Frieza Saga (Pan's Ascent)

"UNDER CONSTRUCTION"
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The Frieza Saga covers the upcoming chapters of Pan's Ascent in their entirety.

The Inevitable Comes Next! Be Prepared![]

Pan's adrenaline had worn off after what felt like the longest mission she'd overtaken, and now the collective toll of the hits she had taken, using Kaio-Ken, and the burns on her back and arms had kicked in.

“We’re almost there, Pan.”

“Watch your step, Trunks.”

Hakusa joined Trunks in carrying Pan through the Time Patrol’s medical center.

“Over here.”

Beetro called them into an available room, then helped the two carefully lie Pan onto a table.

Back in her lab, Towa had placed the unconscious Mira onto a table, a bubble over his body keeping him stable while she looked over the extent of the damage done to him.

"What has he done to you?"

Holographic screens emerged all around her, highlighting the most severe areas of injury, the most apparent being his missing right wrist and hand, half of his metal skull exposed, and his left eye, which Vegeta had attempted to rip out, dangling from its socket. The majority of the damage was to Mira’s upper body and his robotic skeleton held up for the most part, but finger-shaped dents were made into the skull from Vegeta trying to crush his head.

“You monster...”

Beetro had holographs on the walls of the room, signaling any and all physical afflictions which he could not tell from sight.

“At least two broken ribs.”

Pan, her eyes closed, ached as she reached her hand to her side.

“Agh! Three!”

“Please try not to move if you can.”

Beetro tried walking over to retrieve a tray of tools, but Trunks, standing close to the table, blocked his route.

“I need you to step aside please, Trunks.”

“Sorry.”

He hadn’t realized this and made his way towards the door. He pondered exiting the room, but asked “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Hakusa put a hand on Trunks’ shoulder.

“She’ll be alright, Trunks. We’ll take it from here.”

As Trunks nodded and took his leave, Beetro handed Hakusa a pair of medical scissors.

“While I prepare to treat her burns, I must ask that you help me cut this.”

The female Saiyan lifted the bottom of Pan’s blue shirt and tried cutting it precisely down the middle, then continued lifting and cutting upward.

Pieces of Mira's armor had been discarded to the side, the front pieces all but made brittle from Vegeta’s close-range blast. Towa turned Mira over to take a closer look at his back, which had been struck repeatedly. The backplate she removed soon after had a hole in the clear shape of a fist. Mira’s back, while not pierced through, bled enough from the attempt to do so.

Now that Pan was lying on her front on the table, the next obstruction to be taken care of was her light gray jacket, which was nearly in two already and simply had to be cut by the back of its collar. But what was beneath would be the most grueling for everyone involved:

Part of Pan’s shirt stuck to her burns, as did her jacket’s sleeves.

“Cut around it if you can, Hakusa.”

As she did this, Beetro had three square pails, one containing water, the other towels, and the last various bottles. Once Pan’s back was almost completely bare, he placed a towel into the water pail.

“I do apologize Pan, but this will feel unpleasant.”

The soaked towel was held over Pan’s back, who found herself wincing just from droplets of it touching her.

“I must ask you to stay as still as you can.”

Pan tried looking elsewhere to try to ease herself, akin to looking away from a needle when getting a shot, but the moment the cold towel touched her back, she found herself spitting out while she shouted and realized her fingers dug into her gloves, the nails so close to piercing through the gloves to her palms.

Much time passed outside the room Pan was in as Taino sat, looking what some would consider uncharacteristically down. She took her mentoring duties seriously, but even then, she generally kept things light. Trunks, two water cups in hand, joined her.

“Here.”

Both were clearly concerned for Pan and while Trunks didn’t wish to address it out loud, he knew Taino’s demeanor was reflecting one of guilt.

“There was nothing Taino could do to account for Towa and Mira’s tricks. We fell for it. All of us.”

He opened his mouth to begin a point of how well Pan had done on the field, that even through the various points which could’ve spelled either her end or a change in history that she fought the odds and came up with solutions mid-fight. But he couldn’t make words and once Taino looked at him like he was frozen in place, he ceased, clearing his throat and trying to sit straighter.

Almost in sync, both heard the door they had waited for open, with Hakusa gesturing to the two of them to come in. Beetro was the first one they saw, looking over holographic x-ray images. As they turned, there was Pan sitting up on the table, a light green Time Patrol top in place of her blue shirt and wrappings over the back of her arms.

“Trunks. Taino. How are you two?”

Pan was in good spirits even after the ordeal of the beginning of her recovery within that room. Both stumbled to answer her back while Beetro approached the three of them.

“The primary injuries are recovering smoothly and while it won’t be overnight, you will be fully healed from your burns shortly, Pan.”

Hakusa, her arms crossed, turned to Pan with a grin.

“You did good, kid.”

She took her leave and Beetro was about to take his.

“I’d suggest a few days of rest, then the healing compound can do its work. Take care, Pan.”

As Beetro left, Taino stepped back, allowing Trunks to approach Pan first.

“You saved my father, your grandfather, Krillin... and...”

Pan noticed him stumble to finish before he stood at the side of her table.

“...and Gohan.”

She caught him looking deep in thought, juggling his thoughts, and his gloved hands together.

“Something up, Trunks?”

Once he realized this, he had his hands to his sides.

“It can wait. ”

Nodding his head to Pan...

“I’ll see you again soon.”

Trunks turned around, nodding to Taino, then departed from the room. Now only Taino remained with Pan.

"Taino."

Her instructor who had covered her adversaries of her last two missions was silent. Pan slowly stepped off the table, standing at nearly the same height to look her in her eyes.

"What's wrong, Taino?"

She broke her silence.

"Ginyu switched bodies with you, didn't he?"

Pan didn’t answer, but the combination of her facial expression and the small winces from moving her arms gave Taino her answer.

"I knew it."

While Trunks had seen Taino composed enough to show only guilt on her face, now in Pan’s presence, her professionalism broke down.

“I failed you, Pan.”

“No, no, no...”

“You wouldn’t be like this... all of this... if I had just...”

Pan put her hands on Taino’s shoulders.

“Hey... hey.”

Even with Taino’s scouter covering her eye, Pan saw one tear making its way down.

"I'm so sorry, Pan. I let you down. I..."

“Neither of us could’ve predicted Guldo was going to return.”

Her instructor’s eyes shot open, realizing that could have easily been the catalyst for Pan being caught by the Body Change in the first place.

"If it wasn't for your training, Taino, I wouldn't have made it. "

Taino then felt one of Pan’s fingers stopping her tear.

“You gave me the tools to keep going, to come back, and to complete the mission.”

Pan managed a hug with her arms.

"You taught me well."

Taino wanted to wrap her arms around Pan, but tried to be mindful of her burns, hugging closer to her waist.

“I’m just glad you made it back to us okay, Pan.”

Towa, her coat with splats of oil across it, looked down at Mira now that she had concluded her initial repairs:

Pads covered his bruised areas, all open wounds were sewn together, a temporary skeletal right hand and wrist was installed, and wraps covered up his skull until his face could be fully healed.

“Rest for now, Mira.”

Putting her coat aside, Towa walked about in a red suit back to her monitor, checking on the status of something sent out some time ago.

A camera feed peering out into deep space...

...and towards a cruiser of sorts.

“Now who do we have here?”

Now that a few days had passed, Trunks and Chronoa both made their way to Pan’s housing unit, where they had a meal before the pleasantries concluded with what was to come.

“We really hate to have to tell you this,” began Trunks. “But as much as we’d hope what happened to Mira will keep Towa from trying anything for a while, the most likely candidate for her to strike next...”

"I know,” Pan interrupted. “All signs point to the battle against Frieza on Namek."

She closed her eyes, inhaled, then exhaled.

"With me going back to the past, it always seemed inevitable that I'd have to face him."

“This will open up a lot of wounds, Pan, but to prepare for what’s to come...”

Chronoa put one of her hands on Pan’s.

"It's time that we fully debrief what happened on the last day of your Earth."

The Supreme Kai of Time directed Pan towards her living room area and sat down on her sofa. Trunks stood aside for Pan to sit, but she instead sat criss-crossed on the ground in front of them. Chronoa signaled for him to sit down and he did so as they waited for Pan to begin.

Pan chose not to mention losing the World Martial Arts tournament to her uncle Goten the day before and jumped right to when she and her parents saw Frieza’s ship. From there, she discussed herself helping to evacuate Satan City, meeting up with the other Z-Fighters, her and Bulla volunteering to help in the coming battle, and being given her grandfather's Power Pole. They divided the 20 of themselves into teams to dispatch Frieza’s men and eventually bring down his ship.

While they did down the ship and wiped out most of his forces, Frieza remained along with about a quarter of his soldiers.

“That’s when not only Goten and my father, but also Vegeta and Trunks... I mean my world’s Trunks... all four went Super Saiyan. And even amidst the fighting, I felt with four against him, Frieza had no chance.”

Now for the first time in her telling of her last day on Earth, Pan lowered her head.

“But that was when the nightmare began. And it all started with a golden flash...”

The very first casualty of the Z-Fighters was the very man who had trained his entire life to become like Goku, won the tournament, and, unlike Pan, had actually become a Super Saiyan. Frieza, now in a golden form, had killed her uncle Goten with a sneak attack.

After Goten, she continued with each of them that perished, starting with the Trunks of her Earth, and continuing with Launch, Tien, and their daughter of her Earth Kani. After mentioning the loss of Yajirobe and Piccolo, Pan noticed Trunks’ gloved hands making fists after she mentioned Lapis and Lazuli for some reason.

“Trunks?”

He realized this and stopped.

“Lapis and Lazuli, right.”

She resumed.

“Krillin...”

She paused, thinking about how helplessly he was dispatched, being lifted into the air and then detonated.

“And when Chiaotzu was wounded, about to self-destruct like before, Frieza threw him at me and Bulla. Yamcha... he... pushed us out of the way...”

While neither Trunks nor Chronoa doubted Yamcha had an impact on Pan due to her trying to warn him about the Saibamen, hearing that he had saved her and her best friend from certain death cemented it.

“Master Roshi... my dad... Vegeta...”

Trunks took a moment to reflect, realizing she had lost them all over time, not just in a flash.

“Bulla and I thought we were the last ones left, but we found my mother, my grandmother, and my grandpa Hercule. Three Earthlings, a half-Saiyan, and a quarter-Saiyan. Except... Yamcha survived, but he was going to die without a senzu bean. Frieza burned them and...”

As if feeling something at her throat, Pan had a hand to the side of her neck.

“He held me with his tail, his finger at my head to get everyone to stop. I couldn’t break free. He...”

As necessary as it was to hear this, Trunks and Chronoa both absorbed the sheer tragedy Pan had to endure.

“Yamcha gave his life for all five of us to escape, but it was for nothing. We were caught again. I don’t know if my mother and grandmother survived or not, but then...”

Pan was trying not to squeeze her hands into fists, which Trunks recalled first-hand from the very first day he spoke to her.

"After Frieza killed Bulla, and my grandpa Hercule, it becomes a blur to me. I felt like I had lost everything in that moment, and then... I just lost it. The last of his soldiers were swept away and I just wanted to destroy him. But nothing phased him. It was like he was invincible."

This description Pan had of herself led to Trunks trying to raise his hand, but Chronoa gestured it back down as Pan finished.

"I guess when he had his fun, he dispatched me with ease and left me to die. I remember this feeling that the entire planet was about to go. I protected myself with whatever ki I still had, and then... there went Earth.”

She cleared her throat, not going over what occurred in space before her retrieval, then stood back up.

“And the rest is history.”

The room was quiet with the Supreme Kai of Time nudging Trunks about the point he wished to address before.

“If I may, Pan... from your description, it sounds to me like you went Super Saiyan.”

Just the concept that she achieved it without knowing left Pan baffled.

“How could that be?”

“You said it became a blur. That you just lost it. That sort of intensity sounds to me like going Super Saiyan for the very first time.”

Having seen Trunks in person go Super Saiyan on Namek, she believed he knew what he was talking about, yet she still had doubts, less to do with him and more with herself.

“But Trunks, even if it was... if I somehow did go Super Saiyan then, how could I do it once that time, but never again since?”

“You said it seemed to do nothing against his Golden form," entered Chronoa into the conversation. “Not to mention surviving the destruction of a planet.”

A hand to her chin, the Supreme Kai of Time came up with something.

“My hypothesis would be that, unconsciously, your body has tried suppressing Super Saiyan to protect itself from trauma like that happening again.”

Pan didn’t want to voice her frustrations aloud, peering at her grandfather’s Power Pole hanging on her wall.

“First, I thought it was my age. Then, I thought it was my mind. Now even my body’s keeping me from it.”

Trunks then stood in her view.

“Pan, I want to help you achieve Super Saiyan. So you can use it at will from now on.”

Trunks’ proposal caught both her and Chronoa off-guard as they tried to process what this would mean for the mission at hand.

“Me, a Super Saiyan at will? After all these years?”

“You know we can’t have Pan go Super Saiyan... not before Goku.”

“Trunks, say we pull it off and break my barriers... but you couldn’t have me going Super Saiyan before my grandfather.”

“That is true, but with you able to achieve it once more, and freely...”

“I’ve wanted that since I was a child.”

The two of them then saw the Supreme Kai of Time standing to the side of them, her arms crossed in deliberation with her eyes closed, but then opening.

“I will allow you to carry on with this on one condition:”

She turned to Pan.

“You need to be able to battle against Frieza’s final form without it. If you need to go Super Saiyan against the others...”

“I’m sorry, but...” Pan interrupted, trying to understand something. “...final form? As in Frieza has more than one?”

“This will be a two-front exercise: Commander Hale will prepare you for Frieza and all his forms, and Trunks will assist you in achieving Super Saiyan.”

She put out her hand to reach for Pan, realizing the height difference between the two, as Pan caught this and knelt so Chronoa could put a hand to her shoulder.

"As much as Trunks and I know you deserve rest after what you went through with Ginyu and Mira, we have to be ready for Frieza... and whatever comes next."

“I understand.”

Trunks knelt down right after.

“Just please let us know how you’re doing. If you’re doing great or not. That way, we’ll help you through it all the way.”

After what had gone awry when Pan trained for Captain Ginyu, believing she was failing, not allowing herself to rest or heal, and trying to keep it all to herself, she knew he was bringing this up to prevent the same thing from happening again.

“I’ll keep you both informed.”

Early the next day, the partially clouded sky appearing closer to what Pan remembered early mornings looked like, she and Trunks traveled on foot through the housing area.

“We’re not going to meet Hale at his office?”

“His office may be his home away from home, but this is his home still.”

Commander Hale’s housing unit, only slightly larger compared to Pan’s and the others she had seen, had the roman numerals CXXVI. After a knock on its door by Trunks, the door opened with Hale in light olive green attire instead of his armor.

“Ah, Trunks. Miss Pan. Do come in.”

As they made their way to his living room, very light in decorations for one as high ranked as him, they saw another at his kitchen’s table with a coffee mug.

“You didn’t tell me you were having company, Hale.”

The voice was that of Beetro, wearing casual teal apparel instead of his medical work attire.

“I must admit, with all the things I keep constant track of, this one slipped through the cracks.”

Despite this, Beetro was unperturbed, getting up for a moment to the kitchen. Hale directed Pan and Trunks to two of the table’s four seats.

“It’s no problem. The commander and I...”

“You can call me Hale, Beetro.”

Pan couldn’t help but notice four coasters, one for each seated person.

“Right then. Hale and I were just...”

She found a steaming mug placed onto the coaster in front of her by Beetro.

“Just having our morning coffee before duty.”

Another coffee was given to Trunks, who took a modest sip from it. Pan tried to hide her nervousness from having one in front of her and, having been given one without asking, didn’t want to appear picky. The moment she thought Beetro had taken notice of her hesitancy, she drank from her mug.

“So what brings you two here then?”

Pan placed her mug down and covered her mouth to hide her expression and quiet a cough.

“You okay, Pan?” Trunks asked.

Pan nodded, releasing her hand when she felt her face was neutral again.

“Well Beetro, the Supreme Kai of Time has arranged for Hale and I to train Pan for her next mission.”

“I see. I need not peer any further.”

“I mean it’s not exactly top secret, is it?” Pan inquired.

Seeing the spotlight on her once more, she took another sip of her coffee, even as it was clearly strong for her tastes.

“While it’s not classified per se,” Trunks began to answer. “We’d prefer to keep things to... key figures.”

“Not a word of it will pass through my lips,” began Beetro, raising his mug. “A solemn promise.”

Seeing Trunks and Hale raise their mugs as well...

“Oh great...”

She held up hers, the four clanging lightly above the table’s center.

Some time later, Trunks and Pan prepared to depart.

“Want a coffee for the road?” Beetro asked.

Pan, having somehow finished just one, put out both hands in front of her shaking.

“Uh, no, that won’t be necessary.”

She then tried to reposition from her reaction to the prospect of another coffee with a bow.

“But thank you.”

“But perhaps next time we meet...”

Trunks began to lead Pan away, her putting up a hand while looking back at Beetro.

“Maybe just a water.”

Hale remained stoic in stance throughout as he saw them off.

“We begin first thing tonight, Pan. And good luck with your other sessions.”

Trunks turned to them, walking backwards momentarily while facing the two.

“Thank you for having us.”

“See you then, Commander Hale,” went Pan, waving.

Now that two of Hale’s visitors had left, the two walked back inside and he gave his full attention to his first.

“Well, Beetro?”

Beetro, rinsing and scrubbing the four mugs in Hale’s sink, found himself in a contemplative state.

“Facing the likes of Frieza? Most frightful.”

“Indeed.”

“And you, Hale, will be preparing her for such an endeavor yourself.”

“As instructed to by the Supreme Kai of Time.”

Hale saw Beetro had stopped in mid-cleaning, his hands to the sides of the sink.

“I know as Commander... as the patrol’s instructor, you mustn’t coddle them, lest they go in completely unprepared...”

“Beetro, you wouldn’t suggest that I...”

Hale then found both his hands held lightly by Beetro’s.

“Promise me you won’t push her too far. That however she needs to be prepared for what’s to come, it won’t come at such a cost. Now maybe you won’t be able to be patient with her or there’s something that simply cannot be avoided or done lightly, but even amidst all of that...”

Beetro paused upon feeling Hale’s tail wrap lightly over his left wrist.

“I understand completely what you’re asking of me, Beetro.”

Pan found herself in the Training Chamber, the environment around them appearing to be higher ground with ocean waves beneath them.

“This isn’t a spar, is it?”

“It’s not.”

“But then why this place?”

Trunks looked down at his reflection in the water, picturing a memory of his teenage self doing the same, a hand over his shoulder.

“I trained to become a Super Saiyan in a spot just like this.”

“Trained with my dad of your world, right?”

As Pan stepped next to Trunks, the water blurred and for a moment, he couldn’t make her out. It was like the imaginary image of the hand merged with the reflection next to his, in its place emerging the Gohan of his world, a scar on his left cheek and by his left eye.

“Right. To this day, I still don’t know how he managed to achieve Super Saiyan. What I do know is it’s what helped him survive for years.”

“You mentioned androids before. That was what you and him faced?”

Now the image of his Gohan vanished away, the true reflection of Pan next to him now clear.

“That’s a story for another time.”

He walked away from the edge facing the water, then turned to Pan like an instructor.

“As I said, I don’t know how my Gohan pulled it off, but he instructed me that it required motivation.”

Part of Pan was tempted to scoff at this...

“Yeah, no sh...”

But upon catching this thought in her head, she shook it off and was attentive towards what Trunks was saying.

“In particular, he believed it was about focus. For him, Gohan said he thought about the loss of Piccolo and Krillin.”

She had seen both perish on her Earth, but had only seen the death of Piccolo when he saved the young Gohan from Nappa’s attack, figuring if the Krillin of Trunks’ world had died, it was long after Piccolo’s.

“He described it as feeling a terrible hurt and pain turning into rage, then...”

Seeing a small portion of rock keeping a wave of water from rising above it, he blasted it, splitting it to illustrate his point.

“...then the dam breaks.”

Pan paced back and forth with the description Trunks had given her...

“My grandpa going through it was one thing... my father too... I can only imagine what your father went through...”

...yet one case still didn’t make sense to her:

“But my uncle Goten... he lived in peace times like I did, and yet he still achieved it.”

“I will say that it’s not universal, and that can vary greatly from person to person. It also varies by circumstance. Goku didn’t go Super Saiyan as a teenager when Krillin died.”

“Krillin died...?”

It had occurred to Pan that not mentioning the vicious battles of the past was part of her upbringing and likely the other youth of the other Z-Fighters’ families, especially the deaths of four of them. Why would Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo speak to her, Bulla, Kani, and Marron about having died before? And now she knew Krillin had died once before as well.

“So then Krillin was brought back with the Dragon Balls, just like the others who died, right?”

“Look, I’ve sidetracked us. My mistake.”

A clenched gloved fist accompanied Trunks’ next point.

“Now I am not the foremost expert on Super Saiyan as a whole, but I believe, as did my Gohan, that a Super Saiyan born of rage and loss was by far the most potent.”

Realizing all the time he had spent talking, he walked behind Pan.

“Now it’s time to unleash it. I want you to stand right where you are and channel not just your ki, but your anger.”

Pan closed her eyes, clenching her fists, but couldn’t help but sense the area around her being one of tranquility. Trunks, knowing this contrast first-hand, explained...

“The sights, sounds, and even the smells around you will try to distract from your rage, but you have to focus.”

She tried doing as he instructed, quieting her ears to everything but her own thoughts and Trunks’ voice. Instead of the rocky landscape and tranquil waters, she recalled Satan City ruined by battle with fires and lava emerging from below.

“My home... it’s gone...”

Trunks didn’t want to whisper it next to her ear, instead telling Pan from a distance...

“Frieza.”

There the galactic tyrant was in her head, in that golden form she despised. The form that made a lifetime of training and improving moot. That made Super Saiyan, something which sounded unstoppable and the peak of power, seem like absolutely nothing.

“Now let your anger out.”

Small pebbles lifted off the ground as Pan continued, opening her mouth to allow a snarl to escape her lips.

“It’s okay to be angry. Don’t hold back. ”

Pan tried allowing herself to feel it more freely, opening her mouth and snarling louder.

“Think of everyone Frieza killed. Everything he took from you.”

Trunks circled around the hunched over Pan, seeing larger pebbles float around her, her teeth almost closer to fangs, and even a glimpse of her front bangs starting to hover upward past her bandanna...

...as well as tears running down her cheeks.

“You’re doing it, Pan! Don’t let up!”

Pan saw her loved ones, friends, family, mentors, those she grew up with, all of them scattered around Frieza. This should’ve driven her over the edge, broken open the dam containing her anger.

“Now harness that rage to use it as a tool!”

Pan lifted up her upper body and head, letting out a tear-drenched roar...

...then fell straight onto her front, going quiet for a moment until Trunks could make out a whimper.

“Pan?”

He tried helping her up by her arm, Pan stopping him when she made it to her knees.

“Talk to me, Pan.”

“I lost it.”

She realized her nose was leaking and wiped it with her black training jacket’s sleeve.

“I was angry... but once I thought about who he killed, I...”

Trunks had a feeling what had happened.

“You experienced such intense emotions that you switched from one to another.”

“I couldn’t help it. I was more torn up having lost them than I was enraged at their killer. He can live or die, but them... everyone... they’re gone. Gone for good. Same with my Earth.”

He put out his hand to help Pan up all the way to her feet.

“That’s a wrap for today. You’ll work on focusing your anger and I’ll try thinking of other ways for you to achieve Super Saiyan.”

She took it, tears no longer coming down, but the streams that had before still visible on her cheeks.

“No one gets it on their first try. Well...”

“My grandpa?”

“Yeah. Goku’s definitely the exception to the rule.”

The two began to head for the Training Chamber’s exit, which emerged as the area around them dissolved back into its default form.

“Hey Trunks...”

“Yes, Pan?”

“When Gohan trained you... did you lose anyone before?”

He stopped, his hand just outside the door, trying to keep his hand from forming a fist, but he kept his demeanor and tone calm.

“Gohan tried getting me to focus on all the death and destruction the Androids caused. I still remember feeling a small stuffed animal in my hand. From a child who perished by their hands. But I only ever saw the aftermath. I never saw the deaths first-hand.”

He turned back to Pan.

“What sets us apart is that you did.”

Now it was night time, at least so it appeared, with the Training Chamber now taking the form of a canyon at night. Commander Hale stood atop a thin structure, his visage splitting the large moon in two.

“From the moment you were brought here, I promised Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time that you would not become a casualty. I watched over your progress, helped select your teachers, and studied the results of your training. To prepare you for the likes of Frieza, I will work with you directly.”

He hopped down in front of Pan in dramatic fashion.

“You trained well to face Captain Ginyu. Without Guldo’s reemergence, I’d say the rest of the mission would have gone swimmingly. But know this: Frieza in his first form is four times stronger than Ginyu.”

“Four times?!”

One hand was held out, all but his thumb up.

“The first of his four forms you’ll have to contend with.”

“Four forms?!”

He then placed both arms behind him.

“Managing to face, let alone defeat, one of a greater power level of that amount is entirely possible as you have witnessed. Raditz was nearly four times stronger than both Piccolo and your grandfather. Your father, Krillin, and Yajirobe were far more outmatched against Vegeta.”

He then seemed to take on a combat stance, but one without either of his arms in use.

“Therefore, you should see that it can be done. I will ensure you are capable of surviving, as well as being victorious.”

Pan at first had her arms behind her back as well until Hale raised and wagged his tail akin to someone doing so with their index finger.

“No, no. I will fight with no arms. You will face me with everything you have. Now come.”

A flurry of punches came Commander Hale’s way once Pan was given the green light, but found him swerving his body left and right to avoid all of them. She adapted with a sweep to trip his legs, but found him hopping upward. As he struck with one booted foot, Pan guarded, but was not only sent back, but tilted toward her front to the ground. She struck the artificial dirt with her right hand’s fingers, dragging her way through until she managed to stop herself completely.

“All that from a blocked kick. Even Ginyu didn’t...”

But this didn’t deter her as she then launched herself forward with that hand.

“It’s just as Hale said: four times stronger.”

She flipped during her approach towards her instructor, going for a chopping kick when his tail had guarded against it. It flung her away with tremendous force and then Pan found Hale in pursuit of her. He span in the air, kicking at her repeatedly, Pan being forced to either avoid them or redirect the kicks she couldn’t get out of the way of.

“I’m doing better than I thought, but I can’t get complacent.”

His tail then came down towards her.

“Agh! How can I forget the tail?!”

Once more, guarding still didn’t stop her from being struck back, now straight towards the ground. Her feet touched down first and before the force could send her straight through it, Pan used just enough ki to give foothold to launch herself back upward. Racing to the descending Hale, she raised two fists, then saw his tail poised to strike.

“I’m ready for you now!”

She swerved out of the way, then went for a punch with the hand closest to Hale’s face, but his chin tilted just past it. Pan span for a kick, then saw Hale had countered with his own, their shins clashing. The pain she felt in that leg was overshadowed by her roar as Pan swung furiously at his head to the same predictable result as before, leading Hale to jab at her with his tail.

He found that Pan had ducked just under it and went for a punch directly to his stomach. For the first time in this spar, Pan had managed to not only land a hit on him, but struck him backwards. But that moment of accomplishment did little to help her leg as she was forced to grab a hold of it in midair soon after.

“Like a truck hit it...”

She then had to duck in midair from a flying kick by Hale, then found his tail exposed for a grab. Pan took hold of it and tried to swing Hale, but soon found that he had swung his tail and span with such force that she was now on the receiving end of a Dragonthrow. All she had to do to get away from it was let go, but the moment she did, she knew Hale would take advantage of the opening.

Pan had gone on fast rotating rides as a kid, but spinning at this speed was making her especially nauseous and Hale was now increasing his speed. Her fingers still kept as tight a grip on his tail as she could muster, but now she faced either her hands eventually giving way or having gone so long spinning that she’d puke.

“Gotta think of another way out of this. Come on, think!”

Hale caught Pan all but curling into a ball, her feet beginning to glow.

“Kame... hame...”

He grasped what Pan was trying to do, but with how green her face was already turning, Hale couldn’t understand why she’d fire a Kamehameha with her feet in the same direction he was spinning her...

...until she swerved, her feet now facing the opposite direction.

“Haaaaa!”

“Astute woman...”

Her Kamehameha gave her enough power to overpower Hale’s spin, now going in the other direction. The change in direction didn’t make things any easier on Pan’s current state, but with Hale momentarily disoriented, she could let go of his tail, then, after timing it just right, land an uppercut to his jaw.

With Hale going airborne, Pan could attack while he was vulnerable, her punches now getting closer to his head, whose dodges were much too close for comfort. Another jab of his tail tried to intervene, but Pan moved it away with both hands, then punched him between his cheek and nose downward. About to collide with a rock formation, Hale had to try slowing down, but Pan’s offensive made a collision inevitable.

Another tail swipe was swept away, resulting in a punch directly to his tan and olive green exoskeleton forehead. Hale was struck by two more near the same region, a literal second away from not only hitting the structure, but being struck through it. One last fist from Pan came for the same location...

...when he came to a dead stop in midair and caught her wrist with his right hand.

“This whole time... but now he’s using...”

Pan then realized his left hand was up against the rocky structure, possessing the strength in conjunction with his ki to cease all his movement.

“Now he’s really going to...”

He released her wrist and Pan could tell from both the manner he did this and his expression that he was not combating her, at least not at this moment.

“You have done well.”

He had both hands lightly clap.

“I knew Taino had taught you well. And you’ve undoubtedly become stronger after the ordeal in your last mission.”

But now his praise had concluded and he was stern.

“Next time, I will combat you with my arms included. And once you have met the mark, we will proceed with how to combat his other three forms.”

As the two lightly descended back towards ground level, Pan noticed something down the middle of Hale’s blue two-eyed scouter: a crack, undoubtedly from her attacks just earlier.

“Your scouter... I didn’t mean to...”

“It is not my scouter you should be concerned with. Just know you mustn’t strike Frieza’s.”

“It’s gotta break by another means, ri...?”

Once Pan touched the ground, not only did her shin begin acting up again, but she couldn’t help but grasp her stomach.

“Body ignored it once I was on a roll, but now that the fighting’s over...”

“You’re not using your grandfather Hercule’s technique, are you?”

Pan tried giving off a light chuckle.

“No. For once, it’s not. The speed we were spinning at...”

As she took a deep breath to work through her nausea, it occurred to her this was only how fast they went with Hale going as fast as Frieza’s first form was meant to.

“The other three forms are going to be quicker?”

“That is correct, Miss Pan. Just try to get comfortable with this speed until the next increase.”

He prepared the exit for the both of them as Pan then lied down, her arms out as she took another deep breath.

“And this is just from Hale fighting at that level without his arms. Next time...”

She groaned, both in dread of their next session, as well as from her stomach.

Towa was working with various liquid concoctions in beakers and tubes, heating some of them with open flames and lifting them with clamps. She poured a few together, the various colors mixing together.

She stopped for a moment when she heard a noise: something heavy touched the ground.

“Towa?”

She saw Mira off the table he was on and standing up.

“Mira.”

Putting her clamp down, Towa made her way to him.

“You’re awake.”

Mira stood in place as Towa hugged him, slowly hugging her back with his right hand. She felt the replacement hand’s skinny mechanical fingers against her back.

“I was so afraid when I brought you back that you’d...”

“That I’d perish? Not a chance.”

The two then sat down in chairs near her large monitor as they both had much to address.

“It has been at least a month, has it not, Towa?”

“You were out cold. You were stable once I began repairs, but yes, it has been a little over a month since that day.”

Now that she was thinking about it, a sniffle escaped her nostrils and she stood back up.

“Mira, I’m so sorry I...”

“The fault is mine.”

“No. I shouldn’t have left you on your own. Had I just...”

“But it was my idea, Towa. I talked you into it. All because...”

He looked over at his thin right hand and wrist compared to his left which still had flesh.

“Because I was so overconfident. I arrogantly believed I needed no further help and that I would succeed without you watching over me.”

Mira attempted to make a fist with his right, but it seemed off to him.

“I overlooked the Earthling completely. I didn’t even notice the slightest difference in power when holding off the others. If I had simply been paying attention, I’d have sensed his attack.”

Now that mechanical hand reached out for the wraps covering the right side of his face.

“What followed after... all of it... was the cost of my pride.”

Towa saw him tear the wraps off, revealing his metal skull it had been concealing was mostly covered by regrowing flesh. Even then, a good chunk of it was still dark blue muscle, especially around his right eye.

“Perhaps not all that different from the Saiyan Prince.”

Towa made her way to him, her hands to the sides of his face including his right.

“No, Mira. You are not like him. What he did to you...”

She hugged him once more.

“I will never allow that to happen to you again.”

“And I promise you that I will not fall for the same trap a second time.”

Just then, they both were made aware of the monitor lighting up, brightening the room.

“Hello? Anyone there? Is this thing on?”

A grumbly old voice spoke and Towa made her way to the front of the monitor.

“Ah, there you are. Well, well. It has been a long good while, hasn’t it? How goes your little science fair project?”

“It is near its completion. I believe it will be finished within the next few days.”

“Heh. You know, the last time someone told me what I wanted would take that long, I blasted a hole straight through him. Can’t do that to you over long distance, of course, but when I want something done, I want it done fast.”

While Mira didn’t take the casual threat to Towa’s life by this man lightly, Towa’s tone and gesture indicated to him that she was not the least imperiled.

“You wish for me to do so quickly, but would it not be more beneficial for you if it were done right?”

“Couldn’t you just do both? I’m not as patient these days. I get especially cranky when it comes to my vitamins.”

Towa peered over to her staff, a batch of her formula on a table next to it, then back to the shadowed figure on her monitor.

“If I told you I will have it ready for you in 24 hours, would that be sufficient?”

“I would have killed you if you said 48.”

Mira saw the man get closer to the screen, still hard to make out due to the lighting of his whereabouts, but he saw gloved hands reach out and pick up his screen from his end. He had a hood over his face, mostly concealing a gem of sorts towards his forehead, and a wrinkled face whose grinning fanged mouth was missing teeth.

“You got it, little lady. I can hardly wait to try it out.”

Super Saiyan In Progress! When In Doubt![]

Pan found herself struck straight down, landing on her left arm. She put a hand to her jaw, feeling that it was alright, but did catch a noticeable bruise between her lip and left cheek.

Commander Hale, still using just enough of his power to match Frieza’s first form, was using his arms this time, and the difference showed.

“Last time, I didn’t even need to use it, but now that he has five limbs to work with...”

Her instructor knew exactly what she was trying to do and wasn’t about to stand back and allow it, even if Frieza was likely to do so. He approached her fast, interrupting her...

“Kaio-K...!”

Even as she tried blocking him, his fist snuck underneath her arms, striking her stomach before she could finish.

“You must understand that I can’t let you get comfortable with the knowledge Frieza will play with his prey. He may willingly allow you to use Kaio-Ken, at least early on, but if you get content with this, you may use one window too many.”

Spitting on the ground, some blood in her saliva, Pan scrubbed a small drop that came down from her mouth.

“I’ve never stopped not being comfortable with that.”

As much as Hale’s comment had unintentionally irked her, Pan tried to think quickly on what to do once her instructor, not about to let her try Kaio-Ken without a fight, resumed combat. Her left hand, which had been supporting her, dug its fingers into the ground while her right, which was over her stomach, then glowed.

Hale’s demeanor changed and Pan knew this was her cue to act. He zoomed in front of her, forcing her to jump upward to avoid a slam to the ground. She fired away to cover her retreat.

“Kai...!”

He was already back to her, having evaded or gone through her ki bullets by the time she had said this much. She guarded against his arms with her two wrists, her right hand trying to fire at him, but kept at bay.

“Ooh...!”

It seemed as though he would overpower her when he realized her left hand was closed.

She shoved it at his face as her fingers opened, just below his two-eyed blue scouter, the dirt aimed at his eyes.

“KEN!!!”

Pan didn’t risk trying to go for times three or four, using her immediate increase in power to catch Hale’s wrists before they could attack her or try to help his vision. She struck his chest with her knees, then as his tail approached her, booted herself away from Hale while charging ki in her arms.

“Kamehameha!”

The faster version was never as powerful, but Pan could use it on short notice, particularly for a diversion or evasion. Upon firing this, she flew in an arc to get above him, but found him having already recovered and ascending upward to intercept her.

“Oh sh...!”

Forced upward, Pan redirected a barrage of punches with her wrists, then, seeing Hale spin in place, knew a strike with his tail or his feet was imminent. Feeling she’d be left exposed if she tried flying away, Pan put up her ki shield, stopping his tail swing, but with a small crack in it. His left foot then swung into it, a greater crack than before resulting from it.

Now Hale went for a two-handed strike as Pan crossed her arms, trying to time it exactly with the impact. The moment she felt his fingers were a millisecond from hitting, the shield expanded, then burst, knocking Hale back.

“Now’s my chance...!”

The impact had sent Hale back a good distance and actually seemed to stun him enough for it to give her ample time for a further increase in power.

“Kaio-Ken...!”

“I’d better go four! End this quickly!”

“Times...!”

Hale tried going quickly, though only as fast as Frieza’s first form would go. He realized she would complete it before he could reach her with these parameters.

“Fou...!”

Pan’s back had struck the ceiling of the training chamber. This entire time, even after her shield burst, she had been going upward, and didn’t realize how fast she had been traveling.

“Such a rookie mistake! How many times have I been in here to know the ceiling should be right there?!”

But she immediately had to avoid a swing from Hale’s right arm, which managed to hook along and pin her left arm. Pan thought it was an awkward move on his part, as his left wouldn’t be able to attack efficiently from that angle until she realized...

“Wait...! No, no, no...!”

Pan moved her right arm to guard what she knew was an exposed point, but found a tail quickly wrapped around her neck before her arm could intercept it.

“God, no!”

She tried pulling the tail back with her right, but even with Kaio-Ken, it wasn’t enough. Maybe with two hands, she could have, but her left was effectively pinned with Hale’s right arm not nudging.

“Not this!”

“Strength alone will not get you out of this,” Hale advised.

Even without the tail tightening to choke her, Pan couldn’t speak. Whether Hale was keeping her pinned for an incoming attack or about to render her unconscious, this was unbearable to her.

“This enables him to bludgeon one ensnared from behind with his fists.”

Even with Commander Hale clarifying he wasn’t going to attack her, Pan had to get out of this.

“Just gotta...!”

An attempt at hitting his head with the back of hers failed, Hale having avoided it.

“He will be ready for that,” Hale responded. “You have to try something else.”

“Legs can’t reach! Unless...!”

She flung herself with such force to rotate the two of them in several directions in midair, but from no angle could she conceivably hit him with her feet.

“That won’t be enough to disorient him,” Hale continued.

Realizing how futile pulling on his tail with one arm was, she had one last move as her right reached behind her...

“It’s not there!”

The Power Pole, her last resort to get out of this, wasn’t on her person as this was a training spar.

“Keep trying, Pan. Find another way.”

Even as she began to feel faint, Pan could not escape the memory of being trapped by Frieza, held hostage before her remaining family and friends.

“Ah, ah, ah.”

Not only could she hear Frieza’s voice, but she even saw the event.

“No...”

Her grandmother, blood coming down her forehead, trying to pull the golden Frieza back by his leg.

"Oh, ho, ho. Goku has a granddaughter."

“Get out of my head...”

Him letting her mother’s body roll off of his knee.

"Oh come now. Don't cry..."

“Get out...!”

Hale could feel Pan’s Kaio-Ken was starting to fade, adjusting his strength so as to not strangle Pan with his tail once it expired.

“If she can’t get out of my grip soon, then that is something we will have to work on next session.”

Pan once again had her right hand try to lift or move the tail away from her, but it seemed even more futile than before as Kaio-Ken was about to elapse and her vision was blurring. The last thing visible to her was herself punching at Frieza’s golden form to absolutely zero effect whatsoever.

“I almost felt that.”

Her instructor, seeing Pan close to losing consciousness, decided that was enough.

“That’s a wrap.”

He began to hover the two down slowly, loosening his grip on her left arm and around her neck.

“Next time, Miss Pan, we’ll...”

He suddenly felt a massive burst of ki and was swung straight upward by his tail with tremendous force, heading right towards the ceiling. He went to stop himself with both hands, but then felt himself shoved into it by the back of his head, slamming into it at full force. Pushing himself back, he tried seeing through his cracked scouter.

“Miss Pan?”

From the little he could see, she had a golden aura around her skin, the edges of her hair were slightly tinted red, and her pupils were gone. Instead of replying back to him, Pan flew into him for an attack.

Hale found himself on the defensive, stopping punches at a power much greater than Frieza’s first form, forcing him to raise his power.

“Pan!”

He caught her hands with his own, but she immediately responded with a headbutt, one which struck much harder than he expected. With his hands exposed, Pan then grabbed a hold of him by his forehead and his scouter with her right hand, then forced the two downward towards the ground while punching with her left to keep him from countering this.

Her right hand then squeezed, scratching his exoskeleton forehead and slowly chipping away at the side of the two-eyed scouter it grasped. While Hale managed to use his ki to stop them from diving through the ground, Pan then flew him straight through the same rocky structure he stopped himself against during their last spar.

The doors to the training chamber slowly opened, Trunks flying right in as soon as he had enough of an opening to do so.

“Pan! Hale!”

Now having flown through several structures and now hitting one of the chamber’s walls, Pan had Hale pinned, squeezing her right hand even further. Now the left side of the two-eyed scouter all but shattered completely and now Pan’s right fingers dug in further, her thumb between his left eye and forehead.

Trunks found them and saw Pan in this state punching at Hale, her barrage only stopping when his tail tried to protect him. She shoved it aside with her wrist and then slammed the back of his head into the wall.

“PAN!!!”

She turned to Trunks, his hands out to her, the latter now seeing her pupil-less eyes and her teeth all but grinding against each other.

“Pan...”

Throughout all of this, Pan’s mind couldn’t stop thinking of the battle against Frieza on her Earth. But now that she was looking at this face, one of someone she knew on her Earth…

“Tr... Trunks?”

...the golden aura left her, as did the red tint around her hair. Her pupils were visible again and she was herself again.

“I...”

She then realized her right hand was still gripping...

“Hale...”

She saw her thumb’s fingernail digging into his skin and the other fingernails almost too dug into his endoskeleton forehead to see.

Upon releasing him, she put her left hand to her mouth, covering a gasp of shock and grief at her actions.

“Oh...!”

Pan backed up as Trunks tended to him.

“What have I done?”

Pan sat, her black training jacket off, her arms slightly bulkier with veins plainly visible, and a bandage over her left cheek and lip. In the same room was Commander Hale, a bandage over his forehead from where she grabbed it, a black eye on his right, and a temporary cover over his left eye.

Once the Namekian medical staff member who had treated them had left, they found Trunks the first to meet them.

“H-hey...”

He didn’t quite know how to start and felt “How are you feeling?” would’ve been blunderous with what had happened earlier.

“Commander Hale, I...” began Pan.

“You have apologized to me enough,” went Hale, the tone in his answer showing his concern was towards her being well.

“If I had been paying attention and hadn’t hit the ceiling...”

“That was not the catalyst for this. What I did...”

This thought was cut short by footsteps: Beetro entered, covering his mouth with both hands upon seeing the shape the two were in.

“What happened to you, Hale? What happened to you, Pan? To you both?”

Pan got to her feet to approach Beetro.

“It was my fault, Beetro. I...”

Hale made his way upward as well, stepping in front of her.

“I held her by the neck with my tail.”

He closed his eyes, then stepped aside, looking over at Beetro and Pan.

“It’s one of Frieza’s favorite tactics. I knew, as unpleasant as it was, it was something I should prepare her for. I held on for far longer than I should have and... something woke up inside her.”

Beetro seemed to grasp this, but then Pan took another step forward.

“It wasn’t just that.”

She tried to keep herself composed, but knew saying it aloud would get to her as much as thinking it did.

“Frieza... the one of my world... he did that.”

Like when she had briefly mentioned it to him before, Trunks saw that Pan couldn’t help but have a hand towards her neck when discussing this part.

“Held me as a human shield by my neck. And there was nothing I could...”

She turned to Commander Hale to address him directly.

“When you were training me to break out of it, I couldn’t stop thinking about that day. Part of my brain... part of me treated it as the same.”

She knelt down on one knee.

“I never thought to bring it up beforehand. I lost it and I hurt you, Hale. And I’m sorry.”

He and the other two in the room didn’t hear a sniffle in her tone, nor did her face give way while talking about what had transpired. Even as she apologized to Hale wholeheartedly, there were no tears had.

“Miss Pan, I accept your apology.”

As she began to rise back up, Pan found that Trunks, even while having absorbed her and Hale’s regrets, also seemed to key in on specific points.

“Replicating that event seemed to unconsciously trigger this pseudo transformation.”

From Pan’s perspective, he sounded like someone wanting to repeat this process like a laboratory experiment.

“If we can just focus on the source more precisely...”

Trunks getting even low-key excited from this wasn’t sitting right with her.

“This could be the breakthrough that could lead to you going Super...”

“Trunks!”

Pan realized she had raised her voice at him and tried to calm herself as well as the others in the room, but pointed to him.

“Do not try to find a silver lining in this. Please.”

“But Pan, this could be what we’ve been looking for. To give you what you’ve always wanted since...”

“Not like this!”

She caught herself raising her voice again, but this time, she wanted her point to get across.

“If I hurt you, Hale, or anyone else trying this again, then I’m done! You get me?!”

Gulping, realizing how he had sounded just now...

“Idiot!”

He nodded.

“Y-yes.”

Knowing she had just made a scene, Pan put her hands together, facing the three.

“Excuse me.”

Once Pan departed from the room, Trunks, Hale, and Beetro were left to deliberate amongst themselves.

“Pan and I will recover shortly, so then we can put this behind us and...”

“We can’t have this happen again,” entered Beetro. “This wasn’t a fluke, Hale. We can’t put her in that position a second time.”

“What I did was to prepare her for...”

“Frieza, yes. But you could have warned her of that grapple beforehand. Went over said tactic in a lesson first before using it yourself. Not as a surprise attack completely out of nowhere with NO options of how to escape it at her fingertips.”

“Her survival is in my hands and Frieza will not give...!”

“...but you can and you will because you are her teacher first and her opponent second, Hale!”

Beetro rarely raised his voice as such, especially at Hale. Trunks saw the two staring back at one another after their vehement exchanges regarding Hale’s methods, neither standing down.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the two argue, let alone shout at each other.”

He didn’t step directly in the middle between the two, but did come close enough to garner their attention.

“Look, I agree that Pan needs to be ready for what Frieza has in store, but I do think this can be done with more than just sparring.”

Hale and Beetro’s expressions altered only marginally.

“Not to mention my father did face Frieza one-on-one for a time, but it was primarily a team effort until Goku arrived.”

Hale walked forward, arms crossed behind his back.

“You have given me much to think about.”

He turned back to Beetro, no longer wishing to appear heated with him.

“Both of you.”

Taking his two-eyed scouter, which had been repaired, Hale looked back at the two one more time before taking his leave.

“This won’t happen again. I will make sure of it.”

Now that Beetro was left with just Trunks in the room, he sat down in Pan’s seat.

“I went too far...”

“Beetro, you didn’t mean any...”

“It was like I accused Hale of deliberately trying to... to...”

When Beetro couldn’t bring himself to finish, hunching over with both gloved hands over his face, Trunks tried to answer back, but couldn’t find the best response in the moment. He sat down in Hale’s seat, finally coming up with something.

“Hale knows you, Beetro. He knows you mean well and that you’re looking out for Pan’s best interest as well as his.”

When Beetro put his hands back to his sides and sat up just enough to look up at him, Trunks stood back up.

“Give Hale time if you need to, but he won’t hold this against you. I know he wouldn’t dream of it.”

While his mood was lifted somewhat by Trunks’ words of encouragement, Beetro remained seated while appearing to be reflecting.

“You and him have been through too much together.”

A knock on the door of Pan’s unit the next morning was unsurprisingly from Trunks, whom she allowed in.

“About yesterday, Pan... I...”

“It’s fine, Trunks. You saw me nearly go Super Saiyan and thought you found the next step.”

“I was completely indifferent to how you felt after what happened to Hale, and I made it sound like we had to put you through that again... over and over even. I was unfeeling... a total jerk...”

“Hey.”

Her hand touched his shoulder. Trunks had expected her to come closer to him, but Pan kept to where she stood.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Trunks. It wasn’t any of our best moments.”

Trunks knew that to be true, especially with Hale and Beetro after she had left the room.

“Y-yeah.”

While he couldn’t see it, Trunks suspected that his face was going red and turned around, trying to recompose his posture.

“Since Hale’s taking today off and we didn’t have our session yesterday because...”

He cleared his throat to try side-stepping that topic.

“I thought before we start another one, perhaps we should talk more about yourself. Find details besides... that day...”

After having to go over her last day on her Earth with him and Chronoa before, and having lived it again unintentionally to disastrous effect, Pan was more than up to talk about anything else.

“Sure, we can do that.”

“I know the Supreme Kai of Time suggested your body is unconsciously keeping you from going Super Saiyan, but I have to wonder...”

“How much of it is being done mentally... right, Trunks?”

He tried to pick his words carefully so as to not make it sound like Pan was the one keeping herself from the transformation all along.

“Just want to help you achieve it.”

“I know.”

She sat down at her table, Trunks following suit as she decided on where to start.

“Well, if it’s of any help, the first time I started to believe I couldn’t go Super Saiyan was when I was younger. And not just because I thought I wasn’t old enough yet.”

“Then why?”

“Because my heart wasn’t in the right place.”

“But how could you think your heart wasn’t in the right place, even as a kid?”

“When we traveled to see old friends of my grandpa Goku, I heard so many tales about him. Him saving people from monsters or armies of men, and all while wielding the Power Pole...”

Trunks had seen Pan wield it since her mission against the Saibamen, Nappa, and Vegeta on Earth. While unarmed combat and ki took up the majority of her fighting style, she still managed to utilize the Power Pole to great effect, most recently by using it along with her cape as a scarecrow to trick Mira.

“She’s definitely proven more than just proficient with her grandfather’s polearm.”

“...and if my grandfather wasn’t traveling by foot or vehicle, they say he flew across entire regions on the nimbus.”

“My mother used to tell me stories about the flying nimbus as a kid.”

“Really?”

“You have to remember, Pan, that my mother knew your grandfather longer than just about everyone in his circle of friends. It was thanks to her that he was introduced to the world beyond his grandfather’s home.”

Pan seemed to contemplate regarding what little she knew of Goku’s early life before meeting Bulma. While she now knew Goku was sent to Earth to wreak havoc to the select planet's population as was customary for low-level Saiyan youth, Pan recalled little about who had raised him on Earth aside from this man being referred to as Goku’s grandfather despite not being blood-related.

“Ah, I’m getting us off-track. So, the nimbus.”

“I knew it was once Master Roshi’s, then Goku’s... and after Goku was gone, it was my father’s, then Goten’s... and then...”

“Come on, Pan. Let’s go out.”

There Chi-Chi and the young Pan were exiting her grandmother’s home, the former wearing yellow with white sleeves and blue-green pants while the latter was in an outfit similar to Chi-Chi’s, but in blue and white sleeves with red pants.

“Where are we going, Grandma?”

“To pick up some odds and ends.”

“But how? I don’t see any cars.”

“With this.”

Chi-Chi whistled with both her hands, then shouted out “Nimbus!” Pan heard a strange sound from above them and saw the yellow puffed cloud flying towards them.

“I thought that was Uncle Goten’s.”

“It was your uncle’s, but now that he doesn’t use it, I do.”

But then Pan recalled her parents both being strict in regards to flying where she could be seen by others.

“We’re not supposed to fly.”

“We won’t fly. The nimbus will.”

Chi-Chi crouched over to pick up Pan and placed her over her shoulders. Once she was certain Pan was stable and had a good grip, Chi-Chi stepped onto the nimbus. Even atop her grandmother’s shoulders, Pan could feel it akin to Chi-Chi going up a step.

“Now hold on to me the whole way, okay Pan?”

“Okie-doe.”

With that, Chi-Chi used the nimbus to take flight. As much as Pan enjoyed flying by herself, holding onto something or someone who was flying seemed just as fun, almost like a theme park ride. She raised her arms upward.

“Weeee!”

Chi-Chi knew Pan was against her head, but not holding on to her, so she tilted just enough forward to keep Pan from falling backward.

“I need you to hold on with your hands.”

Even as she was caught up in her fun, Pan knew her grandmother’s tone was serious and did as she was asked.

“Sorry, Grandma.”

The two were above a forest, Chi-Chi focusing when she felt Pan climbing down her back.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Holding on.”

Pan was now holding onto her ankle, her feet just inches from touching the nimbus.

“Hold on tight, Pan.”

She had just seen and felt her grandmother walk atop of it.

“If Grandma can do it...”

Chi-Chi saw Pan sticking out one of her feet.

“Wait, don’t...!”

Pan did this, expecting to stand atop of it akin to a solid surface...

...and upon feeling nothing at all below her feet, she panicked, her hands suddenly slipping from around Chi-Chi’s ankle down to her foot. Pan tried to grab hold of her shoe, but her vision was covered by phasing through the nimbus itself, seeing nothing but yellow. Pan then saw her grandmother floating above her on the nimbus while she fell.

“Grandma!”

Hearing and seeing her granddaughter in a panic...

“Pan!”

Chi-Chi changed course, diving downward with the nimbus and appearing to stand on it sideways as they descended.

Pan, even though she knew how to fly, was in such shock from falling through the Nimbus Cloud that she found herself panicking, unable to get herself to hover or stop.

“I can’t... I can’t...!”

Now the two descended down into the forest itself and while Pan thankfully had avoided any branches so far, the ground was now visible to Chi-Chi. Fast approaching a tree devoid of any leaves with a sharpened top, Chi-Chi hopped off of the nimbus towards Pan. She didn’t know if the cloud had stopped right before or had been split by the impact: Chi-Chi’s priority was saving her granddaughter.

She got her arms around Pan and immediately tried landing on her feet, but at the speed they were traveling and the distance from the ground, Chi-Chi found herself bouncing sideways off the uneven terrain and forced into a roll. She used her arms to shield Pan from whatever branches or rocks could be in their path, waiting for them to slow down.

Once the two realized they had stopped, Chi-Chi made her way back to her feet and held Pan in front of her, checking for any bruises or cuts and finding a few small holes on her sleeves and pants from the roll. Unlike other experiences in the air where she had complete control, the feeling of helplessness while falling had her trembling. Chi-Chi set her granddaughter down on the ground, where she sat instead of stood, and kept her head down in front of her grandmother.

“What were you doing, Pan?”

She tried to keep to a calm tone, but received no response from Pan.

“Pan!”

The young girl looked up at Chi-Chi, her grandmother practically towering over her.

“I told you to hold on to me! At all times!”

Now the young Pan appeared to cower, as if afraid of what her grandmother was going to do to her.

“You could’ve gotten hurt! If I hadn’t caught you, you would have...!”

Regardless of her granddaughter’s part-Saiyan status, Chi-Chi wasn’t about to picture Pan being perfectly unharmed from such a fall, even as she didn’t want to imagine any of the far worse results.

But Chi-Chi was losing patience with her granddaughter, kneeling down and holding onto the sides of her face so Pan would look at her.

“What were you trying to do?! Tell me right now, Pan! What were you doing?!”

Closing her eyes, Pan shouted, “I wanted to be on the cloud!”

Chi-Chi saw Pan’s demeanor shift from shock and terror to shame and dejection.

“You stood on it. I wanted to too.”

When Pan opened her eyes, seeing that her grandmother was no longer angry with her, this did little for her spirits.

“You can be on the cloud, but not me.”

Chi-Chi felt tears on her hands from Pan.

“Why not me? Did I do something wrong?”

Chi-Chi let go, then hugged the crying Pan.

“Grandma... is something wrong with me?”

“Oh no, no, no, Pan...”

She patted Pan’s back while lightly shushing whenever she heard a sniffle from her granddaughter.

“It’s nothing wrong with you.”

The nimbus floated on the ground nearby them, catching Pan’s attention, turning away from Chi-Chi.

“What did I do, cloud? What did I do wrong?”

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Pan. I couldn’t imagine how terrifying that must’ve felt.”

“My grandma and I got a ride back home. She knew I didn’t want to go on the nimbus again after that ordeal and we went about the rest of our day back at her home. I know everyone in our circle of friends tried to keep mum about the nimbus and how it worked exactly, especially once they caught word of what had happened... but I heard that not just anyone could ride it. That those who couldn’t would fall right through it.”

She put both her hands together and breathed out, finally reaching what for her was the hardest part to tell someone.

“And it had to do with a person’s heart.”

As if anticipating Pan about to be hard on herself, he added what he knew about the discussion.

“My mother couldn’t ride the nimbus either. She talked about how she, or Krillin, had to hold on to Goku when he flew on it.”

She could tell he said this in response to her last comment, and proceeded with what she had in store next.

“As I got older, I tried several other times to ride the nimbus... on ground level, of course. Thought it might’ve been me not being ready for it before, or not until I was older, but it never seemed like anything changed. Fell flat on my face every time.”

Now Trunks was absorbing that it wasn’t just one moment from her childhood of falling through the nimbus, but Pan spending all her years growing up and still having the same result occur over and over.

“Eventually, I stopped trying to ride it. Not because I felt like I’d outpace the nimbus by that point, but because it seemed as futile when I was becoming an adult as it did when I was a kid.”

Pan knew Trunks wouldn’t say it directly, but she felt like he was still waiting for the big reveal in regards to the topic at hand.

“As it pertains to Super Saiyan... since I couldn’t go Super Saiyan over the years, I equated it with riding the nimbus: needing the right heart. My grandfather did and he could ride the nimbus. Same went with my dad and uncle Goten once I knew they could too.”

Trunks then recalled Pan mentioning four Super Saiyans on her Earth facing Frieza all at once.

“After my first battle working together with your father on Namek, I even wondered if, since the Vegeta of my world could go Super Saiyan, even after everything he had done before, and I couldn’t, that meant his heart was pure and mine’s...”

“Please don’t even think that, Pan,” he interrupted. “Don’t even think for a single moment that your heart is less pure than...”

He couldn’t finish his thought regarding his father and his past, but had to let Pan know...

“You’re not a lesser person for not being one hundred percent pure of heart.”

For perhaps the first time that morning, Trunks saw Pan start to smile.

“I really do appreciate that.”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

He thought his face might’ve gone red again and tried to shrug it off.

“Just know, Trunks, that I don’t think like that anymore.”

“Y-you don’t? I’m really happy to hear that. Genuinely.”

“You said it sounded like I went Super Saiyan before, so that means everything I thought was keeping me from it’s not the case.”

Trunks’ wrist began beeping.

“Supreme Kai of Time asking for you, Trunks?”

“You know it.”

As he got up, he had one more thing on his mind regarding the concluding topic.

“Just know nothing’s wrong with you, Pan. Being a late bloomer Super Saiyan doesn’t say anything negative about your character. Not a thing.”

As if knowing he was blushing after these words, he made his way to the door.

“Take it easy today and we’ll work towards Super Saiyan again tomorrow. I’ll see you then.”

As he opened her unit’s door to leave...

“Thanks again, Trunks. Truly.”

“Any time.”

Pan’s spirits were much higher compared to the day before and what Trunks had told her towards the tail end of their discussion were words she had longed to hear for so long, beginning to reduce her Super Saiyan anxiety.

“If he thinks I can do this...”

“Now we can’t really quantify Mira as a factor, even with the state he was in, but here’s what we have:”

Chronoa had gathered Trunks and Commander Hale to discuss Towa’s next target.

“Our best case scenario: to empower and even control someone like Frieza, Towa would need two months.”

“Two months to get the formula just right?” Trunks asked.

“Or perhaps you mean after having expended so much for the Ginyu Force.”

“That’s right, Commander Hale. Not only had she empowered the three, but she even found a way to give them techniques they shouldn’t have possessed.”

“With Ginyu, she gave him access to the parts of Goku’s brain that knew about Kaio-Ken and times four...” added Trunks. “...well, just enough to activate them.”

“As for Guldo learning to hide his ki, we could only ascertain so much without his head,” went Hale.

“Now if we have two months at most, what’s our minimum? Our worst case scenario?”

“A month, Trunks.”

Chronoa felt there could be some skepticism in regards to her estimate and decided to elaborate.

“I won’t underestimate Towa’s capabilities, especially as of late, but that’s as quickly as I’d imagine her pulling off something like this.”

“But she went from empowering Raditz to my father and Nappa in no time at all.”

"That was a much shorter gap in power. We're talking going from Captain Ginyu to Frieza. And not just Frieza's first form. Towa would have to ensure her formula adjusts accordingly to each of them. Maybe even all of them."

"Perhaps we could slow down the Training Chamber once again. Buy Pan more time. After all, with how much stronger she’s become..."

"The city's still recovering from six days of slowed time even now," she explained. "I really hate to say that we lost another asset, but that might just have to be a one time only usage of that room."

“Then that leaves us all with at least a month,” Hale concluded. “We will do what we can within that month. Hope for more time, but plan for it to be cut short.”

Pan stood before Hale back in the canyon, only this time...

“This will be a group exercise. All of you against myself.”

She stood alongside Amura, Umiu, and Goma.

“I don’t see you that often, Pan, but when you need to train...” went Goma, almost appearing confused to be there in his expression.

“Uh, if I might be permitted to ask a question,” began Umiu, a pink arm raised in the air. “While this whole thing is obviously very important for Pan especially, seeing as how we figure time’s on the line again...”

“Not hearing a question, Umiu,” teased Amura, the most eager of the three to participate.

“What will this do for us exactly?”

“Think of it as extra credit towards getting to the next rank,” Hale answered.

“Exactly,” went Amura ecstatically. “See, this is why we should get involved more often.”

“Are we still on the Ginyu Force?” asked Goma.

“For this exercise, I will be taking on the role of Frieza in his second form.”

An olive green projection of Frieza in his second form emerged from Hale’s gauntlet, one that towered over everyone present, Hale included.

“While I will not be at his height and weight, I will be at his power, which is nearly double that of his first.”

Pan needed Kaio-Ken just to handle Hale at the level of Frieza’s first form once he used all of his limbs, and now double that...

“Kaio-Ken Times Four might not be enough against him.”

“If there is one advantage you, Pan, will have against Frieza throughout the entire battle, it is that he cannot sense ki. First he relied on his scouter to pinpoint power levels and then...”

Commander Hale removed his dual-eyed blue scouter...

“Only through his basic senses.”

And placed it onto a perfectly round structure with an indent to comfortably hold it.

“As such, I will face all of you without sensing ki either. But even with this advantage, I will be utilizing a tremendous amount of power.”

The four of them felt Hale emanating with power, pebbles lifting off the ground around him, as well as bits of the surrounding structures chipping off from them.

“As those who faced him on Namek used their numerical advantage to keep away from him and do damage when they could, I would advise you to do the same.”

Pan hopped backward, as did the other three to follow suit, waiting for Hale to make a move.

“Understand that his bulk does not make him slower.”

With Zarbon’s true form and Recoome, Pan knew this to be true already and eyed Hale carefully.

He zoomed forward at a pace far faster than that of Frieza’s first form, forcing Pan into a roll to avoid any number of attacks. Once she came to a stop, she realized Hale’s shadow was visible to her.

“He literally beat me there...”

He was ready with a jab when he heard ki bullets firing from behind from the other three participants. Hale swung at them with his right, not even needing to turn around completely to do so, as Pan hopped back, preparing a Masenko. He then began to lift his left hand upward, teeming with ki in his five fingers, as Pan could tell...

“He’s not going to blast back at me: he’s going to detonate the area around us!”

She broke off her Masenko, shouting “Get back!” as Hale then thrust his left arm straight into the air.

The explosion within the canyon was massive, leaving an enormous crater that nearly appeared bottomless with only where Hale stood still standing as a lone pillar.

Not sensing ki as promised, Hale looked around, seeing that Pan had made it to the outskirt of the crater, her ki shield over her, but practically like stained glass.

“Even if Hale held back on me, had the shield given out...”

She then looked to the opposite end behind her instructor, Umiu lying on the ground with his arms outstretched...

“I’ve got you both...”

...having grabbed hold of Amura and Goma.

“Nicely done.”

Hale clearly ceased combat for the time being.

“Pan, you took note of my technique and its purpose, and warned your fellow comrades. And you, Umiu, ensured the safety of those closest to you by moving them out of harm’s way.”

Letting go of two of his teammates, Umiu stood up, the back of his green gi with several tears across it, and when he turned to face Hale, a small purple wound on the right side of his forehead became visible.

“Shall we continue, Commander?” the normally nervous Namekian patroller inquired.

“Indeed we shall... now!”

Hunched over in the seemingly peaceful surroundings of rock facing and above water, Pan tried once again to focus on her anger alone. Trunks could tell that this time, she didn’t become overwhelmed with grief.

“She’s managing to key in on her rage.”

“That’s it, Pan. You’re doing great.”

“Not now, Trunks. Angry.”

Seeing his words of encouragement were becoming a distraction for her, he stepped back and tried getting back to a stance more resembling a teacher.

Wearing what appeared to be akin to laser tag vests and helmets on her Earth, Pan and the other three were curious what Hale had in mind.

“Aside from growing in size, Frieza’s second form brings with it another change:”

He faced them with what first appeared to be a foam cutout attached to the top of his head.

“His two horns protrude upward, making them ideal for impaling attacks.”

His stance now having Hale’s head leaning towards them like a bull, the four more than pieced together the idea of this exercise even as he laid out the scenario for them.

“I will attack with flying collisions primarily and it will be your task to avoid contact with them and, if possible, keeping each other out of harm’s way while doing so.”

After a stomp felt by his four pupils...

“And... go!”

Pan sidestepped his first flying charge, her hand just touching one of the cutout’s horns. She then had to hop over another, but this time, both feet were atop the horn, sending her off-course and to the side.

“I’ve got you, Pan!”

Amura fired ki bullets to dissuade Hale from attacking Pan, knowing this’d likely make herself his next target. Using kiai with her hands, she knew the gust wouldn’t be enough to push Hale back and instead had the opposite effect of sending herself away before his horns could touch her.

Even still, she felt one of the horns scratch one of her legs, indicating it was sharper than she and the others thought. Pan fired between Amura and Hale to allow her to recover, but then saw Hale had zoomed around the other side entirely with a clear path.

“I can sense him at any time, but when he moves like that...”

As it looked like Amura was about to be struck, Umiu had hopped upward, his stretched arms over Hale’s eyes and trying to steer him away. It was only partially successful, though Amura did recover enough to descend below the two. Once Hale had shaken Umiu off of him, he was immediately struck down by a divekick to the side of his head from Goma.

“Go Team... uh...”

Seeing how quickly Hale recovered, Goma flew backwards while firing ki bullets, but found Hale tore straight through them.

“Knew we should’ve come up with a team name first...”

He swerved to the side, but felt the horn cut his cheek from one of the few areas the helmet didn’t cover. Goma covered it with one hand, but had the other charging and aiming for Hale.

Pan and Amura both fired not just between Hale and Goma, but behind their teammate in case Hale tried to go around one barrage as he had prior. Umiu also flew above Goma to watch him from above.

With three of his routes covered, Hale took the only opening he could find:

Back down beneath the ki barrages, then straight up towards Goma. The green patroller fired his blast at Hale after all, but he avoided it, an explosion of considerable size resulting upon impact with the ground from how much power he put into it. He tried charging for another attack even as Hale came closer to making his mark...

“Huh?”

He felt a hand grab the back of his vest and pull him backward.

“Get bac...!”

Umiu then swung Goma away as Hale fast approached them, but even as he tried to move aside, he felt a massive impact to his stomach...

...followed by a flashing light and beeping noise from his vest.

“That means you’re out.”

Umiu, while hurt, realized the horn striking the vest was more akin to a punch than the impalement he had warned them about.

Pan and Amura watched as Umiu hovered down, the colored lights visible even from that distance.

“Guess it’s like that game with the plastic zappers back home,” Amura pointed out.

“Focus,” went Pan. “Umiu’s out and now it’s three against one. And as far as I’m concerned, we’re outnumbered.”

Goma floated down next to them, his stance and expression showing him actually appearing to be taking things seriously.

“He sacrificed himself for me. I won’t let it be in vain.”

After hearing Pan and Goma, Amura clenched her fist, then stood ready as Hale finally moved towards them.

“Okay then.”

Pan wasn’t hunched over as much and even opened her eyes this time. The serenity around her wasn’t enough to throw her off as she snarled from the anger within. Trunks not only saw larger rocks floating around her, but even saw the ground beneath her beginning to crack.

“That’s the way.”

Her two bangs were clearly floating upward during all of this and he could’ve sworn he saw brief flashes of her black hair turning gold.

“You’re so close, Pan.”

Circling around her, he saw the cracks below her increasing in number and spreading.

“It reminds me of...”

