Hurry Your Training, Saiya-jin!! Inside the Room of Spirit and Time...

Son Goku tightens his belt. He reaches out to pick something up (presumably his medicine, but I can't say for sure). "Yeah, I'm going to aim for greater than Super Saiya-jin." Kamesennin almost falls over. "Greater than Super Saiya-jin?! Is that possible?" The doorknob falls off of a nearby door. "I don't know, but this time, I would have to train for at least a year if I want to win." He stares at his reflection in the brass doorknob. He tosses it to Muten Roshi. He gasps. "One year? To take that much time..." Goku, "It's okay. It will be one year, but it will only take one day." Roshi, "Hmm?" Chichi remains silent through the entire thing. "Chichi, I want to take Gohan with me. Is that okay?" Chichi looks at him angrily. "No. No. No way. But it's no use trying to stop you. So you better become really, really strong." She hits him on the side of the face. "Chichi..." Chichi, "But after you finish battling the Artificial Humans, you'd better let him study!" Roshi puts the doorknob back on the door. "No wonder you're the wife of the strongest man on Earth... So strong..." She walks up to Goku, who takes a step back. "And, Goku-san, you're going to work." Goku, "Thank you." She smiles at him and he smiles back. Roshi, "Ah, so nice." The doorknob falls off again and he starts jumping around behind them, trying to catch it. Chichi turns to watch him. Goku, "I'm going to go." She turns back to Goku and Muten Roshi suddenly lies still on the ground, looking up at them...or, rather, up Chichi's dress. Goku turns and puts two fingers to his forehead. He vanishes. Muten Roshi, "What awesome resolve!" Chichi, "Goku...san..."

The capsule plane soars through the clouds at high speed. Tenshinhan, "We still haven't reached the town he's at yet?" Yamucha, "No. If we don't hurry..." Piccolo sits in the back, silent, as usual. Tenshinhan walks back about halfway to the back of the plane and leans back against the wall opposite Piccolo. "He's going to get away again." Kuririn is the one who breaks the following moment of silence. "If Goku was here..." Son Goku suddenly materializes in the capsule plane. Piccolo spins around, surprised. Kuririn, "If Goku was here..." Yamucha, "Goku!" Kuririn, "Yeah, if Goku used Shunkan Idou..." Gohan, "Father!" Kuririn finally turns around. Goku waves at him. "Yo." Kuririn turns around again. "Yeah, he'd appear like this..." He suddenly looks up. "Huh?" He turns back around. "Go...Go...Go...Go..." Goku, "Yo, Kuririn." Kuririn runs up to him in tears. "Goku!" He jumps right on Goku and the two of them fly out the back of the plane. "Goku, I missed you!" Goku laughs. "We were waiting for you! When did you wake up?"

Later, after they've returned to the plane, Gohan stares up at his father. Kuririn, "You're all okay now?" Goku, "Yeah, but a bit hungry, though..." Kuririn, "Hungry... that's so like you. You're okay!" Goku, "Yeah, I'm okay." Gohan suddenly turns serious, his smile fading. Goku turns to his son and puts his hand on Gohan's head. He musses Gohan's hair. "Father!" Goku walks over to Piccolo and stares at him in silence for a moment. Piccolo probably ignores him (although I guess it is possible that he was just so deep in his meditation that he didn't notice). After a few seconds of silence, Goku addresses him. "Kamicolosama!" Piccolo looks like he's about to die after hearing that. Yamucha turns around and everyone else watches with a grin. Piccolo look up at him. "Don't combine the names. I'm mostly Piccolo, so call me Piccolo." Goku, "Okay then, Piccolo!" His grin fades and he turns serious. "If I stay as I am, I won't be able to beat the Artificial Humans or Cell. So I'm going to take Gohan with me to train. Where I can train for a year in just one day..." Yamucha, "What?!" Piccolo, "The Room of Spirit and Time. But no one has lasted a year in that room. You lasted about a month when you were in there a long time ago." Goku, "I'll take Vegeta and Trunks as well. They'll be able to stand it." Piccolo, "Then get going now. Cell is killing humans and increasing his powers so that he will be able to combine with Number 17 and Number 18 and become this Perfect being." Son Goku turns around and holds his hand out to Gohan. Gohan stares at him for a moment, then reaches his resolve and puts gives his father his hand. Gohan, "Yes." Goku raises his two fingers to his forehead. Kuririn, "Goku, tell me." Goku, "Hmm?" Kuririn, "Are you afraid or happy to see an enemy stronger than Freezer?" Goku, "Both." He and Gohan disappear. Piccolo closes his eyes once again. Tenshinhan, "That guy... The world is falling apart and humans are dying, but..." Kuririn, "Good, he hasn't given up yet! I see hope now. He really might surpass Super Saiya-jin."

Vegeta stands alone in a desolate, rocky area. He is completely silent. Several hundred feet away, Trunks watches his father. Something suddenly appears behind Trunks. He gasps and turns around to find Son Goku and Son Gohan. "Goku-san!" Goku, "How is the training going?" Trunks stands up. "Not good. Father only thinks of me as a nuisance. I asked him to train with me, but he just tells me to get out of his way. Father's only been standing like that for three days." Goku, "What a guy Vegeta is... He's thinking about the future of Super Saiya-jin." Trunks, "Hmm?" Goku raises up into the air and flies over to Vegeta. Vegeta makes no move to turn around. Goku lands three or four feet behind him. "Go away, Kakkarotto. You're in my way." Goku, "Don't say that. I know a good place to train. One year's time in one day. It's at Kamisama's temple." Vegeta, "Really?" Goku, "Yes, follow me. It doesn't mean that you have to train with me." Vegeta turns around. "But the room takes in only two at a time, so you're going to go in with Trunks." Vegeta, "Okay, but I go in first." Goku, "Okay." The wind picks up, blowing Son Goku's hair around.

