Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Amnesia ❯ Revelation ( Chapter 2 )

“This guy looks awful.”

“Think about it, it would've been more awful if he was reduced to a pile of bones like that truck driver.”

“He's one lucky man.”

“How could he be lucky if he's dead?”

It was just nine hours after the incident; 7:00 in the afternoon. The hospital had its power restored, and is completely functional…but because of that, there are so many people demanding to stay in the hospital while their homes have no power at all. The doctors in Satan Memorial Hospital surrounded Goten's presumably dead corpse. Goten's body was placed on a patient's bed in an operating room as the doctors examined it to find out what family he belonged to.

“Why can't we just get his fingerprints?”

“Simple; look at his fingers.”

“Oh my Kami, they've suffered third-degree burns!”

“Exactly, so we can't take his fingerprints.”

“What about an autopsy?”

“One problem - we don't know who his parents are, so we don't have permission to give him an autopsy procedure.”

“Rats. How in the world are we going to figure out this dude's kin?”

“Beats me.”

It has been three hours since the doctors began scrutinizing the burnt body - and they still have no idea who is related to him.

“How are we doing?” The main doctor that oversaw the examination walked into the operating room.

“We're getting nowhere! I didn't get any lunch and I'm going to get some whether you like it or not!” An insane doctor said. He didn't get any breakfast either, which explains why he is acting this way.

“Fine. Go get some lunch and come back when your face is fully stuffed.”

“I've got an idea, how about a DNA sample?”

“Good thinking. Should we take a sample of his hair?”

“No, his hair is burnt.”

“True, but still, there are many strands of his hair that don't look burnt.”

“It may look that way, but his DNA is most likely corrupt in the hair - remember he went through temperatures of over 1,000 degrees centigrade.

“What about a sample of his saliva? There's bound to be undamaged DNA in his mouth.”

“Yes! We're finally getting somewhere.”

The eleven doctors who surrounded the sorry corpse nodded their heads in agreement - which meant the doctors gave the green light to examine Goten's mouth. The doctor who suggested the saliva sample opened Goten's mouth very carefully, only to feel a pulse on the side of Goten's neck.

“Oh my God!” The doctor cried out as he swore he felt a pulse in the neck.

“Don't you mean `Oh my Kami'?”

“This guy still exhibits vital life signs!”

“You're pulling my leg. What kind of life signs?”

“Like a pulse in the neck, for example!”

“Let me feel, you bluffing…oh my KAMI!” The second doctor shouted as he felt a pulse on Goten's wrist.

“See? What I tell you?”

“You need to learn some grammar. Anyway, if this guy's still alive (and I can't believe it)…we should try to give him CPR so that he restores his breathing.”

“Right. Then, if he regains consciousness, we can ask him questions about his family and whatyes.”

“Don't you mean `whatnot'?”

“Alright, begin CPR.”

After a few minutes of performing CPR, the doctors managed to establish breathing to Goten.

“He lives, I tell you, he LIVES!” A doctor said with a mad-scientist like voice.

“Now we try to get him to regain consciousness.”

After so many procedures of trying to get Goten to wake up, they have failed.

“Let's inject him with a dose of caffeine.”

“Isn't that the stupidest thing to do?”

“No, I've tried it once on a small and unconscious rat, and it woke up the instant I gave it to him.”

The doctor gave Goten a dose of caffeine without the other doctor's approval. “Why do we always have to reach a consensus?” He thought.

After a few suspending minutes, Goten's eyes opened.

“YEAH! We are the BEST DOCTORS IN WEST CITY!”

Goten sat up in an “L” position with confusion written all over his face.

“What am I doing here?” Goten asked himself.

“Hello, boy,” Started the head doctor, “do you remember anything?”

“No…actually I don't remember a thing at all.”

“Do you remember the truck that crashed into you nine hours ago?”

“No.” Goten said, confused.

“Let's move on…your family - do you know anything about your family?”

“I don't think I have or belong to one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I don't think I know anybody that's related to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure…I don't know who I am…where I am…what I am.”

“Good Kami…he has amnesia!” A doctor commented.

“You swear you don't know a thing about your personal life?”

“I swear.” Goten said, becoming more frightened by the moment.

“Do you know your name?”

“I don't have a clue.” Goten continued.

“Can you at least try to dig deeper?”

“I can make a wild guess…”

“Wild guesses aren't viable.”

“Hey doc, why don't we just take a saliva sample right now?”

“Good idea. But what do we do about his mental state?”

“I believe there's nothing we can do.”

The doctors took a sample of Goten's spit and sent it to the lab to read his DNA. The results will come out in four days, according to the scientist. Meanwhile, Goten was moved to his own room in the hospital. Goten became completely confused about his existence in a world he thought he was never in before.

“Where am I? What am I doing here? Who am I? What is the purpose of my…existence and presence?” Goten thought as he lay quietly on his bed.

 

* * *

While Goten was pondering his existence, Bra, Bulma, and Trunks went to the Satan Memorial Hospital to check up on Goten…but everything did not go according to plan once they reached the front desk at the lobby of the hospital.

“Good evening, welcome to Satan Memorial Hospital. How may I help you?” A lady asked at the front desk.

“We're looking for Son Goten, who was brought in here this afternoon.” Bulma said.

The lady looked through records in her computer to find anything related to “Son Goten”.

“I'm sorry, but we don't have a `Son Goten' that has checked in today.”

“Does your computer look up people by putting the surname last?” Bra asked.

“Yes it does.”

“Then look for Goten Son.” Bra said.

After a few minutes of looking through hundreds of databases in the hospital's network, they didn't find a “Goten Son” checked in.

