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 94: Bump in the Night

"A ghost broke your sister's window? You actually expect me to believe that?" Vegeta asked.

Trunks shrugged, "I dunno Dad, you tell me what you think."

"You lie worse than Kakarot, that's what I think! I'll get to the bottom of this!" Vegeta bellowed. He then stormed off for the moment, though a clearly more agitated Bulma stayed behind. She attempted to remain calm, but the stress lines were showing in her expression.

"So you say a ghost did this? Alright, let's hear from the other witness to the crime, Lenz?" Bulma asked as she gave the younger girl an eyeful.

Lenz fumbled with her words for a moment, but not in a bogus manner, "Well I really don't know what happened. But the window was fine when we came in to see what the baby was crying about. We felt something weird in the room and Trunks thought it was EM…something."

"EMF," Trunks said quickly.

"Right, that. Anyways, we both turned to leave and that loud noise happened out of the blue. Now the window is broke and neither of us touched it," Lenz summarized.

"Okay, and you automatically came up with a ghost?" Bulma asked again, clearly not believing it.

Lenz's eyes darted to the side, "Actually…"

"Actually Bulla did," Trunks interrupted.

Bulma looked confused instantly, "Bulla did? And how did a baby that isn't even a year old come up with this genius explanation?"

"I don't know Mom, she said the word ghost right before you and Dad came up here. I've never heard her talk until just now," Trunks claimed.

Bulma quickly glared at Lenz, who nodded, "Yeah, she did."

Bulma held her head in exasperation, "Argh! So let me get this right. First, Vegeta breaks the gravity room again. Then some mystery person breaks in, trashed the place, and doesn't steal anything. Then Bulla's window just happened to break completely on its own while you two were in here. And now, you tell me that the cause of all this and my baby's first word is a ghost?"

"Well, I don't know about all that other stuff, but sure, sounds good to me," Trunks said in agreement. Neither Lenz nor Trunks thought Bulma's face could get any redder than it was at that point. Her wrath was put on hold by Vegeta when he came back.

He held up what appeared to be a dead crow, "Here's your ghost." He promptly dropped it on the floor and turned around to leave.

"So that bird crashed into the window and broke it just now?" Trunks asked.

"What gave it away? I found it on the ground directly below and it was still warm. No other logical explanation for it," Vegeta replied.

"But it just randomly happened right as we left the room?" Trunks pressed on.

"I didn't time it boy, you did."

"And you don't find that to be a little strange?"

"Quit making something out of nothing. The grand mystery of the broken window is solved," Vegeta growled back. That did pull the heat off of Trunks, but not off of the Saiyan prince.

"And what about the mess of our house mystery? Did you get that one solved yet?" Bulma shouted at him.

"For the last time, I wasn't here foolish woman! If you want to know so badly, then use at least a tenth of your brain and check your god damned security cameras!" Vegeta roared.

"Yeah, well I already told you that they're only online outside, and those couldn't see what happened!" Bulma pointed out.

"Then maybe you should've finished installing them inside as well!" Vegeta countered.

"Maybe I will!" They both glared at each other and snorted a bit before walking off in different directions.

"Well that was…odd," Lenz said once the air was clear.

"No, very typical. I really hope I don't turn out like that when I'm a grownup," Trunks glowered as he folded his arms.

Lenz smirked, "Well, you could always use those Dragon Ball things and wish yourself young again. Then you could be like Verto!"

Trunks scoffed, "No thanks, it wouldn't be any fun. I'd just be stuck-up and stubborn all the time."

"Which last I checked is one hundred percent natural for a Saiyan. Anyways, let's get her fed," Lenz said as she gestured to Bulla. Trunks nodded and they both left the area. Inside the room, the crib moved over a few inches, closer to the window.

