I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 93: Unwelcome Guest

It was early morning in West City, a few hours before sunrise. The skies were cloudy, slightly illuminated by the high rise buildings. All was quiet for the time being, but as we all know, things have a tendency to change at the drop of a pin. A small patch of air was distorted high above the ground. To the naked eye, it wouldn't have even been seen. Even if it was, most wouldn't have given it much more thought than to rub their own eyes to clear their vision. This distortion wasn't ordinary by any means. It had a presence, it had thought and to some extent it had form. The only thing it was really lacking was purpose. It didn't know why it was here, only that it was supposed to be. It felt shunned and hurt from its previous existence.

Why was the master so cruel to it? It didn't know. Why did the master take its body, its power, and the majority of its memory? There was no clear reason. It only knew that the master wanted it to come here, but why? There must have been a reason or a motive. It didn't know. What it did know was that no one was able to see it or hear it anymore. That hurt it more than physical pain ever could, to not be known. It only wanted to be known, to satisfy its own existence. Nobody noticed, no matter what it did, which wasn't much. Those that it got close to treated it with the kind of neglect that ones uses to identify something as minor as a light breeze. They could barely hear it no matter how loud it spoke. They could barely see it no matter how it moved. With its lack of substance, there wasn't enough to touch to be considered anything more than a minor disruption. To be loved or hated, it didn't care which. It just wanted to be known, was that asking too much?

Once in awhile, it could grab someone's attention by moving an object or speaking very loudly. It could only produce a minor whisper of a voice, but it was audible if it was close enough. That typically wasn't enough to get noticed though; human beings were very ignorant to their surroundings. Even if it could get them to react, it was either brushed aside as nothing, or feared enough that humans would avoid it completely. It would have sighed if it could do so, it was so sad. So if drifted for awhile, going in and out of human dwellings, trying to be noticed. The master promised one day that he would return, but that was so long ago that it seemed like an empty promise. It was more than long enough to forget its name, although that wasn't too difficult when the master had taken it to begin with. It had also forgotten its sense of time and lost track of the number of times the bright ball in the sky passed over.

As it drifted, it felt some sort of presence ahead. It knew this area from previous visits; the large dome building was familiar enough. It also sensed the powerful beings inside. The first few times it felt excitement in believing that the master was here. It had long since learned that the most fearsome energy around this place belonged to the cranky man with spiky hair. It didn't want the cranky man to know it, for it knew what that would mean. It may not have had much of an existence, but it understood who it should not trifle with. The son of the cranky man, the lavender haired boy, wasn't one to mess around with either, but it felt much less threatened by him. The other regular denizens of the home were much less impressive in human terms as far as it was concerned.

It was about to move on past when it noticed two new presences. That was fairly typical here with people coming and going, some of them much more powerful than others. Neither of them seemed very familiar to it though, so it felt the need to investigate against all logic. Just to be safe however, it chose to visit the weaker being first. It long enjoyed being able to move though solid objects and easily bypassed whatever these humans used to build their structures. In the corner of the room was a decorated crib with a small baby human girl inside, sleeping soundly. This was no surprise; it had seen the baby before. What was surprising was that the baby appeared to have a dormant energy that was coming out on its own. It wasn't very strong, but it was definitely noticeable considering the age of the child. It would have smiled if it could; it liked the younger humans because at times they would see it. Their more ignorant parental units had long lost any real ability to notice things out of the ordinary. This baby girl had the spitting image of her mother, who it knew well. She was the one that played with metallic machines and tended to scream a lot around the cranky man. Both the mother and the baby slept the same way though, and it liked watching them sleep. It would have continued to watch the baby, but it had that other presence to investigate.

