"I'm really worried about him, Gohan. You know it's bad when he doesn't want any pancakes."

"Yikes. Should I check his temperature again?"

"No, honey. Let's just see what giving him rest does. We'll check back on him later."

Goten could hear his mom and brother talking about him in the hallway. He hugged his pillow as tight as he could to his little body as he disappeared further into his blanket. After what he had done last night, he was too afraid to look at his family in fear that they would see through him. He truly was a little monster. He could have killed his best friend. But if he wasn't a strong little monster, his best friend and mommy and lots of other people would die from someone else...

"Ohhhhhhhh," he whined as he went deeper into his sheets. This was too much for a seven year old to handle. All he wanted to do was eat pancakes and watch late night TV in his dinosaur jammies.

"Stop your bellyaching, kid. We've got a lot to do today."

Goten mumbled incoherent noises from the protection of his blanket. His grandpa's spirit was sitting with one leg crossed over the other on his brother's desk chair. He had been there all night long.

Bardock rolled his eyes as the lump in the bed changed positions so it was facing away from him. As annoying as the whole thing was, the Saiyan was beginning to feel for the boy. The visions he had were always hellish and messed with his mind bad. Now the child was going through the same. Except Bardock's visions never brought on telekinesis. What the hell was that about? The spirit shook his head and ripped the blanket away so Goten was now exposed to natural light. He hissed at the sight of it and used his pillow to cover his eyes.

"Go away!" he muttered into it. "I don't wanna train today!"

"You don't have a choice," the pillow was now ripped away as well. "That thing you've been seeing is coming to kill your family in a few days and you need to-"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Goten screamed back, now sitting up fully with tears plastered all over his face. He didn't even care that his mom and brother could hear him. "I DON'T WANNA HURT ANYBODY TODAY! I WANT...I want...I want to eat ice cream and go to a park."

Now the boy was bawling and making a scene. Bardock pinched the bridge of his nose as the woman busted into the room. He looked away in disgust once she began to coddle him.

"Oh, my poor baby! What's wrong!?"

Bardock glanced back at the 'baby' to see him glaring through teary eyes while resting his chin on his mom's shoulder.

Shit.

Goten knew exactly what he was doing. If the boy said the word, his mother wouldn't ever leave his side.

"Fine," the Saiyan spoke through gritted teeth. "We'll go to the damn park for a little bit. Just get her the hell out of here!"

A smirk grew across Goten's little face, but it quickly turned into a pout when he pulled himself back to look at Chi-Chi. "Nothing, Mama. I feel better now. I think it was just a really, really bad dream!"

"Oh. Okay sweetie," Chi-Chi kissed the top of his messy head. "Now to make sure you're really okay. Do you want some pancakes?"

"You're going to turn into a pancake at this rate..."

Ignoring Bardock, Goten nodded his head excitedly. He held his mama's hand as they were leaving the room. Goten looked over his shoulder to see the grumpy one following them. They stuck their tongues out at one another and kept it that way until the boy was sitting in his chair at the kitchen table. Adjacent to them in the living room was Gohan, who had his jaw dropped while watching the TV screen.

"Oh...my...gosh! How could someone do that!?"

"What!?" Chi-Chi stepped away from the stove, spatula still in hand. As she got closer to the TV, she gasped. "That is terrible! Darn vandals! Why Papaya Island of all places!?"

Goten and Bardock exchanged looks of 'oh crap' with one another before entering the living room themselves. The boy placed his hands over his mouth. He was now able to see everything he had done the night before in the daylight. Suddenly, he wasn't feeling very hungry.

"Did they say anything about the tournament being delayed?" Chi-Chi asked Gohan, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see..."

Bardock eyed the images moving across the TV screen of the damage Goten had caused. If he hadn't been there to witness it himself live and in person, he would never believe that his grandson was capable of such destruction.

And it was absolutely amazing.

"How'd you get money for the ice cream?" Goten spoke between licks. Once he threw up after watching the news report, he felt good enough to enjoy his favorite treat. He technically did tell his mom the truth. He said he was going to be with his grandpa. She just thought he was referring to Ox King. Bardock had him lying to his mommy-

"I stole it from your mom's purse."

-And stealing from her!

"That's not nice!" Goten frowned and looked at his ice cream in disgust. He would need to find a way to replace it somehow. Maybe Trunks would be able to lend him some of his allowance. "This was bought with dirty stolen money!"

Bardock shrugged and threw his head back. The two were sitting on a bench at the park. "Then stop eating it."