But just as he reminisced about his past for that moment, he saw Pan lifting her upper body and head upward, roaring as the flashes of gold lasted just slightly longer...

...and the rocky floor all but crumbled completely.

“Aw, crap...!”

Pan suddenly found the ground she stood on gone completely and found herself dropping down towards the water below...

...when Trunks dived forward, grabbing onto her left hand. While he had stopped her descent, he found the ground he was lying on was starting to break down as well.

“...crapbaskets!”

The moment he could lift himself upward just enough to get to his knees, he pulled Pan up with both his hands, then flung himself and her backward. Trunks, on his back, and Pan, on her side, saw the ground they were just on break off of the larger mass and drop down.

“Sorry about that, Pan. This completely slipped past my mind ”

“What, you mean us falling in?”

“Happened to me in one of my first sessions with Gohan. Worst part for me was I didn’t know how to swim.”

He slowly sat up, swiping off bits of dirt from the front of his coat.

“I think next time, we’ll set the ground to be made of stronger stuff.”

“Was this the only place you trained with your Gohan to go Super Saiyan?”

“There was one other area that we...”

As Pan caught Trunks pausing, she also saw what looked like a flash of regret over his face.

“That was before he...”

“You okay, Trunks?”

He realized he had the smallest tear trying to escape and wiped it away with his arm.

“It’s nothing. Dust around here got in my eye.”

He knelt down and helped Pan up, the two dusting themselves off of whatever got on their coat and jacket respectively.

“So it sounds to me like you took a while to go Super Saiyan yourself.”

“You are correct.”

“So when you say I’m doing good or getting there...”

His right hand touched her left shoulder.

“I know it.”

He then sweeped it, a few tiny pebbles coming off it as he turned to lead them towards the exit.

“That’s why you’re so patient with me: because it wasn’t overnight for you either.”

Trying to parse out his response carefully...

“Not to say ‘I’ve been there’, but yeah. I got frustrated at it not happening fast enough, but Gohan... he was patient with me, even when I went off on myself.”

He stood at the open doorway as if keeping it open for her.

“Anywho... until next time, Pan. Take care.”

Once she exited the chamber towards the hallway, she briefly turned back to him and waved.

“Thanks. You too.”

As she took the steps up, Trunks’ smile began to fade as his mind went back to what Pan had been saying just earlier.

“So it sounds to me like you took a while to go Super Saiyan yourself.”

He had his back against the now closed door and let himself slide down, his head against it.

“So when you say I’m doing good or getting there...”

“Oh who am I kidding?! I don’t know at all!”

His gloved right hand began to make a fist.

“I believe in you, Pan, I do, but...”

He thought back to all the times he had tried going Super Saiyan only for it to fizzle out just as it had for her.

“I couldn’t go Super Saiyan under Gohan’s tutelage. Nothing he taught worked for me at all. It took...”

“Was this the only place you trained with your Gohan to go Super Saiyan?”

He began to tear up, this time not stopping himself because Pan could see.

“It took that.”

He was squeezing his fist tighter, then his sorrow turned to anger.

“Or maybe I could have even back then and was just too stupid to figure it out...! And she can too, but I’m just not teaching her right!”

His thumb began to tear its way out of his glove, as did the knuckles.

“Her life... my life... all of time depends on me getting this right and if I screw this up...!”

He then struck the wall beside the door, a visible indent left as a result.

“A sacrifice for absolutely nothing... again!”

He put his hands against his face.

“Gohan, give me a sign!”

He then caught the smell of blood and moved his hands away. He saw all five fingers out of his right glove, as well as blood in his palm: Trunks had pierced into it without knowing it, too caught up in his anguish to even notice the pain. Turning to look at the reflective surface of the door, he saw a partial red handprint on the right side of his face.

“What am I getting wrong?”

Kaio-Ken Times What?! Whatever It Takes![]

Chronoa, tending to her garden while also keeping an eye on Tokitoki, who was drinking from the water close by, heard someone going through the gateway and stopped what she was doing.

“Toh?” went Tokitoki with a concerned tone.

Once she turned towards where he was looking, the Supreme Kai of Time understood why her oldest companion was like this:

Trunks in his olive turtleneck had his coat, which he almost always wore, wrapped around his waist, and his right hand was both missing its glove and was trying to hide in his coat’s pocket.

“Ki! Ki!”

“I’m fine, Tokitoki,” Trunks responded to the mystic bird. “I just need to clean myself up.”

“Trunks, when Tokitoki is worried, you know there’s a problem,” Chronoa retorted back. “Now let me see.”

“It’s nothing.”

He found the Supreme Kai of Time standing in his path and Tokitoki even flew next to her as he initially tried to step to the side of her.

“Toh. Ki.”

Even if he didn’t understand Tokitoki’s speech, he could tell just from tones that it was a plea for Trunks to let them help him.

“Knew I should’ve stayed out longer...”

He lifted his right hand out of his coat pocket...

...holding his torn right glove and with blood covering his palm. After having a brief gasp at this, Chronoa put her shock aside and lightly held him by his wrist.

“Here, let’s get this taken care of.”

She didn’t want to drag him, but tightened her grip just enough to let Trunks know that they were leaving. He followed her as Tokitoki watched them enter one of the two housing units, which, as they were among the oldest in Toki Toki City, just had the roman numerals II.

After Trunks put his gloves and coat into a hamper, he stood up against his bathroom sink as Chronoa stood on a chair next to him, positioning his hand over the sink to first pour green liquid over his wounded palm.

“This hasn’t happened in a while, Trunks.”

Once it appeared the liquid had healed the wound completely, she then turned on the faucet to soak a towel, then helped him wash his hand.

“Last time, I believe it was in your sleep...”

He peered over to his bedside table, seeing two palm guards.

“Never happened again once you gave me those.”

Once his palm and fingers had been cleaned off, Trunks tried to move around her chair.

“Thanks for your help, but now I need to...”

She noticed something off about Trunks’ reflection:

“Now wait a minute...”

Sticking out one of her arms, she stopped him, then put her hands on his face as she tried to get a closer look.

“Is that...?”

She found the slightest bloody fingerprint above one of his purple bangs, then pieced together...

“You wiped that handprint off with the inside of your coat.”

Trunks didn’t say a word, but his body language and facial expression gave away the feeling that he had been caught and couldn’t get out of this situation. Chronoa, however, just rinsed the towel again.

“Trunks, you’re making it seem like I’m going to punish you or something...”

She had her right hand on his left cheek as her left lightly scrubbed at the fingerprint under his bang.

“I understand there are things you don’t want to share with me and I won’t pry...”

Chronoa then started washing the right side of his face.

“...but when you hurt yourself, I want to know what happened so I can help you.”

She concluded by scrubbing his nose, then lied the towel down into the sink. Putting both hands over his shoulders and trying to make eye contact, Chronoa asked, “Was this about Gohan?”

He understood that she was concerned with him, not with what he had done and tried to hide. While he couldn’t bring himself to explain what was on his mind that led to that moment, he wholeheartedly regretted it.

“I’m sorry, Supreme Kai of Time. It was just something stupid.”

She gave a light and almost playful “Hmph”, having not gotten an answer out of him, then stepped down off the chair.

“I’ll have your coat and gloves cleaned and repaired. But if you think you’ll squeeze into your palms again...”

“It was a mistake. I just wasn’t thinking earlier. It won’t happen again.”

She opened his unit’s door to exit, peering back at him.

“If you don’t want to talk about it with me, or Tokitoki... or Pan... that’s fine, but just know you have that option. Always.”

He nodded to her with a smile.

“Roger, roger.”

Once the Supreme Kai of Time left him alone in his housing unit, he sat on his bed, contemplating his current situation.

“I just need to relax, that’s all. Take my time and recenter.”

With it now appearing to be night time in the Time Nest as opposed to Toki Toki City always being day time, Tokitoki slept standing up atop his perch while only one of the two housing units had a light on: unit II.

Trunks was taking a warm shower to get ready for bed.

“I was being too hard on myself.”

Putting a dollop of shampoo and conditioner into his hand, he spread it across his purple hair.

“These things take time.”

He then used both hands to scratch and scrub it in.

“We’re not even that behind schedule.”

Walking under the showerhead to rinse his hair out, he closed his eyes.

“Just a few more tries and I’m sure I’ll...”

“That’s what I thought too.”

Trunks knew that voice from his past.

“Gohan?”

He tried to recompose.

“No, this is all just in my head.”

“I figured you were just a kid, so I shouldn’t go too hard on you.”

The tiles on the walls of the shower almost appeared to be shaking.

“This isn’t real. It’s just me stressing myself out.”

“That you were just a late bloomer Super Saiyan.”

Now the tiles were flying off the walls one at a time, revealing something blue and purple-shaded, but which he couldn’t make out.

“That you had it in you all along, but just had to go at your own pace.”

“Knock it off, brain. All of this... it’s not helping.”

“Not helping?”

Trunks felt someone shove him from behind, forcing him to brace with his hands against what was left of the wall...

...which then seemed to shatter on impact into bricks.

“That’s exactly what I was doing: not helping.”

He stopped himself.

“That’s not true, Gohan! You taught me what I needed to know to survive!”

Trunks then looked around, seeing rain all around him and neon lights from nearby buildings flicker on and off.

“I know this place.”

“I made a mistake,” went Trunks’ mentor’s voice. “I knew the danger. I knew the enemy. And what did I do?”

He turned, stepping into a puddle, then saw a reflection of his teenage self wearing a white long sleeve shirt with blue sleeves with “Capsule Corp.” written on it.

“I babied you.”

Along with that, his feet weren’t bare: he had on his old laced boots and gray sweat pants.

“Didn’t push you as hard as I should’ve.”

Looking down at his hands, he saw long blue sleeves from the same shirt with slightly skinnier arms: he was his younger self.

“Thought we’d be just fine for the time being.”

Peering ahead, he saw something lying down a short distance ahead of him.

“Look at what it wrought.”

Trunks’ eyes shot up in horror: the sight he had never wanted to see again.

“When I needed a Super Saiyan... you weren’t enough.”

“Gohan!”

“And it cost me everything.”

He ran forward...

“GOHAN!!!”

...slamming into his tiled shower wall at full speed, then lying on his side as the showerhead continued raining down on him. He struck his head especially and was writhing with both hands over his face.

“When I needed a Super Saiyan...” Gohan’s voice echoed.

He moved his hands back and looked at his palms...

...wounded and bleeding like they were that day.

Trunks startled himself, shouting and sitting upward, breathing heavily. He looked back to his hands, seeing that they were entirely unharmed after all, but the warm shower water coming down on his head and shoulders felt like the coldness of the rain on that day.

“Gohan needed a Super Saiyan...”

He curled up, his head on his knees.

“...and it was too late...”

Getting ready the next morning, he first threw on his olive green pants. His damaged glove wouldn’t be a problem, as he had plenty of spare gloves, though now he was going without his coat, which had to be cleaned thoroughly.

Opening up his closet, he had his olive turtleneck ready to go, but also saw a beige coat sharing a hanger with a black long sleeve shirt, white knee-length shorts, teal socks, and a blue handkerchief.

“I suppose to mix my color scheme up a bit...”

As he exited and made his way towards the gateway...

“Toh! Ki!”

“Good morning, Tokitoki,” Trunks greeted while waving.

Chronoa waited until he left, then came out of her housing unit towards her oldest companion.

“Toh, toh.”

“I heard him last night as well.”

“Ki, ki?”

The Supreme Kai of Time could only barely see it from his unit’s window, but she had been inside enough times to know that Trunks had a framed picture of himself, his mother of his timeline with a jacket and cap, and...

“Gohan. The Gohan of his timeline.”

“Toh, ki?”

“I really do hope he’s not having another episode.”

Pan, just waking up and still in Time Patrol pajamas, heard knocking.

“One moment, please...”

When she opened her door, expecting either Trunks or Commander Hale, she saw the former with a black long sleeve and blue handkerchief in place of his coat and turtleneck.

“Oh, hey. That’s a new look for you.”

“Well, I’ve worn a few things over the years with the Time Patrol.”

“Something happen with your coat or...?”

“Oh, that? Uh...”

Ultimately unwilling to lie about what happened with his coat, he cleared his throat, then tried steering the conversation back to why he arrived.

“We need to talk about our next sessions.”

“Sure.”

Seated back at her table again...

“I’m going to be honest with you, Pan:”

Trunks had his gloved hands together and she could tell he was looking more serious than usual.

“We’re behind schedule.”

“You mean in regards to prep for my next mission?”

“It could be sooner than we thought and we need to be ready.”

“Okay. Are we talking weeks or...?”

“Weeks at best.”

“And we’ve been at this for two already...”

“Pan, there’s no easy way to say this...”

He stood up.

“I have to push you. Further than I have already.”

Even as he believed in his mind that it was the right course of action, it was hard for him to put into words what Pan would be put through.

“It could hurt. Put you under a lot of pressure. You’ll darn near hate me when we’re through, I’m sure of it...”

Pan stood up as well.

“I get it. Time’s on the line. Gotta get me to go Super Saiyan. Let’s do it.”

He was initially caught off-guard by Pan not just agreeing, but doing so right away.

“I thought she’d be more hesitant...”

But he also knew her determination.

“No. She understands it’s what has to be done.”

“Then it’s settled. Now get ready for Hale, and I’ll be waiting for you right after.”

“Will do.”

Trunks left from there and Pan, realizing Trunks was no longer going to be able to be patient with her, knew she was going to be pushed to the brink and then some.

“It’ll be tough, but he knows his stuff about Super Saiyan.”

The start of Commander Hale’s briefing for her training left her stunned.

“You really think I am ready for his third form? But I don’t think I’ve properly been able to face him in his second form alone.”

“That could very well be the case, but I do believe you can do this. And all of the Z-Fighters on Namek managed to survive that form as well...”

She caught him pausing.

“Ah, forgive me. They also had the assistance of the young Namekian Dende.”

“Dende?!”

This was a name Pan had not heard of in a long time, but she lacked the context of his being there, as well as being that much younger.

“Wait, wait, wait... I thought he lived on the Lookout on Earth. At least, he did on mine. I know: branching timelines, multiverse stuff...”

“Dende lived on Namek before coming to Earth. In fact, your father saved his life from Frieza and his men. Krillin as well.”

Pan found a piece of the simulated canyon’s rock to sit down upon as Hale walked about while continuing.

“Both were immensely outmatched in power and Dodoria had wiped out the village’s warriors, but your father, not wanting to witness any more Namekians killed, struck Dodoria and flew Dende to safety with Krillin covering them and even leading Dodoria away from them so they could hide.”

Pan had gone through phases of looking down on the power of Earthlings compared to Saiyans, as well as her only partial Saiyan status, any yet here was a tale of her father, even with him being half-Saiyan, and Krillin, a full-blooded human, having risked their lives to save a complete stranger even with the odds overwhelmingly against them.

“Heh.”

“Something the matter, Miss Pan?”

“For how much I’ve looked down on my human side, I forget what the likes of Krillin and Yajirobe did. Not just surviving themselves, but saving others through their actions.”

She then saw Hale forming an olive green hologram of Frieza in his massively tall second form she had practiced for alongside others.

“Dende proved pivotal in their survival against Frieza, saving each of them from near-death through his healing abilities.”

“Even Vegeta?”

“For how powerful his boost was after Recoome, where he was even stronger than Captain Ginyu...”

She recalled just how effortlessly he harmed the likes of Recoome after that power-up, as well as easily dispatched Jeice when given the chance. While Ginyu in Goku’s body held more than his own against Vegeta, Pan knew it came down to Towa’s meddling.

“Ginyu only stayed in it as long as he did because of Towa’s formula connecting him to my grandfather’s brain and the Kaio-Ken and Kaio-Ken times four.”

“With each of Frieza’s transformations, Vegeta found himself as outmatched as the rest of his allies. Not one could survive or withstand fighting Frieza on their own.”

“That’s why we’re jumping to his third form today,” Pan began to conclude. “None of them had time to acclimate to it either. Can’t afford for me to get comfy with the other two.”

Hale’s hologram then transitioned to Frieza’s third form...

...only slightly shorter, hunched over, and his shoulders and the back of his head elongated.

“I’d say he’s uglier, but his looks are the last thing I’m concerned about...”

“There will be more specific techniques of his to cover, but for today, we will have a more specific focus... particularly on one technique you’ve used upon first battling on Namek.”

“The Kaio-Ken.”

“You have made much use of Kaio-Ken against your enemies, but against the likes of Frieza, you will have to go further.”

“You mean Kaio-Ken times six or seven?”

“I mean, I suppose I could do that. Just a little higher than four.”

“All the way to Times ten.”

Pan found herself falling back from where she sat, then climbing back up.

“I’ve acclimated to Times Four for so long now... but Times Ten?! Me times ten?!”

“I would neither expect you to perform such perfectly on your first try nor master it immediately, Miss Pan...”

Pan then hopped over the small rock formation with one hand, then landed with a fighting stance.

“But the meter’s running. So let’s go.”

Commander Hale closed his eyes, then raised and clenched his fist while taking a breath.

“Let us begin.”

Pan caught him gesturing to fly towards her left and moved accordingly, but then saw nothing of him, feeling a massive breeze pass her, as well as noted the ground shift from his movement alone. She had to move again, the same breeze passing her on the right, but before Pan could turn around, she had to duck.

It was only partially successful, with Hale not striking the back of her head, but between that and her scalp, knocking her forward and knocking off her bandanna. Pan thought catching her bandanna would only allow Hale another hit and quickly shouted “Kaio-Ken!” before pushing herself off the ground with her hands, putting her above the emerging Hale as he tried slamming her back down.

“Times Four!”

She zoomed backward from the approaching Hale, then tried to lead him on a chase. Now Hale’s movements could be seen with her eyes...

...but he still had her outpaced, forcing her to duck to avoid several passes.

“I’m following him a lot better, but he’s still so much faster.”

She then felt herself bump into something:

“There shouldn’t be anything for me to hit! I’m far enough away from...!”

Pan saw Hale, arms raised. Her attempt to guard against this had her struck back down, landing on her feet, but cratering where she stood. She found herself having trouble moving her arms down from their guarding position.

“My wrists...”

Even with Kaio-Ken Times Four, the hit left her arms immensely sore.

Back in one of their first sessions, Hale kept his offensive going regardless of Pan’s state, but here, he remained floating in view and waited with crossed arms.

“Frieza won’t wait on me, Hale.”

“But I will, at least right now, Miss Pan. I want to see you try times ten unhindered.”

First, she deactivated her Kaio-Ken Times Four, slightly hunched as her arms finally lowered down.

“You’ve seen and felt that times four will only help so much... against his third form out of the four.”

“Judging from your speed just now without any Kaio-Ken, I’m going to guess his third form’s power is about...”

Counting with her right hand...

“Triple or quadruple that of his second form’s.”

“A very educated guess. And quite close, in fact.”

He took on a stance, but appeared not to be approaching her.

“Once you go Times Ten, I will combat you again. And I want you to see what it can do against such speed and strength.”

Breathing out, Pan clenched both her fists.

“Kaio-Ken...!”

A red aura was over her body.

“...Times TEN!!!”

Now the aura was especially massive, almost appearing to encircle Pan.

“This... this is Times Ten...!”

The moment she flew towards Hale, he moved towards her as well, the two going for shoulder charges. The collision between the two not only led to cracks in nearby structures, but all but shattered those in the closest vicinity of them.

And thus far, Pan found Hale wasn’t overpowering her.

“It’s actually matching him!”

Hale broke it off and zoomed away, and even without seeing where he went, Pan’s senses were dialed up to 11.

“I can hear him moving. Even smell changes in the air.”

As Hale went for a sneak attack, Pan finally located him and took hold of his wrist. She then turned the two around while running in place, then flipped him off his feet and onto his back.

“This power...!”

She caught Hale about to spin on the ground and hopped backward, avoiding his swinging feet and tail. Once he was back on his feet, Pan punched at him, him redirecting with his wrists, but not seeming able to outpace her.

“This speed...!”

“That’s it, Miss Pan!”

But as he said this, Hale then found the last two punches of Pan’s came in much slower and immediately knew why.

“Agh! This whole time...!”

Now Pan stepped back, Hale making no move to attack as he could see she was now struggling with her power-up.

“Talk to me, Miss Pan! Just what is...?!”

“My muscles...!”

Her training jacket, while seeming to withstand the increase in size, did have small tears to the sides and on the sleeves starting to emerge.

“If this keeps up, my body will make Goku’s after Times Four look like a shrimp.”

She put both hands over her chest, specifically over...

“My heart! It’s beating too fast!”

If Pan had tried to count her heartbeats in this moment, she’d have found it was at a pace no human heart was ever meant to reach, let alone exceed.

“Times ten the senses... and times ten the heart rate!”

It would be one thing if she were engaged in high speed combat or movement in this moment, but here, Pan was simply standing and her heart continued at this rate as if she were in a life-or-death battle.

“It’s going to tear through my chest!”

“You have to relax your muscles, Pan!”

“They won’t relax! They’re freaking out right now!”

Hale knew just how dire the situation of Kaio-Ken going too far unchecked with the user unable to get out of it was getting, and immediately pressed on his gauntlet.

“Send Beetro to the Training Chamber on the double!”

Pan knew Hale would not let her die from this, standing to her side with his right hand in a chopping position.

“If it comes to it, I will render you unconscious. The Kaio-Ken will cease then.”

Pan at first felt relieved that Hale could stop Kaio-Ken Times Ten from going as far as killing her, but then thought...

“My muscles won’t stop themselves while I’m awake... unless...”

Pan fell to her knees and she saw Hale readying his right arm. She let go of her chest to gesture to him to...

“Wait!”

He did, then saw her closing her eyes and attempting to keep her upper body up straight. Pan’s arms were to her side instead of her chest and her breathing, while heavy as it had been at first, then began to slow down and focus.

For Pan, now her surroundings became quiet to everything around her. Instead of hearing the build-up in power around her, she imagined calm winds, the sounds of water, perhaps that of a pond, and birds chirping.

Hale found that Pan was no longer panicked, calming herself to the point of near-meditation. He then caught a small smile on her face as, with one last exhale, she had finally exited Kaio-Ken Times Ten, the intense red aura gone.

She slowly shifted to sitting down with her legs crossed, finding her muscles had bulked up, but her jacket remained in one piece.

“Are you alright, Miss Pan?”

“Quite.”

It was clear Pan was feeling sore and tried to keep her movements as minimal as possible, but she otherwise kept relaxed.

“I think we’ve both come to the same conclusion for next time, Hale.”

The two heard footsteps, having not paid the training chamber’s doors any attention.

“You called me here, Hale?”

Beetro, a medical case in hand, looked as if he had sprinted across for an emergency and, while he noted Pan’s much larger muscle mass from Kaio-Ken, otherwise saw the situation seemed under control.

“I...”

“Sorry about that, Beetro. I gave you both a good scare there.”

“Times Ten?” Beetro inquired.

Hale seemed hesitant to answer while Pan nodded to answer him.

“As you now know, forms of Kaio-Ken exceeding a single digit can be considerably harder to get out of, especially on the first few tries. It’s why it’s never to be attempted alone as it can be life-threatening in the worst scenarios.”

“That’s why he’s here,” Pan replied, keeping things lighthearted. “I gotta use Times Ten in much, MUCH shorter bursts... at least for now.”

While Hale could tell Pan was trying to alleviate their situation from before, he finally spoke on the matter to Beetro.

“I should’ve accounted for the strain. Informed her to exit shortly after a brief use.”

“Well, do you have a stopwatch?” she asked.

“No, but I can set a timer all the same.”

Hale found Beetro did not appear dismissive or to have cast blame on him.

“Then that is good,” Beetro replied, kneeling down to open up his case. “Though in the meantime...”

Pan found him taking out a vial and handing it to her.

“This won’t bring the muscles down immediately, but it will make it less taxing and speed things up somewhat.”

Now making his way back to his feet...

“I would suggest that you let your body recover while Hale goes over Frieza’s techniques.”

Hale not only nodded to Beetro, but began to unclench and smile.

“Sounds like a plan, Beetro.”

Smiling back to Hale and to Pan as well, Beetro then took his leave.

“Carry on.”

Hale crouched down to help Pan up.

“Might I ask how it is you managed to ease yourself out of Times Ten?”

She took his hand.

“I focused on a memory.”

“Of training?”

He lifted Pan onto her feet.

“No. A happy memory.”

She looked aside for a moment.

“Not viable in a live battle, I know.”

“Perhaps not, Miss Pan, but it is viable here.”

A small group of various patrollers gathered together in the Time Machine Station.

“You too, huh?”

“Yeah. Can’t get in to use the Training Chamber.”

“Just need somewhere to blow off steam besides the academy.”

“I’m supposed to have an exam in there to advance to the 60’s.”

“I mean what gives?”

Pima, overhearing the chatter from his usual spot, wanted nothing more than to shout out what he knew to be obvious.

“First, it was the city-wide slowdown from time dilation in that chamber...”

He accepted, but was not content with him being passed on even with all his strength.

“Now it’s all but exclusively booked for her.”

“What could be so important that it’s all but blocked off to all of us?” went another patroller.

Pima stepped out from his corner, his first step clearly audible to those discussing this topic, as he finally gave them the answer.

“She’s fighting Frieza. They wouldn’t be doing this if she was ready for it by now.”

He departed from the area, not hearing any of the chatter that followed as he not-so-privately brooded to himself.

“I could take Frieza... like I could have taken the rest before him... if they wanted me to.”

“So you had a bit of a scare earlier today...”

“Hale and I sure did.”

Pan began her session with Trunks with the two sitting down with crossed legs.

“Times Ten. I couldn’t imagine what that does to the body.”

“I remember passing out when Amura first had me try Kaio-Ken. I’m just glad I got out of it before that could happen again, or worse.”

After she said this, Pan caught Trunks getting back onto his feet and looking away.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No. Just time to cut the chit chatter.”

His tone went from casual to that of a mentor.

“You may think that the secret to going Super Saiyan is desire. A desire of what you want.”

Turning back to her, his face especially serious at that moment...

“You have desired to go Super Saiyan all your life, but now, against Frieza, it cannot be a desire any more.”

Pan felt her sitting there almost casually was no longer appropriate and made her way up.

“It is not born of a desire, but from a need.”

From her sessions with Hale thus far only covering three of Frieza’s four forms, the third of which required Kaio-Ken Times Ten to even match, and the fourth she couldn’t begin to imagine...

“If it so much as eclipses his third form, I am going to need it.”

Even as he caught both Pan pondering and her still slightly bulked muscles, Trunks asked, “Are you ready to start?”

“I already have the feeling what no would mean...”

“He won’t wait for me to be ready.”

He nodded.

“Pan gets it.”

“That is the correct answer.”

A rock shattered as Pan caught Hale destroying it with what for a normal human would appear to be only a glance.

“A basic technique, but one Frieza may use when you least expect it.”

Now pointing his finger at another rock...

“This, however, is one of his primary means of ranged attack in his final form.”

Pan had to shrug off the fact she knew this ranged technique by heart, almost feeling her arms and legs ache once the beam left his fingertip and pierced a hole in the rock’s center.

“So Frieza knows the Dodon Ray?”

“It does appear to be quite similar, I will grant you, but it is not. One difference being Frieza’s anatomy allows him to perform such a death beam with very little effort, whereas even the Dodon Ray requires considerably more of a user’s power.”

He then demonstrated this with a barrage of beams towards a larger rock, the resulting hits not so much drilling into it as going straight through.

“I do not wish to invoke memories on your part, Miss Pan, but from your experience, you must know to either avoid these beams at all cost or, if you have the sufficient power necessary, repel them.”

Trunks believed Pan was trying to obtain Super Saiyan with a calmer, more controlled state of mind compared to other sessions.

“It won’t appear the first time through a clear mind, a clear head, or a clear picture. It’s none of those things.”

Even with his frustration, he was clearly trying to keep collected as he felt an instructor should.

“It’s about letting go. You can’t let go half-way. It has to be all the way.”

Pan now saw Hale encircled by boulders, then appearing to lift them into the air with only the slightest gesture of his hand. Captain Ginyu had done the same to the seven Namekian Dragon Balls and flew with them in tow with so little effort, yet this seemed even more effortless to her.

Instead of throwing them as she had anticipated, Hale stacked them atop and between each other like a house of cards, then got ready to swipe his hand.

“Watch carefully.”

And with the resulting swipe, something fired rapidly, scattering the boulders and leaving a crescent-shaped crater.

“I almost didn’t see them, but they almost looked like...”

“Blades of ki. A barrage of them created all at once.”

She had struggled against Jeice’s ki blade prior, though by the time she was facing Ginyu, she had finally managed to not just redirect or counter it, but could even stop it. Now this was several of those blades at once.

“Now stand back for this one.”

A ball of immense ki formed from his index and middle fingers joined together and with a swing, a ki blade that almost appeared like a whip curved and swung into the ground, the impact and the ensuing crater well past Pan’s view.

“When he used this technique on Namek, it could stretch miles across the entire planet.”

“Recoome was said to be able to do that kind of damage with his Eraser Gun. It was basically his ultimate attack... but with Frieza, it’s barely even a display of his power.”

“Think of the last moments of your Earth.”

Now Trunks was trying to get Pan to focus on the specifics that triggered her transformation.

“Describe it to me, Pan.”

Her eyes closed, she was picturing the carnage Frieza unleashed upon catching up to her, Bulla, her mother and grandmother, and Hercule. Trunks could see her face twisting away from anger to mourning.

“Stay angry, Pan. Stay angry!”

She tried doing as he suggested, her fisted hand all but punching away a tear before returning it to her side.

“Now describe it.”

Pan heard and saw the moment Frieza caught up clear as day:

"Yamcha... he gave his life for us..."

“There is time to mourn later, young lady.”

Pan looked over at her grandmother as she spoke.

“We have to find Fortuneteller Baba... Roshi's older sister. She's the only hope we have now."

“What can she do?” Bulla inquired.

“She can summon someone who can help us.”

“Who?”

As Bulla asked this, Pan turned to her, and by the time Chi-Chi opened her mouth to answer back...

“...”

Pan turned to see Frieza standing in front of her grandmother, piercing into her stomach with his hand.

“My grand...”

Even with Trunks’ directive, she struggled to make words.

“She... my grandmother...”

“Tell me what happened, Pan.”

Her grandmother’s life, as far as Pan knew, may have ended when Frieza booted the lying Chi-Chi away with a kick to her head.

“She was... a kick...”

“And what happened next?”

Pan heard and saw her mother slammed onto the golden Frieza’s knee back-first.

“My mother... her back...”

Trunks was getting some descriptions, but felt Pan had to give more to push her into transforming.

“We need more detail. More specifics to bring out Super Saiyan.”

“What happened to Bulla?”

Talking about all these deaths taxed Pan, but now here Trunks was asking about one of the losses she wanted to avoid discussing most of all.

She heard the impact of several ki blasts with Bulla.

“Blasted...”

Along with this, Pan could hear the choking of Hercule in Frieza’s hand.

“And Hercule...”

“Hercule what?”

“He...”

Hercule’s frozen pink face stared at her.

“He what, Pan?”

“Choked... with one hand...”

“And what about Bulla?”

As much as Trunks didn’t intend it, to Pan, this session was turning into an interrogation.

“My sister, Pan. What happened to her?”

She heard Bulla spitting in Frieza’s face, then couldn’t bear what came next.

“Trunks, I...”

“What happened to my sister?!”

A death beam flashed between Pan’s eyes...

...as she shouted out, her hair becoming a golden hue...

...but it was flickering almost immediately.

“Hold that anger, Pan! HOLD!!!”

He could see Pan’s anger clearly, but could also see other emotions conflicting with it.

“It made you angry, Pan, but why?”

The flashes seemed to slow for a moment.

“Tell me why. Why are you angry?!”

They slowed down even moreso even without Pan having answered him.

“What makes you angry?!”

Pan looked to be opening her mouth to answer him...

“M...”

...then lied down on her side, the golden aura having left her. Even before Trunks approached her, he felt her slamming her fist into the simulated ground, causing a shake.

“What do I keep screwing up about this?” she asked, not rageful, but clearly unhappy.

Despite how much he had been pushing her thus far, Trunks still offered her a hand up.

“Even with this, there comes a time to stop, and this is it.”

“Look, Pan, we’ll stop for today and then...”

“You’re the instructor here. You can tell me, Trunks.”

She didn’t take his hand and instead peered at the ground.

“What am I getting wrong?”

Trunks sat down, as if trying to figure out the answer himself.

“I wish I knew, Pan. This is the best I’ve got.”

“I think it’s a matter of bottling up.”

She lifted her head back up, then transitioned to lying on her back.

“I really hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way, Pan, but we worry about what others will think... what we could do... so we bottle up. We bottle up a lot.”

She nodded to him, having found herself unable to disagree with him.

“When you need to transform into a Super Saiyan, you have to stop bottling up. Let it all out, whatever it is you’re feeling angry about. Every last bit. Okay?”

Another nod followed.

“Good. Then let’s call it a wrap.”

He walked to her left side, then crouched down with a hand, which she finally took. Now that Pan was back on her feet, he couldn’t help but look down for a moment.

“I know I said I’d push you so much it’d hurt, and what I was doing earlier just now was...”

“I get it, Trunks. There’s a reason for it.”

“Still, part of me knows this whole thing on your end must be just...”

He caught her putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You know what you’re doing, Trunks.”

After patting it twice, she headed towards the training chamber’s exit.

“It can’t be easy for either of us. That’s why it’ll work.”

Despite Pan’s lack of discouragement and her utter confidence in him...

“I really wish I could believe that I do...”

That night, Trunks seemed to be sleeping soundly even with how the day had gone earlier. His mind wandered back to old memories:

There he was as a teen sitting next to his world’s Gohan in a more rocky region, not by the water where they normally trained.

“Man, what a joke.”

His mentor, standing in front of him, could tell Trunks was in a funk.

“Relax, Trunks. Let’s put that aside for right now.”

“What am I getting wrong, Gohan? Why can’t I go Super Saiyan?”

“You can. It just takes the right motivation.”

“I want to stop the Androids. Stop them from hurting anyone else. Isn’t that motivation enough?”

He tried squeezing his fingers into his palms, but stopped upon recognizing how much it hurt to do so.

“Why isn’t that good enough?”

“Trunks, the universe isn’t telling you that it’s not good enough. You have good intentions, no doubt about it, but that’s not the key to Super Saiyan. For me, it’s...”

Gohan stopped, then sat down to the left of Trunks.

“Look, you’ve heard me go over Piccolo and Krillin’s deaths what feels like a thousand times now. And frankly, I have no idea how your father did it...”

“But I’m his son! The son of Vegeta! If my father could go Super Saiyan and I can’t, what does that make me?!!”

“Just because you haven’t yet doesn’t mean you’re...”

“Maybe I physically can’t! Maybe I’m biologically unable to! All because I’m not a Saiyan like him! Because of...!”

“Hey!”

He pointed with his right hand.

“You mind your mother, Trunks.”

Catching what he almost said about Bulma, his own mother, Trunks hunched over further, his chest to his knees and his hands toward his heels.

“I’m sorry, Gohan. I didn’t mean to talk like that. It’s all on me. Nobody else. I’m just...”

He looked down directly at his feet.

“I guess... I’m just not good enough to do it.”

He didn’t hear a response from Gohan and couldn’t think of anything else to add himself. Trunks couldn’t bring himself to tear up, almost as if he believed it would’ve been beneath him to do so, instead remaining in a self-loathing state.

“Hey,” went his mentor, kneeling down to look him in the eyes at his current eye level.

Trunks still couldn’t bring himself to face him, so Gohan gently lifted him by his chin with his hand.

“Trunks, you’re the brother I never had and you have your whole life ahead of you. You will become a Super Saiyan some day.”

He knew Gohan would say something to ease his spirits, but this actually began to lift them.

“You really think I can do it?”

“Oh, I don’t think it. I know it.”

A smile began to form on his face...

...when an explosion, barely audible, could be heard in the far distance. The two made it to their feet to face its direction and both could tell this was neither an accident nor the cause of anyone other than the ones they already suspected.

“Damn them!”

Trunks was ready to race off when from behind...

CHOP

...he was struck on the back of his neck.

“Such a rookie mistake!” went Gohan, his gentle tone from before now entirely gruff.

Trinks fell onto his chest, immobilized for only a moment before lifting himself up by his arms.

“Turning your back to an ally! An ally bigger and stronger than you! Not anticipating them wanting to bench you!”

He saw his coat and gloves instead of his blue long sleeves and bare hands: he wasn’t his younger self anymore.

“I thought I taught you better than that! Evidently, I did not.”

Trunks rose to his feet to face him after his comment.

“No, Gohan. You taught me well.”

“How? You couldn’t go Super Saiyan, even with all of my instructions.”

Clenching his fist before his pupil...

“Clearly, you had yourself a bad teacher.”

“You weren’t a bad teacher, Gohan. I was...”

A sniffle made its way through.

“I was a bad student.”

A tear escaped his eye.

“I failed you.”

“Past tense, Trunks.”

After hearing this, Trunks turned, seeing that Gohan had disappeared.

“What?”

“Just what have you been teaching her?!”

“Y-you don’t mean...?”

“My daughter, Trunks.”

Now Trunks was no longer in the rocky region, instead standing in the Plaza of Time.

“I never taught you the secret.”

Lightning nearly struck where Trunks stood followed by rain coming down and the loud roar of thunder.

“What makes you think you can succeed with her where I failed with you?”

Now the temperature began to drop and the rain turned into hail.

“You’re already making the same mistakes I did.”

As Trunks had his gloved hands against his mouth to keep his face warm, he caught something lying on the now snow-covered ground, but upon closer inspection...

“Are you going to fail my daughter like I failed you?”

...it was Pan as she appeared on the first day he had met her: nearly frozen.

“Like you failed me?!”

He held her close to try to warm her, but found only ice cold breaths left her.

“Are you going to let my family die?!”

To his horror, Pan’s skin, clothes, and hair all began to become covered in what seemed like a layer of ice. His gloves couldn’t do a thing to stop it and soon found that her body was completely petrified like he was holding a statue instead of a person.

“HUH, BROTHER?!!!”

Now Pan was no longer flesh, but instead like she was composed entirely of ice. Trunks could see his own reflection...

“If my Pan dies...”

...which shifted to that of his younger self.

“...her blood is on your hands...”

For a moment, Trunks didn’t feel the icy cold of holding Pan and instead felt another body. Peering down, it was wearing orange and blue gi.

“Just like...”

Trunks shouted as he sat up in his bed, his sheets flying forward and knocking over various items in their path. He couldn’t hear if anything fell down hard or broke as his heavy breathing was all he could catch at that moment.

Once he began to slow down his breaths, he looked over at his hands, the palm guards having worked, but with indents from how hard he was squeezing.

His first order of business was to turn on the lights and get his sheets back onto his bed. He found the sheets over by a small table and as he picked it up...

…a sharp sensation which he knew to be glass. He pulled the sheet down from its corner, revealing his framed photo from his world. Aside from several pieces that had gotten out, the glass frame had cracks that all but obscured Gohan’s face entirely.

“I don’t know how you did it, Gohan...”

After putting his sheets back atop his bed, he peered into his open closet, seeing a set of body armor and a suit designed by his mother of the new main timeline he had helped create. By the point he was wearing it, only Goku, himself, and Vegeta had become Super Saiyans.

“It was just us three...”

But he recalled doors opening, and not only did Goku exit through as a Super Saiyan...

“...but your younger self...”

In the days that ensued before the Cell Games, Trunks had inquired to the teenager who was his mentor in his own timeline just how he had managed to obtain it.

“Of course!”

It was all coming back to him.

“I know what I have to do now.”

Getting dressed on the double, Trunks exited his unit and headed towards the gate out of the Time Nest.

“Toh! Toh!”

Tokitoki flew into his path.

“I’ve rested enough, Tokitoki. This is important.”

“Ki! Ki!”

“I said I’m okay. I just need to get out there and prepare the next session.”

“Toh.”

Chronoa, opening the door to her unit quietly, could see and hear Trunks was getting impatient.

“You think I’m about to push Pan too hard?”

“Ki. Toh.”

“Well I won’t let her die against Frieza. Now move.”

“Toh, ki. Toh, ki.”

“I’m going! Now get out of my way!”

Try as the mystical bird did to step to the side and expand its wings out to keep Trunks from walking around him, Trunks instead slid directly underneath him, then ran towards the gate.

“Ki! Toh, Ki!”

Whether Trunks heeded his last words or not, Tokitoki saw and heard him leave his presence entirely.

“Tokitoki!”

Chronoa ran to Tokitoki, one of her oldest friends, and saw him putting his head down.

“You don’t really think Trunks would do that, do you?”

“Toh. Toh.”

His dejected tone gave her pause in regards to how seriously Tokitoki took Trunks’ attitude and what he thought Trunks was about to do.

“He has his limits. He wouldn’t go that far... but if he felt it was the only way for Pan to survive...”

Pan made her way down the steps towards the training chamber, thinking over what Trunks had told her the day before.

“You have to stop bottling up. Let it all out, whatever it is you’re feeling angry about. Every last bit. Okay?”

She was certain she was early, beating Trunks there, but was curious to find the door was open, as well as a complete lack of him there to greet her.

“Are you in there, Trunks?”

She entered, the same formations surrounded by water she and Trunks had trained in for some time seemingly void of his presence.

“Trunks?”

“Why would he not be in here?”

She tried sensing him, but was finding no trace of his ki.

“Why would he leave the door open for me? To work on my own?”

Pan heard the doors close...

...followed by that sound she had heard when she faced Goten in the tournament, when four gathered to fight against Frieza, and when Trunks had to fly her across Namek quickly...

...Trunks was above her, having gone Super Saiyan and now building up a massive amount of ki in his hands.

“Now listen carefully...!”

He had his hands in a diamond shape, the power it was creating far eclipsing any she had encountered in any of her battles.

“This attack’s going to go straight towards you!”

Pan’s first knee-jerk reaction was to get herself ready for a roll or a hop to avoid it and Trunks could tell from her stance it’s what she was thinking of doing on reflex.

“You have to stay right there! Avoiding this isn’t an option!”

Pan understood this, but with the amount of power he was generating, one that put estimates of Frieza to shame...

“Wait, but Trunks, I...!”

“As you are, you won’t be able to stop it! You’re only going to be able to stop it with your anger!”

Even with Trunks, her instructor, as a Super Saiyan before him, she didn’t like her odds in this moment.

“Anger’s going to stop this thing?! Stop it from ripping me apart?!”

“Trunks, this...! I don’t know if this will...!”

“Now here goes!”

Having no choice in the matter, she took on a stance to repel it, timing it as Trunks finally released the orb from his palms.

“Kaio-Ken TIMES TEN!”

Pan had managed to stop it, but she felt it in her body that she would not be able to keep the orb at bay for long. It was already starting to drag her back inch by inch, and its sheer force was already causing the rocky ground around her to crack.

“I’m stopping it for now, but once this goes out... so do I.”

Trunks knew just as well as Pan that her Kaio-Ken would only last so long, especially times ten, and thought about what would awaken her inner Super Saiyan.

“We’ve gone over everyone she lost in that battle and its aftermath. Everyone she’s SEEN die. Let’s see who else...”

“Your classmates! Your teachers! People working at your favorite stores!”

Pan, ignoring the glowing orb threatening to bring down and engulf her, closed her eyes and began visualizing them.

“All the people coming home from work! Children who had just woken up! Families with no care in the world!”

Pan’s face twisted away to sorrow briefly, but then seethed again with rage.

“But it’s still not pushing her past the brink!”

He tried thinking of people who would be almost like family to Pan, but would not have been present in such a battle.

“Puar and Oolong!”

The two took turns transforming to the amusement of the young Pan, sitting and clapping at their antics as she giggled at each funny face they made.

“Probably at Kame House watching TV! No harm came to them, right?!”

It especially struck hard with Puar since she knew...

“He was Yamcha’s oldest friend. Yamcha... he died without him.”

“Korin!”

Her parents both watched as Pan, donned in her orange gi from training with Master Roshi, chased after Korin with glee.

“Come here, Kitty!”

He had outpaced her so far, but even he was astonished at her speed.

“My, she’s fast for a little one.”

“On his tower as usual! Totally safe, huh?!”

And like with Yamcha, she recalled...

“Yajirobe. He left Korin to join us. Korin had no idea what would...”

Trunks tried to think of more non-combatants when one of the most obvious hit him.

“My mother...”

“What about Bulma and all the people she was evacuating?! Did they make it out okay?!”

A flash of several memories all at once:

Pan starting to say words, and pronouncing Bulma’s name.

Bulma showing Pan the four star Dragon Ball.

Pan walking alongside Bulma, Bulla, and Vegeta.

Tears started, but then seemed to evaporate.

“I always told Bulla that Bulma was like a second mom to me. Not just because she knew Goku the longest. No. She truly was.”

He saw Pan’s Kaio-Ken dissipating away and golden glows forming in their place.

“Just one last push...”

Pan, even in this continuing rage, almost dreaded who Trunks would mention next.

“What about Colm?!”

Her eyes shot open, not having anticipated this.

“I only brought him up once... but now Trunks is...”

“You saved his life! Taught him how to fly!”

The events Trunks described came back to her, as did their last day together...

The day Colm left, she was hugged by him.

“Thank you, Pan... so much... for everything.”

Then after he waved and said “Goodbye,” to her...

“See you next time.”

“My last words to him...”

She could almost swear she felt Colm’s hug from that day, warm from the coat he wore.

“He never got to...”

More and more steam fumed from near her eyes as more tears were vaporized upon trying to touch down on her face.

“He’s just back in his village, awaiting your visit! Isn’t he, Pan?!”

Trunks saw that this had registered the strongest reaction by far, Pan now starting to float off the ground, as well as...

“The hints of gold are staying longer! This could be it! Just a little more...”

“How does all that make you feel?!”

She wasn’t speaking at this point, just shouting with guttural sounds in between.

“Colm had his whole life ahead of him, and Frieza... he...”

Trunks, keeping his mentor demeanor, almost couldn’t help but smile from seeing Pan near her transformation as planned.

“I’ve almost done it, Gohan. Just like it worked for your younger self...”

“Tell me, Pan! WHAT. DO. YOU. FEEL.”

Now peering over at Trunks, seeing past the orb.

“Out of everyone, Frieza...”

”WHAT! DO! YOU! FEEL?!”

Closing her eyes and looking away...

“You’re finally going to be a Super Saiyan, Pan!”

“It should’ve been me!”

Upon hearing her shout this, instead of believing he had succeeded...

...he was in dismay.

“That can’t be right.”

For the first time since starting this session to end all sessions, Trunks wasn’t set on pushing Pan even further beyond, but instead worried she had been hurt by him.

“You can’t really mean that, Pan.”

“Colm had nothing to do with any of it! Frieza could’ve just taken me and left him and everyone else! It’s not fair!”

Trunks couldn’t believe Pan was directing her anger at herself.

“No, no. This isn’t... not like this...”

And she continued.

“My mom! My dad! Everyone! Everyone who fought alongside me! With everything they had done before I existed! What they could’ve still done!”

“Pan, you can’t trade...”

“Bulla! If I hadn’t been held down, I’d have done anything to stop that beam from hitting her! I’d have taken her place! If she were wished here instead of me, you could’ve met your sister!”

Trunks saw Pan’s tears were no longer being dissipated, coming down cleanly in the midst of her seething anger.

“Goten! My uncle Goten trained his whole life to live up to my grandfather!”

Now she slouched over.

“He won the tournament! He went Super Saiyan!”

Her posture took a worse turn.

“It should’ve been his turn! Goten’s time!”

Her hair flashing gold was now going slower and slower as her feet slowly began to touch back down.

“He should be the one here! You and him working together! And I...”

Her anger began to dissipate.

“I robbed him of it.”

And upon transitioning to a quiet sadness...

“It should’ve been me."

...the gold was no more...

...and with her having exited Kaio-Ken during her ranting at herself, the orb now pushed her back full-force. The floor beneath her gave out almost immediately and she instinctively brought out her ki shield before the orb struck, but was being sent back fast towards the water below.

“It could kill her! Oh God, what have I done?!”

Trunks tried flying around the orb’s path to intercept it with a blast or even stop it by hand.

“I wasn’t helping Pan at all! And if I don’t stop that now...!”

Seeing herself about to strike the water, not knowing if she’d hit the training chamber’s bottom soon after...

“Kaio-Ken...!”

Trunks didn’t stop, heading straight for the orb to knock it away from Pan.

“I’m going to make this right! I’ll...!”

“Times TWENTY!!!”

The moment she began this, she should’ve been submerged, but instead, the waters around her didn’t even touch her. It almost seemed as if the sheer energy around her was turning any liquid in her closest vicinity to steam. The orb’s momentum ceased completely and Pan turned herself around in the opposite direction and lifted it to change its course.

During all this, Trunks just kept flying in her direction faster, so intent on crashing into the orb with all his might he didn’t even notice Pan stopping it herself, as if he was flying so fast time stopped around him.

“I won’t let your daughter die, Gohan! I won’t fail you again!”

Pan then appeared to throw it overhead with both hands like a soccer ball, sending it into the distance.

Trunks, meanwhile, zoomed past her, realizing then that Pan had sent the orb away, and at the speed he was going, splashed down straight into the water.

Now that the orb no longer threatened her, Pan immediately left Kaio-Ken times twenty, but even having only used it for a few seconds, she fell, lying on her back...

...on solid ground: the very bottom of the training chamber. She expected the waters to take her soon after, but it was as if she were surrounded by a small barrier keeping them at bay.

Pan had been fueled by anger for some time, and in the brief moment that followed had to act fast to save herself. Whether because she was drained or left adrift after unleashing so much raw emotion, she didn’t know what to think.

“Pan.”

She looked up at Trunks, his clothes and his handkerchief soaked from his splash down, running over to her, then stopping short of entering her circle.

“Trunks. You must’ve landed pretty hard there. Are you okay?”

He crouched down, his head over his knees.

“I don’t deserve an apology for what I just did to you.”

“You were pushing me to become a Super Saiyan. Hard, but...”

“I could’ve killed you!”

He struck the ground with his hand, splashing it upward, but still not reaching Pan, as he then transitioned to sitting down. Pan saw his face completely wet, making it hard to discern whether he had tears or if it was water already there.

“I forced sink or swim onto you! Made you hate yourself just now!”

“Trunks, that wasn’t anything new.”

“Please tell me you don’t hate yourself, Pan.”

“I don’t hate myself, Trunks. This feeling has been with me since I first woke up here. When I realized everything that happened wasn’t a dream. That everyone but me was... is gone.”

He figured out the exact cause...

“When I told you to stop bottling up...”

“It came to the surface. Anger at being the only one who got away.”

“That feeling...”

After Pan caught Trunks pausing, he scooched forward, still just shy of entering her circle.

“I never told you what happened to my world’s Gohan.”

Pan saw Trunks being choked up regarding the topic he was about to discuss, but he finally pushed himself to speak at length.

“The last time Gohan and I trained, it wasn’t here. It was somewhere new. He might’ve thought changing things up would’ve done something for me. But the Androids attacked a city in the far distance. We both got ready to leave, but he told me to stay where I was. I told him I wasn’t going to let him go alone with his injury from when we fought the Androids together. We were both nearly killed in that last battle. I was in bad shape, but Gohan saved me at the cost of healing himself.”

Pan started to lift her upper body upward slightly so she could try sitting up and look directly at him eye-to-eye.

“At first, he said he agreed for us to work together once again. When I turned my back to him...”

He put his hand in a chopping stance to the back of his neck to illustrate his next point.

“Gohan knocked me out. Benched me himself. And when I finally woke up and reached the city...”

He peered down at his hands, imagining them shaking someone...

“You can’t leave me!”

His younger self in the rain tried getting this body to move.

“Why? Why did you have to go it alone?”

No matter how much he tried finding any signs of life, there were none.

“No! No, no, no! No, it’s not fair! It just isn’t fair!”

Now Pan could see a tear on his face separate from the rest of the water on him.

“Gohan was dead.”

In all their talks on the subject, Pan never knew just what Trunks time traveling and joining the Time Patrol meant for his mentor, and even when she tried finding out, Trunks either dodged the question or redirected the conversation elsewhere.

“Trunks never had a father growing up. Gohan basically was his father and he... he lost him.”

A tear dropped onto the water by his sitting lower body, leaving a ripple.

“All I could think in that moment was why him? Why did he have to leave me? And...”

As if Pan were reading his mind, she knew what four words he was going to say next.

“It should’ve been me.”

Pan was about to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but his expression made it clear he wouldn’t have reacted to it, at least not now.

“He was a hero fighting back against the Androids, one of the last of the Z-Fighters, the son of a legend, and a Super Saiyan. And I was just this punk teenager. He had so much more to offer my world... more than I could’ve... but he was the one that was gone, not me.”

Instead, Pan focused on his desire to take Gohan’s place instead.

“There were times where I would’ve traded my life for any one of the innocent people the Androids had killed on all their rampages... and Gohan.”

“Trunks, how would your mother have reacted to your death? Or Gohan?”

This registered a reaction, Trunks’ mood becoming reflective.

“At that time, I thought Gohan set me aside because I was too weak... because I couldn’t go Super Saiyan if my life depended on it...”

“That’s why you pushed me to go Super Saiyan so hard just now...”

“...but now I realize it was because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing me.”

But then it shifted towards a melancholy anger.

“And yet there I was, ready to throw it away at the drop of a hat. I told my mom and even myself that I left to save people from the Androids... but really, all I wanted was to either make them pay... or make myself pay for letting Gohan die.”

Pan sat up completely as she caught Trunks looking down again.

“I had no chance. I should’ve died at their hands. I didn’t outwit them or escape. It was just sheer dumb cosmic luck that I survived and that my mom found me.”

He saw Pan’s reflection in the rippled water, seeing that she was now at the circle’s edge.

“And now every time I look at you, Pan...”

One ripple almost made one of Pan’s hairs over her left eye appear like a scar.

“I see him.”

He started to lift himself back up to get to his feet.

“I know my Gohan’s not your father, but it’s like you’re my Gohan’s daughter all the same. And Pan, I’m...”

He turned away, as if unable to face her, but then felt Pan putting a hand on his shoulder, the ripples in the water making it look like she had just one arm.

“You’re worried about me.”

“I’m afraid, Pan. Afraid of what could happen. Of losing you.”

He put his gloved hand over hers.

“Not because I feel like I’d be failing Gohan. But because...”

He turned around to face her.

“I don’t want to lose someone I care about again.”

He then felt her putting her hands on both his arms.

“But I went about it the wrong way. Even if it was all because I care, I don’t deserve...”

He was interrupted by a hug.

“I’d say you’re only human...”

Even without seeing her face from that angle, Trunks could tell she was trying to lighten the mood with her comment with a smile.

“...but we’re both part Saiyan too.”

This resulted in a small chuckle from Trunks, whom hugged her back.

“You were right about one thing, Trunks...”

“What?”

“We both bottle up. We don’t share because we worry what others will think.”

“Because I’d be asking someone to suffer with me. To absorb all of my pain and be dragged down by my...”

She lightly shushed to interrupt him, akin to her grandmother comforting her when she was young.

“Friends don’t only talk to each other when they’re happy. Remember?”

It was then Trunks recalled finding Pan hurt physically and mentally, and helping her to find out what was wrong even as she tried keeping it to herself.

“Just talk to me, Trunks. Whatever’s going on. Okay?”

As much as he loathed himself in the moment for everything he had done with Pan up to this point, having her comforting him led to him slowly starting to let it all go.

“I will, Pan.”

“Are you sure about this,” the Supreme Kai of Time asked.

“I am.”

Trunks sat on his bed, wearing dark green Time Patrol pajamas with his wet clothes in his hamper.

“I will help Hale with Pan’s sessions going forward. Nothing else I do will be without his supervision.”

Chronoa sat down next to Trunks, debating whether she should put a hand on his back as he wasn’t wallowing in guilt in this moment.

“When Pan first told me she was the daughter of Gohan, I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to get to know her and see what she’d make of herself. But after all these battles and with what’s to come... I got scared.”

She instead elected to put her hand over his.

“Gohan meant a lot to you. And it’s clear she does as well.”

“If I’m going to help Pan succeed, I need to be better. And that starts with me opening up.”

He turned his hand around, then gently closed it around Chronoa’s.

“I’ll take you up on that option.”

They both heard a pair of wings flap open and then saw Tokitoki in front of them: Trunks had his window open.

“Now watch his stuff, Tokitoki. And your feathers especially.

“Ki,” groaned the mystical bird, as he walked to Trunks’ side.

Trunks thought of how just earlier that day, he had lost his patience with Tokitoki and literally evaded him for what he thought was the solution.

“You were telling me what I needed to hear and I wouldn’t listen. I’m sorry, Tokitoki.”

“Toh, toh.”

The bird had his head out where Trunks could reach as he lightly pat him, resulting in a happy chirp from Tokitoki. The Supreme Kai of Time saw Trunks starting to smile and closing his eyes, sitting up straight and relaxed.

“You are certain your formula will work on Frieza and all his forms?”

Mira was shown the batch of Towa’s formula up close, where he found the glow to be more intense than it appeared prior.

“It will, Mira.”

“And in all this time, the patroller...”

“That’s where our guest comes in.”

Hearing a beaming noise, Mira found the one who communicated with her the day before now standing before him. This older man in gold, orange, and purple garb fashioned for royalty, yet practical enough for combat, and with the black cape and hood hiding his face was slightly taller than him.

“Hello there, sport.”

Up close, Mira could make out that the blue gem he thought was a part of his head was actually adorned on a purple headpiece beneath the hood and saw a scar beneath his left eye towards his cheek.

“You think yourself a king?” Mira asked him.

“Well, in my younger days, I was a bit of a nomad, but...”

This green-skinned man, seeing Towa holding something behind her back...

“Ah, I completely forgot why I was beamed here to begin with... ”

He lightly shoved Mira aside...

“I’ve waited a long time for this, and I can’t wait another minute.”

...and extended his orange gloved hand out to her.

“Give it here.”

Towa didn’t move.

“Pretty please with cherry on top?”

Her closed hand hovered over his open hand and dropped something into it.

“Come to Papa.”

Training Near Completion! Frieza Ahead![]

“Kaio-Ken Times Ten!”

Pan flew towards Commander Hale with this massive power-up, the two appearing dead-even once again in their spar thus far.

Trunks stood in the distance watching over the battle now that he had decided he would only help and instruct Pan under Hale’s supervision.

“Pan’s holding Times Ten for much longer than before. Her body’s acclimating slowly, but surely to it.”

(**BEEP BEEP BEEP**)

Once this was made audible to everyone, the two immediately stopped combating each other as Pan exited Kaio-Ken completely.

“The first time you were at this level of Kaio-Ken, you almost couldn’t get out of it... but now I see that you can freely.”

Hale peered at his wrist, seeing a virtual screen with a timer that ceased at...

“20 seconds. How do you feel, Miss Pan?”

“To tell you the truth...” she answered back, hands over her knees with steady breaths. “I feel like I could’ve gone just a few more. But...”

Standing back up straight, though still strained...

“Better safe than sorry.”

“That said, we can attempt a few more seconds for the next session.”

Hale typed on a virtual keypad, setting a timer for 22 seconds.

“Now then, another of Frieza’s techniques...”

Trunks stepped forward.

“You’ll need a volunteer for this one, Hale. Rocks won’t cut it.”

Pan saw Trunks standing in place, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

“What you’re about to see, Miss Pan, is the Imprisonment Ball. Frieza can use his energies to ensnare his opponent in a sphere. They remain trapped for some time until he decides to have it strike anything other than himself, be it terrain or one of his attacks.”

Trunks opened his eyes and nodded to Hale.

“I’m ready.”

Pan watched as Hale put his right hand over his left wrist as his left palm was directed at Trunks, energy emanating from it. She then saw a sphere emerge around Trunks, then begin to close in, Trunks not appearing to move during any of this.

“It can’t crush its target, can it?” Pan inquired, knowing Trunks would be more than alright, but moreso worried about other recipients such as herself.

“It traps, but it does not crush. Attempting to do so would detonate it prematurely.”

Now she saw Hale taking a step backward, his stance akin to a soccer player about to run and kick a ball back into play.

“With this technique, he intends to land as many hits as he can.”

Sprinting forward, then with a swing of his right foot...

Trunks and the Imprisonment Ball that held him were launched into the air. Hale reached it in a flash, kicking it back down, then emerging on the ground to knock it away once more with a flip kick.

Pan knew Trunks could go Super Saiyan and he had volunteered himself, but even as she didn’t sense or hear Trunks in pain...

“I get the idea, now wrap it up. Please!”

Hale put out his hand before the approaching Imprisonment Ball...

“As you wish.”

Instead of kicking it, he used a kiai wave to send Trunks back down.

“The moment it touches down, Trunks...”

“I know!”

Pan watched the orb, in the distance, crash down into a simulated rocky structure, then explode. She felt the wind around her change and had to shield her face from pieces of rock, but instead of fearing for Trunks, she immediately tried to sense him.

“There!”

She saw Trunks flying in her direction, then touching down. Even with all of Hale’s kicks that landed, he appeared little the worse for wear.

“How did you get out of it, Trunks?”

“Well Pan, there’s a small window between impact and its detonation where one can escape. Your grandfather pulled it off.”

“There is one other thing, Trunks...” started Hale, hovering down between them. “It also unleashes a vacuum effect of such power it can pull in those that attempt to escape it.”

“Grandpa had to not just escape it, but with tremendous force to get out of the vacuum...”

“Pan. Trunks. You have both done well.”

Both said their thanks back to Hale, but Trunks had his hand behind his head.

“I mean, I didn’t really do much other than...”

“Nonsense, Trunks. You’re ensuring our safety.”

The next few days were a routine of Pan first battling Hale while using Kaio-Ken Times Ten at greater lengths than the day before, then learning of a new technique of Frieza’s.

“Time!”

Hale checked his gauntlet’s screen.

“Twenty-two. Now Miss Pan, watch myself and Trunks carefully.”

From where Pan stood, she could see both from the corners of each eye, Hale out in the open while Trunks stood with his back against a wall.

“Is he about to fire off a blast or...?”

Now Hale moved so fast to her that he vanished.

“Still watching Trunks!”

In that split-second, Pan saw Hale’s arm piercing through the rock wall. From that angle, it almost appeared as if Trunks had been impaled through the chest.

“Without Kaio-Ken, I couldn’t even track that movement!”

Trunks seemed almost nonchalant, brushing off his coat and stepping forward afterward as Hale then flew in an arc over the wall.

“Focusing his energies in that instant, Frieza can move fast enough to arc behind his adversary and strike with enough might to pierce through even stronger foes.”

Landing before Pan, pebbles still left on his hand from the wall...

“No doubt you could track it in higher levels of Kaio-Ken, but if he attacks you when you are not in it, you have to act with alacrity. The moment he disappears, you must be swift as if he will attack from behind at any moment.”

“Twenty-four.”

Now Hale had one hand out, the other holding it, as a pink orb formed, then grew.

“Unlike his death beam, this one is less for piercing and more so to overwhelm and break apart.”

The blast that resulted left a massive hole in each structure it struck through, then...

“Gah!”

Pan felt herself off her feet just from its impact with the ground as a massive spherical explosion went off surrounded by sparks...

“...or is that electricity?”

“Unless you have the ki on hand to counter or overpower the Death Cannon, get out of its way and watch out for the shockwave afterward.”

“I swear half of Frieza’s techniques have Death in the name...”

But this time, Hale decided to go over Frieza’s technique in question before his spar with Pan.

“As you have known for some time, Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta. This attack, the Death Ball, is what he used to do it.”

As Hale began demonstrating at least the stance, his index finger up in the air...

“He forms an orb that expands...”

...both he and Trunks noted Pan keeping calm, but clearly being bothered at the sight of it.

“I’ve seen it.”

This time, Pan spoke about the events of her Earth without her hands closing into fists.

“He used it to destroy my Earth. Told me he’d let me see the fireworks.”

Trunks stepped to her side and put a hand to her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Pan.”

Hale stopped his stance and had his hands behind him.

“Then I will not carry on what I had intended without your permission, Miss Pan.”

Trunks felt Pan stepping forward and put his hands to his sides.

“What did you want to do, Hale?”

“At the tail end of our spar, I intended to unleash a Death Ball and for you to try repelling it.”

“But that’s... that thing can kill planets.”

“Yes, but through reaching a planet’s core, not by simply detonating the planet all at once.”

Trunks approached Pan and turned to face her.

“If you want to try repelling it, just know neither of us will let it reach you.”

Hale had his virtual screen in front of him, swiping his left hand to scroll through what seemed to be notes.

“If you do not wish to undergo that technique, I could come up with another conclusion to the session if you so desi...”

“I’ll do it.”

Pan made her way to Hale as he turned his screen off.

“I can bet he used it on Namek. That’s why you’re going over it. And I have to be prepared for it.”

“Very well.”

Considering this session was different from the rest of Hale’s, more-or-less out of order...

“So if we’re not just aiming for twenty-eight seconds today...”

“Think of this as the graduation from his third form to his fourth and final.”

Taking off his two-eyed scouter, then tossing it to Trunks...

“Face me however you wish and I will then determine your readiness to face his final form on your performance.”

With a set of taps on his gauntlet without looking down, Hale had set a stopwatch with his left hand. One of his fingers waited to press until Pan had shouted “Ten”, after which it touched down, starting the stopwatch...

...while going for a flying chop immediately afterward, blocked by Pan with both wrists. Seeing Hale’s right hand about to join, she tilted her left wrist enough to face that hand directly into his right’s path. A kiai blast pushed the right back, then, knocking his left back with uncrossed arms, was free to strike him backward with a two-handed strike, almost akin to the conclusion of the Wolf Fang Fist.

As Hale fell onto his stomach, stopping himself, he found that Pan had disappeared. Without sensing ki to emulate Frieza’s lacking knowledge of it, he could not track her, even as he could hear her flying and felt the changes in the air. Once she finally approached him, he swung, but found her ducking in mid-flight to punch his side.

After being dragged back, Hale tried defending himself from whatever attack of Pan’s could come next. Once he successfully avoided one, he flew between several spots quickly to make himself a harder target for Pan to hit. Despite this, she either beat Hale there or seemed to course-correct before he could move again.

Even with how they had squared off in their sessions prior...

“I think her in Times Ten has finally edged me out at this level...”

But Pan still knew why she was faring well so far.

“It’s beating him so far, but once it runs out...”

She had improved her capacity to stay in Times Ten immensely, but knew in the field the risk of going too long with it. And while Hale seemed outmatched, she knew her hits hadn’t truly worn him down.

“Hale can take all of it. He’ll outlast Times Ten.”

A thought in mid-combat...

“But doubling it... if it does enough damage for him or Trunks to call the fight...”

“Kaio-Ken...!”

Hale wasn’t about to let Pan try to power up, not in a graduation session, flying to her with all haste while firing to interrupt her...

“Times...!”

...but she had swatted the blast to the side without ceasing the last word.

“...Twenty!”

This was the second time Trunks had encountered Pan in this level of Kaio-Ken, only this time, it wasn’t done out of stress or fear while hidden by a destructive orb, but her electing to do so herself with the red aura radiating well past her body.

Hale rapidly punched at her, but now Pan wasn’t even needing to block with her arms, simply moving side-to-side.

“Hale can’t even touch her!”

In the midst of Trunks’ astonishment, Pan pushed Hale back with a simple hand out, then Hale would appear to have vanished to the untrained eye...

...his intended punch being stopped by two hands with Pan having turned around. With a twirl, she flipped Hale off his feet, then slid underneath and struck him before he rotated once. He tried stopping himself in midair, but Pan was already above him before he could even attempt it. With a blow to his side, Hale was rocketed back, then struck in the direction he came once more.

From his perspective, it was almost akin to what he had done when demonstrating the Imprisonment Ball, only unlike Trunks, he wasn’t trapped, but simply couldn’t move fast enough to escape.

“Without exceeding his third form’s power, I cannot...”

Pan’s rapid fly-bys and strikes were beginning to slow as she quickly realized...

“If I could go 28, maybe 30 seconds in Times Ten, then with Twenty, I...”

An ache was felt and she immediately knew from doing the math in her head, as well as realizing how much time had passed...

“15 seconds! Shoot!”

Directing Hale back down with a double axe handle, she touched down quickly and, with one last punch to give, had Hale rolling across the ground. She dropped out of Kaio-Ken immediately after that impact, falling to her knees and trying to keep her upper body up when she saw Hale was starting to recover in mid-roll.

“No, no, no! He’s still not worn out!”

Upon seeing him flip himself off the ground with his hand, then landing on both feet, and feeling that she could barely stand even if she tried...

“I used it too long! I’m completely exposed! The moment he comes at me, I won’t be able to defend myself! He’ll run right through me!”

Not looking away or intending to lie down, but feeling like she was finished in the state she was in, Pan waited for Hale to strike...

...instead seeing him hover upward, one arm upward and a tiny orb forming from just one finger raised.

“Prepare yourself, Miss Pan.”