Once the girl and the boy left with the baby, it felt angry. The baby was giving it all the attention it desired, and was trying to communicate, it was certain of this. It had witnessed so many young children try to do that through their cries. It didn't want the baby to leave, and its anger towards this was strong enough to send that flying animal barreling into the clear material that humans used in their wall openings. It liked being angry now though since it had experienced it, especially since the negative emotions and energy seemed to make it stronger. It felt even more bolstered by the displays it was provided with. It had taken the alone time during the day to try out its new strength by moving many of the objects that these humans appeared to covet. Before, it could barely get a curtain to move, and now it was moving heavier objects with relative ease. The only trouble it had was maintaining this energy level when no one else was around or at rest. Energy levels tended to fall off that way when humans left the immediate area or were asleep. That wouldn't be a huge problem for it, but it would prove to be a hindrance as it would limit how long it could remain active.

When the mother and the girl returned however, the negative energy level in the area rose exponentially. This happened again when the cranky man returned. It swelled with energy and stamina as a result. So did its ability to focus on an object or on what it was trying to do specifically. Everything it had struggled with before was now child's play by comparison. It was also enjoying its new found hobby of tormenting the humans, even if they didn't know the direct cause yet. They all ran around this planet in the center of their own little worlds anyway. Doctors, lawyers, prisoners, it didn't matter who they were. All of them were corrupt and would only further corrupt the planet like a plague. It appreciated the planet called Earth, with the exception of the humans. It would make them pay for harming this beautiful world, one at a time if it must, until the master returns. Only the youngest of children were free of this disease called humanity. Only they could be saved.

It had another thought though, was that its purpose? It wasn't sure, but it always felt a connection with the youngest of children. Maybe that was the answer, maybe it was sent here to save the children from this world. It made sense from its point of view, especially if all that the human parents would teach is how to be utterly full of themselves. Why force them to be miserable if they didn't have to be? That settled it once and for all. It would create its own purpose for now if it couldn't find out what the original one was. And if felt this to be necessary. It was going to save this particular child for the torment that her parents would most likely bring about. The mother would teach her own corrupt ways of manipulation, while the father would teach violence. It had seen this on more than one occasion out of these two.

At the same time, it would payback these horrible parents tenfold with a just punishment. Make them live like scared little children until their primitive brains finally wither down enough that they eat each other. In the meantime, it would grant the innocent child salvation from the horror of this life. It was going to use the humans' own fear of anger against them, make itself stronger, and cleanse the world one place at a time. After all, it was a better use of eternity than just floating around, trying to be noticed. The mother would be first, she was the weakest of the group. It would play with the others too, but she was definitely the primary target.

At this point, it didn't care if the cranky man was there or not. He would eventually feel its wrath, but it would not be on his terms. It had quickly learned to control its energy output enough that he would not notice its movements or location, unlike before. That gave it an advantage it intended to exploit. It quickly mapped out areas of the household it could hide if and when it needed to rest and recover. That was easy enough with the cranky man's usual movement patterns. It decided that he would be second.

The others' time would come eventually, although it certainly didn't want to anger the sleeping spirit within the teenaged girl. It realized that there was more than a distinct possibility that the girl would notice its presence. The fact that the others already had despite not being very in tune spiritually spoke volumes about that. As long as it left her alone for the most part, it felt somewhat safe. It still needed to reach out at some point to try and communicate, as if to assure that dark spirit that it did not intend her any harm. For now, it was going to retreat to a lonely corner in order to rest and prepare. It now had plenty to do between now and whenever the master returned.

Lenz gasped as she sat up in bed, drenched in sweat. She had just finished a fresh nightmare, one that disturbed her sleep at around the three o'clock mark. Dawn was still hours away, and she sat back and stared at the ceiling. The details of her dream replayed in her head, most of them involving a lot of fire and her friends being killed. She held her necklace up and turned it slowly in her hands. I've got to learn to control this dark power, like little brother did. But the only way to do that is to take this off, and I'm not supposed to at all. This is so confusing, what should I do?

