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 95: Paranormal

The number of incidents increased during the following week, most of the time at night. Vegeta primarily patrolled the main hallway and didn't sleep, trying to catch things as they happened. This didn't appear to do much though when Bulma and Bulla constantly woke up from some sort of nightmare. In Bulma's case, she was often seeing the shadow figure at the foot of her bed and in the window. She would call for Vegeta immediately and watch the shadow scamper off just as he arrived. Even with the use of video surveillance, they were unable to trace its path. Vegeta was near the point of blasting holes in the walls just to see if he'd get lucky and hit it. The dark spirit also had a habit of creating some sort of noise to pull his attention before slamming the doors behind him. Within two nights, the only door still on its hinges was Verto and Lenz's. That also appeared to be the only room that was unaffected during those many nights, though it was apparent that Lenz wasn't getting anymore sleep than the rest of them.

One night the entity literally pulled toys from Trunks' room and sent them flying at Vegeta in the dark. None of them did anything except annoy the Saiyan prince, but that didn't stop it from being any less unsettling. Nor did it stop Vegeta from blowing them all up, leaving scattered smoldering holes in the walls and floor. Despite all of this, none were as disturbing as the event late on a Tuesday night. Vegeta was leaning against the hallway wall with his eyes closed, sensing everything around him. It was strangely quiet and still that night, which was ominous in and of itself. That quiet quickly ended around three in the morning when Bulla started to cry. Vegeta was down there in a flash, but saw nothing this time.

"Woman, the brat needs changed," Vegeta grumbled as he turned around. When there was no response, Vegeta glared at the bed. To his utter surprise, there was nobody there.

Vegeta felt a hint of fear, "That's not possible!"

Trunks stumbled into the room a moment later, rubbing sleep from his eyes, "What is it Dad? Where's Mom?"

"That's what I would like to know. I can't even sense her presence," Vegeta claimed.

Trunks woke up quickly, "But…if she left you would have known right? I mean you've been standing guard in the hallway all this time. There's no way she could have gotten by you."

"No, unless…" Both of them stared at the window, but it was locked shut.

"Then where could she have…" Trunks started to ask. He was interrupted when they both heard a distant sounding scream. It sounded very human and feminine, and a loud bang followed it.

"Watch your sister," Vegeta quickly ordered. He was gone in a flash, leaving his children alone. Vegeta quickly traced the sound to the lower end of Capsule Corp, to a common area for him. A very light and muffled screaming sound was coming from inside the gravity room, where he could also hear light tapping sounds. Vegeta wasted no time in unlocking the chamber, revealing a distraught Bulma inside.

"What the? How the devil did you get in here?" Vegeta demanded.

"I-I don't know! I just woke up and the door slammed on me!" Bulma stuttered as she was clearly frightened.

"What? An hour ago you were in your bed when I checked. I never saw you leave, nor did I fall asleep and miss you going by. Even if I didn't sense you, I would have noticed your footsteps!" Vegeta declared.

Bulma's eyes unloaded two rivers, "I don't know!" She hugged him tight for support, which Vegeta slowly accepted.

Bulma sipped a large cup of coffee the next morning as she went over the security footage from the previous night. It was becoming a very routine thing for her now, not to mention tiresome since everyone was struggling to sleep. She zeroed in on the hours of two to three in the morning and watched closely. The only thing she noticed initially was Vegeta's beast-like figure patrolling and glaring holes in every wall that he could. When he finally stopped moving around and stayed in one place, things got a bit strange. First Bulma observed herself getting out of bed and standing over Bulla's new crib. This probably wouldn't have seemed all that strange if it hadn't have gone on for nearly forty-five minutes. Then the even creepier part of it came as she slowly left the room and stepped right by Vegeta, who didn't even react. Bulma knew well enough that Vegeta never actually slept standing up.

The rest of the internal cameras caught her walking straight into the gravity chamber. When she got there, the door swung open on its own and she stepped in and disappeared into the darkness. The door didn't shut again until the part she actually started screaming, in which it slammed shut and locked itself. Bulma's hands shook nervously as she set down her cup, rattled by the evidence. The phone suddenly rang, further startling her for a moment.

"Hello?"

"Bulma, Goku just said that Piccolo's back. They're all meeting up at the lookout, so could you send Vegeta and Lenz up there as well?" Chichi asked from the other end.