“I'm sorry, but nobody with the name of Goten Son has checked in either.”

Trunks let out an exasperated sigh. “You know the guy who died this morning because of the truck accident and was brought here?” Trunks asked.

“My shift is only on evenings, sir, and I think the news is a boring show, so I don't know anything you guys are trying to get across.” The lady said, becoming impatient. “Now will you please leave, there are dozens of people waiting behind you.”

“Wait! We just want to see him!” Bra shouted.

“You want to see a dead corpse?” The lady asked with a cute, but menacing voice.

“Come on, let's get outta here.” Trunks said.

Bra, Bulma, and Trunks walked out of the hospital, but did not get in their car.

“So what do we do now?” Bra asked.

“I'm going to try to pick up Goten's ki signature. He's bound to be here somewhere...”

“I thought dead people don't give off ki.” Bulma said.

“It's worth a shot.” Trunks said. He closed his eyes and tried to pick up any signal that Goten emitted.

“Nothing - that confirms that Goten is actually dead.” Trunks said with grief.

“Poor guy,” Bulma said “Only twenty-seven and he will never see twenty-eight.”

Bra, however, knew Goten was alive somehow. The odds may be slimmer than a blade of grass, but she knew Goten had to be alive - it was instinct.

“Twenty-seven years of friendship.” Trunks said, shaking his head. He recapped those twenty-seven years Goten and him have been best of friends.

“He took a walk, but never came back.” Bra thought.

Bra, Bulma, and Trunks drove their way back to Capsule Corp.

Goten got out of his bed, walked to the window and stared outside, wondering where and who his parents are or were. He saw the largest full moon he has ever seen in his new life (which is only twenty hours old) and stared into it with deep, longing eyes. He turned his attention to the almost-empty parking lot and saw three people getting in their car, each with blue hair. He didn't know those three were the people looking for him. If he didn't have amnesia, Goten would have remembered their names off the top of his head.

“What world am I living in?” Goten asked a final question before getting back into bed. He drifted off to sleep for the first time in his new life, and dreamt a dream so blurry and fuzzy; he wouldn't be able to find out what he was dreaming of first thing in the morning.

 

* * *

The morning rays of sunlight hit Goten's face as the sun made its way over the horizon and into the wonderful ocean of color, bathing Goten in warmth and light he never felt before in his second life - actually, this would be the first time he felt this sensation in his second life. Goten got up and started his second day of his new existence. Not only was he extremely confused about everything, he felt extremely sad, so sad it shattered his heart. It was the kind of sadness he felt in his first life, when Bra told him to get a life. It was pain so sorrowful; Goten cringed at the pain going through his chest - heartache. The Goten that lived on this day and the Goten that lived yesterday are two totally different people - or maybe he is the same person, except he lives in a totally altered and different world. The border between 10:17 AM, the time Goten was obliterated, and 10:18 AM, the minute Goten started a new life, was the largest border Goten's existence has ever crossed in his life. And like time, Goten could never go back to the original world he lived in. You can't go from 10:18 to 10:17 - you must continue to 10:19 until the end of time. It's too late; history has been written in stone. To knock down the wall separating the two existences of Goten and reuniting them is physically, mentally, and virtually impossible. What did seem to cross the border with Goten, however, was his emotion from before 10:17. His sorrow still dominates the Goten that lives today, which used to control the Goten who died yesterday. Why? Wasn't emotion supposed to stop at the impenetrable border? Isn't Goten supposed to have amnesia? The answer to the last question is yes, Goten does have amnesia, but his brain somehow salvaged his emotion from the pre-10:17 AM Goten. This made Goten confused even more - he was sad, but he didn't know why. He can't backtrack to yesterday, or the day before yesterday; he can only backtrack to when he woke up for the first time as a new Goten, the post-10:17 AM Goten. What really stumped Goten was that he couldn't remember his name, so he will eventually have to make a new name for him in order to become accepted within the civilization he lives in.

Just as Goten was about to search for the cafeteria to get something to eat, doctors marched into his room and commanded Goten to lay back down on the bed.

“You better lay back down, boy.” The head doctor commanded.

“We will be repairing any repairable damage.” Another doctor stated.

“So kid, did you find out what your name is?” A third doctor asked.

“Um…I don't know.” Goten said, his head hanging. He tried to avoid the piercing gaze that group of doctors always gave him.

A female doctor whispered in another doctor's ear, which made Goten feel tense.

“Look at his face - do you see that he feels sorrowfulness?” The female doctor asked.

“What is making him sad? Is it because he lives in a dark world now?” The doctor responded.

“Enough with the whispering. Give him something that will knock him out for an hour so we can get to work and get the paychecks we deserve.” The head doctor said.

“Oh, I'll do what you're asking for.” A rough and rugged doctor said.

The rugged doctor walked to Goten, with a way that made everyone in this room think the floor would collapse under his forceful footsteps. Once the rough, wrestling professional-looking doctor came face to face with the still standing Goten (who didn't get in his bed yet), he waited a few seconds for Goten's reaction. The doctor saw Goten's face etched with confusion, sorrow, regret, and fear.

“I will demonstrate to you doctors and nurses how to put a disobedient patient in bed and how to knock them out for our procedure.” The doctor stated. He had a German accent.

He grabbed the scared Goten's waist, lifted him high in the air, and threw him into the bed with force that made Goten even more tense and scared of this group of harsh doctors and nurses. The rough doctor didn't seem to care about how fragile Goten is right now.

“Mission #1, accomplished. Mission #2 in progress.” The German doctor said.

