'One year of training in one day', in a special room was more than enough to convince Vegeta to follow Trunks to the Lookout without taking anything but the clothes and armor on his back, unwilling to waste time. Trunks was happy she did her planning before talking to Vegeta. She briefly talked to Mr Popo, telling him discreetly that it was Goku who asked her to come and use the room with Vegeta, and Mr Popo obliged without any sort of hesitation, guiding the two to the special room.
"The Room of Spirit and Time. There are sleeping, living and bathing quarters. Mr Popo stocked food for a full year for two people." The Genie explained in a half playful voice. "Do not stray too far, or you will be lost and you will die. Good luck."
Whatever Trunks expected, she didn't know, but a vast bright white void of nothingness was certainly not on the list. The sudden emptiness worried her, there was nowhere to hide, nothing to do but train, but Vegeta wasn't bothered. A quick glance at the living quarters later, the two stepped on the white floor. The higher gravity hit them, but neither flinched as they'd both used the Gravity Room at higher levels (even if Trunks had far less experience than Vegeta).
"This is perfect." He stated, and blasted off.
Trunks was speechless. Vegeta's psyche was beyond comprehension, only his goal mattered. 'Alright I'll take care of the logistics,' she ended up deciding, going back into the actual quarters where they'll be staying for a year. The watch above the door they came in through told them the date and time it was outside, the seconds moving extremely slow. 'One day outside, one year inside.'
The beds were dangerously close, but the thick purple curtains allowed for some privacy. She decided to take the one closest to the door, rather than the one closest to the white void, and decapsulated her wardrobe, pushing the trunk containing her clothes near the wall. She put the case containing the thermos capsule as well as the seal for the Mafuba in the trunk, and put her wallet under her newly claimed pillow.
She checked the 'bathing quarters', and noticed with dread the absence of a lock. The bathtub itself looked relaxing, but there was no way she could use it if Vegeta wasn't out cold. The shower looked like the traditional type, where one would sit on a stool and wash. She'd have to work around Vegeta's schedule to get her cleaning done, but the man was absolutely unpredictable. 'I guess I'll keep my hygiene to a minimum,' she had spent a few months without access to a proper shower before, so just a wet cloth would do. She still decapsulated the toiletries she brought in, placing everything where they should be in a proper bathroom.
She walked out to decapsulate the pharmacy back in the living quarters, with the exception of her own specific medicine which she hid back into her clothes. The living quarters had little entertainment, but a table, a couple of chairs, and everything needed to cook the food supplies in the storage. The living quarters also offered something Trunks regretted not packing; notebooks and pens. She checked some of them, they were all empty, so settled on two different ones, one for herself and one for Vegeta. 'I'll keep logs,' she decided. She wasn't sure what use she could make of it, but she knew looking at the GR logs had given her insight on how Vegeta had trained too much and needed to be forced to rest. If anything, this would confirm her theories, even if she didn't have the monitoring equipment Capsule Corp had, she'd have to rely on her own senses.
She went on to check on the food storage, which had just about anything, but a large amount of powder in jars got her attention. She stuck a finger in the mixture to taste and she recognized the fish-like and flour-like mix as similar to the taste the senzu beans had. 'That means we will be well fed and won't be hindered by injuries or bedrest. Good. I suppose it can be used in lieu of flour to make bread.'
Trunks dropped her jacket on the back of a chair, thinking about what she could actually do to improve herself in such a place, all while keeping in mind what she needed to do to keep her cover intact. A year was a long time. Vegeta slept as little if not less than her, but eventually he'd collapse, but at least her father didn't seem interested in getting to know her, in the human sense, so that made things easier, even if it hurt. 'No, he isn't my father,' she had to convince herself again.
She walked out to the void, and took a few steps further, the temperature getting higher all of the sudden. She looked ahead, feeling Vegeta's ki spike as he'd resumed the training he had started that morning in the Gravity Room, without missing a beat. He wasn't too far off, so he could probably see the living quarters from where he was. Trunks walked around the sole building of the dimension, then flew above it to try and see further to the horizon. White, bright emptiness. No sun, no stars, just nothing. The higher she flew, the less she could breathe, so she eventually stopped going higher. If the curvature she could see at the horizon was any indication, this dimension was about the size of the whole planet. And empty. 'Don't wander off too far or you'll get lost and die' she remembered Mr Popo's words and took good note of how seriously she needed to take that warning. The building was now tiny under her, barely visible, drowned in that white light.