Bulma felt slight relief, "Oh sure, do you know what's going on? Wouldn't that mean that Verto is back as well?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm guessing he isn't," Chichi replied.

Bulma frowned with disappointment, "That can't be good then, I'll let them know."

She had barely hung up the phone before Vegeta marched in, "I'll leave Trunks here with you, we need to meet with the Namek immediately!" Bulma nodded and watched the mad rush of Vegeta and Lenz flying off on her outdoor monitors. She reviewed the surveillance footage a few more times and held her head a bit, deep in thought. She then glanced down at Bulla and felt an awful sense of dread wash over her. She scooped up the baby and left the room, heading straight for where she knew Trunks would be. She startled her son a bit as he was half asleep in the armchair.

"What's up Mom?" Trunks yawned.

"Trunks, sweetie. Could you please take Bulla over to Goku's place?" Bulma requested.

"Um, okay. But why? Dad told me to stay here with you in case something happened," Trunks pointed out.

"Trust me Trunks, it's for the best. I'll call ahead and let her know you're coming. She is to stay there until this…problem of ours is resolved," Bulma said sternly. Trunks nodded grimly and took a hold of his baby sister before leaving. Bulma sighed with slight relief before going back to her lab.

I've got to find a way to get rid of this thing. It's time to take my paranormal research a bit further, before it decides to drive us all insane. As she was walking away, the hallway lights behind her flickered.

"Alright Namek, explain yourself!" Vegeta demanded once he landed. Piccolo had just finished eating a Senzu bean to heal after regenerating what he could on his own. He didn't feel overly ready to deal with the Saiyan prince yet, but with most of the immediate group before him, he didn't have much choice.

"It's quite simple actually, the leader of the Renegade Saiyans is stronger than all of us," Piccolo replied. There was a momentary pause as the Z fighters all glanced at each other.

"You mean the one he fought with when he and Lenz were taken to Frost's base?" Gohan asked.

Piccolo shook his head, "No, that one is dead. I saw Verto kill him myself. This leader posed as another agent involved with Leira in order to fool us. They appear to have some history, but I have very little information regarding that."

"So, is he some sort of really powerful Super Saiyan, like Broly?" Krillin asked.

"If he is in fact an actual Super Saiyan, I didn't sense it. But he is stronger than any Saiyan I have ever seen before. If we were able to accurately gauge his power here, I believe he would make Majin Buu look pathetic by comparison," Piccolo claimed.

"Majin Buu was pathetic," Vegeta grumbled.

Goku was becoming excited at this turn of events however, "So when do we get to fight him Piccolo?" Everyone stared at Goku like he was crazy for a moment before they let out a collective sigh.

Krillin shrugged, "Typical Goku."

"Leira said that Verto is going to be fighting him in this tournament of theirs and pending the outcome of that match, she would return with one of us to go help him if needed," Piccolo explained.

"What?" Vegeta and Gohan shouted.

Dende nervously spoke next despite the outburst, "Would it not be prudent to send everyone available to assist?"

Piccolo shook his head, "Normally yes, but there are apparently restrictions as to how many of us can travel realms like this. It's her call, not ours. Also there was a large time discrepancy in place."

"Say that again?" Krillin asked.

"I mean that Verto and I only experienced five days thus far. Here, fifteen have passed. If all of us left to go help him, no one would be here to defend the Earth against any attackers. That's why only the strongest of us should go, and that is Gohan," Piccolo suggested.

"Right, I'm ready now," Gohan pledged.

"Yes of course. But this will probably happen in five to six days, so be on standby until then, no heavy training," Piccolo instructed.

"Oh come on Piccolo, we'll be back before you know it. The Earth will be safe for a few days," Goku claimed.

Vegeta's eyes flashed with attentiveness, "As much as I hate to agree with the Namek, he at least has a brain, unlike you Kakarot!"

"What do you mean?" Goku asked in bewilderment.

"You fool, Frost may or may not be on his way here now, but he will certainly be keeping an eye on the planet's various high power levels. The instant we all left, he would know and would take advantage. The last thing even a clown like you would want is to come back barely alive and have to fight him again. It would be your end Kakarot!" Vegeta growled.

"I don't know about that, I'm pretty sure I could defeat him. We won't know until we try right?" Goku said. Everyone stared at him again, this time with a little more concern.

