Kibito blinked at the vacant spot where Goten had been kneeling moments ago. "He… he looked the same," he said, confused.

The Supreme Kai glanced up at his body guard. "He isn't," he said softly. "His cells, his essence, have been completely transformed. He only looks like the old Goten, because that's how his soul remembers itself. Now, all we can do is wait, and hope he is able to defeat his enemy," the Supreme Kai explained, and looked down at the heavy sword precariously balanced in his hand. "Now… we just have to get this sword back home somehow," he said, frowning.

"You two are still in my room!" Pel seethed, her back still to the two intruders.

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He had to stop it.

The screams. The screams just wouldn't stop. Everywhere Kress went, every planet he went to, they were always screaming. He had to make them stop.

His rational mind was keeping track of time, the size of the air-tight energy shield he had erected, the gravitational pull of each star he approached.

The rest of him was just trying to make the screaming stop.

It had started with Frieza's ship. It was just supposed to be Frieza's ship, some part of him remembered. But, the power… the power just kept coming…

And he had to stop the screaming.

Frieza's empire would disappear, one star at a time. They created this monster, now he would be the end of them all.

Until he showed up.

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"Supreme Kai?" Goku asked, surprised. He looked around. "What am I doin' here? Is something wrong with Goten?" he asked, instantly worried for his son.

Since Goten had left to spend time with Pel, Goku had taken his own advice and asked King Kai if he could take a break of his own, and spend some time in the part of Otherworld where Chichi was. She had cried when he told her about Goten, but she wasn't nearly as furious and over-protective as she had been in life. The bliss of Otherworld had softened her temper, which, strangely enough, Goku found he missed. Still, though, it was good to see her, in a way, it helped resolve a lot of hard feelings the two had held onto from life.

"I apologize for the interruption, Goku," Supreme Kai said softly. "But Kai Goten has already been transformed, and the battle is commencing as we speak," he said, and gestured to a glass ball up on top of the hill next to them. "You are welcome to watch with us," he said, looking down at the ground. He knew that what happened next would be highly unpleasant.

Goku didn't seem to notice the Supreme Kai's somber expression. "Goten's a Kai now? So, it did work! That's great!" he said, breaking into a grin. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, I wouldn't miss this for the world!" he said, and ran up to the top of the hill, where he sat in front of the glass ball, peering into it.

And then his smile faded.

And he looked like he had been slapped.

And his eyes went cold. And he turned his cold glare to the Supreme Kai.

And instantly the Supreme Kai was slammed against the ground, a furious Goku kneeling over him, his hand on the Kai's chest, his face inches away from the Kai's. "YOU KNEW!"

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Kai Goten was there in an instant. He didn't bother to wonder whether or not he would be able to breath in space; he knew instinctively that he would be fine. Just like he knew where to find him, the one who was trying to destroy everything.

He was a Super Saiyan.

"Why are you doing this?" he yelled, but nothing came out. Space. Right. He focused on the Saiyan's mind, but was suddenly being hurled into the sun.

He had to stop.

He teleported back in front of Kress, holding out his arms. 'Stop this!' he tried to reach the Saiyan, but instead had to dodge a flurry of ki blasts designed to detonate on impact.

Kai Goten wasn't fast enough. He could feel the imbalance of the star, somehow this Saiyan was drawing the energy from the center of the star, creating a super nova. Frantically, Kai Goten glanced at the neighboring planets, two of them had life, not to mention the ships that were coming towards them, firing at them.

They were all going to die.

'NOOOO!' Kai Goten cried out within his mind, and placed his hands to his side. 'Ka… me… ha… me…. ha!' The bright blue beam did not go unnoticed by the Saiyan, who turned to glare at him before batting it away harmlessly. Kai Goten tried again, putting everything he had into it. 'Ka…me…ha…me…HA!' he shot the beam again, and the Saiyan's eyes narrowed in fury. Kai Goten got the impression that the Saiyan wasn't as angry at the fact that Goten was attacking him, as he was at how Goten was attacking him.