As Hale went higher up into the air, the ball expanded, now several hundred times the size of the tiny orb it began as.

For the first time since the last day on her Earth, Pan saw the Death Ball form before her.

“You have just a few more seconds.”

Pan stood back up, then began channeling ki for what she believed would be the best way to try repelling it...

“Kaaa... meeeee...”

Trunks saw Pan beginning to form Goku’s legendary technique her grandfather’s master originated long ago, as well as saw the Death Ball still growing. He knew all too well what happened when he tried something similar with Pan weeks back...

“It won’t be like last time. Not sink or swim.”

“Haaaa... meeeeee...”

Pan’s attack was beginning to reach its apex as the Death Ball appeared to have done the same.

“Three... two... one...”

Even as Pan wanted to fire the beam immediately, she waited for Hale to begin his attack proper.

“Throw it.”

“Go!”

The moment she saw just the slightest twitch of Hale’s index finger and the smallest movement of the Death Ball downward and diagonally in her direction...

“HAAAAAAAA!!!”

Trunks saw the Kamehameha, one of a greater size and power than he had seen used against the likes of Zarbon in her first mission on Namek, soon collide with the Death Ball...

...and was being torn through relatively with ease.

“Shi...!”

As much as it pained her to even think of it in the moment...

“Come on, body!”

“Times Ten!”

She tried to minimize the strain with the form she had gotten more accustomed to, seeing and feeling a clear change in the Kamehameha besides just appearing larger...

...but even then...

“It’s barely even slowing it...!”

Feeling the ground beneath her start to lightly crumble as the Death Ball was halfway to its mark...

“Everything I got...”

“Times TWENTY!!!”

She saw the Death Ball nearly three-fourths of the way there when the Twenty Times Kamehameha enveloped over her prior beam, then made impact with the deadly orb.

“It stopped?” went Trunks aloud watching it.

Hale, hovering around to see it from the opposite side of Trunks, also noted this.

“It has been stopped.”

As much as this would be a comfort to her and a huge accomplishment in another context, with her body not having recovered from using Times Twenty before and having to resort to using it just now in spite of this, Pan knew it was only delaying the inevitable.

“The moment I run out of juice, I won’t be able to do a thing to get away from it.”

This wouldn’t be her demise, as she had help from two sources, but having a Death Ball vying to get to her still made things uneasy.

Trunks saw Pan dropping to one knee, keeping her arms and torso pointed at the Death Ball still, but increasingly strained while doing so. Not only that, but her Kaio-Ken began to peter out in brief intervals, during which the Death Ball would inch a tiny bit closer, but closer all the same.

“The Times Twenty’s giving out!”

Pan couldn’t bear to close her eyes, but also tried swaying her head to keep sweat out of them as they saw what was almost akin to a miniature sun was closing in on her. Feeling that she couldn’t hold on to Kaio-Ken a second longer...

“You did all you could, body...”

Almost in unison, both Trunks and Hale saw her Kaio-Ken about to expire completely and both flew to intercept the Death Ball.

“We’ve got you!”

Trunks landed directly next to Pan, then shouted “Now!” The moment her arms ceased the Kamehameha, he pushed her out of the way of the Death Ball’s path, then put both his hands up to catch it. Hale caught Pan before she could touch the ground, then helped her to sit down as they saw at first what looked like Trunks beginning to sink into the ground as the Death Ball reached him, a massive crater the width of the orb forming.

“I can’t see him...!”

But as it looked like the Death Ball would finally go through the ground undeterred...

“Galick... Gun...!”

It not only stopped, but was being pushed back as Trunks actually appeared to be stepping upward while holding it. Pan saw his jacket’s sleeves begin to sear and even his gloves becoming fingerless, but also noted a massive purple glow between his hands.

“FIRE!!!”

Trunks’ beam soon rocketed the Death Ball away from him and upward towards the seeming sky until Pan noticed Hale raising one hand.

“Cover your ears, Miss Pan.”

Pan did this as Hale formed and threw another purple orb of sorts, one much smaller than that of the Death Ball, which arced towards it and struck it. Upon seeing just a small distortion forming at its center...

...it exploded entirely, and Pan could feel herself being pushed downward, as well as the winds around her becoming more violent. She shielded her head with her arms and by ducking downward, not feeling debris, but strong currents from the result of the shockwave.

“Pan...”

She felt a tap on her shoulder, then saw Trunks’ hand ready to help her up. As she arrived at her feet, Pan saw Hale with his virtual screen and tapping keys on his gauntlet.

“I failed, right?”

She saw him click just a few more keys, then shut the screen off before putting his arms behind him.

“On the contrary, you passed.”

“But the Death Ball...”

“Stopping the Death Ball was not in any way a requirement. You held it off for as long as you could. That’s all.”

Turning away towards the Training Chamber’s entrance for just a moment...

“Use these next few days to rest. You will be ready for his final form the next time we...”

“But I wasn’t. I’m not.”

Pan walked up to Hale.

“I wasn’t fighting smart earlier using Times Twenty like that.”

“You completely overwhelmed me with that. It outmatched his third form completely.”

“You were more than combat capable after all those hits and I wasn’t. If Frieza decided to attack me right in that moment, there would’ve been nothing I could’ve done.”

As if anticipating Hale about to discuss Frieza not fighting seriously or wanting to drag out a fight...

“Now I know he plays with his food, but that was a free kill shot. You know I can’t get away with that with the real thing.”

“Even if I were to grant you that, Miss Pan, you will not be facing Frieza alone. He will have others to deal with besides yourself. And knowing your strategies formed between them...”

“He could kill me if I pull that again.”

“Then it sounds like you’ve already ascertained what you need to do differently in the field.”

Trunks, not liking the way Pan was talking about her performance...

“Pan, you’re not...”

As if having read his mind, Pan knew what this was reminding him of.

“Like when I was training for Ginyu?”

She turned away for a second, breathed out, then turned back to them both.

“This isn’t like when I was down on myself. This time, I know I’m underperforming by your own standards, Hale. Wearing myself out to beat his third form can’t be a victory. Not when his final form will follow.”

Sitting down criss-cross, she looked down, then sighed.

"We know you can't risk coddling me. Not when the stakes are so high."

She didn’t know what to expect, with the results ranging from Hale believing she was right and needed to be held back from graduating up to Frieza’s final form, or Hale telling her she was overexaggerating and had no reason to fear. The latter case almost sounded worse to her as it’d be like he was either ignoring her concerns entirely or writing them off as non-issues completely.

“Miss Pan.”

She saw Hale in front of her beginning to crouch down to join her.

“I understand what you are saying. You have made several valid points. And your concerns are indeed worth pointing out.”

Now criss-cross as well, his tail adjusting itself...

"As much as you have a point, you are forgetting another thing."

Putting his hands together in front of her...

"My concern isn’t solely the toughness of my cadets, but their well-being. They require the assistance of others and time to rest and acclimate. If they aren’t helped and eased, they break down. Requiring them to soldier on alone and push ahead when their bodies and minds simply can’t will result in ruin more than it will ‘toughen them up’."

Pan thought she heard something nearby, but quickly returned her focus to Hale, who continued.

"In many ways, it is the ones who try only to become tougher who break down easiest. Because when the sole attribute they've worked towards has failed them, they have nothing else to call upon."

This already sounded akin to many of her opponents in history thus far.

"You've seen it in some of your battles. When someone has only known their overwhelming strength bringing them victory, anything threatening that illusion tears them apart. They make worse decisions and become more vulnerable than their supposed lessers."

One of his hands pointed towards Pan.

"But if your well-being is kept at the center, you will find better solutions and keep a cooler head in the heat of such battles. And that is what I hope to guide you towards."

Pan realized as much as her mission to defend history made it sound like she had to be pushed well past the breaking point in order to keep up with it, none of her teachers and instructors at Toki Toki City ever had her put in such a position. The threat was real and had to be prepared for, but never at the cost of her well-being.

“Pushing me like that wouldn’t have helped my missions.”

Hale made his way up to his feet as Pan followed suit.

“Think on these sessions in preparation for what is to come, Miss Pan, but do rest.”

Putting her hands together, then nodding to him...

“I will, Commander Hale.”

Hale then couldn’t help but notice two shadows of those behind him, the first being a familiar coated one and the other with a tail just like him.

“Well said, Commander. I never had any doubts.”

He realized then that Beetro had entered after the session unseen.

“I couldn’t be more proud of you,” went the medical Saiyan, hugging Hale from behind.

Hale put both of his hands atop of Beetro’s, then lightly put his forehead against his, the two closing their eyes as they wore heartfelt smiles.

Having left Hale and Beetro, Pan and Trunks sat atop the academy’s roof. Their conversation seemed to have hit a rut with Trunks, hunched over looking downward at the patrollers below him, as well as back to the Hercule statue, recalling all too well...

“This was where she first talked about Colm...”

He closed his eyes, pained by what he had done using his name.

“Trunks, is something wrong?” asked Pan, taking notice of all this.

Not wanting to hide anything else from Pan after what had happened before, he spoke aloud, however well or poorly he conceived his words beforehand.

“I don’t think I ever apologized for using Colm the way I did. It was none of my business treating your memory of him that way. Like a prop.”

“Look, I think we both realize now the method to unlock Super Saiyan wasn’t good, but I understand why you did what you did.”

“I should’ve told you what happened to my Gohan long ago. Instead, I kept it from you, thinking you’d blame or hate me for it...”

He paused upon feeling Pan’s hand over his shoulder.

“I’ve been keeping something from you since we got here, Trunks. I’ve told you and the Supreme Kai of Time almost everything that happened except the day before.”

She put her hands together as Trunks sat up straighter.

“The day before Frieza’s invasion was the World Martial Arts Tournament. My uncle Goten, my grandmother’s youngest son, was my opponent. All I’d ever heard of Super Saiyan was in stories of my grandfather, and there in the ring, Goten... he was the first one I ever saw.”

Trunks tried to imagine how it’d have felt from Pan’s end.

“Once he went Super Saiyan, it wasn’t long before I was rung out. I was happy for him winning the tournament, but I was so mad at myself for failing to achieve it still... even after so many years.”

Trunks realized he went through most of his life up to that point unaware of Super Saiyan, only learning about its existence upon meeting Gohan. But for Pan...

“She was raised on it. The legendary Super Saiyan Goku. And trying to achieve it for all that time growing up, but coming up short...”

“That night, I planned to use the gravity machine at Bulla’s. My father tried to talk me out of it, but once he showed me he could go Super Saiyan and never told me all those years, I snapped at him and ran off.”

He tried rationalizing why Gohan would have kept this from Pan throughout her life and while at first thinking of potential danger to the planet, Trunks reached another conclusion.

“Your father did what he did because it was peacetime. Because there were no such battles to be had.”

He wasn’t about to say this out loud, both not to interrupt Pan and because it might not have been what she needed to hear in that moment.

“Once there at Bulla’s, I wanted to achieve Super Saiyan right then and there, three hundred times gravity or whatever it took. Vegeta had to talk me out of it. Told me it was my Saiyan pride and that’d only lead to ruining myself and everyone around me.”

“Is that when he told you he was responsible for the Cell Games and your grandfather’s death?” Trunks asked.

“Yeah. That same day.”

He had something to ask regarding the topic, and as much as he tried to word his inquiry well...

“Were you... jealous of your uncle?”

Pan could see Trunks immediately hated how his question sounded after he said it.

“I didn’t resent him for going Super Saiyan when I couldn’t. Right then and there, I wished I was more like him. Even now, a part of me felt he was better than me. That he deserved that chance which I took from...”

Trunks was thankful she stopped after he heard her deeper feelings on the matter during their last session, but still felt her hidden guilt of being the only survivor of her Earth via Trunks’ wish on Shenron instead of one of her loved ones and friends.

“Like me, it seemed like we trained all our lives to be like our grandfather Goku. Only difference was for him, becoming like Goku was his entire life. No school. No life other than training and fighting. Outside of family, friends, and my Earth’s Trunks being like a brother to him from childhood, he just didn’t do people. He’d visit years at a time, but otherwise Goten was just... alone. He got strong, sure, but...”

Trunks saw Pan’s demeanor and expressions slowly shifting away from reflective and instead becoming ones of clarity.

“Now I realize I wouldn’t have changed a thing about my life. I couldn’t trade Bulla or anyone to become my grandfather. If becoming a Super Saiyan meant giving them all up, everything else about my life up...”

It dawned on her that when Trunks said she had gone Super Saiyan after it seemed like all her friends and family had been killed by Frieza...

“...it’s like I got what I wanted, but at that cost...”

“No matter how much worth it’d give me, I wouldn’t...”

“Going Super Saiyan isn’t what gives you worth. It’s you, Pan.”

Trunks had finally interrupted her, but he felt strongly about what he had to say about her even as he wasn’t catching her talking down to herself.

“Look at everything you’ve done. The plans you came up with. The battles you helped us win. The lives you saved. All of that without needing Super Saiyan. Heck, doing all of those things without it speaks volumes about you.”

Pan thought back to all her missions, even the ones where she was heavily outmatched, and everything he said seemed to click into place.

“Now say in time, you do finally find the way to go Super Saiyan freely... but it’s not about being a late bloomer Super Saiyan, where going Super Saiyan will give you worth.”

Pan saw all the moments of her life from childhood to teenhood to eventual adulthood where she felt she was lesser for not being able to achieve Super Saiyan, then transitioned to all her accomplishments outside of the Time Patrol, and beyond physical feats to what she meant to those around her.

“You already do and will always have worth.”

Trunks saw Pan turning around and walking away from the edge of the academy’s roof and he followed until she stopped in place.

“Maybe I didn’t say it right, but I...”

She turned back to him in tears...

“I meant every word.”

...but these weren’t tears of sadness. While not exactly filled with joy in that moment, Pan’s smile told Trunks just what his words meant to her...

...as did the hug that followed.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear, Trunks.”

He then put his arms around her as they remained standing in place, the side of her face against his shoulder looking outward. Pan closed her eyes as Trunks lightly rocked back and forth, her feeling the slight movement. She felt free from so many of her past burdens, which were now no longer dragging her down.

“It’s like being weightless...”

Earlier

“It has been 24 hours, yet we have not heard back from him.”

“24 hours HIS time, Mira.”

Towa was hard at work on the project she agreed to for their mysterious ally she corresponded with during Mira’s recovery.

“I still have a few days left to work on it.”

“What arrangement do you have with our new colleague, Towa?”

“First, he desired a set of Dragon Balls, then when I asked what he would wish for, I told him I could grant it for him myself.”

“And just what is it that he wants?”

“The one thing his rule can’t buy...”

Days later

“You held Kaio-Ken Times Twenty for that long?!”

Amura, who had taught Pan and Umiu the base technique after Pan’s first battle with Vegeta, was amazed by what she had done.

“What about you, Amura?” the short Namekian asked.

“I barely dabble in Times Ten to begin with. Times Twenty’s a whole other league.”

“If you taught me...” entered Pan. “If you taught us both... I know you’ll get to Times Twenty.”

Even with Amura imagining that Pan clearly wielded the greater power of the two, she found Pan’s words encouraging.

“Well in that case, don’t get too comfy,” Amura playfully teased. “Maybe I’ll even go past Times Twenty.”

“Now that would be something to behold,” went Umiu.

Soon arriving outside of the Training Chamber, the three saw the door slowly open as Pan turned back to them.

“So... you both ready?”

“More like ‘Is the Commander ready?’”

“I’ll do my best, you two.”

Entering the familiar simulated desert terrain, they found that not only Hale and Trunks waited for them, but also...

“Goma!” The pink-haired Earthling exclaimed. “You beat us here?”

“I kinda bumped into them, then they invited me over.”

“Now then...” went Trunks, removing his coat to reveal a laser-tag reminiscent vest underneath.

“Hey, that’s from the last time we all trained together,” noted Umiu.

“It is, but with a new purpose,” replied Hale. “Trunks will be wearing it and acting as a non-combatant. As he’ll be close by throughout, it will be your task to protect him along with yourselves. Should I land an attack on him, it will be treated as a mission failure.”

It occurred to Pan whom Trunks would be representing during the upcoming battle.

“Dende. That’s right.”

A massive holographic screen, almost akin to a see-through whiteboard, had an image of Frieza’s first form materialize.

“Shorter than I expected,” went Goma, taking his own height with his gloved hand, then trying to compare that with the image next to him.

“Why don’t you join the others over there?” asked Trunks, gesturing towards Pan and the others.

Once Goma scurried over, a second image emerged next to the first: Frieza’s towering second form.

“When you three joined us last, I was at his second form’s power, which is at least eight times that of Captain Ginyu’s.”

“And considering Ginyu was basically Frieza’s number one guy...” added Amura. “That’s a lot of power already for just being halfway there.”

“Indeed. And you three fought well alongside Pan.”

Pan had seen the third form already, but the other three saw it for the first time as a hologram of it was now next to his second form’s.

“Whoa, that is...” stumbled Umiu. “That is certainly... something.”

“I don’t want to get a headbutt from that dome...” added Goma.

“Huh,” went Amura, a hand to her chin. “Wonder if he spits acid.”

“It’s tough, Amura,” Pan replied to her. “At least three or four times that of his second.”

Hale, stepping in front of the third form, put out his hand towards his left.

“And today...”

This last hologram formed slowly, feet first...

“You will all be facing me with...”

Trunks then sensed something fast approaching close-by...

“Huh?”

Hale took note of this, as did the other four, turning away from the holographic board towards the doors, which began to open.

“Pan!”

She had spoken to this patroller only a few times, and this was the first time he had addressed her by her name.

“Pima?”

His black and red gi became visible as it appeared he was trying to force the doors open faster himself.

“Pan, it’s time! Supreme Kai of Time told me to find you!”

Pan slowly left the group, realizing now, just as they were about to practice against Frieza’s final form...

“I’ve only trained against his first three forms, but now it’s here...”

The door now open enough for her to get through, Pima stepped aside.

“Get your uniform on and get to the nest! Double time!”

Knowing how serious the matter was, especially if Pima treated it as such, Pan ran past him, the others hearing rapid and loud steps up the stairs for only a few seconds until it went silent.

Pan didn’t want to shove anyone aside and knew flying around Toki Toki City at such high speeds wouldn’t be permissible, but now in her mission attire with her Power Pole on her back, she tried avoiding crowds through whatever movements she could without bumping into anyone.

“Make way, please!”

Trunks, having caught up to her, was trying to direct the others aside for Pan as he led her towards the plaza.

“I thought she’d have called you.”

“Communicator must be acting up or something.”

Once they finally made it to the library, Chronoa had the scroll in the air telepathically for them to look over. Each took one side of the scroll and saw this alternate set of events unfold:

Age 762

Goku, Gohan, and Krillin lied down exhausted on the ground by the grassy shore. Frieza, in his final form, dragged Vegeta over by his leg with one hand, then tossed him in front of the remaining three, the Saiyan Prince's eyes closed and his body still.

None of the three could even lift themselves up onto their feet, let alone fight the galactic tyrant now. Frieza pointed his index finger from his right hand at Krillin...

...when a purple glow overtook him and he instead moved it towards Goku, as well as did the same with his left towards Gohan. He fired seemingly invisible beams at both their chests and as Frieza raised his arms upward, to Krillin’s horror, Goku and Gohan were lifted up into the air.

“I can’t...!” went Goku with great strain, unable to move.

He did manage to turn his head enough to see his son, whom was especially frightened.

“Gohan... you have to...!”

“I can’t get away, Dad!”

“Please, not them!” Krillin all but begged. “Please don’t!”

Frieza closed both his fists and what at first looked like Gohan’s armor inflating then turned out to be energy building up within Goku and Gohan’s bodies.

Even as he felt his own body essentially puffing with energy about to detonate, Goku’s full attention wasn’t on himself.

“SON!!!”

And Gohan, even amidst his own demise, couldn’t bear being parted from his father like this.

“DADDY!!!”

All three had tears in their eyes as Krillin watched as two explosions followed.

“GOHAN!!! GOKU!!!”

There wasn’t a single speck of either of the two in the aftermath. Frieza had brought total extinction to the Saiyans at last.

“That attack wasn’t meant for either your father or your grandfather,” began Trunks.

“You don’t mean...”

Chronoa didn’t yank at Pan’s chain on her pants, but tugged it just lightly enough for Pan to take notice.

“Pan, three died over the course of the battle with Frieza: Dende, Vegeta, and Krillin.”

“But if all three were on my Earth...”

“The Dragon Balls brought them back,” Trunks started to clarify. “After the battle with the Ginyu Force, Gohan, Krillin, and Dende made two wishes on the Namekian Dragon Balls, the first of which was to bring back Piccolo, in turn resurrecting Kami and the Earth Dragon Balls.”

“K-Kami?”

For Pan, this name didn’t register a single memory for her.

“Think of him as Dende’s predecessor on Earth. You might’ve seen him during the tournament when you battled Piccolo.”

She did recall the lone odd one out: a Namekian in white robes with a purple cape.

“Look, we don’t have time to explain, but the key thing is Piccolo was brought back to life, he was sent to Namek, and in time, Dende, Krillin, and my father were wished back.”

Even with the fact they were alive and well on her world didn’t change that they were now about to die long before her birth.

“As neat as it is knowing the Dragon Balls can bring people back from death, that doesn’t lessen the fact they lost their lives. At least not to me.”

Trunks let go of the scroll, watching as Pan seemed hesitant to close her hand around it.

“I’m not ready...”

He put a hand to her shoulder.

“Best case scenario, we get you out before things on Namek turn for the worse.”

But he soon saw that the slivers of fear on her face gave way to determination.

“I’ll stay until the job’s done if I need to. We’re trying to stop Frieza from doing something even worse.”

“All the same, the moment it’s all clear, where there’s a window to get out of there, we’ll retrieve you. That’s a promise.”

Her grip on the scroll tightening, Pan nodded her head at Trunks, then stepped away as she faded from his and Chronoa’s sight.

The moment Pan emerged on Namek, it seemed completely different from her last four visits there:

“It’s dark. But where’s that light coming from?”

Minding her surroundings so as not to be seen, she remained on ground level, then peered to find from a distance that her father and Krillin faced Vegeta as all three stood in differing sets of battle suits and armor before a massive green and tan creature.

“Is that... a buffed up dragon with arms?”

“His name’s Porunga, yes,” answered Trunks. “They’re making the first two of three wishes on the Namekian Dragon Balls.”

“T-three wishes?”

As Pan tried getting closer unseen, now able to hear Krillin shouting...

“It’s our only way out of this!”

...it occurred to her someone appeared to be missing.

“But where’s Dende?”

Upon closer examination, Vegeta’s shadow revealed something was dangling something from his hand.

“Dende, you’ve got to grant his wish!”

From where she stood, Vegeta was holding the young Namekian up by his collar.

“What the hell is he doing?!”

“He’s...”

As Trunks’ answer seemed slow to form itself, Pan heard Dende’s younger voice for the first time.

“If we have no choice... I will.”

“Good!” went Vegeta with an almost snarling glee as he didn’t let go of Dende so much as threw him down with minimal enough force to not harm him. “You’re a smart lad. Now get to it.”

Pan took cover as Dende made his way onto his hands, then to his feet.

“Was he about to torture Dende for a wish?”

“My father... look, they could all sense Frieza was on his way and he was desperate to survive just as much as he wanted to become immortal.”

It just occurred to her to try sensing any other high ki sources...

“There!”

She looked back, catching the direction where Frieza would eventually touch down from and seeing Dende with his arms raised to make the third and final wish...

...when it was as if the seeming night sky had instantaneously turned back to day. Porunga had vanished without a trace and the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, which glowed with light while surrounding the dragon, fell to the ground and now appeared to be stone.

“Where’d these rocks come from?!” shouted Vegeta, looking all around him. “Where’s the dragon?! Why is it day again?!”

“The Great Elder Guru...” began Dende solemnly. “the one who made the Dragon Balls... has passed on.”

“I’m sorry,” Krillin replied to the young Namekian over the loss.

“Stop your bawling!” exclaimed Vegeta, taking a step towards Dende. “Now what about my wish?! My immortality?!”

“We were too late...” Dende calmly replied even as he knew what the Saiyan was capable of in that moment.

“Too late for MY WISH, but just early enough to leave me out of it...!”

He turned to Krillin and Gohan, Pan seeing his face absolutely fuming before she took cover.

“You little bastards! This is your fault!”

Watching from the corner of her eye, she then caught...

“That’s him!”

Vegeta’s berating suddenly ceased, Krillin seeing him appear to almost shiver.

“Wh-what is...?”

Looking behind Vegeta, Krillin’s posture seized up and he became completely still.

“Krillin, what’s...?”

She saw her father take a similar turn as the three Z-Fighters and Dende all saw from atop a nearby peak the figure they feared...

“F-F-FRIEZA!!!”

“Oh would you just take a look at what it is you have done...”

For the first time since that day, Pan heard Frieza’s voice and even with him being in his first form and with this taking place over three decades before that day...

“He doesn’t sound any different.”

“My dream of immortality... utterly ruined.”

Pan saw Dende slowly backing away from what he felt could at any moment become ensuing combat.

“Hide!” shouted the Supreme Kai of Time.

“What do you think I’m doing?”

“And the Ginyu Force is nowhere to be seen. Dead, perhaps? I certainly wasn’t expecting that.”

Pan saw Dende still coming her way and took hold of her cape to keep it from his view.

“And oh, you, Vegeta, were so close to immortality for yourself. It seems our one great desire is lost to us both, but it’s much worse for me.”

Despite standing as still as she could without giving any of herself away, Pan saw that her shadow began to shift out slightly from cover.

“Crap...”

“Now this is a rarity. In fact, this is a first. Not once before has anyone ever gotten me this mad.”

Dende peered over as much as he could without losing any sight of Frieza, seeing only a glimpse of Pan’s shadow.

“What... who could this...?”

He thought back to the three he had encountered when his village’s warriors and two of his siblings, Moori and Cargo, were slain:

Frieza, who commanded them.

Dodoria, who had slain them all by himself.

And the caped one…

As much as Pan wished it, she didn’t have any room to maneuver without stepping out in front of Dende or fly upward without being spotted by the others.

From a closer examination of the shadow, Dende saw what he believed to be a piece of fabric of some kind...

“A cape!”

Pan felt Dende stopped moving, then saw that he was terrified.

“And not once has anyone ever made such a fool of Fr...”

“Agh!”

Dende fell onto his back and scurried back, as at least reaching Gohan and Krillin would increase his odds of surviving. All four combatants took note of this and turned to him.

“From behind us!”

“Dende, what are you...?” Gohan began to ask.

“The one with the cape!”

Pan had once again been caught before a battle due to her cape.

“Double crap!”

All four immediately drew a conclusion as to who he was referring to and Frieza’s smile was not just hiding his fuming rage, but also had a spark of excitement.

“Ah. Then perhaps word of Zarbon’s demise was exaggerated after all...”

“There’s no way...” went Krillin in an attempt to rationalize. “He couldn’t have...”

Vegeta tried to do the same, but thought back to his last battle with Zarbon.

“I slew him myself... but I did the same to Dodoria and yet...”

As a precaution, he formed an orb of ki in his right hand.

“...he came back, even stronger than before, and he nearly...”

Pan sensed Vegeta’s ki building up and saw just how determined in that moment he was to dispel the possibility of another surviving opponent coming back to repay the favor.

“Oh no you don’t!” the Saiyan Prince shouted before throwing the orb, which curved towards where Dende spotted her.

“Triple crap!”

Pan flew around the structure, now facing Gohan and Krillin turning and seeing her as Vegeta’s orb all but shattered her cover from before. Dende still appeared panicked at her very presence and hid behind Gohan.

“W-wait, Dende!” Krillin shouted. “She’s on our side!”

“You idiot!” berated Vegeta. “Why were you hiding?!”

“Ah.”

After seeing Pan for the first time, Frieza decided to hop down off of the peak to ground level.

“I know you.”

None of the others knew what to make of this, but Pan especially was caught completely off-guard.

“How? How could Frieza... the Frieza of the past... know me?”

He tapped on his red scouter over his left eye, as if to answer the question he was sure she was asking.

“When I listened in to the feed on Vegeta and Nappa’s scouters, finding that they sought Dragon Balls for immortality and that the Dragon Balls were derived from Namekians, I knew to come right here. But I also overheard some chatter regarding you.”

Vegeta realized right then...

“I destroyed my scouter, but Nappa’s...”

“I believe it was your old colleague, Vegeta, who insisted that she simply had to be...”

Waving his hand in front of the Saiyan Prince...

“A surviving Saiyan like yourselves.”

The Saiyan Prince tried to shrug this off with his usual demeanor.

“Hah! That’s hogwash! He was an idiot! She’s an adept Earthling, that’s all.”

“Really? Because outside of Dodoria, Zarbon, the Ginyu Force, and myself, very few things ever so much as rattled any of you Saiyans. Even Raditz never so much as feared anything that wasn’t a Saiyan like himself.”

But then with a few clicks on his scouter...

“And yet here is a select recording of Nappa.”

What at first sounded like static soon could be made out as rapid punching and kicking. Along with that, grunts from Pan could be heard while those of Nappa’s were much more audible.

“This isn’t an Earthling! There’s no way she could be! This much power...! This caped girl has to be a Saiyan! There’s no other possible explanation! She just has to be!”

After clicking on his scouter to stop the recording, Frieza pointed directly at Pan’s cape flowing in the wind behind her.

“And I do believe that is a cape you’re wearing, yes?”

Pan heard Frieza furious with the four before him and now it seemed as if her presence had glossed over it almost completely with his focus now entirely on her thanks to Nappa’s feed.

“Nappa said that in my third mission. Frieza would’ve changed history already from hearing that back then, wouldn’t he?”

Both Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time seemed as stumped as she did as to an explanation for this phenomenon unfolding before them.

“It left me quite curious and I thought I’d have to wait until after leaving Namek and heading towards Earth to find out for myself. But now here you are, saving me the trip.”

He took a step forward.

“Someone who put that kind of dread into such a proud Saiyan...”

Pan had no reason to fear Frieza’s first form, but the revelation that her actions may have left an impact after all...

“This whole mission’s...”

Gesturing an open palm out to Pan...

“It is my pleasure.”

Changed From the Start? The Horrors to Come![]

“Now this is an interesting side effect, Mira.”

The two watched on their screen as Frieza hopped down not to fight the Z-Fighters, but instead facing Pan.

“He says he heard about her in a recording from Nappa, but how has history not proceeded any differently?”

“Supreme Kai of Time, there’s no way Frieza wouldn’t have altered history by now if he knew of Pan all this time...”

“Had Pan failed to stop your father on Earth, then yes, Trunks. Frieza would have acted on it had that been the case. But history was restored.”

“So you’re saying that Frieza has just now remembered hearing that recording from back then?”

Towa saw Mira’s puzzlement and decided to elaborate to help him understand.

“I believe it is by the same principle that the patroller’s allies and foes remember her the moment she appears before them. History is restored each time we are stopped, yes, but in the furthest depths of their subconscious, the memory of the alterations remain, just waiting to be reactivated.”

“So then Frieza had a subconscious memory of the altered recording and all it took to reawaken it was the patroller joining this fight.”

“Even I had not anticipated an effect like this, Mira, but now we shall see just what will be wrought from this.”

“So then...” began Trunks with much less distress in his voice and more collected. “History’s fine. Frieza didn’t change a thing while Pan fought my father on Earth.”

But even as Pan heard snippets on her comms, the fact that Frieza had taken a step towards her and seemed more interested in her than he did his enemies still left her feeling like...

“This whole mission’s...”

Now he had his hand out, as if to offer a handshake.

“It is my pleasure.”

She had no idea how her face looked, dealing with both being in his proximity for this long uninterrupted and a possible alteration to history being caused prior. And now she saw Frieza’s grin begin to stretch and curve.

“Oh, you look nervous, dearie. Is it your being in the presence of Frieza, the emperor of the universe?”

The other four nearby these two had neither made a move nor made a sound. Not even Vegeta, who appeared to be in disbelief with wide open eyes.

“How is this even possible?!”

Pan peered away from Frieza just enough to notice Vegeta staring off at her.

“Why is he looking at me?”

“Pan, you need to get your ki under control,” went Trunks on comms.

She looked down at her feet, now observing a shift in the air around her.

“You’re telling me my ki’s...?”

“It’s going ballistic. My father can sense it.”

She then observed both Krillin and Gohan starting to realize why Vegeta ‘s attention was turned to her.

“Do you feel that?” Gohan whispered. “She was stronger than she was on Earth, but this...”

“She fought Ginyu and that other guy not that long ago,” he whispered back. “Unless she visited Guru after she left, how did she...?”

“Ah, it just occurred to me...” began Frieza, his left hand over the side of his scouter. “I’m curious as to what your power level could be.”

“Pan, supress your ki.”

“I’m trying, Trunks.”

With a click of his scouter...

“Let’s find out.”

Beeps could be heard, indicating Pan’s power level was beginning to be measured.

Pan tried thinking of anything calming to help her relax and lower her ki, but Frieza’s face kept bleeding into whatever she was trying to picture.

Frieza, seeing that Pan’s power level was advancing to the 20,000’s...

“It is reaching Zarbon’s level...”

...leaned forward in intrigue.

“...but how is it compared to his transformation?”

Even if Pan couldn’t read the scouter’s numbers, the font alien to her and backwards, she could tell the climb was actually starting to accelerate.

“If he finds out just how powerful you are compared to his first form...”

“I told you I’m trying!”

“His scouter will burst! History will change!”

“I. AM. TRYING!!!”

Now the tyrant’s eyes widened ever slightly.

“Now this one comes from good stock. It’s nearing the mid tier of the Ginyu Force themselves...”

Pan actually felt a bead of sweat from how hard she was trying to suppress her ki.

“I can NOT let history change now! Not because of this!”

“Hale said you used a happy memory before. Try that.”

She heeded this, but couldn’t think of any loved ones or friends she grew up with without thinking of Frieza’s hand in their death in that battle.

“With anyone I think of, my brain keeps jumping to when he killed...”

“Think of...!”

Pan heard an audible sigh on Trunks’ end.

“Think of Colm. He wasn’t there at the battle. You only ever saw him when he was alive.”

Closing her eyes for just a moment...

Pan imagined opening them up and seeing herself floating in the air with Colm next to her in a flying stance.

“I’m... I’m flying.”

His laughter that followed was of sheer joy, as was his open mouthed smile.

“I’m actually flying.”

While Pan couldn’t take in the memory fully with the ensuing battle that was to come, she opened her eyes to find that her ki was now stabilized.

“My, my...”

The numbers on Frieza’s scouters had stopped.

“The last time I saw a power level like that...”

She internally gulped, hoping her power level had gone down far enough to allay Frieza’s suspicions that hers was near his first form’s.

“...was from the likes of Captain Ginyu.”

He lightly clapped several times, the slow speed leaving Pan unable to ascertain whether it was genuine praise or the tyrant being condescending.

“Just below the captain’s maximum, but outside of my own... clan, your power is amongst the highest in the universe.”

Now for the first time, Vegeta actually stepped forward, a cocky smirk in place of his fear of Frieza.

“Oh ‘Lord’ Frieza, spare me. I already mopped the floor with your beloved Captain and all his men.”

The brief look of surprise on Frieza’s face from Vegeta’s tone and words couldn’t undo his seemingly continuous grin.

“My, you have such a vivid imagination, Prince Vegeta. It’s clear you did not accomplish this alone. Those two Earthlings aided you perhaps...”

As much as Pan had a mental sigh of relief from Frieza looking away from her, this was short-term, as his attention was right back to her.

“...and perhaps you, my dear. With a power like yours, I can see why the Ginyu Force could not defeat those three otherwise.”

Krillin and Gohan caught Vegeta crossing his arms, quietly brooding to himself.

“Undermining my skills,” Vegeta quietly muttered to himself.

“Shut up,” whispered Krillin followed by a light shush. “All this is time he’s not murdering us.”

“Quiet,” followed Gohan.

Frieza, still facing Pan’s direction, had his eyes turned away.

“You think I’ve forgotten about you costing me my wish?”

Pan saw Frieza’s grin dissipate into a scowl, his anger now clearly visible as he peered at them.

“What you’ve done to me is unforgivable! You won’t leave this planet alive! You maggots will be tortured to death, inch by inch!”

But after putting the back of his closed hand against his mouth and clearing his throat, his expression recomposed to that of his prior grin.

“But don’t fret. It isn’t your time yet. That can wait.”

Turning to Pan once more, his hand out to her...

“I have a proposition for you.”

The three had heard Frieza compliment Pan’s power, but couldn’t believe he was about to make her an offer or perhaps even a deal of some kind.

“I know she would never work for someone like him, but just what would he propose to her?” pondered Gohan.

“Is he about to ask her to take Captain Ginyu’s place?” Krillin wondered. “Or to leave us to him in return for letting her go?”

Vegeta, however, voiced his inquiry directly with a mocking tone.

“Is the mighty Lord Frieza really about to chase tail?”

Pan had heard Zarbon insist she had been driven to protect Vegeta out of love, but now her anger at the Vegeta of the past speaking of her like that was overshadowed by a mental gag of sheer repulsion at what he had suggested.

“Of all the things he’s said...! That is the most godd...”

“Pay no mind to the boorish tyke.”

After Frieza’s words, Vegeta glowered, the slightest snarl escaping his teeth.

“Now as I was saying, my proposal:”

His posture altered just slightly from being entirely casual to ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

“Perhaps I shall have you be the first to face me.”

“Getting caught by the Ginyu Force was one thing, but this...”

Pan was struck by Frieza wanting to fight her before the others.

“We can’t have him face you, not yet!” Trunks instructed. “My father is supposed to push him, and if you do instead...!”

“I know, Sherlock!”

“What, is she your warm-up?” scoffed Vegeta.

“You should be thankful for whatever time she may buy you,” Frieza replied. “And I see it more as the appetizer before the main course.”

Pan noticed the slightest movement of one of Frieza’s three-toed feet.

“You must have been quite quick on your feet to keep pace with the likes of Captain Ginyu, as well as...”

All four of Frieza’s enemies immediately recalled the same speedy combatant.

“‘The fastest in the universe’. I humored Burter by letting him rattle on about that. After all, the Ginyu Force served me well and his little moniker certainly had its uses.”

The light chuckle that followed might as well have echoed from his lips as he closed his eyes.

“Ginyu told me you three couldn’t even see Burter move.”

The three Z-Fighters kept their eyes on the tyrant the entire time, as well as locked onto his ki, which was immense even as he had yet to release any of it...

“Where did he...?!”

Vegeta lost sight of Frieza.

Pan turned left and right.

“Right behind you...”

The three saw her turn around, then fall onto her back the moment she looked down at Frieza, a purple glow over him and eyes red, standing there. Only then did they catch him and his ki.

“I’ve never seen anyone as fast as Burter was,” thought Krillin. “...well, maybe that tall cyborg elf was faster, but Frieza’s speed...”

“We’ve gotten stronger since the Ginyu Force beat all three of us,” Gohan contemplated. “Maybe we could track Burter’s movements now, but this is on a whole other level.”

Frieza put out his arms in a “ta-da” fashion.

“Did you see that?”

As he took a single step forward, he saw Pan scurry on her back towards the others.

“Oh? What’s wrong? Something the matter?”

Vegeta tried to appear confident, but found himself trying to keep still after this initial display of Frieza’s speed.

“If you think... I will be bested... that easily...”

He forced himself to take a step forward with fists clenched.

“You’ve made a big mistake!”

“You think that is how terrible I can be?”

Frieza’s casual stance dropped to a slight hunch.

“Let me show you.”

He then unleashed what to those around him was a massive gust of ki around him. Vegeta tried to appear strong, but the half-Saiyan and especially the Earthling struggled to do the same.

“Pan, do you read me?”

Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time saw Pan all but crawling on her back from Frieza’s first form, yet heard nothing back from her.

“Pan, do you copy?!”

“Talk to us, Pan!”

The radio silence continued, making it especially uneasy for them seeing this all play out.

“This is only Frieza’s first form. I could see him move, but she couldn’t? Even after all her training? Has Towa’s formula enhanced his speed that much?”

“Oh... crap...” went Goku’s son.

“I never imagined... he’d be possibly be...”

Krillin’s thought out loud was cut short when he and Gohan could hear Pan breathing and what they thought was shivering.

“If she was ever scared of an enemy before, it never showed,” Gohan contemplated. “So if she’s this openly terrified of him and his power...”

Vegeta stepped forward, standing in Pan’s path so she couldn’t back up any further.

“Oh, would you GET UP already, you mewling...?!”

He was tempted to pull her up onto her feet by her cape’s collar, but ceased this thought upon hearing Frieza lightly giggle.

“Well Vegeta, it looks like my appetizer was spoiled before I could even sample it. I suppose I shouldn’t let my filet get cold.”

The Saiyan Prince realized with Pan now no longer of interest to Frieza, the tyrant had his sights set back on him and the others. Gohan couldn’t make words and Krillin, still sensing Frieza’s power...

“There’s... no way...” the Earthling stuttered. “How... how can WE... beat that?”

“Oh, there’s always a way,” Frieza playfully taunted. “Like three ants can defeat a dinosaur.”

At first, Vegeta thought of the two smaller Earthlings being bested by Recoome...

“They weren’t even a match for one of Ginyu’s subordinates...”

...until his own experience at his hands returned to him.

“And neither was I...”

His mind shifted ahead to the battles that followed, not only against Ginyu when the captain possessed Goku’s body, but against the mysterious blue-skinned opponent whom...

“None of us alone could defeat him...”

But then he saw that once they stopped attacking him one at a time with their own individual schemes at play, putting their heads together and coordinating as a unit...

“None of us... ALONE...”

“But we can.”

Frieza heard Vegeta give a simple retort.

“With all of us working together, I know we can beat you!”

The tyrant leaned forward.

“I must have misheard you, Vegeta. Perhaps you could elaborate?”

Gohan and Krillin, even without Vegeta turning to look them in their faces, could tell he was rallying them.

“You don't know how much their power has grown. Hell, you two don't even realize it.”

Even when they fought on Earth, even when they were clearly outmatched against Vegeta by so many levels as a scouter would read it, they survived his own onslaught even after Goku was unable to continue fighting.

“The power you had hidden away.”

Krillin, who was taken out of commission by one hit from Recoome, threw a Destructo-Disk to critically damage Mira that same day.

“Especially the young one.”

First, he recalled a glimpse of the son of Goku pushing Recoome back. Then he saw the young one actually being able to battle the likes of Jeice.

And while not reading much into her help in any of these battles, he noticed her surprising power, as well as how much she had just before Frieza tried reading it.

"Her power grew again. She might be too cowardly to fight now, but if she has that much power...”

“And I...”

“A Saiyan...”

“...am just that much closer to fulfilling the legend that you fear so much...”

Frieza’s face kept completely still, but clearly reacted to what Vegeta was referring to.

“...by becoming the one and only Super Saiyan!”

Vegeta stood proud in the moment after his proclamation, even as Frieza shook his head, then looked back, still appearing to smile.

“‘The one and only Super Saiyan’? That would imply such a thing exists to begin with.”

Like a gunslinger on the lookout for a quickdraw, Vegeta eyed Frieza’s hands beginning to close into fists and began to do the same.

“It's not that I don't enjoy our little talks, but I'm starting to get annoyed with you.”

Even with his tone of voice hardly changing, Frieza’s facade of amusement turned to irritation and, once the tyrant flew forward at blinding speed, into anger.

“So now you die!”

His left swung, the tyrant intending to strike down Vegeta where he stood, but he found it gripped by the Saiyan Prince’s right hand, as well as himself seemingly stopped in place in spite of his momentum.

“At best, this brat of a prince was a match for Cui, but now he’s...”

As if both counted on their opposing hands to strike at any moment, Frieza’s right and Vegeta’s left caught one another, attempting to get past, but locked in this clash. Both tried pushing forward, vying to knock their opponent backward, but it appeared to be a standstill.

“He’s locked onto my father now,” Trunks announced to Pan.

She made her way to her feet quickly and began to sweep dirt off her cape.

“Good. They bought it.”

Back in the library, Trunks and Chronoa both fell over upon hearing this.

“I heard something. You two okay?”

The two rose back up and while Pan couldn’t see it, they wore looks of being completely stupefied.

“That was an act the whole time?!”

“You really had us going there, you know!”

“We didn’t even hear you so much as plan it out!”

“I didn’t need to plan it out in my head,” Pan replied back.

Gohan and Krillin caught on to Pan’s ploy just from how much more relaxed she was now compared to earlier.

“I just did it. Like I don’t need to plan walking up each step of a set of stairs. I took the stakes you gave me and I acted on the spot.”

“I mean you cooked up such a ploy without needing so much as a mental draft before you...”

“It’s what she does,” Chronoa interrupted. “Against Raditz. Against the Ginyu Force. We both know that you, Pan, come up with these strategies on your own when you have to.”

The ground shifted nearby: Vegeta and Frieza’s struggle was resulting in a crater forming from the force they were generating.

“It’s just that we worried about you just now when we didn’t hear back.”

Pan listened in closely to the Supreme Kai of Time’s words as she kept her eye on the two figures slowly sinking from her sight.

“Just try to keep us in the loop next time, if you can.”

Peering down into the crater as she heard Chronoa...

“Yeah, that... that’s a fair point. Next time...”

She noticed Frieza turned his head, no longer eying his own opponent.

“Is Frieza supposed to be looking away from your father like that, Trunks?”

“At his power, Frieza’s scouter should be overloaded just from looking at him. Towa’s going to try keeping his scouter in the picture to cause any number of alterations.”

Vegeta cockily grinned at what he perceived to be weakness from Frieza.

“Can’t even look me in the eyes, oh mighty galactic emperor?”

A faint purple hue overtook the tyrant’s body, and after his eyes flashed with red light...

“Eh?”

Vegeta found Frieza to be turning in place and himself being swung around by his hands at a high speed. Before he could try getting free, Frieza released him, knocking him into the uppermost corner of the crater, embedding him into rock. From there, Frieza flew into him head-first, knocking him straight through it back to the ground the others stood upon.

“This shouldn’t be happening. Frieza and my father didn’t exactly fight dead-even, but Frieza shouldn’t be doing this. Not yet.”

Vegeta recovered just enough before touching down to land, but crouched down, a hand over his chest and his new armor.

“We’ve barely even started and already he’s put a crack in it...”

As he did this, Frieza was already pursuing him, going for a punch with his right hand as Vegeta looked up...

...his view blocked by a yellow cape flapping in his face.

“H-hey!”

Pan caught Frieza’s fist with her right hand, her left readying ki for a quick blast. Even with his initial shock, Frieza focused on the glow and turned enough to swing his tail into the blast’s path, deflecting it. His left then retaliated with his own blast back at Pan, who let go of Frieza and shoved Vegeta back before avoiding it.

As the two eyed each other, it appeared as though Frieza suddenly disappeared in a blink, leaving everyone trying to lock onto his position.

“Maybe they can’t sense him...”

Vegeta readied his right hand for a gut punch of epic proportions...

“...but I know exactly where he’s...”

He span, but found his strike fell short as Frieza, the tyrant’s right palm out like a spearpoint, was held back by Pan’s hand gripping his arm. She then ran in a small circle, Frieza in tow.

“You tricked me... all of us... so I would occupy Frieza for you.”

The Saiyan smirked as Frieza was sent off his feet and flipping forward.

“I almost admire that.”

But this was cut short as he saw Frieza’s tail had wrapped itself around Pan’s right arm. Without ever touching the ground, Frieza continued his flip, then had himself standing while floating just above the grass below his feet. Pan, meanwhile, tried to straighten out her legs quickly and had her left hand out to catch herself as she quickly shouted...

“Kamehameha!”

With a well-timed push off the ground with kiai, Pan was just above Frieza’s waist as a fast-firing Kamehameha from her feet sent her head-first into his chest like a torpedo. The tyrant immediately released her upon contact, grinding backward on his feet, but never once leaned backward. Upon coming to a stop, he put his hand over where she had struck.

“I actually felt that. That sweet sensation...”

He then swept at it with the back of his fingers, revealing the damage done to the armor was hardly visible.

“...of minor inconvenience.”

Krillin witnessed the first direct hit to Frieza just now, but couldn’t believe just how little seemed accomplished by it.

“She propelled herself right at him with a Kamehameha. It knocked him back... and all that power was just an inconvenience for him?”

But Pan, after all her training under Commander Hale, wasn’t discouraged for a reason the other Z-Fighters didn’t know.

“I didn’t put that much into it. Got enough ki for the long haul.”

Frieza, as if sensing her confidence, gave a grin before starting to float off the ground and float forward in her direction. Pan returned this with a slow jog, but this then turned to a faster sprint as Frieza sped up.

“Remember, Pan, your power...” Trunks cautioned.

“I’m keeping it to the minimum I need.”

Frieza’s scouter had been reading her power this entire time and found it still maxed out towards the level of Captain Ginyu.

“Ginyu tagged me before in a spar... but his power level had to be much greater than this to do so...”

Seeing Pan preemptively ready to strike him at a moment’s notice...

“I will find what you’re hiding from me, Saiyan girl.”

But as Pan eyed Frieza going for a two-handed slam...

“I really hope this all isn’t making a mess of things alread...”

A sudden breeze...

...and Pan had to skid to a stop as Vegeta stood in her path, catching both of Frieza’s hands and forcing him onto the ground on his feet.

“He’s mine!” the Saiyan prince shouted.

As Pan backed away, Vegeta surged with just as much, if not greater power than earlier.

“I’ll show Lord Frieza the power I used to slay his beloved Ginyu Force!”

“That’s it, Father!” shouted Trunks on Pan’s feed. “Even if the formula tried getting Frieza to look away now, at the level my father’s at now...”

(**SCATTER**)

His scouter shattered going from the maximum Pan had shown to skyrocketing up to Vegeta’s power level.

“Okay, good,” began Trunks, reassured. “Now they should...”

But as the pieces of Frieza’s scouter slowly descended down, Frieza’s eyes glowed. But not just as a result of Towa’s formula...

“...both jump back...”

Trunks’ words to Pan were in slow motion as she saw the last shard of the scouter’s screen was about to touch down. Vegeta was about to break away from Frieza, but then saw Frieza fly up to his face, just shy of headbutting him, staring him in the eyes.

“Agh, I walked right into...!”

As Frieza’s eye beams finally released...

“Fath...!”

Trunks stopped upon Pan punching Frieza on the cheek. As the tyrant turned his head from the hit, the beam just missed Vegeta, only leaving a burn mark on the upper part of his right cheek, as it then created an explosion in the distance upon impact.

Pan and Vegeta hopped backward towards the other three, who were still processing what they had just seen. Gohan contemplated what all this meant for their chances.

“We’ve all gotten stronger. All of us. Frieza’s incredibly strong, but Vegeta’s right: we might be able to beat him if we work together.”

Dende, however, was still unnerved.

“You really nailed him with that one!” Krillin exclaimed before noticing Dende’s current state. “What is it?”

The young Namekian pointed over at Frieza, who wasn’t lying on the ground, but instead floating, almost appearing to be standing on his toes from that distance.

“I know just how strong Ginyu was...”

Rotating himself upward, a bruise between his cheek and mouth, and a drip of his blood was visible.

“...and that was much greater than his very best. Hiding your power from me, you...”

He scrubbed the blood off with the back of his hand.

“You little trickster, you.”

“Little?” Krillin responded before turning over to Pan. “But you’re taller than him.”

“And Vegeta...”

Ignoring the Earthling’s comment entirely, he turned to the Saiyan prince.

“I see you weren’t bluffing... entirely. Perhaps as you are now, you could’ve killed Ginyu yourself.”

“Oh, I didn’t kill him,” Vegeta retorted. “I left your precious captain to a fate worse than death.”

Beckoning him with his fists at his sides...

“Now go on then, Frieza. Transform. Let us see your true form.”

“His t... t-t-true form?”

After Krillin muttered this, he saw that Pan, who had faked being afraid of Frieza’s base form, showed no trace of fear regarding the prospect of another.

“Why... how is she so calm?”

Facing Vegeta in a mock servile fashion, an arm across his chest, Frieza bowed while never breaking eye contact.

“As you wish, Prince Vegeta. Allow me to show you.”

The air around him began to shift, small pebbles starting to float upward.

“Just so you all know, when I eradicated the Saiyans and their planet, all in one fell swoop, all I required was this form.”

Gohan stumbled from the revelation regarding the people Vegeta and Goku, his own father, stemmed from.

“He killed... ALL of the Saiyans?”

“In fact, their king fell at my hand with total ease.”

Now Gohan was getting more nervous, pondering to himself...

“If Vegeta is this strong... just how powerful could his father had been?”

But Vegeta, even with the realization revealed to him regarding his father’s death all those decades ago, took note of the young half-Saiyan’s unnerved state and knew what Frieza was trying to do.

“Don’t let him fool you! I was already stronger than my father at that time.”

Krillin’s similar fears were beginning to become tempered once Vegeta clarified this, but then he couldn’t help but wonder about his own power now.

“Huh. Could I have beaten the Saiyan King?”

“Shut it, Earthling.”

But everyone focused back to Frieza and, in what would have been too fast a speed for ordinary humans eyes to see, caught massive cracks spread in record time before it practically exploded. The form fitting yet flexible armor, which they had seen absorb tons of hits with only minimal breaks and chipping, taking especially powerful blows to cause serious breakage, was broken without Frieza even moving an inch.

“He shattered his own armor...” Krillin observed. “Just like that.”

Even with how well she had fared against his first form, Pan’s calm morphed into focus, mentally preparing for what was to come.

“Two more come after, but we have to survive this next one first.”

But Vegeta smirked at Frieza’s supposed display of power.

“‘Oh no. Frieza took off his coat. What a great and mighty transformation.’”

Pan, knowing what to come, shook her head at him.

“For your childrens' sake, you’d better take him seriously after this.”

Yet Frieza’s grin widened even after Vegeta belittled him.

“I do enjoy when he’s in a good mood... and now I will deflate it.”

Hunched over, fists clenched...

“HAAAAAAAAHHH...!”

His upper body grew, leaving his limbs appearing short by comparison. All five of his adversaries could sense the immense increase in his size. The three shortest, especially Dende, were the most visibly shaken while Vegeta tried keeping his own shock as low-key as he could to mixed success. As for Pan...

“Is attacking someone while they try transforming a viable strategy?” she openly inquired on her comms.

“Pan, you’re not suggesting you...” Trunks began to reply.

“Of course I won’t attack him as he is now, but is it actually something that’d work?”

Frieza’s arms and lower body matched it soon afterward, and his, by comparison, tiny head looked like it was poking out of a massive suit of armor.

“A lot of people seem to think that would keep them from transforming, but the way I’ve seen it, it’s not stopping anything. Think of it like a progress bar: attacking them during a transformation wouldn’t bring it down to zero, but would simply pause it momentarily. One would get in free hits, yes, but they’d just be using up their own ki while only delaying the inevitable. Funny as it may seem, just waiting for them to transform will keep your reserves fuller and even allow for some rest until the transformation’s finished.”

“But if one were that much stronger than the one transforming in the first place...”

“Well that’s a different story entirely. With how you fared against his first form now, had you gone times twenty from the start...”

“Hey, you better not be getting any ideas, Pan!” Chronoa interrupted.

“I told you two, I won’t go all out on him right now. I was just wondering, that’s all.”

“You know what that level of Kaio-Ken will do to you, even after all your training. Overusing it on any one of Frieza’s form will leave you exposed to the next. Especially his final form.”

His neck flew backward, then as it bulked up, revealed his two horns atop his crown starting to curve.

“Pan,” Trunks entered once more. “...it’s almost time to move. Get ready.”

She never took her eyes off Frieza even amidst the conversation, seeing him crouched down and keeping himself upward with one arm, his second form’s transformation having now concluded. As he rose upward, even Vegeta couldn’t help but jump back ever slightly.

“In... inconceivable.”

“What’s that, dear prince? You believed I wouldn’t be that different?”

Krillin shuttered as if living a nightmare while Gohan looked like he was nearing his own death.

“Here’s a funny story for you all: my father once had an especially bulky computing scouter, one near the size of a room, that could actually calculate my power level. In my prior state, it maxed out at five hundred and thirty thousand.”

Pan recalled overhearing Captain Ginyu believing Goku’s power level at that time being no higher than eighty thousand, but upon her grandfather going Kaio-Ken, he panicked at the prospect of his power doubling.

“Ginyu was in total awe with a hundred and sixteen thousand... and Frieza’s power level was only about three times higher than that.”

“The only problem was one day, when I tried it with this form, the computing scouter shorted out entirely. But before it did, you want to know what it gave a reading of?”

Gohan put enough of his fear aside to try figuring out the difference himself.

“He was at 530,000 just now. From what I’m sensing, he’s...”

He gulped.

“...has it actually doubled?”

Frieza, a glow in his right hand as he raised it...

“...over a million!”

The paralyzing astoundment at this announcement quickly turned to laser focus on what Frieza was about to do. The four fighters, practically on instinct, prepared to move as an explosive gust released around the now massively tall tyrant. Had they remained where they were, the damage done to them would’ve been catastrophic, but having moved right as it released left them being pushed back more than anything else thanks to their speed.

“But what about...?”

Pan caught Dende being rocketed away as Krillin flew after him. She then tried finding Vegeta and her father, whom so far seemed untouched.

“Look out!” Gohan cried.

Pan caught that a flurry of pebbles were coming her way in an event reminiscent of when Guldo launched rocks with his telekinesis after he had stopped time. Only this time...

“Gah!”

Before she could move, one pebble shot right past her right arm, scratching her shoulder and leaving a visible cut through her jacket and shirt.

“That could’ve torn right through me!”

She didn’t feel she could take out her Power Pole in time and had to avoid them as quickly as she could without letting any more of them touch her. Gohan, while dodging them initially, looked to be too slow for the next batch headed right for him.

“Get down, dumbass!”

Vegeta shoved the young Saiyan downward, then punched at the proceeding wave of pebbles, though nowhere near as nonchalantly as he did against Guldo’s barrage.

“He’s not taking it lightly. Not anymore...”

Gohan, just stopping himself from landing in the water, saw one last pebble zooming right between Pan’s eyes...

“NO!!!”

He watched all the way, but didn’t see anything splatter behind her hair or her orange bandanna. Instead, he only saw dust go past the sides of her head. Once she turned back to him, her father quickly pieced together that she had struck it with an invisible eye beam before it could make contact.

“You’re okay!” Gohan shouted almost gleefully to her before looking above him at... “Krillin! Dende!”

“Yep. Here we are.”

Krillin, holding onto the young Namekian, wasn’t any worse for wear, save for some red on the side of his forehead.

“Krillin, you’re bleeding.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just got hit by a rock while we got away.”

“I’d say that was most impressive, but frankly, I expected you all to be good at running away.”

Frieza, now standing atop what remained of the landscape they stood on, only water beneath them, had his arms arched to his sides.

“It wasn’t much of a display of my power. Not even close to a sample size.”

Vegeta, who had believed Frieza had to be bluffing at several points, couldn’t even bring himself to try disagreeing.

“What happened to your demeanor, Vegeta? Even as a brat, and even when your planet, your people, and your father were lost to you, your façade never gave way. Certainly not like this.”

“D-damn you...” was all the Saiyan Prince could mutter at him.

“What shall we have him do now?”

“As a small test of our control in his second form, let us try something small, but substantial.”

“Focus up, Pan,” reentered Trunks. “He should go right for Krillin.”

“He doesn’t die right now...”

As she began to ask this, she couldn’t help but look over at him in dread, possibly being faced with having to stand back and watch someone die for the sake of history once again.

“...does he?”

“No, no. Krillin survives this, but while saving Dende... he was stabbed. Just below the chest.”

Pan began floating upward to the initial puzzlement of Gohan and Vegeta, and trying to get behind Krillin without appearing for it to be intentional.

“I think I can keep up with his movements, at least for now, but I’m on standby until it’s clear.”

“Good thinking.”

Frieza, not even taking on any pre-flight stance, remained standing as he eyed his prey in the sky above him.

“Here’s a little party game: which of you will be the first one I send to Hell?”

They all knew he was about to make a move on any one of them and tried anticipating wherever it would be that he’d go. They had seen his speed in his first form already and had to count on him potentially being just as quick, if not even more so now.

“He’s stronger for sure...” Gohan began to ponder. “...but could he actually be faster than he was before?”

“I choose...”

Purple overtook him once more.

“You!”

Pan saw him flying head-first in Krillin and Dende’s direction, immediately telling from his angle of attack that the Namekian was his intended target. The placement of his horns would, in fact, impale Krillin, but it was all wrong.

“Frieza’s going for the head!”

Pan didn’t wait for an order and zoomed towards the two as quickly as she could.

“Shouting Kaio-Ken might take too long! I can’t chance it!”

Before reaching Krillin, she watched as, without any hesitation, he tossed Dende downward out of harm’s way even as Frieza’s horns neared him.

“You won’t die like this, Krillin!”

Grabbing hold of him by his waist, Pan flew upward to keep Frieza from impaling him through the face, but even if she had wanted Krillin to avoid it entirely, it came in too fast, now headed for...

“His chest! His heart! Gotta move now or...!”

This was all almost indiscernible to Vegeta, whom had kept pace with Frieza’s first form just earlier.

“That speed...!”

Both him and Gohan heard what sounded like the impact of a blade, but what was clearly that of one of Frieza’s horns while seeing Dende falling past the son of Goku.

“KRILLIN!!!”

Pan, looking over Krillin, saw that Frieza’s right horn was between his chest and stomach.

“It struck right where it needed to...”

But this was followed by a massive shock to her system as Krillin seemed to move closer to Frieza’s forehead...

...and something stabbed straight through her right shoulder. Pan spat out in the midst of this new pain.

“SHIT!”

“Ah, look what we have here. An Earthling and Saiyan kebab... served raw.”

She no longer felt herself floating and was instead being lifted by Frieza’s horn. As far as she could tell, she couldn’t move her right arm at all.

“Now hang on, you two. It’s about to get bumpy.”

Shifting his head up and down, Pan and Krillin were sent upward, beginning to be released from the horn, but then fell back down, being struck through once again. With each successive motion, the horn almost seemed to begin digging into the sides of their initial wounds.

“GET OUT OF THERE, PAN!” Trunks all but screamed.

Pan tried to use her left hand to try pushing off Krillin’s shoulder pad, but hesitated.

“I’ll shove Krillin even more into it if I do that.”

“Your body weight’s already doing that!” shouted the Supreme Kai of Time. “Get yourself free before the base impales him!”

As she was facing Frieza right now, she couldn’t reach his shoulders and his left horn could only be accessible with her right arm.

“This is really going to suck...”

During the next descent, Pan positioned her left hand to fire off a gust to rotate herself, which led to her going ninety degrees clockwise while the horn dug further into her gaping wound’s sides.

“You doing okay back there?” Frieza taunted.

Krillin’s grunts were beginning to quiet down, and Pan feared just what all this had done to him so far thanks to her inclusion.

“Hang in there, Krillin.”

This time when Frieza lifted his head upward, Pan grabbed hold of his left horn with her left hand and pulled herself upward as much as she could.

“Oh? Trying to get off the ride?”

The moment her shoulder was free of the horn and falling down meant no further contact with it, Pan let out a cry as she was now dangling, just trying to keep herself upward.

“Gotta float now...”

“Well fine then. As you wish.”

Frieza tilted his head backward, then forward as if shaking something off of him. Pan, forced off Frieza’s left horn and seeing Krillin launched off his right, tried to catch him, but through a combination of the difficulty of trying to do so with one arm combined with the pain in her right shoulder striking...

“KRILLIN!” Gohan shouted once more, flying in his direction...

...when he saw that Krillin had collided with Pan, knocking the two downward in separate directions.

Pan, trying as hard as she could to use her ki through her grievous wound and who knows how much blood loss, caught Gohan stopping for just a moment.

“Krillin needs you, not me.”

But the son of Goku saw blood leaving Pan as well as Krillin and from the angle he floated from, couldn’t tell where Pan had been stabbed.

Time seemed to slow as she saw him still afloat, as if trying to decide where to go.

“Now he’s picking between the two of us... and if he doesn’t save Krillin...”

Gohan's Choice! Missing From Action![]

Krillin, holding Dende in his hands after saving him from an explosion and its debris, floated in place and saw Frieza below him on a narrow pillar above the water.

“Here’s a little party game: which of you will be the first one I send to Hell?”

The Earthling peered over to his left, seeing the son of his best friend, and to his right at the Saiyan he tried to kill with Yajirobe’s sword. Looking downward to find Pan...

“She’s not there! Where did she go?”

But instead of looking around, he focused on Frieza, whom, without even taking on a proper pre-flight stance...

“I choose... you!”

Krillin saw him leave the ground, a purple glow over the tyrant, and quickly deciphered just where he was heading...

“He’s coming for Dende!”

Frieza didn’t have either of his hands out for a punch or a blast, instead heading their way head-first, his two horns intending to stab.

“I can’t move out of the way fast enough!”

But he peered down, seeing not just Frieza’s rapid approach, but also the young Namekian in his arms...

“He won’t get you!”

Krillin couldn’t avoid it in that instant, but he threw Dende over towards Gohan’s direction. His impalement by Frieza’s horns was imminent, one headed straight for his face, but at least he saved someone.

“Dying twice... just like Chiaotzu...”

But then he felt someone holding him by his waist, pulling him upward, and just briefly saw the long sleeves of a light gray jacket.

“She saved m...!”

Towa and Mira witnessed her attempt to have Krillin killed come up short due to Pan’s efforts...

...then Towa covered her mouth with her hand to quiet down a gasp as she witnessed Frieza’s right horn had stabbed through not just Krillin, but Pan as well.

“Towa? Is something wrong?”

The female demon quickly shook it off and appeared neutral.

“I was caught off guard by her speed. Beating Frieza there without Kaio-Ken...”

“You are not concerned about the patroller’s wound?”

“Why would I be? It serves our purpose. Fighting Frieza and protecting the Z-Fighters will be that much harder for her one-armed.”

As far as Mira could tell, Towa wasn’t distraught at the pain Pan was going through and would likely suffer as the battle raged on.

“She is not protecting the patroller? Not this time, it would seem.”

Now Mira watched almost assuredly as Pan fell upon being struck by Krillin being launched into her.

“Let’s see her face Frieza now.”

Even amidst falling, Pan saw Gohan turning between Krillin and her in what was akin to slow motion. While the child’s features weren’t crystal clear, she could tell her father was trying to decide who required his aid more so.

“Now he’s picking between the two of us... and if he doesn’t save Krillin...”

For Gohan, he could see Krillin falling towards water and the wound through his back clear as day...

“Krillin’s wounded! And he’ll drown in the state he’s in if I don’t get to him!”

...but from his perspective, he couldn’t tell if the blood he saw behind Pan was from just her shoulder or perhaps her chest.

“Was she stabbed in an even worse region?! I don’t know!”

And with the briefest look at her projected descent thus far, it looked like she would hit rocky terrain.

“Water in a wound would be one thing, but that impact with that deep of a laceration...”

Gohan felt trapped in a trolley dilemma, even as it boiled down to just saving one person or the other.

“Krillin’s my friend... but I can’t just let her die either! What do I do?!”

Pan saw Gohan appearing to have made up his mind and facing her intently.

“No...!”

The pain of this combined with that of air rushing to and through her wound.

“I’ll live through this! Krillin will die without you, Dad!”

What was merely seconds felt like an eternity waiting for her father to go through with the choice that would result in history altering.

“I shouldn’t have put him in this situation.”

Now Gohan appeared ready to fly straight towards her with all haste...

“Shouldn’t have gotten caught by that horn.”

...but her inner musing was put on hold when she felt herself being caught.

“Now sear that wound shut, dumbass!”

Even while hearing Vegeta’s words, she kept her eyes on Gohan, whom, upon seeing Pan in Vegeta’s arms, swiftly turned around and flew after the more grievously wounded Krillin. She managed a small smile while witnessing this...

“Thanks to your father, Trunks, now history’s back on...”

“HEY!!! Earth girl!”

She gave Vegeta her full attention after this as he scoffed in frustration.

“You asswipes, the whole lot of you! The shortie, worried about that little green brat! And you with him!”

But she felt Vegeta shiver ever slightly, then peered where he was looking:

Frieza had zoomed around Pan’s father and into his path, stopping him from reaching the currently submerged Krillin.

“That... that incredible speed...” the normally proud Saiyan muttered.

“Trying to help your friend?” went Frieza in a condescendingly apologetic tone to Gohan. “Well I am sorry, but there’s nothing you can do. He’s not long for this world.”

She then heard Vegeta all but groan.

“That moron’s just floating there...”

“Kakarot’s brat is like a lowly beast in headlights! The Earthling dies, so be it... but if Frieza kills the kid here and now...”

Pan felt herself being rotated, almost positioned to stand.

“Now land. Your shoulder’s busted, not your legs.”

With those words, Vegeta turned his full attention towards the two figures floating in the distance and let her go straight downward.

“He’s going to help my dad...”