It floated through a few walls before arriving in a larger bedroom featuring two beds, though only one of them was full. It stopped and took in the view, but the image it received was entirely different. Anyone else would have concluded that there was a beautiful girl in her latter teenage years that was sleeping there. It didn't see that, not at all. It saw beneath the surface, revealing instead a much darker and sinister being that was shrouded in fire. It felt excited, for it knew that the master would hide in a human form like this. Despite the danger of being near the cranky man, it knew now that it had to stay here and try to contact the master, assuming that's who it had seen. The question was how? Surely the master would sense its presence, but even if he did, he may not be able to discern who or what would make it. It pondered over this possibility for a time before drifting closer. Upon first glance it was unable to tell what was below the surface of this particular human. Once it was close enough to touch her, it could see a little more clearly. It was not the master, not at all. The dark energy it sensed was similar to him, but too different to be a match. This one also felt trapped, as if this human was not a shell, but a prison. Surely this dark being would be able to help it find the master again. However, it would need to contact her through the flesh of this human. That wasn't going to be easy in its present state. It was going to have to get stronger and reclaim its spiritual presence. It wasn't completely sure of how it was going to do that yet. For now, it would wait in solitude and try to reach out to this one. The odds of success were slim, but it really didn't have much other choice. It drifted closer, enough to move the girl's purple hair aside from her ear. It gathered what strength it could and spoke as loud and as clear as it could.

"Hello?"

Lenz awoke with a sudden jolt, looking around frantically. She could have sworn that something was there and had spoken to her, but there was nothing. It took her a moment to realize that she was in her and Verto's room, back at Capsule Corp. The last thing she remembered though was chasing down Doctor Cash in the underground lab.

What happened, how did I get here? She slowly got out of bed and stood up. She quickly became aware of several things all at once, including the fact that she wasn't wearing anything other than her blue necklace. The entire room looked off to her, as if it had become smaller by a fair amount. That answer presented itself when she noticed her feet were bigger and that the bed's height was only to her knees rather than past them. There was also a large brown patch next to the window, as if part of the wall had been taken down and then partially rebuilt. The other thing was more obvious when a splitting headache made itself known. She blocked that out as best as possible and stepped over to the full length mirror in the room. Her eyes widened a bit at her reflection. As best as she could tell, she was now about eight to nine inches taller than before. Her body was also a bit thicker and much more proportional than it had been, as if she had just gone through several years of training on top of a growth spurt. She flexed her arms briefly, feeling significantly stronger than before. As confusing as all this was to her though, something else bothered her more at the moment.

Where is Verto? I can't sense him. She scanned all around, trying to sense his position in areas he would normally be. She picked up the other Saiyans easily enough, and the stronger humans as well. There was no Verto as far as she could tell, nor was there any sign of Piccolo.

Lenz grimaced, Maybe they're in that time chamber place again. Oh wait, little brother said that the door was broke and they couldn't use it. Damn, where is he? As she was sensing all the other power levels, she became increasingly aware of a weak Psionic presence nearby, almost in the same room with her. It wasn't strong enough to be a threat, but it still grabbed her attention. She looked around the room, and saw a slightly visible distortion floating near the ceiling. The light of dawn obscured it a bit, but there was definitely something similar to a shadow there. She stared at it, trying to figure out what it was as it seemed to churn randomly in the air. The longer she looked at it, the darker it seemed to become, like a reversed tunnel vision. She felt a hint of dread and fear wash over her, like this was a dark creature she needed to avoid. The disturbance became darker, and Lenz could hear a buildup of sound that resembled a train approaching. Her heart raced as it increased its pace in tune with the train sound. She raised her arms to guard against this ominous being as it seemed to come closer. Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door, and the train sound abruptly stopped. Lenz turned at the knock before quickly looking back for the shadowy disturbance. Whatever was there was gone, and she sensed nothing else unusual.

Lenz sighed and calmed down as there was another knock on the door, "I'm coming, hold on." As she opened the door, there was a sharp gasp as Trunks quickly shut his eyes and turned his head away.

"M-Mom said to give these to y-you!" he stammered. Lenz grinned a bit as she took a larger set of clothes from the younger Saiyan, and then decided to have some fun with her current lack of modesty.

"So, why do you have your eyes closed?" she asked in a sweet tone.

Trunks sweated nervously, "W-Well, you don't have any clothes on!" Lenz tossed the fresh clothes aside and kneeled down to take a hold of his gloved hand.

"Come on, don't you want to feel them?" she asked. Trunks tried to pull back and shook his head vigorously.

Lenz frowned, "What are you, a man, or a coward? What would your father say?" Trunks dared to open his eyes, which then became as wide as dinner plates and his next few words couldn't be deciphered.