Goten, knowing what “Mission #2 would be, prepared for it (Mission #2 was to “knock him out”). The German doctor clenched his fist, moved to the bedside, and sent a punch with so much momentum; it might break the bed Goten is in.

“Stop! That's no way to treat a patient!” A nurse cried out.

The German doctor stopped in mid-punch. He opened his fist into a hand, and lowered it to his side. Goten, with his eyes closed tightly, waiting for impact, opened his eyes slowly. There, he saw the menacing doctor growl at him.

“He's a disobedient patient; he must be punched to knock him out - as well as for being punished.” The doctor said.

After the head doctor pacified the violent doctor, Goten was given anesthesia, which would last for an hour and a half. After that time frame, Goten woke up with his body repaired. What wasn't repaired, though was his memory and emotion.

“So can I get out of bed now? I'm kinda hungry.” Goten asked.

“NO! You stay right there, boy, and don't you dare move an inch!” The violent doctor said.

“I'm going to deduct ten hours from your paycheck for being violently rough to this fragile boy.” The head doctor said.

“Well excuse me, but it is HIS problem that he is fragile.” The rough doctor contested.

Goten got out of bed and looked for the cafeteria. He came across Pan, who worked at the hospital and was also his niece, who was walking by and had her face buried in thousands of papers.

“Excuse me, but do you know where the cafeteria is?” Goten asked, not knowing that it was someone related to him that he was talking to.

“Take the elevator to the first floor; go down the hall five rooms away and to your right, you'll see a large double door, which you can't miss.” said Pan, not looking away from her papers.

“Thank you.” Goten said politely.

When Pan finally looked up from her papers to see who she was talking to, Goten was already at the elevator. Pan shrugged it off and returned to her papers.

 

* * *

It was three days after the truck incident, and Goten was even more confused than before. To accompany the unpleasant confusion, Goten grew more sorrowful each day to the point where the pain in his heart turned into a painful burning sensation. During those three days, Goten gave up finding out his real name and decided to give himself a new name; Jake DeSantis. Goten realized that he couldn't live in a hospital and had to leave sooner or later. Goten chose to leave on this day. Before he checked himself out, he brought newspaper ads for jobs around the country. Goten went to the front desk and requested that he be checked out.

“Your name is…?” The lady asked.

“Jake DeSantis”. Goten replied.

“Okay, you've been checked out of the hospital. Have a good day.” The lady said.

Goten left the hospital and dug through his pockets. He produced a wallet and he went through it to see if he has any credit cards his past life left him. Goten went to the nearest ATM machine and checked how much money he has in the bank. According to the bank, only 3,979 Zenies were left by his past life. He withdrew two hundred fifty and got himself a dark, cold and lonely room at a hotel.

 

* * *

Two years after the incident, Goten was fired from his job for being late for the thousandth time.

“We can't have an unreliable, unprofessional, immature employee like you.” His boss said.

Goten was later literally kicked out of the business building he worked after he tried to argue with his boss.

“You think I would repeal my decision after you made a vast sea of late reports?” His boss asked with a bitter voice.

Goten, full of hope, said “yes” in reply.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE AND DON'T YOU DARE COME BACK TO THIS BUILDING UNTIL YOUR NATURAL-BORN LIFE HAS ENDED!”

His boss grabbed the collar of Goten's shirt, dragged him to the entrance of the building, and threw him into the parking lot.

“Jake DeSantis, YOU'RE FIRED!” Goten's boss yelled at him after he landed on his head on the hard pavement. Goten rubbed the spot where his head slammed into the pavement and stood up. Even before he was fired, Goten was still the devastated man he was after Bra totaled his emotions and heart. Though he doesn't remember it, he feels the remains of his heart cry the most mournful cry in the history of his existence up to this date. You might be saying “It happened two years ago, get over it!” but actually, the two years following that accident has been the worst two years of his life. During those two years, he found out that when you're all alone, nobody gives a damn about you - they don't make you feel good when you're down, they just leave you lying there in the curb as you rot your life away. They only admire the people who run their life - they don't care about followers, they care about their leader. If he goes up to someone and asks for a hug, all Goten will get is a brute slap-in-the-face. All this made Goten an even more broken person. Goten made friends with his co-workers, but when he got fired, did they stick up for him? Hell no, they just let him get thrown into the parking lot. He has found out that YOU are the one who must stick up for you, not anybody else. Goten's fragile personality could never make it through this - it was just like a vase made out of the most brittle glass - if it hits the floor, it will break in an instant. All this summed up to the emotions he goes through every day. He didn't know it, but one person he doesn't know anymore radically changed his life - and that was Bra.

As Goten leaves the parking lot of his former job, he labels himself as the most unsuccessful and unfortunate man on Earth; he has been fired from thirty-two jobs in the past two years since that fateful incident. The same reason goes for every job he has been fired from; being late.

Once again, Goten began shuffling through newspaper ads for job openings for the thirty-third time. It took him two hours to find the perfect ad, an ad showing him that Capsule Corp. was looking for a secretary - which “Jake” is perfect at. Two years ago, Goten applied for West City Community College, which accepted him, and has kept his grades decent ever since. The only thing he needed was money…yes, the root of all evil - so evil, you need to sell your soul to get your hands on some of it. And that was exactly what Goten was doing - selling his soul to get an education. After he goes through college, he'll be selling his soul again to get a life. He's not the happy-go-lucky kid he once was when he was seven or twenty-seven, he's the kid that dies to get a life - and to die to get a life does not makes sense or shouldn't make sense to anybody who is experienced in this world. If you die to get a life, you might as well die anyway if you pass away before you earn that life.

