A/N: Finally, here's chapter 2. Sorry it took so long. I thought when I started this, I had it all figured out what I was going to do. But then I was attacked by more ideas, and three major plot lines revealed themselves. I can't decide which one I'm going to do, but they're all so good, I'm trying to merge them all together into one. So, this is the only thing I can post that won't mess with any of the plots.

Disclaimer: If I owned this, this story would have been in the anime. Think about it.

Chapter 2 – The Watcher

"He will have to learn, I know, that all people are not just – that all men and women are not true. Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero that for every enemy there is a friend. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest people to lick." – Abraham Lincoln

Five-year-old Goten sat on the corner of the playground, far away so no one could see him. School had ended ten minutes ago, but that didn't mean people off the street couldn't see him. He didn't want someone to see him cry. He wasn't crying, but just in case…

It had been a typical day at school. He was smarter than everyone else there. They would be too, if they had Chichi for a mother. No one wanted to play with him because he was the brainy kid, therefore un-cool. Then, Tommy and his little gang stole his lunch money. He would have stopped them, but two things prevented him.

One, the playground attendant, whose back had been turned while his money was stolen, was now focused on them. It would look like he was stealing money from them instead. And two: his mother's voice in his head.

'I'm teaching you to fight so that you'll be as strong as your father some day, Goten. I want you to be big and strong. But I never, ever, want to hear about you using your powers to show off or hurt someone else. You hear me, Goten? Don't use your powers, especially at school.'

'Don't use your powers.' He sniffed, trying to hold back his tears. He didn't want to hurt anybody, especially by accident. But because he couldn't use them, he had to go hungry throughout the day. His stomach growled.

Usually after school, he'd go to his friend Trunks' house, because Trunks was home schooled and didn't get to see Goten at all otherwise. But he didn't want to go over there right now. Not when he felt he might cry. Trunks would call him a crybaby.

Son Goten was not a crybaby.

"Hey kid, what's wrong with you?"

Goten looked up quickly. He hadn't heard anybody approach, and his hearing was better than most, being half-saiyan and all. Whoever was there must be really light on his feet.

There was a boy standing over him. An older boy, the kind his mom called hooligans. He was really tall, to Goten anyway. He had longish, spiky black hair, dark, almost black eyes, wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt.

"My mom says not to talk to strangers," Goten said, matter-of-factly. The hooligan's mouth twitched into a small smile. He looked kind of sad. Goten wondered why. Maybe his lunch money got taken too. He heard there were big-kid bullies.

"She means bad strangers, people who want to hurt you. Do I look like a bad stranger?" The older boy smiled at him. Goten thought about it. He didn't seem bad.

"No," he admitted. There was a moment of silence. "Are you a hooligan?"

The boy laughed. "Why?"

"My mom says older boys are hooligans." The boy laughed again, and then sat down next to Goten. Surprisingly, Goten didn't scoot away.

"No, I'm not a hooligan. Only bad boys are hooligans, and I'm not a bad boy."

"Oh."

"So, what's the matter with you kid?" Goten looked the other way. If he told the other boy why he was sitting on a wet playground, he might laugh. But Goten didn't want the other boy to go away, either. It was considered cool if an older boy talked to you. Even cooler if it was by their own free will.

"A bunch of other kids took my lunch money," he mumbled finally. He didn't think the older boy could hear him that well.

"Really? Why?" Goten looked up at him in surprise. He must have really good hearing, too.

"'Cause I'm smart. Nobody wants to be nice to the smart person." There, he said it. Now the older boy was gonna laugh or leave. Or both. No one liked the smart kid, after all.

"That's not a good reason to steal someone's money. I'm smart, too."

"Really?" Goten looked up at him in awe. Another smart person? Neat!

"Yep. I'm really smart. So, if you're so smart, why didn't you defend yourself, take your money back, or tell a teacher?"

"The teachers thought I was lying and forgot my money at home. The other teacher would think I was stealing from them, and my mom said not to hurt people at school." The other boy stared at him for a moment. He didn't blink or move his head, just looked at him. Goten fidgeted nervously.

"You have powers."

"What?" Goten snapped his head back to the boy. How did he know?

"It's okay, kid. I have powers, too."

"You do? Really?"

"Really. Why does your mom say you can't use your powers at school?" He seemed genuinely curious. Goten liked him even better. There was nothing Trunks and he hated more than adults who pretended to be interested in you.

"She says I might hurt somebody. Or show off." There was another long stretch of silence as the older boy thought and Goten suddenly found himself fascinated with his pants.

"She didn't say you couldn't defend yourself, you know." Goten looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "She didn't say you couldn't defend yourself against bullies. She just meant not to use your powers when you don't have to. And she's right. You just don't show off whenever you want. It makes your powers less special. But it's okay if someone's hurting you. You're allowed to fight back then."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. You wouldn't even have to use all your powers, or even hurt them. Just enough to make them stop. Maybe after that, the other kids will want to be nice to you. Plus, your mother doesn't really need to know." Yeah, right. Chichi finds out everything.

"How do you know so much about my mom?"

"I have a mom just like her," he said, smiling. It was that same sad smile. "Do you have somewhere to go? Someone might be looking for you."

"Trunks!" He had forgotten all about him. He grabbed his back pack and started running. "Thank you! He called back to the boy. He stopped at the sidewalk, and remembered something. He didn't know the boys name. He turned around to ask, but he was gone.

His eyes widened. He scanned the playground, and then looked down both sides of the sidewalk. No boy. He shrugged his shoulders and ran to CC.

He couldn't wait to tell Trunks!

"Hey brainy, you got any lunch money!" It was Thursday, two days after the mysterious boy had talked to Goten, and their conversation had been repeating in his head continuously since then. He was just itching to do what he had suggested. And now was the moment.

