"Argh!" Boom, smash, SLAM. Two bodies flew across the room, crashing into the wall. "Turn it off!"

Hands searched for buttons to push to save themselves from a serious predicament. The room the boys were in began to tumble down, down, down. "I can't!"

Then, the room boomed, smashed, SLAMMED into the side of Son Goku's house.

The two boys laid still, eyes wide and hearts pounding, when the room stopped turning. "Trunks, what just happened?"

Trunks looked around the messy room and shakily stood. His temper rose when he put together the very recent events. He forced himself to stay calm as he walked over to the control panel. All it took was a second glance at the date and time for him to lash out at the other boy.

"Goten, you idiot!" Trunks growled and began to push several buttons in hopes of rebooting the machine. Nothing. He pushed more buttons furiously. The machine made an odd noise, and then died completely. "Damn it!"

"I'm confused," said Goten, brushing the debris off his person.

Trunks face palmed. "Before this thing died, it said we were about 20 years in the past. This is a time machine Goten, and now it's broken. Guess what that means, moron?"

The seriousness of the situation seemed to dawn upon Goten as he looked downward, crestfallen. Trunks started running numbers through his head. 20 years in the past meant that neither he nor Goten were born yet, nonetheless thought about. Gohan had to be around 8 years old, which meant Goku was still around. He doubted Mirai Trunks had visited the Z-Fighters yet, but wasn't too sure. Regardless, he began to think of a plan.

"My mom built this thing, so she should be able to fix it. I don't want to freak them out, so we should probably change our identities," mused Trunks.

"Well what should we call ourselves? And what are we? Brothers? Cousins? Friends?" Goten asked, wanting to avoid any holes in their story.

Trunks scratched his head. "We can be cousins. My name will be… umm… Saru and yours can be Bikou." ((A/N: Saru means monkey, Bikou means tail). Dumb names, I know)

Goten blinked. "Those are stupid names."

"Well you're stupid for getting us in here in the first place, so deal with it while we go find my mom." Trunks walked out the door. He regretted the move instantly.

A half circle of people stood outside the machine, staring up at it curiously. Trunks recognized Goku, Chi-chi, Krillin, Bulma, Piccolo and Vegeta. A small boy stood next to Goku, so Trunks assumed the boy to be Gohan. He turned his head and found that the machine left a significant dent in the side of Goku's house. A few balloons tied to the mailbox suggested a celebration of some sort. Trunks didn't know what for, he just wanted to be back in his room, away from the hundreds of questions he was about to answer.

"Who are you?" Vegeta demanded. Trunks gulped. This could take a while.

Sixteen year old Trunks Brief sat on the edge of his bed, apple in one hand, notebook in the other. Goten sat on the floor, staring at his own notebook. Both boys frowned.

"I'm bored." Goten whined. Trunks agreed, but didn't want to get distracted and fail the next test. Goten frowned deeper when Trunks continued to munch on his apple and flip through the pages. "C'mon Trunks, we could just take a short break. Your parents aren't even home yet so they won't notice."

No response.

"I know you want toooo."

Trunks clenched his teeth and glared at Goten. "Look, you take all the breaks you want, but I'm not getting assigned extra work outs with my dad just because you're bored." He looked back down at his notes and tried to take in the most information.

Like a child, Goten crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine, I'm going downstairs." His pout suddenly transformed into a calculating grin as he stood up. "Maybe I'll go into the lab too; there are plenty of things down there to mess with."

Trunks now faced a dilemma. He could either let Goten roam around lots of expensive and important equipment, while continuing his own studios manner, or he could supervise Goten's explorations and fail the test. A third option, and arguably the best one, hit him only seconds too late as Goten was already halfway down the stairs when Trunks realized he could tackle the boy into submission.

He growled in a very Vegeta-like manner, thumped his apple core and notebook onto his comforter, and headed towards the lab.

"I knew you'd agree with me," grinned Goten when Trunks entered the lab, the automatic doors closing behind him with a whoosh. Trunks grunted and folded his arms.

"Just don't touch anything, alright?"

Goten grinned and walked further and further into the off-limits.