Goten immediately went to the address of Capsule Corp.'s office building - not the building Bulma lives in (yes, believe it or not, Capsule Corp. has two buildings).

“Good morning sir, how may I help you?” A lady at the front desk of the lobby at Capsule Corp. said. The lobby was so silent and empty; you could hear echoes of people who left their fingerprints in the vast room hours ago. Above the lady was a fancy and monstrously huge chandelier which hung on the elegant ceiling above. The floor was made of marble, a stone so shiny, Goten mistook it as a mirror when he saw his reflection on the floor.

“I shuffled through newspaper ads and found your ad considering a job opening which I'm interested in. May I apply for that job?” Goten asked.

“Can I see that ad?” The lady asked with a cute, high-pitched voice which made Goten cringe.

Goten gave the lady the newspaper ad. The piece of paper, which was clipped out by Goten, crackled as if Goten placed it in a fireplace as it traveled through the air. Goten was amazed by how the room can echo sounds to make the crackling sound like there are thousands of papers enkindling in a fireplace.

“Yes, mister…”

“Jake - Jake DeSantis”

“Yeah - we have a job opening for secretary. I'll call Bulma down for your job interview - it'll take a few minutes.”

The lady buzzed Bulma's office and in lieu of what everybody was expecting, Bra answered it - apparently Bulma was in a business meeting.

“What do you want?” Bra asked.

“There is a guy named Jake who wants to apply for one of your official's secretary.”

“Bring him up to the 119th floor to my office.”

The lady gave Goten directions to get to Bra's office for his interview. Goten took an express elevator, which he swore moved faster than a speeding bullet. Once he stepped into the elevator and keyed “119” into the elevator, the doors swung closed and Goten was in the ride of his life. He immediately seemed to weigh twice his weight as the elevator sped vertically, crushing him into an accordion. The elevator stopped as abrupt as it started, and the momentum that kept Goten going forced his body to crash into the roof of the elevator, leaving a huge, boil-like bump protruding from his hair. When the doors swung open, Goten's head detached from the roof, causing him to plunge into the elevator's floor, damaging him again.

“I need to start using the handlebars,” Goten commented. He looked up, noticing a beautiful girl standing at the elevator's entrance. She had blue hair, which matched with her mesmerizing eyes, complete with an intricate splendor of stars in her eyes, almost blinding Goten. This girl had the morning sun in her eyes, and Goten was captivated instantaneously. She had on a red top with a red skirt, and had on a pair of red boots. Below the clothing, Goten saw, was her fair skin - skin with the color of cream, with the attributes of completely smooth skin, mesmerizing (like her eyes) to the touch, making you not want to breath again. Her hair dropped to her waist, a waterfall coming down from her head and each strand was a thin line of water, ending at her waist.

“I guess the elevator tortured you.” The girl said with an almost angelic voice.

“Yeah, I think I broke my tibia.” Goten joked.

“Aw, poor guy…” Bra said with sympathy, finally, for the first time, looking at the now-standing Goten. “Just make sure to grab hold of the handlebars the next time you use them.”

“Thanks,” Goten said.

“OMG, he looks exactly like him!” Bra whispered to herself.

“Looks like who?” Goten interrogated.

“You look like…never mind. Have I introduced myself yet? Sorry, my name is Bra. I'm the vice-president of Capsule Corp. You'll soon meet the rest of my family.”

“I'm Jake DeSantis.”

“Nice to meet you, Jake.”

Bra led Goten to her office, which actually was Bulma's, and invited him to sit at a long, rectangular shaped office table with ten chairs on each side, two chairs at the end, with a seating capacity of twenty-two people. Bra sat on one end of the table, and pulled out one chair next to her. Goten sat on the chair Bra pulled out and felt the stress and adrenaline shoot up in his body - he desperately needed that job or else he would be in debt with West City Community College. Bra began asking him a few questions such as his economic and social past, as well as his past jobs, which Goten knew she was going to ask.

“Don't be nervous, remember that Capsule Corp. is more than happy to open its doors to a newcomer - we don't discriminate on people who had a bad past or a good past. We just want to see you contribute a vast amount of work to our industry.” Bra reassured Goten upon seeing the look of concern and fear in his eyes.

It took a little more than half an hour to complete the job interview. Seeing how determined Goten is with his life (he went through thirty-two jobs and is still not giving up!), Bra gave him the job.

“Thank you so much - I thought you would never give me the job!” Goten exclaimed.

Bra gave Goten a tour around the office building (all one-hundred and twenty stories), which resulted in a huffing-and-puffing Goten afterwards. Bra introduced Goten to his new superior (the one Goten is the secretary of), on (unfortunately) the 117th floor.

“Hello Gohan, I would like to introduce to you the secretary you've been waiting for.” Bra told Gohan proudly.

“Gohan, this is Jake DeSantis. Jake, this is Son Gohan.”

“He looks so much like him.” Gohan whispered to Bra with his eyes overflowing with a sea of tears. A stream knifed through Gohan's face and a drop of seawater fell from a cliff. Goten was confused.

“Who do I look like?” He asked.

“Nothing! You need not be concerned.” Gohan said with surprise inhabiting his voice.

“So is your surname Gohan?” Goten asked with curiosity

“Why do I always get that?” Gohan interrogated himself.

“No really, your first name is `Son' right?” Goten asked again, his eyebrows questioning Gohan's thoughts.

“No, my surname comes first, so my real name, as common people would put it, is Gohan Son, but it is not formal to do it that way in my family.” Gohan explained.

“I've got a question - why does everyone say that I look like somebody?” Goten asked, letting his curiosity run wild.

