Seems like this part got lost somehow. Funny, I was sure I would have uploaded it. I apologize to my readers for this error and hereby submit it.
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Beware of fleas is easier
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Part 2
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“Well, that should be enough for now.” Piccolo was satisfied with himself. He had created a fully furnished children's room, at least as far as he could remember the appearance of one. The predominant color was green, which Piccolo found very calming and relaxing on the eyes. Maybe he should get some toys too ... He raised his head and listened. It was still quiet in the room where Goten slept. But looking up couldn't hurt and so Piccolo opened the door cautiously.
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The bed was empty.
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“Goten ?!” He yanked the door wide open and switched on the light. No trace of the little one. Neither under the bed nor between the cushions or in a corner.Piccolo broke out in a sweat. It was less than two hours since Goten had been entrusted to his supervision and the first crisis was already there.
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At Piccolo's call, Popo came running out of the kitchen. Together they searched the room, but the little Goth was gone. Piccolo went so far in his desperation that he dismantled the bed into individual parts and threw them outside.
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It was pure coincidence that the long-awaited solution to the riddle was found. Piccolo stepped onto the tile, which lowered, and with an audible click the hidden door swung open. Piccolo and Popo looked at each other with relief. "He must be in there," said Popo and was about to step through the door, but Piccolo held him back.
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"We don't know what's behind it and whether you can open the door from the other side. We'll weigh down the tiles, but you should stay here as a lifeline just in case."
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That sounded very reasonable and so they did it.After placing a heavy stone vase on the tile, Piccolo stepped through the opening. The bright light blinded him and only when he was about ten paces away from the door could he see details of his surroundings.
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In any case, he was no longer in the palace.
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What arched over his head was definitely a sky like he had never seen it on earth. Entirely in garnet red and with vanilla yellow dots of clouds. Still, this combination seemed somehow familiar to him. A great red sun was setting behind a gently rounded mountain range in the far distance. Apparently this world was very old here.
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First, however, it was a matter of finding Goths. That was the top priority. The crawling tracks were clearly visible on the soft, copper-red sand floor, Piccolo was relieved to see. All around were boulders, thick scrub with tiny yellow leaves, and clusters of apple-green berries.Piccolo just hoped Goten hadn't eaten any of them. He followed the crawling trail with long strides. It led around some rocks to a particularly large chunk in which a cave had been dug. Piccolo wished for a better light than the purple twilight that covered the sky now after sunset. He knelt down and stared into the cave, no question about it, the crawling tracks led in, but not out. The cave was too narrow for Piccolo himself.
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"Goten? Goten are you in there?" He called in and tried in vain to penetrate the darkness with his eyes.
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An annoyed hiss and growl answered him and an ice-cold hand lay on his soul. There was obviously a big, hungry predator at home in there, certainly armed with teeth and claws. What should he do if this animal had goten for dinner? How was he ever going to be able to look Gohan in the face again?
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"Goten, please come out. We have to go home. The meal will be ready soon."
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Again no reaction except for the growling, which now sounded much louder and more aggressive. Here someone did not want to be disturbed at any cost.
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Chopping the rock into pieces was out of the question, so Piccolo resorted to his telekinesis ability and carefully lifted the rock from a distance. He almost let it fall again in relief, because there was Goten, happy and asleep, cuddled up against the flank of a bear-like, red-skinned animal that apparently seemed to have adopted the little one. Piccolo split his concentration and used part of his strength to pull Goten towards him while he slowly lowered the rock again, so that the astonished bear (or whatever it was) came back to lie in the cave. Goten was now in the open and apparently noticed that too, because he curled up and shivered softly.No wonder, since after the very brief twilight it had become pitch black. There were hardly any stars and this world didn't seem to have a moon either. A cool wind was blowing. Piccolo picked the little one up, hugged him to his chest, and wrapped both of them tightly in his white cloak before walking back down the path.
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Another bend around a rock and then he should actually see the door, but it wasn't there. Piccolo's steps stopped and his mouth went dry. Should they both be stuck here now?