Lenz tugged his hand towards her chest and gave off a very suggestive moan, "Come here Trunks. I'm in desperate need of your help!" Once Trunks' glove made contact, she finally let him go so he could enjoy the experience. The result was him bolting for the nearest exit, causing Lenz to laugh as she shut the door. She looked over the clothes that Bulma had sent her and struggled to get into them initially. The shirt was only large enough to cover her chest, which had already been a tight fit before. Now only her stomach was left bare, though that didn't bother her. The pants fit quite snugly, until there was a quick rip in both of the legs when she finally got them on all the way. As she was fumbling with this problem, there was another knock on the door.

Lenz struggled to straighten her half a shift, "Come in."

Bulma poked her head in cautiously before entering fully, "I see why my son was looking for the hand sanitizer now. Guess I got a size too small."

Lenz blushed a bit, "Actually these weren't on yet when he came by."

Bulma didn't falter, "Yeah, sorry about that. Verto brought you back here that way and I learned long ago not to try and force clothes onto a sleeping Saiyan. There isn't a guarantee that you'll walk away with all limbs attached before said Saiyan realizes what is going on and completely wakes up. I'll take you shopping in a bit to solve the clothing problem so my son isn't traumatized for the rest of the day."

"I would think he'd be at least a little interested in girls by now," Lenz muttered.

Bulma closed her eyes and smirked, "Well, it'll happen eventually."

Lenz nodded with a slight look of concern, "So what happened? The last thing I remember is helping Verto chase down that creepy Doctor Cash guy. Well he called him Doctor Wheel, or something like that…"

"You may want to sit down Lenz, there's plenty of explaining and there is no short and easy version to this," Bulma began. She then explained things as best she could, while Lenz's range of emotions shifted around wildly. She intentionally left out some of the more heart wrenching details of what had happened in order to spare Lenz some anguish, but that didn't appear to do much good. Towards the end of it all though, there was only one thing Lenz could feel: shame.

"…So as a return favor for saving you and resealing that demon, Verto went on some mission to save a world from annihilation," Bulma finished.

"Alone?" Lenz gasped.

"No, I heard Piccolo went with him too, so don't worry. Kibito was saying they should only be gone for a few days, maybe a week at most," Bulma replied.

Lenz looked down, "And he couldn't wait to say goodbye to me or anything?"

Bulma frowned, "It's been two days since he left, and he didn't want to go at all. Just so you know, he was trying to collect the Dragon balls so he could help you and your people. He only went because he was keeping his word. Try putting yourself in his shoes after what happened."

Lenz scoffed, "He should have just killed me if it was that bad. That way the demon would be gone and I wouldn't be in his way anymore."

Bulma resisted the urge to slap her, "If you must know, he did try to kill you after the demon forced his hand. I was able to monitor the rest of the battle from Flandal's lab, and it looked like he had killed you. He was holding your corpse in his arms and was absolutely torn up about it. Leira showed up in order to destroy what was left, but he wouldn't let you go, even as your body's unique makeup at the time was slowly burning his arms. I'm not sure what was said, but Leira struck a bargain with him and healed you. He obviously accepted her terms in order to both seal the demon and keep you alive. He probably had no idea what might have been coming next by doing so, but he did it anyway because he loves you so much. He may not show or admit it all the time, but it's true. Everyone can see it, except maybe you."

Lenz felt even more ashamed at this point as a few salty tears slipped out, "Yeah, stubborn brat…"

Bulma crossed her arms and stepped back, "True, he's worse than Vegeta sometimes. Anyway, let's take you shopping before the weekend rush hits. I know the store owner personally and he'll let us in early. That is unless you don't mind wearing clothes fit for a teenager."

Lenz looked at her funny, "But I am a teenager."

Bulma rolled her eyes, "Whichever, you know what I meant. It's not like you're the first one around here whose age is a bit off of where their body is."

Lenz looked herself over again, "How did this happen anyway?"

"I'm not completely sure myself since I didn't see it, but I ran a few tests and as best I can tell, you're in perfect condition…for a Saiyan in her early twenties. Somehow that demon was able to accelerate your growth to mere moments, probably to suit its needs for a fight, or to fully assume its form. Maybe it's just a side effect," Bulma said.