"No."

"Shut up then."

Goten slowly began to lick his ice cream once more, but with licks of anger. He was raised never to steal, but he was also raised to never let any food whatsoever go to waste. As he was inching closer to the cake cone, a site of an old man playing with two children caught his eye. He was running from one swing to another, pushing his grandchildren high into the sky. It looked like each time the children came back for another push, there were huge smiles on their faces.

"Why can't you be a grandpa like that one? He seems so nice and fun."

Bardock looked at the grandpa in question then back down at Goten. "Hey, I may not be nice but I know how to have a good time."

Goten frowned after he finished chomping away at the cone until there was nothing left. "No you don't. Nobody has a good time when you're around. You're a grouch who steals and makes people cry."

"Aw, c'mon kid!" Bardock gestured at the old man who was now running out of breath. "You really want me to be like that?"

Goten shook his head. He watched as the old man sat on the bench on the opposite side of them to catch his breath. The children were now left to fend for themselves on the swings, but were too young to understand the art of pumping their legs. "No, but you could try playing a game with me every now and then or something..."

An idea crossed Bardock's mind watching his grandson observe the children motionless in their swings. It was time to find out if last night was a one time thing. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you try pushing those kids using your mind like you did at the arena?"

Goten pulled his knees to his chest and shook his head. He didn't want to relive that. "I don't want to... it was scary."

"Kid," Bardock was trying his best to smile sincerely, but it just made Goten more frightened. "Come on. That poor old man doesn't have the strength to do it and those kids are dying from boredom as we speak."

"They...are?" Goten blinked away his forming tears. "Well...can't I just push them with my hands?"

"Ah, where's the fun in that?" the spirit's showed his fangs. "C'mon. If you do it with your mind, they will think it's magic."

"...Magic?" Goten perked up. He liked that a lot.

"Yeah...magic," Bardock continued. He silently did a fist pump in the air realizing what the keyword to convince him was. "Cool, huh? You being able to do magic?"

Goten nodded his head. "Oh..but...I don't think I remember how."

"Nothing to it," Bardock lied. He had no idea what the hell he was talking about. "Just concentrate hard on them and see what happens."

The boy released a small sigh to prepare himself. All he had to do was concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate. His large dark eyes were scanning the area of the swings intently.

I want to move them.

Goten could feel something funny happening to him as he continued to stare. It was as if a piece of him was coming and going, coming and going, until...

"Shit, kid!" Bardock whistled as the children began to move back and forth. "I really can't believe it...They may be slow, but they're moving alright." Even when his grandson closed his eyes, the children kept swinging.

He doesn't even need to look at them...

"Can you make them go any faster? Add more power to it?"

Goten held his head in his tiny hands as he imagined the children swinging higher. He peaked through one eye just to see what was happening, but the speed remained the same. Barely moving. "Sorry Grandpa," he pouted. "I don't think my magic is strong enough to do that."

That was some bullshit. Bardock and the world had seen what he did. "It's, uh, alright," Bardock waved a hand in the air. With the emotional roller coaster the poor kid had been going through, he didn't want to push him too far. Not yet. "Don't worry about it. We need to find someone that knows more about telekinesis."

"Tele-what?"

"Magic."

"Oh, yeah!" Goten grinned while kicking his little legs that were dangling over the bench back and forth. He had sticky remnants of the ice cream cone all over his lips as he smiled up at this grandpa. "Trunks' mom might know someone! She knows everybody! She's got a giant phone book!"

"Great," Bardock rolled his eyes and gave the most sarcastic thumbs up to this day. "Another trip to that brat's house. You sure there's nobody else?"

Well, there was his big brother. But Goten didn't want him to know about this magic stuff until he was able to cool things with it. "Mmm, nope! But we don't need to go there right now," he was eyeing the play structure a mere few feet away in the woodchips. "We can play for a little bit!"

Bardock gestured for the kid to follow his vision. Goten cheered and hopped off the bench. The grandfather watched as the child ran up the stairs and went down the slide with the biggest smile. He was shouting 'weeeeee' like a little piglet and even snorted like one.

You can become completely one with Goten.

The Saiyan snarled up at the sky as if Yemma was looking down at him. To live, to feel again, in a body that wasn't his. Give up on the kid and live in a tortured hell for eternity for all the evil he had done during his heyday. Be a bodiless soul in Heaven, free to live in bliss. There was no upside to it all, was there? Bardock's attention went back to the child who was sitting at the top of the slide calling out to him.

