Piccolo deflected Goten's ki blast and sent it sailing toward a nearby mountain, where it burrowed into the center, exploded, and sent boulders flying in every direction. Goten flew threw the storm of rocks, carefully vaporizing any that got too close, en route to the nearby plateau where he could mount his next offensive. A massive chunk of the mountain barreled toward him, and he pulled back for a quick Kamehameha to deal with it. It was in that moment that Piccolo appeared behind and just above him, smirking before he chopped down into Goten's neck and sent the Saiyan hurtling into the hard surface below.

Piccolo descended until his feet touched the ground next to Goten, who winced as he rubbed at his neck and rose to his feet.

"I gotta admit, that one hurt quite a bit, Piccolo!"

"You were over-confident that you knew where I was, and you let your guard down. The same mistake you made in our last training session. The same mistake your father often makes."

"Yeah yeah, never underestimate your opponent, never assume victory, I've heard it before. It wouldn't have happened if I powered up though - I'm just holding back to keep things fair."

"Oh?" Piccolo smirked and pulled his heavy cape off, which created a small crater as it crashed into the ground. "Go ahead and power up to Super Saiyan, you're not the only one who's been holding back."

Goten shook his head. "Nah, I've got places to be. Big autograph event at the mall today, I promised Mr. Satan and the others I'd make an appearance."

A bead of sweat rolled down Piccolo's face.

"Besides, I appreciate you sparring with me and all after Trunks bailed again, but I don't know that I'm really getting much out of this. We both know I should be with my dad, brother, and Vegeta right now doing Ultra Instinct training, but you know how stubborn Beerus can be about inviting too many of us to his planet at one time."

Piccolo pulled his cape back on. "That cocky attitude will be your downfall, Goten. Even Vegeta doesn't have so much hubris, at least not these days."

Goten stretched out and brushed the dust off his orange karate gi. "Vegeta's an old man now. Pretty sure he gets PTSD every time he looks at me cuz I look just like my dad did at this age, and if weren't for that I'd have a chance to prove that I'm already stronger than he is. Anyways, I gotta get going. Later Piccolo!" He waved, then blasted off.

"All that fame is getting to his head. Hard to believe that he's cut from the same cloth as Goku and Gohan. I just hope that he gets a reality check before it's too late." He shrugged, then flew off to the falls nearby to meditate.

"Bulla Vegeta Briefs! You're in big trouble young lady!"

Bulla snapped awake and shot straight up on the couch she passed out on the night before. She was forced to squint as her eyes adjusted to the bright mid-day sun shining in through the windows above, and as they did she noticed she was still in her clothes from the night before. Pan, who was half hanging off the couch they were sharing, barely stirred. Bulla's head was pounding, and that was before her mom continued screaming at her.

"What did I say before I left for my convention?"

"That I was grounded, and that I needed to stay in and study all weekend so I graduate on time..." Bulla rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"That's right!" Bulma was standing over her now, glaring down with her hands on her hips. "So why did I get a call from Krillin this morning, letting me know that my favorite car was found abandoned outside of a party house on the other side of town?"

Bulla shrugged, and reached for what remained of the glass of water on the table to her side. "I don't know mom, maybe someone broke in and stole it while Pan and I were having our sleepover."

Bulma growled and knocked the glass of water from her daughter's hands. "Don't you lie to me young lady! I'm not stupid enough to believe someone got past our top notch security, made it to the capsule cabinet, and stole one single car just so they could crash it outside of a party!"

Pan stirred again, and muttered under her breath. "Could you keep it down? I'm awfully sleepy."

That just filled Bulma with more rage, and she acted on it by kicking Pan off the couch. Pan snapped awake, and scooted back in terror as Bulma leaned forward and got in her face.

"I thought you were a better influence than this, Pan! I thought if anyone could get Bulla to study instead of party or shop, it would be you! But you're just as bad as she is! Well, you just wait until Gohan and Videl hear about this!"

Pan shook her grogginess off and put her hands up in protest. "Please don't tell my parents! Bulla begged me to take her along to the party, I didn't even want to go, but she wouldn't take no for an answer!"

Bulla threw a pillow at her. "Way to sell me out, Pan!"