"Yeah, but what if it isn't just a side effect? What if it happens again?" Lenz asked.

Bulma sighed, "It's probably best not to worry about it if you can. I'll admit that I'm not all that comfortable knowing that there's a ruthless beast sleeping under that beautiful skin of yours, but then I remember who I'm married to. I think you should try not to fret too much about this. It will only slow the mental healing process and you'll start seeing things that aren't there."

Lenz let our her own sigh, "I guess you're right, seems like I'm already doing that."

Bulma clasped her hands, "Well for the next several hours, the only thing I want you looking at is your own reflection while you try on new outfits. Sky is the limit!" The floor suddenly creaked slightly on the far side of the room, drawing Lenz's attention.

"What was that?" she asked.

Bulma looked intrigued as well, but quickly had an answer, "Oh the floor probably isn't used to the new you yet. Needs redone anyway after Vegeta blew up the wall. C'mon, let's go, you'll be blowing all the boys away in no time!" Lenz nodded and left the room first. Bulma followed her, but stole another glance towards where the sound came from. She suddenly had a very unnerving feeling wash over here and she hurriedly shut the door.

When the door closed, the invisible presence felt rejected again. It had taken a lot of its energy to grab the girl's attention, and quite a bit more to weigh down the floor. The wife of the cranky man had noticed it though, that was a positive. So far it had managed to at least keep some sort of hope alive by trying to get their attention. It now had a dilemma though. The beautiful girl was more than powerful enough to sense its presence, and she could end its miserable existence just as quickly. It was more than just a powerful Psionic presence; there was something truly dark under that girl's skin. If the being inside her wanted to find and eliminate it, she could. It had to discover its purpose before that happened. So it decided that it needed to try and contact someone else instead. The mother was the next ideal choice, whether the cranky man was around or not. The other option was one of the younger children, but the boy with purple hair wasn't an 'ideal candidate.' Add to that the fact that the baby was not yet old enough to properly respond. It knew it could wait and stay hidden for the mother to return.

And so it did, using most of the time to drift around the large building, familiarizing itself with the home. It found itself watching the baby girl the most, it liked when she would stare back at its floating form. She even squawked a few times and nearly pointed straight at it for others to see. The ditzy blonde woman looked right at it, but obviously didn't see it when she didn't react to much more than the ceiling color. That was a bit disappointed to it, as humans often reacted in some way to the unknown, but someone completely oblivious would not. By mid morning, the baby had been removed from the building by the ditzy blonde, and it found itself drifting alone once again. It didn't like being alone, and it felt daring enough to investigate the strong presence remaining, even if it was extremely dangerous to do so. It found the cranky man fighting with the air around him inside a large metal room. It was thankful that it didn't have to worry about gravity, otherwise there would have only been an invisible pancake for people to step on. It was intrigued by the fact that the cranky man's hair was now golden rather than its usual jet black. It also had to remain still, because when it didn't, the cranky man's demeanor changed.

"Who's there?" It didn't attempt to answer, only watch. The cranky man would eventually go back into his routine; he was very predictable even if his attention was drawn away. It knew he would likely stay in there for hours at a time and only leave when he required nourishment. It would use that time to move safely to a different position, or so it thought. The cranky man seemed unusually agitated however, there was much more vigor in his intense training. It could feel his anger filling the gravity chamber, washing over it like a tsunami wave of rage. This caused a much different experience than it had expected. It felt stronger, and more energized from this anger. It was as if the negative energy this man produced was in turn powering it like a generator does a building. This did not go unnoticed however.

"This is not a time to be playing games with me! If you don't come out now, I will kill you!" It normally would have attempted to hide its presence as much as possible, but the inflow of negative energy clouded its own judgment. It decided that it didn't like being told what to do, and the lights flickered suddenly. The cranky man halted his training motions and stared up at the lights as his fists tightened.

"Last chance fool! Come out now or else!" It didn't like that; the cranky man was threatening it personally now. Extinction be damned, it was going to show the cranky man that is wasn't going to take it anymore. The lights continued to flicker as a loud buzzing sound filled the room. The walls began to vibrate, shaking the chamber. The cranky man grinned as a bright golden aura sprang up around him.