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"Popo! Popo can you hear me? Please open the door again, I've found Goten!"
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No door opened, no voice called him to the other side. Piccolo looked around. Did he take a wrong turn somewhere? In the meantime it was so dark that he could barely see his hand in front of his eyes, the bright light that marked the entrance should be visible from afar like a beacon? Where had the door gone, what had happened?<br />
Since he didn't know what to do next, he took off his coat and wrapped Goten in it. The little one really had a good night's sleep. As it was getting colder and colder, Piccolo decided to provide a little fire and warmth. He collected branches and stones and built a spacious fireplace. A little energy sent into the pile of wood and flames were throwing dancing patterns of light and shadow onto the rocks around them. Piccolo crouched cross-legged in front of the largest boulder, laid Goten on his lap, leaned against the cool stone and closed his eyes to doze a little.
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It was not a very restful night because there was always more wood to be added. Piccolo also heard the springy footsteps of predatory animals in the distance. Fortunately, they didn't get any closer. Before dawn he felt something damp and Goten became restless. No doubt, the little one had his diapers full.
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With a sigh, Piccolo lifted him off his lap and looked around for a replacement changing table.A faint splash told him the location of a stream and a lump of metal he found in the sand was quickly made into a kettle. Piccolo had never been so pleased with his power to transform things. When the water boiled, Piccolo tore a rag from his cloak and dipped it into the water. He fished it out again with a stick and let it cool down a bit before turning it into a sterile-clean, ultra-absorbent diaper with an adhesive seal. Goten woke up when Piccolo took off his old diaper and wiped his backside with another sterilized rag before he burned rags and old diapers to ashes with a burst of energy. Stone flour became powder and before Goten knew what was happening to him, he was wearing a fresh, dry diaper.
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"Hello Goten," said Piccolo with as much warmth as he rarely put into his voice. "I'm sure I'm still a stranger to you, but I know your brother Gohan well. I'm Piccolo and your mom asked me to take care of me for a while."<br />
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At the sound of the words "Gohan" and "Mama", a few wheels set in motion in Goten's mind. The adventure in the cave with the fluffy something had been really great, but now he longed for his mom's gentle hands, for her warm smell and, above all, for something tasty to eat. Like all babies, he made his needs clear in the simplest possible way, he cried and quite loudly.
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Piccolo winced. Had Goten found his green face so strange, so frightening? Although he told himself that it was quite natural for the little one to be startled at the sight of him, he still felt a stab. His outward appearance had always caused fear and horror among people, apart from a handful of special friends no one had ever looked behind the green facade and saw the person instead of the aliens. Then it occurred to him that Gohan had reacted frightened and defensive at first and the pain lost strength.Besides, human babies howled for other reasons too.
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"Well, well my little one," Piccolo picked him up and made some very silly faces to make Goten laugh. He succeeded and Piccolo was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Goten's hunger prevailed again and he screamed even louder than before.
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Piccolo was almost at the end of his game when he heard Popo call his name.
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"Piccolo, Goten, exit here, please come quickly!"
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Infinitely relieved, Piccolo headed for the voice with the weeping Goth. Indeed, there was a bright light and Piccolo closed his eyes as he felt his way forward until he felt the smooth wood of the secret door under his fingertips. The bright light surprised Goten so that he stopped screaming in confusion. One more step and he was finally back in the room from where Goten had started his adventure. He kicked the vase off the tile.The mechanism did the rest and the door to this strange world closed behind him.
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"Popo were already very worried," said the servant, relieved, and wiped the tears of joy from the corner of his eye. "I deciphered writing over the door," he said proudly, pointing to a series of squiggles above the secret door, which only turned out to be characters on closer inspection. "I wait and wait, but now know that, the way back only open once every 24 hours while the entrance is always open, the whole thing can be very confusing."
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Piccolo's gaze caught on a curlicue. "Dajikaan ..." he frowned. "That was my predecessor, wasn't