"Grandpaaaaa, come down the slide! It's fun!"

"No."

"Pleeeeeaseeee? It's not like anybody will see you!"

Bardock pinched the bridge of his nose as the boy continued to beg. At this rate, one of the observers were going to send the kid to the nut house for talking to himself. "Alright, alright, just shut up!"

Goten cheered as his grandpa got to his feet. He began clapping his hands in excitement as he headed up the stairs. The child held onto the tunnel that was separating the two of them and was practically glowing.

"HI GRANDPA!"

"Hi."

Bardock was on all fours as he navigated himself through the tunnel, cursing under his breath at each inch he covered. His grandson was releasing a series of 'eeeee's' with his fists as he danced back and forth on his feet. "Yay! Yay! Yay! This is so awesome, Grandpa! You're the best! I'll go first, okay!?"

The Saiyan crossed his arms over his armor-plated chest while narrowing his eyes. Most of the days he's called Lucifer but today he's the best grandpa ever? He never had to deal with anyone with such a wide range of emotions. Is this...what a child is? An emotional wreck?

"You gotta go down on your bottom, kay?" Goten looked over his shoulder to make sure Bardock was paying attention. "Never on your belly. If you go down on your belly, you could bust your lip open on accident. On. Your. Bottom."

"Just go!" the grandfather barked. This may have been his first time going down a slide, but he wasn't an idiot.

Goten cheered as he descended downward and hopped off at the end. "Okay, Grandpa! Your turn!" The boy knew he wouldn't feel what he felt going down that slide, but at least he could try. Maybe he wouldn't so grouchy if he learned to have fun with the good parts of life.

Bardock grumbled as he sat down at the top of the slide. As he gave himself a shove for takeoff, he briefly thought about how the wind might feel on his bare skin if he had any. When his green tipped boots had touched the woodchips at the end, Goten was wriggling his eyebrows.

"Wanna go again?"

"Mm."

Unsure of what that meant, Goten shrugged his tiny shoulders and ran to the stairs. He smiled warmly when he sensed someone behind him.

The one thing Goten always loved so much about Trunks' house was how his mom and grandma always wanted to give him a little treat when he walked inside. It was a good thing, too. Trunks had gone for the day for special training with his dad after Vegeta had seen the bruises on his face. Although his best friend was gone, he was still able to enjoy some banana bread that he wolfed down quickly.

"Do you know anyone that is good at telescopes?"

"This damn kid," Bardock groaned. "TEL-E-KI-NE-SIS!"

"Oh, I mean telekinesis!"

Bulma scratched her chin as she thought about who in the world she knew that would fit into that category. The last thing she had expected today was her son's best friend popping in. Well, maybe she shouldn't be so surprised. He had been coming by an awful lot lately...

"Oh! Chiaotzu!"

"Chiaotzu?" Goten blinked and scratched his head. "I dunno what that is."

"Not a what, a who!" Bulma laughed as she remembered one of her old friends. "I haven't seen in him in a few years, though. Last time we were together he was entertaining Trunks at his second birthday party by doing some magic tricks."

Goten looked at his grandfather with a large 'o' shaped mouth at the mention of the word. In return, Bardock scoffed. "Make sure she's not sending us to a damn magician!"

"Hey," Bulma placed her coffee mug back on her table and arched a thin blue eyebrow. "Why are you so interested in telekinesis, anyway?"

"Uhmmmmmm," Goten was sweating as he looked at his grandfather for help. "It's for a..."

"Project!"

"It's for a project! Yeah! Mama wants me to learn about something cool from a personality."

Bardock was pinching the bridge of his nose for the nth time. "Professional..."

Bulma giggled and shook her head after taking another sip. Chi-Chi had a strange way of homeschooling her children, but whatever she did works. Gohan is an absolute genius and always has been. "Well, he doesn't have a phone or anything like that but I can give you his location. The latitude and longtitude are a bit tricky to pinpoint on your own, but their mountain has one of the Dragon Balls in the area so..."

As Trunks' mom continued to ramble on about things he knew nothing about, he rested his chin on his hands. He was focused on her mug she left behind as she disappeared down the hallway to retrieve the Dragon Ball Radar. Bardock was leaning down next to him, eyeing the boy and then the mug back and forth. Very slowly, he was able to lift it up. He grunted and strained his eyes as he tried to move it toward the sink.

"Here ya-...go?"

"AH!"