Pan tried to use her ki to mitigate the impact of her landing, but even with her efforts, she still couldn’t help but stumble straight into a wall of rock, her right shoulder making contact with it first. As she put her left hand over the wound and clenched her teeth from the feel of that alone, Pan brought her attention back to her father and Frieza.

“Might I make a suggestion, little one?”

She could see that even as Gohan’s posture indicated fear and dread, her father also wanted to get past the galactic tyrant, not away from him, to save Krillin.

“Worry about your own life.”

Now Pan could tell her father was making fists and shaking, and even with his back turned to her could tell he was willing to go straight through Frieza if he had to.

“Out of my way...”

Gohan’s words were to the amusement of Frieza at first.

“Could you repeat that for me?”

A gust formed around her father, one that Pan could feel.

“OUT OF MY WAY!!!”

Gohan zoomed up towards Frieza’s head, his left leg outstretched for a kick...

“I’m afraid not, son of Goku,” spoke Towa aloud as she pressed a button.

Frieza was completely off-guard, his arms in no position to defend himself as Gohan’s left foot neared the side of his head to the sight of a mid-gasp Vegeta...

...when Pan caught a flash of red from Frieza’s eyes and a burst of purple encompassing his body right as he tilted his head, as well as his torso, to duck underneath it.

“Pan, your father...!” shouted Trunks on comms.

Gohan was undeterred and span to throw a right handed punch which would curve itself into an uppercut to strike Frieza’s chin.

“He’s supposed to land strikes on Frieza! Actually hurt him!”

Once more, Frieza adjusted his stance to avoid the hit in question. Anticipating a counter attack where he was floating, Gohan descended down underneath a chop, then went for a punch between the tyrant’s chest and stomach...

“Towa’s making him laser focus on your father! He’s dodging everything Gohan’s...!”

...but Frieza blocked it with his wrist. In rapid succession, Gohan punched, but found Frieza’s opposing wrist would block it before the attack could reach its intended destination.

“No, no, no! Frieza shouldn’t be doing this to Gohan! Not right now!”

Vegeta tried deciding between helping Gohan or continuing to overlook the skirmish.

“He has all that Saiyan power at his disposal when he loses his head like that... but now it’s been made useless against Frieza.”

Gohan’s assault slowed for only a moment, allowing Frieza to bat Gohan’s right arm to the side, then, before the son of Goku could attack with his left, struck the child back with his other arm. It was essentially a slap, but the sheer force slammed Gohan straight to the ground, where he was slow to lift himself up.

Pan, beginning to generate ki over the front of her shoulder...

“So Trunks, my father’s supposed to... to hurt Frieza...”

She mentally paused from the burning sensation of slowly sealing the wound.

“What about your father? Is he... he joining in any... any day now?”

“Once Gohan began to do damage, my father fired at him from behind.”

“But with my father not... not getting it DONE...!”

She spat out and crouched over, then felt her right fingers moving atop her knee.

“Good. I can feel them again.”

Now putting her left hand behind the right shoulder, the initial burn of her ki had her stepping backward into the wall, her hand partially embedded into it.

“Talk to me, Trunks! What do I... what would you have me do?”

Trunks, standing overlooking the battle alongside Chronoa, mapped out what was meant to occur.

“Frieza was meant to nearly kill Gohan when your father used up much of his energy,” Chronoa began. “And Vegeta fired at Frieza from behind after his first initial hit, all before Krillin returned to the battle.”

“K-Krillin returned?”

They could hear Pan was surprised at the prospect after his wound just then.

“But how?”

“Dende got him out of the water, then healed him,” answered Trunks. “Unfortunately, the time frame’s off, so it’ll be some time before...”

“Trunks, look!” Chronoa interrupted.

Pan caught initial silence from the two.

“What are you looking at?”

She then peered over at Frieza, seeing that instead of looking at Gohan beneath him, he looked over at the water instead.

The small Namekian was slowly swimming towards the shore with Krillin in tow and his head above water.

“Hold on. Whatever you do, just h...”

He stopped upon glimpsing something in the shape of Frieza in the water’s reflection.

“Is he...?”

“How very kind of you, trying to paddle the dying Earthling to shore for his burial.”

Dende turned around, seeing that his fears were true.

“He found them!” Trunks shouted to Pan. “Dende and Krillin!”

Pan stopped what she was doing and stepped forward.

“Wound’s good enough. I need to move.”

“I have a better idea.”

Frieza put out a hand in their direction.

“Scattering your ashes.”

Frieza fired down, a blast almost perfectly wide enough for both targets...

...when a streak of yellow with a touch of orange zoomed past just before impact. Once it ceased, Frieza saw no sign of them and immediately knew who had taken his kills from him.

“The Saiyan girl...”

Atop the shore on a nearby island, Pan laid the two down as gently as she could to account for the wounded Krillin.

“Take care of him for me, okay?” she asked Dende.

When Dende first encountered Pan, he mistook her for Zarbon from a glimpse of her shadow and even hid behind Gohan from her after the fact. But now she had saved the two of them.

“I will,” the Namekian replied back followed by a nod.

Frieza peered over from island to island trying to find the trio until...

“You little sneaks.”

Gohan, now ignored by the tyrant temporarily, glimpsed Pan, Krillin, and Dende on one of the islands and saw Frieza aiming at it.

“Can’t reach them in time...” he mused before changing his tone. “I have to warn them!”

“LOOK...!”

And before he could even shout “Out,” Frieza had already fired straight at them. The explosion that resulted enveloped the island in its entirety and Gohan couldn’t sense any of their ki.

“I was too late... I... I...”

“That island was an eyesore anyway.”

This comment from Frieza drove Gohan from melancholy straight to anger.

“I do believe I’m forgetting something.”

He looked back down, seeing Gohan about to strike with a flying kick.

“Ah, yes.”

He practically side-stepped it and now grasped Gohan by the back of his head.

“It really is cute that you keep trying.”

He then slammed Gohan into his knee, initially letting him go afterward, then kicking him upward in his side.

Pan, having gotten Krillin and Dende away from harm once more, picked another island with more cover for them.

“Keep out of sight for now, got it?” she whispered.

Dende nodded, then turned his attention back to Krillin as Pan flew off.

“I’m glad I’ve been fast enough so far, but until we get Frieza back on track, we...”

She caught Gohan rocketing upward followed by Frieza emerging above him to strike him back down with his tail.

“Dad!”

This time, when Gohan was headed straight for the ground, he actually managed to land on his feet and hands, but as he tried to lift himself up, he couldn’t help but have a hand to his back from just how much that impact stung.

“Until we know the best route to take here, Pan, keep your distance and...”

“Unless your father gets involved, Trunks, I’m going to have to...!”

She caught Vegeta still eying the battle while keeping as far as he could.

“What in the hell does he think he’s doing?!”

“Pan, wait!” Trunks shouted only to find her having reached him.

“Vegeta!”

The Saiyan Prince didn’t even look at her, instead still seeing what Frieza was doing below them.

“I thought that brat was one of the strongest among us... but it’s all for nothing.”

They both saw Frieza seemingly disappear, then reappear behind Gohan, grabbing him from behind once more, then proceeding to elbow the back of his head.

“Vegeta, please! You have to do something!”

But what followed pushed Pan further towards the edge:

Frieza picked up Gohan by his hair, then punched him straight in the stomach, keeping him in place with a tighter grip.

“Frieza’s going to kill him!”

Another swat left Gohan on his side in a near-fetal position, but the son of Goku still managed to will himself back to his feet. Frieza approached him on foot, this time waiting for Gohan to strike.

“My...! Gohan needs you! He needs us! Both of us!”

Gohan struck Frieza’s chin with a jumping kick, his first unblocked blow and one that actually made Frieza stumble ever slightly.

“Frieza’s just toying with the kid... and us. It’s all just a game to him.”

The tyrant lifted Gohan upward like a ragdoll, then while swinging him downward, prepared his left knee.

“Pan, leave him be. My father’s part comes la...”

But the impact of Frieza’s knee to Gohan’s head could be heard by her even from that distance. Almost as if her vision had zoomed in, she could see clear as day that Gohan’s nose was bent, and blood came down from his forehead, his nostrils, and his lips. And once her father opened his mouth, he spat out blood in a violent cough.

“Wait, your father’s not supposed to be...”

But Pan’s shock gave way to fiery hot rage.

“He’s not supposed to be beaten TO DEATH, HUH?!”

After her mental exclamation at Trunks, she grabbed Vegeta’s by his armor’s collar and shook him up and down.

“Look at THIS!!!”

Vegeta still wore a blank and paralyzed expression despite Pan’s attempts to get his attention.

“He could tear us limb from limb...”

“He’ll die IF YOU DO NOTHING!!! Now COME ON!!!”

“...take us apart like toys. That’s what Frieza...”

“Do something, you DAMN COWARD!!!”

Vegeta broke his blank expression and actually pushed Pan back.

“I’m no coward! I just recognize that saving him is SUICIDE!”

Her initial outburst simmered down as she turned her back to him.

“You really are the opposite of the Vegeta I knew...”

“Hey!” Vegeta shouted as Pan shifted into a flying stance. “Just what the hell is the brat to you, huh?! Answer me!”

But Pan flew off in silence, not due to her being prohibited from revealing details about herself and her father, but because she didn’t even want to humor him with any response, let alone an answer.

Frieza threw Gohan back downward, the child all but immobile from the beatings he had endured.

“All tuckered out, are we?”

He raised his left foot above his head.

“Die!”

In spite of his last word, Frieza didn’t stomp on Gohan with all his strength, but instead slowly put more and more weight down on the son of Goku.

“No, Frieza! This is your chance! Kill the son of Goku now!”

Mira rarely caught Towa vocalizing her frustrations in this matter, especially at the screen itself.

“Damned sadistic tyrant! Still playing with his food even with my formula!”

“But should the other mission go according to plan...” he began.

Towa proceeded to take a deep breath.

“I suppose it will make no difference.”

Gohan was now screeching in pain from the slow attempt to flatten his skull.

“Ah, there you are...”

Frieza had finally found Vegeta in the distance after all this time.

“Is something the matter?” he asked. “Aren’t you going to come help the poor boy? He won’t last for much longer, you know.”

Frieza waiting for Vegeta to reply to him gave Gohan the briefest respite, the force of the foot halted for that duration.

“The Saiyan Prince at a loss for words. Aww, that’s no fun.”

He then heard something to his side and saw Pan, even more serious than she had appeared prior.

“So, Saiyan girl, the ‘Prince of all Saiyans’ had nothing to say. Tell me: do you have any words before this one departs for Hell?”

Frieza covered his mouth in a mock “oops” fashion.

“Oh, pardon my language in front of the little one... the next dimension.”

Her fists were as tight as they could be within minimal comfort.

“Leave... the kid... ALONE!!!”

“If you simply must insist...”

Frieza lifted his foot off of Gohan and took a step backward...

“...except...”

He then pointed his hand toward the son of Goku.

“...how can I leave the kid alone if there is no kid to begin with?”

Pan got ready to charge at him with everything she had to either tackle him or block the shot...

“On my signal, get to Gohan!” Trunks shouted.

“Is your father about to go for a sneak attack?”

“No, it’s...”

Pan immediately recognized the sound of the attack and Frieza turned toward the strange audible noise completely alien to him. The tyrant hopped upward and, as Pan feared, his hand was ready to fire at Gohan.

“GO!!!”

She flew straight ahead, her ki shield up over Gohan once her back was to Frieza’s hand, as the blast fired right before Frieza performed a flip, ceasing it.

“Kaio-Ken!”

As her ki shield withstood the heat of the attack while protecting her father, she caught the familiar destructo-disk, in spite of Frieza’s attempt to avoid it, managing to cut at one half of his tail...

...but Trunks and Chronoa caught that the upper half of his tail was not sliced off completely.

“It’s only about halfway cut. It’s still attached.”

“And even with Krillin back in the fight, with Frieza not having sustained any damage from Gohan...”

Frieza saw the Earthling who he had impaled just earlier not only back on his feet, but appearing completely healthy.

“I left him at Death’s door.”

Along with that, he peered below him to see that beneath a massive seemingly bottomless crater he had created, a lone pillar remained with Pan hunched over and covering Gohan.

“Kienzan!” shouted Krillin, immediately drawing Frieza’s attention away from them.

As a flurry of destructo-disks were launched at Frieza, this time more than able to avoid them, Pan realized...

“You said Piccolo was wished here, to Namek, right?”

“Yes,” Chronoa answered. “He should be on his way there now.”

“Can you give me an ETA?”

As Chronoa began to shift her view to elsewhere on Namek...

“I know the path he’ll arrive from. Let’s see where he is right now...”

...she saw what to Trunks looked like a purple fog entrenched over the area.

“Supreme Kai of Time, what is that?”

“It’s an alteration in progress... from earlier in time.”

She swiped the scroll, seeing the fog unchanged throughout...

“I should see him and Nail by now.”

“Whose Nail?”

“In a moment, Pan. Just need to find...”

Pan waited, then heard both Chronoa and Trunks gasping.

“Something wrong?”

“Pan, we need to extract you right this second!” Chronoa proclaimed.

“But how? Wherever I go, everyone can see me!”

Pan felt a piece of rock she was standing on loosen and break off, causing her to nearly lose her footing. She landed on her side just next to Gohan, then sat up and saw said rock falling down the pit until it was no longer visible to her.

“Can you beam me out of here from down there?”

“Yes, just so long as no one is above you.”

She noticed Krillin’s destructo-disk barrage had concluded and he now had Frieza’s complete attention after blowing a raspberry with a taunting pose.

“I think we’re good there.”

“Pan, there’s no time!” Trunks shouted. “Jump down there, now!”

As much as she tried to keep an eye out for Vegeta and Dende, she understood the severity of the situation and fell down into the depths below.

Krillin, however, noted this.

“Wait!”

He flew in her direction, then found a massive pillar-like beam of light coming out straight from the bottomless crater.

“What was she...?! Where did she go?!”

Dende, hidden from view, didn’t know what to make of this either.

“How could she save us before and then leave us now?”

Vegeta, having refused to save Gohan once it appeared suicidal to do so, was left further adrift now that a constant in their battles had seemingly abandoned them.

“If she’s left us to Frieza... then it truly is hopeless.”

“I have a promise for you all:”

All four of them turned toward Frieza, who, even with his wounded tail, spoke with his usual calm and assured tone.

“Within the next hour, whichever of you four who are still alive... shall grow to envy those who are dead.”

Pan, having repositioned herself in mid-fall, landed on her feet back at the library.

“Okay, what is the situ...?”

“Take the scroll, Pan!”

Chronoa handed it right to her.

“No time for a briefing! You’re needed now!”

Pan understood this and closed her eyes while gripping the scroll tightly.

As her vision was filled with only pure white, traveling through time once more, she used this window to ask:

“Is Towa altering history before the event I’m on again?”

“Yes. She’s keeping Piccolo from reaching everyone.”

“So someone’s stopping him?”

“Not just that...”

Pan found herself in another area of Namek, now seeing three people before her:

Piccolo, donned in the same attire as before, but with his turban, weighted cape and shoulder pads.

A Namekian warrior lying on the ground behind Piccolo, wounded with purple bruises all across his body.

“That must be Nail.”

And the third, a man in purple, gold, and orange, a black hooded cape hiding the rest of him, was locked in battle with Piccolo.

“Help Piccolo fend this guy off,” Trunks ordered.

Piccolo, spotting Pan from the corner of his eye...

“Y-you’re here?!”

This allowed his hooded opponent to punch him in the face, knocking Piccolo back.

“I don’t mind the company,” the figure began. “Just as long as you don’t touch anything.”

She then saw him aiming his hand right at Nail.

“Protect Nail!”

Heeding Trunks’ words, she then drew her Power Pole and swung it into the man’s stomach, throwing off his aim just enough to leave a searing trail next to Nail.

“Now that wasn’t very nice of you.”

Piccolo ran in from behind to ambush the caped man, but he was pushed back with a burst of kiai from one hand while Pan found her next swing of her polearm caught by the other.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to go around swinging your toys like that?”

He then swung the Power Pole with Pan in tow with that arm alone, slamming her onto her back.

“You could really hurt yourself doing that, kiddo.”

Piccolo, his arms outstretched, successfully grabbed hold of the man by the back of his head. He tugged, but found that he only had the hood and cape in his grip.

“Why thank you. Wouldn’t want them to get all sweated up.”

Pan, seeing the Power Pole aimed just right to strike, fired a kiai wave of her own, slipping through his grip and jabbing it into the man’s armpit.

“Agh, hey!”

He gripped the Power Pole once more and swung it down at Pan, this time two-handed, but despite an impressively deep impact in the ground, she rolled out of the way in time. After this, Piccolo tossed the cape and hood forward as he made his approach, but then found it was blasted through by two beams from the man’s eyes.

“No biggie. I have plenty in...”

Piccolo then went for a sweeping kick at the man’s legs, but found he had not only hopped over...

“...my wardrobe.”

...but swung downward at him with the Power Pole. The Namekian guarded against it with crossed wrists, but was forced into a crouch from just that alone. Pan charged at him, but swerved to the side from a jab of the Power Pole while Piccolo was struck from the opposite end.

“Here, you want your toy back?”

The man charged straight at Pan with her polearm, her taking hold of one end, but now being pushed back toward a wall. She managed to stop, but now the man pressed forward, intending to pierce through her with her own weapon.

“At least now you won’t be able to leave home without it.”

As it drew closer...

“Power Pole Extend!”

The man was puzzled at first...

“Beg your pard...?”

...but was struck back by the growing Power Pole.

“Now, Piccolo!”

He heeded Pan’s words and fired a beam from his mouth right at the man, who was then forced straight into the air. Once the mysterious figure left their sight, Pan began walking away while Piccolo faced Nail.

“Time for me to leave?”

“Not sure,” Trunks informed her. “Was the enemy defeated?”

“I’m not sensing him. Who was he anyway?”

“I don't know, but let’s just get you out of sight in case...”

As Pan was about to get behind a piece of cover...

...she felt someone gripping her right wrist.

“Just where do you think you’re going?”

Piccolo, having stretched his arm to reach her, then pulled her towards him.

“I’m not hearing an answer.”

“Pan, just tell him you’re leaving to help the others.”

“I’m heading out to help the others. From Earth.”

“And you just happened to stumble upon my fight just now?”

“I couldn’t just leave you and Nail.”

“Pan, no!” shouted Trunks.

“What? What did I say?”

“‘You and Nail’?”

Pan caught from Piccolo’s tone that he was especially startled at this, soon followed by the Namekian from Earth pointing directly at Nail.

“You. I don’t even know your name. What is it?”

“Nail,” he responded back.

“Seems she knows you. Do you know her?”

Nail lifted his head enough to look upward at Pan.

“I don’t know you.”

“You don’t know her?” Piccolo asked.

“I’ve never seen her before now.”

Piccolo seemed even more flustered after Nail revealed this.

“How in the hell do you know Nail without Nail knowing you?”

His grip around Pan’s right wrist tightened.

“Don’t think just because you protected Gohan that I’ll...”

“Enough!”

Pan shoved Piccolo back and freed her wrist.

“You should know by now that I’m on your side.”

“Even so, you’ve kept so much to yourself I know next to nothing about you other than your fighting abilities.”

He took a step forward, forcing Pan to step backward.

“Including who you are, where you’re from, and just why it is that you help us in the first place.”

“Piccolo, you have to trust me.”

“Right now, I don’t.”

“Even after I’ve helped you...”

“You helped me against Raditz, I’ll give you that... but you helped Goku against me. And yet you let Goku die. I told you to hold Raditz in place and you refused.”

With each step Piccolo took, Pan was slowly getting farther away from Nail.

“You went out of your way to warn Yamcha about the Saibamen, yet stood by when Chiaotzu and Tien died... along with me.”

“If I try to run, he’ll change history just to catch me.”

“Piccolo, listen...”

“And now you’re here on Namek of all places, and to what? Protect me and Nail?”

“I told you, I’m going to help...”

This time, Piccolo stepped faster than she anticipated and grabbed hold of her by her neck with his right hand, lifting her off the ground.

“Either you’re plotting something... or you’re just a pawn in a greater scheme.”

Pan could break out of his grip whenever she needed to, but couldn’t risk what that’d mean for Piccolo’s all-too-accurate theory.

“No more secrets. Tell me everything. Or Namek will become your resting place.”

“I’m not your enemy, Piccolo.”

“If that’s true, then you’d have no reason not to tell me.”

“There’s... there’s too much at stake.”

“Then it sounds like there’s too much at stake for me to let you live.”

His grip tightened and now Pan had to consider breaking free just to protect herself.

“Please... I don’t want to fight you.”

“That’s irrelevant. Answers are the only way you’re leaving here alive.”

With her training to prepare for Frieza, all Pan had to do was overpower Piccolo to break free, but with the threat of an impending battle with Piccolo guaranteed to alter history resulting from it, she only pulled at his arms with the minimum power necessary.

“Supreme Kai of Time, Trunks! I don’t know what to do here! I won’t tell him anything, but I can’t have him turn on me!”

“Gohan!” went Trunks. “That’s how you’ll get him to rethink what he’s doing!”

“Gohan...”

Piccolo almost seemed to loosen his grip on her throat just slightly after she began.

“What about Gohan?”

“You know Gohan... wouldn’t want this...”

Instead of appealing to Piccolo, this had the opposite effect.

“What kind of a veiled threat is that?”

“No, I’m not...!”

“So if I don’t play along, Gohan’s life will be at stake, is that what you’re telling me?!”

Piccolo tightened his grip even more so than it was before.

“How dare you bring him into this!”

“Piccolo, stop!” Nail called out. “Aren’t you here to help those Earthlings?”

“I am, but this...”

“Frieza is the immediate threat. They’ll die without our help.”

“‘Our help’? You’re dying. What good would you be against Frieza?”

“I know a way to make you more powerful. Several times more powerful. Strong enough to defeat Frieza. But first, you have to let her go.”

“Pan, tell Piccolo that it will work.”

“What will work, Trunks? I don’t even know what Nail’s talking about.”

“It’s our last resort. It’ll confirm some of his suspicions, but if Piccolo accepts Nail’s offer, history can begin to restore itself.”

Even with how enticing what Nail suggested was, Piccolo was skeptical about the claim.

“How do I know you’re not just making that up so I’ll spare her?”

“It’ll work,” Pan answered in Nail’s place. “It will.”

“And how is it that you know?”

“There’s no time, but I...”

“HOW do you KNOW?!”

“What do I tell him? That I’m a fortune teller or something?”

“You won’t stand a chance without it,” Nail lightly threatened.

Piccolo was in disbelief at what Nail was doing.

“You don’t know her, yet you’re taking her side on this?”

“Frieza did this to me... and because of that, I understand his capabilities.”

He turned to the side, spitting out purple blood.

“I’m not long for this world, so if you don’t believe me, go ahead... just as you are now, and get killed by him.”

Pan’s eyes shot open and she let go with her left hand, generating ki. Piccolo, at first, responded by tilting his head to avoid her attack.

“That’s the last attack you’ll ever pull against me, mark my...”

Instead, he found the blast that followed was nowhere near him, instead headed just above Nail. Nail saw something bright above him and saw a ball of energy descending straight towards him, then found Pan’s attack struck the ball away, going through a rocky structure before detonating in a massive explosion.

“He’s still here.”

Piccolo, now seeing the figure from before floating down, let go of Pan, who fell to her knees, coughing and trying to recover.

“I’ve been to Namek only once before. Always thought it was a nice place, but when you sent me up there just now... that was a lovely view.”

Pan noticed the man’s clothes nearly lacked any damage or marks from any of their attacks on him thus far.

“This guy’s strong. Whoever he is, his power...”

Standing up, she made her way around to cover Nail right as the man landed.

“I’m going to have to stop pulling my punches.”

“Get him away if you can,” entered Chronoa. “I’ve stopped time to keep Frieza from killing anyone, but Nail needs to survive long enough to fuse with Piccolo.”

Pan couldn’t help but look over at Nail, then back to Piccolo upon hearing this.

“Fuse?! Like join together?”

“What’s the matter there, dearie? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Piccolo, hearing the man still speaking so casually and lightly in spite of their combat, and sensing that his last attack had hardly caused any depletion to this man’s ki, stomped ahead irate at the situation.

“Is this all just a joke to you?!”

“I’ll be rather straight with you: I wasn’t going all out because it’s been so long since I was in my prime. Like riding a bicycle, it’s all slowly coming back to me.”

“Enough with your games! Who are you?!”

Now that he was standing still without his hood, both Pan and Piccolo caught a closer look at his grinning green face, the top half of which was concealed by a purple helmet with a blue gem atop it, and a small scar visible below his left eye.

“Lord Slug. Or the almighty Lord Slug, if you prefer.”

Almighty Lord Slug! Piccolo's Paranoia![]

Earlier

Piccolo, en route to reach Gohan and the others in order to face Frieza, stopped for a moment upon sensing a small ki source close by his route:

Nail, the second Namekian Piccolo had ever met, lied on the ground, having been inflicted with fatal injuries by Frieza.

“I take it you’re the Namekian the Earthlings spoke of. Their wishes... they got them.”

“So you know what’s going on.”

Piccolo, while far from indifferent to Nail’s condition and eventual fate, sensed Frieza and others and knew he had to depart soon.

“Then you know I need to hurry and save them. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to leave you now.”

“Oh don’t you worry your pretty little head about it...”

The two turned, Nail only able to peer himself just enough towards this third voice that entered their conversation.

“I’ll give you company.”

This hooded and caped figure casually made his way towards Nail while not even trying to walk around Piccolo.

“You got somewhere to be, doncha? So chop, chop. Mush, mush. No time like the present.”

Piccolo started to lift a foot to prepare to step aside...

“I can’t just leave them to Frieza’s devices... but this man... whoever, whatever he is...”

...but the man instead saw Piccolo looking ready to fight.

“Oh? Now this is unexpected.”

He had his gloved hands together, cracking his knuckles.

“No matter. I don’t get to fight many Namekians, so this will be a real treat for me.”

“Another alteration brought into place by the patroller rather than my formula...”

Towa and Mira watched Pan hop into the practically pitch blackness of the crater Frieza created before, prompting Krillin to move towards where she was out of concern instead of leading the galactic tyrant on a chase as per history. Upon Pan vanishing via the light-esque construct, the three combatants and the hidden Dende were now at the mercy of Frieza and his considerably less wounded tail.

“And with that, she has led them to the slaughter,” Mira added with the slightest hint of glee.

Shortly

Due to Krillin’s attempt to pursue Pan, he was trapped towards ground level rather than taking to the sky, Frieza covering his every attempt to try doing so. He tried putting his hands towards his face to begin the Solar Flare, but Frieza’s chopping hand nearly touched his right arm and he was forced to break it off.

“That could’ve taken my hand off the wrist!”

Krillin’s eyes were on Frieza the entire time, yet he still caught Vegeta floating just behind the tyrant.

“Get in here already, you Saiyan jerk!”

But he was forced to duck from another chop, one that would’ve connected had Krillin been slightly taller.

“He’s faster than this! He could step on the gas any time, but he’s...!”

The Prince of all Saiyan’s face appeared as neutral as he could possibly disguise it, but like Krillin, he knew why they all still drew breath:

“He’s playing with us! He want us to suffer before he...”

He looked down at Gohan, then spotted Dende floating his way towards the half-Saiyan child, undetected by Frieza thus far.

“...before he kills all four of us.”

“You came out again...”

Frieza almost sounded elated to have found Dende again, actually breaking off his combat with Krillin and allowing the Earthling to put distance between the two. Now with Frieza seemingly distracted, Krillin only lamented that he didn’t have the ki necessary to seriously damage him.

“Should’ve just thrown one Destructo-Disk and saved my energy! Couldn’t make one now if my life depended on... it does depend on it, and now I can’t! Stupid, stupid!”

He turned to Vegeta, trying to get his attention with his glare and direct him towards Frieza.

“I know you have way more ki than all of us! You won’t find a better opening than this! Attack him! NOW!!!”

But Vegeta didn’t humor Krillin in the least, not even raising a hand or with a hint of ki at his fingers.

“It’d be a complete waste.”

“I’m afraid, Namekian, that your friend’s not going to be getting up any time soon.”

As far as Vegeta could tell, Dende was trying to shake Gohan.

“You’re wasting your time, you stupid Namekian! Kakarot’s brat is going to die and you’re just...! Gah, you’re completely useless!”

A purple glow overtook Frieza...

“But you mustn’t fret: now you’ll be in the same boat.”

...as he pointed his finger directly in Dende’s direction to the immediate notice of Krillin.

“He’ll kill Dende! Maybe Gohan too!”

Vegeta caught Krillin about to move towards Dende.

“What is that moronic Earthling doing?!”

Trying to parse out his movement against whichever attack of Frieza’s was about to be unleashed from his finger, Krillin found himself in a seemingly no-win scenario.

“I can’t push him out of the way in time! I can only...!”

Catching the slightest flicker emerge from Frieza’s fingertip, he gulped, then threw himself into Dende’s path to cover him.

“After I die, you have to heal Goku, Dende! He’s the only way we’ll survive any of this!”

Frieza found his Death Beam about to be intercepted by the Earthling, but instead of his smirk receding, it stretched out instead, his teeth vying to poke out.

“I may just kill all three of you in one gesture. I do hope the dear prince sees this.”

Vegeta, believing he was about to become Frieza’s lone target with their deaths, turned his back to the battlefield.

“Now there is no hope...”

He began to fly off to put as much distance as possible between himself and Frieza.

“I have to get off this planet now.”

Dende tried to get out one last scream as the beam headed right for Krillin...

...but he was frozen completely before sound could leave him. As was the blast about to touch Krillin, the grinning Frieza, and the fleeing Vegeta.

“Figures.”

Towa wasn’t the slightest bit surprised at the stopping of time at her moment of triumph.

“Once the patroller departed, it was only inevitable the Supreme Kai of Time would do this. She has done this before.”

“Then does that mean the patroller has already intercepted our other alteration?”

Upon hearing Mira’s inquiry, Towa swiped her hand at her screen, causing it to shift from the frozen battle in history to the new one she had orchestrated.

“We might as well check on my lord.”

“That’s my sweet lord to you, my fair blue lady,” answered her ally on comms.

Lord Slug, arms crossed, communicated with Towa.

“We’ve got ourselves a party crasher.”

“It was never ruled out as a possibility,” Towa added.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I’m not the least bit worried. In fact, I haven’t gone all out yet.”

Now that Pan had learned the identity of the man attacking Nail and Piccolo, she used this moment to try learning all she could about him.

“What can you both tell me about Lord Slug?”

“In multiple timelines, he’s emerged as a would-be conqueror,” began Chronoa. “But other than that, we don’t know all that much about who Lord Slug is and where he comes from.”

“Your grandfather fought him in some of those timelines and won, but they were never easy victories” Trunks added.

“Tell me, Lord Slug...”

Piccolo broke the silence by addressing his enemy by name.

“Why are you doing this? Why slay a Namekian whose already dying?”

“I don’t owe either of you young punks an explanation.”

Piccolo’s fists tightened, utterly insulted by this.

“Who are you calling a young punk?!”

“For starters, compared to my centuries of living, you’re but a mere infant, only beginning to crawl.”

Piccolo stumbled back, but kept his fighting stance strong.

“C-centuries?”

“Not to mention you’re, what, ten? By Earthling standards, neither of you can drink, but you couldn’t even get into a grown up moving picture without her.”

Pan caught Piccolo partially hunched over and heard a near-silent growl from his clenched teeth.

“What’s really curious is the spawn of the Great Demon King playing guardian angel to a total stranger.”

Nail lifted his head and back up partially upon hearing this.

“The spawn of the... the Great Demon King?”

A bead of sweat slowly slinked down between Piccolo’s right eye and his right ear.

“How could you possibly...?”

“I did a little reading on your old man during my time on Earth. Admired what he did there, certainly, but your pops set his ambition much too low. I mean why just rule over one planet...”

Lord Slug uncrossed his arms and raised them almost triumphantly with closed hands.

“...when he could’ve ruled ALL of them?”

Everyone around Lord Slug was unnerved at what his aspirations were.

“Turles was bad enough acting as a pure Saiyan,” Pan pondered. “But what Lord Slug wants to accomplish...”

Her thoughts were halted upon hearing a rough cough from Nail.

“You’re just like Frieza...”

Nail’s voice began to sound hoarse.

“You said it, not me. That’s quite the compliment there, pal.”

Pan took on what to Piccolo appeared to be a standing running stance.

“Slug’s going to stall us. Talk Piccolo’s ear off until Nail dies. I need to start the fight again. Get him away from the two so they can fuse.”

“Kaio...!”

Lord Slug heard this and saw Pan taking a step forward.

“KEN!”

Piccolo covered himself from the shift in the air this caused, stunned by what he sensed emanating from Pan and having never encountered Kaio-Ken before.

“Her power... it just doubled!”

She was surrounded by red and moved so quickly as to appear to vanish to the untrained eye.

“I’ve landed hits on him without Kaio-Ken so far, so now...”

A right handed punch neared Lord Slug’s face.

“My...” he spoke casually...

...as he caught her fist with his right hand.

“...oh my.”

Pan found her movements ceased completely and his grip effectively pinned her.

“He’s stopping me with just one hand...”

She tried swinging her left arm at him, but from the angle she was at, unable to move upward or downward, Pan couldn’t reach him.

“Kaio-Ken’s not even making him budge...”

Pan found that Lord Slug’s left arm was raised and coming down towards her head, but his left hand’s fingers took on a claw-like stance rather than a fist.

“Agh, I’m a sitting duck!”

After how she had performed alongside Piccolo just moments earlier, Pan hoped she could forgo higher levels of Kaio-Ken for the time being, but with this not being the case...

“Times Four!”

Lord Slug found himself being dragged backward, then lost his footing as Pan proceeded to tackle him at high speed. His backside was beginning to be partially submerged into the blue-green ground until he was slammed through a massive rocky structure.

Pan flew back over to Piccolo and Nail, deactivating her Kaio-Ken upon landing and gripping her right shoulder.

“Pan, your arm...!” began Trunks.

“It’s fine for the most part,” she replied back. “Using it with Kaio-Ken’s just a bit of a pain.”

She let go of her shoulder and pointed to Piccolo.

“Piccolo! You need to fuse now!”

Piccolo looked back at Nail, then at his own hands, aghast at what Pan was suggesting.

“J-join with him?!”

She shut her eyes and sighed.

“I did it again, didn’t I?”

Piccolo shook his head and turned away from Nail.

“No, no! I have to be me! I don’t want my personality... my mind... my soul... to change from joining you!”

And Nail, despite everything he had done so far to convince Piccolo to join with him, appeared reluctant to raise his hand towards him.

“Piccolo doesn’t want to fuse with Nail... and Nail might feel the same way after what Slug gave away about Piccolo’s father.”

“This is bad, Pan! Really bad! We have to get them to fuse now! Or Nail will die and Piccolo will stand no chance against what’s to come!”

Piccolo and Nail both heard Pan openly groan with her hands against her head before breaking it off.

“Hurry, you two! Before he...!”

“Before “HE” what?”

Lord Slug was standing directly at her backside, arms crossed. Pan turned around and swung at his jaw with her left hand, but he vanished right as she felt she was about to connect.

“He was nowhere near this fast earlier...”

Piccolo began charging his ki for a technique Pan was all too familiar with the moment he put his right hand to his forehead, his index and middle fingers touching it.

“How can he expect to hit Slug with that when neither of us can keep up with his movements?”

Almost as if reading Pan’s mind, he glared at her.

“Think I can’t find him?! It’s easy when I know his target!”

“Special Beam...!”

He turned around towards Nail and Pan immediately moved in an arc in that direction.

“CANNON!!!”

Lord Slug was visible again, his left hand raised and about to fire downward at Nail lying down to the side of him when he caught the spiraling beam fast approaching him.

“This attack’s killed Saiyans! Let’s see you walk this one off!”

Pan fired at Lord Slug from his right side. His right hand was occupied with blocking ki bullets while his left, instead of firing down at Nail as originally intended, now faced the Special Beam Cannon head on as if trying to catch it in his palm.

“What is he trying to...?!” Pan wondered before...

“No thanks!”

Lord Slug thrust his palm forward right and the Special Beam Cannon was now deflected, not only headed in the exact opposite direction...

“Impossible!”

...but now right towards the shocked Piccolo’s head.

Lord Slug immediately tried blasting at Nail with two hands as Pan was caught in the middle, the man confident one of his foes would fall in this moment no matter what she did.

“Take your pick, dearie: a dying Namekian or the spawn of one of the most evil kings of all.”

“Kaio-KEN!”

She flew in an upward arc towards Piccolo while firing two blasts at Lord Slug. They struck right as he was about to fire, his shots missing Nail as he was forced backward.

“Now she’s turning into a party pooper.”

Pan then all but pushed Piccolo into the ground, the Special Beam Cannon only striking her yellow cape, putting a hole directly into its center before arcing into Namek’s sky.

“Times Three!”

Before Lord Slug could try another attack on Nail, Pan zoomed into him, the two engaged in fisticuffs as the rocky structure behind Nail was shaken by their impacts, small pebbles breaking off with each clash.

“Get him away from here, Picco...!”

“Oh, he’s green like a pickle, alright!” Lord Slug taunted as he punched Pan in the face and then fired eye beams at Nail.

Pan retaliated with a punch to the face of her own upon recovering, but turned her head to see if Piccolo could even make it to Nail in time and if he did...

“Don’t be a human shield this time, please.”

She found that not only did Piccolo crouch down in front of Nail, but he put out his hands to stop the eye beams. The sound of the impact was akin to sizzling and Pan could even smell a faint burnt sensation.

She once again caught Lord Slug trying to seemingly strike the top of her head with a clawed gesture again.

“Again?! Cut that out already!”

She grabbed hold of his wrist, swung herself knee-first into his face, then booted him in the stomach before flipping onto her back and tossing Lord Slug away.

“Lord Slug...” Towa began. “You’re taking hits. You may want to start taking things seriously.”

“Believe me, I am a-okay, all thanks to what you gave me,” he responded back.

“Do not take her advice lightly,” Mira sniped back. “You’d be wise to heed her words... Slug.”

Lord Slug got up at a comfortable pace, clearing dust off his uniform with his gloved hands.

“Call me Slug again and I’ll have to take your robot hand away, young man.”

“Hmph.”

“That’s enough, both of you. Show them your full might.”

He noticed Pan no longer had Kaio-Ken’s red glow and took a moment to catch a breather.

“Pan, you could use Kaio-Ken times ten for how long?” Trunks inquired. “Thirty seconds or so, right?”

“Somewhere around there, yeah.”

“Then you should be able to use times three and four for much longer.”

“Perhaps, but...”

She crouched over for a second, trying to keep her right arm’s discomfort hidden from her adversary.

“Beating this guy, then having enough energy to face Frieza for the remainder...”

“Pan, you have to treat this as your one and only fight,” Chronoa entered. “Once Lord Slug is out of the picture, we’ll have you brought back here and properly treat your arm. Hopefully we have a senzu bean fully grown by this point. But one way or another, we’ll make sure you’re fully healed.”

She then heard something loud crash to the ground:

Piccolo’s weighted cape, soon followed by his turban.

“Hmph. ‘Green like a pickle.’ You sure that’s not the pot calling the kettle black?”

“Well it was either that or you’re green like a log of...”

Piccolo emerged in front of Lord Slug, each catching a fist and having the other caught.

“Piccolo, I told you to...!” Pan began to shout.

“I’m not taking orders from you, you little brat!”

She shrugged off his last insult and flew to strike Lord Slug, who now fended off each of them with one hand.

“Let me handle this, please!”

“You really think you can take him alone?! You’re no match here!”

“For once, we’re in agreement.”

After his taunt, Lord Slug punched a guarding Piccolo back, then delivered a downward backhand at a guarding Pan. Without any Kaio-Ken, she struck the ground with so much force that she essentially bounced back upward.

“What was I thinking?! Trying not to use Kaio-Ken’s only playing into his hand!”

Her opponent then took hold of her by her left ankle, then span around with her in tow.

“Spinning so fast I can’t even speak...”

The moment Lord Slug stopped, he went for a toss.

“Catch thi...!”

Lord Slug was struck in the gut by his Namekian opponent having covered the distance.

“This demon king spawn’s... gotten faster?”

Pan, unable to speak, but still able to move, lifted her upper body up to grasp the top of her left boot in the midst of this.

“Know why I wore those weights?” Piccolo asked.

Lord Slug’s right hand immediately went for a retaliatory punch, but he was surprised to find Piccolo had gotten around him.

“Quick little thing, aren’t y...?”

Another punch of Piccolo’s connected, this time to Lord Slug’s right side, just below the ribs had he been a human.

“To make their heaviness become natural.”

Lord Slug eyed Piccolo’s feet starting to move, so he put the dangling Pan in front of him to use as a shield...

“Want to try her luck there, Pickl...?”

...or so he thought, only holding Pan’s left boot in his hand. Now with Piccolo’s approach imminent, he dropped the boot and immediately caught Piccolo’s hands.

“So when I take them off...”

Lord Slug found himself being dragged backward a few inches before managing to stop.

“...my speed and strength reach a brand new peak.”

Both tried pushing forward with neither budging.

“What kind of vitamins is this Namekian taking to be able to do this?!”

In the midst of their struggle, Lord Slug saw the gray boot he held before and peered to the side at its owner lying down on her side with a glow obscured by her cape and backside.

“And when I’m done here, I will train up to this in the weights...”

Pan then rolled onto her other side, her front and hands facing him. He tried to move, but Lord Slug was now being pressed downward, Piccolo effectively pinning him to the ground.

“...to ensure my next peak.”

Pan fired a non-verbal beam. Seeing it was unavoidable, Lord Slug tried with all his might to break out of Piccolo’s grip with at least one of his hands. He succeeded with his left and used his palm to repel it, but another punch to his gut had him reeling enough that he was not only exposed to that, but a blast from Piccolo as well.

“Now bow, Lord Slug.”

He was sent in the far distance with the might of both beams, Piccolo’s especially, becoming a speck in a second.

“You didn’t expect that from me at all, did you?”

Piccolo stood almost pridefully, arms crossed, nearly smiling until...

“Oh. Of course.”

Pan took the time to place her discarded boot back over her left foot.

“At least now I don’t feel like I’m about to barf.”

As she fastened it...

“There. That should do it. Now to regroup and...”

“Wh...? Hey!”

Piccolo stretched his arm to grab onto her by her left arm, nearly dragging her until she was back on her feet in front of him.

“What’s the big idea?!”

“You’re not pulling any more disappearing acts on me. You’re coming with me.”

She noted he wasn’t putting crushing pressure on her arm, but still shook to get him to let go.

“Alright, alright! I’m not going anywhere!”

“Good.”

He released her, but then gave her a shove in Nail’s direction.

“But you’re staying in front of me. Where I can see you.”

Pan groaned, then stepped forward with Piccolo right behind her.

“He’s just going to drag this out...”

Seeing Lord Slug crashing down far from the battleground and his objective, Mira openly scoffed.

“Maybe, LORD Slug, this will make you take this seriously.”

Towa at first put her arm in front of Mira, almost as if trying to stand in front of him before another hypothetical person to keep a conflict from arising.

“Mira didn’t mean...”

“I’ll give the blue man this much: I’ve killed underlings for saying less, but he has a point.”

On screen, they saw Lord Slug rising onto his knees, wiping blue-green grass from his clothes.

“I was not expecting that from the Demon King’s brat. Now that he’s shown me his stuff, it’s about time I show them both mine.”

He cracked his neck through his helmet while standing up.

“I won’t have my victory come down to their friend expiring: I intend to get a kill myself.”

Pan was now just short of stepping on Nail, seeing that the slightest movements became more painful and slight.

“Nail’s looking worse. How long does he have?”

“Minutes at best now,” Chronoa answered.

“Sit down!” went Piccolo, shoving her downward.

Pan adjusted to sit down criss-crossed, then noticed Piccolo paced back and forth without ever letting her out of his sight.

“You’re going to stay right where you are until you explain everything. So much as try to stand and I’ll send you straight back down.”

“Go easy on her,” entered Nail. “She’s why we’re still... still alive.”

“But she’s not just keeping us alive: she wants us to join together. She is insistent on it. But why is that?”

“Is it enough that I...” responded Nail, his voice becoming more rough. “That I will die if we don’t?”

“But she knows something. Something I don’t know. Something YOU don’t know.”

He pointed down at Pan, now addressing her directly.

“You know who Nail is despite him never meeting you before. Just as you knew all of us, where to go, and who to fight.”

“Look Piccolo, if this is about me fighting you way back at...”

“You AND Goku. During my match with him at the tournament. You weren’t in the crowd or even nearby: you beamed right in at just the right time before I won.”

“You didn’t have a problem with it before.”

“Excuse me?!”

Pan, now increasingly frustrated with Piccolo, tried a new approach with him.

“Well I have a question for you, Piccolo:”

“Not until you spill the beans about what you’re doing!”

“Why protect Nail earlier...?!”

“You won’t get a damn thing from me!”

“...when you’re just going to let him die now?!”

Just shy of getting up, Pan made it to her knees so she could point at Piccolo.

“Is interrogating me worth him dying over?! Huh?!”

“Why do you NEED me to fuse with him?!” Piccolo retorted. “What scheme am I to play a part in?!”

“You really want your friends from Earth to get killed by Frieza over this?!”

“I won’t be a party to your plot... or whoever’s pulling your strings! I won’t be anyone’s puppet!”

“Well fine then!”

Pan actually stood up and before Piccolo could retaliate...

“Go ahead and let Gohan die.”

Instead of getting angrier like before, Piccolo was speechless and trying to shift his expression away from anything remotely concerned or conflicted.

“Why should you care, right? This is clearly more important than his life! You’ve already written off Nail’s, so why should Gohan’s be of any concern to you?!”

She turned her back to him, about ready to try departing.

“So if you want to catch me, catch me. Nail would’ve given you a fighting chance against Frieza, but you might as well wing it and get yourself killed.”

Pan flew off, anticipating whether or not Piccolo would actually pursue her.

“I didn’t know what else to tell him. I hope I didn’t doom my father and everyone just now.”

“To think Piccolo was trying to connect the dots once the battle was...”

“Wait!”

Trunks’ thought was interrupted by Chronoa bursting in.

“What’s wrong?!” the son of Vegeta asked.

“Piccolo’s not coming after you. He’s turning around.”

“Back to Nail?” Pan inquired.

“That’s right.”

“Watch it, buddy!” shouted...

“Lord Slug?!”

The purple and gold-garbed foe tackled Pan at high speed. Piccolo, standing in front of Nail, saw the two about to collide with the ground in Nail’s direction. He stretched his arms to pull Nail away, then hopped high into the air. Their ensuing impact tore through the grass and split the rock formation behind Nail in two, the halves flying in opposite directions.

“Ah, you kids really need to pay more attention when you’re cruising through the air. You could bump into someone.”

Piccolo, landing and placing Nail onto the ground, turned to face this new enemy once more.

“You expect this to go any differently from before, Slug?”

“Everything I’ve shown you up to this point was merely a free sample.”

Piccolo smirked almost cockily upon hearing Lord Slug’s claim.

“You bluff poorly.”

“Well I’ve never been any good at bluffing. For one thing, I don’t play cards much. But for another...”

Lord Slug began channeling ki around him to a small extent at first...

“I don’t need to con anyone when I can just demonstrate.”

...but then the gust expanded immensely, rocks and even bits of grass starting to lift off the ground around him. Piccolo stumbled backward from how much force was behind it.

“Lord Slug had this power all along? Maybe what he said about his prime was true...”

But the Namekian from Earth then took note of Nail’s eyes wide open in utter shock and his expression being one of genuine terror.

“His power... it is just like Frieza...”

“See, this one gets it,” added Lord Slug as pebbles and blades of grass dropped all around him. “That little spawn of Cold isn’t the only one in the universe with that kind of power. And once I’m done here, even he and his father will fear my name.”

“Times FOUR!”

Pan floated up from the hole Lord Slug had tackled her into earlier with a greater red aura than before.

“I’ve got to get Lord Slug out of here now!”

A red streak headed straight for him, but he simply put out his arms in front of him, stopping the first intended punch by her. He was pushed back, but otherwise his stance was unmoved even as he guarded against another blow.

“I’ll take care of this, Piccolo!”

Lord Slug then floated backward, then zoomed around towards Nail, but found Pan beat him there, now defending against his strikes.

“Take Nail with you and go!”

But Piccolo, who seemingly had Lord Slug matched or even beaten before and was now awestruck by what seemed to be his foe’s full power, couldn’t believe the prospect that she was suggesting.

“We’re outmatched! Both of us! Neither of us can win this!”

“I certainly approve of this message,” went Lord Slug, floating just over Pan to fire downward at the immobile Namekian.

She tried to redirect his left arm, but by the time she touched him, Lord Slug’s blast was already unleashed and his aim was true.

“NO!”

Pan heard Piccolo’s cry, but was forced to guard with her left arm, then block Lord Slug’s knee with her own.

“Times Four is only just keeping up with him. I have to go double digits to end this... but how high up?”

She then saw an elbow coming straight down for her head and guarded with her right arm...

“Wait, I should use my left to...!”

Pan was forced right downward, her right arm having absorbed the brunt of that blow, and pain creeping up to her wounded shoulder.

“Kaio-Ken’s not giving it protection: it still feels just as bad!”

She turned for only a moment to check on Nail, then found that Piccolo was hunched over and his green skin was not only bruised, but even had small trails of purple blood from a few cuts.

“He looked like he had Lord Slug beat before and just from blocking that one shot, now he’s... like this.”

It almost reminded her of how Piccolo looked after taking the blast Nappa intended for Gohan. While nowhere near on Death’s door now as he was in that moment on Earth, she knew he likely couldn’t withstand a second blast as he was now.

“He won’t die today, Dad.”

Lord Slug charged a much larger mass of ki in both hands, aimed at all three from where they stood and lied.

“I love a good hat trick.”

The moment it left his hands, Piccolo knew from its speed that he couldn’t avoid it even if he tried.

“I’m sorry Gohan. I wasted your wish. Made it all for nothing.”

He then found Pan standing in front of the beam.

“Is she actually going to try stopping it? To protect us? Even with her power now, at best, she’ll...”

Lord Slug had his hand over his brow like he was looking into the distance, awaiting for the impact. Pan put both hands in front of her as her ki shield covered her like a second skin.

“TIMES TEN!!!”

His mock gesture concluded soon after when he found that Pan not only wasn’t moved by his two-handed beam, but seemed to split it apart, their resulting impacts nowhere near his other two intended targets.

“Pinch me! I have to be dreaming this!”

But he found Pan left her position soon afterward and knew she was coming right for him. He found a foot swinging right for his face and tried turning to block it with his right wrist...

(**SNAP!**)

Lord Slug let out a shout from the pain to his arm, but was soon met by said arm colliding with his forehead combined with the force of Pan’s kick. He was rocketed backwards, but was then struck from behind with a punch to his back. Right as he began to try turning his body in mid-air, he was repeatedly punched several times by Pan flying past him in rapid succession.

Piccolo, now able to take something of a breather, let himself fall to one knee as he witnessed Pan’s unerring aerial assault of Lord Slug.

“I trained under King Kai all this time with the others... and in that same time, she’s...”

But then Pan concluded with a tackle of her own straight down, Lord Slug essentially buried deep below. Soon after, she flew back to Piccolo and Nail, the red aura around her intense and almost flame-like...

...before she exited the form, putting her hands over both knees and taking breaths.

“Are you okay?” Nail asked her.

“Yeah. It’s just... it takes a lot out of you.”

Piccolo, having both felt and witnessed her power in Kaio-Ken times ten, came to a realization:

“Earlier when I had you... you could’ve done this and broken out of my grip at any moment...”

Wiping sweat from beneath her bangs, Pan looked Piccolo in the eyes.

“I didn’t want to fight you, Piccolo.”

“Because you’d win?”

“Because you’re not my enemy. You’re...”

She heard a groan from Nail and could see the wounded Namekian’s eyes started closing.

“Nail!”

Pan knelt down next to him, keeping his head elevated.

“Hang in there, Nail.”

Piccolo turned himself around to face Nail, seeing just how dire his condition was now becoming.

“His time was short before, but now... he may not last another minute.”

But the ground beneath them was suddenly rocked by an explosion and Pan immediately knew it originated from Lord Slug’s last location.

“Aww, would you look at what you’ve done...”

Lord Slug hovered just a short distance from the three, Pan noting that his right arm appeared completely limp.

“You went and completely totaled Righty.”

Holding what appeared to be an almost rectangular stone in his left hand, he placed the stone between his teeth, then took hold of the top of his right shoulder.

“Don’t tell me...”

Lord Slug couldn’t perform this silently, but with another...

(**SNAP!**)

...his right arm moved again, flexing in circles. He then spat out the stone, which had clear teeth marks, including indents that appeared to be made by fangs.

“Lord Slug’s still in fighting shape after all that, Nail’s about to die, and I can’t let him delay their fusion any further.”

Pan slowly let Nail’s head down, then walked in front of Piccolo and Nail. Lord Slug saw her stance starting to reform and began to move his arms into that of a combative posture...

“Be ready to depart.”

Towa spoke to him and Lord Slug immediately put up his right hand in a “stop” fashion.

“Just a second.”

Pan watched him take a few steps backward and start looking away.

“My memory may not be perfect, miss, but I do believe...”

“I have another suitable target:”

He nearly gasped, but otherwise kept this to himself.

“Another target? You mean you planned for a backup in case I ran into trouble with this one?”

“Not out of any doubts of your abilities, my Lord. Merely out of habit.”

“And I get to ditch her to the side of the road?”

“Keep your distance from the patroller and yes, you will have done that.”

Pan, having taken this moment to catch her breath and get in as minimal of a break for her body to recover, then saw Lord Slug appearing to float away from her, Piccolo, and Nail.

“This doesn’t seem right...”

“Towa brought him here to kill Nail and Piccolo to begin with,” Trunks added, just as befuddled as her. “If he’s backing away from you and them...”

She then found him coming to a complete stop.

“Wait a minute...”

He had his arms outstretched and looked upward, not even trying to appear subtle about waiting for his extraction...

“Beam me up.”

Piccolo, wanting to go after Lord Slug, instead fell to a knee just from the attempt.

“He’s getting away!”

Pan knelt down, her fist touching the ground.

“Pan...!”

But as Trunks shouted this, Pan flew after Lord Slug, whom shielded himself with his left wrist, which she then grabbed hold of with both hands...

“...WAIT!!!”

...and both her and her opponent seemed frozen for a split-second as a beam surrounded them, then vanished away in a flash.

The Supreme Kai of Time, using one of her hands to stop the battle of Frieza and the trio further ahead, peered over at Trunks upon hearing him openly panicking.

“She’s gone! Towa’s taken her! What do we...?!”

He then felt Chronoa all but shoving the scroll directly into his chest for him to grab.

“I’ll find Pan! But I’m sending you down there! You have to make sure Piccolo fuses with Nail!”

“But every second we wait, Pan could be...!”

“If Nail dies or he doesn’t join with Piccolo, this will all be for nothing! I give you my word I’ll find Pan...”

With a gesture of her other hand, Chronoa lifted Trunks’ wrist watch-looking device into the air off a table, then to him.

“...but you have to go now!”

Trunks caught it, then nodded to her.

“Tell me first thing when you find Pan. Please.”

He disappeared from the room after his last plea as Chronoa took the scroll and began rapidly swiping her hand, viewing all of Namek...

“No, they’re not over by Frieza. Not at his ship either.”

Now she expanded the view to that of the galaxy.

“Towa couldn’t cloak travel of that much distance. Now to follow their path...”

Pan, as she gripped Lord Slug’s left wrist, felt their travel across vast distances, if not time, nothing beneath her as if floating, as they were surrounded by a white void. As much as she wanted to combat her foe, she couldn’t seem to move and Lord Slug felt the same, as much as he wanted to try shaking her off or throw a punch with his other hand.

“Where the heck is Towa sending Lord Slug... sending us?”

The moment the void vanished away and Pan felt the ground beneath her feet, she immediately swung her opponent around her...

“Wherever we are, I’ve gotta stop him before he can...”

...and found that before going in a full circle, Lord Slug was slammed into something right behind her, knocking him out of her hands.

“Oh, that smarts! My back!”

Pan found that what she swung him into was a white pillar.

“Now that’s solid.”

“Swinging me around with that much strength...”

“...he should have smashed straight through it.”

From the corner of her eye, two shadows:

One stretched upward and arched into a point.

“A tree... or a really tall bush?”

The other, at first shaped like a capital letter T with a branch attached to it...

“No, that’s an arm. A hand holding it.”

“You...”

She remembered that voice, not from her Earth, but...

“At the tournament...”

“I suspected I would see you again.”

Lord Slug, slow to get to his knees with a hand to his back...

“I certainly like your setup here.”

What appeared to be a wooden staff was pointed in his direction.

“Stay right where you are. If I even sense a spark from your fingers...”

“Okay, okay...” the otherwise proud lord responded, throwing his hands up while wincing from his last impact.

From there, a green hand gestured to Pan.

“Come right this way.”

She approached the green-skinned figure in white robes with a purple cape.

“Kami.”

“You remembered me. I know we weren’t properly introduced.”

Now taking the time to look over her whereabouts, a memory took shape from her childhood:

“Pan, this is one of my oldest friends: Dende.”

Her father, alongside her mother and grandmother, introduced the little Pan to the tall Namekian wearing white robes with a purple sleeveless vest.

“You’re like Piccolo.”

Piccolo, standing next to her, lightly ruffled her hair. Alongside the trio was another family visiting:

Krillin, his hair black and not yet balding, his wife Lazuli, wearing a sleeveless red dress, and their daughter Marron, a teenager with pigtails in similar attire to her mother.

“We met a long time ago,” Marron’s father began. “Far, far away from here.”

And shortly afterward, a Capsule Corp hover car landed nearby.

“That’s an understatement.”

Bulma hopped out in a black dress and three followed:

Her husband, son, and daughter all dressed formally in black as well.

“Trunks. Bulla. Dende is a dear friend of ours.”

“I know, Dad. We’ve met bef...”

Trunks’ remark was stopped cold by a glare from his father, after which, he cleared his throat and recomposed.

“Um, hi. It’s been a while. It’s good to see you again.”

Pan saw Vegeta walk up to Dende and extended a hand out to him followed by the two shaking hands.

“We’ve come a long way, Vegeta.”

“Indeed we have.”

“Mr. Dende, sir...”

He saw Pan raising her hand upward and crouched down.

“What is it?”

“Is that your house?”

He chuckled lightly.

“I suppose you could call it that.”

“And is this your yard?” asked Bulla.

“Everything you see here... is the Lookout.”

Pan was not only back on Earth, but at the Lookout.

“And if Towa sent Lord Slug here when he couldn’t kill Nail or Piccolo...”

She gently shoved Kami backward.

“I have to get you away from here.”

“I can’t leave.”

“But you left before for the tournament.”

“Not on a whim unless absolutely necessary.”

“Believe me when I say you’re in danger and he’s...”

Pan turned to face Lord Slug...

...then felt his gloved hands grip her wrists.

“But he didn’t even move from that spot!”

She caught a glimpse of his arms outstretched, then felt herself swung with tremendous force and speed.

“I’m staying right where I am,” Lord Slug taunted. “See?”

Pan’s back struck another pillar, this one not breaking either, but the impact painful all the same to her.

“Let her go!”

“As you wish.”

He let go of her wrists, allowing her to fall onto her front.

“Don’t you dare touch her!”

Just then, Pan felt herself hovering just off the ground and being sent into Lord Slug’s path.

“Whatever you say.”

She saw his hand just above her head...

“Telekinesis!”

...then felt herself rotate onto her feet as she now stood toe-to-toe with him. By the time she tried moving any muscle of hers, Pan felt a tight grip on the top of her head.

“This whole time, he’s tried grabbing me by the head. What is he...?”

“I barely even know you. So let’s fix that.”

The sensation that followed was as if some force was trying to pull something out of her very brain. Pan could still move her legs, but Lord Slug lifted her upward, her feet left dangling.

“Tell me all about yourself.”

Her hands gripped his wrist, but couldn’t seem to tighten, or at least not enough to hurt Lord Slug.

“He’s getting into my head. Can’t let him... know about...”

“Have any good secrets? Oh, I love those.”

“Stay out of her head and release her!” shouted Kami.

Upon seeing the Guardian of Earth gesturing with ki in his hand, Lord Slug had his other hand over his mouth in a mock “oops” fashion.

“Oh no. I’m not following the ground rules you gave me. My sincerest apologies, good sir. I’m being a terrible guest.”

“If you don’t release her this instant...”

Despite increasing the ki he generated, Kami couldn’t help but notice Lord Slug was still entirely unintimidated by his show of power.

“Let me put it to you this way...”

The moment Lord Slug’s other hand was aimed at him, the sheer quantity unveiled almost effortlessly by comparison easily eclipsed his own efforts.

“You’re vastly outranked, pal.”

Kami never broke his stance or left Pan to his devices, but was visibly intimidated by the power difference between them.

“My other half... the Saiyans... even Goku... his power outclasses them all.”

Towa, her sights on the Lookout on Earth, conversed with Lord Slug as he attempted to access Pan’s mind.

“What do you know about her?”

“This egg’s shell isn’t an easy one to crack. It’s some serious shrinkwrap. Can’t get her name or anyone else’s. She’s hitting mute before anyone says one and the rest is gibberish.”

“Okay, then what do you see?”

“Just a bunch of kids and playing around. Faces might as well be blocks of cheese because I can’t tell ‘em apart other than their hairstyles.”

“The patroller’s mental defenses are actually impressive,” went Mira begrudgingly. “Whether the patrol trained her to do so or not, she’s...”

Towa pondered a way around this and came up with a specific route for Lord Slug to take.

“Do you see a young man with purple hair? One in a coat perhaps?”

“Purple hair, yes. Coat, no. Oh, wait a second...”

“Is that him?”

“Just found him. And what a horrid coat he's sporting. What, is he expecting to shovel snow in that weather?”

Towa and Mira, almost in sync, nodded to each other as they knew the next step from there.

“Focus on him.”

The moment Pan felt Lord Slug locked in to memories of Trunks, she tried tightening her grip.

“He’s laser-focusing on him! Have to keep him from learning about...!”

She caught herself letting out a fearful gasp.

“He’s getting in! I can’t keep him out!”

“What the hell kind of name is Trunks?”

“You can hear names now?”

“Oh, and this guy’s a total blabbermouth. He just keeps dragging on and on about ‘we’re all counting on you’ and ‘don’t give up’. ‘My father’ this and...”

Towa caught the slightest movement from Lord Slug reacting to that.

For only a few seconds, Pan could hear Lord Slug’s inner thoughts.

“‘My father’ this and...”

His voice went quiet afterward, but what he had revealed so far told her...

“Lord Slug’s getting everything about Trunks!”

She broke off her defenses for a split-second just to try getting Lord Slug’s feed once more.

“I know that name...”

Pan was all the more fearful of the possibilities of whose name that could’ve been until...

“That half-Saiyan brat from my Earth. The son of that Son Goku fella.”

She tried to shake herself free, but the iron grip of Lord Slug all but made her legs completely numb.

“I can’t keep him out anymore! If Lord Slug zeroes in on my dad or Grandpa, then he’ll know... ”

As fearful as she was now of what Lord Slug would do with her lineage regarding Kami and all of history, another took even greater precedence...

“And if Towa knows...”

Trunks, emerging a small distance from Piccolo and Nail with his full-helmeted disguise already equipped, slowly flew over to cover as he heard the two conversing.

“Piccolo...”

The dying Nail reached out his hand to him. The Namekian from Earth at first held it, but then Nail’s other hand tried gesturing it downward.

“You...? You still want me to join you... even after what that Slug told you?”

“What your father did... it doesn’t have to define you.”

“But everything I’ve done, it’s...”

“Tell me truthfully... do you intend to rule over Earth?”

Trunks ducked down, but even without some kind of monitor of Nail’s vitals, knew...

“You are both really cutting it close here!”

Piccolo didn’t answer vocally, instead shaking his head.

“Then the Earthlings made the right choice wishing you back. And they need you now...”

Nail slowly brought Piccolo’s hand downward, but felt him stopping it just shy of touching his chest.

“But... if I change...”

“I won’t change your personality. The power you’ll receive... I’ll merely be... the catalyst.”

As much as Trunks was tempted to tackle Piccolo and place his hand over Nail himself, he knew it would be naught since...

“Piccolo has to join of his own free will. If he doesn’t wish to...”

“I think now...”

Nail’s speech was at its worst by far.

“...only of... of Namek... its people... and... and the universe.”

Hearing this, Piccolo finally stopped relenting and placed his hand fully over Nail.

“I hope you... you will... t...”

Trunks, not hearing another word, poked his head out even further to see Nail’s hands slowly let go of Piccolo’s and drop to the ground. And even from that distance, Trunks could tell Nail’s eyes stared off completely still and his frozen lips no longer drew any breaths.

“Nail... he’s gone...”

Trunks found himself falling straight onto his side, looking over at his hands like he was not long for the world.

“We were too late...”

Parts unknown

Unknown to Trunks and Piccolo, they weren't the only ones who witnessed Nail's death. From within a massive crystal-like construct, another pair of eyes saw what had occurred from a bird's eye view. The moment Nail had perished of his wounds and Trunks lied down in defeat...

...red iris' glowed and the slightest reflection of smiling teeth gleamed.

Fusion Long Prevented? Secrets At Stake![]

From the moment he had agreed to leave his home and work with the Supreme Kai of Time in preserving the main timeline and those that branched off it, Trunks knew there was no margin for error. Long ago, he and his mother had set out to change the future and succeeded, but aside from unleashing Cell, they never would have dreamed of what their work would have wrought:

Untold timelines erased for good. Entire worlds ended. Countless lives not only ceased, but were as if they had never existed to begin with.

To this day, Trunks was still haunted by seeing a world like his, but where he and Gohan had actually succeeded in stopping the Androids together, vanishing away to his counterpart’s horror. Even knowing there were timelines erased where they were just as bad, if not worse off, the fact that worlds where the opposite was the case, perhaps nearly utopian, shared the same fate made it a sin for which he could not forgive himself.

And now even having helped create the Time Patrol, inadvertently saving the life of the daughter of his mentor from another timeline when he wished for a warrior to aid him, and after all her successes from training with him and others, Trunks was met with failure. The mission: ensure Piccolo fused with Nail before the latter passed away, just as it had been in history.

“We weren’t fast enough...”

Lord Slug had preoccupied Piccolo and even with Pan helping to fend off the attacker, Piccolo had become increasingly suspicious of her and her reasons for helping them, further delaying them with an interrogation about who or what was behind Pan’s actions. By the time he was ready to join with Nail in fusion, thus saving the warrior Namekian’s life...

“Too much time passed. His fatal wounds took their toll.”

“Pan’s on Earth, Trunks!”

He heard Chronoa’s voice over his comms.

“At the Lookout! Lord Slug’s taken hold of her and she’s not responding!”

Even as he absorbed Pan’s current status, Trunks was left to try making words in his head in regards to what had just happened.

“Now have Piccolo and Nail...?!”

“Nail’s dead.”

Upon hearing Chronoa’s shocked gasp, Trunks practically buried his helmeted face into the ground.

“Nail’s dead and I’ll be gone soon. So will Pan and who knows how much of the Time Patrol.”

He could feel tears coming down from his eyes to his helmet’s visor, sliding down to the rest of his face.

“I should’ve jumped out and done something. Made Piccolo... but he wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.”

As Trunks remained prone, what looked to be a figure in a brown cloak with an almost comically large hood slowly passed Trunks on his left with raised hands together and concealed by robed sleeves.

“Goodness me. This doesn’t look right.”

Trunks was not only unaware of the man’s footsteps, but didn’t even hear this man speaking aloud. Slowly, but surely, the figure proceeded onward to Nail.

“Oh, this doesn’t look right at all. No siree.”

Despite kneeling down on the other side of Nail directly in view of Piccolo, it was as if he were completely invisible to the Namekian. That and Piccolo was preoccupied with keeping his hand down on Nail, hoping in vain even with his death, they would fuse together.

“Here’s the problem: it isn’t nearly your time yet. Why, you’re still quite the young feller.”

If Piccolo had looked up from where he knelt, he would’ve gotten a look at the man’s face under the hood. Instead, he looked away, still shy of taking his hand off Nail, contemplating both the Namekian’s death and the fact he would be facing Frieza as he was now, his own demise an absolute certainty.

The man, meanwhile, took his arms apart, the slightest bit of a white and orange uniform becoming visible, and placed his hand, escaping the brown coat’s sleeve, over the deceased Namekian’s chest. A pure white glow left from his fingers and soon covered Nail’s body entirely.

“Another time, I will not be permitted to do this. Only this one time in this one instance.”

Once the glow over Nail concluded, the man stood back up and put his hands together once more.

“Now it is all up to you. Do what you have to... for all our sakes.”

Trunks, unaware of all of this, lifted himself up just enough to look into the distance as he contemplated his mortality and that of the others.