"Maybe," he said coolly. The entire playground was watching now, except for the attendant, who was distracted by one of Tommy's friends.

"Wad'ya mean 'maybe'? Either you got it or you don't. So give it to me nice and easy, and you might not get hurt." Tommy and his gang closed in around him Tommy was a big kid, the kind that even fourth graders were scared of. There were rumors that he even shaved. But Goten just stood calm and cool.

"No."

"Have it your way, smarty pants. Dill, hold his arms while I force it out of him." A mean, scrawny looking kid stepped out of the circle to stand just behind Goten. Just as he started to slide his arms under Goten's shoulders, Goten reacted.

He stomped his foot down on Dill's foot, and the boy immediately let go of him and hopped away, whining with pain. The other boys just stared in awe at Goten. It was the first time the shrimp had ever retaliated.

"Still want my lunch money, Tommy?" Goten asked, a Trunks-like smirk on his face. Hey, he could pick up a few things. Tommy's face turned red, and he charged at Goten, fist raised and bellowing with rage. He was like an angry, red train. Everyone waited breathlessly, expecting the sickening crunch of a broken nose.

It never came. Goten had side stepped just in time, and, very lightly, jabbed him in the stomach. Tommy crashed to the ground, sucking in breath after breath. Apparently Goten knocked the wind out of him. He'd have to watch it next time.

Uh oh. The attendant was coming over. He paled. This was bad. She would think he had attacked Tommy, and she would take him to the office, or give him detention. Or worse: she could call his mother. He gulped.

Apparently Tommy thought so, too. "Ms. Watters," he gasped, still trying to catch his breath. "Goten punched me really hard." Fake tears came to his eyes. "He wanted my lunch money 'cause he forgot his, and I told him no and then he-"

"Stop your explaining, Thomas. I saw the whole thing. You're little distraction didn't work. You tried to attack Goten first, which means you and Dillian both get detention. Come along."

Goten watched with repressed joy as both boys were held by their ears as they were taken inside. When the door closed behind them, there was dead silence on the playground. His happiness evaporated. 'They probably think I'm a weirdo now.'

But then, he heard something. Was that… clapping? Soon it got louder, and more joined in, until finally the entire playground was clapping and yelling and whistling.

"Goten, that was so cool," yelled a blond-haired kid on the monkey bars.

"Yeah, that was awesome!" said another from the jungle gym.

"'Bout time someone showed Tommy whose boss!" said a girl at hopscotch.

"Hey Goten, want to play with us?"

"Yeah, Goten! Come play with us!"

Unbeknownst to Goten, as he ran across the playground playing with his newfound friends, was the person standing outside the gate watching them. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt. His hair was blond now instead of black, and his eyes were blue, or some might say teal. He watched with a small smile as Goten screamed and laughed with the other kids.

"Good for you, Goten," he whispered. He closed a camcorder he held in his hand and started to walk away. Like he said almost five years ago, he would always watch out for him. "Good for you."

"Oh Goten, you look just like your father." Goten blushed and looked at his feet. His mother had made him a gi that was a miniature copy of his father's, except the sleeves were longer. It was his first day of second grade, and the seven-year-old wanted to look his best.

He knew he looked like his dad. He had seen lots of pictures, and he always enjoyed it when his mom talked about him. Except when it made her sad. She often got upset when she talked about his dad. Sometimes she would even get sad for no reason at all, or just at little things. Like one time Goten had found a round red hat when he was only four. He had shown it to his mother proudly, expecting praise. Instead she had burst into tears. He never found out what she'd done with it.

He quickly ate his breakfast, which was large enough to feed a small army. He sometimes wondered how his mom could cook so much so fast. He mentally shrugged. Must be a mom thing.

He picked up his school bag and walked out the door, his mom following right behind him.

"You behave today, Goten. No starting fights, no pranks, no correcting the teacher-"

"But that only happened once!"

"And try not to get to dirty. Remember, no talking to strangers and look both ways before crossing the street."

"Okay." They stopped and Chichi knelt down in front of him.

"Your first day of second grade. I can't believe it."

"Aw, mom," Goten groaned before he was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm so proud of you, Goten."

"Thanks mom." She still continued to hold onto him. After a few moments, he finally managed to get enough air to talk.

"Uh, mom? I don't want to be late…"

"Oh, right," she said, quickly putting him back down.

He called for Nimbus, and clambered on the yellow cloud before his mother decided to give him another hug. Once he was on, the cloud started to fly away.

"Have a good day!" he heard her call.

"You too!" he yelled back, but he wasn't sure if she heard him. Nimbus was traveling pretty fast. They'd be there in no time.

"Here's good, Nimbus," he said, about twenty minutes later. He always got off the cloud at the edge of Satan City. Even he thought a flying yellow cloud was a little weird.

He quickly walked towards Satan Elementary, eager to start his first day of second grade. He made it in three minutes, and could see his best friends sitting by the door, waiting for him. He waved back and started to walk over when he heard a strange noise.

He glanced around. It had sounded like a camera. He looked to his side. A little ways off, a parent was taking a picture of her daughter. Oh, that was it. He shrugged, and walked over to his friends.

He didn't notice the person across the street stuff a camera into his pocket.

A/N: Sorry if it was disappointing. I just don't want to limit the options mentioned in my first author's note.

Did Goten seem a little too smart? I always thought that, with Chichi as his mother, Goten is a smart kid, just really innocent and naïve. He could be just as smart as Gohan, for all I know. Even if he didn't know what a wizard was.

Suggestions are welcome (especially to get me through this 3 different plots thing) and, as always, REVIEW!

Thank you.