"Goku, at the risk of siding with Vegeta here, he's right. We don't want anyone related to Frieza getting an advantage like that, no matter how short it is. Who knows, the Earth could get completely destroyed while you were gone because of that time shift thing," Krillin said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Goku said as he frowned with disappointment while Vegeta looked away in annoyance.

Lenz finally felt the need to speak once everyone was silent for more than a few seconds, "So, is Verto okay?"

Piccolo smiled with some reassurance, "He'll be fine for the time being. He's slowly gaining better control over that deep power of his. That Saiyan attacked at a weak moment after he had fought the other five in a row and was exhausted. There are experienced healers there to help him with any injuries. If nothing else, this mission has been very beneficial with regards to his training."

Vegeta smirked, "Ha, I find it hard to believe that he could regain his edge that quickly. His softness and his rage were trying to co-mingle, thus making him confused and rash. He would nHHot be able to reign himself back in without some sort of anger outlet to release aggression on."

Piccolo returned the smirk, "As it turns out, he had a very effective…training partner in that regard. One that is no longer living I might add."

Goku was the first to overreact, "He killed his training partner?"

"That's not what I meant," Piccolo tried to say.

"We should gather the Dragon balls and wish that poor soul back to life right away! Shame on Verto for taking things too far!" Goku claimed.

Piccolo smacked his head slightly, "No, it was not someone worth wishing back, and for the record Verto didn't kill him so forget about it!"

Goku's apparent distress cleared up quickly, "Oh, never mind then."

"Well, now I'm curious Namek. Who was it that went with you that was more worthy than the prince of all Saiyans? Especially if this person was the boy's training partner?" Vegeta asked.

Piccolo rolled his eyes a bit, "If you had gone instead of me, this person wouldn't have lasted nearly as long. In fact, I don't think he would have ever made it there."

"Sounds like a job for Frieza," Krillin muttered.

"Exactly."

Vegeta's fist shook momentarily, "I swear I'm going to rip that woman to pieces."

"At least it makes sense. Little brother hates Frieza," Lenz pointed out.

"Be quiet girl!" Vegeta roared back.

Piccolo shook his head in exasperation, "That aside, I think Gohan should stand by up here until we hear form Leira."

"With the wedding this close? Mom and Videl will kill me!" Gohan argued.

"Ha, if the harpies can't understand that you have other priorities, they'll just have to learn their place again. Even that dime-store mannequin that baldy married gets it!" Vegeta said.

"I'm standing right here," Eighteen said from behind Krillin.

Piccolo ignored them both, "It would be best in a time-saving sense to stay here Gohan, but since you know Instant Transmission, I can just contact you telepathically. But you'll have to be ready at anytime, even if you're at school."

Gohan nodded, "Right, I understand."

"Why didn't you say that to begin with Namek? Were you beaten so badly that your halfway decent brain has finally begun to turn to goo?" Vegeta taunted. Everyone stared at Piccolo for the expected reaction to Vegeta's insult, but there wasn't one.

"That's all for now," Piccolo said as he turned around.

Vegeta snorted at the lack of reaction, "Fine. Come on girl, we are needed elsewhere." Both Vegeta and Lenz's auras came to life as they prepared to take off.

"Something wrong Vegeta? You seem like you're in a hurry to leave," Goku pointed out.

Vegeta's dangerous eyes filled with more venom than any of them had seen in some time, "None of your business, Kakarot!"

Vegeta and Lenz arrived back at Capsule Corp to an eerie quiet settling over the large dome.

"Where is everyone?" Lenz asked first. Vegeta's eyes narrowed as he realized that he couldn't sense anyone there. When he finally felt his son's presence, he quickly noticed that he was nowhere near there. He was however returning from wherever he had gone.

"Damn it all! I told Trunks to stay here! Where the hell is Bulma?" Vegeta roared.

"I'm not sure, but something feels really strange in there. Like there was a lot of energy bouncing around in here awhile ago," Lenz pointed out. Vegeta felt a distinct chill run down his back and took off running down the hallway. He nearly ripped the door off the gravity room and ran inside. When Lenz got there, she couldn't believe what she saw. There was Bulma, with an expressionless face, laying on the floor. Her hands were covered in scrapes, as were her legs. Most notably, there was a reddened area on her leg that looked as if some kind of animal had bitten here. Vegeta checked her vitals first, noting a slightly elevated heart rate but otherwise she was alright.

"Woman, wake up! Who did this?" Vegeta asked. Bulma didn't budge initially, prompting Vegeta to shake her a bit. She slowly opened her eyes, giving off a stone cold stare towards her husband.

