Chapter 16 Multiversal consultation and collaboration

Everyone had retreated into a living room area within the Capsule Corp building. They all needed to process each other's past and the horrors they saw in the visions. All of them couldn't get the images out of their heads, especially the ones involving their death or the various atrocities committed to the IW and GD Gotens. Bulma had gone into one of the labs with the remains of the Timeline Window to access the damage and determine how long it would take to repair and send the alternate reality visitors home. Super Goten was sitting on the couch shaking, breathing heavily and looking at his hands. He was by far the one most shaken up, mostly because of GD Goten's past and the fact that he'd become a monster. The visions of his villainous self and his blood soaked hands haunted him like nothing else. His IW self, though he freaked him out too, the conditions that lead IW Goten to becoming who he was were either not present at all in his universe or they were extremely unlikely to occur. His GD self on the other hand was basically a dark version of himself had the tournament of power gone awry or let evil into his heart. "Could I really do all that!? Am I gonna turn into that?! No! I won't! I'd never! But he thought that too and he did! Oh god what should I do!" Goten thought freaking out about the possibility that he could turn evil too. Goku was also shaken to his core. He had caused his own son,the son that idealized him no less, to fall into a devil's grasp and let that devil morph him into a deranged freak. He didn't think Zamasu could possibly have done anything worse than he did in their timeline, but he was dead wrong, literally. And it was all his fault and just for a good fight. GD Goten was still whimpering holding onto Shadow who carried the broken child inside and continued to sooth his pain while leaning against the wall. IW Goten was also leaning against the wall right next to them. He had a sad face looking at his GD counterpart, having mostly dropped the rough exterior he'd been showing for the first time in almost a year and a half. Despite all the violence and evil surrounding and infecting his life, he was also blown away and scared. "If only my dad wasn't so reckless in that universe then that would never have happened" IW Goten thought in his head bitterly. "Then we should destroy him here now!" Shouted another raspy voice in IW Goten's mind. IW Goten recognized the voice, it was the Goblin. "No!" IW Goten said in his mind, "I will not kill my father! He hasn't done anything wrong in this universe!". "We both know it's only a matter of time before he does!" The goblin argued back, "we'd be doing the you of this universe a favor by ridding it of that reckless welp!". "No! The other me made the mistake of giving in to dark impulses like you and I will not make the same mistake!" IW Goten yelled in his mind trying to get the goblin to back down. "I've taken over before and soon I will again for your and everyone we give a damn about's sake!" Goblin said threateningly. "You will not! Every time you took control, innocent lives were slaughtered and everything was thrown into turmoil and chaos!" IW Goten refused. "And while I'm at it I'll also butcher both Trunks's, they are unreliable and will betray us just like ours did!" The goblin said pretending not to hear what his outer self just said. While this internal mental feud was going on, IW Goten had closed his eyes, shook and sweated profusely and made random moaning or groaning noises. Everyone took notice of this including GD Goten looking up from Shadow's chest, his break down paused by his IW counterpart's fit. "Hey buddy, are you ok?!" Kid Trunks said concerned. "Betrayal must not be countenanced! They must be educated, instruct them in the matters of loss and pain, make them suffer, make them wish they were dead and then grant their wish" The Goblin instructed menacingly in IW Goten's mind drowning out Kid Trunks's question. "I will not kill my father! Leave him and trunks alone! Get outta my head! Ahhh!" IW Goten suddenly screeched clutching his head before punching the wall in a fury, breaking it and creating a big hole. The whole group was alarmed and nervous backing away, wondering if the Goblin persona was about to take over or not. "Goten fight it!" Gohan yelled to IW Goten, "don't let him get to you, your stronger than he is!". IW Goten took some deep breaths and after some mild twitching he regained his senses. "Huff, sorry huff, he ughh.." IW Goten moaned as he slumped to the ground with a hand on his forehead still recovering from his Goblin flare up. GD Goten's face gained a look of guilt and buried his face back into Shadow's chest. "Please kill me.., even my mere presence is causing pain to someone.." GD Goten whimpered figuring that his memories caused his IW counterpart's inner demon to flare up. Goku couldn't stand to see his sons, alternate universe or not in so much pain and misery, both partially because of his reckless actions and/or inaction. He began walking towards the three on the wall wanting to do anything to help them. About halfway to them though, IW Goten groaned clutching his head again and GD Goten squeaked and tightened his grip on Shadow trying to hide his face. "Don't, just don't" Shadow threatened in a low deadly voice glaring daggers at Goku with hate and malice. Goku reluctantly backed away and the two traumatized Goten's episodes eased. "Dad?" Super Goten said getting Goku's attention, "I'm not gonna turn out like any these other me's. Am I?". "No son, I promise you won't, I won't let you go down a dark path" Goku said trying to reassure his real son and honestly, himself. "Tch we all know how much a promise like that is coming from you" MC Goten said with contempt