"Follow your instincts girl, they can never let you down," a voice answered. Lenz's eyes widened as she jumped out of the bed and landed in her stance, looking around as she did.

She neither sensed nor saw anything there, but she knew better, "Who's there?"

The voice laughed as a slightly older and deeper feminine voice filled her head, "You're looking in the wrong place. Try looking at your stomach and you'll figure it out." Lenz did just that, getting an eyeful of the strange black marking that seemed to fade into view.

"What is that?" she cried out.

"Don't remember eh? I'll give you a hint, I'm inside you."

Lenz suddenly felt a cold shiver run up her spine, "So you're the one who did all this?"

"I had a little help. If you don't remember, my name is Kaon, and you should be thanking me you know. Your figure, or should I say our figure, has developed quite nicely. It's only missing some color, but besides that I think I can live with it. It beats that bloated and top-heavy body you were used to," Kaon replied.

Lenz cringed as she eyed the mirror, "There was nothing wrong with my body before! Do you know how many would kill to be that natural?"

"Maybe in your opinion, doesn't matter now does it? You were born for fighting and killing, not a beauty contest. Looks don't tell the whole story, especially when the monster within is so much more…natural," Kaon laughed.

Lenz crossed her arms and glared at the mirror, "Hmph, well it doesn't matter. I'm gonna find a way to get rid of you!"

"Oh are you now? Considering that you get the bulk of your energy from me, it will be quite difficult." The image in the mirror suddenly seemed to shift. Lenz's reflection turned blue as her clothing faded into the scantily clad black outfit she had worn before, and her hair stood up. Lenz double-checked her own body, but saw no such change.

"Why am I seeing this?" Lenz asked.

"Naturally because it is our true form. You will learn to accept this in time," Kaon said smoothly.

"I'll never accept you!" Lenz snapped back.

"You say that now, but soon you'll see that you have no such choice. Our personalities may be separate now, but they'll come together eventually. You are not like the other worthless half-breeds, you are special. At one time you may have been born to be my host body, but now that I am awake I can tell you that isn't the case. You and I are more than just a failed afterthought my dear, and we will show them all why. I will help you to realize that, it has already begun!" Kaon stated. Lenz touched the black marking on her stomach and noticed that a small portion of it had blurred a bit just before it vanished.

"If you can't figure it out yet, I'll spell it out. The life you know is on borrowed time, which means you are on borrowed time. If you think your friends aren't paranoid about what you and I possess, then you're an incredible fool. They might allow your prolonged existence for now, but only under the misconception that they are safe. We will prove them wrong eventually, when they least expect it!" Kaon declared.

"This is that thing that woman put on me to keep you sealed up isn't it? Why isn't it working, and why isn't this working?" Lenz asked as she fondled her necklace crystal.

The image of Kaon hissed at it from the mirror, "That seal won't last stupid girl, Leira knows it won't either. She gave in at a weak moment and spared us. I suppose I should be thankful. And as far as that pathetic piece of jewelry goes, it can only do so much. The fact that I can speak to you like this and your recent outburst should be enough proof."

Lenz shuddered as she grasped the truth, "That was because of you?"

"Of course it was. A soft heart like yours doesn't just lash out randomly, even when insulted. But we can work on that. We can show that kid what a woman you really are when you burn him into cinders!" Kaon laughed. Lenz flushed with anger and punched the mirror, shattering it on impact.

Kaon's laughter continued, "If only that had actually worked, pity."

"Get out of my head!" Lenz screamed. The door suddenly launched open from a very minor shove of Vegeta's hand, and he looked about as cheerful as usual.

"What the hell is going on in here girl? Who the blazes are you talking to?" he growled. Lenz paused, quickly realizing how much noise she had been making.

"I don't suggest saying anything girl. First of all, it's not like you will be able to hide anything from me. And secondly, it's the fallen prince himself girl, be smart. Do you honestly think he won't take action if you say something stupid?" Kaon asked.

Lenz looked down, "Oh, no one. There's nothing going on."