Vegeta didn't have to be told something was off, "What the devil is wrong with you?"

"Everything is fine. Let me go to sleep," Bulma replied, completely monotone.

Lenz's eyes widened, "I sense something inside her. Like another presence!"

Vegeta's lip twitched in anger, "Creature, if you don't get out of my woman this instant, you will regret it!" Bulma offered a brief grin before she slumped over into a deep sleep. Vegeta growled and suddenly slammed his fist into the floor, breaking the tile easily. Lenz heard footsteps coming up behind her and spun to see Trunks running in.

"What happened to Mom?" he said as he came to a stop.

Vegeta's wrath turned to him instantly, "I told you to stay here boy, why did you disobey me?"

Trunks turned pale, "Mom told me to take Bulla to Goten's house. Maybe she knew something would happen? Did she get possessed?"

Vegeta was taken aback as he stared down at his motionless wife, "What?"

"I think she was researching what paranormal stuff is like during a haunting. Maybe something happened while we were gone?" Trunks suggested. Vegeta didn't answer initially and lifted Bulma off the floor before carrying her out.

He was almost around the corner before he finally turned to his son, "Find out what happened Trunks, use the new surveillance equipment. We need to figure out how to put an end to this. Girl, help him!" Lenz nodded and followed Trunks towards the lab. During the slow walk, another voice decided to join in on the fun.

"I see that thing has finally gotten serious. Poor little prince doesn't have a clue how to fight it, does he?" Kaon asked from the depths of Lenz's mind.

Lenz scowled, "Go away."

"I think not, little girl. You don't know what that is, nor how to deal with it. Trust me, you will need my advice and likely my skills. I'll put it back in its place," Kaon claimed.

"No thanks."

"You'll change your mind, very soon…" Lenz rolled her eyes as Kaon's voice faded, only to walk right into Trunks and nearly knock him over.

Lenz caught him by his shirt and steadied her own feet, "Sorry."

"So does it?" he asked.

"Pardon me?"

Trunks grimaced, "I asked if that demon inside you has anything to do with this. You looked like you spaced out for a moment."

"I don't think so," Lenz replied. Trunks seemed to accept that answer as they approached the lab. Inside was a mess of paperwork, shelving and a few chairs tipped over on the floor.

"What happened here?" Lenz asked.

Trunks eyed the camera in the corner, "Let's find out." He sat down at Bulma's desk and quickly got to work bringing up the video feed. He played back the last two hours, stopping and slowing when he himself had left with Bulla. It clearly showed Bulma sitting at her desk, doing research when the dreaded shadow entered the room. All it once, it yanked Bulma out of her chair and physically dragged her from the room. The struggle resulted in the other chairs and shelves to get knocked down in the process, sending all the paperwork flying.

"Oh my god," Lenz gasped. Trunks couldn't find any words as he watched the replay of his mother scratching and clawing to escape the shadow's grip. Even though there were no obvious hands or arms, it pulled her with relative ease towards the gravity room. She somehow managed to get loose once and ran back towards her lab. She made it about a dozen steps before her feet were yanked backwards into the air, putting her on the ground. The shadow pulled her again, and this time it never let go as she was taken all the way into the gravity room before its door slammed shut and locked on its own. There was no sound to hear, but there was little doubt about her distressed screaming as Trunks played the tape back a few times.

"That explains it then. Looks like Mom left some notes here," Trunks said somewhat nonchalantly as he picked a few up.

Lenz became concerned at the lack of emotion in Trunks' voice, "Aren't you worried about her condition or at least a little angry?"

Trunks' eyes flashed with teal as his head snapped towards her, "Of course I'm angry! How wouldn't I be? But if I just get mad and overreact like Dad does all the time, we won't get anything figured out! He's counting on me to do this without blowing anything up and so is my mother!"