"Or we could do it that way, bad choice cretin!" Another insult, this made it feel angrier and the lights suddenly shattered, darkening the room. Everything stopped in that instant as the chamber powered down, leaving the cranky man even more irritated than before.

"Blast it all!" It paused, realizing that the cranky man was no longer noticing it. It felt slightly relieved in that sense, and once again worked to hide its presence now that the overwhelming anger wasn't directed at it. Using the light that his glowing body provided, the cranky man found the door and opened it.

"Woman! The damned chamber is broken again! WOMAN! Where are you?" The cranky man left the area and it was alone again. It didn't understand where it had gotten such energy from though. It felt alive, more alive than ever. It recalled the events and quickly realized that it had gotten stronger by getting angry. It had stemmed off of the cranky man's usual mood and that had made it stronger by way of the rich, negative energy it felt. It had never been able to do much to a light before, never mind break one. This opened a wide door of new things to come. After expelling that much energy though, it was tired and needed a place to rest for now. It would return soon though, and test this new discovery. After all, if it could continue to get stronger with just negative energy, it had the best place on the planet to do it. It would get stronger and stronger until it discovered its purpose. Even if it didn't, there was something about bothering the cranky man that it liked. As if it was…fun.

Trunks was quietly eating a bowl of cereal when he heard his father's rampage coming closer. Ah hell, here we go again. Mom's gonna be mad that he broke it again for the third time this month.

"WOMAN! Where the hell are you?" Vegeta shouted. Trunks attempted to hide in the chair, but the sight of the television gave him away as Vegeta stormed by and came back.

"Trunks, where is your mother?" he asked.

Trunks swallowed carefully, "She took Lenz shopping I think."

The reaction was much milder than he expected, "Damn, that means it won't be repaired until tomorrow."

Trunks sighed with slight relief, until he realized that his father was still standing there. Uh oh, I was hoping to take it easy today, but looks like Dad is gonna pull one of his surprises.

"Son, turn off that trash. We're leaving shortly," Vegeta ordered.

"Aww, but I was going to just…I mean I was going to play with Goten today," Trunks claimed, catching himself mid-phrase. Knowing his father like he did, he knew he couldn't say anything about 'taking it easy'. However, he knew he could reduce whatever he was about to get into with the lie that he just told, as it would throw Vegeta completely off. After all, visiting Goten would most likely mean running into Goku as well.

"Oh really? Good, I was getting the urge to put a few bruises on Kakarot's face. Now hurry up!" Vegeta barked.

Trunks grimaced, "Can't I finish watching this first?"

He quickly regretted that question, "Trunks…don't make me tell you twice!" Trunks obeyed and quickly shut off the TV before rushing up the stairs to change into clothing better suited for training. When he finished, he thought he heard footsteps in the hallway.

"I'm almost done Dad," he said without much other thought. When there wasn't an angry response or even a grunt, it struck him as odd. He pulled his gloves on tight and peered out the door, catching a glimpse of a shadow in his sister's room before the door creaked shut. Trunks was slightly stumped by this, since Bulla was with their grandmother and no one else appeared to be around.

Trunks approached and opened the door, "Dad?" Inside was a quiet room with no one in it. Trunks' eyes narrowed as he looked around, but he didn't see or sense anything unusual. He left and went downstairs, bewildered at what he thought he had seen.

Vegeta was waiting with a small storm cloud threatening to form around his head, "About time!"

Trunks was unfazed, "Dad, were you just in Bulla's room?"

"Don't be ridiculous! What reason would I have to go into that child's trash heap?" Vegeta growled back.

"Well I thought I heard you in the hallway and when I looked, I saw someone go in there and shut the door. When I went in, there was no one there," Trunks explained.

"Quit chasing ghosts that aren't there boy. There are much more important things to concern yourself with," Vegeta scolded.

"Like what?"

Vegeta grinned, "Like wiping those smug smirks off of Kakarot and his brat!"