Vegeta eyed the broken mirror, "That's an awfully loud nothing."

Lenz bowed slightly, "Sorry." Vegeta grunted and left, but not before casting an extremely suspicious glance in her direction.

"That was a scary look. I don't think the fallen prince trusts you. Maybe we should roast him first, what do you think?" Kaon asked.

"Oh shut up!" Lenz mentally shouted back.

"Well look who finally realized how stupid she sounded talking to herself. And by the way, I'll shut up when I damn well please little girl. You need proper guidance anyway, who better than me to teach you? Yes, I can even train you in your sleep once you're willing," Kaon suggested. Lenz grumbled slightly and didn't answer as she trudged back to her bed. The flooring across the room suddenly made a creaking sound, drawing her attention. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, but her sense of danger built up regardless.

Kaon noticed it as well, "Looks like I'm not the only unwelcome guest in this house."

"Can you tell me what that is?" Lenz asked.

"It's a nuisance. Probably sent here for a subtle revenge by a coward. I don't honestly know or care at this point," Kaon replied.

"Okay, how do I get rid of it?"

Kaon laughed again, "Compromise my dear. Take off the crystal and I'll not only tell you, I'll show you." Lenz scowled and lay back in her bed. There were no more interruptions in her attempts to sleep for the next several hours, but there didn't need to be. Kaon had already provided her enough feelings of sleepless dread for several weeks to come.

Two days later, Bulma summoned Vegeta and Trunks to her lab with a certain urgency that she didn't bring out for just any situation.

"What is it now woman? I'm busy," Vegeta growled.

"With what? You're obviously not training since the gravity room is broken," Bulma pointed out.

Vegeta bared his teeth, "My business is my own, now what do you want?" There was silence for a moment as the two glared at each other, enough to make Trunks nervous as he sneaked in the door behind his father.

Bulma relaxed though and smiled a bit, "Well it appears I owe you both an apology."

Vegeta stood up straight and stuck out his chest slightly, "About time you realized how idiotic you've been lately." Bulma's nostrils flared above the strained smile, but she let it slide as she typed in a few commands at her computer. A video display came up, showing a few different camera angles throughout Capsule Corp. Most notably though were the cameras set up in Bulla's room, the lobby, and the main hallways both upstairs and downstairs. There were also three others set up in the master bedroom, the kitchen and just outside the gravity room.

"These have all been running non-stop for thirty six hours straight. All of them have motion detection programs entered in to tag the time of when anything that moves in range of the camera and it logs each motion frame into the computer. Now watch what happened late last night after I put Bulla down for bed," Bulma said as she pointed to the video screen on the right. The feed changed and showed Bulma laying the baby girl in her crib, adjusting the blankets and then leaving the room with the door closed. The recording jumped ahead about fifteen minutes according to the time display when the door suddenly opened fully by itself and then closed again after two minutes of no activity.

"Hmph, it's just a change in air pressure woman," Vegeta claimed.

"Vegeta, the door was latched shut. So unless either of you felt like practicing telekinesis or something, it opened and shut all on its own. Explain that one O' Great Prince of Logic!" Bulma countered.

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"Well, I'm not sure what to call that Mom, but it was kinda strange to be a change in air pressure. And I don't think any windows were open," Trunks said.

"Thank you, at least someone gets it," Bulma replied as she shot a glare at Vegeta.

He took it in stride, "Is that all of your meaningless evidence?"

Bulma smirked a bit, "Nope. Maybe this next clip will grab your attention a little better." The kitchen video screen then moved onto the main display, showing Vegeta digging through the fridge just after midnight. Directly behind Vegeta on the wall was a shadow, but it wasn't being cast by the light of the fridge, nor anything else. It moved towards the prince before suddenly darting across the room right as he spun around. Vegeta glanced around a bit before returning to food rummaging.

Bulma stopped the recording to glanced at her husband, "Well, even you noticed something that time huh?"