in his voice. "Hey! Goten! That's not fair!" MC Krillin said scolding his student, "Goku tries his best for everyone , no matter the reality! Something you and those two versions of you don't seem to understand!". "Trying your best doesn't really mean much when it's he's fault the life or death situation is set in motion by himself!" MC Goten argued back, "I love fighting as much as the next guy but even I don't put it above my home or family's safety or time together with them!". "Thank you!" Beerus shouted in an exaggerated tone, happy someone other then himself finally called Goku out on his bullshit. "Hey calm down there man, they won right so what's there to worry about? Nothing worse could possibly happen right?" GT Goten said coolly. "Ah yes it can! Don't you remember what Grandpa Roshi said, no matter how strong you get, there will always be someone stronger than you. Someone or something worse could definitely appear and our father's luck might run out and we might all end up dead or like him, that's why you should keep training so we don't have to rely on him or other reckless idiots!" MC Goten argued back pointing at GD Goten in Shadow's arms. The strong argument made GT Goten second guess and back down. Bulma then exited her lab and made her way over to the group, showing nervousness in her face. "Alright I think I can repair the device within a couple weeks and send you guys back" Bulma explained. "Hold up!" Chi Chi suddenly screamed in anger, "you can't seriously be thinking of sending my babies back to those horrible universes! They should stay here where I can protect them! They've been through enough and don't deserve to be starving and fighting all the time!". "Mother" IW Goten said quietly very seriously, "there is nothing I would like more than to go back home and live in peace, but I made a vow to stop the empire and crush the Shredder's skull with my bare hands and that hasn't changed, he's mine". The tone IW Goten said that unnerved almost everyone and got Chi chi to back off. "All that being said" IW Goten said relenting into a softer, kinder expression turning towards Shadow and GD Goten, "I also don't feel right about sending him back to the universe he came from without helping him somehow". "I agree with you but how do you plan to do that?" MC Krillin asked. Everyone pondered on how to help GD Goten's plight. "Well I could just destroy him" Beerus suggested bluntly, "he wants death plus by all accounts he shouldn't have been able to continue existing after his universe's erasure and honestly he's proven that with all the carnage and destruction he brought". "How can you even think that!" GT Trunks said getting angry at Beerus's suggestion, "that Zamasu guy is the reason he did all that and he has a right to live, with or without his universe!". Goku stepped up in the middle of the group with a sullen but determined expression, "There's gotta be something we can do right?" Goku asked. "The only thing that will make him truly happy is if the damage he caused in the universe he came from is undone or his original home universe is revived" Shadow stated from the wall. "I'm afraid that is most impossible" Whis announced calmly getting everyone's attention, "from what we saw the super dragon balls were destroyed in that universe and our super dragon balls can't affect other timelines, the temporal boundaries between the dimensions is too strong for their wish power to penetrate and you certainly can't transport them into the other universe". "Well sounds like your real good at telling us how we can't fix this, now about telling us how we can!" Vegeta shouted angrily at the angel. "Hold on!" IW Goten exclaimed getting everyone's attention, "whis you said the super dragon balls can't affect other timelines because of the temporal boundaries right?". "Yes" Whis answered bluntly. "Well what if there was a hole in those boundaries, could the wish power then reach the other dimension and affect it?". Everyone was stunned by this idea, even GD Goten had stopped sobbing upon hearing the idea. "Well I suppose it could possibly if just a breach was created but I haven't the foggiest as to how one would go about making such a thing" Whis replied intrigued. IW Goten then turned and walked over to Shadow and GD Goten. "You still got that time ring Zamasu gave you?" IW Goten asked his GD counterpart. "Huh? Oh uh yeah" GD Goten said as he put his hand in his pocket, fished out the time ring and then gave it to his counterpart. "Good, now Shadow, you still have the baggage?" IW Goten asked Shadow speaking in a sort of code. Shadow smirked at his partner as he pulled out a suitcase like thing from somewhere on his person. "Never leave without them" Shadow said snidely. "Uh what do you guys have in that thing?" Super Krillin asked. The two IW universe inhabitants answer by opening the suitcase revealing four chaos emeralds within. Anybody with the ability to sense energy immediately felt the gems immense power as soon as the suitcase was opened. "Now" IW Goten stated firmly turning towards the Z warriors, "you guys wouldn't happen to have the earth's dragon balls collected already would you?". "Oh I have all seven in one of my labs!" Bulma jumped up, "I was planning to use them to make myself look five years younger!". Everyone else sweat dropped at the ridiculous reason behind Bulma's collection of the dragon balls. "Really?" Piccolo asked in a annoyed tired tone not happy that the his creations were being used for such purposes. Your gonna be dealing with the shadow dragons very soon if you keep making wishes for things like that" GT Goten said somewhat nervously. "Doesn't matter, go get those and let's go back outside, I have an idea" IW Goten said leading the group outside while Bulma went to fetch the dragon balls.