Bulma sighed, and finally calmed down a little. "It's okay, it's okay, I was just worried sick about you both is all. Let's be honest, I was doing the same thing when I was your age. I was probably worse, actually. At least there aren't any boys here." She paused, and looked around the living room. "There aren't any boys here, are there?"

The girls shook their heads, and Bulma sighed with relief.

"All Krillin could tell me when he called was that there was a red convertible with the Capsule Corp logo on it, that was crashed and abandoned outside of some house near the college campus where two girls were found dead this morning! I didn't actually think it was you two, especially when he mentioned there were witnesses who reported two girls flying out of a window the night before, but a mom can't help but worry!"

"Dead girls?" Bulla leaned forward, eyes wide. "Were they murdered at the party? I don't remember seeing anything like that!"

Bulma shook her head. "From what Krillin heard on the scanner, it sounded like they just had too much to drink and didn't wake up this morning. A real tragedy. And one I hope you two hot messes learn from before you get yourselves into real trouble next time!"

The girls nodded, and shared a knowing look. Pan stood up and straightened out her clothes.

"Well, I'd better get going, I'm sure Krillin already called my mom too, and she's probably worried!"

"Good idea," Bulma said. "Bulla, now that you're up, I need you to go find Trunks and fetch his capsules from him. I'm pretty sure my only other convertible is in his case."

Pan stopped in her tracks, while Bulla groaned.

"Ugh, mom, do I have to? What do you need a convertible for anyway? Can't you just take a helicopter to wherever you need to go?"

All Bulma had to do was glare at Bulla, who then sighed, rolled her eyes, and agreed to run the errand.

"If it makes you feel better, Bulla, I'll go with you!"

"I thought you had to rush home and check in with your mom?"

Pan shook her head. "She can wait a little bit. Bulma, if my mom calls you'll tell her I'm alright, won't you?"

Bulma shrugged and nodded. "Trunks mentioned he was going to the mall to hang out with Goten while he signed autographs with Mr. Satan and the rest of the crew, so you can probably find him there."

"So tell me more about this boy you met last night."

Bulla's face flushed a bit, and she kept her eyes straight ahead as she and Pan flew toward the mall.

"There's not much else to say. Like I said, he was super hot, had a sexy accent, and he told me I was beautiful. Then his bitch of a girlfriend came up and pulled him away. Or at least I think it was his girlfriend. You never know with boys."

"Sounds like someone has a crush." Pan winked.

"Whatever. I'll probably never see him again. And I don't plan on talking about him all obsessively without ever telling you his name. Which was Kamirun, by the way. God, even his name was sexy!"

Pan pushed ahead. "It doesn't matter what my crush's name is. He's never going to notice me, and we'll never end up together anyway. I'll just do what I always do, and admire him from afar."

The two of them eventually reached the mall, and posted up on a nearby billboard to rest a moment before going inside. The parking lot was completely packed, with huge, twisting lines of people stretching out of the main entrances.

"Gosh," Pan said, "I didn't expect so many people to be here. I knew grandpa's movies were popular, even more so since he recruited Goten to co-star as his sidekick, but I didn't know people liked them THIS much! How are we ever going to find Trunks in this crowd?"

Bulla squinted for a bit, then let out an 'a-ha' noise. "It doesn't look like we have to worry about that, I see him out in the parking lot. But is that...? Oh dear..."

"What is it?"

"He's with Mai. This can't end well."

Pan scanned the lot, and eventually spotted him, helping Mai load an armful of shopping bags into her car. Trunks closed the rear door once everything was loaded up and stepped closer to Mai, who shied away, but he reached out to take her face into his hand. He lifted her chin, brushed her dark hair to the side, and went in for the kiss, but she leaned away at the last second and he got the cheek instead. She glanced up at him, then hung her head and went around, got in the car, and drove off. Trunks stood in place and watched her drive off. Once she was out of sight, he smashed his fist into nearby truck, leaving a sizable dent in its surface.

"I don't know whose temper is worse, my brother's or Goten's." Bulla rolled her eyes and turned to Pan, just in time to see her friend bursting into flames and blasting off. "What's her deal?" Bulla muttered to herself, watching Pan disappear before she flew down to greet her brother.