“How do we tell them, Supreme Kai of Time? Tell them that they’re not long for the...”

He then heard an especially loud gasp of air coming from...

“NAIL?!”

...followed by coughs as Nail managed to lift his right arm enough to cover them with the back of his hand.

“But he was dead! Nail had passed on! And Piccolo can’t heal with a touch like Dende... let alone bring someone back from the dead!”

“Now I don’t know what brought Nail back, but I have a feeling this won’t happen a second time. We can’t afford for them to delay their fusion any further.”

“You make sure Pan’s okay and I’ll make sure these two fuse this time. As soon as she responds to you...”

“I’m on it right now, Trunks.”

From there, he watched the two Namekians from the corner of his cover, more than ready to hide if he had to, but their attention was nowhere near him.

“You’re alive...”

Even with their time together being brief, Piccolo’s otherwise unsmiling face still communicated something like relief.

“You... concerned for me?”

“With you gone, I’d have been the last Namekian...”

“...beside your other half.”

“How did you...? Well he fancies himself a god anyway.”

Trunks, hearing them getting caught in conversation, tried to keep still, but was getting impatient.

“They’re all waiting on you! Just FUSE ALREADY!!!”

“But here, there’s... another Namekian alive. He’s with... the Earthlings.”

Having been reminded by Nail why he was there to begin with, Piccolo finally placed his hand back down towards him.

“That’s right. I’m in a hurry.”

“Just be sure... to defeat Frieza.”

“I’ll do that for myself.”

After letting out a small chuckle, Nail had both his hands atop of Piccolo, then closed his eyes. Piccolo saw a white flash around the warrior Namekian’s body as he then felt a mass build-up of power surging from his fingertips traveling fast upward.

Sent backward onto his captain’s quarters as a result of being taxed by his battle with Lord Slug earlier, Piccolo immediately peered down at Nail to find no sign of him remaining. But then looking back at his arms, he found no sign of his wounds from his combat prior. Not only had he been fully healed, but...

“This... awesome power...”

He grinned pridefully, fully assured he was far more powerful than he was before. Not only capable of defeating his prior opponent, but even the likes of Frieza for reasons he only now just grasped.

Having witnessed and felt Piccolo’s fusion and power-up, Trunks could finally start to relax.

“At least the timeline didn’t end.”

With the Supreme Kai of Time still having not gotten back to him yet regarding Pan, he simply kept out of view as Piccolo retrieved his weighted clothes.

“She told me Pan was at the Lookout... but why would Towa have sent Lord Slug...?”

Once the reason became clear as day to him...

“Kami! If he dies, then Piccolo dies! A plan B in case the fusion wasn’t stopped! And with the difference in their power, Pan will have to...!”

A combination of dread and infuriation took hold of him.

“Damn, you’re clever! Pan and Piccolo only did so well against him before... and that was with her shoulder...!”

His white gloved hand from his armored disguise squeezed.

“She’ll have to give everything to keep Kami safe and defeat him! And Lord Slug didn’t look anywhere near fatigued before! Agh, if we had just thought of this before, I could’ve watched Kami and took Lord Slug apart the moment he stepped foot...!”

His thought was stopped upon catching a projectile firing right through his cover straight for his wrist.

“AGH!!! Who could’ve...?!”

The resulting attack hardly harmed him at all, but...

“The device!”

Sparks emerged from the damage done to the watch-like device.

“Of all the luck...! Godda...!”

“I knew you were there.”

Trunks couldn’t believe who had just attacked him and who was now speaking to him:

“Piccolo... but why?”

“I heard you sniveling earlier. And your ki stuck out like a sore thumb just now.”

The newly empowered Namekian slowly walked towards his cover as Trunks saw his disguise start to fade away, beginning with his brown gloves emerging.

“Of all the changes that could occur... if Piccolo sees me...”

He crouched down, ready to fly straight upward as far out of Piccolo’s reach as possible, perhaps deep into space if he had to...

...when right as this happened, Piccolo’s arm stretched, punching straight through the cover and grabbing hold of Trunks by his neck.

“THIS IS BAD!!! How can I be botching it this badly?!”

Piccolo pulled him straight through the cover, seeing that this semi-armored man was less injured from having gone through such a layer of rock and more so struggling to do anything.

“If I break free and escape, he’ll know something’s afoot! If I knock him out, his delay’s going to be far greater than it already is!”

His helmet and visor kept his face hidden, but as he looked down at his feet, he saw the bottom of his coat and his white boots giving way for his brown shoes.

“You’re not one of Frieza’s men, are you? Not in garb like that!”

To Trunks’ terror, Piccolo’s other hand grabbed a tight hold of the one remaining item keeping his identity a secret.

“Let’s see just what you really are...”

“W-WAIT!!!”

With a greater squeeze, Piccolo’s fingers dug straight through it, then crumbled the face of the helmet. And with a tug, nearly the entire front half was torn straight off, revealing to Piccolo a man in his early 20s with purple hair.

Now that he was living one of the worst-case scenarios in real time, Trunks gulped and tried to recompose.

“I’m really without a paddle now.”

For what felt like an eternity, Pan felt Lord Slug peeling away at her brain for secrets with small ones escaping from the cracks. Her legs couldn’t budge and her hands gripping his wrist seemed just as stuck. Even if turning her head was an option, she didn’t know if trying to turn to Kami would even help her.

For now, Pan had to focus on keeping any memories regarding Trunks that involved her father or grandfather out of Lord Slug’s reach or risk both Slug and Towa learning of her lineage.

“If Towa learns about my family... even if Kami and I win here, who knows what she’d do to get to me.”

So far, Lord Slug had managed to decipher that she and Trunks had discussed Gohan at some point.

“Well that’s funny,” went the well-garbed villain. “The way this Trunks lad talks about Son Gohan, you’d think the kid was Purple Hair’s older brother. Maybe Saiyans... even the half ones... they stay short for much of their life, then boom, they’re all grown up one day.”

Pan had to try getting Lord Slug’s search through her memories regarding Trunks to side-track away from the topic of her father.

“Anything to keep my brain from spilling the beans. Something without talking about my past or family.”

She scanned through her memories of all moments with this Trunks, from first speaking to him in the recovery room to him seeing her off for what was supposed to be her mission against Frieza before Lord Slug’s interference. Happier memories seeped in as well, one being the two having ice cream after Trunks learned she was Gohan’s daughter.

“Let me just say that it is an honor to be training the...”

“The way you talk about m...”

“No! Think of something else!”

Several revolved in her head of Trunks lifting her up when she was down and vise-versa.

“...you will get through this. Not because of your lineage or your bloodline...”

“I know my Gohan’s not yo...”

“No, no! Zip it! ZIP IT!!!”

“Going Super Saiyan isn’t what gives you worth. It’s you...”

“ZIP IT NOW!!!”

While she did side-step the Gohan topic slightly, Pan realized that the memory of Trunks nearly gave away her name, as well as something else.

“Oh crap. If Lord Slug heard that just now...”

“Okay, now hold the phone...”

Towa, trying to decipher whatever she could of Lord Slug’s ramblings regarding whatever he could learn from Pan’s memories, stood in front of the screen with her full attention given to his words while writing her potential findings on a virtual screen to her right.

“Hold the phone? What do you know of her now?”

“Super Saiyan? Her? Now I’m not the nicest fellow amongst the stars and believe me, I look down on all my enemies equally, but... that girl in the orange bandanna... a Super Saiyan? I’m just not seeing it. Figured her for an Earthling at best.”

While she had seen absolutely nothing that would suggest Pan could go Super Saiyan, up until this point...

“It never occurred to me that the patroller could be a Saiyan.”

“Part, perhaps.”

Mira added this and whether it was his intention to try downplaying Pan’s strength after their last battle or simply an observation of her power between battles compared to the full-blooded Saiyans was Towa’s to guess.

“It would certainly explain her increases in power between our missions. She has almost always managed to...”

“‘Almost’ being the key word. Her initial outing with the Ginyu Force was where she was outmatched. Even given her recovery from both them and Turles, her boost from both bouts made little difference when she faced the Ginyu Force once more.”

“So if she had been a full-blooded Saiyan, Mira...”

“She would have torn through them with total ease just as Vegeta had after his recovery. Thus, she has to be partially, not fully, Saiyan. Half at best.”

“A half-Saiyan, much like Trunks...”

In mid-writing, Mira caught Towa dropping her writing utensil and caught it.

“...and Son Gohan.”

Mira, as he handed it back to her, was perplexed at first.

“Son Gohan?”

“Trunks seems to bring up Gohan quite a bit when speaking to her. And it’s clear he treats her much more than just a mere instrument of the Time Patrol.”

“Tell me about it,” re-entered Lord Slug. “I mean pretty boy here might as well buy her a rin...”

“Hold it!”

Despite Lord Slug not being able to see her, Towa instinctively put out her hand in front of the screen as if to gesture to him were he in the room with them.

“Perhaps her being half-Saiyan reminds Trunks of Gohan, garnering her such preferential treatment compared to the other patrollers working with him... or...”

Towa put a hand beneath her chin and closed her eyes, trying to put the pieces of this puzzle regarding what, to her, was this mysterious female patroller together.

“...or it’s not her Saiyan status that made Trunks think of Gohan in the first place. But what about her would make him equate this patroller with Gohan?”

Still missing that crucial piece that would reveal the patroller’s identity to her, Towa decided on a way to find it.

“Lord Slug.”

“Yes, my fair blue lady?”

“Focus your attention on Trunks... and Son Gohan. I want to know everything.”

Pan was hit by a barrage of memories between her and Trunks, nearly all of them involving talk of her father or the Gohan of his world. She was forced to cut each short the moment she or Trunks was about to mention Gohan being her father, to which another immediately took its place. Try as she could, Pan knew at some point, she would slip up and her secret would be revealed.

“Lord Slug’s getting SO CLOSE! One little mistake now... ONE F...!”

“I never told you what happened to my world’s Gohan.”

To her utmost fortune, she now had a memory running in which Trunks spoke about Gohan and his world at length, giving her a long stretch in which her lineage was not discussed.

“I can keep Lord Slug focused on this for now...”

Not having to strain as much to keep Lord Slug out and instead keeping him pinned to this memory for as long as she needed, she felt two things:

The slightest twitch in both her boots...

“Big toes...”

...and her fingers lifting upward, entirely unknown to her adversary.

“I’m moving again.”

But while this was all under Lord Slug’s nose so far, she had to remain lowkey with her movements for what she was about to try.

“Uh, this is just flat out torture.”

“What’s happening, Lord Slug?” Towa inquired.

“This one’s stretching for ages. Killer robots killed his best buddy and he feels bad about that. I get it. Find something else to talk about already.”

“It was just sheer dumb cosmic luck that I survived and that my mom found me.”

“Almost time...”

Pan, turning her gaze slowly as Lord Slug appeared to be scoffing at the memories he was witnessing, got Kami’s attention and blinked at him. Once he matched her blink with his own...

“Just one more memory...”

“And now every time I...”

...she cut it off, then cycled back through her memory, this time to one before she was the designated Time Patroller for Chronoa.

“This may get their attention just long enough to pull this off...”

Kami saw Pan’s attention seemingly elsewhere, but saw one of her hands gesture three fingers upward...

...then shortly afterward, just two.

“You are a bright one for your age...”

“Ah, finally. A change in scenery. I can almost smell the rain... though she doesn’t sound too happy with him. What’s with all this drama?”

Towa listened closely, her ear just shy of touching her screen.

“...please, let me explain.”

“You summoned me here... and you kept that from me.”

“Oh ho, ho. Now this is interesting.”

“What? What’s interesting?”

“So that patroller... that team she’s patrolling for with the pretty boy...”

Towa’s impatience grew fierce as her hand struck the screen in a closed fist.

“SPIT it out!”

“She wasn’t recruited: she was summoned there...”

Mira heard Towa gasp, as well as saw her eyes widen in the screen’s reflection.

“...by him.”

Seeing her stumble back, Mira then moved behind her as if to catch her from falling. But Towa kept her arms on the console and then waved off her creation, her shock turned to determined anger.

“What ELSE?!”

“Now let’s see here...”

Kami saw Pan’s two raised fingers shift to only her index finger. The moment the corner of her eye saw a glow of ki from Kami’s hand, she squeezed her hands tighter around Slug's wrist. He felt this and looked over to see Pan’s eyes closing and her fingers loosen and slowly slide down his wrists.

“If Pseudo Saiyan’s going under, whatever you wanna know about her, I can g...”

His mental comment paused as he heard the sudden sound of ki releasing:

He found an orange sphere of ki coming for him and used his other hand to catch it.

“Good toss.”

Kami, having put much of his energy into that orb, was awestruck at seeing Lord Slug winding up that arm with his own projectile like a pitcher without shaking Pan at all. Unknown to the Guardian of Earth, his pause from before during his conversation with Towa wasn’t because of Kami’s attack.

“Oh, would you look at that. I might have just heard the patroller’s name. Let me try again.”

And now Kami was almost frozen stiff as this immensely powerful foe was about to throw his attack back at him.

“Now keep your eye on the...”

“Almost got it. Aaand...”

Pan, putting her glowing hands to the sides of his helmet, feeling what she believed to be his ears...

“Get out of my head!”

She fired blasts at point blank, the burning scent making evident the damage dealt to him.

“P... n...”

Towa lost her feed right as Lord Slug was about to reveal her enemy’s name, cutting out right in the middle with only a sliver of sound after the fact. She tried filling in the blank, softly speaking aloud...

“Pin...”

“This won’t hurt our operation, will it, Towa?” Mira lightly interrupted.

She turned, a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

“There won’t be any need for me to supervise him. With the power he possesses and where he is now, he’ll be able to do all the damage I could want.”

“As for the patroller’s fate?”

“It’s in Lord Slug’s hands now, not ours.”

Pan was immediately released, as was Kami’s ki orb, Lord Slug putting both his hands over where Pan’s blasts had struck, crying out in pain and stepping erratically while hunching back and forth. Kami, stretching his arm, pulled Pan back before his orb touched the ground, detonating and knocking their foe backward, now rolling on the ground.

“It burns! Oh, I can’t hear! I can’t hear anything! What have you done to me?!”

Pan, grasping her forehead afterward, was still recuperating from what may have been a minute long invasion of her memories, but what felt vastly longer in person. She did catch that the tile floor which the orb exploded upon had not suffered any holes, cracks, or even debris, appearing as if no such attack had touched it in the first place. The only thing out of place were a few tiny bits of the bushes flowing in the wind nearby, meaning the explosion had at least affected that much.

“Other than the plants, this place seems indestructible. Neither Lord Slug nor myself have even put a dent into it.”

“Pan, is that you?”

For the first time since Lord Slug had trespassed into her mind, Pan could hear Chronoa clearly on the comms.

“I’ve said it before, Supreme Kai of Time, but I...”

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Pan! Boy were we both worried about you.”

“Kami and I might be all wrapped up here, so we can pick up Slug and you can send me back to Namek.”

“Speaking of Namek, I’ll let him know you’re okay and send him back to the library... and you as well.”

“Wait, Trunks is on Namek?”

“Right after you left, but just sit tight and I’ll be just a moment.”

“Enough with the silent treatment!”

Piccolo slammed Trunks straight into the blue-green grass, intent on shoving him even further downward to prevent him from moving.

“Piccolo, I...”

“I’ve got somewhere to be and I’m in no mood for lies or dodging questions, so you’d better tell me what I want to know now or his hole will be your grave!”

Trunks at first looked away from him, but then felt Piccolo grip him by his cheeks and turned his face towards him.

“Talk... or die.”

Trunks’ eyes and expression were that of unfiltered uncertainty, which Piccolo read as fear, but for the son of Vegeta...

“If I change history now... and neither of us are born... I am sorry, Pan.”

But upon accepting this all-or-nothing situation he was in, he inhaled, then recomposed entirely.

“Here goes...”

“We haven’t met yet, Piccolo, but some day, we will.”

“What do you mean, ‘We haven’t met yet’?”

“I’m here in the wrong place and sooner than I should be.”

“You make it sound like you’re predestined to meet me... yet you specified not here.”

“Not predestined, but when the time comes, we meet at the right time and place.”

A concept, which at first seemed utterly ludicrous to Piccolo, had him loosen his grip however slightly.

“You mean to say... you’re talking about...?!”

“Years from now.”

Piccolo didn’t let go completely, but did take on a much less aggressive stance as he absorbed what this mysterious purple-haired young man was telling him.

“Tell me who you are exactly and why you’re here and I’ll let you go.”

“I’ll tell you this much: I’m counting on you to save Gohan. He means a lot to me.”

“How exactly?”

“Gohan was...”

Trunks tried to mind his words to not reveal Gohan’s fate by speaking of him in past tense.

“Gohan’s my mentor. He’s like a brother to me. Taught me everything I know. He grew into a great man.”

“A great... a great man?”

“He’s not talking about knowing Gohan as a child. If he knew Gohan as a man, then that would mean this purple haired brat is from...”

Piccolo didn’t gasp, but his eyes gave away just enough that was shocked at the realization of putting together what Trunks had presented him with.

“You’re from the FUTURE?”

“Yes. And it’s imperative he survives against Frieza.”

The son of Bulma knew this was a tremendous gamble: revealing to Piccolo a glimpse, however narrow, of the future regarding Gohan’s survival, at least of their trek on Namek, as well as his own origin further in time. He saw the son of Kami’s other half absorbing all of this, as well as contemplating what to do with this information that could potentially change everything about the ensuing battle to come.

“If what he’s saying is true, then we... we win this battle against Frieza.”

“Just promise me, Piccolo...”

The Namekian heard Trunks not begging, but pleading with him.

“Promise me that you’ll protect Gohan... and not to underestimate Frieza... and to speak of this to absolutely no one.”

Piccolo had been immensely distrusting of Pan earlier, but this time, he was reacting differently to Trunks in a similar situation. Not only because Trunks gave him much more information, but almost as if...

“Hmph. Perhaps Nail has changed me after all...”

Trunks was let go as Piccolo began to float upward.

“I’ll hold up my end of the deal. But I expect you to tell me much more when we meet again.”

“Of course. I’ll...”

But then it hit Trunks...

“Crapbaskets! I forgot to tell him...!”

“W-wait, before you go...!”

Piccolo saw Trunks flailing his arms frantically to signal for him to stay.

“Be quick with it, boy! You know Gohan and the others need me!”

“Okay, one more thing! When we meet years from now, I won’t know about our conversation here. Treat it like meeting me for the first time since it’ll be my first time meeting you then.”

“But if we’ve already met now...”

“I’ll be years younger then. Like I said earlier, I’m in the wrong place and...”

“And sooner than you should be. I heard you the first time. But if you’re older now than you’re supposed to be when we meet...”

“I’m from later than when you were supposed to first meet me. As much as I could go over it further...”

“Look, kid, I promise to treat it like meeting a stranger. Since in theory, that had to happen for you to be here in the first place.”

“Y-you know about...?”

“What? Think I haven’t read any books?”

Piccolo smirked, then took off as fast as he could towards the battle on the other half of Namek. Trunks, gripping his hand and not seeing anything out of the ordinary, lied his head down in relief.

“That means he won’t alter history... at least in theory.”

“‘At least in theory’, Trunks?”

He got back to his feet and put his hand to his ear.

“Is Pan...?”

“She’s okay. But what’s this about something in theory?”

“I’ll explain everything, but first, I think we can agree I’ve been on Namek long enough.”

Kami gently placed her onto the ground, where she sat down and let her hands back down.

“I apologize for waiting so long to act. In all my years, I’ve never encountered such power and I just...”

“It’s okay, Kami,” Pan allayed. “You were trying to gauge how to deal with the situation, not abandoning me.”

Now seeing Lord Slug continually writhing from the loss of his ears, Kami put out his hand as if holding an invisible object in his open palm.

“What are you...?”

“This will contain our foe until such a time as we can decipher his...”

Kami felt someone grip his wrist and saw not only Lord Slug’s orange glove and purple sleeve stretched from where he lied, but witnessed and heard long pointed green ears pop out from where Pan had blasted him.

“Gotcha!”

As Kami was pulled towards him at blinding speed, he then saw up close that what he suspected was no longer just a hunch:

Lord Slug had Namekian ears.

“Surprise!”

Pan saw and heard a bottle drop to the ground, then saw Slug’s other gloved hand immediately latch itself onto Kami’s forehead before the Guardian of Earth could lift his arms.

“Now what surprises do you have for me?”

Pan hadn’t seen Lord Slug taking information from anyone in person before and while she knew she could get herself to move and at least keep him out to an extent, Kami looked almost zombie-like with his arms dropping almost immediately, hanging without any sway.

“It’s the difference in power... !”

“Kaio-Ken...!”

She immediately moved behind Slug and swung her Power Pole to strike his arm from below.

“...times FOUR!!!”

Pan then adjusted the angle of her swing for her foe attempting to use Kami as a shield, transitioning to a jab. It struck his armpit, making him stumble backward and let go, but not before trying to grip the Power Pole with his other stretching hand. With a hop, she leapt above him, swept at his feet, landed, then batted him away from the so far idle Kami.

“Kami!”

She put her hands to his chest and neck and could tell he was alive and his ki had not changed, but was in the midst of recovering from what appeared to be a worse experience of Lord Slug’s mind reading.

“You were a tough nut to crack, little miss Saiyan...”

Pan knew he had gotten that much from her mind, but Kami actually sat up upon hearing this.

“She is a Saiyan... like Goku and his son.”

“It was hard enough getting specifics from beneath that orange bandanna of yours. You, on the other hand, Kami... that took no time at all.”

“W-what do you kn...?”

“Don’t engage with him, Kami,” Pan instructed.

“Oh, I beg your pardon... Miss Pan...”

She couldn’t attempt to hide the reaction from Kami. King Piccolo’s other half had suspected she had kept her identity, even down to her own name, a secret for a reason.

“...but Kami was asking me something.”

But even if Kami was not intent on acting on it and they defeated Lord Slug then and there, she feared what would come if Towa was already given this information.

“Though before you ask, you busted my earpiece before I could give my fair blue lady the hot gossip.”

Pan mentally sighed and tried helping Kami back to his feet.

“And speaking of hot gossip... I know just about every dirty secret you’ve had locked away in your noggin, Kami.”

She saw and even felt Kami was even more shaken than she was as Lord Slug took each step forward almost tauntingly slowly.

“You know, for being the Guardian of Earth, you’ve made a lot of bad calls. I mean you trained warriors for a whole year who couldn’t even stop two Saiyan invaders without another Saiyan at their side. You let King Piccolo roam the land... who, by the way, you created by splitting yourself into two halves...”

Pan was aware of Kami being Dende’s predecessor, but now absorbed that not only was Kami responsible for Piccolo’s father being unleashed, but also...

“...and that means Piccolo is Kami’s other half...”

“...and that’s without touching on the Dragon Balls you forged before you even got the gig.”

Now Kami put out his hand, all the more desperate for Lord Slug to stop.

“No more...”

“You were so cocksure you would pass with flying colors that you made them ahead of time, but you still had issues to work out... and oh boy did you mess something up big time because they had a major design flaw for a ‘guardian’ of Earth.”

A massive secret of Kami’s was being laid out in front of Pan and those on her comms.

“Not another word.”

“You were so afraid that if they were found, your little dream job would’ve gone bye-bye. So you hid them under the rug, split yourself, and got what you wanted. And it must’ve been quite a relief that they went all rocky when all was said and done.”

Slug’s steps now became menacing.

“But you’re most afraid of what will happen if something comes too strong for anyone on Earth to tackle. Too strong for even your star pupil Son Goku. What will happen to those little seven black star balls if the threat is so great you had no choice but to join back up with your other...?”

“NO!!!”

Kami pulled his cane to him and actually appeared ready to combat him, the difference in power be damned.

“NEVER!!! It will never come to that! I WON’T allow it!”

“Oh, but after what I read from her mind, I’m not so sure about that.”

Kami didn’t want to intimidate Pan, but put a hand to her shoulder and shook her.

“What did you tell him?!”

“One of the first things I tried finding out was if she had anything on you. Tactical advantage, you know. But I was surprised to find she had absolutely nothing. Never knew you until recently.”

The Guardian of Earth stumbled backward, using his cane to keep him from falling over.

“And she has been to the Lookout before. Just had a different landlord. Another Namekian named Dende as it turns out. And she’s known Piccolo since she was a little one.”

“Piccolo is only ten years old... and regardless of this woman Pan being a Saiyan or not, it would be impossible for her to know him past that... unless...”

A terrifying eureka that explained Pan’s presence before and now took shape in Kami’s mind.

“You are not from here and now. You are from...”

“You got that right, Kami. Pan here’s from the future. Her future, at least. And if she basically learned all about you just today, that means one of two things: either you two joined after all, reawakening the Black Star Dragon Balls...”

“It can’t be...!”

“...or you were dead before she was even born.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Pan shouted.

“Hey now. It’s not like I’m lying. I don’t even know myself. Unless, of course, you’d like to share anything. Really clear up the air here.”

Pan saw Kami becoming increasingly shaken to his core and knew Trunks and Chronoa had been listening in.

“Towa doesn’t know, but Lord Slug knows my name... and with what he took and gave Kami...”

“It’s no longer just about protecting Kami,” the Supreme Kai of Time began. “Kami has enough fears and doubt about his future to change it.”

“So wait, Piccolo and Kami fuse? Did my Piccolo and Kami...?”

“They fused before the Cell Games,” Trunks answered. “And if Kami’s set on never fusing...”

“Dende’s never the Guardian of Earth,” Pan added.

“...and threats well beyond Frieza will have a leg up on everyone,” Chronoa concluded.

Pan, pulling Kami up by the back of his cape’s collar, tried straightening him out into a more combative stance.

“Kami, we’ve got an immediate threat to Earth right here.”

“Oh, no harm ever came from collecting seven balls,” Lord Slug taunted. “Not like the Earth won’t still be standing... give or take a trip across the stars. I mean, no pressure there.”

Kami, his deeds from the past and the threat of his first set of Dragon Balls weighing him down like increased gravity, held onto the top of his cane with both hands to keep himself from crumbling downward.

“I have failed in my duties.”

“Kami!” Pan pleaded. “You can’t just give up now!”

“All this worrying can’t be good for you. Allow me to remedy that.”

Pan had to hold a punch from Lord Slug at bay without enough time to shout Kaio-Ken, but even using two hands, it was clear he was toying with her and increasing his might ever so slightly.

“You being here brought the Dragon Balls back! Goku, his son, and Krillin are on Namek now! Piccolo’s there to help them!”

Despite Pan’s words regarding Piccolo’s intended aid...

“He’ll turn on them, just as he would’ve after the Saiyans. He’ll fulfill his father’s will: dominion over all.”

“He’s not out to rule the world anymore! Piccolo died...!”

Now Pan was shoved onto her back, being forced away by Lord Slug’s left arm stretching as Kami was left perfectly exposed to his right.

“He died saving Gohan!”

Just as Lord Slug’s right neared his face, Kami was struck by the revelation:

“He saved the son of his most hated enemy at the cost of his own life... when Piccolo Sr. wouldn’t have lifted a finger.”

Lord Slug found his punch stopped, then himself sent back a few feet by a pure white explosive wave.

“That was pretty good...”

But now Kami knelt down, having expended much of his energy just to stop that one punch.

“...but now you’re all tuckered out. Why don’t you lie down?”

“Why don’t you?!” Pan shouted.

Lord Slug saw the Power Pole stretching from her position to beneath his legs.

“Kaio-Ken...!”

The first strike to his leg was of some discomfort...

“...Times Four!”

...and the next took him off his feet. Pan then leapt high into the air, Slug’s left arm in tow, as she lifted the grounded Lord upward, then flipped in midair with him in tow.

“Now get off this lookout!”

She released him for an immense toss, seeing he was headed past the edge of the lookout.

“I’ll take him to go!”

Lord Slug’s right arm stretched, managing to grab Kami’s ankle. Just as the evil Namekian disappeared from sight, the Guardian of Earth was pulled off his feet at rapid speed without his cane. He tried to reach for anything and ended up taking hold of...

“Is this... the Power Pole?”

Pan saw Lord Slug descending past the Lookout with Kami in tow and his right arm retracting to normal size.

“Shoot, SHOOT, SHOOOT!!!”

Kami caught from the corner of his eye right beneath the bottom of the Lookout...

“I’m holding it in my hands right now... but that’s the Power Pole right there, right where it should be...”

He had to cease his pondering once Lord Slug had him in range, protecting himself with the Power Pole to stop Slug’s left hand from reaching his neck. Kami then saw the faintest glow from his adversary’s eyes and ducked himself behind the Power Pole. The polearm not only withstood the eye beams, but actually deflected it back to sender.

“Agh, like a squeezed lemon...!”

The blinded Slug was then punched by Pan, trying to free Kami from his clutches. Releasing Kami’s leg and the Power Pole, he then clotheslined Pan into Kami with his left, then Kami into her with his right.

“I can still snap you in half!”

Pan felt the Power Pole bump into her, caught it, then struck Lord Slug’s nose.

“Kaio-K...!”

Slug then shoved it back into her face, striking her forehead and nose.

“That’s enough out of you!”

“Watch out, Pan!” Kami shouted. “We’re headed right for...!”

At the speed they were traveling, she saw what looked to be a large black and red blur pushing a smaller white blur aside. Upon closer inspection, Pan could tell this figure had a sheathe and was in a quick draw stance standing atop white railing.

“Korin’s place! Yajirobe!”

The man she had not seen since the battle with Vegeta carefully eyed her and Kami to aim for whoever was holding them.

“I gotcha, Kami.”

Pan pulled Kami towards her with her left and pulled down Lord Slug’s left arm with her right. The evil Namekian, seeing the surprisingly fast sword draw coming for him, tried to grip Kami’s head with his right, but found Pan had gotten the elder Namekian behind her. Instead, he grabbed hold of Pan’s right shoulder, then began to squeeze, causing her to spit out and release the Power Pole, which ascended up to him.

(**CLANG!**)

Yajirobe found that his katana had struck and was bounced back by the Power Pole, held in Lord Slug’s mouth, stopping what would’ve otherwise been a perfect cut between his neck and torso.

Yajirobe had no other means to avoid the impact, being struck by the three and crashing through several various items before seeing Lord Slug come to a halt and then himself falling. The proud Namekian conqueror spat the Power Pole downward, watching Yajirobe flailing his arms as he fell.

“That’s right, fly you big dodo.”

Now simply hovering in place, he tried to reach for Kami with his left, but found Pan, even in the state she was in, keeping Kami covered.

“You really going to cower behind her, Kami? Then again, not a big surprise.”

Both in retaliation for her actions and to taunt Kami, he squeezed Pan’s shoulder further. She was left shouting in pain from what was at first an immensely tight grip...

“I mean you’re used to others sacrificing themselves for you rather than doing it yourself, ain’tcha?”

...but this evolved into screaming from blunt instruments piercing directly into her shoulder through her wound. This excruciating feeling exceeded even Frieza’s horn from before.

“How about it, Guardian of Earth? Feel like a hero yet? Well, do ya?”

As much as hearing Pan’s anguished cries reminded him of when Piccolo tortured the wounded Goku during the World Martial Arts tournament, Slug’s demeanor and actions instead reminded him of...

“You are a spitting image of the Demon King, Slug!”

“I’d say Piccolo the First was certainly a source of inspiration...”

“Now release her!”

The Lord’s left hand gestured back and forth with his index finger.

“Uh, uh, uh. You have to come out from your hiding spot first.”

With one last squeeze into her wound, Pan’s scream led to her Kaio-Ken fading entirely.

“WAIT!!!”

Pan saw Kami slowly coming out from behind her.

“Let her go... and you may fuse with me.”

Lord Slug wasn’t convinced and Pan couldn’t believe just what Kami was proposing to him.

“R-he-he-he-heally?”

“With my untapped power joined with yours... just imagine how much further your conquest could go.”

The would-be conqueror had a gloved hand to his chin.

“I could already fight Frieza as I am now... but together... oh, we could really put fear into him and his old man.”

“So will you release her?”

“We fuse first, then you’ve got a deal.”

“As you wish, Lord Slug.”

Storm clouds emerged above Korin’s place as Kami floated in place, his arms down and awaiting Lord Slug’s left hand.

“Kami, you have to be kidding me...”

“Since we’ll be one being, just a thought: how’s the Demon Lord Kalug sound to you?”

“Pan, can you shield yourself like before?”

Pan heard Kami’s voice in her head.

“Well, yes, but...”

“On my signal.”

“Also thought of Slami, but... Slami sounds too much like something served with crackers.”

She then caught a short figure looking over at them from the distance, gesturing with a hand... no, a paw, into the air...

“Now!”

She put up the ki shield and found just as Lord Slug, shy of touching Kami, discovered this...

...lightning struck him dead-on, electricity coursing across his body and, unfortunately, partially zapping Pan via his fingertips embedded into her shoulder...

...followed by the booming sound of thunder.

While not immune or close to unharmed to what had transpired, Lord Slug quickly gripped Kami by his collar...

“Took a bit after me, eh? I’m almost touched.”

...then looked back to Pan, seeing a white cat gripping a wooden staff taller than himself in her eyes.

“That cute little feller did that?”

“Kaio-Ken TIMES TWENTY!!!”

With this burst, she took hold of his right wrist and with only her left hand...

(**SNAP!**)

Lord Slug felt his right hand go limp and let go of Kami from the pain of it. He saw Kami try to fly away and aimed at him with his left, but was then met by a punch to his jaw. Effectively pinned to Pan thanks to his right, she utilized this to repeatedly swing and jab at Lord Slug, sending the two downward far away from the Guardian of Earth and Korin’s place.

Pan’s increased power and senses meant her shoulder’s pain was amplified just as much, but wanting to stop him then and there, she pushed through, knowing the aftermath of the fight would be hell on her, but the consequence of Kami’s death took precedence over it.

Lord Slug found himself unable to evade her and that even when trying to protect himself against her attacks, his guard was easily broken. His helmet had been struck multiple times and showed signs of cracking, including the gem atop his forehead.

“SHE’S taking me apart?! Where was this Pan brat keeping this power?!”

And in the course of a few seconds, the two neared the starting point of a climb Pan’s grandfather took decades ago. Desperate to get himself away, Lord Slug resorted to breaking off his guard entirely and aimed his left hand in a chopping motion not at Pan, but instead...

(**SPLATTER!**)

...he chopped off his right hand at the wrist, allowing him to boot himself off of her and avoid crashing into the ground, though he struck Korin’s Tower back-first. Pan absorbed the brunt and immediately retaliated with a one-handed blast, one that appeared akin to a yellow-orange Kamehameha, and which Lord Slug was in no position to avoid.

“OH FIDDLESTICKS!!!”

He was struck below his chest and pinned straight to the tower as if it were impossible to move or break through. He felt his body begin to bend and even snap, openly fearing that he would be torn in half.

“No, no, NO!!! This is not how Lord Slug will perish!”

But Pan felt herself exit out of Kaio-Ken and her beam ceased, seeing herself headed right for what appeared to be a red, white, and blue teepee. At the speed she was at, she’d tear through it and the ground beneath her.

“Gotta come to a complete stop now!”

Her right hand could still move and generate ki, but her left had to supply the vast majority for this task. She span in midair like a drill, realizing she wouldn’t be able to land comfortably, but had to try. Right as her bandanna would be the first part of her to make contact with the teepee...

“That should be enough to...”

...she put a hole through it, struck someone inside of it, and tumbled across the ground before her left hand dug into the grass beneath her to slow and then stop herself entirely.

“Hey, what’s the big idea, pal?!”

While her face was in the dirt, she recognized that gruff voice immediately.

“I scope out this place for some good loot and now everyone and their grandma’ll know someone was here! Oh, and you clocked me on the back of my head!”

She slowly peered up, seeing red and yellow shoes and green socks.

“Now quit cowerin’ under that yellow bed sheet! What, you think I can’t see you?!”

Pan then heard the cocking of a machine gun.

“You’re really gettin’ on my nerves now, sunshine! Now I’m gonna give you one shot to get outta here and if you know what’s good for ya, you’d better...!”

Once Pan looked up at the rest of the figure, her vision fuzzy...

“Y-you?”

“That’s that blue shirt girlie from the tournament.”

...the woman put her machine gun away and ran towards her.

“You ain’t lookin’ too good.”

She flipped Pan onto her back.

“You clobbered Junior with Goku, so whoever, whatever did this to you’s gotta be some kinda...”

And even within this personality, she couldn’t help but gasp at one of the primary causes of Pan’s pain.

“Is that... oh Geez Louise, that’s a hand!”

Pan saw Launch’s face, blonde hair, and red ribbon clearly up close, then felt Slug’s hand being pulled out of her wounded shoulder.

“That’s out of there, but...”

She caught Pan reeling and noticed blood from behind her shoulder on the ground.

“H-hold on! I think there might be something I can grab for that!”

“No need, Launch.”

Pan saw Kami, a white glow in his palm, forming a white bandage out of thin air.

“K-Kami? But you need to get back to...”

“I know, but once the threat has been taken care of.”

Launch yanked the bandage right from Kami’s hand...

“Time’s a wastin’, old timer!”

Despite her disrespectful tone, Kami was relieved that Launch was concerned for Pan and tending to her wound. He knelt down, a hand over Pan’s left shoulder to comfort her.

“There you are!”

Lord Slug, his back against the bottom of Korin’s Tower, saw Pan and Kami at a distance from the now flattened teepee.

“That’s right. Just sit there all buddy-buddy...”

His left hand raised upward, aiming at the group with a gun gesture.

“Don’t mind little ol’ me...”

“Hey, dirt bag!”

The three of them heard a shout from the distance, as well as saw Lord Slug taking aim at them while seemingly sitting down. Just as he was about to fire, he saw a katana headed for his neck. He tilted his head enough to avoid it, then saw the man he sent to his death earlier about to take another swing.

“Great fall didn’t kill you, eh?”

He caught Yajirobe’s blade with his left and the swordsman couldn’t get it out of his grip.

“Then I’ll hardboil you!”

His eyes glowed...

...but the eye beams missed, searing holes through the top of Yajirobe’s hair, as Lord Slug cried out in pain. A small portion of the top of his head slid down, purple blood dripping, and Yajirobe saw that as the stump touched the ground, underneath the helmet was not only green skin, but...

“That f-freaky antenna!”

In a rage, but also in pain, Lord Slug pushed Yajirobe back with a Kiai wave, sending him rocketing towards the other three. Kami put out a hand, catching the swordsman in one fell swoop and stopping all of his momentum. Pan, her right shoulder’s bandage tied in a knot by Launch, flew over to Lord Slug, though couldn’t help but crouch down and grip her shoulder afterward.

“Oh look at you, kid. How’s your arm?”

Pan then saw why Lord Slug wasn’t standing up...

...his lower body was entirely limp, a bend in his waist clearly visible even from underneath his clothes from the blast he endured against Korin’s Tower earlier.

“Nearly snapped me in two yourself there, I’ll give you that.”

The other three approached behind Pan, Launch and Yajirobe having no idea of who he was.

“You’ve got some explainin’ to do, One Hand!” went Launch, entirely unafraid and aiming her machine gun at him.

“H-he’s some kind of d-demon like P-Piccolo!” Yajirobe stuttered.

“‘Like P-Piccolo’?” taunted Lord Slug, gesturing his right arm at them to the two Earthlings’ confusion until...

... a green right hand emerged from the wounded stump practically instantaneously. They saw him focusing his energies once more followed by the opening towards the top of his purple helmet being filled by green, as well as an antenna.

“Piccolo’s beneath my rank!”

The Earthlings of the past saw Kami forming another object in his hand...

“What, you gonna cuff him or somethin’?”

“Not quite.”

With one last push, the bend in Lord Slug’s waist was no more and he jumped up onto his feet, but with a hand against the tower to steady himself, Kami suspected...

“Repairing that damage has used up much of your power.”

“Yeah, so?”

All parties saw Kami placing a small white bottle with red kanji onto the ground.

“Now I have another chance at trapping you so you’ll do no more harm.”

“What about what I saw in Pan’s head?”

She tried as hard as she could not to show a reaction, but Launch and Yajirobe immediately caught this.

“This guy talkin’ about you?”

“Now that you mention it, we don’t even know her name...”

“Damn it, he’s blabbing it to everyone!”

“You ain’t gonna be Guardian of Earth forever, you know,” continued Lord Slug. “You won’t even be a memory by that point. Forgotten. And lest we forget about...?”

“ENOUGH!!!”

Kami fired a Kiai wave that pushed Lord Slug into the tower, the evil Namekian actually having to try getting back to his feet afterward.

“Whether I fall to you today or to another in the days to come, I will ensure Earth’s survival with my last breath! Now enough of your games!”

Kami raised his palms, facing straight towards the evil Namekian.

“Your reign of terror on my planet and all others stops here!”

Lord Slug put out both hands, shaking.

“Oh no, not that! Anything but that!”

“What’s Kami doing?” Pan asked on her comms.

“The Evil Containment Wave,” Trunks explained. “It’s a technique Master Roshi’s teacher used to trap King Piccolo centuries ago.”

“He’s going to trap Lord Slug... in that bottle?”

“Just about any container would work,” the Supreme Kai of Time added. “Roshi’s master pulled it off with a rice cooker of all things.”

Pan’s mind wandered back to something at her world’s Bulma’s house besides the Four Star Dragon Ball and the round white and green device...

“THAT rice cooker trapped King Piccolo?”

“So you’ve seen it, then.”

Lord Slug then knelt down, his hands on the ground and looking down.

“Oh please, please show mercy! Have pity on me, Kami old pal!”

“Your kind never learns.”

A near-invisible wave of sorts left Kami’s hands, headed right towards their foe at blinding speed.

“After this, we can get back to Namek and...”

But a huge shift in the ground sent everyone off the feet, Kami included. He saw Lord Slug leap into the air and tried to course-correct the Evil Containment Wave, but his loss of footing left him unable to do so.

“No, this is our only chance!” he lamented.

Once Lord Slug landed on his feet away from the tower, he clenched his fists and the four could see him channeling power across his entire body.

“Even after all that... oh, please tell me he’s not about to transform.”

“Pan, I’m afraid...” Trunks began.

Pan lifted herself back up, her reserves much less than ideal to face Lord Slug now, let alone against whatever he was about to do.

“When I was kicking your little behinds, that wasn’t me at my best, not by a long shot.”

“Oh, what’s he going to do, change colors or something?”

The ground began to shake once more, Pan able to remain standing as the other three tried to get back up, in awe at what appeared to be his shadow stretching further.

“You had a chance, however small, before.”

But as Pan saw clearly...

“He’s becoming...”

Now the evil Namekian towered above everyone, his hands alone larger than her.

“Now you’re facing the almighty Lord Slug in his true form.”

Lord Slug's True Form! Pan at her Limit![]

Earlier

“Come to Papa.”

When Lord Slug opened up his gloved hand after Towa dropped something into it, he was surprised to see that it turned out to be a vial.

“Huh. No big pill?”

“No. All in liquid form.”

“Guess I won’t be needing a glass of water to help it down... then again... depends on how it tastes.”

Mira caught the old Namekian gesturing to him.

“You there, sport. Be a dear boy and get me one.”

“My sweet lord,” went Towa. “Why wait to be young again?”

“Well, when you put it like that...”

He undid the cork-esque lid on the vial and was just about to drink from it.

“And you’re absolutely, positively sure there’ll be no side effects?”

“None whatsoever in any of my virtual scenarios. It is perfectly fitted to your DNA.”

With a flip and a gulp, Lord Slug downed the formula, then all three waited.

“Hmm... I don’t feel any different yet. Do I look any different?”

“Your skin!” shouted Mira. “It’s changing from green to...!”

Lord Slug quickly found a reflective screen to confirm this, but found his skin remained unchanged in color and age.

“That’s some sense of humor your boy’s got there. My soldiers never once tried pulling a stunt like that on me...”

With the time that had passed, his patience was starting to unravel as he cornered Towa.

“...and if one of my scientists didn’t deliver results on the spot...”

“The formula is not instantaneous,” she explained. “Once it reaches its destination, it will spread and take full effect.”

“And now I’m starting to think this youth serum of yours is a counterfeit.”

Mira got behind Lord Slug in the case he actually tried to do harm to Towa.

“Though it didn’t taste half bad, actually. Almost has a hint of...”

He then felt something and grasped what, to a human, would be his stomach, stumbling backward. As he placed his right hand onto a thick metal counter, Lord Slug bumped into Mira.

“Back it up, why don’t you!”

With his left hand, he pushed Mira back with such force that he flew to the other side of the room, crashing through several pieces of equipment and having to catch himself against a wall. Seeing a glare from Towa from what he just did...

“Sorry! Don’t know my own strength!”

Lord Slug then realized with how little effort he had done that, as well as feeling his right hand pressing down deep into the metal counter it was on...

“Hey! This strength! Why I haven’t felt this strong in years!”

Mira, slowly hovering and then stepping back towards him and Towa, closely noted that the spaces where Lord Slug appeared to be missing teeth were soon filled by fangs. Shortly afterward, the Namekian lowered his black hood and took off his helmet, seeing that his wrinkled face slowly morphed into that of a younger one.

“Ah, and this is the face of my youthful conquests!”

His right hand, now dug in so far into the counter that his elbow was all that stuck out of it, tore straight through it as Lord Slug took off his glove to see the last of his green hand’s wrinkles fading away.

“Oh how splendid. Stupendous. It’s good to be young again.”

While Lord Slug was in awe at his returned youth and might, Towa cleared her throat and he attempted to show his appreciation.

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you, my dear.”

He also came to realize much of the room’s equipment was either knocked to the ground or smashed apart from him pushing Mira earlier.

“S-so about the damages...”

“Now that I have held up my end of the bargain, you have your mission.”

A screen showed him the target.

“The Namekian named Nail must perish. He must not be allowed to fuse with Piccolo.”

“The Demon King?! Oh, you mean Junior. Right, right, right.”

“Then you shall depart for Namek shortly.”

As Towa set up coordinates and all the necessary procedures for his travel, Mira noticed Lord Slug holding and looking over at his helmet.

“Do you really need your helmet as you are now?”

“You know, I don’t really need this thing for protection...”

Tucking his antenna flat with one hand, he began putting it back on.

“...but it does complete the look.”

Strapping it back on entirely, he saw his youthful face underneath it once more.

“Besides, it keeps my antenna snug and comfy.”

Present

Pan had to help the Z-Fighters against Vegeta as a Great Ape, but Lord Slug now exceeded that form in sheer scale. And after reaching his towering true form, the first thing Lord Slug did was start lifting his helmet up just slightly to tuck his one exposed antenna back inside.

“There we are. Back in you go. Now that’s much better.”

She saw Yajirobe clearly intimidated at the scale of their opponent, try as he might to conceal that by keeping his hands on his sheathed katana.

“He makes that great big monkey Saiyan look too short for rides...”

She then saw Kami still lying down, having yet to pick himself up until Launch did it for him, pulling him by his cape.

“Snap out of it! Now come on! Catch him this time! He’s a bigger target, ain’t he?!”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Well make it simple! What’s the hold up here?!”

“The change in power makes it an entirely different endeavor from what it was before. To catch him with the Evil Containment Wave now, I... I might not survive it.”

Pan immediately made her way towards the group.

“Not if we can wear him down first! Right?!”

“R-right.”

As Lord Slug continued to take his time with distractions...

“Without all the skyscrapers, the view here is really something special.”

...Pan tried to think of something, anything, to even the odds they were stacked against.

“Trunks! Supreme Kai of Time! Do either of you have something we could use here?!”

Once Trunks heard this, he immediately transformed into a Super Saiyan and flew across the library’s halls, going through books.

“I know! We have something for it around here!”

Chronoa heard books scatter and peered herself for any answers.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to find!” shouted Trunks aloud in the distance. “Where is it?!”

Just from across the room, she zeroed in on a shelf in particular and with a telekinetic pull...

“Found it, Trunks!”

He flew back, reverting back to normal and seeing the book they were looking for floating towards them.

“There! That’s the one!”

As he opened the book...

(**CLATTER!**)

What may have been an entire bookshelf falling hard onto the ground somewhere in the library could be heard where they were.

“Uh, I’ll fix that later, I swear.”

“Just...”

Realizing they had left Pan practically on hold this entire time, the Supreme Kai of Time decided to give her an update.

“We just found an old text on Namekians. The moment we find something for you to use, we’ll let you know first thing.”

Pan, hearing this, then heard Lord Slug crack his neck and knuckles, the enlarged sound almost akin to grinding landmasses.

“I think I’ve been quite charitable giving you this much time. So if everyone’s said their prayers, good-byes, etc...”

A simple step forward caused another massive quake, one that shook the surrounding trees...

“Let’s have some fun.”

Lord Slug hunched over and swung his right arm downward where Pan and the others stood.

“Grab on!” she shouted.

Kami took hold of Pan and Launch and Yajirobe held onto the Guardian of Earth, then she flew off before his fist struck. This impact left a crater and several trees nearby were downed.

Pan kept relatively steady even with her wound, though she wasn’t sure how long she could hold them for.

“This angle’s fine for now, but...”

“His arm’s stretchin’!” Yajirobe warned.

“Six o’clock!” shouted Launch.

With their warnings, she flew upward, but now doing so with them in tow was not only starting to get to her, but she had to consider...

“The higher up I go, the worse the drop will be if any of them fall off me.”

“You need covering fire!”

Launch managed to wrap her legs around Kami’s waist, lied back to face Lord Slug, then fired at his stretched arm with her machine gun.

The bullets, however, bounced off, having accomplished no damage to either him or even his clothes.

“I’d say it tickled, but honestly, I didn’t even feel a thing.”

Charging ki in his gigantic hand...

“With your luck, you won’t feel this either.”

What was a basic projectile for him revealed itself to be massive as it raced towards Pan, seeming to arc right where she was going.

“Hold on tight!”

As if knowing Pan was going for a nosedive, Launch kept her legs around Kami’s waist, but did wrap her arms under his arms and across his chest. Pan felt Kami adjusting his position, wrapping his left arm over her left shoulder and his right arm beneath her right armpit. Yajirobe, holding onto Kami’s right side during this adjustment, tried to find a more secure region to hold onto with his right hand...

“AGH!!!”

He had accidentally gripped Pan’s wounded right shoulder.

“I-I’m sorry!”

The pain from this caused Pan nosedive to start earlier and unsteadily, avoiding the projectile just in the nick of time. Kami and Launch had mostly ideal positions to remain gripped to Pan, but now Yajirobe lost his grip, passing Launch and trying in vain to grab hold of one of Kami’s legs.

“SHOOT!!!”

Seeing the position the four were in, Lord Slug had his arm out in a chopping stance.

“Welcome to the chopping block.”

He swung, certain he’d strike either the falling Yajirobe or Pan and the other two as she nosedived.

Pan felt at the angle of the chop and the speed Yajirobe fell at that he would be its victim. She used her ki to propel herself downward faster, Kami and Launch holding on even tighter to account for this.

“Agh! There’s no trees to break my fall this time!”

Yajirobe flailed his arms again, then peered to his left to see the giant orange glove coming right for him in a chopping stance.

“But I don’t wanna get chopped!”

Then he saw himself flying right over the hand as it passed him.

“Huh?”

He looked up, seeing Pan was holding him up by his yukata’s black obi belt with her right hand.

“Urgh...”

“Is your arm going to be okay?” he asked Pan.

He and the rest then caught her starting to drop a few feet all of a sudden.

“It’s...”

Another drop.

“I’m going down!”

Once she could tell Yajirobe was at a safe enough distance to drop, she released him...

“Just warn me when you’re about to... hey, hey, HEY!!!”

Yajirobe practically did a belly flop into the grass below as Kami and Launch saw Pan rotating herself to land on her right side.

“If I can just cover this arm...”

Her ki shield did start to envelop her right arm, but...

“Too late!”

Meanwhile, a distance away from the fighting, the projectile Lord Slug threw eventually arced downward...

“Father! Up there!”

Two men standing by a body of water saw the projectile coming down towards the ground nearby.

“Get down!”

The larger of the two tackled the other down as an explosion shook the ground violently and caused various pieces of rock and trees to fly straight towards them. This man then stood in front, shielding the other, his impervious body withstanding every piece of debris that touched him without even the slightest injury.

“Are you alright, Father?”

“Of course. But whatever that was...”

Pointing in the direction it arrived...

“It came from the village. We must go.”

As they both began to leave this region...

“Wait Father, that’s...!”

The larger one was surprised to hear his son reacting so strongly to something until he caught a glimpse of the item in question.

“Out here? But that’s...”

The two saw the Power Pole partially embedded into the ground.

Pan lied still, breathing heavily as she saw the far-stretching trail of dirt behind her going so far that she couldn’t see the initial point of impact. Kami and Launch, having let go in time, made their way back to her.

“That was one hell of a landing you pulled off there,” began Launch.

But Kami, seeing that Pan had yet to touch her right shoulder...

“Are you alright, Pan?”

“Please don’t say...”

Pan then adjusted to try getting up, but Kami and Launch could tell she was lifting with her left primarily.

“Easy does it.”

Launch helped lift her into a sitting position as Kami saw that her right arm’s jacket sleeve was torn to shreds, revealing the blue shirt it was worn over. Upon closer inspection, her skin beneath the sleeve, while bruised somewhat, didn’t appear to be suffering any cuts.

The white bandage Kami had materialized for her, however, had now turned crimson red.

“Don’t cry too hard on me, girlie.”

Launch started undoing the knot, but did catch Pan trying to hide her initial wincing.

“I didn’t mean it. After saving our skins back there, you can let the water works run all you want.”

Launch slowly took the bloodied bandage off, then tried to glance away from how it looked now...

“Don’t want to tell you how to live your life, but you seriously need to get that shoulder looked at.”

She then saw Kami had begun wrapping a new bandage over it.

“Well aren’t you just a walking bandage emporium...”

“When Goku trained with me, believe me when I say I had to give him his fair share.”

Pan, knowing any further impacts to her shoulder would be catastrophic, and just recalling then that Kami could materialize such things on the spot, was curious about its extent.

“Is there any way you could make the bandage more durable?”

“It’s not an exact science. I mean since we are talking about magic...”

“Yes or no question, Kami!” interrupted Launch.

“Then I suppose I cannot alter something’s genetic makeup to that extent. Can’t turn the bandage into steel any more than I can make air into gold.”

Pan did jump to a different solution.

“Then could you make me a shoulder piece or something?”

“I’ve never tried materializing a piece of armor before.”

Kami put both hands over Pan’s right shoulder and she could tell he was trying to focus.

“Let’s see...”

A white glow went from his palms, then enveloped her shoulder. It almost appeared to be a solid white layer over it, but then it appeared to expand and take on a new shape.

Launch, tying something, saw the white glow give way to what emerged: a black pauldron that covered the entire right shoulder. She gave it a light knock, feeling and hearing that it was a sturdy and solid metal material.

“Look at you, Kami. Now you’re also a blacksmith.”

Pan saw it, then moved her arm to feel that it supported the bandage and didn’t weigh her down.

“Wow Kami, this is...”

But then she caught something beneath it.

“Is that a...?”

Pan saw that during this time, Launch had taken her old bandage and tied it into a ribbon.

“I have to wash my hands because of that thing anyway, so I figured what the hell. Looks cute, doesn’t it?”

Thus far, they hadn’t felt the Earth quaking from Lord Slug’s steps.

“We didn’t land that far from Lord Slug, did we?”

Almost in sync with Pan’s thoughts, Launch had her mind on the same thing.

“That jolly green jackass just standing around or somethin’? We’d feel him coming a mile away from so much as walking.”

“Yes, it is rather strange that it has been this quiet,” Kami added.

“We’re gonna need some serious firepower.”

Launch started reaching into her pockets on her shorts, pulling out various capsules from each.

“No. Not that one. That won’t do it. Nope. Not this one either.”

With Launch searching for a capsule she couldn’t find and Kami otherwise taking in the calm, Pan took this time to reach out to Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time.

“How’s the search going? Find anything yet?”

“J-just a sec...”

Trunks, standing with the book opened atop the octagonal table, used his fingers to point out a specific passage.

“From the quick reading I’ve done just now, I’ve found out that Namekians have immensely greater hearing than humans.”

“And that helps us how?”

“Their ears are especially receptive to high pitch noises... like whistling!

Then using a ruler, as if trying to measure something he was visualizing...

“To a Namekian as massive as Lord Slug is now, his eardrums the size of trash cans...”

“That’s... oddly specific...”

“That type of frequency would be increased fifty times, if not a hundred.”

Launch was crouched over, reaching into her green socks for capsules, but still not finding the one she was looking for.

“Oh, of all the days to leave my rocket launcher at home...”

She then couldn’t help but notice that Pan, for some time, hadn’t said a word, simply looking into the distance with her left hand over her ear.

“What are you staring at?”

So far, no response.

“Hey.”

“I believe she is preoccupied with something, Launch,” Kami explained.

“Really? Because it looks like nothing’s going on in her head right now.”

She was tempted to wave her hand in front of Pan’s face, just shy of doing so.

“I hope she didn’t take too big a hit to the head back there.”

“I don’t believe that to be the case.”

“Why? Because Goku takes hits to the head all the time?”

“No... though granted, he certainly...”

Pan then turned back to them mildly irritated.

“I’m in the middle of something!”

Both stepped backward, giving her space.

“Thank you.”

She turned away again, still appearing to stare off into blank space.

“So then what is she doing?” Launch whispered.

“I believe she is communicating telepathically,” he answered back quietly.

“Oh, so that’s your theory?”

Their whispered conversation continued as Pan filtered it out and got back to listening to Trunks.

“Sorry about that. So he has fifty to a hundred times the reception to high pitch noises. That enough to make him vulnerable?”

“It wouldn’t just make Lord Slug vulnerable: it’d be agony to someone like him.”

“That’s great!”

The two caught Pan standing up and throwing her fist into the air.

“So how do we take advantage of it? Got some way we can make high pitch noises?”

“Here’s the deal, Pan: all you need to do is start whistling and Lord Slug’ll be...”

Now they caught Pan pouting, both her arms down.

“I don’t know how to whistle!”

“Sorry. I thought since your father knew how...”

They could see and even hear her stomping her feet.

“What’s riled her up?”

“That’s not how that works! And right now, my dad is kind of on another planet fighting another conqueror!”

“You guys gotta move!”

All three turned to see Yajirobe running in their direction, his legs moving so fast as to almost be invisible save for oval-like flashes of his feet.

“Where were you, big guy? Playin’ dead?”

During Launch’s remark, Yajirobe took a moment to catch his breath.

“I’ll have you know tunneling underground isn’t...”

The sun slowly began being blocked out, the four seeing a shadow looming in their direction.

“He... he’s...”

“There’s no way someone that big could hide from us.”

“Oh no?”

They looked up and saw Lord Slug was floating just above them.

“Did you forget I could fly?”

He rotated so he could land on his feet, the impact practically causing a wave with the grass. Pan and Kami hovered off the ground as Launch quickly took a hold of Yajirobe’s shoulder, then climbed and hopped off it to a tree branch.

“That’s totally disrespec...!”

He was caught up in the ensuing wave, to which Lord Slug looked over in his direction with his eyes glowing.

“Can’t have you served raw.”

Eye beams bigger than Yajirobe’s body followed him with the ronin’s back to a tree and effectively pinned. In the nick of time, he felt someone grip and pull him out of the way, soon finding that Kami had stretched his arm some distance away.

Pan decided to try obstructing Lord Slug as best she could and began firing at him from various trees, hanging from branches on her arms and legs, and hopping between them when Lord Slug went for straight jabs or blasts.

Just then, he found himself seemingly surrounded by what he thought were various Pan’s all at once, some in battle-ready stances and others making mocking expressions.

“Okay, so you’re fast...”

Then with an arm stretched into the air...

“But you forgot about my horizontal attacks.”

A chopping arm struck through various trees all at once, including the ones Pan stood on with the afterimage technique. Pan narrowly ducked underneath the chop’s finish, dropping to ground level, then realizing...

“Launch is on one of these trees!”

She caught the blonde-haired woman near the treetop of one of them Slug had just chopped through, and found her trying to keep her balance amidst this.

“Steady, steady...”

Pan flew up to help, her hands out to catch her...

...but the tree came down faster and at a more awkward angle than Launch anticipated and she just missed Pan’s hand. Launch’s left hand desperately tried to grab hold of something and Pan felt herself dragged down just slightly.

“That accessory’s a life saver.”

Pan saw that Launch was hanging on by the chain on her belt.

“Good thing that belt’s indestructible...”

“Beneath you!” Launch then shouted.

Lord Slug stretched his arm to reach for them, so Pan descended down with Launch hanging on with one hand, then fired with ki blasts while Launch used her other hand to fire at Slug’s arm with a sawed-off shotgun.

“Feel that?!”

Their opponent found himself only mildly irritated by Pan’s projectiles, but still indifferent to Launch’s attacks.

“Still no tickle.”

He then went for a booted right kick, one Pan couldn’t avoid without Launch getting hit or being forced to let go. Swerving to face it on her left side...

“Kaio-Ken times ten!”

Launch saw and felt this red aura around her, then saw Pan with both hands, halting the boot entirely with the left taking center stage.

“W-whoa!”

With a shove, Lord Slug awkwardly hopped backward on his left foot, flailing his arms to keep from falling backward.

“Easy does it...”

Then Launch felt a massive surge on Pan’s left side, seeing her hands cupped.

“Kamehameha!”

This fast-firing Kamehameha seemed more comparable to a fully charged one from her base form, striking at Lord Slug’s waist and causing him to fall straight onto his back.

“Timber!” went Launch, her shotgun holding arm pumped into the air. “How do you like that, Big Green?!”

But then she felt the red aura was no more and caught Pan hovering downward in controlled, but sudden bursts. Once the two touched down safely and Launch let go, she immediately caught Pan hunched over, then catching herself with her left hand.

“That super red form take a lot out of you?”

“Y-you could say that...”

“Her battle with Lord Slug has been long-running,” added Kami, him and Yajirobe meeting up with them.

“So you two make that big earthquake?” the ronin asked.

“You should’ve seen what Pan here did:”

As Launch told the others about Pan holding off the giant Lord Slug just earlier, Pan conversed elsewhere.

“Trunks, in a battle of attrition, Lord Slug’s true form will outlast my reserves. I’m not on empty, but another Kaio-Ken or two and I will be.”

“And I guess whistling’s off the table...”

Unknown to them, Lord Slug was hovering just above the ground in a lying position, trying to keep quiet.

“...unless...”

Looking up to the sky, as if Trunks himself could see her “Really?” expression...

“I mean... it wouldn’t hurt to ask if any of them can whistle.”

They then heard and saw two trees being dragged aside, their foe poking his head out at them.

“Peek-a-boo!”

Just as ki began to glow from his mouth...

“Do any of you know how to whistle?!”

Lord Slug couldn’t help but cease this attack and crawl backwards upon hearing Pan shout this.

“Agh, no! That’s the ONE THING I do not need right now!”

“Wh-what does that have to do with anything right now?!” went Yajirobe.

“Whistling?!” exclaimed Launch. “You kiddin’ me?! What kinda question is that in the middle of a scrap like this?!”

“Well... no,” replied Kami. “Certainly not. I have had neither a desire nor a reason to.”

Lord Slug seemed content with their answers, trying to hide any semblance of his earlier reaction.

“Dodged a really big bullet there...”

Pan could think of only one person she knew off the top of her head that could whistle...

“...and unless one of you can pick up my grandmother and inform her of the situation...”

But then Lord Slug struck the ground with both hands, sending everyone onto their backs. As her allies at first scurried in random directions away from one another...

“GET BEHIND ME!!!”

Upon hearing Pan’s order, the three did so, then saw as she stood between them and Lord Slug once again about to fire a mouth beam.

“W-what is she playing at?!” asked Yajirobe.

The beam fast approached and from how wide it was, had they scattered like before, they couldn’t have avoided it if they tried. Pan faced him left side-first once more, taking a breath and knowing what this’d mean...

“Kaio-Ken times ten!”

From a bird’s-eye view, the four appeared enveloped by the beam, but upon closer inspection, an almost shield-like construct kept them untouched.

Knowing Pan and company would survive this, but uncertain of how long they could hold out for with Pan reaching her limits, Trunks put a hand on the scroll.

“I should help her.”

Last time Pan was in severe trouble and he insisted on helping her, he tried taking the scroll from the Supreme Kai of Time by force and caused minor harm to Chronoa as a result. This time, he didn’t try to tear it out of her grasp and tried considering the consequences.

“It wouldn’t be like Goku or my father meeting me.”

“We need to make sure you never interacted with any of those three down there,” the Supreme Kai of Time cautioned.

“Not Launch... and definitely not Kami...”

But when he thought on the last person...

“Damn it all...”

“You mean...”

“Yajirobe helped my mom with me... my counterpart...”

He put both his hands atop the octagonal table, his head lowered to hide his frustration.

“If there’s even the slightest chance Yajirobe figures out after seeing me...”

“Now wait, Trunks. By that point, would Yajirobe figuring out that the baby Trunks is... well, another you... would that change anything?”

Trunks took a breath, then turned back to her.

“I don’t know.”

“Well let’s see... Goku knew the baby was your counterpart...”

“As did Picco...”

She caught Trunks trailing off, then pausing.

“That’s right, Trunks. Piccolo knew too.”

Trunks just realized...

“I didn’t even think of...”

She didn’t hear anything else from him.

“Trunks?”

“By the same principal of them recognizing Pan and then remembering when they last saw her, Piccolo would do the same with me and...”

His eyes began to widen, as did his open mouth.

“I told Piccolo what I could and he agreed not to tell anyone, but... after going through the battle he’s about to...”

His mind raced with the horrors to come for those that battled Frieza, Piccolo included.

“...going through that kind of hell...”

“Trunks, what are you...?!”

She saw him practically frozen in place and yet shaking in fear of what would come from the gamble he took.

“Oh God, I’ve jeopardized everything!”

Trunks imagined himself after having slain both Frieza and his father King Cold in a desert wasteland. Having sensed the Z-Fighters alongside his mother floating a distance away and counting on their arrival being a possibility, he carried a set of capsules on his person including one housing a refrigerator filled with various beverages for them.

“I’m going to meet Son Goku! Want to join...?”

But he then found Piccolo picking up speed.

“YOU!!!”

This younger Trunks, not having met Piccolo prior, didn’t know what to make of this.

“P-Piccolo... I...”

“YOU SENT ME TO MY DEATH!!!”

Piccolo tackled him from midair straight to the ground.

“Piccolo! W-what are you...?!”

“You didn’t tell me Frieza’s final form would be far beyond me! That we’d all nearly die! That Dende, Vegeta, and Krillin would die!”

Gohan, Vegeta, and Krillin couldn’t help but hear these words regarding their battle on Namek.

“Mr. Piccolo knows him?”

“H-he knows about my death?!”

“But how could he know?”

He knew nothing about what Piccolo was shouting at him.

“Piccolo, I’ve never met you until now!”

“LIAR!!!”

The enraged Namekain shoved Trunks back downward.

“You knew EVERYTHING that’d happen! You know WHAT WILL HAPPEN!!!”

“Piccolo, PLEASE...!”

“You had all that power and did NOTHING until now!”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, I swear!”

Piccolo took a closer look at Trunks’ utterly panicked face, especially...

“Your eyes...”

Now Trunks’ greatest fear was coming to pass.

“No...”

“I know those eyes!”

Piccolo turned around as Trunks tried getting back up, putting a hand out to him.

“Piccolo, wait!”

“He knows the future! And not just that...!”

He practically crawled forward, still trying to gesture to Piccolo to stop.

“PICCOLO, DON’T!!!”

“He’s your child, Vegeta!”

The Saiyan Prince was aghast at what Piccolo had suggested.

“M-my child?!”

“Well, have you had one?” Bulma asked.

“Certainly not! There’s no one from any species out there worthy of the privilege!”

“Well you’ll certainly never find love with that attitude, you jerk!”

“Like I need the approval of some broad from a backwater planet!”

Seeing his father and mother scorn one another so openly...

“You stuck-up creep!”

“You blue-haired bit...!”

“LOOK!!!” shouted Gohan.

Trunks saw his right hand’s fingers start to fade away completely.

“NO!!!”

His worst fear imaginable had happened: his parents would never get together and as a result, now he would never be born.

“What’s happening to him?!” went Krillin in shock at this.

Trunks tried crawling forward, but suddenly couldn’t feel his legs.

“His legs! They’re...!”

Gohan ran over to Trunks, seeing him reach into his jacket with his left hand. Once Trunks had that hand out again, the son of Goku took hold of it.

“Hold on.”

The son of Goku turned to the others, shouting, “Is there anything we can do?!”

Bulma, as much of a brilliant scientific mind as she was...

“I... I don’t know if there’s anything we can do...”

“Gohan.”

The young half-Saiyan heard this purple-haired man address him by name.

“Y-you know my name?”

“There’s no time!”

The child felt Trunks trying to open his left hand...

“You have to do something for me, Gohan.”