"Goku, how many times have I told you this month? No more of your rough training sessions around here! The wedding is in less than six weeks now, can't you wait that long or at least go somewhere else?" Chichi squawked as she held up her skillet in a threatening manner.

A battered and bruised Goku rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry Chichi, but you know that Vegeta wants to go at it anytime and anywhere. I can't turn him down!"

"Don't try to pin this on someone else Goku! I know that Vegeta will fight anytime and anywhere, but even he understands the need for a little civility around one's property!" Chichi claimed.

Goku was puzzled as he glanced back at an equally battered Vegeta amongst the smoldering front lawn, "He does?"

"Well, he is a prince, so I'm sure he has been taught a sliver of proper etiquette, however small it may have been. Now at least clean yourself up before Hercule and Videl get here for dinner. I will not have your Karate nonsense getting in the way of Gohan's wedding. Do you understand me?"

Goku bowed his head slightly, "Yes."

Vegeta chuckled, "That's two losses today Kakarot, you're on a losing streak."

"Nah, you just got a lucky hit in. If I would have used Instant Transmission, there would have been no way for you to catch me off guard like that!" Goku claimed.

"It's what you get for celebrating too soon when your spawn was able to get his lucky hit on Trunks. I'll have to make sure that Trunks doesn't fall for that stupid misdirection trick again," Vegeta grumbled as Trunks cringed from behind a tree.

"All he did was get him to look the other way when there wasn't anything there. Trunks does it to him all the time," Goku argued.

"That's not the point Kakarot! It's the fact that he allowed himself to be baited into it and didn't use his own awareness to sniff out the ploy. It's a ridiculously simple trick that should be far below the two of them now!" Vegeta claimed.

"Okay, I'll work with Goten on it. I guess with Gohan and Videl's wedding coming up I've been a little distracted," Goku admitted.

"Ha, I find that hard to believe," Vegeta grunted.

"Yeah Daddy, I've never seen you lose a match to Uncle Vegeta that easily! Actually, I can't remember you ever losing to him!" Goten pointed out, causing Vegeta to frown.

"It hardly counts as a real match son," Goku said humbly.

"But to him it's always all or nothing right? He's always wanted to beat you!" Goten reminded.

"Well, it doesn't matter that much Goten. Your brother's wedding it is something important. It represents a change, and we can't let an opportunity like that pass us by," Goku said in an odd tone. Vegeta's eyes narrowed just before the phone inside began to ring and Chichi picked it up.

She listened for a moment before calling out the door, "Vegeta, it's Bulma. She says it's urgent."

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Tell the woman that I'll be there shortly."

"Well she said she came home and the entire compound has been torn apart like someone broke in. But nothing appears to have been stolen. She wants to know if it was you since the gravity room is broken again," Chichi relayed.

"That blasted living space was in acceptable condition when we left! Tell her to check her damned security systems and see what happened herself!" Vegeta shouted.

Chichi passed the message and then looked over again, "She said that none of the internal cameras are online yet, only external ones. She wants you home to explain yourself."

"Argh," Vegeta grumbled.

"Looks like you lost a battle today too Vegeta," Goku laughed.

"Shut up Kakarot!"

"Well Vegeta, what do you have to say for yourself?" Bulma asked with her hands on her hips.

"I did not make this trash heap any more cluttered than it already was. How many times do I have to explain it before you listen woman?" Vegeta grumbled back.

Bulma grimaced, "Mother said that when she left with Bulla, everything was fine. You and Trunks were the only two here. And I know you Vegeta, you've blasted holes in the walls to kill houseflies for goodness sake!"

"So, by knowing that, why would you then assume I'm lying when I clearly had better things to do? If I wanted to tear this place apart, you would know it because I would wipe it off the map!" Vegeta countered.

Bulma blinked sharply in hesitation before shaking her head slightly, "Alright then. Trunks, what were you and your father up to before you went to Goku's house? Don't worry, you won't get in trouble."

"Oh I see how it is now, getting the child to lie instead. You'd better choose your next words carefully son, otherwise tomorrow will not be an easy day," Vegeta warned as he crossed his arms.

Trunks cringed in fear of both of his parents, "Actually, I was just watching TV and I heard Dad shouting for you to fix the gravity room. Then he asked me where you were, then we left."