He didn't have much time to wonder about it. The Saiyan had Goten's face in his hands, and Goten was aware of air around him, inside an energy shield the Saiyan must have constructed. "S-stop this! You have to stop!" he gasped, taking advantage of the presence of air to try to speak to him.

A fist slamming deeply into his stomach was the Saiyan's reply.

"YOU WERE WEAK, FATHER!" the Saiyan shouted, and a dazed Kai Goten got the impression the Saiyan wasn't talking to him. He got a fist to the head for thinking too much. "I AM THE DESTROYER OF WEAKNESS!"

He had to pull the Saiyan away from this sun. Doing the only thing he could think to do, he gripped the Saiyan's arm and closed his eyes, teleporting them to one of the nearby planets.

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"G-goku," the Supreme Kai gasped. Suddenly, the Saiyan was being hurled away by a very angry Kibito, who stood protectively in front of the Supreme Kai. The being's expression was grim, he knew he could not hope to stand against Goku in battle, but was more than willing to die trying if it would allow the Supreme Kai a chance to act.

Goku, for his part, stood glaring at the Supreme Kai, ignoring Kibito completely. "You knew it was Gohan, all this time, you knew where he was! You knew it, didn't you? ANSWER ME!" Goku yelled in fury.

The Supreme Kai stood, dusting his clothes off, and looked at Goku grimly. "Yes. I knew," he said softly.

Goku powered up, his hair and eyes changing color. "Then tell me, how can you claim to be good, if you're willing to stand there and watch this? He was only a CHILD!" Goku screamed, his energy creating a furious wind which nearly knocked the Supreme Kai and Kibito back. "You had the power to save him. All you had to do was tell me where he was, when I was out there looking for him, just… give me coordinates, like Goten gave to Pel! If you went through all the trouble of recruiting Goten to stop Gohan, then why not do something easier like prevent all of this in the first place? Do you realize how many people have died because of your refusal to do ANYTHING BUT WATCH?" he demanded.

"Not as many as would have died had I intervened!" the Supreme Kai shouted back. His eyes were narrowed, and he angrily walked towards Goku, causing Kibito to have to step to the side. "You foolish mortals, you throw tantrums and cry when you don't get your way, without realizing that for everyone to get their way would be impossible! You beg for favoritism, yet accuse me of playing favorites! You care only for yourselves, ignore everyone else, and yet have the audacity to ask me if I know how many people have died? OF COURSE I KNOW! I'M THE SUPREME KAI! DO YOU?" he screamed, his fists clenched. "I have watched over the lives and deaths of more people than you can ever conceive of having existed! Do you have any idea how many children I have seen suffer, as Gohan has suffered? How many planets I've seen destroyed? And do you have any idea what would happen if I actually intervened every time something bad was going to happen?" he hissed, dangerously close to the Super Saiyan. "Try, for a moment, to imagine no one being born. Ever. That everything you are, everything you were, or could be, was completely gone. Never having existed. None of the good you'd done, none of the people you'd saved, none of the lives you'd touched, would exist. There would be nothing. The Kaioshin hold this universe together, Goku. Our jobs are to make sure everything keeps going. YOUR jobs are to make sure this," he said, pointing to the glass ball on top of the hill, "doesn't happen. This mess was made by mortals, Goku. Don't think that just because I'm cleaning it up this time, means I should have prevented it in the first place," he retorted.

Goku was glaring at him still, but powered down. "You should have at least told me," he said bitterly.

The Supreme Kai's expression became sad. "I would never have done that to you, Goku," he said, gazing up at the Saiyan, willing him to understand. "Despite what you think of me, I am not evil. To make you train one son, knowing it was to fight another son, that's something I could never do to you, or anyone else. It was better for me to hold that burden alone. After all, that is my job," he said softly.

Goku shook his head. "Things are not alright between us, Supreme Kai. But I won't let our differences keep me from seeing this through to the end," he said.

The Supreme Kai nodded. "Very well, Goku. Please," he said, gesturing to the glass ball. With a nod, Goku turned and took his position on the ground beside it, peering inside to see what had happened. The Supreme Kai shared a glance with Kibito, and the two of them sat on the other side of the glass ball, doing their best to ignore the tension in the air.