...then no longer felt it, seeing that hand had vanished as well, but also saw a bottle fall to the ground, the pills inside making a clattering sound upon impact.

“You have to get that to your father!”

As Gohan held the bottle in his hand...

“It’s medicine for...!”

...it disappeared.

“Wh-where did it go?! I was holding it!”

And now Trunks’ purpose for going to the past was all for nothing: the cure to Goku’s heart virus was gone.

“I failed...”

The child saw Trunks’ left arm had disappeared, his entire lower body was gone, and now the rest of him was fading away from his torso upward.

“Don’t go, please!” Gohan cried.

“It’s too late.”

Trunks looked over at the child who would’ve been his mentor as he knew he only had seconds left...

“Mother, forgive me...”

...and once they elapsed, Trunks was gone.

“Trunks, is something wrong?”

Chronoa then caught Trunks starting to look faint.

“Trunks!”

Once she caught him starting to slump over...

“TRUNKS!”

...she caught him using her freed hand to lower him down gently with telekinesis.

“Trunks, are you alright?”

Lying on his side, now quivering, he couldn’t make eye contact.

The three watched the spectacle of Pan going Kaio-Ken Times Ten, this being the second time for Launch, as well as saw her ki shield manage to split the beam in two. They could feel the heat from the split beam, knowing they wouldn’t have survived it head-on, and were in awe as it finally dissipated.

“Hell yeah!” went Yajirobe. “Now that’s what I call a...”

But he trailed off upon seeing Pan hunched over looking even worse in her stance, steam visibly coming off her. Launch, guessing that Kaio-Ken took a lot out of a person, wished she had been wrong in this moment.

“Poor girl’s not gonna be able to keep this up...”

Her left arm’s light gray sleeve was effectively seared off, now leaving the jacket short-sleeved.

“Trunks?”

Trying to stand on her feet, but then catching herself on both hands...

“T-Trunks, are you there?”

“Talk to me, please,” Chronoa pleaded. “What’s happening, Trunks?”

“Piccolo, he...”

He finally broke the silence and looked Chronoa in the eyes with what he had to reveal to her.

“When you sent me to Namek to make sure he fused with Nail, Piccolo... caught me.”

Still, Pan heard nothing on her end from either Trunks or the Supreme Kai of Time. A rare occurrence, since they were always on comms save for an emergency where they were needed elsewhere, but at this moment in time...

“One of you... I need your help or I’m going to...”

“Aww, c’mere, you...”

Lord Slug began to gesture his right hand out to grab her, but saw the other three, despite the difference in power, running in to cover her.

“Back off, creepazoid!”

Launch fired her machine gun at his face, not even caring about its effectiveness against their enemy.

“Or I’ll find something that can actually hurt you!”

“You so much as touch her...” Yajirobe began to threaten with his katana drawn. “...and I’ll take one of your fingers.”

Kami, the most aware of their power difference from having faced him since Lord Slug and Pan arrived on his lookout, stood directly in front of her.

“You will have to go through me.”

The Supreme Kai of Time absorbed what made Trunks so petrified in that moment once he revealed what had transpired on Namek earlier. In a combination of caring for Trunks’ current state and to keep calm herself, she put a hand to his face.

“What does Piccolo know?”

“Only that he’ll meet me again... but after going through the battle with Frieza... ”

“He’ll wonder why you didn’t help?”

“Why I helped on Earth, but not on Namek. When it would’ve been easy for me to do so.”

As calm as she tried to remain for Trunks’ sake, even she didn’t know a solution for what to do, at least not right at that moment. But with the changes in history Towa was already trying to create already, both on Namek and Earth...

“We’ll cross that bridge when we’ve stopped Towa’s alterations, Trunks. We’ll find a way.”

All three continued covering her, Lord Slug not moving his right hand.

“All right, you got me.”

He gestured his arm away from Pan and into the air.

“I will leave her be...”

A sudden rumble beneath their feet...

“With THIS ARM!”

His left hand, having burrowed underneath them, grabbed Pan, then she found herself pulled through a tunnel, everything going dark, then light again. Pan glimpsed him crouched over like a child playing with toys and once he brought her closer to his face, absolutely massive compared to her, the difference in scale registered with her especially in that moment.

Now the others saw Lord Slug readying his right hand to try grabbing one of them.

“Now who wants to play action figures?”

Yajirobe went for a swing with his katana, but found his sword hadn’t cut through Lord Slug’s ungloved hand, then was struck backward. Kami instinctively tried catching Yajirobe, but the force was too great for him to halt, the two rolling backward.

“Do you volunteer?”

Launch saw Slug’s hand about to close around her.

“Hell no!”

She hopped upward, just avoiding his closing grip, then ran up his arm while biting a pin off a grenade.

“Use that shield thing now!”

Pan did generate enough ki to accomplish this as the grenade was thrown straight at Lord Slug’s face. The explosion, even for someone with her training, clouded her vision for a moment...

...but Lord Slug remained unharmed by everything Launch had thrown at him.

“Oh, for f...!”

She then felt Lord Slug’s arm rotate, immediately left with nowhere to stand.

“Didn’t see that coming, did ya?!”

Pan watched Launch falling with neither Kami nor Yajirobe in range to help, and at best, the fall from that height would severely injure her.

“Tell me...”

She felt his grip tighten ever slightly, the shield holding up at first...

“Do you squeak?”

...but then shattering from the pressure.

“One more Kaio-Ken and I’m done for... but if I don’t now...”

Trying to push back against it was a losing battle as it was obvious Lord Slug was slowly increasing the pressure.

“You wil...”

He had a sudden sharp pain in his wrist.

“Ow.”

It harmed Lord Slug just enough for her to get out of his grip and drop down before he could recover. Looking at his wrist, Pan couldn’t quite make it out, but it almost looked like...

“A spear?”

“Okay, who threw that?!”

Lord Slug looked down to his left seeing a tall and muscular bare chested human man of slightly darker skin, red marks on his face, and black hair in a ponytail. Pan recognized him immediately from having encountered him as an older man from this very region as a child.

“Bora!”

Pan then turned back to where she last saw Launch, seeing that Launch didn’t crash land to the ground, but was instead held by another man, one shorter and less defined with lighter colored pants, a bow on his back, and a feather in his hair.

“Upa.”

On the ground level, Upa helped Launch back onto her feet.

“Happy to help. May I ask what you were doing by our village?”

Launch tilted her head and grinned.

“She can probably answer that.”

He turned around to see Pan landing towards them.

“Thanks for saving her. It’s a long story. I...”

She then noticed something he was holding on his back besides his bow: her Power Pole that was lost just earlier in the battle. She pointed to it.

“That...”

“Yes? What about it?”

“I was using it earlier and...”

“What are you talking about? That is the Power Pole. It is Goku’s. He’s used it since we were children.”

Launch jumped in upon noticing it.

“I haven’t seen Goku in ages. And you just found the Power Pole lying around?”

“Yes. Which makes no sense to me. Unless Goku were here... but he would never be that far from it.”

“I...”

Pan tried to come up with an explanation, but had to put her attempt to reacquire her grandfather’s polearm on hold as she, followed by the others, looked back at Upa’s father and the giant Lord Slug, the two conversing rather than fighting.

“Let me take a wild guess: you want me to leave because I’m on sacred ground.”

Despite the difference in size between them, Bora was unintimidated.

“No. It is because you have ill intentions.”

“What, you think I’m going to destroy this place? If anything, I think it’d make a lovely place to live.”

“And what about the people living here?”

“What about them? Land’s always up for grabs. Gotta get ahead of the market.”

Bora crossed his arms.

“You are not unlike the conquerors of the past.”

This comment combined with Bora’s judgmental expression began to rub Lord Slug off the wrong way.

“Why I’ll have you know the scale of my empire will be unmatched.”

“That is what they thought as well.”

“Oh, don’t even go there! I’m my own conqueror, thank you very much!”

He raised his left arm to crush the human in one fell swoop.

“Father!”

Upa began to run over when he, Pan, and Launch saw something tiny atop Lord Slug’s left hand.

Bora remained standing, even as the shadow of Lord Slug’s fist loomed.

“If you’ve got nothing nice to say, then how about a dirt nap?!”

He was going to create as deep and massive a crater as he could with this punch, curious just how deep he could make it go even in the midst of his anger...

...but then there was another pain, this time much worse. The conqueror looked at his left hand and saw nothing out of the ordinary...

...until he saw his pinky finger fall off and the ronin from before having gone through it with his katana.

They saw this sneak attack transpire and Pan quickly turned back to Launch and Upa.

“Launch, do you have any more grenades?”

“Bunch of them. Why? You saw it did jack crap just now.”

“I think I know somewhere they can do some damage.”

“They’d better.”

Launch started sorting bunches of capsules in her hands as Pan turned to Upa, then whispered to him. The blonde haired woman didn’t hear any of this, but did see Upa nod back to her, then make his way over to his father.

“What was that about?”

“First things first: is that all the grenades you have?”

Yajirobe saw Bora’s spear and took it with him on the way down.

Lord Slug cried out, practically roaring due to his size.

“Sneaking up on me?! Nobody’s that quiet...!”

But seeing Yajirobe falling before him, he put this aside enough to aim his right hand at the falling swordsman.

“You’ll fry for that!”

The blast at its apex, milliseconds from release, he then caught something with a cape in front of his right eye:

Kami, his hands about to unleash a blast of his own.

“How could I not hear you?!”

A point-blank blast to Lord Slug’s eye had the blast from his right hand just narrowly avoiding Yajirobe. Now Lord Slug rose to his feet, his hand covering his right eye. After this, Yajirobe used his katana against Lord Slug’s leg to slow down his fall, not piercing through it entirely, but enough to accomplish the task at hand.

“I can obliterate these twerps the moment I get my hands on them! I just need to...!”

Kami then fired ki bullets at him, not doing much in the way of harm, but the fact that Kami was still in striking distance even after what he pulled off...

“TAUNTING ME...?!”

He swung his left arm at him, but Kami flew to his right side, and with Lord Slug’s right eye still covered, he couldn’t track him as effectively.

Unbeknownst to him, Pan flew around towards his left side during Kami’s distraction, holding onto Launch, who had daisy chained her grenades together. They made their way to his left ear and Pan, not wanting to risk the Namekian hearing them, mouthed “Go.” With a toss, the grenades made their way in, then, as they went further down his ear, a tug on interconnected strings undid the pins.

“WHAT THE?!”

Lord Slug heard something and felt something tiny in his ear canal. His first instinct was to put his pinky finger into his left ear to try fishing out whatever it was...

...but realized this was the same hand whose pinky was sliced off earlier. He did spot the two responsible, the human grinning at him.

“None of her Earth weapons have done a thing to me, so why the...?!”

A boom, followed by ringing in his left ear: the grenades, while not about to damage his actual body, made such a loud noise that deep in his ear, if not directly in front of his ear drum, that he covered it with his hand and fell onto his front.

“The noise! THAT AWFUL RINGING!!!”

He tried lifting himself up with his right, but was struggling to support himself, not in regards to his strength, but instead....

“Balance! I can’t keep my balance!”

Pan landed quickly, then made her way to Bora, whom lifted one foot upward. Pan put her left hand underneath it, then began to lift him off the ground entirely. Her right arm tried to anchor him as best she could given her shoulder, but for this...

“Gotta use both! Need aim for this, not just strength!”

Lord Slug, his right eye’s vision blurry, but otherwise not blind, saw the two of them in the distance. Now using his left hand to anchor himself off the ground, he aimed with his right at them.

“Whatever you’re planning, it won’t...!”

He then saw Yajirobe lunging for his right hand.

“Maybe just a few more fingers!” he taunted.

The katana dug into the back of his hand, causing the beam that released to go below his intended targets, but he flicked it back into the proper position, the beam traveling upward towards Pan and Bora.

“Kaio-Ken...!”

Pan had to consider just how hard she was about to throw Bora, less for his safety, but due to what it’d mean in the aftermath. And now she had substantially less time to do so thanks to the beam rising from the ground below towards them from Lord Slug.

“If I lose consciousness... get back up.”

“Times Twenty!”

A substantial gamble on her part, but once she threw him, the time it took Bora to reach Lord Slug was so fast as to be instantaneous to the average human eye. But her Kaio-Ken gave out immediately afterward and, try as she could, the beam was already going to hit her and she couldn’t move in time to avoid it or use her ki in time to block it.

“This is it. If this doesn’t stop Lord Slug...”

“Hey!”

Pan found herself tackled out of the way by Launch, the beam’s only point of impact being the soles of Launch’s shoes. But as they lied down and Upa, Yajirobe, and Kami watched the final attack transpire, they heard the loudest cry of pain from Lord Slug by far soon transition into a whimper, then silence as the gigantic evil Namekian fell onto his back. This impact especially caused another massive quake and Pan found Launch unintentionally covering Pan as if to protect her.

“I’ve got you, girlie.”

As different as Launch’s blonde haired personality was from her blue haired one, Pan suspected that there were some traits shared between them both.

“Different as they are, both your personalities care.”

Once the quake had passed, Launch got herself up, then dusted off Pan’s face.

“Other than a little dirt, you look okay to me.”

Pan then caught Launch wincing slightly and noticed her wrist and elbows were fairly scraped from their roll earlier.

“I-I’m sorry, Launch.”

“What do you got to be sorry about? You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”

She put her right hand out to help Pan up, which she took.

“Now come on. Let’s...”

Pan immediately groaned just from trying to get up onto her legs.

“Hey! Someone gimme a hand here?!”

Launch got behind Pan and lifted her right side up as Upa helped her up on her left.

“Aaand up we go.”

The two got her to her feet, then helped her over as they walked to see how the other three were doing by Lord Slug.

Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time saw the conclusion to the battle, feeling a combination of awe and relief.

“I don’t know how Pan does it... but when she finds a way...”

Towa simply took a breath as Mira turned his back to the screen.

“Another one. Just like Turles.”

Yajirobe, tugging on his katana to free it from Lord Slug’s hand, heard something atop of the conqueror’s head coming from his left eye socket. Kami investigated this and found a hand outstretched:

Bora, managing to climb out of it, took Kami’s hand and he and his spear made their way out of it. After they made their way back to solid ground, Kami put out his hand to Bora once more.

“You have done exceptionally well,” complemented Kami.

He returned it with his own, shaking and genuinely appreciating hearing that from the Guardian of Earth.

“Thank you, Guardian... but it was her plan.”

He gestured towards Pan, who managed to stand on her own, but with Launch and Upa next to her just in case.

“Yeah, this is all well and good, but could anyone help a guy out here?!” shouted Yajirobe.

Bora left to help, the two tugging on the katana in the back of the hand as Kami faced Pan, Launch, and Upa.

“Would you excuse us for a moment?”

Launch and Upa nodded, stepping aside as Kami stepped to her right, both facing forward.

“I do not know how the both of you arrived, but with what you have given not just for me, but for the people of Earth... I am in your debt.”

He put out his left hand to her, accounting for her right arm and shoulder.

“I must say...”

Pan went to shake his hand as he started.

“The Supreme Kai of Time chose her protector well.”

As much as she appreciated what he had to say, this last comment by Kami had her slightly on edge.

“Y-you know about the...?”

“I arranged for Mr. Popo to bring Goku to Capsule Corp when she asked for my help.”

Past events then clicked into place with this new information.

“That was back when Chronoa stopped time with the Ginyu Force... and when Towa sent Turles...”

She then had to ask Kami something important:

“About my name...”

“I can assure you it will remain secret.”

“Oh thank...”

Pan heard something familiar...

“T-there’s no way...!”

A massive four-fingered gloved hand punched Kami directly, having stretched over from a distance. Pan, shaking Kami’s hand in that moment, was taken in tow before crashing into a tree, losing her grip on him.

“Kami!”

Just then, Yajirobe and Bora felt Lord Slug’s right hand twitch.

“I SHOULD BE DEAD!!!”

As Lord Slug shouted this, he then swung his hand with such force that both Yajirobe and Bora were rocketed far into the sky.

Pan, feeling splinters in her jacket, could only slowly walk over to where Kami landed: directly into a boulder, purple blood across him and his white robes.

“No, no, KAMI!!!”

“FATHER!!!”

She heard Upa shout this from a distance, then heard and felt the steps Lord Slug took, each one alone nearly forcing Pan to keep her balance.

“This can’t be happening...!”

As she made her way towards the sound of machine gun fire, no doubt from Launch, she saw her firing away and Upa firing arrows with his bow at the once seemingly dead Lord Slug, his aura one of sheer rage.

“Get out of here, BOTH OF YOU!!!‘

But despite Pan’s warning, Launch saw a giant gloved hand do a basic flicking motion in front of her machine gun, rocketing it out of her hands, but also sending her upward into several tree branches.

“LAUNCH!!!”

Upa, meanwhile, seeing how dire the situation was becoming, peered at his childhood friend’s Power Pole on his back, and without knowing this Power Pole’s true origins...

“GOKU!!! IF YOU’RE HERE, WE NEED YOUR HELP! NOW!!!”

“Aww, look at that...”

Lord Slug’s humor was starting to come back to him as his hand chopped at Upa’s bow, smashing it to pieces and grounding Upa immediately.

“Still treating that Saiyan like a god...”

“UPA!”

He continued his way to Pan, who was in disbelief at just how he was still going.

“One hell of a side effect Towa had with this one! Literally sprung me BACK TO LIFE!!!”

“Is that possible, Towa? Did your formula have an after effect bringing Lord Slug back to life?”

Towa was certainly as surprised as he was to see this transpiring.

“It was designed to restore his youth. I couldn’t have begun to predict that could’ve resulted from the formula.”

He found Pan wasn’t trying to get away, wondering why that was.

“Too stubborn to run? Or too tuckered out to even try?”

Trunks and Chronoa found themselves in another situation that would bar Trunks from joining the battle.

“Lord Slug’s alive and Pan’s practically out of juice. You’ve gotta send me in there!”

“Yajirobe or Bora will die wherever they land if they aren’t saved now!”

“Couldn’t you just freeze time or something to keep them from touching down?!”

“I can’t stop two points in time at once!”

She handed the scroll to Trunks.

“Please...”

Begrudgingly, he took it.

“But if Pan dies...”

“I was trying to hit both of you earlier! Aim might’ve been a little off since, y’know, BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!”

Now that Lord Slug was getting closer, she could see the damage her Kaio-Ken Times Twenty throw of Bora and his spear did to his left eye, which took on a piercing white hue with the damage done to the pupil and iris.

“But YOU, oh, you’re gonna get it!”

Pan looked up into the sky as if wondering if the Supreme Kai of Time could see her, or...

“Pretty boy Trunks won’t save you!”

Amongst the information he retrieved from Pan’s mind, much of it regarded her interactions with this Trunks who changed the future before her birth.

“Poor lad! Goes on and on about losing his big brother! And he’s competing with a blondie whose long gone to you!”

She thought she had protected her mind enough, but considering one of the last things Lord Slug learned from Pan was her name...

“How much more did he get from me?! How could he know about Colm?!”

Stomping on the ground with the most might he had so far, causing trees to uproot, had Pan fall onto her back immediately followed by two trees landing atop of her.

“But don’t worry: he’ll never get a shot at you!”

He flicked the trees off of Pan, then grabbed her with both hands.

“You cost me MY EYE!!! So I’m going to crush you into such a small quantity that what’s left of you will be untraceable!”

Pan tried using any ki she had left to shield herself, but it shattered almost immediately under the pressure.

“I’m... I’m drained...”

She felt her arms being slammed into her sides, her legs against each other, and then trying to compress themselves further.

“When time resumes on Namek, they’ll...”

She gritted her teeth as she felt what might have been her ribs starting to crack. Attempting to turn her hands to push back was entirely futile, her fingers already digging into her hips.

“Dende. Krillin. Vegeta. Bulma.”

Lord Slug had been quiet, watching her face until his hands managed to close all the way, Pan no longer visible to him.

“Dad... Trunks... Grandpa... everyone...”

This was it. She could do no more. It was all over.

“I’m sorry.”

“Lord Slug has finally succeeded where the others failed...” thought Mira with a smirk.

The former Time Patrol member saw her crowning moment: the defeat of the patroller.

“Without any further opposition, Lord Slug could alter history any way he chooses with no one to stop him...”

...and despite her opinion on the mysterious patroller souring when Pan’s ploy on Namek led to Mira’s defeat and severe wounding at the hands of Vegeta...

“...she could have left him to Vegeta, but she couldn’t. Just as she was compelled to save Yamcha, she was compelled to save... Mira.”

She had won, her enemy slain, but now in this moment, Towa was once again conflicted.

“NO!!!”

Mira slammed his hands onto the console, startling Towa, who then looked over at the monitor, seeing...

Lord Slug felt something pushing back at his hands.

“Oh that is such poppy...!”

His hands slowly separating, he began to make out a yellow glow.

“Oh don’t tell me...!”

Now that his hands were forced open enough to see Pan...

...he saw Pan’s pupils and irises were completely white, her hair rose slightly, the edges taking on shades of red, and she had a golden glow around her skin.

What Happened to Pan?! Slug's Final Bout![]

Ever since Pan’s very first mission, Chronoa had always watched over and listened in on Pan’s thoughts, mid-fight and otherwise. There had been moments of frustration, setbacks, close calls, and where all appeared to be lost, but this...

“I’m... I’m drained...”

This was the worst case yet for the Supreme Kai of Time. Due to Yajirobe and Bora being launched into the far distance with tremendous strength by the newly revived Lord Slug, she had to dispatch Trunks to save them rather than have him assist the now drained Pan.

“I couldn’t have stopped them if I wanted to, Pan. If I were on Earth, I could’ve... but that would’ve left the events on Namek to continue.”

And now Pan was left with no one to help her as the gigantic Lord Slug began to close his hands around her, his desire to crush her now about to be fulfilled. Chronoa heard Pan turning to her friends and family on Namek, as well as...

“Trunks... Grandpa... everyone...”

...and then...

“I’m sorry.”

...silence.

“No...”

There had only been a few instances where Chronoa lost Pan on their comms: when Towa found a way to cloak her signal to hide herself and Pan, and when Captain Ginyu swapped bodies with Pan, leaving Pan without any means of contacting them.

“She can’t be...”

But more and more seconds counted down and she heard absolutely nothing back.

“Pan, no...”

Trunks had seen Chronoa become upset by events before and Pan heard her remorseful regarding her treatment of Towa that turned their former friend into an enemy, but even then, the Supreme Kai of Time had always remained composed.

But now that she was completely alone, a tear came down her right cheek.

“I... I failed you, Pan...”

She didn’t cease her work to keep time stopped on Namek for even a moment, but now the Supreme Kai of Time openly mourned.

“If I had just done things differently, you’d still be here... just like...”

She simply looked back at Pan’s killer, waiting to see what he would do next now that no one on the planet could stop him, at least until Trunks returned.

“We can’t have Lord Slug kill anyone else. I may have no choice but to send Trunks and the two to the library just so he can make it in time to...”

Her thought was interrupted by seeing a golden glow between Lord Slug’s hands.

“Pan?”

She saw Lord Slug’s hands, which were just crushing the drained Pan, being forced back open by this seeming last ditch effort of hers.

“Pan, you’re... you’re alive?”

Lord Slug, seeing this gold-glowing, partially red-haired, and white-eyed Pan, still alive even when her demise at his hands appeared inevitable, didn’t know what to make of this new state she was in.

“Y-you were beaten! You had n-nothing le...!”

Pan then gave off a snarl and separated his hands enough to finally release herself, dropping below before he could catch her. Instead of landing standing up, she was crouched over, keeping steady with her right hand.

“Pan, do you read me?”

An orange boot tried stepping on Pan, but she, on all fours, moved to the side. Another stomp from the opposite foot followed, and Pan propelled herself forward, narrowly avoiding it.

Just as she turned around, Lord Slug span, crouching down and going for a swing with his left hand. Instead of moving with her hands, feet, or on all fours, Pan stood up, then swerved backward, his gloved knuckle just missing her. His right then swung not for a punch, but an attempted slash with his fingernails.

“Pan, it’s me.”

Lord Slug caught her attempting to jump upward, but neither saw Pan go past his right hand as it completed its arc nor did he feel any of his nails slash at her.

“Where’d you slink off t...?!”

Just then, he felt and saw Pan had crawled her way to his index fingertip, then, before he could act, slammed both her feet into the middle of his fingernail.

(**CRACK!**)

It was split in two, one half falling straight off, while Pan then crouched down, grabbing hold of the remaining half. Lord Slug raised his left hand to slam it down onto her...

“Just try that, you little...!”

With a pull, she yanked the remains of that fingernail right off.

“AGH!!!”

His left hand came crashing right down over his right.

“MOTHER...!!!”

He then saw Pan slipping past where his left pinky once was. Had it not been cut off earlier, Lord Slug would’ve caught her right then and there.

As Lord Slug loudly exclaimed, stepping backward, Pan landed back on the ground, still battle-ready...

“Please, Pan. Tell me if you can hear me.”

...but the Supreme Kai of Time found that Pan had not responded even once so far.

“How can this be? Pan is still fighting and yet... I can’t hear a single thought from her. Not even now, as she’s waiting on her opponent.”

Chronoa then realized she needed to check on Trunks, as well as give him the latest news.

Elsewhere over a body of water, Yajirobe and Bora found themselves saved by a mysterious man, now being held by their belt and pants respectively as Trunks was flying back in the direction they came.

“So, uh, what are you supposed to be?”

All Yajirobe could make out was the man’s trenchcoat and the sole face-covering item protecting his identity:

“And do you really wear that helmet all the time?”

With his prior disguise destroyed by Piccolo, Trunks went with the first thing he could find: an almost exact replica of the Great Saiyaman’s helmet worn by his Gohan’s counterpart.

“It wasn’t my first choice,” Trunks confessed.

“Are you perhaps from Jingle Village?” Bora inquired.

“No. What makes you say that?”

“It would seem you are dressed for a much... colder climate.”

He focused on the remaining flight time.

“A few minutes at best. But by that point, Pan may...”

“Pan’s okay, Trunks.”

He tried to keep his movements other than flying minimal, but was happy with the good news given.

“T-that’s great! Earlier, it looked really...”

“But there’s something up with her.”

“What do you mean ‘something up wi...’”

“She’s not responding to me. I see her fighting, but hear nothing from her. And the way she’s fighting... it’s less like a martial artist and more like...”

Pan actually seemed to be moving backwards on all fours, anticipating Lord Slug’s approach. He then charged right at her, passing by the spear Bora left behind, his right foot going for a punt. Her expression was less one of focus, all the more noteworthy as she showed her teeth, silently snarling.

“...like a wild animal.”

Pan appeared, to the untrained eye, to have hopped backward. Instead of using her feet, she pushed herself off the ground with her hands. The second she landed, she found the bottom of his orange boot coming down onto her.

She caught it with both hands, her feet beginning to sink into the dirt from the force.

“You’re gonna be a pancake!”

All of his focus was on eradicating the one remaining person who could still do harm to him. Pan was forced to one knee, unable to get away from him.

“Or better yet, a crepe!”

He was determined for this to be the finishing blow, about to push down on his right knee with both hands to make it so...

...when a sharp pain in the back of his left ankle, not unlike when a sharp instrument was thrown at his wrist earlier, took his attention.

“Who has the gall to...?!”

As he said this, he looked behind him at the one who backstabbed his leg:

Upa, having retrieved his father’s spear and driving it into Lord Slug up close.

“Why you...!”

But then Lord Slug felt his right foot being lifted up.

“Distracted me...!”

Even as he immediately pushed down on his right knee, Pan then lifted him up further, now back on her feet. With a massive final thrust with her hands, Lord Slug fell straight backward, not even able to attempt catching himself.

Upa, retrieving the spear during the brief struggle, looked over at Pan climbing out of where she was, seeing less a warrior watching over an ally and more a beast deciding if he was a predator about to strike.

“Those eyes... that look...”

Realizing he had his father’s spear out with two hands, unintentionally coming off as preparing to attack, he put it aside.

“Wait, wait. I am no enemy of yours.”

She slowly circled around him, Upa putting out both hands to try dissuading her from attacking.

“You helped us. Against that giant.”

Seeing that Lord Slug had started getting back up in the distance, he tried pointing in his direction.

“He’s right there. He’s getting up right behind you. We have to focus.”

But still, Pan would not be deterred, the faintest growl escaping her clenched teeth.

“Pan, Upa is a friend!”

Now Chronoa was left completely uncertain as to what Pan was about to do and shouting to get her to listen.

“Don’t attack him! Please!”

“I don’t know what this giant will do, but I can’t stop him alone. I need your help. We all do.”

As a precaution, as his left hand was still out to attempt avoiding conflict, his right reached behind him for the only other weapon on his person.

While from a short distance away, Launch, scratches on her exposed arms and legs, as well as dried blood from her forehead to her right eye, slowly walked over, seeing Pan’s almost feral-like behavior towards Upa.

“What are you...?”

Her hair was blue and her demeanor clearly showed a stark difference from before.

Upa saw and heard Launch, swinging his left arm to get her to stay back, but then positioning it back as Pan appeared to step forward.

“Please. I do not wish to harm you...”

Both Launch and Pan caught a sliver of the Power Pole coming into view and being drawn.

“Pan, whoever she is, is not... she’s not herself right now.”

But as she and Upa feared, upon seeing the polearm, Pan took it as an impending attack and crouched down, her left arm raised as if to swipe while her right was ready to launch her forward.

“I won’t fight you, miss.”

Bora put the Power Pole out in front of him, not to jab like a spear or swing like a sword, but to cover himself for what was to come.

Launch, now seeing Pan all but ready to lunge, looked around her for anything she could use, finding various pebbles at her feet.

“I can’t let you hurt him, Pan. Won’t let you kill him.”

Now Pan’s right hand was digging downward, standing on her tiptoes, and practically roared at Upa, a small trail of spit resulting from it.

“I don’t want to hurt...!”

Pan was ready to go through with the attack...

...when a rock struck the side of her head. It distracted Pan enough to hop backward away from Upa, then peered to her left at Launch, already holding another rock to throw if she had to. Even without the gruffness and aggression that drove her blonde-haired personality, Launch was determined to protect Upa and snap Pan out of her state even if she had to be put in danger to do so.

Upa, seeing Lord Slug lying on his side and aiming his right hand in their direction, then saw it glow.

“Get back!”

Launch was ready to step to the side from Pan, but then the two turned towards Upa, who ran towards them.

“GET BACK!!!”

Despite Pan outwardly wanting to attack him just moments ago and not knowing how she’d react, Upa rammed into her and Launch with the Power Pole, pushing the two into the small hole from when Lord Slug tried to step on her. The moment he jumped downward to cover them, the beam went just over them, just shy of hitting the feather on Upa’s head.

While Upa was relieved to have saved them both, he then saw Pan look back at him furiously.

“She’s still...”

He was immediately lifted upward, his back slammed against the hole’s edge, the red polearm his friend once wielded as his only means of defense. She gripped it tightly, Upa now knowing it was only a matter of time before she pushed back with all her might and drove him through the Earth. Just then, she let go with her right hand, her left still gripping the polearm. Upa saw her ready to practically slash or gouge at his face, unable to stop this with his arms pinned, and closed his eyes.

Launch blinked, then when she opened her eyes...

“Pan, NO!!!”

...she saw that Pan’s right hand stopped. Upa opened his eyes, feeling Pan’s fingers against his eyelashes. He peered at Pan’s eyes, which were looking over at the Power Pole. Her teeth were slowly relaxing, her lips coming down over them.

“Supreme Kai of Time?”

Chronoa nearly stumbled over.

“Pan, is that you?”

Upa felt himself released from her, Pan stepping backwards. And for a moment, he thought he saw the black of her eyes once more.

“It’s me.”

“Pan, when Lord Slug closed his hands and I thought I lost you, I...”

She heard the Supreme Kai of Time sniffle, then heard her clear her throat.

“You got out and kept fighting him, but I couldn’t... I didn’t hear a thing from you. It’s like your mind wasn’t there anymore.”

Launch could see this change in Pan as well, slowly making her way up as Pan backed up to give them both space.

“I can’t explain it. It’s like something else is behind the wheel. I see and feel everything I’m doing, but I’m just spectating.”

“You aren’t attacking Upa now and you’re talking to me now. What changed?”

Pan looked up to the sky, as if Chronoa could see the Power Pole in her hands.

“It really is more than just your grandfather’s keepsake...”

But then Lord Slug’s face peered into the hole.

“EYE...!”

He fired at her with eye beams...

“...see...!”

...then found Pan had deflected it with a swing.

“Y-YOU!!!”

She then hopped upward, the Power Pole back in its case, then grabbed hold of the evil Namekian by his nose. Tugging on it, she actually pulled Lord Slug’s entire head downward, then went for a double-kneed strike. The force struck him straight upward, nearly onto his feet. Upa and Launch saw Pan land atop the edge of the hole, then looked back at them. Her eyes were still all white like before when she almost attacked them, but they could tell she was closer to herself again, at least in regards to protecting them.

“Still giving me the silent treatment?!”

She saw Lord Slug creating orbs in his massive hands.

“Aww, that’s no fun. I always enjoy some repartee.”

“Supreme Kai of Time, I see the shore up ahead. Still a full minute before we can reach Korin’s Tower, but...”

“Trunks, I need to send you back to the library as soon as possible!”

After the Supreme Kai of Time said this, Bora and Yajirobe saw Trunks coming to a stop and lowering them onto the ground.

“The village is just ahead.”

“Yeah, and that’s a long ass walk from here!”

“I’m sorry, but I have to go!”

Trunks then left them to fly far into the distance he just flew them back from.

“Coat-wearin’...! Helmet-wearin’...! Ah, you jerk!”

“He saved our lives just now, swordsman.”

“Yeah, I know, but did he really have to leave us hangin’ here?”

“We are standing.”

“He could’ve at least given us a ride a little closer.”

“Perhaps, but I am certain he had his reasons.”

“Reasons to leave us here?”

“No. A purpose back where he came.”

A flashing light in the distance seemed to confirm this for Bora.

“Well if your boy and those two ladies are going to need our help, then we’d better leg it over there.”

Yajirobe took off in a blur as Bora soon followed.

“He forgot to mention someone.”

Upon Trunks’ return to the library, Beetro met with him and the Supreme Kai of Time.

“Here it is.”

He handed it to Trunks.

“This is the only senzu bean we have?”

“I’m afraid so. After this, we will be out once more for some time.”

“And Pan will need this after the battle is won.”

Chronoa, looking around, realized there was one person present who wasn’t overlooking the battle:

“Kami! Kami took that hit from Lord Slug head on! His survival is key! Otherwise Piccolo dies too and the events on Namek change even if Pan returns to help them.”

Trunks, who was hoping to use it to heal Pan once the battle was over, knew that to be the case.

“Can’t we bring Kami here? Wipe his memory of here after?”

“Kami trusts me, but if we do that, we may lose that trust and he may try changing the course of his history and Earth’s.”

Putting the senzu bean in his coat’s pocket, he accepted this, but knew one issue would occur.

“But to heal Pan here... how long will it take? Can you hold the time on Namek that long?”

“Give that to Kami first. I will find a solution to heal Pan later.”

Lord Slug had the two golden orbs of energy circling around him like they were electrons and he was the nucleus of an atom.

“Try and get past these!”

Pan leapt right for him, at first using the Power Pole to seemingly shield herself.

“Pan, are you doing all that?” the Supreme Kai of Time asked.

“No. It’s like I’m still on autopilot.”

Instead, he found that Pan used it as cover to propel herself further upward.

“But earlier, you wouldn’t have done anything like this.”

“I’m still not in control, but however my body’s doing this, it’s trying to... I don’t know... be more tactical.”

Now seeing Lord Slug’s right hand try to close around her, Pan then had the Power Pole positioned from the bottom of his palm to the top of his middle finger.

“Like a toothpick!”

He went to close his hand...

“Ow, ow, OW!!!”

Pan had not been crushed, hanging onto the Power Pole, as it appeared to dig partially into his skin. Despite pressing down on it with all his might, the Power Pole would not break.

“That little red thing... unbreakable? Even against my true form?!”

Pan then swung herself on the Power Pole, kicking his palm. This dislodged the Power Pole from the green hand and shoved not only the hand, but his entire wrist backward, causing Lord Slug to unintentionally backhand himself.

He then thrust his other hand forward, one of the golden orbs arced downward towards Pan. Seeing she couldn’t avoid it, she held onto one end of the Power Pole so the other would strike it first. An explosion imminent upon impact, she kicked off that end and let go the exact moment it felt like the Power Pole had touched something.

The explosion was massive and she was far from the polearm now, but she managed to slow herself down by spinning like a top.

Lord Slug was baffled at Pan’s new tactics, almost seeming like...

“Those were moves she could only do before I caught her.”

He made his way over and swung with his left, but Pan, instead of trying to avoid it, timed it. She rotated herself in midair to take hold of his ring finger, then tugged it in the opposite direction.

(**CRACK!**)

“I’m gonna run out of fingers if I don’t catch her now!”

His right fist went to strike her after she did this, but Pan did a small hop to avoid it, ran across his arm, then hopped over to see the back of his head exposed. With a double axe handle, she nearly grounded him, causing him to catch himself with both hands.

“I don’t get it! She was a slobbering beast earlier! But now it’s like... ”

Another leap towards him, swerving her body to avoid the incoming golden orb before delivering a punch directly to his left top fang, knocking it straight out of his mouth.

“...like she’s going off pure instinct.”

He decided to hop away, Lord Slug actually trying to keep his distance.

“I can’t fight her like this. She has my number. I hate to admit it, but Pan has the edge over me now. But how?”

Trunks returned away from the battle, but towards where Pan and Kami were knocked backward when Lord Slug sprang back to life. Following the trail, he found the Guardian of Earth before his time, but embedded into a boulder, his robes covered with...

“Namekian blood!”

He put a hand to Kami’s neck, seeing that, fortunately, he still had a pulse, but...

“Kami’s on Death’s door. It’s a miracle he’s even alive right now.”

As he tried gesturing Kami’s mouth open to give him the senzu bean, the old Namekian seemed to wake up, seeing it in Trunks’ hand.

“N-no... she needs it more than I...”

All but shoving the senzu bean into Kami’s mouth...

“Sorry, but I can’t stop to discuss this logically.”

Kami then crunched the senzu bean and immediately upon gulping...

...he broke himself free from the boulder, a Kami-shaped indent left over. The purple blood remained on his robes, but he had been fully healed. Now that his vision had improved, Kami saw this coated man with a helmet that didn’t match his look otherwise.

“Who are you, young man?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”

He saw Kami extend a hand out for him to shake.

“You saved my life. For that, I will not pry as to your identity.”

As he shook Kami’s hand, Trunks let out a mental sigh of relief that this went the exact opposite way his encounter with Piccolo did. Once the shake concluded, Trunks began to hover off the ground.

“I must go.”

“Understood.”

But then both he and Kami heard an especially massive shake in the ground, which would’ve sent Kami off his feet had he not hovered upward as well, almost as if...

“That kind of explosion... it would’ve taken out an entire city. A big one.”

He saw Kami flying off towards it.

“No! Wait!”

As Lord Slug ceased their combat, he scratched the opening in his helmet with his fingernails.

“After all that Kaio-whatever, her ki practically went dead the moment I had her in my hands. That fancy shield of hers went before I even squeezed that hard. Since then, she’s been moving as fast and hitting as hard. But how? How could Pan do that if she has no ki?”

He recalled all of the talk about Super Saiyan in her head, but while that didn’t confirm any of it to her, it did lead Lord Slug to a theory of his own:

“What if it’s like... emergency power? An inner backup generator? Break in case of emergency.”

Then as he looked back at all their fighting since she had gone through this red-tinged white-eyed change, feral and instinct...

“She hasn’t once fired at me or even so much as flown around...”

Then he pointed up into the air as his one antenna got out of his helmet.

“Aha!”

As he tucked it back in, he began to smile with his discovery.

“She’s running on reserves! That’s why she’s staying on the ground and jumping! If Pan tried flying or firing at me now, her ki would drop like that!”

Yajirobe, running at full speed towards the battle, came to a dead stop when he crashed right into something head-first, then fell onto his back:

The Power Pole, sticking out of the ground. Bora saw this, then helped him to his feet, a red mark across the exact center of Yajirobe’s forehead down to his chin.

“The heck is that doing here?! Did that green turd steal it or something?!”

“I do not know, but Upa and I found it earlier.”

Having lacked a weapon since he and Yajirobe were sent away, it was the closest thing he had to his spear for the time being.

“And if it is still without its owner, I intend to give it to him.”

“Well we better pick up the pace if we want to make it back before...”

They were both sent off their feet as the ground rocked violently. In the distance, they saw what looked almost like a mushroom cloud.

“Oh that can’t be good.”

“We can agree on that, swordsman.”

Pan now saw Lord Slug walking almost calmly towards her, taking his left ring finger and snapping it back into place, then cracking his neck.

“Maybe that purple haired lad wasn’t far off. I still don’t think you’re a Super Saiyan...”

She didn’t move one bit, waiting on Lord Slug to make his move.

“...but now I’m really going to put it to the test.”

Upa and Launch, who had witnessed this combat so far from within the hole, didn’t like this new energy Lord Slug was bringing to the proceeding.

“The giant is being crafty.”

“I just hope she sees through it.”

Seeing the two looking over at them, he threw the last of his golden orbs in their direction.

“Body, move!”

But Pan didn’t see herself move at all, instead watching as Launch and Upa climbed out of the hole. But as they ran away from the battlefield, they then saw the orb touch down. Upa covered Launch as the ensuing explosion left the two of them no longer visible to Pan.

“NO! If Lord Slug killed one or both just now...!”

Nearly beckoning her, his hands stretched outward, he then tried closing them around her, seeing her hop overhead.

“I’ve gotta end this now!”

“That’s right.”

He actually tried making an effort to avoid it, though still received a punch to his left cheek for his efforts. Landing atop his left shoulder, she then avoided a swatting hand, running across the back of his neck before jumping over his other hand.

“Get up close and personal.”

Tugging on his right ear, she then kicked his forehead, all but shattering the gem atop his helmet. Bouncing off it, she then leapt out of his hands’ reach, then struck the very top of the helmet, cracks leading up to the hole in it and causing pieces of it to fly upward...

“I can take all of this.”

...until Pan saw the pieces didn’t fall back down. Instead, she and Lord Slug’s head went upward, the chips being struck and went up even further, including some brushing off her. Pan realized...

“Lord Slug’s off the ground! He’s been flying upward this whole time! He did this because...”

He swept at her from behind his head, forcing her forward.

“He knows my body’s not using ki for anything other than moving and fighting. Not flying. Not firing.”

While her body still acted without her input, Pan tried getting it to stay on the only higher ground remaining.

“If I fall now, Lord Slug will have total aerial advantage. Attack me from any angle without me flying away from his attacks.”

She saw Lord Slug’s right hand out and tried arcing herself towards it for a landing...

...then felt herself somehow stuck in place.

“I gotcha, Pan.”

His left hand caught Pan by her yellow cape between his index and middle fingers.

“Try hopping around now.”

A punch from his right hand came right for her, Pan left dangling and unable to do anything more than brace for it with guarding arms.

The sheer force caused the cape to be torn directly from its collar, Pan now lying between his left palm and his right fist. Lifting it back up, he saw that Pan was left with blood coming down her lip, her Time Patrol jacket tattered to the point of barely covering her blue shirt, and the shoulder piece Kami had constructed now made brittle. He waved his right hand, having struck with such force even Lord Slug felt it hurt.

“If you ain’t dead now...”

His left then flicked her directly towards his mouth.

“I’ll make you half the semi-Saiyan woman you were.”

But Pan started to recover, seeing the top row of teeth above her and feeling herself on her right side on his bottom row, which rose up to meet them. She used her left hand to push back against a tooth on the top row, keeping her head and body from the impending bite...

“Mom didn’t raise me to be dinner!”

...which struck both her legs’ shins and calves, and her right arm’s wrist and upper arm.

Pan sounded less like someone screaming in agony and more like a feral animal having been caught in a bear trap: clearly in pain, but otherwise angered and vying to get out of it.

“Huh. Still rather tough.”

Lord Slug intended to correct this, his right hand out to grab her by her head with his thumb and index finger. Pan saw this and pushed back with all her might...

...with enough force to successfully squeeze her legs and right arm out of his clenched teeth, as well as breaking off half of the tooth, which flew backward towards his throat. She was sent backward before Lord Slug could close his hand, then he caught himself almost choking, having to recover with both hands before he could retaliate.

But after coughing out the half tooth, he did clearly taste blood from the bite, as well as...

“What is that leathery...?”

He fished something out from between his teeth on the right and held them out so he could see:

“Boots?”

The two ki-resistant gray boots were left behind from the force Pan freed herself with.

“Let’s see her land comfortably in socks... if her legs are even working now.”

“I can’t feel my legs! Right arm’s done for! And my left arm can’t help me land!”

Pan’s descent was completely uncontrollable, destined to crash down hard. Try as her body did to swerve with her left arm alone, by the time Pan thought it was actually doing anything...

...she crash-landed hard onto her front, leaving what would’ve otherwise been a Pan-shaped dent magnified a few times over from the height of the fall. She had not been immune to feeling touches or the other senses, and this combined with the bite of her legs and right arm had her practically force tears out.

“Yoo-hoo!”

She looked up, seeing Lord Slug from high above calling to her, his thunderous voice covering the distance.

“I’m up here! And you’re down there!”

Slowly crawling her way upward with just one arm, Pan tried thinking of anything her body could do now.

“Reserves are almost out and all I’ve got to work with is my left arm.”

Then she caught a glow from both of Lord Slug’s hands.

“Whatever he’s going to do, I can’t withstand it, even with ki. And I can’t avoid it without ki either.”

Thinking on how her body hadn’t used any ki for flight or projectiles prior...

“Body... you’ve only been using ki to keep me going. Still know how to fire stuff?”

She tried to imagine her left hand’s fingers moving, but couldn’t get her hand to respond.

“Come on, body. I’m not even asking for the controller back. Just give me something to work with here. Anything.”

“Do me one small favor:” went Lord Slug.

Now seeing her individual fingers move as she wanted them to...

“Cool. Now work with me here. Don’t think I could normally pull this off, but if you could give me a hand here with keeping me balanced...”

“When you get to Hell...” he continued. “Keep my seat warm.”

She lifted her left hand upward, ki surging through her palm.

“All or nothing.”

“And if they won’t let you in...”

Pan gestured her hand out like she was about to fire a blast...

“Use the side entrance!”

And as she saw the two-handed blast fire from Lord Slug’s hands, no doubt intended to hit his immobile target dead-on, she slammed her left hand into the ground. The blast that ensued from her hand, almost akin to a one-handed Kamehameha, had Pan rapidly ascending, seeing the blast go just below her...

...the impact massive and almost pushing her even further upward, the ki-equivalent of a mushroom cloud left behind.

“And now...”

Her hand reached out in front of her, then closed into a fist.

“I’m gambling everything on this!”

All of Pan’s ki appeared to be gathered in her fist, practically overflowing with it.

Lord Slug, now seeing Pan, caught what he thought was her hair flickering golden, then black repeatedly.

“N-no way!”

In fact, he not only saw her pupils again, but even saw her irises flicker between blue-green and black.

“Oh FUDGE me...!”

He couldn’t ascend, descend, or move to the side fast enough, forcing him to guard with both his wrists. But Lord Slug then caught a golden glow, seeing something almost akin to a mirage behind her. Not just a random construct, but a shining golden totem. A colossal animal of massive size and power. He even swore that he heard it roar.

“A golden... ape...”

And once impact was made, despite his arms out to protect him, Lord Slug felt both wrists being pierced through entirely...

...followed soon by Pan tearing straight through his torso before flying out his back. Lord Slug fell straight down, unable to slow or stop himself in the state he was in.

“The techniques! The flashing hair! The ape! It can’t be a coincidence! It just CAN’T BE!”

To put his mind off the pain from the hole in his chest and wrists, he thought back to the memories from Pan’s mind:

“I know my Gohan’s not yo...”

“...you will get through this. Not because of your lineage or your bloodline...”

Despite it being some time since he was going through Pan’s memories, it was as if he could hear them as clearly as when he had his hand to her head.

“I know my Gohan’s not your...”

“...your lineage or your bloodline...”

“My father...”

As if suddenly given one last piece to work with, the one memory that cut out before now seemed to play in its entirety in his head.

“I know my Gohan’s not your father...”

“...but it’s like you’re my Gohan’s daughter all the same.”

“Aww, of all the rotten luck...!”

He then crash-landed onto his back, seeing the barren wasteland that resulted from his missed attack before, writhing from the impact, the wounds, and the newfound knowledge.

“And where is that little spawn of Son Gohan?!”

He saw Pan falling downward, but once she left his sight, he had to turn his head just to see her impact with the ground.

“I got you.”

Yajirobe, having arrived in time, caught Pan before that could happen. Bora followed soon after, pointing at him with the Power Pole.

"And that little red piece... it's not of this world, but hers. Gifted to her by her pops, I'll bet."

"I have a theory, Lord Slug:"

He couldn't believe who spoke to him just now.

"K-KAMI?! You should be long dead!"

"You can heal from wounds normally, but in your true form, such an exertion would practically drain you. And you do not attack us now because you are using your own power to keep yourself alive."

“W-Why you! When I get back up...!”

He then heard a bottle drop downward.

“You won’t get that chance. Not ever again.”

“N-Now, Kami. Hold your horses. Let’s not be too hasty here...”

“Mafuba!”

This time, the Evil Containment Wave was not just visible, but took on a green hue. It struck dead-on, the massive Lord Slug being lifted off the ground and spinning around the group as if caught in a green tornado.

“You’re gonna get yours, Kami! ONE DAY!!!”

But even with his imprisonment inevitable, having caught a glimpse of both Upa and the blonde-haired Launch joining the others, he grinned for the last time.

“I know what Pan really is!”

Upa and Bora, having not heard her name so far, didn’t understand the significance at first.

“She’s Gohan’s daughter!”

Those two, but Yajirobe and Launch especially were struck by this.

“From the future!”

“...and with any luck, they’ll change it and Pan will never be born. That will be victory enough for me... until I’m free.”

But Kami never let up for a moment, even with these revelations, and once the evil Namekian appeared to shrink down and was forced into the bottle, he placed a cork atop it. The almighty Lord Slug was now sealed away.

Despite the state she was in, Pan had heard all of this, Lord Slug all but shouting at the top of his lungs as he was being captured.

“I knew something like this would happen! I don’t know how we can come back from this...”

Pan, being lowered onto the ground, and not in a position to get to cover or so much as move, saw the five looking at her closely.

Kami, despite never having met Gohan, had encountered Chi-Chi at the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament and knew Goku since he made it to the Lookout from Korin’s Tower.

Yajirobe knew Goku since he was a teenager and encountered Chi-Chi as well. He would get his chance to meet Gohan when the two joined forces with Krillin to save Goku from Great Ape Vegeta.

Launch, Bora, and Upa, despite keeping relatively distant and isolated, had chance encounters with Goku and Chi-Chi, whom showed them their young child some time before Goku had his son meet the rest of his closest friends at the Kame House.

Now certain that all five had deciphered her similarities to Goku, Gohan, and Chi-Chi were no longer just coincidental, Pan tried, futile as it was, to scooch backward.

“Supreme Kai of Time! Maybe they won’t do a thing now, but after Namek, you have to clear their memories or they’ll be...!”

“It’s alright,” went Kami, putting a hand to her shoulder.

Bora showed Upa the Power Pole’s case on Pan’s back, all the clearer now without the jacket or cape that initially hid it.

“We have no reason to jeopardize your very existence, Pan.”

The Power Pole handed to him by his father, Upa then placed it back into its case.

“If you are the daughter of Gohan, the son of my friend Goku... then you are our friend. And we won’t let that happen to you.”

Launch, seeing the bruise from her other personality throwing a rock at Pan before, gently blew on it.

“We won’t tell anyone. Your father or otherwise.”

She then lightly flicked Pan’s nose.

“It’ll be our little secret.”

Yajirobe, arms crossed, was then elbowed by Launch, after which he nodded his head at Pan.

“I mean it’s the least we can do for you saving our bacon.”

“There might be one more thing we can do, Yajirobe,” went Kami, gesturing to him.

Trunks, witnessing all of this from a distance, was happy to see the battle was over, but with how long Pan had been there...

“How close are we cutting it with the events on Namek?”

“As luck would have it, her delaying the fight against Frieza has given us more time than we thought... but we probably shouldn’t push it.”

As he heard this answer from the Supreme Kai of Time, he caught...

“They’re moving her... towards Korin’s Tower.”

“If I had to guess why, besides getting Yajirobe and Kami back where they need to be...”

The group having reached it, Yajirobe, whom held Pan over his shoulder, looked ready to grab a hold of Kami.

“You can fly us up there, right?”

“I must admit catching Lord Slug did drain me somewhat, but I can have you both up there in a few minutes.”

They then caught Bora stepping forward.

“That will take too long. Pan needs help now.”

Yajirobe, recalling a similar situation before, didn’t act surprised in the least when Bora took hold of him.

“If memory serves correctly, it’s eight thousand meters.”

“Just do it!” exclaimed Yajirobe. “If it’s over or under, I can get her there, no problem!”

“As you wish, swordsman. Now hold Pan carefully.”

With a titanic toss by Bora, the two left their sight in less than a second.

“Incredible, Father. I think you’ve grown even stronger now.”

“But if I may, Guardian...”

Upa pointed to the devastation behind him.

“What will we do about the land?”

“I can assure you and your father that the damage will be undone... shortly.”

Kami began to float off the ground and, while not traveling as fast as the two Bora threw, did begin to build up speed.

“Aww shoot,” went Launch. “I forgot to ask him if he could make ammo. Used up almost all the good stuff against that big green meanie.”

“If I may,” went Bora, extending a hand to her. “I wish to thank you for your help. It is most fortunate that you happened to be near our village.”

She shook it, trying to hide the fact she had actually been there to look for goods to steal.

“Oh, it’s nothin’.”

She then gestured towards Upa for a handshake.

“And you helped me outta a few jams just now. Thanks.”

“Of course. You’re too kind.”

She then tried to walk away discreetly, waving to them.

“Well, see ya.”

“Good-bye.”

“You are welcome to visit any time.”

After Upa’s words, Launch started to grin mischievously...

“Maybe now it’ll be even easier to take...”

...but then shook her head, another smile entirely taking its place.

“Nah. They’re nice folks. There’s other marks out there.”

Yajirobe and Pan continued ascending straight upwards...

“Hey, I can see Korin’s from here...”

...and reaching the tower in record time.

“OH, I can really see it from HERE!”

Yajirobe managed to grab hold of the railing with one hand, using the other to keep Pan secure until two white paws lifted him over.

“Good to have you back.”

Even with her vision blurring, Pan could make out that the white blur was Korin.

“Say, whose your friend?”

“She’s G...”

Yajirobe covered his mouth to keep the secret he knew from Korin, then acted like he was covering a cough.

“Uh, so yeah, she’s a friend.”

“Uh huh. Well your friend’s not looking too good.”

“So we came up here and I was wonderin’ if there were way you could spare...”

“You really don’t need to ask...”

It was harder for her to decipher, but it looked like Korin was walking towards a round container, if not a barrel of sorts. Upon lifting a lid, Korin hopped upward, then reached for something.

“One of these...”

Korin returned, holding out the tiny green bean in front of her.

“...for one of your friends.”

Trunks, making his way up Korin’s Tower lowkey, peered to see Korin giving Pan a senzu bean.

“If we do this... we owe Korin one senzu bean.”

“One time only,” Chronoa added. “We can’t afford to do this a second time.”

Minutes later

Bora and Upa walked across the desolated land when...

“F-Father, look!”

He caught green plant life coming in from the distance, as well as trees either uprooted or destroyed back in place. Several of the craters and the like from the former battlefield were undone as well, as if the land had never been touched before.

“It is as the Guardian said.”

Upa then caught that he was stepping on...

“My bow!”

The bow which had been broken by Lord Slug earlier was now as it was prior. As he crouched down to retrieve it...

...he couldn’t help but spot something in the distance peering behind one of the trees.

“Is that...?”

For only that instant, Upa thought he saw a hooded man in brown robes who was otherwise indistinguishable to him from a total stranger...

“That face...”

...his face in question actually a white mask.

“I’ve seen it before...”

He then went behind the tree completely and Upa, breaking off from his father, ran to the other side to find him.

“Wait! Come back! Where are you?!”

“What is it, Upa?”

Once he realized this mysterious figure had gotten away, he looked back to his father.

“I thought I saw a man I met a long time ago. After you were gone... when I left the village with Goku... and he, his friends, and I went to visit that fortuneteller...”

Upa’s father, having heard his son’s recollection of events that transpired to return him to life, pondered...

“Was it the vampire? The invisible man? The bandaged one? Spike?”

The hooded man in brown robes, his hands put together, stood in the exact spot he was in before, but was now not only invisible to Upa and Bora, but completely intangible to them as well.

“No, Father. It was the last man. Her champion.”

Upa’s hands waved through his being entirely.

“Are you certain of this? I thought this man could never return.”

“I-I’m certain it was him.”

“Perhaps it was.”

Bora put a hand to his shoulder.

“We may find him another time. We’ve both done much today. Let’s head home.”

“R-right.”

After nodding to his father, Upa followed him into the distance as the hooded man took both his hands apart, becoming visible once more. He took out a white and yellow feather, then held it up towards his face...

...which was concealed by a fox mask.

Thank you for not just entertaining us, but inspiring us.

Rest in peace.

Akira Toriyama

1955-2024

Back to Namek! How Much Power is Hidden?[]

Towa and Mira had watched the entire battle transpire from atop the Lookout all the way down. Lord Slug in his true form, having been somehow resurrected from death by Towa’s formula, had Pan at his mercy until she took on a more feral form, which, as the battle progressed, almost acted on more disciplined instinct.

But now Lord Slug had taken advantage of her lack of flight, floating upward with her in tow, and, with a bite intended to chomp her in two, disabled three of her limbs. Pan escaped him, but was now grounded while Lord Slug hovered far above her.

Mira thought that this time, it was their moment of triumph: Pan, his sworn enemy whose name was unknown to him and Towa, rendered only able to crawl on her left hand, was helpless against an inevitable blast from her aerial opponent.

“The patroller’s finished. Her and that stupid orange bandanna... we’ll never see them again.”

She saw him raise her left hand into the air. One last plea for her own survival?

“Even the likes of her is begging for mercy...”

Then he saw her charging it with ki.

“Is she so arrogant as to believe she can deflect that?”

As Lord Slug fired a blast from both his hands, Mira blinked...

...and when his eyes opened, he saw Pan sent above the blast and its radius with a blast of her own, then, as she came closer to Lord Slug, using that same hand for a punch overflowing with her ki.

“No, no, no...” he tried to whisper.

But once he saw Pan pierce through Lord Slug’s body and him falling...

“DAMN IT ALL!!!”

His hands struck the console earlier, Mira having kept controlled enough so as to not cause any damage to Towa’s instruments, but now, his total disdain for the patroller no longer hidden, turned to the right away from the screen and punched the wall closest to him with his left hand.

“Mira?!”

Towa put a hand to his back.

“Mira, what is it?”

“It’s her!

His right wrist then struck the same wall, not damaging it, but his skeletal mechanical fist resting against it.

“It’s ALWAYS HER!!!”

Towa then caught her creation putting his forehead against the wall, closing his eyes.

"He’s never acted out like this before."

Despite the height difference between the two, Towa hovered upward however slightly and put her right hand over his mechanical right hand, intending to calm and soothe him.

“The victory is temporary. The patroller still has to return to Namek...”

She gently put his hand outward and extended his palm, then placed her right atop it.

“...and face what we have in store for her.”

Mira lifted his head and turned back to Towa.

“Of course. With what the formula can do to his other forms...”

Korin, after inquiring to Yajirobe about this mysterious female the swordsman had brought with her, didn’t quite get an answer.

“She’s G...!

In the midst of Yajirobe trying to keep Pan’s lineage a secret by coughing to stop himself, the centuries old cat immediately took note of bite marks on both her calves and ankles, as well as her right arm’s wrist and upper arm. Most gruesome of all was the festering wound through her shoulder, which was now barely concealed by the bandage Kami placed over it.

“Uh, so yeah, she’s a friend.”

And from all these wounds, as well as down her lip, Korin noticed blood trailing.

“Uh huh. Well your friend’s not looking too good.”

Shortly, Korin retrieved a familiar green bean and held it in front of Pan with his paw.

“One of these... for one of your friends.”

Pan, even in the state she was in, was almost hesitant to even accept the senzu bean.

“This is a senzu bean from the main timeline, not Toki Toki City. If I take it...”

“I’ll work it all out, Pan,” entered Chronoa. “Now let’s get you healed up.”

Korin noticed Pan’s initial reluctance, but then saw Pan open her mouth just enough for the senzu bean to drop in. Once she crunched on it with her teeth...

...Pan was back on her feet, seeing her former bite wounds were no more, moving her right arm in a circle, then patting down her right shoulder to find it fully healed.

“Shoulder’s never felt better!”

“Loads better, huh?” went Yajirobe.

“So now that you’re all healed up, just who might you be?” Korin asked.

Pan, looking at Korin’s face, had memories racing in her head of the times, however few, she spent with the cat growing up...

...playing and chasing after him as a young child...

“Kitty!”

As quick as Pan was at four years old, she found that Korin was able to elude her. Once she lied down on her back, exhausted from the pursuit, instead of being upset or discouraged that she couldn’t catch Korin, the young Pan giggled.

"That was fun!"

“Quite,” the hermit master replied, finding play with the granddaughter of Goku refreshing.

...then going for another attempt when she was a teenager.

“I’m gonna get you this time!”

Shorter than her adult self, but her attire not all that different from what she wore now, Pan ran after the idle Korin until he seemed to vanish. Having done this before, she didn’t panic or need to look around, focusing her senses.

Korin found the teenage Pan turned around, ducking as her swiping hand nearly touched his ear. As she swept at his legs with her own, Korin hopped upward, then, before Pan could catch him, he used his cane to pull himself upward towards the ceiling.

“You’re quicker now, but...”

He then noticed Pan wasn’t there on the ground...

“Eh?”

...and felt a pat on his head between his ears.

“Agh!”

Pan hopped upward, appearing to be sitting on the ceiling when she put a hand on him. She had her eyes closed, then tilted her head with a chuckle.

“Ah. The same age as when her grandfather caught me.”

The two then dropped down, Pan standing on one hand.

“Now that you’ve finally caught me...”

As Pan then flipped back onto her feet...

“...you’re it!”

...she had to immediately swerve backward, her back nearly hitting the ground, to avoid a swipe from Korin’s cane. She then had to separate her legs to avoid a downward swing, then flipped back and forth on her hands and feet to put distance between them.

“Aha!”

She then jumped right over another cane swing, her fingernail just shy of touching it. Once Korin turned back to her, he found what appeared to be several Pan’s moving around him on the ground and in the air, some appearing defensive and others with goofy faces.

“Are you sure you’ve never met your grandfather? Heh. I guess it’s deep in the genetics.”

He jumped towards one of the Pan’s, his foot outstretched.

“Found you!”

Instead of landing a kick on her, Korin seemed to phase through this afterimage of Pan.

“Brings back memories...”

Pan thought she was far enough away from Korin after the attempted kick, then saw him bounce off a pillar after her. She swerved to avoid another kick...

...then found herself stuck in midair: Korin held onto a section of a pillar with one paw, his cane in the other having caught her by her pants’ chain. A small chuckle escaped him.

“Got your little fashion accessory.”

He then chuckled much more so, his entire body shaking.

“Got your kitty belly!”

In just the brief moment Korin caught Pan, she turned her upper body enough for her right arm to tickle him.

“Okay, okay. You got me.”

He felt his paw’s grip on the pillar loosening and let go of his cane only to find Pan floating in place and then tickling him with both hands. His chuckles were much louder and burst out uncontrollably.

“Uncle! Uncle!”

Once he couldn’t hold on any further, he then found Pan caught, then held him up by under his arms, twirling in the air as she descended.

Korin found Pan smiling at him.

“Think I’m a cute wittle kitty cat, huh?”

“No... I mean, uh...”

“Korin can read minds, Pan!”

After hearing this from the Supreme Kai of Time, she tried to focus on anything and everything that didn’t have to do with her lineage, the Time Patrol, or memories of Korin.

“Empty my mind. Empty it.”

“There’s no need to read her mind, Korin.”

Kami, emerging behind all three of them, put a hand to her shoulder.

“She’s a friend. Just as Yajirobe said.”

Trunks, who had watched the entire scene between the three prior, was baffled at how Kami had snuck past him.

“There’s no way... I should’ve sensed someone like Kami a mile...!”

He then realized just how Kami could’ve accomplished this:

“Kami hid his ki...”

Thinking further on it, he thought back to Goku’s allies who knew how to sense the ki of others and hide their own.

“Krillin learned to hide his ki after he trained on the Lookout. Taught Gohan soon after. Kami... taught Krillin.”

Especially thinking back on Kami’s participation in the battle against Lord Slug, where he had hidden himself twice: the first to transport Yajirobe into a position to attack, and the second to blast the evil Namekian point-blank in the eye...

“He may have originated it.”

“Ah, good to see you, Ka...”

Korin paused upon taking a closer look at Kami’s white robe, noticing it was covered in purple. Even not knowing that this was Namekian blood, he asked, “Are you okay there, Kami? Your robe... it’s...”

“I am quite well, I assure you.”

Pan could tell that Kami was gesturing her to head towards the railing, after which he turned back to Yajirobe and Korin.

“I appreciate everything you both have done today. I’ll take it from here.”

She saw Kami start to float above the railing towards the lookout and waved to the two as she followed him.

“Thanks, you two.”

Upon catching up to Kami, the two floated upward side-by-side from Korin’s Tower all the way back to the Lookout, Pan now noticing the red pole connecting the two was akin to...

“No, that IS Grandpa’s Power Pole! But then why did my dad have the Power Pole on him to give to me?”

A question to look into another time as they took their first steps atop the round floor composed of square tiles. Kami stretched his arm to retrieve his cane from earlier as Pan had a more pressing question regarding his survival.

“How did you survive that hit from Lord Slug?”

“A young man with a helmet. A colleague of yours, perhaps?”

Pan didn’t answer.

“Regardless, you and him both saved my life.”

Putting a hand to the back of her neck, she responded, “You imprisoned Lord Slug, so let’s call it even.”

He took Pan’s other hand, then dropped the bottle containing Lord Slug into her palm before lightly closing her fingers around it.

“I believe he will be in safer hands wherever you are from rather than here.”

After putting the bottle in her pocket, she caught Kami turning around, his arms behind his back.

“I am ashamed to admit this, but earlier, after Lord Slug read my mind and yours, I nearly lost faith.”

“Faith in what?”

“The Supreme Kai of Time.”

Kami lowered his head.

"What he told me of your world, half-truth or full, unraveled me. Left me burning with a desire to go to any extreme necessary to change my uncertain fate... and to prevent my original sin from ever coming back."

After taking a breath, Kami turned back to her with a look of reflection.

"My future will remain hidden to me, as it should. Even I am not naive enough to believe I will be Guardian of Earth forever. And whether I die... or give my blessing to my successor...”

In the midst of this, Kami found Pan with her left hand to her ear.

“Sorry, Kami. Just...”

“Telekinetic communication?”

“Yeah. I need to get going.”

“Oh. Of course.”

As he saw her taking a few steps backward, Kami then noticed that Pan, without her gray boots, was left with purple socks, which had a few holes in them, including her right big toe poking out of it.

“If you will permit me a moment...”

He made his way back to her and gestured his hand just over the tear in her shirt’s right sleeve, where Frieza’s horn and then Lord Slug’s hand had torn it.

“One last token of my appreciation before you go.”

Pan saw not just her shirt, but seemingly all her attire glowing white...

...and found in the glow’s aftermath that all the damage to her shirt, gloves, pants, and socks had been repaired completely.

“You patched them up?”

“It was the least I could do.”

Then with the hand on her shoulder and a nod of his head...

“Farewell, Miss.”

He hovered backward, waving his right hand to her. Pan mirrored this.

“Hope to see you again, Kami.”

And, as Pan was enveloped by a beam of light-like energy, the leaves that had come off the plants on the Lookout were back in their proper place prior...

...and Kami found his robes were clean as if he had never engaged in combat or had his own blood spilled on it.

“I do not know if our paths will ever cross again, Pan... and if they do, it will mean a battle is imminent... but your presence will ensure Earth’s survival. Of that, I am certain.”

After this thought, Kami went about his business as if Pan and Lord Slug’s arrival had never occurred.

“I certainly hope Popo’s search for the Dragon Balls is going well.”

“Now clean that blood off my floor.”

“Okay, okay.”

Yajirobe was on his knees, a bucket of water next to him, and about to use a piece of cloth to wipe Pan’s blood...

“Don’t get your fur in a...”

...but then found nothing there.

“Did you make a spill, Yajirobe?”

The ronin was confused by what Korin had suggested.

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s the bucket. You must’ve spilled something if you got it next to you.”