"Whoa! What was that?" Trunks asked. Vegeta was flabbergasted and wide-eyed at what he had seen, but he hid it almost as quickly while he grunted a silent answer and looked away.

"Trunks, I'd say there's something to this ghost theory of yours, whether your father believes it or not is another story," Bulma said as she gave Vegeta a hard stare.

"Ridiculous! Two isolated incidents and we suddenly jump right into a full blown haunting! I have a better explanation: You're slowly losing your mind in your work woman!" Vegeta proclaimed.

"Maybe, but at least we are figuring out what's been going on around here. I've been through every other possible explanation for what could have caused that, and I'm coming up blank. Unless of course you want to take the blame for tearing our home apart a few days ago…" Bulma hinted. Vegeta muttered something under his breath and leaned against the wall.

Trunks had much more interest though, "So cool! I can't wait to tell Goten!" Trunks was about to bounce off towards the nearest phone when Vegeta snatched his arm and stopped him dead in his tracks.

"You will not say anything about this nonsense to anyone else, understand?" Vegeta ordered.

"Aww, but why?"

"We will deal with this…supposed ghost, ourselves. No one else needs to know about it. Once the blasted thing shows itself, I will destroy it!" Vegeta declared.

Bulma stifled a laugh, "And how are you going to do that? Punch it to death?"

"I'll vaporize it, naturally that's the only thing that will work on something that slithers around with no obvious form," Vegeta said.

"You'll have to wipe out the whole house to be sure and I have my doubts that'll even work. And I would prefer not to have to build this place up again," Bulma reminded.

Vegeta grimaced, "I don't care what it takes. No pathetic spirit gets the best of the prince of all Saiyans!"

"Is it really that bad? I mean, it was probably human once or something right? Shouldn't we just try to catch it?" Trunks asked.

Bulma smiled at her son's optimism, "Well, we don't know if it's bad or good yet Trunks. We don't even know what it wants since we probably can't talk to it directly. And I don't think we'll have much luck trying to set a ghost trap or anything."

"Hmph, pointless. Who would you call for a job like that?" Vegeta asked.

"Well, I think I'd try to do it myself first…" Bulma started to say.

Vegeta snorted as he seemed to know what she was going to say ahead of time, "Well good, maybe you should get on it. Meanwhile, I'm going to search this place thoroughly until I find that thing and send it to hell where it belongs!" Vegeta then stormed off as Bulma and Trunks looked at each other in confusion.

"I guess that's his way of agreeing with us this time," Bulma surmised.

"So other than blowing up half the house, how else could we get rid of it? I mean it hasn't hurt anyone yet," Trunks pointed out.

"Vegeta probably thinks it broke the gravity room or something and is taking this as a personal challenge. I'd prefer to try and contact it first. You never know, it might be somewhat friendly," Bulma said reassuringly.

"Could we use one of them weird spirit board things?" Trunks asked.

Bulma's eyebrow raised up, "A Ouija Board?"

"Yeah, that."

"I've heard some bad things about those Trunks, so let's avoid that idea. It might invite even more trouble," Bulma suggested.

Trunks slumped his head a bit, "Okay, what do we do to try and contact it then?"

"Let's try an experiment with a digital voice recorder and try to talk to it and then play back the results. There's a good chance that it will pick up things that we can't hear ourselves."

Around four hours later, Bulma and Trunks headed up to Bulla's room and sat on the floor with a large device that featured a small satellite dish on its top. Bulla squealed a bit as she sat in her crib, looking at her toys as if they had suddenly become the most interesting things in the room. "I know it's not all that quiet in here with your sister, but we should at least use a familiar setting to what happened before. This should capture any sound, even if it's outside out listening range," Bulma explained as she turned on the device. The small satellite dish spun quietly as the lights turned from red to green, prompting Bulma to speak again.

"EVP experiment number one, Bulla's room, two-thirty PM. Is there anyone here with us?" Trunks looked around, expecting to hear or see something right away, but there was nothing.