A piece of clothing is taken off a rack and dropped on the floor. Another piece, then another. Number 18 looks at herself in the mirror. She drops the dress she was examining. "What ugly clothing! Son Goku lives in this dump?" The other two Artificial Humans and their van wait outside Goku's home. Number 18, "There's no one here. They must have run away." Number 17 turns to see the other Artificial Human walking out the front door. "Probably. Do you know where he is, Number 16?" Number 16, "I can't detect Son Goku's power on radar. But if he is with his friends, he should be at Muten Roshi's or Capsule Corporation in West City." Number 17, "Okay, which is closer?" Number 16, "Muten Roshi, about 2700 km from here." Number 17, "Okay, let's go." Number 17 shrugs. "Whatever." She follows Number 17, and then Number 16 starts walking behind her.

Cell laughs. Two humans run, trying to save themselves from becoming part of Perfection. The woman screams. They're in a house of mirrors. They hear a mirror shatter and start running in another direction. They suddenly stop, surrounded on all sides by Cell. The real Cell smashes through a mirror. The two people scream. Piccolo looks down at all the clothing lying around at the deserted carnival. "Damn, we're too late." Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Kuririn all watch the area from different spots. Kuririn walks by Piccolo and stops a few feet away. "I thought we could destroy him this time!" A merry-go-round starts. Then a roller coaster flies by, dropping all of the clothes that were sitting in it. Piccolo, "It's him." Cell watches the activity from atop a building.

Mr. Popo, "Okay, come in. There's a bath and food there. Train hard." Son Goku, Son Gohan, Vegeta, and Trunks follow Popo toward the entrance to the Room of Spirit and Time. Vegeta, "Kakkarotto, why do you want me to train? My final enemy is you." Goku, "You know that it will take more than me to win this time." Vegeta, "You might regret it." Popo finally stops at a door. It looks normal enough. He holds his hand out, pointing at the door. "It's here. Who's going in first?" Goku turns around. "Vegeta and Trunks will go first," he says more to Vegeta and Trunks than Popo. "Okay." He pulls open the large door. Inside is a world of white. "Go on in." Trunks nods and walks toward the entrance. "Before you, Goku-san." Goku, "Train hard, Trunks. Work together with Vegeta." Vegeta glares at Goku, who smiles back at him. The Saiya-jin Prince walks into the room without a word. Gohan, "Good luck." Popo shuts the door behind Vegeta.

The inside of the room is very white, but is otherwise simple enough. Beds, clock, dining table. Trunks, "It's hot, the air is thin, and the gravity is a lot stronger." Vegeta looks around. Trunks walks out past the entrance to the room and the living areas. "Oh! What's this?" Stretching out in front of him is an empty white expanse as large as the Earth itself. Trunks, "There's nothing but white space. It's huge. So this is why Goku-san got sick after only a month." Vegeta, "I see. This is good." Trunks, "One year, with Father, in a place like this..."

The capsule plane continues on its quest. Yamucha, "Damn, he's hidden his ki!" Kuririn, "This is not good. He should be a lot stronger now." Piccolo, "He could absorb Number 17 and become the Perfect being any time now." Ten, "We have to hope for Goku to surpass Super Saiya-jin and destroy Number 17 with him as well."

Almost a full day passes.

The television continues to update the Z Senshi, now back at Kame House. "The devil is still..." Piccolo, "Damn that Cell!" The others struggle to sleep. A wind suddenly picks up, a low wind but it's there nonetheless, causing a ripple on the surface of someone's coffee. Piccolo walks to the window. Imagine his surprise when he stares out the window and Number 16 stares back. Number 17, "Hey, is Son Goku here?" Piccolo, "Damn it! Is this timing good or bad?" Number 16, "Son Goku is not here." Number 17 turns around. "Yeah?" Piccolo retreats into Kame House. "Wake up, we've got bad company." Kuririn, "What... what is it?" Tenshinhan, Yamucha, and Kuririn run out to see the Artificial Humans. Piccolo walks out behind them. Piccolo, "Go away, Son Goku is not here." Number 17, "I see. Then where is he?" Kuririn, "How did you find this place?" Piccolo, "You think we'll tell you?" Number 17, "I don't know, but I'll find out no matter what." Muten Roshi and Chichi watch out the window. Roshi, "So, they are the Artificial Humans." Piccolo, "Okay, then try it. There's a deserted island over there," he says as he points to it. "Let's get it on over there." Number 17, "You guys never learn." Piccolo turns to the three humans behind him. "You guys stay here. You know it'll be useless if you go." The other three watch him silently as Piccolo and the Artificial Humans take off. Yamucha, "Hey, you think he'll win?" Ten, "No way, there are three of them." Kuririn, "Two of the four who went with Goku should be almost done with the training. Until then, hang on, Piccolo!"

Piccolo and the Artificial Humans land on the island Piccolo had pointed out. Number 18 finds herself a nice seat on a boulder. She cradles her head in her hands, looking bored. Number 17 walks up to Piccolo. He rolls up his sleeves. "If you don't talk, I really will kill you this time." Piccolo grabs his mantle. "It won't be easy like last time." He throws off the cape and turban. Number 16 stares up at the sky, Number 18 makes herself comfortable, and Number 17 and Piccolo prepare to do battle.