“Nuh uh. You must’ve left it out or something.”

The two bickered back and forth, giving them something to do that would leave zero impact on the history of the main timeline.

The exact moment Pan arrived back, Commander Hale was in front of her, handing Pan her purple shoes.

"I retrieved these once it was clear your boots were out of commission," Hale explained.

After a quick thanks, she sat down, tying the laces.

"Gotta watch the Kamehameha from the feet if I can avoid using it, but at least if rocks come into play..."

But as she looked over at the Supreme Kai of Time and Trunks, Pan noticed the helmet he was wearing was exactly like her father’s Great Saiyaman helmet, something she hadn’t seen for quite some time.

“Of all of disguises he could’ve picked... heh.”

Seeing Pan stare off less at his face and more above it, Trunks just realized he still had the helmet on.

“I completely forgot I was still wearing this...”

As Trunks removed it and held it against his side, Pan made her way up to Chronoa.

“The senzu bean I had earlier... hasn’t that changed history already?”

“One day, senzu beans on Earth will be in short supply, and that senzu bean being missing will cause an alteration.”

Both Pan and Trunks fell over upon hearing this, their legs straight in the air and partially bent towards the opposing feet.

“So yes, taking one has caused a distortion, but a very minute one. One that won’t afflict history for quite some time. We can correct it with the next senzu bean we grow here.”

Once the Supreme Kai of Time clarified this, the two got back up, relieved.

“That said, if we take more than one and let our IOU increase, THAT will cause far greater problems.”

Now she had the scroll opened for Pan and Trunks to see the last point in time she had frozen:

“This was Namek after I retrieved you...”

Krillin, leaping over to protect both Gohan and Dende from Frieza’s Death Beam, and Vegeta, believing all three would be killed in that instant, turned his back on them...

“Now there is no hope...”

...and began flying off in the opposite direction.

“I have to get off this planet now.”

“...but before you stopped the intended change from Lord Slug earlier.”

Someone had flown directly in front of the beam’s path at high speed, then struck it with the back of their hand, knocking the beam away. Frieza was baffled at how this was accomplished.

“Th-that speed! And the might to deflect such an attack from this form!”

Krillin then found a cape blocking his view of Frieza...

“You’re back...?”

...until it occurred to him it was a white cape, not Pan’s yellow cape. But where else had he seen such a cape before?

“Mr. Piccolo!”

Frieza’s initial reaction to seeing a new Namekian face that had deflected such an attack of his was immediately brushed aside by hearing the voice of...

“That brat!”

Seeing that Gohan was alive and well...

“He’s been healed too! He was most certainly dying!”

The tyrant openly exclaimed, “Inconceivable!”

“You say that, but that word doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

Piccolo’s very first words to Frieza were a light taunt in regards to his use of language.

“As the last Namekian warrior alive, I’ll let you savor this moment of solace... but once you are within my grasp...”

“Ah, and who could it be but the green one Nappa killed on Earth,” went Vegeta, having missed Piccolo’s feat and only noticing his presence. “I could only wonder what you three wished for with the Dragon Balls, and it turns out you dolts used such incomparable power to bring back this... this useless sack of rubbish.”

“Sorry I’m a useless sack of rubbish,” Piccolo responded, not even the least bit offended by Vegeta’s insult. “Just know it’ll be your turn after I’ve dealt with Frieza.”

Gohan saw Piccolo floating towards their foe and went to join him, but found Piccolo putting a hand out for him to stop.

“Stay out of this. All of you. I’ll deal with this space garbage myself.”

The young Namekian stood in awe at the one called Piccolo and yet something seemed familiar about him.

“Find cover, Dende.”

“He... he knows my name...”

Dende floated away from the massive hole, eventually finding somewhere to peek out from. Elsewhere, Vegeta began to grin to himself.

“It’ll be my turn? After he’s dealt with Frieza? Either Namekians do have a sense of humor or coming back to life has made him go mad. Either way, he’ll soon find out just how outmatched he really is.”

And now for what felt like an eternity to those facing Frieza before, the tyrant and Piccolo simply stared down each other, neither appearing battle-ready.

“Die, maggot.”

Piccolo immediately retorted with a flying strike towards his face, one at a speed the others could barely comprehend even compared to Frieza’s own speed...

...when Piccolo found his blinding attack blocked by Frieza’s right wrist and then found his adversary’s eyes glowing red.

“Facing the likes of me takes guts.”

Piccolo broke it off and flew around him before going for a double axe handle.

“I do enjoy guts.”

The same wrist stopped this attack as well.

“I find it pairs well with wine.”

What came next had Vegeta wishing he had been wrong.

“Piccolo should be landing hits on Frieza right now!” Trunks began. “His fusion with Nail may not have made him exactly equal to Frieza’s second form, but it should at the very least catch him off-guard!”

“So Towa’s making Frieza’s stronger?” Pan asked.

“Actually, I have a different theory. Piccolo managed to do harm to Frieza’s second form, so then Frieza began to hold back less. I think Towa’s making Frieza go all out from the start.”

“And with that, Pan, that’s our cue to send you back to Namek.”

After saying this, Chronoa gestured to Trunks, though he didn’t know why.

“What?”

“Your coat, Trunks. For whatever protection it can offer her.”

He hurriedly handed it to Pan, whom put her arms through the sleeves.

“You used the last senzu bean we had on Kami, right?” Pan inquired. “Otherwise you would’ve had Trunks get it to me.”

“Y-yeah,” he acknowledged.

“And if I get seriously hurt or drained again...”

“We’d send you back here and heal you,” the Supreme Kai of Time explained.

“I’ll set up equipment for if it comes to that,” went Beetro, leaving the room after.

As she prepared to hand the scroll to Pan, Chronoa then saw her crouch down, all but kneeling on one leg, something in her gloved hand.

“Trade you.”

It opened, revealing Kami’s bottle containing Lord Slug.

“DEFINITELY don’t want that getting open on Namek,” Pan then lightly teased.

Chronoa took it from Pan, then handed her the scroll.

“After fighting the likes of Lord Slug,” Trunks began. “...you’re more than ready for Frieza now.”

Pan nodded, a small smile from his words, then closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the scroll, soon feeling herself beaming away through time.

As Trunks looked at his arms, his coat no longer covering them...

“But if Piccolo sees her in my coat...”

“I’m devising a workaround so Piccolo doesn’t change history when he meets you on Earth,” she explained. “That’s why Pan’s wearing it.”

“I thought you said after we stop Towa...”

“We’ll be crossing that bridge soon, Trunks.”

Pan looked down at her hand, seeing the scroll no longer in her fingerless gloved hand, and at the blue-green grass she had grown accustomed to on Namek since her first mission there.

“Went back to Earth for the first time in what’s felt like ages... and now back here again...”

She then caught Piccolo being struck straight down into the ground, his gray shoulder pads starting to peer through his collar and cape.

“What’s the matter, Namekian warrior? Fallen and can’t get up?”

Frieza in his second form taunted Piccolo, floating above him with crossed arms and in seemingly no hurry to pursue him. While she openly saw the shocked and frightened faces of her father, Krillin, Dende, and Vegeta, however much he tried to hide it, as well as Piccolo’s dire situation, Pan composed enough to take note of the condition of Frieza’s still-attached tail.

“Krillin’s Destructo-Disk earlier was supposed to cut off Frieza’s tail, right?”

“Cut it in half...” Trunks began to answer. “I mean, not down the middle...”

“It sliced the top half of the tail off, yes,” Chronoa clarified.

“Oh dear. Looks like something is weighing you down.”

Even Frieza took notice of Piccolo’s weighted clothing.

“Perhaps discarding an arm or two will give you a lighter load to deal with.”

Pan could tell Frieza was about to make good on this and prepared herself to move at a moment’s notice. But she still tried to work out a plan with her allies in the Time Nest’s library.

“If I cut that half of his tail off entirely, would that help?”

“With Towa making Frieza not hold back on Piccolo...” Trunks started. “Yes. He’d have to contend with a fresh wound, you, and Piccolo when he’s done holding back.”

“Y-you mean Piccolo’s been holding back too?!”

But as Pan mentally exclaimed this, she then saw Frieza, in merely a flicker to a normal human eye, descend down to Piccolo. She ceased the thought and flew right down to intercept the attack.

“Or better yet...”

Piccolo put out his hands to block or redirect strikes, but then found the massive Frieza gripping him by the back of his neck.

“I’ll take this weight off your shoulders.”

The Namekian from Earth gripped Frieza’s wrists, fighting with all his might to prevent his own decapitation at the hands of the horned tyrant.

“D-don’t look, Gohan!”

But then Piccolo felt the ironclad grip no longer:

Frieza released him and blocked against a barrage from Pan with both arms.

“H-her?!” went Piccolo before noticing... “...that coat! Almost exactly like... NO, THAT IS the coat that purple haired boy wore!”

The tyrant, however, was undaunted.

“Well look at you, Saiyan girl. You’ve changed your wardrobe.”

He then shoved Pan backward and took careful aim with his next strike.

“How’s your shoulder?”

His left arm went for a cobra-like strike to her right shoulder and he found that due to Pan catching his wrist, it only barely touched his intended target...

...which was completely lacking the gaping wound his horn gave it before.

“She’s healed too?! Just like the others?! HOW?! How are they doing this?!”

Despite the near-distress this gave him, Frieza immediately moved his right hand to strike back at her.

“Without Kaio-Ken, I cut it too close saving Piccolo just now,” Pan noted. “To get history back on track, I gotta go up.”

As he found his right fist about to strike Pan’s face...

“Kaio-Ken...!”

She ducked, then Frieza found himself pulled off his feet...

“Her strength! To do this to my second form...!”

“...Times Four!”

Before Frieza could try readjusting and landing, Pan punched his back, then zoomed in the direction she sent him for a kick to his face. Landing on his hands, he knew a flying pass was imminent and struck where he believed she’d emerge, but found himself outpaced and taking several hits.

"She was nowhere near this fast before! She's even faster now!"

By the time he was about to swipe his hand right at her, he found himself lifted right off the ground by his tail, which was far from painless for him.

“Y-you...!”

Pan then swung and slammed him onto the ground, then repeated each time it looked like Frieza was about to move one of his legs or one of his eyes glared for a beam. But both to avoid tiring, however long she had worked at mastering Times Four, and to wrap this up...

"Kaio-Ken...!"

Even with her highest multipliers, Pan knew tearing off one of Frieza's appendages was out of her wheelhouse, but with the half-cut wound in place on his tail in her sight...

"Have to be sure it’s enough..."

"Times TWENTY!"

One hand tugged on the tail while the other chopped directly at what was still keeping that half attached...

...all in less than a second.

As Pan dropped to the ground, her reserves hardly touched due to how quickly she used Times Twenty, Frieza cried out in pain. The Destructo-Disk cutting it would've been a clean and superheated cut, but with what Pan had done...

“My tail...! With her BARE HANDS...!”

The others saw this occur and Piccolo, recalling how powerful Pan was with Kaio-Ken when the two of them fought against Lord Slug just earlier, knew...

“This girl’s grown in power... immensely from what it was before.”

Frieza, his initially and utterly pained face hidden away from view as he lied on the ground, then morphed into one of sheer rage as he rose to his feet towards Pan, the other half of his tail right next to her.

“You BITCH!!!”

Both his hands charged with ki for any number of techniques he could inflict. Pan could call upon her ki shield if needed, but instead saw something coming in fast from afar.

“This power she’s kept from me! She’s taunting me with it! I’ll rend her...!”

A punch to his face led to his blast firing off into Namek’s horizon and himself away from her. Once Frieza made it onto his feet, he avoided a two-handed strike on his location by hopping upward, but then the moment he saw the assailant...

“The Namekian warrior! He was nowhere this quick or strong!”

Piccolo flew into him head-first, headbutting him like a cannonball. As he stopped in midair and aimed his hands outward, he found himself still reeling from his recently halved tail. By the time he was ready to fire, the Namekian fired at him with only one hand and the blast that resulted forced him to protect himself from it.

Gohan, seeing his mentor pulling this off, floated away from Krillin, Vegeta, and Dende as they stood awestruck.

“That girl and Piccolo, after being away...”

“Both are actually hurting Frieza... in his second form...”

“C-could we actually survive this?”

Frieza, his skin covered in bruising and some burns despite blocking the blast successfully, saw Piccolo’s stance unchanged, the lone hand out which had fired at him.

“That was just from one of the Namekian’s hands... just ONE!!!”

But he then took notice of one off detail about the Namekian he was just now realizing...

“The cape! The headwear! Gone! No, no, he couldn’t have been hiding...!”

He heard the combat cry of the young half-Saiyan he had nearly killed earlier and went for a chopping swing...

...which Gohan swerved over in midair before delivering a kick directly to Frieza’s cheek. He followed up with an uppercut to the tyrant’s jaw, then rapidly punched at his chest, almost keeping him pinned.

Vegeta actually took steps forward to get a closer look at what was happening.

“Kakarot’s spawn... drawing on power like this...”

The barrage concluded with a kick that left the battered Frieza flying back and having to quickly contend with a one-handed ball-like projectile from Gohan.

From above the battlefield, the explosion the ball caused could be seen creating violent winds.

Dende was forced to take cover, Krillin was grinded backwards and put his hand on a massive boulder just to keep himself in place, and Vegeta covered his face with both wrists.

“Unbelievable... he can’t be... the closest to becoming a Super Saiyan...”

Frieza, even more worse for wear, was now being peppered by a ki barrage by the young half-Saiyan.

“Now, Vegeta!” Gohan shouted.

As Frieza actually started to counter the ki attacks successfully and actually worked towards counter-attacking, he then spotted from the corner of his eye the Saiyan Prince behind him and charging an attack with both hands.

“He won’t become the legendary Super Saiyan! He won’t slay Frieza! It will be me! ME!!! I will be the one! I WILL!!!”

“Haaa...!”

The last of Gohan’s projectiles left his hand, drawing enough of Frieza’s attention to prevent the tyrant from avoiding the impending blast from Vegeta. The son of Goku then descended, seeing the blast about to make impact and covering both Krillin and Dende from what was to come.

Pan, whom had watched this on ground level since wounding Frieza, actually had to shield herself as the explosion caused winds just as violent, if not even more so than the aftermath of her father’s larger attack.

“The boy with the purple hair...”

She heard Piccolo speaking to her telepathically, then saw him peering at her.

“Piccolo, you’re not speaking out loud...”

“I’m choosing to communicate with you like this so the others don’t hear. But you’d better answer my questions.”

“Sorry, Pan,” entered the Supreme Kai of Time. “We forgot to mention Piccolo caught Trunks on Earth.”

“Piccolo caught Trunks?!”

“So that’s his name? Trunks?”

Pan gasped, realizing Piccolo heard that much from her and had to hope he couldn’t hear a thing from Chronoa.

“What do you know, Piccolo?”

“I’ll give you everything he told me, but I want a guarantee you won’t lie or hide anything from me.”

“Say you agree,” entered Trunks.

Again, it seemed like Piccolo didn’t hear anything from either of the two she was on comms with. Trying not to make a mental note out loud of it, she nodded to him.

“I won’t lie or hide anything from you.”

“So this “Trunks” said he hasn’t met me yet, but will some day after we survive Namek. That he was in the wrong place and sooner than he should be when I meet him. He wanted me to protect Gohan and keep word of any of this from the others. And he’s from the future.”

He didn’t hear an immediate response from Pan, who tried with all her might to keep from giving away responses he could hear.

“Is everything he said true so far?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good. Then I have some questions about you.”

“Crap,” went Chronoa.

“Crapbaskets,” went Trunks.

Gohan, after seeing the winds had stopped, floated off of Dende and Krillin, the two looking at the son of Goku with astonishment.

“You... you actually hurt him.”

“I don’t know how you did it, Gohan, but that incredible power. If only your father had seen it just now, he’d...”

“Hey, brat!”

The three saw Vegeta hovering down towards them.

“Don’t even think about giving me orders again. You just found an opportune moment and I decided to oblige you, that’s all.”

“We’re against a common enemy, Vegeta,” Gohan responded. “And with what we and Mr. Piccolo have all done so far...”

“Speaking of...”

Krillin pointed them over towards him, seeing him standing in silence with the mysterious, yet familiar young woman with the orange bandanna.

“They’re not moving or anything. Are they... talking with their minds?”

“What the hell are they doing?!” exclaimed Vegeta. “Frieza will be back at any moment and they’re just standing around like jackasses!”

“Are you from the future as well?”

“Really wish he hadn’t have asked me that...”

Pan immediately regretted letting that slip past.

“Well?”

“I am... but...”

“But what?”

“Pan, we need to carefully navigate here...” went Trunks.

“Are you from the same future as Trunks?”

“Trunks’ future?”

“A simple yes or no will suffice.”

“Pan, whatever you do...” Chronoa started, partially in a panic. “He can’t know you’re from another future. If he knows there’s multiple timelines...”

As Pan heard this from the Supreme Kai of Time, Piccolo started to get impatient.

“You’re wearing his coat right now. If you didn’t get it from him or his future, then where? And where are you from?”

“I-I’m from...”

“Pan, just tell him...” Trunks entered.

“Yes?”

“Where I’m from is...”

“That you’re from...”

“Out with it, woman!”

“Mr. Piccolo.”

He turned away from Pan towards the young Gohan.

“Don’t think I’ve let you off the hook, whoever you really are, wherever you’re really from.”

“I knew you had some kind of plan, Mr. Piccolo, but I didn’t know you’d be this strong.”

“How did you do it?” Krillin inquired. “It was almost like you were a total match with Frieza for a second there.”

Vegeta thought back to the display Piccolo had earlier and begrudgingly admitted...

“No. You were even... stronger.”

...but never aloud. The thought that Piccolo not only was as powerful as Frieza, but could even be a threat to himself was something he’d never openly share with anyone.

“If we survive all this, I’ll need to become a Super Saiyan... just to be on the safe side.”

“You couldn’t tell just by looking?”

They heard Piccolo crack his neck and realized he lacked...

“Your weighted clothes, of course!” went Krillin.

Pan took in this calm before the storm, knowing one key factor that had made a huge difference:

“Towa’s formula made Frieza go all out. Me wounding his tail made him manageable.”

“When you first fought him, he seemed to have you beat, but without anything weighing you down...”

“He couldn’t contend with you,” added Gohan. “You were too fast for him to handle.”

“Oh, indeed.”

They all jumped back at the floating Frieza, his second form’s flesh as covered in minor injuries as it had ever been before after both Gohan and Vegeta’s explosive impacts.

“With that weighted attire discarded, you changed, Namekian. Nothing held back. As for the rest of you...”

He peered to the young half-Saiyan...

“That attack the young one did... it reminds me of a Saiyan I killed. But who? Who was it?”

...then to Pan.

“I do not fully understand your Kaio technique, but earlier, it only helped you shield yourself just enough. But now it overwhelms me... while I’m in my second form.”

“You’ve been hiding your true power from me. All of you.”

“I still haven’t shown you everything I have, murderer,” began Piccolo, whom took on a combative stance. “Now you will feel the wrath of the countless Namekians you killed!”

“Oh, I appear to have misled you,” replied Frieza almost casually. “Allow me to clarify. See, I have been hiding my true power from you as well. Even now as we speak.”

“W-what?”

“Ah, do forgive me, Namekian,” went the tyrant, noticing Piccolo’s puzzlement. “This isn’t my natural form. In fact, I transformed into this. Vegeta knows all about my transformations. He may just tell you all about them... if he isn’t too frightened to speak.”

He descended before them, landing on a boulder.

“My power greatly increases each time I transform. You weren’t here earlier. And you should really experience the same fear as Vegeta and the little ones.”

Frieza raised his hand, gesturing with just his index and middle fingers.

"Just a friendly reminder: I still have two transformations left."

Everyone who had received this information so far took steps back and struggled not to appear afraid of the ramifications...

...except for Pan.

“I’ve trained all this time for your forms. I’ll be ready for your third.”

“You really should feel honored with what I’m about to show you! You will be the first to have ever witnessed it!”

Whether the others were too frightened to act or, like Pan, knew that attacking during a transformation would ultimately be fruitless, they all watched Frieza with his arms raised.

“Behold! My second transformation begins now!”

He hunched over, his adversaries seeing three spikes protrude from his back. Frieza’s shoulders stretched outward, the pointed shape almost akin to Piccolo’s shoulder pads. Then, to Krillin’s horror especially, the tyrant’s head began to elongate with his face in tow.

“We’re fighting a m-m-monster...”

But Pan noticed something behind Frieza...

“His tail...”

It wagged, but then it almost appeared like it was... it couldn’t be...

“Is his tail supposed to regenerate?”

“NO!!!”

She heard Trunks unnerved on comms as she mentioned her sightings.

"It's not supposed to regenerate... not in his third form!"

Just then, it appeared as if cracks emerged all across his entire body and small fragments of it began chipping away.

“This can’t be...! Towa shouldn’t be able to...! To make Frieza...!”

As Trunks’ openly mused over this, Pan caught a small and faint split down the middle of Frieza’s forehead...

“Towa’s making him...!”

Now it spread and his body then appeared to be splitting in half from the head downward towards the torso...

...revealing a seemingly skinnier body emerging from its center. Pan recognized it immediately.

“He skipped his third form...”

The two halves of his third form’s shell, almost bending like banana peels, were shoved aside by Frieza, soon followed by a massive surge in ki that, even where everyone stood, was akin to seeing a massive ball of light on the ground.

Once it concluded, Frieza touched down, not only landing back on the boulder, but appearing to sink his feet straight into it and pulverize it to dust upon touching the ground effortlessly.

"This is his third form?!” mentally exclaimed Piccolo. “And he still has one after this?"

"The long face, the spikes, and the shoulders..." went Krillin in disbelief. “I wasn’t the only one who saw it, was I?”

"The gap in power between these two forms...” Gohan openly spoke. “It shouldn't be by this much."

"He's yammering on about what we're all dreading..." mentally murmured Vegeta.

Dende fell onto his hands, just trying to keep any composure before this new menace.

"I... I never would have imagined..."

The young Namekian then saw Pan's fist clenching, the woman from Earth unafraid and instead angered.

"That damned form... not a trace of gold on it... but that form... it's never left my mind."

“It was clear the patroller was well prepared for his second form even before whatever boost she was given with battling Lord Slug,” began Mira. “Her performance here was of no surprise or consequence.”

“No matter how much her training had prepared her, the Time Patrol could not have given her the means to combat his final form in the allotted time,” added Towa.

“But to think your formula made him bypass his third form so readily...”

“They’ve no doubt prepared for Frieza... as have I for the patroller’s interference.”

Pan had trained for every single one of Frieza’s forms up to this point, up to training for Frieza’s third form with Kaio-Ken Times Ten for extended periods of time. But this...

“I don’t know if Times Twenty will cut it here. If it comes to it...”

“There is only one silver lining to this...” went Trunks, trying to recompose himself. “Towa’s formula may have let him skip his third form, but nothing Towa could do could make him go a hundred percent now. Even when he unveiled his final form, he began with small percentages and only went up from there once Goku arrived.”

“How low?”

“M-maybe around five percent or so...”

Pan wouldn’t show it, both to keep her own composure and not to give her already frightened allies any more reason to lose their own, but the idea of this shook her.

“Only five percent of his power? His full power?”

“Namekian.”

Dende cowered.

“No, the big green one.”

Piccolo tried to gesture Gohan back, then approached the tyrant, who went from standing above him in his second form to now standing below him as he was now.

“You were much quicker without your armor. Let’s see if you’re still so sure of yourself.”

Piccolo hopped to avoid Frieza’s first strike, a downward kick to the ground, the impact of which appeared almost like a tsunami of grass despite how little power appeared behind the gesture.

“Your power has grown, but speed is my specialty! You’ll never...!”

“How long has it been?”

Piccolo saw Frieza in front of him, then felt his momentum come to a dead halt as Frieza simply put a hand out in front of him.

“I let you avoid that one to see what you’d do. I’m frankly disappointed. I’m leagues above your speed in this form.”

Piccolo then felt Frieza release him.

“Do try and get away. Or attack if you so wish. I leave it up to you.”

Piccolo snarled his teeth just to keep his composure and the exact moment he tried to move...

...Frieza had his hand out with a firing gesture.

On ground level, Pan and the others saw Frieza firing a barrage of tiny projectiles almost faster than they could even perceive it.

“NO, STOP!!!”

Gohan flew upward to help Piccolo. Krillin tried to join Goku’s son, but as he was a quarter of the way there, felt himself stopped and being gripped by Vegeta.

“Vegeta, what are you...?!”

“There’s nothing you could do! Not to him.”

“‘Not to him?’ What the hell does that mean?”

Pan didn’t understand the context of what was going on at all, but saw just how tightly Vegeta gripped Krillin’s arm and how serious he was about this. She then looked back at Piccolo falling and her father nearing him...

...and no sign of Frieza.

“But you can...”

As Vegeta spoke and Pan flew upward to protect the two, she felt a breeze so quick as to be completely undetectable at first...

“Fatally wound…”

Then both her and Vegeta saw Frieza floating before them, his right hand out and his arm outstretched.

“M...”

“Aww,” Frieza taunted.

And with only the very tip of his backhand, Krillin was struck on the side of his forehead out of Vegeta’s grip and into the far distance.

“Holding on to your little friend, Prince Vegeta?”

“OH MY GOD, KRILLIN!!!” Pan screamed in her head.

She looked over in terror at him becoming a speck, then back to Frieza.

“You fooled me before with your little scared ploy earlier, Saiyan girl, but this time, you do fear me... don’t you?”

Pan neither confirmed nor denied it, but her mind was on an even more pressing issue than her opponent:

“If he killed Krillin just now...”

Gohan then flew right at Frieza, whom practically appeared to hop nonchalantly over his flying kick.

“Gohan, wait!”

Piccolo, despite several purple bloody spots across his arms, legs, and torso, flew over to assist him. Frieza decided to fly further from land and over the water, letting his adversaries come to him.

“Now, now. There’s plenty of me for everyone.”

“We’re detecting no changes, Pan,” re-entered Trunks. “I think he held back just enough not to kill Krillin. Fits his M.O. of torturing his enemies.”

Even with everything Pan had seen Piccolo and her father do to Frieza’s second form just earlier, with him having jumped straight to his final form already...

“But if Piccolo or my dad die...”

Pan mused that she’d have to go straight to Times Twenty from the start, or even past it...

“Kaio-K...!”

“Hold it, Earth girl!”

Vegeta gripped her to keep her from joining the battle.

“Vegeta, they’ll die if we don’t...!”

“They’re as good as dead!”

“To resort to this...” the proud warrior mused.

“You need to fatally wound me now.”

“And still, Frieza plays with his prey.”

Towa didn’t sound as frustrated or angered announcing this, now regarding it as if it were to be expected rather than a hindrance.

“But even Frieza will tire of a game that easy, right?” Mira inquired.

“Right.”

“So even with the spotted Earthling’s survival, however barely, he will not survive a second time.”

“And with him out of commission...”

The two saw Vegeta holding Pan by her arm in midair.

“New possibilities. New alterations.”

“F-fatally wound you?” went Pan, who couldn’t believe what Vegeta was asking her to do.

"Listen well: the only chance we stand against Frieza now is for me to get a boost from near-death, then be healed by that runt Namekian. I can't do it myself and those fools are too busy fighting him or being healed... so you have to do this for me."

“Krillin’s the one that wounds Vegeta!” exclaimed Chronoa. “If you do instead, the risk...”

“But Krillin’s completely incapacitated!” Pan replied.

“Supreme Kai of Time, we may not have any other choice,” added Trunks. “My father has to get that wound one way or another, and at least if he does at her hand...”

“Now hurry! Before Frieza transforms into his final form!”

Pan didn’t know what was the right course of action: wait for Krillin to recover or risk killing Trunks’ and her best friend’s father.

"I... I can't... not even to you."

Vegeta’s grip tightened further as his frustration practically foamed from his clenched teeth.

“What’s this?! Don’t have the stomach to beat me within an inch of my life? Need another Earthling to do it for you?! Grow up already, you stupid brat! Grow a pair and blast me like you mean it, you childish coward!”

This did nothing to improve his case with Pan, who instead looked over at him just as unsure as before.

“Is... is there no other way for Vegeta to get the wound?”

“The whole scenario changed the moment Frieza went from this second form straight for his final,” explained Trunks. “He made Krillin wound him as a response just to his third form.”

Now Vegeta saw two lone tears escaping her eyes.

“Really? Tears? You going to cry about it now, you big baby?! Agh! Damn it, I’m surrounded by...!”

He then stopped, seeing no further use in the rant he had began.

“Berating her isn’t working at all! I have to somehow appeal to her Earthly principles!”

Looking back at their first meeting on Earth, where she intercepted the first Saibamen, then kept both Krillin and Gohan alive until Goku arrived.

“From the start, she’s been fighting to protect others! The Earthlings! Kakarot and his brat! Even me! She failed the other three and the Namekian before, but that’s always been what drives her!”

He didn’t let Pan go, but loosened her grip from hurting her to just gently enough for her to slip through if she so desired.

“I know how to convince her.”

“Kakarot’s boy. The short Earthling. The Namekian from Earth. The Namekian here. Even me. You want us all to survive, don’t you?”

She didn’t nod, but Vegeta could tell he was getting through and she was responding to his words.

“If you want to protect them... if you want them to survive... wound me. Then when I power up, we can stand a chance against Frieza.”

Pan heard the Supreme Kai of Time sigh, less dejected and moreso with uncertainty.

“Then we have no other choice. Okay, Pan. Do it. But whatever you do, don’t kill Vegeta.”

Both aloud to Vegeta and for Chronoa and Trunks to hear...

“Okay.”

Pan’s hand charged with ki, which she gestured towards his chest...

“Not that high, Pan, or you’ll hit his heart,” went Trunks. “Between the chest and his stomach.”

She tried as hard as she could to try visualizing the scale of the damage. Trying her hardest not to picture a gory version, she kept it to mathematical shapes, namely a circle that stretched back and forth between larger than his torso and tiny.

“Don’t want to blow him in two or barely pierce through him...”

She found the visual she created was still a bit larger than she thought would be survivable...

"Now to just bring it down a little bit more..."

Vegeta, meanwhile, saw both Gohan and Piccolo’s midair battle with Frieza had gone no differently since he pulled Pan back with the two starting to tire.

“I thought the two would step up... I have to do everything around here!”

And upon looking at Pan, trying to be as careful with her aim and her power...

“Trunks, it’s still too much. What do you think I shou...?”

“You almost have it. Just a bit less power.”

“And you’re taking far too long, woman! Those two will be memories of Frieza’s conquest by the time you’re done!”

Vegeta, now seeing Frieza start to turn his head in his direction, forced Pan’s hand...

"NOW, DAMN Y...!!!"

...the sudden jolt causing her to fire the blast prematurely.

“Good! Yes! Finally! Now I can become... the Super Saiy...!”

But his thought of glory was cut short as the wound that resulted was far greater than he expected...

“T-too much...!”

Pan saw her one-handed beam pierce straight through between his chest and stomach, a splash of blood from in front of and behind Vegeta’s newfound wound. Except the very top of the wound was...

"His heart...!"

She couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her other hand to quiet a shocked whimper.

“I overdid it! I completely overdid it!”

Gohan and Piccolo both saw Frieza stop combating them, or moreso avoiding their every move while barely glancing them with the effect of strikes with actual effort, to then see a blast piercing straight through Vegeta at the hands of their mysterious ally.

“W-why would she do that to Vegeta?” Gohan mentally whimpered. “She didn’t kill him on Earth. She wouldn’t let the Ginyu Force or that blue man kill him here. Why kill him now?”

“If this girl really is from the future, is her part to ensure Vegeta dies to prevent a future threat?” Piccolo inquired to himself. “Why else would she do this now and not before while I was dead?”

The two broke away from Frieza, seeing that he didn’t pursue, but not wanting to speed up and risk detection.

“I see now,” went Frieza. “When he gripped the Earthling before... it was no accident at all.”

Vegeta was so wounded he not only couldn’t land on his feet, but upon crashing down onto his back, the Saiyan Prince couldn’t even manage to lift himself off the ground.

“She wounded me too much. Perhaps I... I pushed her too hard. A slightly stronger blast and it would’ve taken my entire heart.”

But luckily, as he had hoped, the Namekian Dende was near him.

“No matter. All according to plan.”

“Y-you there...”

Instead of appearing skittish of him or cowering away, the short Namekian approached him.

“That’s it. C’mere boy.”

“H-heal me...”

But now the Namekian’s face went from its default, which was almost always frightened whenever Vegeta saw it, to having total disdain for the Saiyan Prince.

“No!” Dende shouted. “I won’t!”

Besides his vision getting worse, Vegeta’s hearing also took a turn with his condition.

“Not good. Don’t have much time...”

“Idiot. Can’t k-kill Fr-Frieza... ”

He gestured his right hand, its white glove covered in his blood.

“...unless you heal me.”

But Dende was no stranger to Vegeta’s deeds. While he may have had no working knowledge of what he did working under Frieza, he, Nail, and Guru were well aware the blood he spilled on Namek wasn’t just that of those aligned with Frieza.

“You killed so many Namekians! Just like Frieza’s men!”

“You healed the others...”

“To heal someone like you...!”

“H-hurry... losing c-conscious...”

“It’d be like healing Frieza!”

Dende wasn’t sure, but he was almost certain he saw someone lying idle in the far distance. One of the few non-Namekians who had shown kindness to him, was bleeding from near the top of his bald head.

“Krillin...”

Vegeta couldn’t hope to scooch his entire body over and instead tried reaching out to grab onto Dende, as if he could do so from a distance and pull the Namekian towards him.

“Whatever it takes... whatever deal... trading away my soul... I can’t die here.”

“I’m... I’m begging you, l-little one...”

“Someone else needs my help!”

Dende ascended off the ground and into the distance.

“B-brat!”

The Saiyan still found himself reaching out even as the Namekian was already out of his sight.

“B-blasted little sh-sh... ”

His right hand couldn’t keep itself off the ground any longer, slamming into the blue-green grass and sprinkling the nearest blades with specks of red.

“I’m really going to die here... and at the hands of that girl...”

Goku, in his healing pod, was at first relieved, his eyes still closed.

"Piccolo? If that's him, he's gotten a lot stronger. He's actually fighting Frieza. Almost on par with him."

But as more time passed, something shook him out of his relaxed state.

"Frieza! His power's... insane! How could it have gone up that much?! That many times?!"

But one last event had his eyes wide open.

"Vegeta! His ki's gone down! He’s going to...!"

Now he actually tried wrestling himself free.

“Gohan will die! And Krillin! Bulma won’t be spared! They’ll all die if this keeps up!”

Small cracks formed on the pod’s window, some of the liquid starting to seep down from them, and Goku’s breathing apparatus starting to loosen.

"I know I'm nowhere fully healed, but I have to get out of this pod now. I have to save them! MY SON!!! MY BEST FRIENDS!!!"

Not A Fatal Wound! You Have to Heal![]

Pan, alongside her grandfather, the child who would become her father, Krillin, and Yajirobe, had battled against Vegeta on Earth to stop him from killing everyone on the planet, using up all that she had...

...but never with the intent to mortally wound him, let alone kill. Not just within the guidelines of the Time Patrol, but simply because she wanted to stop him, not take his life. To kill a family friend who was so like family he might as well have been like an additional father to her, always steering Pan and his own children on the right path...

...and by Vegeta’s own request, she went to wound him just enough for him to take advantage of his Saiyan ability to grow stronger from near-death now that Frieza had entered his final form prematurely. And by his own hand, he forced hers, Pan blasting him and leaving him with a wound perhaps even graver than what Krillin had done in history had he not been out of commission.

Time slowed for her as she saw Vegeta falling, blood emerging from the wound, then back to Frieza, whom looked down as well...

“When he gripped the Earthling before... it was no accident at all.”

...and to Gohan and Piccolo, who tried getting away while the tyrant’s focus was elsewhere. Piccolo, his purple blood starting to drip from his wounds, led to him briefly dropping down. Gohan caught him, but a groan of pain from the Namekian was more than audible enough for Frieza to hear.

“Keep him still, little one.”

Pan saw him with his hand out.

“Moving around won’t do him any good in his condition.”

Piccolo, instead of using his hand to cover a cough that had blood in it, placed it over Gohan’s shoulder.

“Go, Gohan,” he whispered. “Leave me.”

Gohan closed his eyes, then shook his head.

“No.”

“S-save yourself. Fight another day with your father.”

“I won’t leave you, Mr. Piccolo.”

“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” went Frieza. “Actually...”

Pan saw Frieza’s hand raised as if he were about to swipe at a fly, which he clearly saw both his adversaries akin to.

“You can go together.”

She saw her father refuse to abandon Piccolo, even to save his own life, and knew the technique coming would’ve made it near-impossible regardless.

“You’ve trained for this, Pan...”

As Vegeta was just one second from making impact with the ground...

“Kaio-Ken...!” she shouted as she flew into the two, pushing her father and Piccolo out of the path of the attack.

“Spoil...” Frieza began, ki emanating from the swipe.

“Times Twenty!”

“...sport!”

Her senses cranked up and then some, Pan saw every last ki blade he fired coming right in her direction.

“No time for the Power Pole!”

She swung her hands to knock away the two closest to her...

...then found that the rest were increasingly hard to keep up with.

“They make bullets look like snails...!”

She had seen them when Commander Hale showed her the technique and it was immediately clear Hale held back tremendously in his demonstration. Another key difference:

“...and that’s just how they look in Times Twenty!”

Had she gone Times Ten as she was tempted to, she may not have been able to so much as comprehend them. She could perceive them just fast enough to take action, defensive or evasive...

“Ack!”

...but not fast enough. One ki blade got past her before she could swing her hand all the way, slicing between her left shoulder and neck. And she was only halfway through the barrage. The fear of being cut apart had her hyper-focused to the point that what was merely a second for her, in fact just one after Vegeta touched down, felt like slowed time, yet much too fast for comfort.

Pan’s eye took notice of Frieza floating around her and, having already risked taking part of her attention off the blades of ki, flew to the left to intercept him, but while avoiding the majority of what remained...

“Gh!”

Two more struck: one on her right side below her ribs and the other her left cheek, her resulting head tilt preventing the ki blade from slicing her ear. Pan couldn’t help but grip both even as she came face-to-face with Frieza.

“My, you were quick...”

Pan took her left hand off her cheek and swung right at his head...

...actually forcing him to block it with his wrist with genuine effort rather than half-heartedly.

“Goodness graciou...”

Her right hand joined and struck near the top of his head. It wasn’t a devastating blow, but he was pushed back and actually had the briefest look of pain from it.

“...so you’re fast!”

He went from taunting her efforts to becoming irritated. Pan swerved her head to avoid a retaliatory chop, then found her next punch redirected. She kept up the offensive to keep Frieza from attacking and his defenses weren’t impenetrable or unmoved, the tyrant actually going backward from each hit he guarded against.

“This is the power you used...!”

He caught her right hand with his left, clamping down on it...

“...to CUT OFF MY TAIL!!!”

...then lifted up his right hand for a pointed jab, aimed like a spear intended to tear straight through his foe’s head...

...but Pan’s left hand caught it, only the tips of the middle and index fingers piercing her cheek towards the middle of her prior wound.

“Times Twenty’s not hurting as much... not like it did against Lord Slug.”

But something was off... in the distance.

“That ki... it’s over by...”

An all-too familiar location...

“Frieza’s ship!”

...and the source of the massive ki there.

“Grandpa! Is... Isn’t he still healing?! What is he...?!”

With Pan’s mind elsewhere however briefly, Frieza managed to move his right hand, the slightest poking force behind his fingers digging. With her initial squealing cry, Frieza saw a clear path to her eye and took it...

...but it barely proceeded forward, Pan stopping it, then pulling the hand back. Frieza still pushed forward, slicing her cheek more just before she pulled his hand away from her face entirely. Her right hand then squeezed out of Frieza’s left and the moment she caught a glow from Frieza’s eyes, both her hands fired a kiai wave. The gust pushed him backward and his eye beams went right over her head.

The two remained floating in place, Pan waiting for a response on her comms...

“Did you hear me? Grandpa’s doing something!”

...as Frieza looked at Pan’s blood on his hand, then flicked it off of him.

“Mustn’t let it be sullied with filthy Saiyan blood...”

Back in the library, Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time still viewed the battle through the scroll, but Chronoa stepped aside, her hands gesturing a teal holograph-like image...

...of Goku’s healing pod shaking.

“He’s trying to break out early.”

“This is bad, Supreme Kai of Time! If Goku joins the battle now this early without being fully healed...!”

He saw Chronoa gesturing her left hand over the scroll.

“Wait! We can’t take our eyes off the battle!”

“We won’t, Trunks.”

She then put her right hand’s middle and index fingers to her forehead.

“Supreme Kai of Time...?”

“I’m about to talk to him, Trunks. Watch over Pan and your father until I’m done.”

“I have to save them!”

Drops of the healing liquid began to form a puddle on the ground in front of the pod from the cracks he put into the window.

“MY SON!!! MY BEST FRIENDS!!!”

Fists tightened and teeth clenched beneath the mask he was trying to wrestle off, Goku was a second away from unleashing his power to break free...

“Goku.”

The Saiyan raised on Earth ceased his movements upon hearing that familiar voice.

“Y-you. From the earpiece.”

Then he tilted his head inquisitively.

“But I don’t have an earpiece on right now. How are you...?”

“There isn’t time to explain. I need you remain where you are until you’re fully healed.”

“But Vegeta’s ki just now... he’s dying.”

“He’ll make it, Goku.”

“We used the last of the senzu beans and I’m here in the one place that can heal him. How can Vegeta possibly recover?”

Chronoa decided to give something away Goku would not know until quite some time after these events on Namek:

“There’s another Namekian who can heal him.”

“Dende?”

He had yet to meet Dende himself, but knew him from reading Krillin’s mind earlier that day.

“He can heal people?”

Goku was utterly baffled at this revelation.

“Th-then why didn’t he heal me?”

“Dende was elsewhere and didn’t have that ability at the time.”

While Goku wasn’t trying to break out, the Supreme Kai of Time could tell he was still tense.

“Look, Goku... you-know-who is here. She’ll take care of them until you’ve made a full recovery.”

“But even with her helping them, Frieza’s power has gone up so much just now. It’s on a whole other level. They aren’t enough. They need me just to stand a fighting chance, let alone...”

He paused, then the pod started to shake again.

“What is it, Goku?”

“Vegeta’s gone! Dende was too late!”

More cracks emerged on the window.

“I wasted too much time here! I have to go NOW!!!”

While locked in combat with Frieza, Pan kept one eye on her opponent and looked down enough with the other to see Vegeta’s current state.

“There’s Dende.”

She saw the Namekian approaching the Saiyan Prince at first, then...

“He’s stopped. Wh-why is he stopping?!”

“Ah, I get it now.”

Frieza was looking down as well.

“Oh crap...” went Trunks on comms.

“Is Frieza not supposed to know...?”

“If he figures out what my father’s doing...”

“Vegeta would rather die at someone else’s hand than mine.”

Pan heard Trunks sigh in relief.

“Oh thank God...”

The two caught each other’s hands, both trying to overpower the other.

“With your hand, he’ll have died by his own kind. How perfectly fitting for him.”

As Pan and Frieza noticed Dende flying away, their power struggle appeared dead-even...

...at least with how much of his power the tyrant was using right now.

“I’m contending with him... with Times Twenty... and whatever percentage he’s at.”

Frieza then caught Pan’s strength starting to ever so slightly wane.

“Oh, is something wrong, Saiyan girl? I haven’t gone up even one percent.”

As well as Pan had sustained this incredibly taxing form compared to prior outings, the toll was finally beginning to register.

“Can’t drop out of Times Twenty, not now! He’ll skewer me, then the rest will be sitting ducks!”

His right hand didn’t break out of Pan’s grip, but his index finger poked out, then he turned his wrist, angling it towards her forehead.

“Scurry out of this... if you can.”

Her body’s ache made it clear she needed to exit the form soon, but she needed every ounce of strength it gave her just to try avoiding the Death Beam at this close a range.

“If I can just...”

As she tried lifting her legs to kick him, he hovered and tilted his lower body to avoid it, and proceeded to poke her forehead directly with the index.

“Too bad.”

The deja vu of this scene, only with herself instead of Tien and Launch’s daughter...

“This is how he killed Kani...”

She instinctively began covering herself with her ki...

“If this fails...”

...then saw the glow from his fingertip, which half-blinded her...

...and it appeared her shield couldn’t cover her face entirely in time.

“Not fast enough...”

Then she felt something hit Frieza from behind, throwing off his focus just enough for her left to point his right hand elsewhere. The Death Beam just missed the side of her head, to which she let go and put both her hands to the sides of her eyes.

“SOLAR...!”

Frieza tried aiming for her head once more.

“FLARE!!!”

The technique went off right before this Death Beam fired, Pan descending immediately after the flash blinded Frieza. As he covered his eyes with his left hand, he swatted to the sides with his right to counter any offensive from Pan or to knock away another projectile from whoever had thrown the first at him.

“Krillin threw that.”

Gohan, tending to Piccolo, caught Krillin’s ki immediately and saw Pan escaping with the Solar Flare. Seeing her heading in Vegeta’s direction, he knew Frieza would make his way there the moment his sight recovered.

“Stay here, Piccolo.”

The Namekian from Earth gripped Gohan’s arm.

“I can’t let you endanger yourself, Gohan.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Piccolo. I’ll fight smart. It’s what you’d do in this situation.”

Piccolo released him and saw Gohan flying over towards the tyrant.

“If I weren’t so wounded earlier...”

He put a hand to one of his wounds and, as unpleasant as it would be, channeled ki in that palm.

The exact moment Pan’s feet touched the blades of the blue-green grass, she exited Kaio-Ken...

...and had to catch herself on her hand to keep herself from lying on her front. While she found her body hadn’t bulked up as tremendously as she had seen Goku’s from overuse, the soreness struck hard in the initial seconds after.

“Don’t have time for a breather. Frieza will recover any second... and Vegeta’s...”

She saw the Saiyan Prince lying completely still and the massive wound she gave him completely visible.

“VEGETA!!!”

Frieza, his vision becoming clear, was about to look down in Pan and Vegeta’s direction.

“Think you could elude me that easil...?”

But he heard not just a projectile, but a very familiar one.

“No...”

Even in his final form, Frieza swiftly tilted his upper body to avoid the Destructo-Disk aimed right for him.

“How does that Earthling keep doing that?!”

He turned in the opposite direction, intent on finding Krillin.

“I’ll find out how you keep surviving... and then I’ll ensure you never recover again.”

Vegeta, now left staring off into the sky, waited for his eyes to close.

“Dear, oh dear...”

A hooded figure stood over Vegeta, his presence completely undetectable to the Saiyan Prince thanks to his robed hands being held together like he was praying.

“Even with everything you have done... and everything you will do... if I could save your life now, I would. But I’ve done too much already. I’m afraid it’s not up to me now.”

Vegeta actually tried lifting his head one last time. The last thing he was feeling besides the wound and his body giving out was the ground shaking. Not a quake or anything unnatural, but rather the simple sensation of someone running in his direction. The hooded figure turned around and departed on foot as Pan ran right through him like he was a hologram.

“No, no, NO!!!”

She knelt down and put one hand behind Vegeta’s head and the other over his chest.

“Vegeta...”

He didn’t even have the means with which to make a facial expression to react to her. By the time Pan had her hands on him, Vegeta’s eyes closed and his head slowly lowered downward.

“Vegeta!”

She tried controlling herself into not being too loud, namely so Frieza wouldn’t investigate, but him on Death’s door, if not...

“Don’t be dead. Please, PLEASE don’t be dead!”

Pan tried to find any signs of life in Vegeta, putting her ear against his chest piece. She could still hear heartbeats...

...but at a low rate and only decreasing.

“His heart’s slowing down.”

Along with that, she neither saw movement from his lips nor felt air from that or his nostrils.

“He’s not breathing.”

Pan knew Dende was her only hope, but if she called to him directly, it would alert Frieza, as well as tip the tyrant off to how his adversaries had returned from such grievous wounds over the course of their battle.

She quickly went for a different approach.

Frieza, going by eyesight to locate Krillin, stopped upon hearing...

“PICCOLO!!!”

“The Saiyan girl sounded desperate. Just what could Big Green do in his sorry state?”

A second passed as Pan waited for a response.

“You trying to get yourself killed?!”

It worked. Piccolo responded to her with telepathy.

“Piccolo! Call Dende. Tell him to come to me and Vegeta now.”

“Just what are you trying to...?”

“NOW, PICCOLO!!!”

Frieza turned back in Pan’s direction.

“If she’s so eager for the Namekian, I might as well beat him to her. See just what she...”

A flurry of rapid projectiles. Even with none of them being particularly harmful to him, the fact that he, in his final form which vastly outleagued all of his opponents, was being even mildly toyed with by unseen foes...

“Show yourself! Or would you prefer I destroy half of the planet in one fell swoop?!”

“Pan, you’re...”

“He’s bleeding out, Trunks.”

She channeled ki in her hands to try cauterizing the wound in his chest.

“B-but to cauterize a wound that deep...”

“It will keep him alive long enough for Dende to...”

She saw the young Namekian standing near her.

“Piccolo told me to find you. What do you need?”

Even with the cauterizing almost complete, Pan felt Vegeta’s ki waning even further.

“Help him.”

Instead of him approaching the two, she saw him turning his head away.

“I... I can’t.”

“Please.”

There was no change in his demeanor.

“Who convinced Dende to heal Vegeta?”

“Krillin and your father... as Frieza was going into his final form.”

Frieza began forming an orb of ki in his index and middle fingers.

“I’ll either annihilate you where you’re hiding... or you’ll have no choice but to come out after seeing the aftermath.”

From the corner of his eye, Gohan flew upward, firing at him once more. His other hand swatted his lowly projectiles away with ease.

“I thought you’d be good at hide and seek, little one...”

But Gohan didn’t appear to be worried in the least.

“Unafraid to face your own death?”

Frieza heard a splash from below him...

“WHAT?!”

A bright sphere came out from the water and rocketed right towards him. Having lost his concentration, the orb in his hand dissipated and he swerved to avoid the sphere.

“So that’s where you were!”

Firing a blast at the water, huge amounts splashed upward, causing untold damage below the surface, but he still saw no sign of the attacker. He looked back to Gohan, seeing the half-Saiyan appearing to flee from him. Frieza pursued him, the gap between them being closed rapidly...

...when he heard another splash.

“AGAIN?!”

A second sphere came up for him.

“And right now, my dad and Krillin are occupying Frieza and keeping him from finding us.”

Now Pan had to continue to plead her case for Dende to heal Vegeta as he was meant to in history.

“Dende, if there were any other way, I would have done it by now. You’re the only one who can...”

“I won’t do it.”

“We’ll all die if you don’t!”

Now Dende turned his back to them completely.

“If saving the likes of him is what it takes to survive, then maybe... maybe...”

He couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence, but it was clear to Pan what he felt.

“I don’t know what we can do here, Pan...” lamented Trunks. “The Supreme Kai of Time would know what to do, but right now, she’s...”

“Your father’s ki!”

Pan looked back to Vegeta.

“It’s growing even weaker!”

She saw Dende taking one step away from her.

“Dende, I’m begging you!”

Another step.

“I can’t do this alone! Not without your help! Help him, please!”

Dende, even having heard her pleas, continued walking away from them.

“Damn it...” she whispered aloud.

A brief moment of defeat gave way to seeing it through to the end.

“I have to keep your father alive myself.”

She placed both hands atop his chestplate, pushing down repeatedly as hard as she could.

“It’s not working. His heart’s not...”

“The armor might be cushioning too much of it, Pan. Maybe try...”

She struck Vegeta’s chest with a closed fist, visibly shaking him.

“That did something.”

Dende actually felt the ground shaking from the strikes Pan dished out to Vegeta. He floated off the ground, then approached her.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Keeping him alive, genius! What do you think?!”

She would never have dreamed of talking that way to the Dende of her Earth or to this younger Dende now, but both focused on keeping Vegeta’s heart rate from dropping and miffed at Dende for him refusing to help her, Pan’s emotions were fully unleashed.

“B-but why do this when such a wound will make your efforts futile?”

Another thunderous strike to the chest piece.

“I have to try! I HAVE TO!!!”

She was realizing hitting his chest alone wasn’t enough and there was another factor:

“His breathing!” went both Pan and Trunks.

She opened his lips, then took two breaths into his mouth, seeing his cheeks momentarily puff. Pan went back and forth between the two, Dende experiencing her outright refusal to let Vegeta die.

“Pan, even without sensing his ki from here, he’s...”

“I won’t let your father die, Trunks!”

“It... it might be too late to...”

“I won’t let it end like this! I WON’T!!!”

Towa and Mira saw Pan desperately trying to keep Vegeta alive.

“She is quite committed to the Time Patrol’s mission...” Mira commented.

“No...”

Towa saw Pan’s resolve twist into sorrow just narrowing bordering on bereavement.

“What she’s demonstrated goes far beyond their mission...”

“Come on, Vegeta!”

Another strike to his chest plate, then two more breaths.

“You have to live, Vegeta! For Trunks! For Bulla!”

But as she heard Trunks begrudgingly put it before, this may have all been Pan simply delaying the inevitable.

“No! No, no, NO!!!”

Dende could hear Pan breaking down in tears.

“COME ON!!!”

An even harder hit and two breaths, the last of the two breaths ending prematurely, showing just how much she had exhausted the practice only for him to remain unchanged.

“Live, Vegeta! LIVE!!!”

She struck Vegeta’s chest the hardest she had thus far, just shy of actually doing damage to his armor...

“GODDAMNIT, VEGETA!!!”

Dende caught her last attempt at CPR end in disaster with her falling onto her hands wheezing from the repetition and expenditure.

“No...”

She got back up just enough to put her hand over his chest once more, but, try again as Pan might have, Vegeta’s ki was about to drop completely and none of her efforts then or now could stop it.

“God...”

Piccolo, having seared his wounds closed for the time being, decided to follow Dende’s trail.

“If Gohan gets into trouble, I’ll go straight to him... but I have to know what that future girl is scheming. And what kind of part does Dende play in it?”

He sensed their ki, hers especially a mile away, and found Dende looking over at Pan openly mourning over Vegeta.

“She fought alongside us against the Saibamen and Nappa on Earth... both under Vegeta’s command. What could she possibly have to mourn?”

He decided to find out for himself:

“I’m so sorry, Trunks...”

He heard her conversing with the young man he had encountered before.

“It’s all my fault. I caused this. I... I killed your father.”

Piccolo turned away and broke off his telepathy upon hearing this.

“Vegeta has a child in the future? And that purple haired brat... was his child?”

He recalled firsthand the interrogation he gave Trunks, whom tried desperately not to give away such critical details regarding himself and where he came from.

“He came back to ensure his father lived... and that he was even born to begin with.”

Whether it was his own guilt over how he had treated Trunks before or Nail granting Piccolo a greater sense of compassion and empathy, he actually felt the sadness Pan did and what he could only imagine Trunks had as well.

“I did Towa’s work for her. And now neither you nor Bulla will ever be...”

Pan caught a glow over Vegeta’s chest, then realized the source of it was two small Namekian hands.

“D-Dende?”

“Do what you did before and don’t stop,” he advised her. “We’re at a critical juncture. And I can’t do this without your help.”

Pan wiped away tears and after one last sniffle, she recomposed enough to get back to saving Vegeta’s life.

“You can do this, Pan. I believe in you.”

Heeding Dende’s advice, as well as Trunks’ words of encouragement, Pan pressed down on Vegeta’s chest, only this time...

“His heart beat... it’s back! And it’s... it’s increasing.”

She caught only a brief glimpse of the wound she gave him starting to heal with new flesh, but focused and knew to work on his breathing.

Piccolo heard and saw what looked like a point of no return morph into nothing short of a last-second intervention. Along with that, he understood that out of everyone Pan could’ve asked him to summon...

“She needed Dende to save Vegeta’s life... and, in turn, Trunks.”

After a few cycles, she found that her last two breaths, much more controlled and focused, had an effect:

“Wait... was that air from...?”

Pan felt air coming out of his nostrils.

“He’s breathing.”

“One more should do it...” went Dende.

As the wound began to close entirely and Pan struck Vegeta’s chest one final time...

“Gah!”

Vegeta sat straight up, breathing heavily, looking over at his gloved hands and then down to his armor, the hole in it revealing perfectly healthy skin.

“I’m... I’m totally healed! But I was dying! Almost dead for sure! Who could’ve...?!”

A chuckle-like sound of relief escaped from Pan.

“Y-you?”

“That Earth girl kept me alive?”

The moment he looked over at her, Pan, being so relieved he was alive and well after she was certain he had passed on, couldn’t help but smile with that same noise.

“You’re actually... happy that I’m alive?”

But he then spotted the other individual responsible for healing him on his left...

“You left me to die...”

...and went to gut punch the Namekian.

“Little green turd!”

He found his wrist caught by Pan, who even amidst her happiness, didn’t lose focus.

“Knock it off,” she scolded. “We can’t afford to...”

“Afford to what?”

Along with that all-too-familiar voice, all three of them saw their tailed foe floating above them.

“Goku, wait!”

“Not for another second! With Vegeta dead, Frieza will go for...!”

“Vegeta’s not dead! Sense his ki now!”

Goku decided to do as the Supreme Kai of Time told him just one last time before making his break out...

...and gasped under his mask.

“He’s still alive! And not just that... his ki’s going up!”

“Dende made it in time. Vegeta will be fully restored soon.”

Bubbles from a chuckle escaped from his face cover.

“You’re starting to remind me of a fortuneteller I know. Got a crystal ball on you?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”

“And she was super old too. How old are you?”

Chronoa, knowing full well how naive Goku was in regards to asking a woman such a question, cleared her throat, then got back to business.

“Look, with Vegeta back in the fray working together with everyone, you’ll have enough time to be at your best. And you’ll need all the time this pod gives you to take on Frieza.”

Another bubbly chuckle.

“You’re right.”

“So just a little longer, okay Goku?”

“Okay. I’m trusting you... and her.”

“She’s pulled through for you all this time, has she not?”

Even with Pan’s track record of protecting Goku himself not being totally flawless, a different one took higher precedence for the Saiyan raised on Earth:

“She’s always pulled through for two of the most important people to me.”

“This is where I leave you, Goku. Good luck.”

With his intended early departure having ceased entirely, the Supreme Kai of Time left Goku to his own devices with the assurance he would leave when he was meant to.

“Just hold on a bit longer, everyone...”

Chronoa took her hand off her forehead and peered back at the scroll.

“My father’s okay, Supreme Kai of Time,” Trunks announced.

“I know. I convinced Goku to stay.”

She saw Pan along with Dende and the fully healed Vegeta.

“I see they’re okay. And the rest?”

“Gohan and Krillin have kept Frieza away on a wild-goose chase. And Dende’s...”

“Frieza found us!” went Pan on comms.

The three of them stood up, Vegeta and Pan rising quickly, ready for combat, and Dende trying to keep his distance.

“Oh, now I get it,” went the tyrant. “That little Namekian has been the one healing you all along.”

“And he’s figured out Dende!”

“Calm down, Pan,” advised Chronoa. “He was always meant to put two and two together.”

“You’ve had yourselves an adorable little helper keeping you all alive. Every wound you’ve received from me completely remedied.”

But Dende knew the one exception was Pan, whose shoulder Frieza pierced through with his horn.

“I didn’t heal her. She somehow recovered after she fell into that hole.”

He then saw Frieza hand take on a firing stance...

“How underhanded of you.”

...and he and the others knew what it entailed.

“Rather unsporting.”

“Pan...!”

Dende felt the ground move from someone running right towards him, then as he saw the Death Beam coming right for him, a pair of fingerless gloved hands grabbed hold of him and he was off his feet in a roll.

“...wait!”

The Supreme Kai of Time’s words reached Pan too late, whose anticipation of the attack led to her and Dende narrowly avoiding it.

“Dende’s supposed to...!”

But then as Pan’s controlled roll concluded...

“You can’t expect me to just let him go now!”

...she and Dende saw Frieza about to fire once again.

“Can’t avoid it now...”

When a Namekian right arm stretched, shifting Frieza’s wrist enough for it to fire far from his intended target.

“Insufferable...!”

The tyrant’s comment paused upon noticing the wounds from his blasts having been seared closed rather than healed.

“Oh look!”

Piccolo suddenly felt the most crushing grip he had ever felt in his life.

“You missed one!”

Piccolo saw Pan and Dende still lying on the ground...

“G-go, NOW!!!”

...and then felt not a cut, but an excruciating rip and tearing of half his arm. Pan and Dende heeded his word, but heard this, Piccolo’s scream, and caught a glance of him falling onto his knees, his only remaining arm catching him.

“Oh do come back. I believe he is in need of assistance.”

Pan hid herself and Dende behind a boulder for the time being, her not bearing the thought of Piccolo being at Frieza’s mercy, but also not wanting to let the Namekian she held die either.

“Does Dende heal Piccolo?” she asked.

“Yes,” Chronoa answered.

“In fact, he was supposed to heal Piccolo before he healed my father,” Trunks further elaborated.

“Then I need to go back.”

She set Dende down.

“When the coast is clear, heal Piccolo,” Pan whispered right before going out of cover.

“Damn! He found them!”

Krillin, having looked for Frieza’s whereabouts after leading him away for so long, found the tyrant with Dende, Vegeta, and...

“MR. PICCOLO!!!”

Gohan, shocked to see Piccolo missing an arm once again, immediately flew faster straight for him.

“Gohan, wait!”

“Here, I’ll make you feel better.”

Immediately after this taunt from Frieza, Piccolo saw him vanish completely from his sight.

“Behind you!” shouted Vegeta.

Piccolo heeded this and swung his left arm only to find Frieza had caught it.

“How about I even you out?”

“MR. PICCOLO!!!”

Frieza heard Gohan shout this, then saw the child coming right for him.

“Looking away will help take your mind off it.”

Piccolo tried wrestling free, but Frieza’s grip was unbreakable to him, one arm or otherwise. And now he could only watch as the tyrant pointed his other hand right for the child of his former enemy.

“NO, GOHAN!!!”

Not one, but two Death Beams fired from Frieza’s fingers, which went off too fast for Piccolo to even see...

...when Vegeta had flown up to where Gohan was headed, knocked him away with a kick, then swerved his body to avoid the two blasts.

“I… I couldn’t even see them,” went the startled Piccolo. “They were like flashes...”

But he then felt Frieza begin to pull on his left wrist, the effort needed to tear off his arm so minimal it’d take no time at all.

“Kaio-Ken...!”

Pan swung the Power Pole into his arm, to little discomfort at first...

“Times Twenty!”

...but the next right into his face rocketed him away, Piccolo being released and saving his last arm in the process.

“Can’t let up!”

Pan flew straight after Frieza, leaving Piccolo to watch as Vegeta intercepted the tyrant and not only clashed with him, but...

“Vegeta can actually see where Frieza’s going. See his attacks.”

Thinking back to being utterly baffled by Pan blasting a hole in Vegeta before, then asking for Dende to heal him, the purpose for all of it became clear to him.

“Saiyans grow in power from near-death. She nearly killed Vegeta. That’s how he’s keeping pace now. That’s how he’s so much stronger now.”

Gohan, spitting out water after his head ascended out of the ocean from Vegeta’s kick, saw the battle transpiring in the sky.

“If Vegeta is this much stronger now, I wonder how Dad is...”

“Vegeta, move!”

Pan, her time in Times Twenty limited, had to try getting around him to make the most of it. But while Vegeta gave her just enough of an opening to join in the battle, he was not intent on decreasing his efforts in the slightest.

“You, with the Earthing earlier...” Frieza went mid-fight. “It was no coincidence. You planned to be wounded and then healed all along.”

“Yes,” Vegeta answered back, redirecting a punch. “And now I’ve transformed.”

“Transformed? Not that I can tell, though you’re awfully confident now. No fear.”

“Exactly! And now it’s your time for fear!”

He punched Frieza on the cheek, Vegeta’s first blow to that form.

“You tried destroying us all to prevent it from coming to pass, but I’ve now become the very thing you dread!”

Frieza tilted his head to avoid a jab from Pan’s polearm, then, before he could counterattack, was struck by a flying kick from Vegeta.

“The Super Saiyan!”

Pan, while impressed with how much Vegeta had grown in strength, focused on any opening she could find.

“It’s kicking in a little. You just tell me when Grandpa is on his way, okay?”

“Your attempts at humor continue to elude me...” went Frieza, almost frighteningly nonchalant. “...and what I’m about to tell you is no joke.”

He redirected a kick from Pan.

“You, ‘Super Saiyan’, would’ve bested me... in any of my prior forms.”

“Then explain right now!” went Vegeta with a punch.

“Very well,” replied Frieza, catching it.

Vegeta went to pull back...

“This isn’t even a quarter of my strength.”

...but was pinned in midair.

“H-how?”

“Want to know how much of my power I’m using at this very moment?”

Pan went for a two-handed Power Pole swing to the back of his head, but his other hand caught it. She found it equally as inescapable.

“I’m in Times Twenty and I can’t get it to budge!”

She let go of the polearm, then went for a punch to his back...

“I’ll tell you:”

...which his tail stopped by wrapping itself around her arm.

“Eight percent.”

Vegeta felt Frieza’s hand clamping down further on his and Pan felt his tail tightening around her arm to the point of a crushing sensation, all while trying to get out of it.

“Shit! This is in Times Twenty! He’d have turned it to paste without it!”

“Oh, I believe this belongs to you.”

She saw Frieza about to swing the Power Pole directly into her shoulder. The pain of the tail’s squeeze was so much she couldn’t even muster her other hand to fire ki.

“Arm broken or torn off, I can’t get out of this!”

A point-blank blast to Frieza’s face from Vegeta led to his grip loosening just enough for the Saiyan Prince to get free. However, his tail’s grip on Pan did not falter nearly enough and the Power Pole remained in his other hand with the swing only being delayed.

“It was painful enough without Kaio-Ken...”

She curled up in midair, putting her feet against Frieza’s side...

“Now this is going to really hurt in Times Twenty...!”

Pan pushed off Frieza with all her might, finally being free from the tail’s iron grip...

...dislocating her arm in the process.

Vegeta heard the loudest scream of pain from Pan, then saw that Frieza’s face didn’t even show any damage from his blast.

“This... this can’t be you at just eight percent.”

A flurry of punches came Frieza’s way, who almost appeared to be standing in place and merely tilted his upper body to avoid them.

“You’re right.”

One final punch went right for Frieza’s head, but instead of dodging, he held the Power Pole in front of him. As Vegeta gripped his hand from how hard he struck it, Frieza readied the polearm for a one-handed swing.

“8.4, maybe.”

The thunderous swing into his stomach didn’t just knock Vegeta backward, but so far out of sight Frieza could almost wonder how many miles away he would touch down.

Krillin and Gohan stood guard while Dende healed Piccolo.

“Your strength...” began Dende. “It reminds me of Nail. He was the strongest warrior on the planet.”

“Is that so?” went Piccolo, who grew a new arm now that he had a means to replenish his ki.

“He led Frieza away to protect Guru. I want to think he could’ve found a way to survive, but after everything I’ve seen, I am uncertain.”

“Oh no!”

Krillin's exclamation drew their eyes upward to the battle, where they saw Frieza turn the tables on Pan and Vegeta. The sound of a blast to Frieza was then followed by Pan screaming in pain as she came crashing down to the ground.

“She’s in trouble!” shouted Gohan.

He found Krillin stopping him.

“Stay here. Guard them until Piccolo’s fully healed.”

Just then, the air ripped from how hard Vegeta was knocked away.

“But Krillin, we...”

Gohan, in the time between witnessing that and looking back to Krillin, saw the Earthling had gotten away from the group.

Pan didn’t have a controlled landing, but instead landed on her back, a trail left behind until she stopped herself.

“Don’t know how much longer I can hold it... and if I exit Times Twenty now, I don’t know if I can even get back into it.”

“Hey, hold up!”

She saw Krillin running over to her and immediately jumped back onto her feet, but then stumbled.

“Krillin, get back.”

She waved him off even as her limp dislocated arm was now apparent.

“No way. You’re hurt really bad. I can’t leave you like this.”

“Go, Krillin, before Frieza...!”

Frieza landed with such force as for Krillin and Pan to fall onto their backs.

“Do as you wish, Earthling.”

He stepped forward, dragging the Power Pole across the blue-green grass.

“It makes no difference to me.”

Pan made her way up to her knees, her arm over the dislocated shoulder.

“I’ve destroyed whole planets in my first form alone.”

He stopped right in front of her.

“The so-called Super Saiyan is no match for me.”

She saw him lifting the polearm over his head, then transitioning to a two handed grip.

“So what chance did you ever have?”

Instead of an answer, he saw Pan closing her eyes and lowering her head.

“Just as I thought. Not unlike a dog completely resigned...”

Krillin could see Pan’s face from where he lied, but didn’t see one of dismay or defeat.