Bulma paused for about fifteen seconds before continuing, "We mean you no harm, well most of us anyway. Can you come out and talk to us? This device will allow us to hear anything you have to say, don't be afraid." Bulma paused again, and Trunks shifted a bit with anticipation. There was still nothing, other than the sounds of Bulla rustling around a bit in her crib.

"If you don't want to talk to us, we'll leave and come back later," Bulma claimed. Trunks frowned at the lack of action and quickly became bored.

"Well maybe we'll get lucky. Let's go listen to the results in the lab," Bulma suggested.

"I hope there's something, this is boring," Trunks complained.

"It's also the middle of the day Trunks. I did some research and it is said that most paranormal activity occurs at night, sometimes very late when everyone is normally asleep. Well, this is based on observed activity. We can try again later after dinner and see what turns up," Bulma pointed out.

Trunks snorted in disappointment, "Okay." Bulma shut the recorder off and left the room as Trunks followed. They were about ten paces into the hallway when Bulla started crying.

"Oh shoot, Trunks hold this while I see what's wrong," Bulma said as she handed the device to him. She approached the doorway, only to have the door suddenly slam shut in her face.

"What the hell?" she asked. She turned the knob and pushed, but the door wouldn't budge an inch. It was as if someone much stronger than her was on the other side.

"Damn it, it won't open!" Bulma called out. Bulla's screaming got louder and sounded more desperate within a few seconds, causing her mother to fill with terror.

"Trunks!" Trunks set the recorder down and rushed over, plowing through the door easily. It ripped off its hinges and sailed into the far wall, breaking apart. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow fly out of the way and vanish into the wall before he could lock onto it. Bulma ran in to get Bulla, who was well into her fearful tantrum. Trunks remained on guard as he scanned every bit of the room, seeing and sensing nothing. Bulma attempted to calm her daughter, who was understandably frightened with what had just happened.

"Mom, I think we should review that tape and maybe the video camera too. That thing clearly didn't want us coming back in," Trunks suggested.

"But why is the question," Bulma pondered. Bulla turned her head slightly and grabbed onto Bulma's shirt with as strong a grip as she could produce. Bulma and Trunks both stared at this strange behavior. It was as if Bulla was trying to hide from the thing that had made her cry.

It was an hour later when Vegeta finally noticed the broken door in Bulla's room. He had been searching in every dark nook and cranny he could find around the compound, but had found nothing. Seeing the splintered door made him rethink his strategy, and he proceeded back to the lab where his family was. He walked in to see a few disturbed looks plastered on the faces of his wife and son.

"What the devil is it now? Why is the brat's door off its hinges?" Vegeta asked. Bulma pointed to the screen, where she was reviewing what had happened. It drew Vegeta's attention when the door had slammed shut and there was a dark mass getting very close to Bulla's crib, causing her to scream. It seemed to flee when Trunks broke the door down, but there was no tracing its path once it vanished.

Vegeta scowled once it did, "What is that blasted thing?"

"I don't know, but it clearly isn't friendly. Listen to the audio we captured just before that," Bulma said as she clicked a button marked 'play'.

"Is there anyone here with us…YES…" Vegeta's eyes narrowed sharply at the deep but shallow voice that followed Bulma's.

"That's really creepy," Trunks added.

"Hmph, is that all it said?" Vegeta asked.

"Actually, no," Bulma said nervously.

"If you don't want to talk to us, we'll leave and come back later…LEAVE…" Vegeta scowled as Bulma let the tape play, eventually bringing Bulma and Trunks' voices back in.

"…I hope there's something, this is boring!…It's also the middle of the day Trunks…GET OUT…It is said that most paranormal…" Bulma stopped the playback as she shook her head while Vegeta's eyes had widened by quite a bit.

"And neither of you even heard that?" he asked.

Trunks stared at the ground, "Not even a whisper."