"Trunks! I didn't mean to spy, but didn't you say you were going to leave Mai alone from now on?"

Trunks narrowed his eyes without looking over at his younger sister. "She's my wife, I can't just stop talking to her entirely."

"Ex-wife," Bulla said, crossing her arms. "A fact she's made very clear to you on numerous occasions..."

"Do you need something?" Trunks leered over at her.

"Okay, I get it, you're in a mood. Sheesh. I'm only here because mom asked me to fetch your capsules from you so she could..."

Trunks pulled his capsule case from his jacket and threw it at her before she could finish her sentence. "Just shut up and take them." He punched the truck to his side again, this time sending it flying off in the distance. A concerned couple looked on in awe, then scrambled away when he asked them what they were looking at.

"Jeez big brother, that was kinda mean, don't you think? It's not their fault your ex-wife isn't into you anymore."

Trunks flew off without another word.

Bulla rolled her eyes, asked herself what had gotten into everyone, and then decided her best course of action was to go in the mall and shop off her hangover.

Krillin let out a long exhale as he walked in his front door and hung up his work jacket on the nearby coat rack. He shuffled through the living room and into the kitchen, where 18 stood in her apron, stirring at a pot that smelled of beef and carrots. Marron was in the kitchen as well, seated at the dining room table with a mess of markers, paper, and other craft materials strewn about. Without a word he sat at the opposite end, and when Marron didn't look up from her project, he put his head down into his arms.

A few seconds later, he felt 18's hands digging in to his shoulders. "Long day, honey?"

Krillin lifted his head just enough to look up at his wife as she massaged him. "Just a sad one. The worst part of the job is when people turn up dead, especially young girls with their whole lives ahead of them."

18 pulled away and went back to attending to dinner, but kept the conversation going. "I saw that on the news - sounds like a couple of college girls had too much to drink?"

Krillin nodded. "They were just a few years younger than Marron. Pan and Bulla's age. Heck, I'm pretty sure those two were even at the party where it happened."

Marron finally looked up from the card she had been scribbling away at. "Huh. I'd expect behavior like that from Bulla, but I'm surprised Pan would get tangled up with that. I wonder what Chi-Chi will have to say about it." She put her head back down and got right back to work.

"Yeah. I'd rather we change the subject though, I've heard enough about it today and I'm sure I'll be back at it tomorrow. How are those wedding invitations coming along, Marron? Shouldn't your fiance be here helping you out?"

18 laughed, and Marron looked up with a sigh.

"You know how busy he is right now, dad. I'll be lucky to see him at all before the engagement party, if he even shows up to that."

"He better show up to his own engagement party, or maybe he doesn't deserve to be marrying my beautiful daughter!"

Marron rolled her eyes in reply, and got back to work. They all sat in silence for a little while, before being interrupted by a ringing phone.

"Can you get that, honey? The food's almost ready, and I don't want to step away and accidentally burn it."

Krillin nodded, hopped out of his chair, and grabbed the receiver from the wall.

"Krillin? Hey Krillin it's Cooper, from the coroner's office."

He stroked the back of his bald head. "Hey Coop, it's kind of late, you know? I was just getting ready to sit down for dinner with the family."

"I'm sorry buddy. I just wasn't sure who else to call."

"Yeah? What's going on?"

"Well, I was closing up for the night and I saw...well I'm not even really sure what I saw, but you've said before that you've had some experience with some kinda...weird stuff, right?"

Krillin stroked his mustache. "I guess you could say that."

"Well you know those girls that got brought in earlier, the ones that had too much to drink? I was doing my final exam on them, and...gosh I don't know if I even wanna say it, I'm gonna sound crazy."

"It's alright, just spit it out Coop."

There was a pause from the other end of the line. "I hate to ask you this, but do you think you could come in and just take a look? I want to make sure I'm not seeing things."

"Can it wait til morning? I'm exhausted, and I really need some downtime with the family before I deal with any more of this mess."

Cooper struggled to form words on the other end of the line, then eventually relented. "Sure, Krillin. No problem. I'll wrap up here, and I'll just meet you in my office in the morning. Everything should be fine. Have a good night with your family."