“Okay, since you're that desperate,” Bra started “It was two years ago on this day that Gohan's brother, Goten, died. Typhoon Grace ripped through our area the day before he died. On the day he died, he went for a walk around the city, and because of a tragic truck accident, Goten is no longer here with us today. You might not know the pain of losing a younger brother, but the pain is excruciatingly painful - so painful, it makes Gohan cry every time someone mentions even a simple number “ten”, or anything that might remind him of Goten.”

“He was the only…the best…friend anyone could have,” Gohan wept. “Even if you could grasp a simple knowledge of what happened that day…”

Gohan trailed off.

“So how's your mom doing…about this whole Goten issue?” Goten asked, obliviously asking about himself.

“She hasn't been herself ever since - the whole family is currently being strangled by the ruthless brutality of the reality of this situation.” Gohan barely got out. “Sorry, it's just that you look so much like him - I can't bear to live on with this heart breaking every time something reminds me of him.”

Goten went over to Gohan and gave him a few pats on the back.

“It's alright - someday you will move on. It's not like you can change the past or anything.” Goten said.

“I…just can't. For reasons uncertain, I can't.” Gohan said softly.

* * *

Throughout the day, Bra gave Goten an orientation of the office building, so Goten spend most of his time with Bra until dusk. Bulma arrived at the lobby just when the sun was setting. Bra introduced Bulma to Goten, and Goten encountered the same look Gohan gave him.

“…” Bulma was speechless.

Chi-Chi followed in after Bulma, lagging a few minutes behind her.

“We just hired Jake here to become the secretary for Gohan.” Bra said to her mom.

“Bulma, you need to move your company to another building that is more horizontal than vertical.” Chi-Chi scolded.

“Look at our new employee, Chi-Chi.”

“!” Chi-Chi was immediately frozen the second she laid her eyes on Goten. She couldn't believe it - she was so convinced that Goten was alive!

“My baby! He's back! I can't believe my eyes or my -“

“He's not who you think he is.” Bra said, stopping Chi-Chi before she even got to hold Goten.

The elevator bell rang, and out came Trunks, heavily focusing his attention on his cell phone with another representative from another company. He looked up and saw the group, but the first thing he saw was Goten and a broken Chi-Chi.

“Goten - is that truly you!?” Trunks had no other words to say, dropping his cell phone.

“No.” Bra simply said.

That simple, two-letter word hit Trunks square in the face. It was the coldest word he wanted to hear now; he couldn't believe Bra actually said “no”.

“What?” Trunks asked, trying to confirm he heard what Bra said.

“This is Jake DeSantis, not Son Goten.” Bra said to Trunks and Chi-Chi, who collapsed onto the floor and let out the emotion she has kept bottled up every time she was in public. Chi-Chi's emotions for the past two years have been like a cup under an eternally running faucet. Every time she was out in public, where she couldn't make a fool out of herself, she kept her emotions locked up as they continued to build. By the time she can have her privacy, letting everything out wasn't even close to being what she considers relief from sorrow. Her second-born son's death was the most tragic news she has had since the death of Goku during the Cell games. She couldn't let go of Goten, yet she already did - two years ago. For the past two years, it was Gohan who Chi-Chi was always living with; Goku has disappeared thanks to Shen Long. Losing two people she cared the most was the hardest thing she could do in her life - and she is very fearful Gohan is next. She prays to Kami that he won't take Gohan next - she would rather go first than her precious Gohan.

“Is this a sign?” Chi-Chi began “or is he the illusion of my retched imagination?”

“He is neither - and he is how he looks.” Bulma said, only making Chi-Chi spill all her emotions out again. Wave after wave of broken emotions emitted from Chi-Chi and crashed upon the shores of everyone else who was unlucky to be part of this group. Trunks, on the other hand, began weeping. He turned away, ashamed that he was acting unmanly. He wept openly in tribute to his long lost best friend. How could he make it through life now that it seemed like an eternal storm was to stay as the setting for the rest of his natural born life?

“It's your entire fault.” Trunks thought accusingly about Bra.

Chi-Chi's emotions drove her wild enough to cling to Goten's legs, asking him to confirm that he is someone who he doesn't know.

“Please, just tell me something I want to hear - tell me that you're Goten!” Chi-Chi requested. “You look so much like him, nobody can tell you two apart.”

“I'm sorry ma'am, but I haven't even known Goten until this day.”

“You haven't known him until this day? Does that mean that you met Goten today?” Chi-Chi asked with so much confidence building up in her heart.

“No, I mean until Bra told me about him.”

This made matters worse for Chi-Chi, and she squeezed Goten's legs harder until he couldn't stand straight.

“Please let go of my legs - you're breaking them.”

“You sound so much like him!” Chi-Chi continued.

“Mrs. Son, you've been watching your home videos too much lately.” Bra said.

It was true - Chi-Chi has been watching tapes she has been recording since Goten was a baby. She watched every single tape at least five times each - from chronological order. She watched them so much; she remembers Goten's voice from when he was a baby to when he was a twenty-seven year old.

“I take pride in them - I treasure them like they're priceless…” Chi-Chi trailed off. She continued weeping openly on Goten's jeans, which were damp from the knee to his shoes.

Bulma saw Trunks a few yards away from the group, his body turned the opposite direction as his shoulders jiggled up and down spontaneously as result of crying when he didn't want to. She went over to her son and put her right arm on his shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Bulma asked.

“He's like a carbon copy of him.” Trunks acknowledged. “I can't bear to put my eyes on Jake.”

Bulma felt the sorrow that seemed to flow like a steady stream out of Trunks. He just couldn't bear to see the body of his best friend move and talk like him.