"Nothing else?" Bulma asked as she bent down a bit to look him in the eye.

"No, nothing."

Vegeta snorted with a slight hint of satisfaction, "You see woman, don't just assume anything when you don't know the facts!"

"Well that's funny coming from you Mister high and mighty! You don't have all the facts on an hourly basis you damned hypocrite!" Bulma shouted back.

Vegeta was incensed, "What did you call me woman?"

"You heard me fine, but I'll repeat it until it sinks in! Hypocrite! Hypocrite! Hypocrite!"

"Shut up you ungrateful shrew!"

As the spat evolved, Trunks began making a discreet exit to the sanctuary of his room while they continued to bicker. He picked up a few of his misplaced toys along the way that had somehow found their way into the hallway. His room looked like a tornado had come through, with most of his closet space currently used as trip hazards. Whoever had trashed their home had an odd sense of humor as most of the closet had been dumped on the bed and floor, though his bedding was now in the closet. Trunks couldn't begin to imagine what this person wanted since nothing had been stolen. The most obvious thing was the Dragon balls of course, but they had been stashed in a safe place and were accounted for. Nor was anything expensive gone, which was equally odd considering the family that lived there. Not that anyone in their right mind would steal from a house full of Saiyans, but this didn't appear to be an ordinary burglar either. Trunks sighed as he began maneuvering his shelves back into place. He could have finished most of the cleanup job in a few seconds, but he didn't feel like giving his parents any more assistance considering they'd likely use it as a reason to argue more. As he was about halfway done, he heard a knock at his door.

"Yeah? Come in." he said. No one came through, nor did the door open. Trunks didn't sense anyone out there either, so he walked over to open it. No one was there, and Trunks immediately thought he had imagined it. He went back to cleaning and was about thirty seconds into the process when there was another knock. Trunks opened the door himself and peered out, seeing no one again.

Okay, I know I didn't imagine that a second time. Maybe Lenz is bored and playing some stupid game with me or something. Seeing as her and Verto's room was right next to his, he took the liberty of going there and finding out. She opened the door and Trunks' eyes locked onto her blue V-neck shirt and the view it provided.

"What's up?" she asked as she looked down at him.

Trunks stuttered a bit, "Uh, I was just, uh, wondering what you wanted."

Lenz was confused, "What do you mean?"

"You knocked on my door just a minute ago didn't you?" he asked.

"No, I've been putting away all the stuff Bulma got me today," Lenz claimed. Trunks glanced past her, noting the piles of new clothing on her bed.

Something seemed off though, "This room isn't a mess like the others?"

Lenz shrugged, "No, I don't think anyone came in here. Little brother doesn't have very much to throw around does he?"

"That's really weird, why would they leave this room alone and trash the rest of the place?" Trunks pondered.

Lenz smirked, "Well they obviously knew there was a beautiful girl staying in this one. Don't you agree?" Lenz intentionally tugged the gap of her shirt down a bit as she teased Trunks some more, causing him to blush.

He looked away, "Could you please not do that? I'm not into it."

Lenz's smirk grew, "You will be, but that's alright. I'll stop teasing you as much. That is if you tell me why you've been wearing gloves all the time lately. It's not something you used to do, and I personally prefer actual hands to touch me."

Trunks cringed slightly, "I…I just don't like getting my hands dirty!" Rather he meant it literally or as the quick lie that it was, it produced a very unexpected reaction from Lenz. Almost immediately she grabbed a hold of him by the throat and squeezed. Her eyes filled with red fury as she bared her teeth in his face.

"You wanna say that again you little bastard?" she growled. Trunks tried to fight out of the hold, but she held him firm.

"L-Lenz, s-stop!" he stammered. Just as quickly as it started, her mood shifted back as she gasped in horror. She let go and Trunks fell to the ground, choking for air.

"What was that for?" he asked angrily.

Lenz's eyes had shifted back to their original color and tears threatened to flow out of them, "I don't know, I'm so sorry!" Trunks took the moment to catch his breath again as Lenz back away nervously. She let out an exasperated sigh as she opened her dresser drawer and pulled out a necklace with a thin blue stone.