She flew back down, it was time to get some training done.
By early morning, Tenshinhan and Piccolo explained the need to fly using a plane to wherever Cell appeared in hopes of catching the monster by surprise, and to try the Mafuba if Cell had gotten too powerful to fight directly. Goku was still sound asleep when the team went on patrol, with the radio on, using the best of their knowledge of where Cell had 'hunted' before to be the closest possible to its next target.
The plan was simple, but not easy. Piccolo, the strongest of the fighters available, would engage the monster while Gohan would hold the container and Tenshinhan performed the technique. Yamcha focused on piloting, being the most experienced driver, while Krillin kept attentive to the news, with a map and a compass on hand, as he was the most familiar with Earth's geography.
Sadly Cell moved faster than the plane, even when hiding its ki and not flying, so by the time they arrived at the first town, the monster had slipped away. It was infuriating, feeling all of those ki disappear and not being able to do anything about it. What was worse is that the ki spike Cell had, however brief, proved how much stronger the creature had gotten.
By mid afternoon, Goku popped into the plane with a grin, all ready in his gi, startling everyone. After everyone expressed their relief at seeing their favorite friend (or rival) back at full strength, some more expressive than others (Krillin jumped in his best friend's arms), Goku explained he believed Cell had gotten way too strong for them to handle, and would be better off back at Kame-House for now.
"So you're going to fight alone, Goku?" Krillin was alarmed, but Goku shook his head no.
"Oh I'm not strong enough to deal with either the Cyborgs or Cell, even now I'm fully healed." Goku was candid about his chances, but truth is he didn't like how powerless he had been. Goku had had nightmares about it, about everyone dying at the Cyborgs' hands while he was asleep, unable to do a thing, and he had done his best to hide it all under a cheerful attitude. Krillin noticed a faint worry in his best friend's voice, he'd have to talk to him about it later.
"I mean I'm pretty sure Vegeta got stronger than me and he got wrecked anyway, right?" Tenshinhan, Piccolo and Krillin confirmed that painful fact. They weren't exactly glad they lost the fight, but seeing Vegeta being manhandled by Eighteen was kind of vindicating, actually, even if they didn't root for the Cyborg. Not that either would actually say it out loud.
"Kamiccolo-sama's waaaay stronger than me too," Goku gave a thumbs up to the Namekian. Piccolo twitched at the sudden name while Gohan quietly chuckled.
"For the sake of my sanity, just call me Piccolo."
"Gotcha. Anyway that's why I told Trunks to take Vegeta to the Room of Spirit and Time. I'm sure they're gonna get real powerful and break the limits of super Saiyan. Vegeta's super smart about this stuff."
"That kid has no self-preservation instincts, Son, we'll be lucky if Vegeta doesn't kill him in there."
"Nah. If Vegeta wanted to kill him, he'd have done so already, pretty sure he'll use that opportunity to grow and be a good daddy to his son." Carefree as ever, Goku completely ignored the look of disbelief that the others had.
Tenshinhan kept quiet. He and others knew Trunks disliked being considered Vegeta's son; he had repeated that boundary at least a couple of times already. 'It's unlikely those two will work well together,' the former Crane student concluded. A shame, really.
"So what's your plan, Goku, wait for them to get out and fight? Then what, Trunks' gonna go back to his world, and Vegeta's going to kill us all?" Krillin wasn't looking forward to a rematch of the fight he and the gang had against Vegeta a few years prior, but with super Saiyans.
"Well if he wanted me dead he'd have killed me when I lost against Nineteen, don't you think? Nah, he wants a fair rematch! He's that kind of guy." And clearly, Goku was looking forward to that fight. "And that's why I'm taking Gohan to the Lookout, so we're ready to get into the Room of Spirit and Time as soon as they're out. Pretty sure I can go beyond super Saiyan, and get Gohan to do it too. You and I are going to have so much fun in there!" Goku was ecstatic about the idea of spending a full year bonding and training with Gohan, even if Gohan was reserved about the reasons, and only accepted to be able to protect everyone. Still, he looked forward to spending time with his father, even if the circumstances weren't what he'd hoped.
