[Video]

[smallestsaiyan]

[The video shows a young boy with an excited face, looking back and forth from the right to the left. It's very late at night/really early in the morning and it's still dark out.]

Hey, look what I found! It’s a dragon ball!

[The more nobody pays attention to him, the more his face falls.] Oh, right... There’s nobody here... [Well, nobody that he knows, at least. Then he finally notices that the dragon ball has opened up and there’s a screen on it now. He looks confused.] Huh...? I think this dragon ball is broken...

[He brings it closer to his face to get a better look at it. Here, have a close up of Goten’s eyeball for a moment.] It’s like a really tiny television! Haha, I can see myself! Hi, me! [He laughs and gives the video a wave, then makes a couple silly face at it, sticking his tongue out and wiggling his free hand.]

Wonder what it’s for... I know! I bet it’s something Capsule Corp made! I’ll take it there and show it to Trunks! He’ll know what it is, Trunks knows everything.

Comments

Video 1/?

[hybrid_prodigy]

[... What? ... What?? Is that . . . No, but he's so . . . But, different points in time . . .]

Video 2/?

[hybrid_prodigy]

[Calm down. Breathe. There's an easy way to check this. Energy signatures don't lie. Just check that, and everything will be fine. Totally fine.

[Except what if . . . How would he deal with this?]

Video 3/4

[hybrid_prodigy]

[... No, that's not him. But he looks exactly like him. Except for being tiny. Plus, he mentioned Trunks. Who wouldn't have existed when Dad was a kid. Sure, time travel and all that . . .

[But. There's no getting around the energy signature.

[Oh, geez. He should say something, shouldn't he?]

Video 4/4

[hybrid_prodigy]

[So here's a face that may have a familiar quality to you, Goten, even if something about it doesn't seem right.]

Um . . . hey, you better watch out. There's a lot of dangerous things out here in the dark.

[Video]

[smallestsaiyan]

[Hey, it's a person! He looks kind of familiar somehow...]

Dangerous things...? Like monsters...?

[Video]

[hybrid_prodigy]

[This is so weird. What the heck did you do, Core?]

Exactly like monsters. I mean, you can probably handle yourself pretty well . . . [Because that's a significant energy signature.] But they're all over the place and they'll just keep coming until it's light out.

[Awkward pause. He has to know.] Hey, what's your name?

[Video]

[smallestsaiyan]

Oh... [He looks a little worried.]

Me? I'm Goten! What's your name? You look familiar...

[Video]

[hybrid_prodigy]

If you want some help, I can be there in a few seconds. [Getting ready to go Super and fly out there in his PJs? You bet.]

[The name's not familiar, and all things in his head are adding up to one conclusion. It should make him happy, but . . . it just feels complicated.]

This might sound weird to you, but . . . I'm Gohan.

[Video]

[smallestsaiyan]

Gohan? Hey, that's the same name as my brother! But he's a lot older than you. He's 17.

[Video]

[hybrid_prodigy]

[You know, he would have thought that was cute if he weren't flailing inwardly. It's gotta be. His little brother from the future. Who looks exactly like Dad, and that means that when Dad died, Mom was already . . .

[Oh, geez. Now he really feels lower than dirt about how things went with Cell. But no time for that, right? Gotta put on a brave face for the little brother, right?]

Uh, yeah. I think I'm actually . . . Hey just stay there, okay? I'll come to you.

[Video]

[smallestsaiyan]

Okay... [He sits down to wait.] What about the monsters?

[Video]

[hybrid_prodigy]

You're trained, right? It feels like you're pretty strong. If any try to hurt you, you can fight 'em off. I won't have any problems with them. I'll be right there.

[And the feed will click off abruptly because he is bursting the heck out of the house now. Be a good boy and wait for your brother, Goten.]

[Video]

[smallestsaiyan]

Okay! [He will sit and twiddle his thumbs for a bit, then fiddle with the dragon ball thing when he gets bored.]

Action

[hybrid_prodigy]

[He has no idea what to say or how to handle this. How do you suddenly be a big brother? He has no plans at all for this, but he's still getting over there as fast as possible, tranformed into the first stage of Super Saiyan, and leaving a golden trail in the sky.

[There might be a monster sent hurtling into the ground about ten feet away from you, Goten. And then the kid with the same name as your brother standing there suddenly blond and green-eyed.]

Hi there. You alright? [Just act casual. Casual is good, right?]

[smallestsaiyan]

[Oh, so that's what he meant by monsters. Okay.

Also, have a kid staring up at you with wide, amazed eyes.] You're a Super Saiyan!

[hybrid_prodigy]

[Yeah, they're really not a big deal when you're at Super Saiyan level. Well, not most of them.

[He blinks. Hasn't Goten . . . clued in by now? It should be pretty obvious who he is. Bashfully rubs at the back of his head.] Yeah. Look, Goten . . . what's going on here is, I don't just have your brother's name, and his powers. I am your brother.

[He holds up one hand to stifle any kind of confused protest at this instant.] Our last name is Son. Our parents' names are Goku and Chichi. Our grandpa is the Ox King. We live in a house in the mountains. Mom makes me study all the time. Any of this sound familiar?

[smallestsaiyan]

[Goten's eyes get bigger and bigger. Whooooa, this is weird. But when Gohan rattles off information about them, Goten's amazed face changes into a happier expression.]

Gohan!!!!!

[Your little bro is tackle hugging you.]

[hybrid_prodigy]

I -- Whoa!

[Yep, splat. He hadn't been expecting that for some reason.]

Hey, take it easy, there. [But there's a bit of a smile in his voice.] This place can be pretty weird, but I'll do my best to explain things and look out for you, okay?

[smallestsaiyan]

You look just like how you did in the pictures of me when I was a baby! [Cue confusion again.] Why are you younger?

[hybrid_prodigy]

[Nope, he's not going to let that ping of sadness into his smile. Not at all. When Goten was a baby. And Dad could never see it because he got out of control.]

Uh, well . . . [How to explain this?] The thing that brought us here kinda . . . takes people from different points in time and sticks 'em here. So it took me from about seven or something years before it took you.

[smallestsaiyan]

Does that mean one of us traveled through time...?

[hybrid_prodigy]

Sort of, maybe? [Gee, this is complicated.] This is actually . . . a whole different world than home. And a bunch of people from a bunch of other different worlds are here, too.

You and me are the only ones from home.

[smallestsaiyan]

We're on a different planet...? [Face is faaaaalling.] Mom and Daddy aren't here...?

[hybrid_prodigy]

More like . . . a really different version of Earth.

[Sigh. He's failing at this big brother thing, obviously. What the heck is he supposed to do?] I'm sorry . . .

[Wait, what? He just blinks for a second. What's Goten talking about?] You've met Dad? But he refused to get brought back to life after . . .

[Nope, he's not saying it. Still can't say it out loud.]

[smallestsaiyan]

So... how do we get home?

Yeah! He came back, he's not dead anymore!