Lenz held her hands up, "Sorry." Trunks gave her an intense glare before calming down and looking over the mess of paperwork Bulma had left behind. Most of it didn't have anything to do with their problem and he skipped over that. He paused when he came across a particular set of papers that described different types of haunting. Most of the events were minor for those marked under 'Residual', and Trunks new quickly that it didn't match. Under 'Intelligent', the symptoms were much closer, though still minor. He skimmed through until he came across a type of severe haunt that was split up as 'Poltergeist' and 'Demonic'. The differences between the two were still large, and that a poltergeist haunt was generally a practical joker type of ghost. A demonic one was not, and Trunks felt very strongly that it was definitely the latter that was causing all the trouble. The only thing that seemed off was the timing. The fact that this thing had came in so suddenly and caused trouble instead of gradually getting worse was different from the research. That question answered itself when he read that demons literally fed on negative emotions and energy. Fear, anger, despair, all of them tied into this creature's apparent nourishment. Add to that the fact that his father emitted negative energy all the time on a scale that far surpassed humans. On the side of the page, he noticed that Bulma had written down a note.

Trunks was a bit confused at this, "Fortuneteller Baba?"

"Who is that?" Lenz asked.

"I've only seen her once before. She's a little old woman that rides around on a crystal ball. I think she can travel between here and the afterlife regularly or something. Maybe Mom thought she could help somehow," Trunks said.

Lenz tilted her head a bit, "Oh, okay. Where can we find her?"

Trunks paused, "I actually don't know. Dad might, but I doubt it. I'll go ask him." Just as he turned to leave, he nearly ran over the same old woman he was looking for.

"Watch where you're going!" Baba shouted as her crystal ball floated next to her.

"Sorry Baba…wait. How did you know…" Trunks started to ask.

Baba smirked, "Do you really need to ask? It's what I do after all."

"Oh, right. Hold on, isn't there a fee you charge to help others? Mom told me about it once," Trunks said.

Baba closed her eyes, "Yes, I normally charge ten million zeni for preferred customers, and that's the discounted rate. If they can't pay up, then they can choose the alternate payment method of fighting each of my warriors one by one. If all are defeated, I will attempt to solve your mystery for free."

"Okay, where do we go for that?" Trunks asked in slight excitement.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Goku's friends are free of charge. It's a bit of a rip off for me to give out free service, but it's a bigger pain to find worthy warriors after they've been wiped out. I seriously doubt Vegeta will endure any patience as things are. Now show me to Bulma, I want to see her condition with my own eyes."

Baba didn't need but a short minute to determine what was wrong, "You've got a demon alright. A fairly strong one by the looks of it."

"I don't care what it is old woman. How do we get rid of it?" Vegeta growled back.

"There isn't much we will be able to do at this point. I don't expect we will be able to coax it out, nor force it out without killing her. This is a bit outside my area of expertise I'm afraid. That is unless…" Baba suddenly paused and glanced over at Lenz.

The taller girl stared back in confusion, "What?"

"Still hearing voices in your head?" Baba asked.

Lenz was more than a little taken aback, "How did you…"

Baba closed her eyes, "Please, we covered that already."

Vegeta's dark glare shifted targets, "Explain girl, right now!"

Lenz cringed a bit, "Well ever since that night that I…well you know which one, Kaon's been in my head."

"K-what?" Vegeta asked.

"Kaon, that's her name," Lenz replied.

"Been in your head? As in communicating with you, or you dwelling on it?" Vegeta questioned further.

Lenz gritted her teeth nervously, "Um…talking to me whenever she wants."

Vegeta straightened up, "So, what you're saying is that the reason you've been talking to yourself and randomly getting agitated is that demon's voice? Good to know, now what good does that do us?"

Baba floated between them on her crystal ball, "It means that she may know how to pull the demon out of Bulma and deal with it, or should I say, Kaon does."

"That's what she claims, but I don't want to let her out again," Lenz said.

"I understand dear, but she may be the only one who can help at this point. That is unless anyone else has a better idea," Baba said as she panned the room. They all glanced at each other, but there were no such words.

Baba gave off a smug snort, "I thought so. Go ahead dear, I doubt she will be able to do much with that seal on you."

Lenz held her necklace up and stared at it, "You're sure this is the right decision?"

Vegeta grunted as he shook his head, "Yes of course it is, since no one here has a brain. Argh, it's that fat tub of lard all over again!"

Baba nodded her head, "Proceed." Lenz hesitated before pulling off the sparkling blue gem and handed it to Trunks.

"Alright, now what do I do? It's not like I know how to…" Lenz suddenly stopped. All at once, her body stiffened as her eyes filled in with black. After taking a deep breath, she was strangely relaxed, yet incredibly ominous.

"Much better," Kaon said aloud.

A/N: Dun dun dun… times three!

WDG: Yes, let's let the inner demon out! What could possibly go wrong?

VB: Right?