The plane flew back to Kame-House while Goku took Gohan to the Lookout with Instant Transmission. Goku explained the food wasn't that great inside, so they should enjoy a good meal prepared by Mr Popo while they waited, and get a good night's rest once the pair found out at what time Trunks and Vegeta entered the chamber (a little before noon).
"Dad, is it really ok for them to be in there together? They.. don't seem to like each other very much." Gohan wasn't exactly convinced with his father's reasoning, so he tried to pry further.
"Yeah, I get that, maybe you should have gone in with Vegeta."
Gohan choked on his water at the suggestion. The look of horror was way too obvious for Goku to miss.
"Well I mean, it's better than me going in with Vegeta, right?" Goku laughed earnestly and downed another bowl of rice. "And going alone is just not a good idea. They're from different times, but they're still father and son, it'll be fine. Besides, he told us himself, right? He 'gets Vegeta's language', and they fight instead of talking. I'm certain they'll come out super strong because of that."
"But Tora-san doesn't like it…" Gohan was conflicted. The teenager had warned him, through his older self, about the dangers of super Saiyan, and unlike Goku, Piccolo or Vegeta, Gohan was pretty sure Tora didn't like fighting. Like him. He was forced to go in there because of necessity. He could only imagine how hard it would be getting anything done with someone like Vegeta who clearly disliked the teenager. He couldn't even compare the relation they'd have to the one he had with Piccolo, because Piccolo actually trained him. Would Vegeta teach anything to his child? Gohan didn't think so, that wasn't the kind of person Vegeta was.
"It's his choice. Besides he's got to be able to save his world too, that's why he came here, right? Pretty sure when he's back home, after this, the Cyborgs will be a joke!" Goku had faith.
'Tora will go back home.' Gohan realized, and something hurt in his chest. 'But I don't want him to leave…'
As she somewhat expected, Vegeta took no breaks during their first week in this strange chamber. She'd gotten used to the vast differences of temperatures when she walked into the void for light exercise, but truth is she spent more time taking notes on what she sensed about Vegeta and his activities than actually focusing on herself. The man never rested, he often just stood there for hours on end before letting his ki explode. She probably missed some data because she took naps every now and then as per usual sleep cycle. She also took the time to test how to make dough to cook bread, using the Senzu powder as flour. Eventually she got the right mix and took notes about it for further use. She had baked bread from scratch before, but it was far from appetizing. If anything, it qualified as 'fairly edible'. She knew she was pushing aside her own issues with super Saiyan, procrastinating in her own search for a solution for the moment.
By the eighth day, and since Vegeta had shown no intentions of coming back by himself, stubborn he was, she flew towards him and landed in front of him, arms crossed. He was standing there, still, staring into nothingness, but he frowned seeing the intrusion in his field of vision.
"What do you want, brat?"
"Training is more effective with a partner, Vegeta-san." She wore the same smirk he often did. She'd done very little, physically speaking, for about a week, and the itch needed scratching, especially as power called for power and she'd not answered the call. However, she needed to listen to reason, not to her instincts. "More importantly, you aren't progressing anymore. You need to rest."
Vegeta perceived those words as a challenge, he didn't like being ordered around, and launched himself against the teenager, who promptly uncrossed her arms to be able to defend herself. To her surprise, he didn't transform, but when she managed to catch his fist, she understood why. He was exhausted. He didn't transform because he couldn't . He'd barely rested or healed after fighting her in the Gravity Room, and if the state of her arms were any indicator, he'd probably had some micro-fractures in his fists too.
Despite his exhaustion, Trunks knew Vegeta was dangerous. She tried keeping up, she could take a beating if necessary, and a part of her wanted to take him on, her need for violence demanding blood, but she pushed it aside. She eventually had to summon super Saiyan to be able to incapacitate him, punching deep into his gut to 'help' the exhaustion finally claim him. Exactly like she'd done before. And like she'd done before, she pulled his arm and lifted him on her back to carry him to the 'housing'. She flew back slowly, figuring the man was unconscious, but still spoke, hoping something would get to his brain.
"I would rather not be your babysitter, Vegeta-san, so stop waiting on me to knock you out as an excuse to finally get rest. I won't tell a soul."