"To be fair, the odds of us picking up a sound like that were slim to begin with. It's why I ran that experiment in the first place to see if it was trying to communicate. Obviously we have that answer," Bulma said.

Vegeta grunted a bit and stomped out of the lab, "Coward! Come out!"

Bulma rolled her eyes, "Typical."

"So what do we do?" Trunks asked.

Bulma sighed slightly, "I don't know yet."

Four days later, Lenz was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the ground. It had been relatively quiet since the incident involving Bulla's bedroom door. They had noticed a few things out of place and a footstep or two, but nothing past that. Either the entity had calmed down completely, or it was avoiding Vegeta's nighttime patrol. As much as Lenz wanted to try and help, she didn't want to risk lashing out at anyone. She kept to herself most of the time, though to say she was alone would be incorrect.

"So, the other guest has been quiet eh? I'll bet that'll change quickly," Kaon whispered through her brain.

Lenz snapped out of her blank mood immediately, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's the type of creature that lives off fear and anger. So this is essentially the perfect environment for it. However…" Kaon suddenly stopped.

Lenz frowned at the pause, "What?"

She literally felt Kaon grinning, "Not telling!"

Lenz growled and pushed back the urge to smash something, "I hate you!"

"Somehow I'll get over that."

"Don't you have anything better to do than bug me?"

"Afraid not, but pestering you is fun, so I'll do that. Don't you have anything better to do than sitting on your sulking ass all day and avoiding others? What's wrong little girl? Are you scared that you'll accidentally snap one of their necks?" Lenz scowled and didn't answer.

"It's just as well, these humans have such short life spans. You may as well put them all out of their misery now," Kaon continued.

"Leave them out of this!"

"My my, has someone developed a soft spot for these weak little beings? Sparing them is not an act of mercy my dear. Look at them, they do nothing but consume!"

"And what makes demons any better?" Lenz asked.

Kaon snorted at this, "Ha! For starters, we're not ignorant to our own surroundings. I've noticed you've started to pick up that particular trait. Maybe that's just what happens during a peaceful time period. Apparently that doesn't only affect humans though, all races have that problem it seems. And they'll claw and clutch at their fragile peace until it finally shatters and they die!"

"What are you getting at?"

"A very simple notion that even a Saiyan can understand. If you want peace, prepare for war," Kaon declared.

"If you mean train, I do that enough," Lenz claimed.

"Ha, in your own mind maybe. But you have to learn what you're capable of as well. You haven't done that. Nor have they forced you. Though considering that they're all afraid of you, I guess I can't blame them," Kaon said.

"They're afraid of you, not me," Lenz countered.

Kaon chuckled, "Maybe so, but let me ask you this, what is worse? An amazingly powerful child that can't control her own actions on a regular basis? Or a strong being that can think rationally at all times and will not let emotions determine how to even breathe? I would think that choice is clear."

"Funny, coming from a heartless demon like you."

"Oh my heart works fine as it is. It's yours that is skewed. But we can work on that. In fact, I have the perfect little remedy for it."

"Not interested."

"You say that now, but what if I were to show you how to control your deep power?"

"And let you back out? Forget it," Lenz said immediately.

"Hmph, it's not like I am much more than an extra voice in your head at the moment. And as much as I hate to admit it, all it would take is you going off the handle and blowing up and I'm gone. So it's mutually beneficial. It will be quite some time before that seal erodes on its own unfortunately, so you really have nothing to worry about," Kaon offered. Lenz paused, as it made sense logically, but it seemed a bit off.

"And how do I know it isn't just some trick?"

"I'm part of you, so you should be able to tell the difference between truth and lies, no matter our separate opinions. I will be much more open with you than anyone else. Especially the fallen prince and his merry little band," Kaon claimed.

"I don't believe you," Lenz said plainly.

"You don't have to, the truth will be revealed to you in time. Why do you think that brat went off on that mission without you? He couldn't trust you to remain in control. Nor could he trust his own feelings on the matter. Smart kid, I would have left your pitiful ass behind as well. He should have given up on you long ago though," Kaon suggested.