“Do you think this is some kind of revelation to torture us?” Trunks asked, pointing at Chi-Chi who was more than being tortured just by looking at Goten, who claims to be another person.

“It's just fate.” Bulma said. “Now, you're going to have to introduce yourself to your new employee. Remember that you're the president of this company - you should give Jake a clean welcome mat.”

“Yeah, I'm going to have to face him sooner or later.” Trunks said, sniffling. He blew his nose in a handkerchief and tried to keep a straight face. He turned around and saw Jake, only to make him dive into a pool of torture and sorrow, along with thousands of emotions that fill Trunks' heart to the point where it broke. He walked over to the group and tried to introduce him and his mom to “Jake”.

“Hello Jake, I'm glad you…” Trunks was about to cry in front of everyone, blowing his cover. “I'm glad you chose to work at Capsule Corp., one of the many leading businesses in the world. I…” He broke his sentence again, this time a tear crawled down his tan face. He wiped it away as if it was just a minor problem. “I am your President, Bra as you know, is your Vice-President and an inventor, Bulma is your CEO as well as another inventor.” Trunks said. He couldn't take it anymore - a sea of salty tears breached the floodgates of Trunks' eyes, and out came every drop of tears just waiting to be released.

“Just to let you know why…why I'm crying,” Trunks began “I was a friend of him.” Trunks couldn't even bear to say Goten's name.

“He was more than a friend to Goten.” Bra said, referring to how good Trunks and Goten has been friends. “He was the numero uno best friend he has ever got in his life - now that Goten left the building, Trunks didn't have that kind of friend to talk to.

“I'm really sorry if this fiesta is bothering you, but you know how all of us feel, don't you Jake?”

“Of course I do.” Goten said. He definitely understood how it felt to have someone of top importance to leave your life in a split-second. Not only was Goten's heart broken because of the indescribable, intense sorrow he retained after the 10:17 - 10:18 border, not just because thousands of his “loyal” friends didn't stick up for him when he was fired was he even more sorrowful than he was two years ago, it was because he had a girlfriend in those two years. Yes, he “HAD” a girlfriend - meaning he doesn't have one now. She was the best girlfriend he could ever have - she didn't seem to want to hurt him at all - she just seemed to want to keep Goten as her boyfriend and have the time of her life with him. She was so good to Goten; he even forgot the sorrow that crossed the border with him…temporarily. That is, until he was dumped by his girlfriend for not a single good reason.

“I just think we're going our separate ways,” was the last words she had ever said to Goten before their relationship ended and went down the drain. Goten was so heartbroken, the sorrow that crossed the infamous 10:17 border with him was reinstated - but to top that, it deepened to depths nobody thought sorrow could reach, because the breakup amounted more sorrow than Goten can take in one day. He considered suicide, but one of the rare loyal co-workers found Goten in a room, about to slash his wrist with a long, 12-inch knife. Goten looked at the co-worker with hurt eyes, his once-tattered heart is tattered once again, only this time broken beyond repair. And if Goten thought he had enough shock for one day, he found his ex-girlfriend in the arms of another guy. You know what followed after that - more sorrow. No, “more sorrow” is only two words to explain the immense, vast, intense sorrowfulness Goten experienced - and it was in the SAME day his girlfriend broke up with him. He knew why his girlfriend wanted to break up with him now - because she had moved on and left Goten standing on the curb, this time with a heart that was broken down so much, it seemed not to exist. His heart was crushed to nothingness…his body had suffered enough. Goten felt a thousand cries of his heart wail inside his head, echoing for days, weeks, and months to come. Echoing for so long, it still left his heart inexistent. For those who have been dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend (dumping THEM does not count), the pain is can be seen. For those who haven't been dumped, or have had a heart cruel and cold enough to dump your poor mate, the pain cannot be seen - it is currently invisible until you have truly experienced how it is to be dumped. But for those who have been dumped and have found out that your girlfriend/boyfriend dumped you because they have been cheating, the pain runs in your veins - it lives inside you - you have become one with the pain - and the pain overtakes you, eats you, and relentlessly throws you into an eternal night of no light. That is how Goten felt, combined with twice the pain he felt before the truck incident. The pain and heartache was so great, it choked him - he couldn't breathe! His lungs could not contract or relax because of a pain in his chest that weighed thousands of tons. The entire world was on his shoulders, and he was cursed to continue holding that weight until the end of his natural-born life…or even longer than that. The pain Trunks, Gohan, or even Chi-Chi goes through every day is - believe it because it is 100%, grade-A true - only a strand of hair compared to a full head of hair Goten has. The pain of those three is only a drop in the bucket compared to the overflowing bucket Goten has.

“So where do you live?” Bulma asked, trying to get the conversation elsewhere.

“I wouldn't consider it a house, but it's an apartment at Atlantic Apartments, Inc.”

“Oh, I feel sorry for you. Those apartments are really stale, if you get my drift.” Bra said.

“Yeah, but hopefully I keep my grades decent enough to pass through two more years in college.” Goten said.

“So anyway, since you are a Capsule Corp. employee, how would you like it if we invited you to live at our house until you graduate?” Bulma asked.

Goten has never felt respect and courteousness from other people ever since he acquired amnesia. It was an offer he couldn't resist, and so he accepted with glee. He put a broken smile on his face - a smile that tells you a brief history of his two-year old life.

 

* * *

After Goten's shift was done (7:00 PM at sunset), Goten was accompanied by Trunks to pick his belongings up from the ######### motel and move them to Goten's new room at Bulma's house. Trunks tried to keep his stare away from Goten's face, as it reminded him so much of Goten, it hurt him more than it hurt Goten when he looked at Trunks (of course, Goten doesn't know Trunks anymore).