Goten winced as the mug shattered into shards on the clean white tile. If Bulma wasn't such an avid coffee drinker, there would be brown liquid all over as well. Bulma was blinking and silent, unsure of what she had just seen. As quick as he could, Goten jumped off his chair and took the Dragon Ball Radar from her hands. His face was red and sweaty as he back towards the front door.

"Wellthankyousomuch! SorryaboutyourmugI'llbuyyouanewoneandbringbackyourradarbyeeeee!"

The boy and the spirit took off like a rocket, leaving the mumbling scientist behind.

"Aw man...Trunks's mom is never gonna let me come back to her house after I did that!" Goten pouted and looked over at his grandfather as they flew above acres of green land. "Do you think you could steal some more money from Mama's purse? Then I'll give her all my money from the tournament..."

Bardock glanced at the radar in Goten's hand to make sure they were going in the right direction. "I'm not opposed to it. I really hope this Chiaotzu guy is the real deal and not some palm reading freak."

Goten frowned as the two flew in silence for the rest of the way. He was thinking about Bulma telling Vegeta, then Vegeta telling Gohan, then Gohan telling his mom and then...

No more TV.

Or worse, being called a little monster again by the one person he loved the most.

The duo spotted a small temple at the same time and sensed two significant power levels below. Goten and Bardock nodded at each other and went down for the landing. Goten always liked the way that the little blades of grass swished right before his feet touched it. "Hellooooo!" Goten called out with his little hands cupped over his mouth. "Mr. Chiaotzu!"

The door of the temple opened slowly, and Goten's breathing slowed down in awe. A figure who was shorter than him appeared on the steps. His skin was as white as snow, and two red circles were the color of blood. The two stood there yards apart, blinking at one another and turning their heads to the side. The tiny man was staring at him like he recognized him, but Goten never met him a day in his life.

"Grandpa, is that-" Goten stopped when he realized Grandpa was oddly quiet. He glanced up at the tall Saiyan, who was holding his hands in front of him in self defense with a twitching eye.

"THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"

"Wow," Bra could see her breath. The temperature change from each place they went to was sure to get her sick, but she didn't care. "This place is gorgeous!"

Goten looked at her and smiled. "You should see it when it's not covered in snow." The days spent in these mountains during his childhood were bright, green, and sunny. He offered her his hand to help her walk through the fresh powder. He was leading her right towards the temple that had smoke coming from the chimney. It felt like coming home.

"Hellooooo!" he knocked twice gently on the door. "Mr. Chiaotzu! Mr. Tien!"

Bra wasn't sure why, but she hid behind Goten slightly. There was something chilling about meeting them, and it wasn't because of the weather. She got on her tiptoes to peer over his shoulder once the door had opened up. A man with a third eye was grinning ear to ear. The only hair he had were on his graying eyebrows, and although he was aging Bra could tell he was strong.

"Goten!" Tien gathered him into a short hug, exposing Bra. "How long has it been?"

"A few years man," Goten rubbed his neck and used his free hand to nudge Bra forward. "Do you recognize who this little lady is?"

Tien only had to study the nervous girl's face for a moment before shaking his head. "No way? Vegeta's little girl?" she perked up at the mention of her father's name. "She was just a baby last time I saw her!"

"Well, not much as changed... Ow!" Goten laughed when she punched his arm. "Kidding! Hey, where's Chiaotzu at?"

"He's meditating right now, but you two are more than welcome to come in. There's some hot tea on the stove to warm you up." Tien pressed his back against the door to allow the young adults to enter the temple. Once Bra was too into admiring the decor inside, Tien winked at Goten. "So, you two going steady or something?"

The son of Goku twisted his lips in disgust. "That's my best friend's kid sister. I got stuck with her."

Tien whistled lowly as he shut the door gently behind him. "Sure," he chuckled. "Whatever you say. I'll take care of your lady friend if you wanted to go see Chiaotzu. He's in the room. You know which one."

Oh boy, did he. Goten thanked Tien and made his way down the hall. He slowly entered the room in which he trained in and saw Chiaotzu sitting cross legged on the floor with his palms facing upward. Wordlessly, Goten copied his position and closed his eyes.

"Long time, no see."

"Same to you."

Goten stopped the wooden log from hitting the side of his head while Chiaotzu was stopping the plates from crashing into him. A variety of objects were flying around the room, but nobody was touching them.

"...What..the...hell?"

All at once, the objects crashed onto the floor. A plate landed harshly on Goten's head as he looked over his shoulder at a wide mouth Bra. He chuckled while Tien mouthed a 'sorry'' from behind her.

"Good thing I've got a hard head, huh?"