Lenz snarled silently, "Shut up! Little brother isn't like that!"

Kaon grinned, "Silly girl, people are not always what they seem. Take that kid for example. He's supposed to teach you how to control your power, but all he does is hold you back!"

"Yeah, I used to think that too, and he was right. I've screwed that up enough times already. You're not going to push me back down that road!" Lenz declared.

"Ha! No need to guide your path, you've been on it for quite some time. You may not be the same little whore that was dumped into his lap, but you still have much to learn. It's obvious that whatever you've gained in terms of power and skills has been offset by your softness. Maybe you should go back to Frost, at least you had an edge then. Even if all you could do was be a pleasure doll for his soldiers!"

"Shut up!"

"Aw, does the truth hurt? Well no matter how much you don't want to face it, the facts remain the same. Someday, someone much stronger than you is going to come along and destroy everything you hold dear. And you will be helpless to stop it because of your softness. Even 'little brother' will fall someday, and there will be nothing you can do about it except pray for a painless death!"

Lenz's energy sparked out of anger, "You're wrong!"

"Am I? Then why is it that every time you get in over your head, he has to come bail you out? You have all the power you need, but not the control and resolve to use it. Even if you could function without someone holding your hand, you still can't get very far. Any way you look at it, you're nothing but a waste with a pretty face!"

"Leave me alone!" A brief burst of Psi lightning came off her body and struck the carpeting, leaving a burn mark. Lenz tried to calm herself immediately, but the damage had already been done. Within seconds her door flew open and Vegeta rushed in, more than ready for a fight.

"Where is it girl?" he bellowed. Lenz blinked sharply, quickly forgetting any realistic excuse she could think up.

"Where's what?" she asked.

"Don't play stupid, I sense another energy disturbance coming from this room. You had to have noticed it as well!" Vegeta pointed out. Lenz cringed as she realized that she had just pulled his complete attention with her brief touch of anger.

Kaon laughed from within, "Looks like he's catching on girl, you should kill him now. Once he figures out that I'm here, he'll kill you for sure. I say don't let him have the chance!"

Lenz gritted her teeth a bit as she did her best to ignore her inner demon, "Sorry, I didn't."

"Nonsense! You can sense Psionic energy much easier than I can! Now tell me where that thing went!" Vegeta ordered.

"Fool of a prince. He doesn't even realize that all of his anger is feeding it. It won't be long now," Kaon said. Just as Kaon's thought had finished, a loud and wretched scream hit the air. Both Vegeta and Lenz looked towards the hallway, but neither recognized the sound as anything remotely human. When it ended, a loud thump went off, followed promptly by Bulla crying and Bulma calling for help. Both Vegeta and Lenz ran down to the master bedroom, quickly joined by a half awake Trunks. Upon reaching the room, they spotted a terrified Bulma holding her baby close. A shadow quickly vanished from the window before Vegeta could lock onto it. Below the window, Bulla's crib was in pieces.

"What happened?" Vegeta asked.

"All I did was take Bulla out of her crib when she started coughing. It made that horrible sound and all of a sudden the crib was flying through the air and crashed into the wall!" Bulma explained.

"I see. Come on cretin! Come pester me and see what happens!" Vegeta dared the entity.

"Vegeta, I don't think pissing it off is such a great idea. Look what it just did while you were out of the room," Bulma pointed out.

"Is that the best you can do?" Vegeta shouted at the air. Bulma shook her head slightly and worked on calming her daughter down. Lenz sighed and went back to her own room once the air seemed to clear.

"It's getting stronger, it won't be long now," Kaon whispered.

Lenz froze mid-step, "Won't be long until what?"

Kaon laughed, "You'll see. And then my dear, you'll want to do things my way…" Lenz shivered nervously as a very cold chill went up her spine.

A/N: ROAR!