“So Capsule Corp. owns two buildings?” Goten asked with curiosity.

“He even has the curiosity of Goten!” Trunks realized, as he sniffled with a tear coming down his cheek again.

“Yes,” Trunks started. It was the hardest thing he did all day - start a sentence replying to someone's query - someone who looked and sounded like Goten. “Capsule Corp. has an office building, where you will be working, and a house, which houses my mom, my sister, my dad, and a few other employees who are very important to my mom - but those employees have to be invited by her first.”

“Oh…that makes me feel wonderful.” Goten said, but not wonderful enough to even erase one black dot of sorrowfulness on Goten's board that counted his sorrow - and the entire board was colored black - even a dozen marks went off the board and on the wall. In just three swift round trip from Goten's apartment to Capsule Corp. and back, all the furniture was placed in a room large enough to fit five of his apartments. Goten took the time to examine the room with shock and awe as Trunks organized the room.

 

* * *

Saturday; the greatest day of the week in my perspective - the only day you get to have some peace, quiet, and kicking back action if you're in college (but if you have a planet-sized monster called homework in the trunk of your car, you better get to it, buddy!) An orchestra of pterodactyls on a tree branch sang away as a golden coin struggled to free itself from the Earth's horizon. Its orange rays washed upon the land, bathing the world in a beautiful splendor of watery light. A picturesque image of Capsule Corp. (Bulma's house) and its vicinity emerged from the darkness. The darkness of night edged away to the west as wonderful and powerful rays of light fought a battle to take control of the vast sea of sky. A sword of light made its way into a window in the dome-shaped Capsule Corp. building and landed on Goten's face.

“Mmf,” Goten involuntarily said as his eyes were continuously slashed by the continuous downpours of daggers of light. He got up faster than a raindrop in a hurricane and looked at the clock. The clock looked back at Goten, as if interrogating him. From the interrogation, Goten read the clock's mind and received news of the current time being…

“8:17 AM, Saturday, the fourteenth day of the tenth month of the 796th year, Eastern Standard Time (DST), Dragon World Standard Time.” Read the clock. By the time Goten understood what the clock was trying to tell him, it was 8:19 AM. Goten struggled to get out of bed with the bed sheets wrapping around him like a cobra trying to suffocate an unfortunate victim. Goten stopped shuffling, knowing that moving will only “provoke” the bed sheets to more entanglement and entrapment. A few minutes into freeing himself, and Goten was right out of bed, looking out of the window. Does he wake up with sorrow? Yes, except the sorrow he experiences during the morning is more intense than during the day, for reasons uncertain. Looking at the blinding morning sunlight and the vast sea of civilization usually temporarily clogs Goten's mind, forming other emotions in lieu of what he really is experiencing in the subconscious mind. He saw, in the distance, mountains and towers of sprawling skyscrapers in a downtown district - the same location Goten lost his memory and identity. Goten closed his eyes to try to backtrack to beyond the impenetrable border and into the time when he still had his memory. Even though he had no clues whatsoever to lead him to any knowledge of his past life, he knew he had to have a life before this exact date two years ago - October 14, 794. Goten tried so hard to penetrate that border - to backtrack even one second before 10:18 AM, October 14, 796. But each attempt brought forth more and more intense tsunamis of purely negative emotions - the polar opposite of idyllic. Goten's heart went into a comatose state - so close to being dead. He had no idea what was going on, but tears fell down in little amounts as Goten felt utterly - no - excruciatingly painful and repulsive emotions wash upon the already severely-eroded shores of Goten's beach. He stopped before his emotions drove him to insanity. It is more than amazing that Goten could survive what he, his eroded beach, and his painfully broken emotional heart went through every morning, afternoon and night. Two years of intense agony, and Goten has successfully stopped himself in the middle of any suicidal attempts - attempts that potentially would wipe out any purely negative emotion that breaches his heart. If you thought that emotion from this alone was enough to drive anyone crazier than a monkey at a zoo during feeding time, then you should see Goten when he remembers the breakup between him and his aforementioned girlfriend. Three sources of immense pain contribute greatly to Goten's ever-tortured heart; girlfriend, Bra, and the reason why nobody will give a damn about you in real life. He survived the continuous onslaught of these emotions up to this date, but why? Even he doesn't know. Goten got ready to try to channel his emotions to a recycling bin somewhere hidden in his subconscious mind and went down to eat breakfast.

 

* * *

Something wicked has arrived and passed indeed for Goten - not anybody else, not you, not Bra, not anybody in the whole world. Just Goten. The aftermath is still as pure as it was after the wicked storm passed Goten's life. It hasn't diluted down to any form - it is still the same as it was one minute after the last of the storm's clouds passed.

Goten tried, for the umpteenth time in his two-year old life, to completely erase all worries and emotions via. meditation. He meditated in the backyard of Bulma's house to have some privacy, but in contrary to his belief, Bra was silently watching him. Bra was so silent, Goten didn't notice any life form nearby - Bra was actually silent enough to become one with her surroundings. She became the wind blowing in Goten's hair, the trees that bent to every whim of the wind, and the air which Goten breathed. Bra saw “Jake” long enough to hold speculation as to “Jake” actually being Goten…and she was right. “He resembles so much like Goten - it was as if it was actually Goten right here standing a few yards away! The only main difference between Goten and “Jake” is that Jake always has a hurt and sorrowful look on his face, and that Jake actually eats in little amounts - where Goten always has a perky look on his face and he eats in truckloads of food.”

