Weeks passed as I continued to train with my sons, making them grow stronger and stronger. Thankfully, Goten seemed to have forgotten our first brutal fight, saving me from further trouble with his mother. He happily sparred with me and I fought him more gently. He would still need a Senzu Bean at the end of our sessions, but he never got quite as beat up as the first time.

Gohan, on the other hand, still seemed to resent me for originally tricking him, and was far from excited to fight me. Still, I pushed him to new limits under my unrelenting lessons, and his strength, along with Goten's, grew immeasurably since we first began.

Eventually, I told Bulma about how I had been 'borrowing' one of her houses in West City. To my surprise, she was nonchalant about the whole thing, and even ended up giving me the deed and keys to it in time. And so, for a time things remained unchanged.

During my short visit there, I meet with the Trunks from the future, who had still been unable to get back to his time. He said that himself and Mai were temporarily living with his mother while she attempted to find new ways for them to get back.

Trunks explained that when they had first tried to go back, they had gone through time, but when they arrived, there was nothing there; no planets, no stars, nothing. It was like they'd gone into an empty black void of a universe, a place where there was absolutely nothing.

Since then, they had tried fixing various parts on the time machine, putting in more fuel, etc. But no matter what they tried, it always led to the same place. Eventually, they'd come to the conclusion that the whole time machine must of somehow broken, and had taken to repairing the old one that Cell had used so long ago.

In the end, Trunks apologized for what Mai had said to me before, and said that he didn't blame me in the slightest. I brushed off his words, saying it mattered little to me, but I did ask him where Vegeta was, since I had not seen him since arriving.

Trunks said that he wasn't sure where he had gone, only that he had disappeared almost immediately after he got back from the future. I thanked him, and shortly thereafter left to return home.

And so this lull continued for a time, as I trained and waited for the next exciting thing to happen. Soon enough, one night, after a particularly rough day, I received a message from North Kai telling me to come to his world. I teleported to his world, and kneeling before him, I asked politely, "Good day to you, North Kai. How can I help you?"

He looked at me with a strange facial expression for a moment, but it was gone the next, and he proceeded to tell me, "There's no need for such formality. But I need you to do an important task for me." He stopped and turned his squat little body to face me.

"I want to live again, and you're going to wish me back with the Dragon Balls. It has been too long, and I refuse to wait anymore. Do you know how long I have been dead? A long time! So go!"

A smile played at the edges of my lips, and I respectfully responded, "As you wish, North Kai." Without even raising my fingers to my temple, I used Instant Transmission to get back to the Capsule Corporation. I found myself in a large room full of tools and gadgets, but the main attraction lay in the center of the room.

There, I saw Bulma wielding something together on the old time machine. At first, she failed to notice me, so I flew up to her and waved my hand in front of the mask that was covering her face. She gave a little start, but soon turned her tool off, and pushed her mask up on top of her head.

Wiping the grease and sweat from her face, she said, "You gave me quite the scare there. What do you want?" I explained how I need the Dragon Radar to find the Dragon Balls and revive North Kai. She frown, and pushing past me, she mumbled to herself about how it was somewhere around here, and soon enough she pulled out the small silver disk with an 'Ah-Ha!'

She handed it to me, and was about to walk back to her project, when she put her hand on me and said suddenly, "Wait-I ask one thing in return for you using the Radar." I nodded for her to continue, and she went on, "There's a rare crystal that's only found at the Earth's core, and I need to complete the time machine.

"If you promise to gather it for me, you can use the radar to your heart's content." A smirk found its way onto my face. "The Earth's core you say? Well, that'll be a fun challenge. Of course I'll do it." With that, I left to go on the planetary scale Hide-And-Seek.

Within an hour, I had collected them all and had arranged neatly in a circle outside Capsule Corporation. Sure, I had to pry a few of them away from protective birds and crying babies, but overall, it had been a rather fun trip. Extending my hands, I commanded in a low tone, "Come forth, Shenron, and grant me my wish!

The perfect spheres flashed mysteriously, and dark clouds appeared out of nowhere, covering the sky ominously. What looked like a bolt of lightning flew upwards, and out of its golden radiance formed an intimidating green dragon.

With only a golden tether holding him to this mortal coil, Shenron, the Dragon God looked down at me with uncaring and heartlessly. His words thundering down at me, he boomed, "YOU HAVE DISTURBED ME FROM MY SLUMBER. SPEAK, AND NAME YOUR FIRST WISH."

