of-factly, "It might have been a malfunction," Eighteen mentally sighed in relief.

"Well, if that's the case…" Seventeen muttered under his breath, "You lead, Eighteen,"

-oOo-

"Not bad at all, Trunks," Mr. Popo complimented, "You're ready to learn the few offensive moves I know," he looked at his pupil apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Trunks, but I'm not much of a trainer. I can only teach you a few attacks, but the rest you're going to have to teach yourself in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber,"

"Hyper what now?" Trunks asked.

"I'll tell you everything later," Mr. Popo said, "Now, let's start with the first attack. This one I learned from Goku. I'm pretty sure you've seen Gohan and Krillen use it before," Trunks blocked out any feelings of sadness at the mention of his former mentor and bald friend, "It's called the Kamehameha," Mr. Popo taught Trunks how to do the Kamehameha and a couple others he picked up over the years. He corrected him when he made a mistake and encouraged him when he failed. He applauded his student when he learned a new move and helped him improve his fighting stance. He informed him about how to strengthen his punches and kicks. Mr. Popo corrected the flaws he found in the boy's defenses. The two worked well past when nights came and went only stopping every once in a while to relieve themselves, eat, drink or sleep.

"Excellent work, Trunks!" Mr. Popo exclaimed, "I have taught everything I can possibly teach you. You are a very good student and a fast learner,"

"Thanks, I have a great teacher!" He grinned cheerfully.

"Now, I'm going to tell you about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber," Mr. Popo said, "One year inside the chamber is equivalent to one day outside. Once you enter, the gravity will become ten times higher than the gravity on Earth. Beware that the deeper you venture inside, the thicker the air gets and the more the temperature fluctuates," After some thought, he added, "It is risky to send you in alone… I don't know what you'll do if you're injured in there, two people are usually sent in together, you see,"

"You're not going in there with me?" Trunks questioned.

"No, I have to take care of the Lookout," Mr. Popo answered," That's my job, I can't leave for any amount of time. If anything happens in there, try to get to the door and get out,"

"Okay, I'll be careful," Trunks said, determination blazing in his eyes like a never-ending fire.

"Very well, then. Follow me," Mr. Popo went inside the domed building and led Trunks to the chamber. Trunks took a deep breath. This was it. This was his last hope for getting stronger. He clenched his fists and hoped for the best as he entered the room.

Author's Notes: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. The truth is… it's been sitting around on my laptop for more than a month… but I couldn't upload it until now. Again, thank you for sticking with me and this story. Till next time!

I won't put any power levels for this chapter since my friend has not yet told me what the power levels are supposed to be at this point in time, and this is first and foremost my friend's idea, so until then, this will remain blank.

A Response to the Reviews on Chapter 3:

gesto: I'm glad you liked it! As usual, you're the first to review the chapter! Thanks for your continued support! ^_^

Raos: To an author, every new reader counts, I'm just really happy that this story still gets attention at all considering the time it takes for an update to actually come out :S

amariko: Thank you so much! Your long review was really refreshing and it brought a smile to my face! Thanks a bunch! I'm going for the 'Gohan was Trunks' mentor in the future time-line' idea, so there's gotta be about a seven year difference between them, so if Trunks one when the androids first attacked, Gohan would be eight. Of course Vegeta and the others all fought them, and all battles will come to light when the time comes. Please note that this story has a lot of twists and many, many battles that will come in the future. Thanks again for the long review! And an even bigger thank you for reading!

Alex: Thanks a lot! Actually, Eighteen is my favorite female DBZ character! I absolutely adore her! Hope you enjoyed this update as well!

One last thing… Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit fast-paced… but I saw no reason to prolong it and make it into multiple chapters when I could provide the idea and then continue the story in the next chapters.

Thanks for reading!