Goten took a deep breath of air to relax every part of his body. He sat on the grass with his legs criss-crossed and his arms folded across his chest. He emptied the contents of his mind into a dump and tried so hard to think about nothing. This kind of meditation usually calms Goten and his emotions to a point where he is in a state of neutralness - he is neither sad nor happy. Goten, since the truck incident, has only experienced the rainbow of joy only once - and that was the time when his girlfriend wasn't cheating on him. Yes, believe it or not, but Goten has never experienced that feeling ever since - even though he has gotten over her (but his heart hasn't), Goten still swims in an endless sea of excruciatingly painful sorrow - a sea that stretches as far as the eye can see - or even beyond what an eye capable of perfect vision can see. You're probably thinking “WTF?! Just get the hell over it, fool!” but that only means that you yourself hasn't experienced everlasting, perpetual pain. In fact, nobody has - even if you've been dumped by a girl or boy who has ice running in their veins, the pain is only temporary - you swam across a pool of sorrow, but not a whole sea! For Goten, he swims across a sea that seems to never end - stretching for hundreds of thousands of miles, millions of kilometers, and billions of any large unit you can think of. There are no islands of happiness; it's just nothing but water. He left a continent of being carefree and perky - but that was long ago. Goten tries pushing that out of the way by meditating, but that is just like a suppressant. It's only a cough drop to stop a perpetual cold only temporarily.

“Hmmm,” Goten involuntarily sighed, releasing with his breath is the planet-load of worries that he continuously lugs around his shoulder 24/7. Bra continued to stare curiously at Goten, watching everything he does. Goten's mind was completely blank - as blank as a new sheet of paper that is about to be printed on. He didn't notice a thing about his ki, since he didn't know what ki is or how to use it. Goten was involuntarily pushing some of his ki downward, causing him to eventually lift one inch off the ground - but still, he didn't notice that he wasn't sitting on grass, but sitting on nothing but air and ki. Bra seemed to notice Goten as he moved upward - as if he was floating one inch off the ground. She couldn't believe her eyes! Up to this point, Bra wasn't convinced enough that Jake is actually Goten…until now! She noticed Goten continue to float farther and farther away from the ground until he was a whole yardstick away from Earth! Now she was totally convinced!

“So I WAS right! I can't believe it - Goten has returned…and he is actually alive and well in person!” Bra exclaimed in her head as Goten continued to rise higher than the surrounding trees - until he was high enough to touch the top of the nearest power pole.

Bra was actually convinced that Jake was not Goten - only because Goten told her that he had amnesia and claims that he wasn't around when Goten was alive.

 

~ ~ ~

*Flashback to today's breakfast*

“So Jake, did you watch the news after Typhoon Grace passed through the area?” Bra asked Goten while lifted a spoon half-full of rice from his plate - a plate that was only half full of food.

“No, actually I don't remember Typhoon Grace.”

“You don't? Why…I mean everybody in Japan knows the legacy of Typhoon Grace!”

“Why, you ask? Because I got amnesia around the time Typhoon Grace terrorized Japan.”

“Oh…”

“Actually, it was two years from this exact date…all I remember exactly two years ago on this date was waking up in Satan Memorial Hospital and being treated harshly by a group of doctors I despised.”

“So on this exact date, you got amnesia?”

“Yes…I don't remember a thing before that date… So I don't remember my parents, my family, my friends, myself...my name…” Goten's voice began to crack…and a tear rolled down his cheek. It was hard for him - he couldn't remember his loved ones, leaving him in a dark world where he doesn't know who exactly he is. Is he a Saiyan or Human? He doesn't know…heck, he doesn't even know what a Saiyan is anymore!

Bra stopped when she saw Goten's tear drop onto his lap. She knew it was painful to think that he lost his loved ones even though both he and his loved ones aren't dead.

 

~ ~ ~

So there Bra watched, as she recalled what Goten told her a few hours ago. She began to figure things out;

“Wait a whole dang minute…so Jake got amnesia two years ago on this exact date, eh? That kinda makes some sense. Today is the same exact date Goten presumably “died”, and also the same exact date Jake got acquired amnesia. If those two events happened on the same day, then Goten and Jake are the same person! Why? Because Goten's corpse survived that horrible crash, but his memory didn't! Goten himself survived the truck incident and was sent to Satan Memorial…OH MY KAMI! Jake told me that he remembered waking up in Satan Memorial Hospital! Goten was sent to Satan Memorial Hospital! Goten didn't remember his name or anything about himself, so he picked up a new name - Jake DeSantis! That must also explain why Goten is always sulking and sorrowful - because his emotion survived with him!” Bra figured everything about Jake and Goten just by fitting pieces of the puzzle. Her trance didn't last too long - she noticed Goten float too high. Goten himself began to notice that he wasn't sitting on the ground. He opened one eye and noticed that he was floating forty feet above the exact spot he was sitting on! He noticed he was sitting on nothing but…AIR!? Goten screamed for help for he had no clue as to what to do next. He thought he was going to fall and break his fragile self. He lost concentration, and his involuntary thoughts and commands about maintaining ki was all lost…and he began to plunge into the ground faster than a seagull diving into the ocean, extremely hungry for fish. He waited for the impact - he knew there wasn't much to do to stop him from the blood curdling, imminent impact with the ground. What seemed to be an eternity of falling through thin space, Goten hit with a vast amount of momentum behind him. Dirt spewed out everywhere, as if an asteroid hit and shocked the Earth. The spot where Goten crashed turned into a volcano - which spewed out tons of lava into the surrounding.

…Thus, Goten's revelation was at hand.