She heard a faint groan. Perhaps he wasn't unconscious after all. She landed by the building, and took him to bed directly. She placed him first, then went to grab a wet towel. By the time she was back, he'd already removed his boots and armor. She cleaned his face, then checked vitals, confirming all was well. She made sure food was served and ready for when he woke up, and left him to rest. She needed to face her own demons and her own plan to surpass super Saiyan.
Silence was deafening. Trunks was used to being alone, but not in complete silence. In the first ten days, she knew this would break her mind if she wasn't careful, often having to remind herself to remain grounded, to focus on what could be done, rather than letting her mind wander to regrets, painful memories and her own doubts. She kept to herself, but eventually, she would have to actually nudge Vegeta out of his routines and get to do actual progress. 'Is this what Gohan-san tried to preserve, really? He should have been the one to survive, to come back here. What I am doesn't matter.'
"Casa de Goku, here we are. Finally! "
Eighteen was relieved after having had to drive (and be driven) in the worst possible conditions for almost a week, as roads promptly disappeared when approaching the mountains in which Mount Paozu was nested. The poor delivery van the trio stole was not ready for a barely-non-stop ride across the whole continent. The off-road adventure was the cherry on top to absolutely destroy the vehicle, despite Eighteen's attempts at 'equalizing the terrain', much to Sixteen's chagrin, as the giant had enjoyed the sudden burst of wilderness on their trip.
"Such a boring little house in the middle of nowhere," Seventeen was. He didn't know what he expected as housing for the greatest martial artist to have ever existed, prior to his own existence, but this was disappointing.
"No life forms present," Sixteen informed.
"All this trip for nothing? Wait don't tell me you knew all along that Son Goku wasn't here!" The blonde was absolutely furious.
"I will not tell you then," was the logical answer.
"Oh that burn Sixteen, nice!" Seventeen laughed, and gave a friendly pat to his sister. "It's the journey that counts, sis!"
"Ugh, next destination we're flying, we're doing it my way, this trip was boring as rocks Seventeen!"
"Why do you say that? We met a whole bunch of nice people, we camped, big bro here got to see cute pheasants and cows, and we got to share marshmallows by the campfire!"
Eighteen completely dismissed the half truths her brother said, and opened the door to the Son household, breaking the lock. "Let's have a look, I need a change out of this awful cowboy outfit. Son Goku married a princess, right? She might have some good outfits." She got in to search the house and bedrooms.
Sixteen and Seventeen waited outside, and eventually Seventeen got tired of waiting for Eighteen to do whatever girls did with clothes and struck up a conversation with the stoic ginger.
"Chicks and clothes."
"Affirmative." The ginger android didn't care for the house, but the landscape that wasn't destroyed by their arrival caught his attention. The river, the soft dusk sounds of the different animals going to sleep or waking up, the wind blowing in the green leaves, all was captivating.
"You like nature a lot, right big bro?"
"I like peace and quiet. Nature does both very well."
"That's cute and weird though, weren't you made to kill Son Goku?"
"I was. Son Goku is a source of danger for this beautiful planet."
"Oh I guess you're right. We didn't get that memo though. Also we've got human bases, how come you don't?"
"Data cannot be accessed."
"Oh that's a disappointment. Strange how Dr Gero did Androids, then us, then Androids again."
"Data not found."
"Don't worry about it, big guy." Seventeen had his own idea about why Gero changed back to 'less performing models', but he ultimately didn't care.
A couple of hours went by, and when Eighteen didn't come out, Seventeen decided to check on her. He then came back out.
"Sis fell asleep, seems we'll be back on track tomorrow morning, I'll catch some Zs too. Wanna come in and take a nap too?"
"I will watch the owls."
Seventeen didn't discuss further, the Android didn't need sleep, but he, as a Cyborg, did (or at least he enjoyed it).
Eighteen had dropped on the Son bed and was out cold. She'd humored his road-trip, so Seventeen didn't have the heart to wake her and continue the hunt 'his way'. And as when they were children, the raven-haired Cyborg removed his sister's shoes, his own and his jeans, and tucked together in bed.
The following morning, after discussing potential options (West City or Kame-House), and because Kame-House was the closest, they would fly in that direction. Too bad Goku had left the previous afternoon to the Lookout, missing him by about twelve hours.
This was such a hard write! Please give me validation :')
Trunks and Vegeta entered the HTC on May 19th, at around noon, and Goku healed later that afternoon.
The Cyborgs will get to Kame House on the morning of the 20th :)