She didn't waste any time in putting it back on, "I guess I should've known that could happen. Can you forgive me Trunks?"

Trunks examined his neck where her fingers had left a red imprint, "Yeah, Dad's done worse in training. But why didn't you have that thing on before? Aren't you supposed to?"

"I thought I could handle the everyday activity that doesn't involve training, but it seems like every little thing can make me mad for no reason. Little brother said I should never take it off since it holds that awful power back," she explained.

"You mean that thing inside you that almost killed him?" Trunks asked.

Lenz looked away, "Yeah, that."

Trunks felt slightly confused, "I thought that one lady sealed it or something?"

Lenz sighed sadly, "She did, but there's only one real way to get rid of it, I think you know which one that is."

"Oh, that way. Sorry I asked," Trunks said. The remained silent for a moment before there was a few distant shouts that echoed in the hallway.

"Your parents are at it again I see. That was one good thing about staying out in the woods, it was quiet," Lenz admitted.

"I think Dad was already mad at her for making another visit to that underground lab before they buried it all. I helped her get through and nothing happened, but he was still upset about it. Then when Verto said he couldn't go to that other place and fight with him, he tried to blow up that Kibito guy. He's been really angry lately," Trunks explained.

Lenz was unfazed, "Sounds about right for him on a daily basis. What did your mom want down in that place anyway?"

"That guy Cash, I guess he took his daughter's body or something. The one that could shape-shift. Her brain was in this big jar and mom wanted to try and help her, if she's even technically alive. She still isn't sure if she can yet," Trunks replied. As he finished, Trunks suddenly heard his baby sister crying from down the hall. It was nearly drowned out by the on-going argument from his parents, and he sighed.

"I guess I'd better see what's wrong with Bulla since they can't seem to stop. I swear we need a babysitter just for when they do this," Trunks grumbled.

"Well, if you can't handle changing a diaper yet, I can help," Lenz offered. Trunks nodded and they both walked two rooms over to the wailing child. She was standing up in her crib, holding onto the railing for support as she cried.

"What is it Bulla?" Trunks asked. She continued to scream into the air, not even noticing that her brother was there.

She also wasn't looking at him, but towards the other side of the room. Lenz reached into the crib and picked her up, "Shhh, what's wrong? You don't need changed. Maybe she's hungry?"

Bulla's crying began to calm itself, but it was very slow as Trunks held his ears, "Mom usually feeds her by now, but it's hard to tell with how today has gone. Guess we can try that." Lenz started to walk out with Bulla and Trunks followed before stopping.

"You feel something weird in here?" he asked.

Lenz also paused, "Now that you mention it, yeah, a little bit. Like I'm being watched or something."

"I feel that too. Mom said once that she had a shorted wire in her walls that produced a high EMF that would give her headaches for months before she found it," Trunks claimed.

"EMF?" Lenz asked.

"Electromagnetic Field. Maybe that's what is making her cry so bad, but the only thing electronic close enough is the light, and it works fine," Trunks said as he looked up.

"Well she's still probably hungry, let's help her out with that part first," Lenz suggested. Trunks nodded and they proceeded out the door. Before they got far, a very loud bang went off suddenly, scaring both of them with its volume. They both turned and saw that the glass of the window was severely cracked, but not yet broken.

"What the hell was that?" Trunks asked, stunned.

"I have no idea," Lenz answered. Bulla had quieted down by now and was starting towards the window with a peculiar expression, as if she were trying to figure it out too.

"Ga, ga!" she called out. They both glanced at the baby as she tried to sound out whatever she was trying to say.

"Go, goes."

"What is she trying to say?" Lenz wondered.

"Beats me," Trunks said.

"Ghos, Ghos!" Bulla finally said.

Trunks and Lenz both looked at each other wide-eyed, "Ghost?"

Vegeta came up from behind with Bulma, "What is going on here? What trouble are you two causing?"

"Why is the window broken?" Bulma asked. Trunks and Lenz again glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Mom, Dad, I think we have a ghost."

A/N: Welcome to Mind-fuck City.

WDG: Who you gonna call? Ghost Nappa!

VB: Omg, don't even tempt me.