I looked up in awe; no matter how many times I saw this, it never got old. This was a being of true power. Opening my mouth, I ordered, "Revive North Kai, Bubbles, and Gregory, who live on the North Kai's planet in otherworld." Eyes glowing briefly, he stated, "SUCH A SIMPLE REQUEST; IT HAS BEEN GRANTED. NOW, STATE YOUR SECOND WISH."

I was about to tell him that I had no need for him, but as soon as I opened my mouth, someone yelled, "Wait!" Turning to see who the owner was, my gaze was meet by Android Eighteen, Oolong, and Roshi all coming towards me.

As soon as they were close enough to talk in a regular tone, Eighteen explained that they wanted their wishes granted. I held out my arm towards Shenron and said, "Be my guest. I have no more need for him." They started squabbling amongst themselves for quite a long time, but finally they came to a conclusion: the pig and old man are perverts.

With a simple flick of her finger, Eighteen sent them flying far away, hopefully never to be seen again. Turning to Shenron, she yelled, "Tell me, how can I grow stronger? No matter what I do, no matter how much I train, I can't grow more powerful. So explain how I can improve!"

Her wish was a respectable one, and far better than anything the other two would of asked for. Eyes gleaming a brighter shade of red, Shenron answered, "YOUR BODY HAS BEEN LIMITED BY THE MACHINERY THAT HAS BEEN PLACED INTO YOU, AND DUE TO THAT, THERE IS NO NATURAL WAY OF IMPROVING. HOWEVER, YOU CAN CONTINUE TO EHNACE YOURSELF BY MODIFYING YOUR BODY IN THE SAME MANNER IT FIRST WAS."

For some reason, Eighteen looked unhappy at the answer, but nonetheless, she simply said, "Thank you." With that, she flew back from wherever she came from. Once again, I was about to say that he was free to leave, and yet again someone yelled out for me to stop.

I groaned, and turning, I saw Bulma approaching fast on her hovering scooter. Touching down not far from me she jogged towards me quickly, and panting lightly, she said, "I had a sudden thought on how to help Trunks and Mai return back to where they're from." I knew whatever her wish was, that it would fail, but regardless, I stepped aside and let her have a clear view of the Dragon God.

Staring up at the majestic creature, she exclaimed, "Can you send Trunks from the future and Mai back to their original time?" Shenron's eyes glowed briefly, but soon after he told Bulma, "THAT WISH CANNOT BE GRANTED; IT IS BEYOND MY POWER TO DO SO. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER WISH THAT I CAN GRANT?"

Bulma sighed tiredly, and turning to me, she explained, "It was worth a shot, I had to at least try, nothing else has worked so far and-" Whatever else she was saying I stopped paying attention to, because suddenly, I saw Gohan sprinting towards Shenron. I wondered what he was doing, but he soon began to shout his words.

"Shenron! Unfuse Black and my Fa-" Pure fear flooded my body, and I flew towards him as fast as I could. I clamped an iron fist around his neck and his wish ended with a cough as I crushed his esophagus. I quickly turned back to Shenron and held a hand up to him, preparing to strike if he granted Gohan's wish. He fortunately remained silent, staring down at us stoically.

"That is all, Shenron! We have no more wishes, so you can leave now!" Saying nothing, Shenron vanished into nothing and the seven Dragon Balls flew up into the air and exploded outwards in all directions. Immediately after, the clouds disappeared and the midnight sky was visible once again.

I let out a sigh of relief; Gohan had almost just ruined everything. I squeezed my hand harder around his throat, and he let out a chocked cry. I hissed angrily, "Don't you ever try to do that again!" I took in a deep breath and continued, "I value my existence, and if you try to take it away from me again, I will stop you permanently. I don't care if you hate the person I am now. I will not be going away ever again."

With that, I dropped him onto the ground, and he lay there, heaving ragged breaths. I turned so my back was to him, and folding my arms, I asked, "Do I make myself clear?" He unsteadily stood up, and massaging his neck, he retorted, "It's moments like these that I realize that my father is gone. You're just a pale shadow wearing his skin."

I said nothing as I took off, flying far away.

I kneeled once more before North Kai. "It has been done; I have restored you back to life. Do you need anything else of me?" Once again, that strange expression was plastered across his face. "Indeed, Goku. I am alive again. But at what cost?" I frowned. "What do you mean, North Kai?" He turned away and started pacing away with his hands behind his back. "Don't worry, just some thoughts I spoke aloud. You are free to leave."

With that, I disappeared, traveling back to Earth instantly. The North Kai sighed to himself, and picking up his watering can, he began to tend to his flowers. Bubbles, concerned with his friend, asked in his own language, "What are you thinking of? You seem unhappy." Again, North Kai sighed.

"Things are looking grim indeed."