A few minutes later everyone had gathered at the yard again with the dragon balls laid out for usage. "So what's this idea of yours?" GT Trunks asked curiously. IW Goten didn't answer, he just gestured for Shadow to come to him. Shadow obliged putting GD Goten down with a pat to his head, grabbed the chaos emeralds and walked towards his partner until he was right in front of him. IW Goten then put the time ring on his finger. The four emeralds then began to float out of his hands and moved until they surrounded him in a circle like formation. "You following me with this?" IW Goten asked his partner for confirmation. "Oh yeah" Shadow replied with a smirk. IW Goten then put out his ringed arm in a fist and with a shout they yelled, "seventeen years!" "Chaos Control!". The ring and the emeralds both began to glow. Then they both let out beams of Chaos and temporal energy that collided with each other. They continued clashing creating a vortex of barely controlled energy and electricity. After a few moments the vortex seemed to start tearing open a portal of some kind. In another few moments the lightning and energy subsided though the time ring and emeralds remained glowing and right there was a portal showing a ghastly destroyed city on the other side. Every single person even Beerus and Whis were mind blown at what they were seeing. "What is that?!" MC Goten asked stunned. "It's a portal straight to the universe where that Goten came from" Shadow explained confidently, "step through here and your there". "Well I'll be" Whis said genuinely amazed. GD Goten looked at the portal with a mixture of awe and wonder. "Now for the other half of my experiment" IW Goten stated walking towards the dragon balls. "How do I summon him again?" IW Goten asked to no one in particular. "I got this one kid" Bulma said, eternal dragon, by your name I summon you fourth!". The dragon balls glowed and then in a brilliant flash of lightning Shenron came out of the balls. MC Goten and Shadow were amazed as they had never seen the dragon before. "Shenron!" IW Goten shouted getting the dragon's attention, "can you repair the damage done by that Goten on that earth!?" The entire group except Shadow gasped at IW Goten's request. "I know not, I will try!" Shenron answered in his usual booming godly voice as his eyes began to glow. Then through the portal, the group could see the landscape and buildings being magically repaired, every crater, every crack and every dent gone and even the ash clouds cleared. The group gasped at the event. "It's working! MC Krillin shouted excitedly. GD Goten stared at the miracle happening before him, seeing the ruins he left being restored. "Your first wish as been granted, please state your second wish" Shenron announced his eyes having stopped glowing indicating the completion of the first wish. "Alright now bring back every person killed by that Goten on that same earth!" IW Goten said more excitedly seeing his experiment working. Shenron's eyes glowed again as the group stared at the newly restored city through the portal to see the results. In seconds, people started fazing into the city and digging themselves out of their graves. Soon Future Mai awoke in the spot where Goten as Phoenix killed her. She got up surprised and then saw all the revived people and repaired buildings. "Is this a dream?! Am I dreaming! This can't be real!" Future Mai shouted frantic but joyful. "Mai!" Future Trunks yelled out from the sky touching down with a huge smile on his face. "Trunks!" Future Mai yelled as she and Future Trunks embraced unsure of how they were back or how their world was restored, but they honestly couldn't care less, they were just happy that whatever happened, happened and they could start life anew. Everyone back in the super timeline were amazed and happy at the rebirth of life in the alternate universe. GD Goten stared at the portal with tears in his eyes, but for once they were tears of joy, he smiled as all the lives he'd taken on earth during his dark days were all coming back. "Trunks, Mai... GD Goten muttered happily. IW Goten stared proudly at his work and his GD counterpart's face before turning to address the group. "Now that we know the earth's dragon balls can affect different realities using this technique, we can be certain the super dragon balls will work too once we implement it, we will gather the super dragon balls of this reality and use them to undo the rest of the damage done in that reality, then we will travel to that reality and use its restored super dragon balls to revive his lost universe". The almost everyone cheered in delight of the plan. Even Beerus, who would normally disprove of time travel smiled at the news. GD Goten's face lit up, his eyes beaming, body shaking and smile widening as he realized that he was gonna get his home and his family back, his real home and family. "Is.. is this really happening!" GD Goten asked in disbelief and joy. "You bet it is kid" Shadow answered with a smile and a thumbs up. "Thank you!" GD Goten yelled jumping onto Shadow hugging him tightly, "thank you thank you thank you!!! I can finally see my family again! My real family! How can I repay you!?". "Heh heh just try to have a good life and not lose yourself again should anything bad happen, oh and maybe train a little more so bad things are less likely to happen" IW Goten said waving off his IW counterpart's offer. "I will! Thank you so much! Woo hoo! This is the best day of my life! Mommy, Pan! All of you are coming back!". GD Goten continued laughing and shouting with glee for countless minutes. Things were looking up and the Goten's troubles would soon all be solved.

Or was this just the calm before the storm?