“...to being put down!”

As Frieza brought the Power Pole down, Pan gritted her teeth...

(**CRACKLE!**)

And the shout of pain from relocating her shoulder transitioned quickly to a defiant roar as both wrists then stopped the Power Pole from making contact with her head. In his astonishment, Frieza then felt himself being shoved aside just enough for Pan to move her leg, which then kicked him backward.

“Maybe seconds left, but if I can keep him here...!”

Frieza saw Krillin getting up and zoomed over for another Power Pole swing. This time, Pan stopped it with only one wrist, then struck one end with her other hand, knocking it out of his grip entirely.

“Go, NOW, Krillin!”

A kiai wave pushed Frieza back a considerable distance, then he found Pan beating him there and swinging at him before he could stop himself. He narrowly swerved to avoid it, her fingerless gloved fist just glancing off his chin, then redirected a raging jab. He went to trip her leg, but she hopped upward, then turned her upper body to swing at him once more, forcing him to block it.

“She’s actually... stepping it up too.”

Now her punches were coming in so fast and so strong he was forced to guard against them rather than attack or evade, each successful block nearly opening himself up for the next attack.

“She can’t possibly keep this up...”

At last, Pan finally landed a blow just beneath his arm and went for another jab as he appeared to reel...

...which Frieza had hoped for, grabbing onto her arm with both hands before lifting her off her feet and over him onto her back...

...after which the aura of Kaio-Ken was finally gone. Pan felt so sore from the use, or more likely overuse of it, that she could barely move any of her limbs without feeling strain.

“Eight percent. It took all that just to fare against eight percent.”

“I knew you couldn’t keep that up.”

He stepped around Pan, his feet on opposite sides and looking right at her face.

“That cut...”

He looked closer at the wound on her cheek resulting from one of his ki blades and his own hand. Another image began to form next to her:

“It reminds me of one that Saiyan had... who came to greet me personally before I destroyed Planet Vegeta. Defiant until the very end.”

But the similarities ended once he saw Pan unable to continue.

“I’m feeling generous, so here’s some praise before you die:”

He brushed his hands together.

“You were good.”

She then saw his right hand in what at first appeared to be a chopping stance, but then faced downward towards her like a spearpoint.

“You fought well.”

She had exhausted her body completely and now her one hope was...

“If Krillin and the others don’t see me die, maybe history can still be restored.”

Frieza then hunched over, his hand coming down right for her face.

“If this is mission accomplished, then...”

The tyrant had slain so many with his bare hands it often felt effortless just to pierce through flesh...

“Sleep well.”

...but he instead saw that Pan, her eyes completely white, and her hair with a partially red hue, had tilted her head to avoid it.

“Okay, that was quick on your part...”

He lifted his hand back upward, then thrust it downward a second time, but found Pan had tilted in the other direction.

“Two flukes. That’s all it is.”

Now both his hands switched between keeping him atop and stabbing downward, but Pan kept avoiding every one of them.

“No matter. She can only move her head. I’ll just...”

She put both her arms on the ground behind her...

“Incon...!”

...then, as she curled up and lifted herself upward, booted him between his chest and lower body. Upon standing on her hands entirely, Frieza was launched away from her. As he controlled his descent, he saw Pan fall onto her feet, hunch over, then turn towards him, looking less like a formal martial artist and more like a snarling beast.

“Oh, now that is cute.”

A downward punch towards her led to Pan on all fours stepping to the side, and a kick had Pan swerve her upper body in place before grabbing his tail.

“Nice try!”

He hopped over her, the tail going around her neck and the backs of her own hands pushed against her throat.

“And with a little pressure...”

He went for a crushing blow immediately, but he was met by a very sharp pain.

“Agk!”

Pan had bitten his tail, leading to him instead throwing her. As he tended to it, seeing her fang-like bite marks on it, Pan used the backs of her shoes and her fingernails to screech to a stop, then charged right for him.

“It makes no sense how she’s accomplishing this. This fast and this strong...”

But as she got closer, readying not for a punch, but a claw-like strike...

“Oh, that’s right. I haven’t shown them yet...”

...he thrust his hand upward, smiling as he saw Pan’s hand near his face...

“What if I do THIS?”

...as a pillar-shaped section of the ground lifted straight up into the air with Pan in tow.

Krillin, having regrouped with the others, saw a massive pillar of grass and rock shoot up into the sky with Pan standing atop it.

“He didn’t even touch it...”

“You’ve done well on the ground.”

He then thrust his hand downward, the pillar coming straight down, shattering into a massive dust cloud that covered the area itself.

In fact, Krillin and the others couldn’t even see Frieza in the fog-like cover his pillar created. All they could see clearly was Pan in midair, but instead of trying to hover or slow herself down, she swung her arms and legs like she was unable to fly.

“Quick! We have to...!”

“Out of my way!”

“Now you’re out of ground to stand on.”

Frieza shot straight up, this feral Pan unable to control herself in the air and falling towards his spear-like hand.

“You have heart.”

He felt it this time: his hand tearing straight through flesh. Frieza’s hand went just below her left breast, then, as he was certain that organ was near, adjusted his fingers to take hold of it when he made contact.

“Let’s see what it looks like together.”

His thumb made contact with the heart first, feeling the heartbeat up close.

“And for my next trick...”

His remaining fingers had just made contact...

...when, at high speed, Gohan struck him in the face with a dropkick. Pan, her iris reverting to black, spat out blood, then saw Frieza’s hand going straight through her near her heart. Frieza, still reeling, was stunned enough for her to push off of him with both hands, his red-covered right hand revealed to her as it exited.

“Chest...”

But immediately after, she felt such pain from torn muscle.

“Ribs...”

Split bone.

“Lung...”

And blood out of control within her body.

“Heart’s...”

Another gag resulted in more blood spit out and she saw it exit upward from the wound. It appeared so slow to Pan she could try counting how many individual drops were spaced out...

...if her eyes weren’t already starting to close. Her head leaned back, looking up not at Frieza, but at the son of Goku and half-Saiyan who, if history wasn’t altered this day, would grow up to be her...

“Dad...”

Gohan, holding back just one arm of Frieza, had tried to save this young woman, but was now powerless to reach her and could only watch her descend.

“NO!!!”

The Great Pan Is Dead? Unabated Cruelty![]

Trunks couldn’t even make words. Chronoa, who thought Pan was nearly killed when Lord Slug tried crushing her in his hands, now saw the fatal wound firsthand.

Both crouched down, seeing through the scroll that even with Gohan’s intervention stopping Frieza from tearing out her heart, Pan fell and bled from the wound just beneath her chest with no sign of slowing and her body unable to do a thing.

“PAN!!!”

Trunks broke the silence.

“Pan, can you hear us?! Say something... ANYTHING, if you can hear us!”

The usually formal and reserved Supreme Kai of Time put her face up to the scroll as if to make sure Pan could hear her.

“Stay with us, Pan! Just hang in there! PLEASE!!!”

It wasn’t that Pan couldn’t hear them, but in the state her body was in, it was hard to hear, period.

“I always wondered why my parents wanted me to live a normal human life. Not a life like theirs. Like Grandpa’s.”

Seeing the distraught face of her father, only a child now, witnessing her fall as Frieza’s left arm alone kept him from going after her...

“It’s the same reason they never told me about this. All these battles in the past. And... the deaths.”

At this current moment in history, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and Tien were dead as a result of the Saibamen and Nappa. Piccolo had died in that battle too and had only been alive again shortly. And Vegeta, whom she was forced to blast at his own request, nearly died until Dende helped her.

“They never wanted this for me.”

She had been gone for so long from her Earth and so locked in preparing for battles Pan had almost forgotten what it was like...

“They wanted me to live a life of peace. The peace my dad didn’t get to have.”

It was clear to her especially now why her father, despite still training and keeping in peak shape, prioritized not just his studies and career, but his family and “normal” civilian life:

“He never wanted any of this as a child. It was thrust upon him because of how strong he was for his age. Because of the greater threat that came. If he had any choice in the matter...”

In their training and play spars together as Pan grew up, the impression was never that her father didn’t enjoy the thrill of martial arts, but rather...

“Dad didn’t want to fight to survive. He never wanted to fight to the death. And all this...”

All the death he witnessed, all the pain he had to go through, and all the times he nearly died himself...

“Piccolo may have done what he did for the sake of the planet, but my dad was practically a child soldier. Fighting far too young in life-or-death struggles.”

She mustered enough of her strength for what may have been her one final act:

Putting her hand out to Gohan.

“You never wanted this for yourself... and you and Mom did everything in your power so I wouldn’t have to go through what you did.”

Whether she did this to try comforting him or as a final goodbye to her father, even as the young Gohan would never know Pan’s true identity...

“I wish I could take back all our fights. The things I said to you. Maybe soon... I will.”

Gohan saw Pan’s eyes closing and her raised hand fall down, as well as the impact point into a rock formation he couldn’t reach in time.

“At that speed and angle, her blood will...!”

“NO!!!”

“Oh, whatever is the matter, dear boy?” Frieza taunted.

“I tried to save you...”

The back of her head was about to make contact first...

“...and I failed.”

...but instead of a thunk, Gohan and Frieza heard rocks grinding, breaking apart.

“S-she’s...”

“How in the...?!”

Krillin, having caught her right before, used his own body to keep Pan upright, his back and left shoulder taking most of the brunt.

“H-h-hang on!”

Frieza’s bloodied right hand began to aim right at his two falling adversaries...

“Let’s fix that...”

Gohan had pushed back with everything he had...

“I couldn’t save Mr. Piccolo from Nappa...”

But then with a snarl...

“I won’t let you kill her or Krillin!”

Frieza actually saw himself being rotated clockwise in midair, the Death Beam that released missing its mark.

“Y-you BASTARD SPAWN of Raditz!”

His right hand went to chop at Gohan in retaliation...

...when two hands gripped him from behind by his neck, then pulled him straight down.

“Attack NOW, Gohan!”

Piccolo had stretched his arms to pull Frieza away, but knew the moment the tyrant touched down, he’d recover and break away with ease. But where before, against Nappa, Gohan hesitated to fire, losing his composure, here, having seen what Frieza had done and knowing what he’d do...

“I’m going to use everything I’ve got to stop him!”

“You’ll die for that!”

What at first appeared to be a sphere came down straight for Frieza, who, upon Piccolo releasing him, tried to get away, but only had enough time to face it directly and put his hands out to protect himself.

Having slowed down and finally landing, Krillin shifted his position just enough to face her left side while never letting go of the back of her head.

“H-hey... just give me a sec to...”

Putting his left hand to her neck...

“S-still have a pulse. Good.”

...he then felt her head weighing down on his right hand.

“D-don’t start fading on me now...!”

He put his left hand to her non-scarred cheek.

“No, no, stay with us!”

He looked around desperately for the one companion who could do something about this:

“DENDE!!!”

The secret was already out, so the direct approach took precedence over guile.

“K-kr...”

He saw Pan’s eyes open, but from her speech could tell she didn’t have long.

“I’ve got you. Now just hold on. Help is on the...”

“Kri...”

She continued to speak, as well as tried lifting her right hand up.

“Shh, shh...”

His left took hold of it, his grip just enough to let her know...

“I’m not going anywhere. Just focus. Eyes on me.”

Still not seeing or hearing anyone coming his way to help...

“DENDE, get your butt over here, NOW!!!”

He felt her hand struggle to stay upright...

“Just relax, okay? Don’t overexert. You’re going to be okay.”

...and saw Pan smile...

“Krilli...”

“Wait, don’t... just hang on... everything’s going to be...!”

...then close her eyes, her hand coming down completely.

“That’s her ki!”

Goku was in shock.

“It’s going down fast! She doesn’t have long!”

Earlier, the Supreme Kai of Time had talked Goku into not leaving the healing pod earlier when Vegeta was on Death’s door, convincing the Saiyan raised on Earth that the ally whose identity was a mystery to him would pull through.

“It’s not that Queen Kai was wrong, but if Frieza’s done that to someone like her, then everyone else will...”

His fists tightened…

“If I had just left a minute ago...”

...but he still felt pain in his left hand from Vegeta having broken it when Ginyu was in possession of his body.

“Damn it...” he audibly spoke aloud.

He hated to admit it, but even earlier, he could feel his body was still nowhere near a hundred percent and still recovering.

“Stay alive everyone... Gohan... Krillin... and you, whoever you are...”

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Towa,” Mira observed.

The two were watching what appeared to be the futile effort of Krillin to keep Pan alive.

“Will you mourn her?” he bluntly asked.

Towa closed her eyes and sighed.

“If she dies... then she dies.”

Dende saw what at first looked like an orb from Gohan unleashed on Frieza, keeping him pinned in place on the ground, then followed by a beam.

“Gohan’s power... could it actually be enough to defeat him?”

“DENDE!!!”

Krillin called for him in the distance.

“He needs my help.”

He started hovering when he could’ve sworn Frieza was actually peering right at him as he flew.

“He couldn’t be... why would he focus on me when he is struggling just to hold back that...?”

A blast from his hands not only stopped Gohan’s attack, but was actually sending it straight back to sender, who was in no position to get out of the way or defend against it.

“Gohan!” Dende cried out.

Piccolo saw this as well, then saw Frieza stand up, now facing Dende, pointing at him.

“I can’t let Gohan die... but I can’t leave Dende.”

In milliseconds, Piccolo had to choose between saving the son of his former enemy that he had now truly come to care for and the only remaining Namekian besides himself and Kami whose healing ability was what was keeping them in the fight to begin with.

“With the Dragon Balls, I could get Kami to...”

He grew infuriated with himself...

“How dare I think like that!”

...but also saw Dende staring off at his impending death as well.

“Damn it, I’ll hate myself with whoever I let die!!”

A familiar roaring battle cry caught enough of Frieza’s attention to look upward...

“I suppose with me holding back, I should’ve expected this...”

...seeing the Saiyan Prince about to swing down, perhaps with a double axe handle.

“That’s right. Come on. Hit me.”

“Take your shot, Frieza.”

Piccolo, with Dende no longer Frieza’s target, turned to Gohan, firing off with both hands to intercept the orb. It pierced through Gohan’s reflected attack, causing it to explode before it could reach the son of Goku.

Meanwhile, Frieza fired straight at Vegeta to intercept him before the Saiyan could make contact...

...then saw that from Vegeta emerged the red polearm Pan had wielded and discarded earlier...

“WH...?!”

...which not only deflected the Death Beam towards the ground, but also struck Frieza’s hand, causing him to stumble backward.

“You really thought this red rod would kill me?!”

The pain the tyrant actually felt was not dissimilar from when Pan used it.

“When she had that red aura. And Vegeta’s power was very much like...”

“DENDE, get your butt over here, NOW!!!”

Hearing Krillin shout this once more, Frieza was drawn away from the Saiyan Prince, as well as saw Dende now flying there with full haste.

“The Saiyans and the large Namekian can wait. If I eliminate the short Namekian now...”

“HEY!!!”

Vegeta swung the Power Pole, which Frieza stopped with one wrist, then, before the tyrant could counterattack, was actually forced onto his knees with a two-handed push.

“Let’s see what it can do in the hands of a Super Saiyan!”

With Krillin in her sight as her eyes started closing...

“Krilli...”

...her mind played several memories she had with one of Goku’s oldest friends:

One of the earliest memories Pan had any recollection of was one where she and her parents were at Krillin and Lazuli's. The five of them sitting together, both her mother and father were so excited to tell them the news:

“Her first words, already?” asked Lazuli.

“Just last night,” Videl clarified.

“I’m surprised how quickly she’s starting to assemble words,” went Gohan, holding Pan.

“Gohan, you were a pretty quick learner too, right?” Krillin asked. “Launch said she met you years before I did, and at your age, she was pretty surprised you started talking too.”

“Tell you what:”

Lazuli walked over to Gohan, hunching over so Pan could see her.

“La-zu-li.”

Pan made small unrelated noises, then had her hands out as if gesturing them would help her try to figure it out.

“La... La...”

The blonde haired wife of Krillin tilted her head and smiled.

“Little more...”

“La... Lazul.”

Krillin snickered, then covered his mouth to contain giggles.

“What?” his wife asked.

“I was just thinking five out of six letters is a pretty good start... Lazul.”

Pan peered over at Krillin, almost giving him a side eye.

“Uh...”

“See, that’s why I prefer you call me Eigh... Eigh...”

Lazuli was about to sneeze and stepped backward before covering her nose with her wrist.

“Well, Krillin?” Videl began. “Let’s see how Pan does with your name.”

He stepped over, not needing to crouch to meet Pan’s eyesight.

“Krillin. Krill-in”.

She gestured her hands again, trying to articulate.

“You can do it. I believe in you.”

“Kr... Kr...”

“Yes?”

“Krilli.”

After seeing Krillin’s dumbfounded face react, Pan started to giggle.

“I think...” Lazuli started, trying to keep herself from laughing. “I think she likes it.”

The child of Gohan and Videl then pointed over at Krillin.

“Krilli.”

She giggled even more so as Lazuli gave him a friendly smack on the shoulder.

“Yes. That’s Krilli.”

Now Pan’s giggling grew even more infectious with her parents and even Krillin himself joining in.

“Well okay. Krilli it is.”

Then a year or so later when the extended Z-Fighter family gathered together for a pool party and barbeque. Pan was in the shallow end of the pool, inflatable armbands on to keep her afloat, as Marron, Krillin and Lazuli’s teenage daughter, kept watch of Pan and also tried coaching her in swimming.

“Yep. Just like that. With your arms.”

She swat her hands downward, splashes comparable to an adult doing the same feat being made.

“Not so hard a splash. Just little ones.”

After receiving Marron’s instruction, Pan adjusted, swimming forward with lighter strokes.

“Good job, Pan.”

She saw many of the grown-ups gathered close to the grill, Yamcha and Vegeta at the helm.

“You think I should try growing out a mustache?”

“Not on your life.”

The blunt answer from Vegeta had Yamcha chuckle.

“Alrighty then.”

Pan heard a bee buzzing past her. Instead of being alarmed or nervous, Pan giggled, deciding to swim towards it out of the shallow end.

“Whoa, whoa,” cautioned Marron. “That’s the deep end, Pan.”

“Don’t worry,” reassured Marron's father. “The lifeguard has an eye on her.”

As Pan continued swimming forward, she heard the voice of a member of Marron’s family she had met for the first time that day:

“So Krillin told me you and Tien run a dojo these days.”

Lapis, his hair much like his sister Lazuli’s save for the color.

“Yeah, though Chiaotzu has helped us keep afloat as well.”

“Ah. Neat.”

“Tell me, Lapis...” began Vegeta. “Last we met, you hadn’t exactly landed a career.”

“Whoa, Vegeta. He didn’t mean anything by...”

“Don’t sweat it,” went Lapis. “Well I can say that I have found a line of work that suits me.”

Pan saw the bee land on a flower that was growing out of the concrete at the pool’s edge. Her father, who was helping set up the eating area with tableware, saw Pan near the bee and made his way over.

“Remember, Pan: let the bee do its own thing. If it’s scared, it’ll sting.”

Pan didn’t try to get closer or reach up for the bee, simply content to watch it.

“Uh, Gohan, you better come quick...”

Hercule started off calmly, but then...

“On the double!”

Pan peered over, seeing them over by a box of some rocket-shaped objects.

“How did this happen?” her father asked.

“I’ve tried putting them all out, but at least one is still...”

One of the fireworks went off. The loud noise once it went boom up above caught Pan completely off-guard, startling her.

Just then, a loud popping noise.

“Pan?” went Videl, hearing her daughter and now this noise.

Once she was crouched over to see Pan, she saw that Pan had unwittingly used ki, popping the armbands.

“Pan!”

Videl went to grab hold of her arm, but Pan was underwater before she could reach her daughter. As Pan sank, the young child wasn’t frantically moving or panicking, but kept nearly still. Once she reached the bottom of the pool, she was almost in a perfect sitting stance.

Then something entered the water and a red blur was in front of her:

Krillin, in a red t-shirt and white swim trunks. He took hold of her and then nearly flew out of the water. Once they touched down, he laid her on her back, keeping her head upward.

“Hey, are you okay there, Pan?”

Pan’s vision was a little fuzzy, adjusting to the sun getting in her eyes, but then she sat straight up and onto her arms. She coughed, spitting out water, after which her mother put a hand to her back.

“There, there.”

Pan saw two pairs of feet in front of her: Bulma’s and Bulla’s.

“You had a little ki accident there. Not to worry. I can get started on armbands that’ll withstand anything from a bee sting to your ki.”

Pan saw Bulla, despite being shorter than her, put out a hand to help her.

“Up, up.”

She took it and was on her feet, after which she turned to Krillin.

“Thank you, Krilli.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. It’s all part of the job, on-duty or off.”

Bulla then pointed over at him.

“Krilli.”

“Doh!”

“Krillin, I’m sorry. I was...”

“We’re losing her, Dende!”

Once he arrived, the short Namekian took the buttoned coat Pan was wearing and opened it up, revealing her blue shirt worn underneath and saw the wound much more clearly. Once this was done, he put his left hand to her right, then his right hand directly over Pan’s wound, the glow slow to begin.

“Come on, come on...!”

“Krillin, that isn’t helping!”

The Earthling gripped Pan’s right once more.

“Please, please just stay with us a little longer...”

He looked down at her face, believing he had seen Pan draw her last breath.

“Don’t do this to us.”

Krillin put his head down.

“No. Not to Gohan. Not to me.”

A mysterious figure was just behind Krillin, peering down at Pan from his hood and his praying arms.

“She’s saved our skins and this time, it was too much for...”

“M...”

Krillin, a tear coming down, saw that Pan’s face moved as if she were just waking up.

“Almost there,” went Dende.

Pan, peering up at her opened coat, saw the last of the wound being covered by newly grown flesh, slowly sealing it. Once it concluded, she sat up and put her left hand over it, feeling the obvious opening in the lower region of her shirt, but otherwise no wound.

“You really had me going there,” went Krillin, whom, when Pan looked at him, tried to wipe his tear away quickly with his wrist.

“You saved me.”

“I mean, all I did was...”

“If you hadn’t caught me, I would have bled out. I wouldn’t be here without you.”

Dende appeared to be taking a step backward to give her space.

“Either of you.”

He then noticed she still had a very noticeable wound remaining: the x-shaped scar on her left cheek. Approaching and putting a hand to it...

“I had to try.”

The hooded figure, peering from behind a fox mask, saw that all was well.

“I knew you would make it. I mean, you did cut it pretty close, but still.”

As Pan's cheek was healed, she couldn't help but look out in the distance, as if some unseen person were looking over at her.

“Best I make my exit, then.”

But while not seeing or hearing him, Pan just had a feeling.

A sigh of relief from Goku.

“She’s okay.”

“A minor setback,” Towa began.

“How so?” Mira inquired.

“Several changes almost occurred... and may still come to pass.”

Earlier

Vegeta continued his assault, actually seeming to keep Frieza from getting to higher ground with the Power Pole. Gohan and Piccolo were in awe at his speed and strength, as well as the fury of his unrelenting attacks.

“S-should we help Vegeta?”

“With all the power we’ve used up just now, we’ll just get in his way. I hate to admit it, but Vegeta’s the only one capable of actually keeping up with Frieza right now.”

“Until my dad gets here, right?”

Piccolo seemed slow to give an answer.

“I hope so, Gohan.”

Just then, the tyrant forced the Power Pole down, then with a strategic swing, knocked it out of Vegeta’s hands in their direction.

“Gohan, watch o...!”

He then found that Gohan had caught the Power Pole before one of its ends could touch his face like catching a spear.

Vegeta saw Frieza defending against his punches, but not making one move against him.

“Yes! That’s right! He can’t attack without leaving himself wide open! All he can do is defend!”

But in a blur, Frieza moved around him...

“I see you!”

And with a chopping hand, struck Frieza exactly where he was going...

“Eh?”

...except what he struck was an afterimage. And he then saw Frieza having made it to an island a short distance away in less than a second.

“Quite the Super Saiyan, indeed. If I go faster, you’ll get motion sick.”

All this time Vegeta thought he was now matching Frieza, keeping him on the ground, and not attacking...

“Y-you were toying with me?”

“I’m afraid with all this Super Saiyan nonsense you kept babbling about, you were long overdue for a lesson. So yes, I led you on. All to show you that it was only a legend after all.”

Vegeta looked over at his gloved hands, seeing them partially tattered.

“I came back from near-death. I was certain it would’ve made me... made me a...”

Clenching his hands into fists...

“You shit! That tears it!”

He zoomed up into the sky, arms raised.

“I AM A SUPER SAIYAN!!!”

Frieza simply stood arms crossed as he saw Vegeta amassing what to most, especially his own men, would consider a massive amount of power.

“Now burn in Hell, Frieza!”

Gohan’s eyes were wide open from just how much of Vegeta’s power he was putting into it.

“He’ll take the whole planet with him...”

Piccolo cried out directly.

“VEGETA!!! You’ll drain yourself almost completely!”

The Saiyan Prince expelled his assembled ki in the form of a beam-like projectile and saw Frieza still staring at it, that same cocky smirk on his face, not even moving in the face of it.

“Let’s see you laugh this one off when you’re pushed into Namek’s core!”

It came closer and closer, still not one finger lifted, let alone an arm.

“And then we’ll see if you even have a body left when the core explodes!”

For the briefest moment, Frieza stood on just his left foot.

“Trying to escape, are you? You’ll have to escape the whole planet once it...!”

And with a jump, Frieza intercepted it, performing a backflip of sorts...

...and using his right foot to...

“He couldn’t...!”

A purple glow overtook the tyrant and a kick with his right foot deflected it entirely...

...straight towards Vegeta.

The normally proud Saiyan Prince, struck with such terror and despair, trembled in midair...

“It. Did. Nothing. What she did was for nothing. Both her and the bald Earthling could’ve taken turns and it still would’ve been for nothing.”

...and shed the very first tears of his life.

“Compared to his power... I...”

He couldn’t even bring himself to move out of the way of his own reflected attack.

“I... am nothing.”

“Vegeta!”

Gohan flew upward, thrusting his hands in his direction for a kiai wave, pushing Vegeta back just enough to narrowly avoid it. Piccolo, who lost track of Gohan, was struck at his actions.

“Even after everything Vegeta did to him and his father... Gohan still saved him.”

“I’m not mad, little Saiyan,” went Frieza from below, at first to the horror of Gohan. “In fact, I’ll allow that.”

The tyrant looked about ready to lunge upward.

“It would’ve been far too quick otherwise. We should really enjoy these last moments together.”

Gohan turned not to see Vegeta preparing to battle or even take evasive action, but looking completely and utterly deprived of his will to fight.

“Vegeta, snap out of it. You have to...”

“We’ve... lost.”

“Oh don’t fret, Vegeta.”

A thundering zoom ripping through the sky.

“I’ll be gentle.”

And after a front flip, he struck Vegeta not onto solid ground, but instead straight into the water. Frieza appeared to land on a piece of land so tiny his two feet barely held onto it...

...but with his hands lifted, water around him began to lift upward. Then with his arms lowered, all the water around the general area opened up, revealing the very bottom once beneath it.

“Drowning would’ve been too good for you...”

Piccolo nearly lost his footing at the sight of this.

“Frieza’s moving that much water... pushing it back... and keeping it from him... with his telekinesis...”

And as Frieza hopped downward, walking up to the immobile Vegeta, then picking him up by his hair and punching his back with his other hand...

“...like he’s barely using any of his power at all.”

Noticing the Namekian from Earth staring at him, Frieza stopped and gave a mock wave gesture.

“Come on in. The water’s fine.”

This time, when he saw Gohan about to fly down to help...

...he put his hand out to stop him.

“It’s no use, Gohan.”

“B-but I can’t just watch him...”

“Without your father or Dende, we have no choice.”

“Dende?”

Frieza had overheard that name from Piccolo.

“Should’ve spoken telepathically...”

The tyrant snapped his fingers.

“Oh, that’s right. I just knew I was forgetting someone.”

Pan felt her left cheek, the scar that cut deep into it gone.

“Feels nice without the stinging.”

As Dende saw his work just about done...

“I missed something.”

He pointed over to a space on her coat between her shoulder and neck.

“It’s just a small, little...”

“Let me get that.”

He floated upward, then realized Krillin was in the way.

“I need you to step aside, please.”

The Earthling nodded and proceeded away, his back against a wall. Pan heard Krillin trying to keep a groan quiet while putting his right hand over the back of his left shoulder.

“What are you looking at me like that for?”

“Krillin, you’re hurt.”

"It's nothing. Just... just got banged up a bit."

He then couldn't help but crouch, a brief peak at his back revealing red marks on the exposed skin from the hole Frieza's horn created in his armor, as well as his left arm especially. Dende saw this as well and gasped.

“Just a moment, Krillin, then I’ll...”

He saw the last of Pan’s wounds healed and prepared to float towards him...

...then all three heard a familiar sound.

“Death Beam!”

Pan turned her head, almost appearing as if Dende and Krillin were in slow-motion by comparison. Once she saw the beam coming right towards her direction...

“Ki shield, NOW!!!” shouted Trunks.

The ensuing explosion resulted in her being pushed back and Krillin being knocked back into the same wall he brushed against before. Pan found she had not only been untouched, but...

“Blocking that hardly used anything...”

She saw Krillin, not unscathed, but having avoided serious damage from the beam. But as she looked down at the Death Beam’s intended target...

“...he was a child. And Frieza...”

Dende, entirely motionless and his clothes practically charred.

“Oh look, Prince Vegeta. It’s Dende. Here, let’s get you all patched up.”

Like playing with a person-sized toy, Frieza planted his feet onto the ground only for the Saiyan Prince’s legs to go limp, falling to his knees.

“Ah, of course. Dende can’t hear us from up there.”

He then held the back of Vegeta’s head more directly and shoved his face towards the deceased Namekian.

“Hello there, Dende. I hear you’re a healer. This is Prince Vegeta. Is there any chance you could heal him?”

Even having told Gohan to not help Vegeta for the sake of protecting the son of Goku, Piccolo was appalled by Frieza’s torture and use of Dende as a prop.

“He’s rubbing Vegeta’s face in with the fact Dende can’t heal anymore. Worse, he’s treating Dende’s body like a play thing.”

“It would appear there’s just ONE teensy little problem:”

He whispered in Vegeta’s ear.

“Dende can’t heal your broken pride.”

With a swing and release, Vegeta was thrown into the same rocky wall, lying on his back as pieces fell around and onto him. Frieza, besides seeing a clump of Vegeta’s hair in his hand...

“Oh don’t you all give me that face...”

His four remaining opponents had faces twisting with despair over the difference in power, fear of what he’d do, disgust at how he had treated Dende’s body, and anger at his deed and the total indifference he showed.

“It’s the most basic law of the universe: anyone who is on the opposite side of my empire deserves their death. You can’t possibly blame me for killing the Namekian. It’s his fault. Dende brought it on himself. All he had to do was surrender...”

He took the clump, closed his hand around it, then tossed it right at the Namekian’s head.

“...and not run.”

Pan, as much as she would’ve wanted to do nothing more than go all out...

“I’ll stand down if that’s what I’m supposed to do... but the minute Grandpa gets here...”

“It’s a respite period, Pan,” Chronoa clarified. “Unless Towa gets Frieza to act out, he lets the others live until Goku arrives.”

“I can see that you’re upset, Saiyan girl,” went Frieza, whose snarling teeth were not at all concealed. “I’ll be happy to oblige you, but would you mind if I put the Saiyan Prince to bed first?”

He hunched over in front of the Saiyan Prince.

“What was it you said, Prince Vegeta? ‘Now burn in Hell, Frieza!’”

After mocking the Saiyan’s voice, he took Vegeta up by his collar with his right hand.

“That’s actually where I’m sending you.”

His other hand took on the familiar spearpoint stance.

“But you can rest easy... since I won’t be there.”

As Frieza was about to snuff him out...

A loud zoom. And an impact that all parties could feel. Even Frieza was given pause...

“I’m not as strong as you, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got. It’s time to get serious.”

...at another combatant in orange and blue.

“One way or another, you’re going to pay!”

Not just that...

“That face... I’m certain I’ve seen it before...”

Pan’s anger slowly subsided not into a calm or happiness, but a semblance of reassurance with what was to come.

“Grandpa, you’re back...”

As Told In Tales! Goku & Pan vs Frieza![]

The three remaining Z-Fighters standing alongside Pan saw Goku walking past them and towards Frieza with what they’d consider a strange calm.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

“Goku, is that really you?”

The Saiyan raised on Earth turned to Piccolo, who couldn’t hide his awe towards his former hated enemy.

“You’ve... you’ve completely changed.”

“I’m not the only one, Piccolo. You really surprised me when I sensed you here earlier.”

Gohan stepped towards his father.

“Dad...”

Goku put his hand out, blocking his son. Krillin followed, stopping short of where Gohan was.

“Your ki...” Krillin began. “It’s entirely different from earlier.”

“You both kept each other alive. You don’t know how happy that makes me.”

Goku then ruffled his son’s hair.

“You made it this far without me. I’m proud of you.”

He saw Pan stepping forward, just as ready for battle as he was.

“You really had a close call earlier... but right now, I’d say you’re past your peak.”

But even with what sounded like an endorsement from her grandfather, Goku turned back to everyone with a stern expression.

“I’m glad you’re all here in one piece, but stay back. I’ll take over from here.”

Pan looked over to a piece of cover she could use to leave, but considering everything that had gone differently so far...

“He said to stay back, not to leave.”

“So... you must be Frieza.”

This whole time, the tyrant held Vegeta, his other hand still raised for the killing blow.

“Leave him be. I’ll give you a better fight.”

While this sounded like Goku talking down to Vegeta, Pan and the others knew the intentions behind his words to Frieza.

“Grandpa’s saying this so he’ll spare Vegeta.”

Vegeta was dropped to the ground, stunned to see...

“K-Kakarot...”

“That name...”

Frieza’s suspicions were now confirmed:

“It’s a Saiyan name.”

And now seeing Goku standing up close, his hair and face especially, a gap in his memory was filled.

“He has almost the exact visage of that low-class Saiyan. With the Saiyan girl, that scar was just a fluke. But this one... it’s like a spitting image.”

“It seems I missed yet another Saiyan. Not that it’ll make any difference. You won’t die quietly.”

Instead of seeing Goku intimidated by his words, he found that Goku lightly smirked in response.

“You know, you’re shorter than I expected.”

Frieza, in the short distance between himself and Goku, appeared to vanish to the untrained human eye...

...but then Pan caught a purple flash.

“He sped up!”

Frieza went for a kick to Goku’s face, which Pan’s grandfather returned with the same gesture...

...with both landing further back, a hand to the opposite cheek.

“Frieza wasn’t supposed to land that!” exclaimed Trunks. “Goku should’ve caught him off-guard with his speed.”

But even with Towa’s interference at that moment, Pan was drawn to the fact that...

“He landed a hit on Frieza... and took one... without any Kaio-Ken.”

“You know, your friends are much too exposed behind you...”

Goku believed it to be a trick, keeping his eyes directly on Frieza, who pointed at him...

...and proceeded to then shift his aim to Piccolo.

“Especially him!”

Goku knew first thing what the Death Beam making contact would mean.

“If that kills Piccolo... Kami dies too! They’ll have wished him back for nothing!”

But just as he was about to move...

“Kai...!”

Pan shouted this as she zoomed into the Death Beam’s path, a ki-covered palm knocking it away. But she then saw Frieza fire once more, this time at...

“Dad!”

“O...!”

She intercepted it once more to the same result with the opposite hand. A brief glimpse of another arm tilt...

“Ke...!”

...and Pan struck the last Death Beam away from Krillin with both. Having stopped short of going into Kaio-Ken, she looked down at her fingerless gloved hands, realizing...

“I saw them... and stopped them... before I could even say it.”

Her astonishment was put on hold as Frieza then peered to his original target, firing not one, but a full-blown barrage of Death Beams.

“Duck, Goku!” Krillin shouted.

But he instead put out just one hand as the first beam reached him...

...knocking it back and then doing the same to the rest with rapid swipes of his wrist.

Vegeta, tilting his head upward, saw Goku to his left perform this feat, and was utterly stunned.

“This is not the same Kakarot from before. On Earth or even the one here. His limits... he’s far surpassed them...”

Frieza’s exposed expression of shock would soon subside as his eyes briefly flashed red.

“I suppose that was impressive... but you’ve yet to fathom my true power.”

But then he couldn’t believe what he heard next:

The wounded and defeated Vegeta laughing.

“Has your fear driven you insane?”

“Oh Frieza, you’ve yet to fathom HIS power. Taking him lightly because he’s a Saiyan will be your last mistake. In fact, he’s the one you’ve always been afraid of. He’s... the Super Saiyan!”

Frieza’s thus far narrow eyes actually shot wide open.

“The legend is true, Frieza. Soon... this planet will become your grave...”

Goku saw Frieza pointing and took on a defensive stance. When it was clear he

“...and you’ll get what you des...!”

A Death Beam straight to Vegeta’s heart put a stop to his speech, spitting up blood.

“Vegeta!” Goku exclaimed, having anticipated Frieza attacking anyone but him.

“I knew the rule of three was lost on you, Vegeta, but to continue rattling on that joke...”

“He was in no position to fight back! He couldn’t even move! He wasn’t a threat to you at all! You didn’t have to...!”

“No one tells me what I can and cannot do. I told him to cease with that Super Saiyan nonsense, but the stubborn little monkey refused. I had every right to kill him.”

“You’re still so naive...” began Vegeta at his most hoarse, blood running down his lips. “You limit yourself, you fool. To become the Super Saiyan, you must be cold-blooded... merciless.”

“I don’t know anything about a Super Saiyan...” Goku replied. “And I won’t be merciless like you.”

“That stupid sentiment of yours...”

This was followed by several rough coughs.

“Save your strength, Vegeta. Stop talking.”

“Why? This is as far as I go.”

Pan came as close as she could while Frieza looked away.

“Listen... your birth planet... Planet Vegeta... the Saiyan homeworld... Frieza destroyed it.”

The tyrant, his arms crossed, was entirely detached and apathetic towards Vegeta’s words.

“Not even running through his heart can shut him up.”

“My father and the Saiyans served Frieza... doing what we do best... clearing out whole planets of their people... but then he exterminated them. Your parents... and my own... out of fear of the Super Saiyan legend.”

“Oh sure...” Frieza sneered. “Take HIS word for it.”

“All my life after, I’ve lived under his subjugation... as one of the last Saiyans in the universe. I was always looked down on by his elite... a target on my back. I went to any length just to survive being under his service... well aware he’d bring about our extinction for falling short. Living in fear of the one that took everything from me.”

More blood spewed, covering the previous trails that went down his chin and down his neck.

“F-Frieza must perish...”

Pan heard every word Vegeta said to her grandfather, knowing his next words could be his last...

...then saw him looking at both Goku and her.

“...at the hands of a... S-S-Saiyan...”

Taking note of the look on Pan’s face, Vegeta scoffed...

“I still don’t believe you’re a Saiyan... but you might as well be...”

...and drew his last breath, eyes closed and the back of his head touching down.

“Oh GOOD. FINALLY. Took long enough. Might we get started, newcomer?”

Instead of replying or even acknowledging Frieza, Goku glared just to the side of Vegeta’s body...

...an invisible eye beam creating a small explosion, leaving a hole just deep enough to bury the fallen Saiyan.

“He used you. Twisted you. But behind all your cruelty...”

Pan watched as Goku began covering Vegeta up with dirt, giving even someone like him a proper burial.

“...deep down, you were a true Saiyan warrior.”

She was almost tempted to join in paying final respect to the Saiyan Prince, but simply stood recalling everything Vegeta revealed.

“He wasn’t raised spoiled. Frieza never gave him special treatment. It was cutthroat and brutal.”

“It’s no wonder he went after the Dragon Balls... both Earth’s and Namek’s...” Trunks added.

All of Vegeta’s rationales clicking into place, Pan put her head down and closed her eyes as if giving Trunks’ father a moment of silence.

“I understand.”

But even with Vegeta’s past fully acknowledged, the visage of the pleading Saibamen he eliminated, his otherwise loyal partner Nappa thrown into the air and reduced to nothing, the holographic image of the Namekian village Vegeta slew for a Dragon Ball, and Arlia and its people being destroyed for no reason turned Pan’s initial sympathy into a combination of conflicting feelings.

“I don’t forgive him... but I understand.”

As harsh as those four words may have been towards his father, Trunks, having witnessed Vegeta’s every deed from the past, as well as his future, said nothing back to Pan.

“I suppose I’ll have to be merciless, just as you said...”

As Pan’s grandfather stood up, she heard him carry on regarding being raised on Earth, but also being a Saiyan. He turned to face Frieza...

“For the Saiyans...”

...then saw the body of Dende, killed just before his arrival...

“...and all the Namekians you killed... !”

A clenched fist indicated he was more than prepared for the coming battle.

“I will bring you down!”

“Sure, sure...”

Frieza wasn’t the least bit intimidated or moved, as if he had heard declarations of that sort enough times to lose count. Pan was locked onto him to ensure his attention was locked onto her grandfather.

“Frieza hasn’t made a move just yet.”

Piccolo turned to Krillin and Gohan.

“Go! NOW! We’ll just be collateral damage!”

Krillin started to float off his feet...

“He’s right, you know...”

Purple overtook Frieza as he raised his hand upward, not unlike when he was in his second form...

“He’s removing them from the equation!”

...and Pan immediately flew straight for Piccolo, practically tackling him.

“GOHAN!!!”

Goku saw what Frieza was about to do, but right as he was about to take off to protect his son, he saw Krillin shielding him, then Piccolo stretching his arm to take hold of them both. With Pan pulling the three to safety, Goku quickly crossed his arms as Frieza’s attack finally went off.

From orbit, Frieza’s attack created a tiny red spot on the otherwise green planet.

“She can’t protect them all...” began Mira.

“And not just because of her strength...” Towa added.

Pan lied on the ground a distance away, releasing Piccolo, who then released Gohan and Krillin.

“Frieza really went out of his way to target them,” went Trunks. “He should’ve been fixated on Goku and let them go.”

“Shoot!” Pan exclaimed. “He was right towards the center of that!”

“Then you’d better get going...”

Piccolo mentally conversed with her once more.

“I fear even what Frieza did just now was just the smallest sample of his full power. With Dende healing you, you’re the best help to Goku right now.”

Considering before when Piccolo tried figuring out her identity and purpose, hearing him speak to her like this now...

“Piccolo, you... you trust me?”

“I saw what you did for Vegeta... and heard what he is to Trunks.”

“Crapbaskets,” went Trunks. “He’ll know I’m Vegeta’s son the moment he first sees me on Earth...”

Pan looked down.

“That wasn’t for you to know...”

“I know enough on why you’re here, and that’s enough for me. Trunks won’t be born if we lose this battle and we all perish. And since I’m sure Kami and the Dragon Balls will have their role for after, I’ll stay back with these two.”

Rising to her feet, Pan saw the fiery destruction perhaps less than a mile away from her.

“Piccolo seems to be gaining an understanding of what’s at stake,” went Chronoa to Pan, but mostly to Trunks. “It wasn’t part of the plan or even remotely ideal, but I believe he’ll still keep your secret upon meeting you.”

But right as Pan was about to leave...

“Wait...”

Gohan took her hand. He didn’t pull her down, but wanted her to face him.

“Please don’t let my dad die.”

She then saw him gesturing her grandfather’s polearm towards her other hand.

“You either, okay?”

Pan nodded to him.

“I promise.”

Taking the Power Pole into her hands, she then saw Krillin clench his fist.

“Deck Frieza good for us... and for Dende.”

One last nod towards the short Earthling.

“You got it.”

Now going as fast as she could, Pan zoomed over the fiery landscape straight for the battle of not just Goku’s life, but her own.

Goku, his hands out to stop a projectile, was being pushed straight through a large mass of rock.

“I thought you would’ve been happy, Saiyan.”

Frieza saw his opponent redirect his projectile into the air and coming to a stop...

“I even took the liberty of removing distractions so you could go all out.”

...his orange gi already partially torn and his palms with the smallest burns.

“Damn, that hurt. I’m gonna need to use Kaio-Ken sooner than I would’ve liked...”

“Perhaps a dip in lava will soothe you.”

Frieza had his hand out and Goku could feel the ground beneath him starting to heat up.

“He couldn’t be... is he controlling the planet itself?”

As Frieza was about to gesture his hand upward and lift enough rock beneath Goku to unveil the lava beneath it...

“If this Saiyan dies this quickly, then I can bring about their extinction in under an hour.”

...he thought he heard something in the air behind him and turned...

...being tackled by Pan.

“You tried killing my father!”

A punch to his face before he could respond.

“This won’t go down like it did on Earth!”

At the speed they traveled, the blue-green grass and water left untouched was coming into view. Frieza only barely saw it as another punch struck him.

“And this time...!”

Shoving Frieza through some land, a third punch caused Frieza’s eye beams to miss their point-blank target.

“...no golden form to help you!”

As Pan’s fourth punch neared him, his right hand in a spearpoint stance struck her stomach...

...and Pan was simply knocked back like having been punched with not a trace of blood to show for it.

“I skewered you just earlier! ”

Frieza, stopping just before his back would collide with a boulder, then jumped forward with so much force as to turn the whole rock into dust. His hands poked and chopped at Pan’s head, trying to debunk the idea his once fatal attack was now something she could withstand with little harm, only to find them ceased by her wrists.

“Where’s that red aura?! You couldn’t hope to accomplish any of this without it... especially against this form!”

He stopped attacking with his hands, firing eye beams, but Pan kept turning her head to avoid them. Dodging a punch to his chest from Pan’s right hand, trapping that arm with his left arm clamping down by his armpit, and catching her left with his right, he believed he had Pan dead to rights with a headbutt and eye beams...

“Yes! Got it!”

...the eye beams were stopped by ki covering her face before the beams could make impact. The headbutt struck true, Pan rolling back, but in all the rotations, he didn’t see a spot of blood or even a bruise on her forehead.

“CONFOUND IT!!!”

Pan caught herself on her hand, then immediately recognized Frieza putting up his index and middle fingers.

“Let’s see you unharmed by THIS!!!”

But looking up, Pan had every reason to believe it wouldn’t come to pass. Frieza caught only a glimpse of a shadow forming, growing larger...

...then felt himself struck on the back of the head by a double-axe handle. Frieza landed on his hand, stopping him from being shoved straight through the ground, though a crater formed around his wrist.

“Thanks for the save earlier...” went Goku, who helped Pan up. “...but I’m ready this time.”

Frieza almost appeared to rotate back onto his feet, then had his arms spread out towards his sides, palms facing the two.

“I suppose going up another ten or twelve percent wouldn’t hurt...”

While keeping their distance, Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin went around the fiery region Frieza created earlier and tried keeping up with the two-on-one battle.

“She needed Kaio-Ken just to stand up to that form of Frieza’s earlier, but now...”

“Could she be a Saiyan, Mr. Piccolo?”

“Her, a Saiyan? I thought she was a human.”

Privately, Piccolo had another theory entirely.

“If Trunks is of any indication, a full-blooded Saiyan and human could conceive a hybrid child. However far into the future she’s from, the girl could’ve been the child of a Saiyan... or the child of a Saiyan hybrid.”

But the Namekian did have one idea he could bring up.

“Vegeta grew in power after Dende healed him. And Goku from the healing pod. She appears to have done the same.”

“So maybe she is a Saiyan that escaped Frieza destroying Planet Vegeta.”

Krillin sighed, realizing he had been healed twice by Dende, but his own power hadn’t gone up nearly as noticeably.

“Man. To think your father and I used to be so closely matched as teenagers. All this time, he wasn’t just a monkey boy... but a whole other animal. Growing in power farther than any of us could ever dream of...”

Piccolo gave, perhaps for the first time in his life, a friendly slap on the back to Krillin.

“You humans surpass my expectations too, you know. I heard you and Yajirobe survived fighting Vegeta.”

“Yeah. Yajirobe cut off Vegeta’s tail... and Krillin, you almost cut off Frieza’s.”

Krillin recalled a particular taunt Frieza had for them upon reaching his second form.

“Frieza said he had a power level of a million. At least a million. And I did that to him.”

They felt ripples in the air itself, then saw high-speed clashes above them, almost too fast for them to even see.

“They’re taking to the skies...” went Piccolo.

Krillin, meanwhile, actually felt his once dwindling confidence return to him.

“Oh man, just wait until the others are wished back with the Dragon Balls. They’re never gonna believe when I tell them what I did to Frieza...”

Pan and Goku clashed side-by-side against Frieza, now finding that his speed appeared to increase.

“Towa’s doing... no. He was always meant to do this...”

“Shoot. He might not have been bluffing...”

A chop of Goku’s then appeared to have struck an afterimage of Frieza...

...and he saw a piece of land from below flying up straight towards him.

“Move!”

Pan shoved him aside, then performed with her hands as quickly as she could...

“Masenko!”

The blast struck before it could hit her, Pan completely still as a perfect hole through the chunk left her untouched by the passing landmass. She then saw Frieza being pushed down by Goku with a kiai wave towards the water below only for Frieza to telekinetically pull the mass back towards Goku.

Pan’s grandfather almost appeared to step backward, preparing one hand, then floated forward, a claw-like strike hitting the chunk of land. Right as it made impact, it broke into two pieces, going over and below him.

They then sensed Frieza zooming back upward, but now both his hands gestured in opposite directions. Pan and Goku both saw half of the mass coming right for them, the latter’s at a much closer distance. He appeared to have almost backhanded it, sending it above him, then lost sight of Frieza.

“He’s right on top of me...”

But directly above him, no such luck seeing Frieza. Following Frieza’s ki, he saw the broken landmass...

...then Frieza chopping through it with a downward kick that then struck Goku straight down into Namek’s ocean.

“Grandpa!”

Pan saw this, but also eyed the other half, catching glimpses of the tunnel her Masenko created as it rotated.

“Time it right...”

She descended slightly, still not enough to avoid it, but then flew straight towards it at high speed, the tunnel a clear path. Upon making it through, she put out both hands in front of her while never breaking her flying stance.

Pan’s high speed punch to Frieza’s gut with both fists sent Frieza up high so quickly by the time he pushed Pan off of him, he saw clouds below him.

“A job well done.”

Pan found that Frieza wasn’t irritated at her newfound power like he was before.

“When this is done, I’ll chisel your gravestone. Now if you’ll excuse me...”

He flew downward so quickly it came close to looking like he vanished from her sight. Pan went to follow, then realized Goku hadn’t come up from the water just yet.

“Hey.”

Goku’s voice.

“So I don’t think Frieza can sense ki like we can. He’s just been going off sight. So let’s use that to our advantage.”

For all of what Goku lacked in formal education, to think that he deciphered this in just the short time he had battled Frieza...

“You really are a fighting genius, like they said...”

“I’m preparing something underwater. Something Krillin and I worked on a long time ago. Could never quite get it to work right, but I think I can pull it off now. Should give us some openings.”

Goku formed controlled Kamehamehas which remained in the shape of orbs while on the ocean floor. Frieza, now hovering over the water, was unable to figure out his opponent’s location from that far below the surface.

“Come out already! I know even a Saiyan like you couldn’t have been done in by something like that!”

Something floated behind him in near-silence, his attention too glued to his Saiyan adversary and the sounds of the rumbling waters to take notice of it.

“Will you be joining me any day now? I’ve been preparing a surprise just for you.”

Just as he felt the slightest shift in the air behind his head...

“Sneaking up on me...”

...a pointed staff touched the back of his head.

“You seem to be having some trouble, Lord Frieza.”

A female voice entirely new to the tyrant spoke to him as his pupils turned purple.

“If the Saiyan has help, I think it’s only fair you have some assistance as well.”

The other three Z-Fighters were just close enough that Frieza wasn’t a tiny speck, but then found him almost frozen in place.

“That doesn’t look right...” began Krillin.

Gohan thought he saw something akin to a white cape, if not a coat, directly behind Frieza.

“S-Someone’s doing something to him...”

Just as Piccolo picked up on this, a light-like beam flashed behind Frieza and there was no sign of whoever this person could’ve been.

“Whoever that was... we’re dealing with something or someone we can’t even comprehend.”

Pan saw the light-like construct beam nearby and then flew down faster.

“Towa! Just what is she doing now?”

She saw Frieza at first appear alarmed by one of Goku’s orbs firing straight up near him from underwater...

“Frieza’s gonna think Goku’s attacking from down there, but then he’ll circle around and...”

...then saw Frieza glow purple once more.

“Oh, I think you’ll love this surprise...”

The second orb came up, but this time, Frieza actually flew backward to avoid it...

...then, as Goku flew downward for a dropkick...

“Ah!”

Frieza tilted in midair, gracefully avoiding it...

“Very clever ploy.”

...then caught Goku by the throat with his right hand to the Saiyan’s disbelief.

“H-how?! I was almost completely positive he couldn’t...!”

Pan didn’t have to be told to intervene or what Towa had just done.

“Frieza can sense ki now!”

As Frieza tightened his grip...

...Pan went for a flying kick, which he ducked under in midair. Goku, this brief cease in the crushing pressure keeping his neck intact, crouched and nearly curled into a ball, then kicked Frieza on the chin with both feet before the tyrant could squeeze his throat.

As he released Goku and recovered, Frieza then avoided another pass from Pan, this time gripping her left ankle in his right hand. Before he could squeeze it, Pan curled up enough to elbow the back of his head with her left elbow. It didn't release her, but each time Frieza tried crushing it, she struck once more.

His tail finally becoming involved, her left arm was caught and he was free to carry on.

“Better yet...”

Now he transitioned to holding her behind his back, his right hand taking over for his tail, which then proceeded to wrap itself around her neck. Sensing Goku nearby, he rotated so he could see her.

“Make a wish.”

He wasn’t frozen, but his initial attack plan was cut entirely and Goku had so little time to figure out what to do to stop Frieza from using Pan as a human shield or snapping her in half.

“D-Don’t do this!”

While he doubted the tyrant would listen to him, the first thing he could think to do without endangering Pan was imploring with Frieza.

Pan, her right arm still free, reached over her right shoulder...

“The one wish I can’t grant,” Frieza taunted.

...her Power Pole in hand, didn’t have the time to say anything before he went through with it, and even given time, the tail was too tight around her throat.

Goku then tried getting around Frieza, but the tyrant span too quickly, Pan still facing her grandfather...

...and jabbing the Power Pole straight for what she hoped was Frieza’s equivalent of an ear.

“AGK!!!”

It wasn’t at all pleasant and now with him releasing her left arm...

“Kaio-Ken...!”

The two hands thrust the polearm even harder. Now in such pain that he inadvertently released her completely, she hopped atop the polearm and stomped it with both feet. Now spinning uncontrollably during his fall, Frieza’s first instinct was to pull the Power Pole out. He did, seeing a drip of his blood on it, then saw Pan trying to take hold of it.

“Vicious little bitch!”

He pulled the polearm towards him, Pan along with it, as he pointed right down her left ear.

“I hope you hear this...”

He was then met by another drop kick of Goku’s, this one landing successfully.

From the distance, Goku’s son and allies saw the impact of Frieza’s Death Beam just nearby them. Frieza himself crashed into an island, then his body hopped across water before colliding into another one, dirt and debris flying out from the explosive impact.

“You really had me worried there...” began Goku, floating downward with Pan, who left Kaio-Ken.

“It was the one play I had available.”

Pan shook off Frieza’s blood from the polearm, then placed it back in its case. Floating above the tyrant’s initial impact, they eyed the other island as the dust began to thin out...

...with Frieza standing, cracking his neck.

“Oh, would you look at that...”

He brushed debris from his shoulders.

“You got me all dusted up...”

Frieza’s initial tone of it not being any bother to him subsided once he glared at Pan.

“And YOU! You are THE FIRST to have tried wounding me HERE!”

His left hand to what Pan thought to be his equivalent of an ear, it had drops of red, which he then waved off.

“How, oh how, shall I punish you both? What to do... how to inflict it...”

He hopped upward, then chunks of rock began to tear themselves free from the cliff-like structure he stood on.

“This again?” went Goku.

With them flying out rapidly, he and Pan moved rapidly in midair to avoid them, some requiring them to punch and kick through them.

“Oh, but that’s not all...!”

What appeared to be a mountain-like mass nearby actually appeared to be slowly floating upward...

“Lifting something that big... that’s... how is that even...?”

...was then flung upward and came right down, the peak like a massive sharpened point.

“I’ve got this, Goku!”

Pan stepped in front of him, Goku deciding to use this moment to go after Frieza.

“Maybe she’ll give me the opening I need...”

Flying in Frieza’s direction, he saw the tyrant gesture his hands towards the thrown landmass heading for Pan and chips of it broke off. They practically rained down in their sheer quantity, Goku treating the smaller and more pointed projectiles like bullets.

Pan, seeing that it was nearing her much faster than she would’ve hoped...

“Quickly now!”

“Kamehame...!”

She cupped her hands and ki flowed through, but now the point was less than a second from touching her.

“HAAA!!!”

This quicker Kamehameha did put a hole through it...

...but it was as if it were crumbling completely as a result.

Goku, forced to the ground, then saw Frieza put his hand down.

“Hook, line, and...!”

The mountainous mass then came straight downward, Pan in no position to move away from it.

“Kaio-K...!”

“NO!!!”

With his mysterious ally, at best, trapped underneath it, Goku then saw Frieza thrust his hand upward, the very ground beneath him shaking violently. In no time, pieces flew upward, Goku having to step quickly to avoid the projectiles which was like dodging rain traveling backwards.

From the corner of his eye, Goku thought he saw his best friend, former enemy, and son watching from afar.

“They’ll be hiding their ki, but if there’s even a chance he senses them...”

Now seeing Frieza looking and aiming in their direction for any number of attacks, he threw caution to the wind and flew straight at the tyrant. Several rocks struck, some just short of piercing his skin, but he pushed through to keep Frieza’s attention on him and away from the others.

As Goku reached him, Frieza, his right hand gripping his left wrist, and his left hand out to the Saiyan.

“...and sinker!”

Goku felt himself trapped in place, then saw that a mass of golden-like energy had ensnared him.

“Like a moth to the flame.”

Pan, her Power Pole out and her ki shield around her, had kept it at bay so far. But with the shield actually cracking, bits of dirt slowly slinking down around her like sand in an hourglass, it was clear that the shield enhanced with Kaio-Ken couldn’t hold back the crushing weight of the remaining mass forever.

“Just for a moment...”

“Kaio-Ken Times Twenty!”

Frieza, seeing that Goku couldn’t hope to move while in the Imprisonment Ball, tried to see the look on his ally’s faces, witnessing the Saiyan completely at his mercy.

“I have the perfect punishment for you now: you get to watch.”

Frieza punted Goku away just right so he’d be facing the same direction, unable to look away.

But then a shaking on the ground actually made Frieza lose his footing for a moment. He saw a chunk of the landmass he launched at Pan earlier actually lifting upward from the rest.

“It’d take a Great Ape just to...”

“Power Pole extend!”

Now it was held atop the red polearm almost like a hammer. Pan swung it downward with all her might towards Frieza, the tyrant putting his hand out. As he did, his resulting release of power reduced the entire mass to dust...

...and yet the red polearm was entirely unaffected by this.

“There’s no way such a weapon could be...!”

The resulting slam of the extended Power Pole sent him straight downward through the cliffside and deep below it.

It shrunk down after and Pan immediately exited that high level of Kaio-Ken. Even if she didn’t feel much of the effects now...

“I can’t afford to overuse it. Not now.”

She saw her grandfather high in the air, just shy of leaving her sight entirely.

“Are my dad, Piccolo, and Krillin out of sight?”

“After they were sitting ducks just now, yes,” Chronoa answered.

“Then I’d better go after him. Can’t have him floating off into space.”

“I think it’d technically burst before leaving the planet’s...”

“Doesn’t matter, Trunks!”

She took off, reaching him before he went through the first cloud.

“D-Don’t touch him, Pan!” went Trunks.

“Well, what do you propose I do here?”

“That newfound sensation... actually sensing those three tiny auras near me... and now they’re gone without a trace. What a pain.”

Frieza went for a different approach for the remaining ki sources.

“But you two Saiyans... oh, it’s like you’re not even trying to hide from me.”

“That said, is it better if I attack the ball or get him to the ground?”

Pan still had no idea what to do in this scenario.

“Your grandfather was always going to get trapped by the Imprisonment Ball,” Chronoa clarified.

Gohan’s daughter still hadn’t gotten an answer.

“Okay, but space... or the atmosphere, whatever, isn’t where he’s meant to go!”

“Pan...!” stumbled Trunks.

“What?!”

“Below you...!”

She saw a trail emerge from the blue-green far below her.

“He tunneled himself to keep out of sight!”

Flying straight into the path he sent Goku on earlier, Frieza kept pace with it and put a hand out.

“I can make this explode at any time... and he’ll go with it. You wouldn’t want to have that happen to a fellow Saiyan, now would you?”

Pan already knew the workings of the Imprisonment Ball, so it was a matter of either playing the fool and going along with Frieza’s threat, or using that knowledge to do something.

“I mean, there are so few of you left. Just you two and that runt.”

He caught Pan making a fist.

“Did I touch a nerve, dearie?”

She swung it at Frieza, then as the tyrant dodged as anticipated, thrust that same hand towards her grandfather and the orb containing him.

“You’d better get out of this, Grandpa...”

A massive kiai wave pushed Goku straight back towards the ground.

“Clever...”

But as Pan turned back to Frieza, hers arms in guarding positions to stop any number of attacks...

“Not!”

The purpose of the gesture his arms took didn’t require any guessing on her part. As soon as Pan felt herself stuck and surrounded, she knew Frieza put her in the same predicament as he did her grandfather.

“Don’t suppose I need to tell you that you might die this time...”

With his fist not even in a punching motion...

“Ta-ta.”

...a light tap to the orb had Pan not just descending, but rotating. Pan saw the ground beneath her, the distance behind her, Frieza above her, the distance in front of her, and repeat. This happened a multitude of times due to Frieza tapping the Imprisonment Ball with just enough force to make her fall.

This should’ve made Pan sick, but she tried searching for any sign of Goku’s orb. Her senses were thrown off by this much motion, so she tried going by eyesight any time the blue-green ground was within her sight.

“I couldn’t have pushed him that far away, did I...?”

It then occurred to her...

“The water!”

If there was a chance she sent him there unintentionally, she had to find out. Seeing the ocean in the distance...

...a massive splash. One far higher up than any of the landmasses or structures nearby.

“Shoot...”

“Goku made it out of the ball on land. He’ll make it out of there underwater.”

But Trunks’ words of encouragement were just as Pan was about to hit the ground herself.

“Escape in the window before it detonates. And with the force to escape the vacuum.”

“Surprise!”

Frieza was now on the ground and punted her straight upward. The Imprisonment Orb may have encircled her entire body, but it didn’t act as a shield at all. The kick might as well have gone through air to reach her stomach.

“This is a fun game, isn’t it?”

The next kick was to her side, now rotating sideways. The disorientation was much worse when mixed in with direct strikes.

“Why it’s so fun...”

A downward kick to her back.

“...we should keep playing it...”

And now he stood at the ready, trying to time this one perfectly.

“...until you die!”

This punt struck her forehead directly. Pan’s bandanna came off, joining bits and pieces of Trunks’ coat flying around like confetti.

“I really have no way out of this, do I?”

The kicking barrage was now picking up speed, Pan lucky to go a few seconds without being hit.

“Can you keep this up forever?”

A kick to her cheek had blood joining the assorted fabric.

“Don’t think I’m getting tired!”

As rapidly as it span now and as much as she ached, Pan could’ve sworn she saw something besides Frieza. Something coming up at high speed, but she couldn’t quite make it out.

“Blue and black...”

Whatever it was, now she saw its hands out...

“Gloves...”

“Masenko!”

Frieza had to direct enough of his attention to stop it with one of his hands.

“Dad stopped him, but he’s left himself wide open to it now...”

He saw him putting his other hand to his wrist.

“NO!” shouted Trunks. “Gohan! If he’s trapped...!”

“That’s enough, Frieza!”

Pan saw Goku come down fast with an elbow, rocketing Frieza down before the Imprisonment Ball could form around his son.

“Oh thank God...”

But now a mountain, hill, whatever it could be with how much Pan was spinning, was seconds away from collision.

“Escape... window... vacuum...”

Goku, seeing Frieza looking out in the distance at Pan, turned to his son.

“Go, Gohan! NOW!!!”

He never looked away from the tyrant for a second to ensure his son’s safety, but saw what Frieza was watching:

“It’s too bad, really...”

Pan’s Imprisonment Ball crashed, the explosion practically nuclear. It stretched out from so far away, the winds made so violent that bits of Goku’s tattered gi top flew away. All they saw of Pan were burnt shreds of the coat she was wearing including its fur-lined collar.

“I had just finished warming up. She went much too quickly.”

He tried sensing Pan’s ki as hard as he could.

“Not at all how I wanted things to go.”

Goku, tiring of Frieza talking up his horrible deeds like they were everyday activities, stepped forward.

“And how did you want things to go, Frieza?!”

“I’m sensing hostility, Saiyan. Whatever could I have said to offend your sensibilities?”

“Sensibilities?!”

Tearing off his orange gi top, he tossed it aside, his blue undershirt fully revealed.

“You speak of torture like it’s a game! You treat lives like they mean nothing to you!”

“Au contraire. Of course lives mean something... when they’re to my benefit. Up until now, that female Saiyan’s life relieved my stress.”

Still no luck in sensing her.

“Slowly killing someone is your idea of relieving stress?!”

Goku came as close as he could to cracking the ground.

“You’re a monster! And I’m gonna stop you!”

Gohan, peering out, was distraught from no sign of Pan, as well as from hearing the horrid things Frieza spoke.

“I couldn’t leave you to that monster...” he quietly wept aloud. “...but all I did was...”

A fingerless gloved hand touched his shoulder.

“You have no idea what you did for me.”

Frieza remained amused at Goku’s anger.

“With Vegeta and now her deceased, that makes just two Saiyans left in the universe. I can only hope you and your boy offer me much more lasting entertainment.”

“You’ll regret it, Frieza.”

“Somehow, I doubt that, Saiyan.”

“He’s right, you know...”

Frieza heard his own taunt from the start of the battle repeated to him...

...by Pan, blood coming down her lip wiped away with her wrist. Her bandanna in hand, she placed it back atop her head, typing the back in a knot.

“You will regret it.”

Unknown to the Frieza of the main timeline, Pan was wearing the exact same clothes from when she and her family and friends battled her timeline’s Frieza.

“I’m not going to let you do something even worse.”

“You may have missed it, Saiyan girl, but I was just telling your friend here I’ve finished warming up. The real fight begins now.”

Goku, seeing Pan take on a stance almost mirroring his, grinned.

“You’ve got that right.”

Fighting For Real! In the Face of Evil![]

“Get back, Gohan,” went Piccolo, lightly pulling the son of Goku away further behind cover. “It’s too dangerous for us to get involved now.”

“If I hadn’t helped, Frieza would’ve done even worse to her. Maybe even killed...”

“It’s a good thing that you helped,” Krillin responded. “But Piccolo’s right. From here on, if he turns his sights on us, with our ki as it is now, we’ll be sitting ducks.”

“And since he can sense ki, we have to be extra cautious.”

Before hiding himself, Piccolo saw Goku and Pan standing side-by-side, completely laser-focused on Frieza.

“If Frieza’s not bluffing and it’s the start of the real fight... I can only hope there’s still a planet to even stand on.”

“Now before we start,” Frieza began. “Would anyone care to fight in the skies above or would you prefer combat on the ground we’re standing on?”

Goku and Pan remained unmoving without so much as a reply to his inquiry.

“The ground, then.”

He sighed, shaking his head.

“And here I thought you’d welcome my generosity...”

“Generosity?” Goku began. “Seems more like you’re showing off your superiority.”

“Despite the impression you’ve gotten thus far, I am quite nice once you get to know me. And to demonstrate...”

He put both his hands out.

“I’ll fight the two of you without either of my hands. All at no extra charge. You won’t find anyone else offering such good deals.”

“Good deals, sure.”

Goku used this brief respite to stretch his legs. Pan, especially wary of Towa’s machinations, turned to him.

“Goku?”

“Yeah?”

“You probably don’t need me to say it, but he’s up to something.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye out for anything shorthanded.”

“Underhanded.”

“Huh?”

“Underhanded is a trick. Shorthanded is not having enough people.”

“Huh. Wish I knew that earlier.”

Frieza loudly cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Let me be crystal clear: I won’t lay even one of my hands on either of you. Now will that suffice or would you prefer it written in ink?”

“Written in your blood, maybe...” went Pan privately.

Her grandfather ready, the two took on stances once more.

“May I start us off?” Goku asked.

Frieza, both hands behind his back, bent down in a mock bowing motion with a red flash in his eyes.

“But of course.”

“I never thought of Frieza as being a man of his word,” Mira began.

“He most certainly is not,” Towa clarified. “He was just intrigued enough by Goku and eager to prove his power that he gave himself a handicap.”

“So what shall we do now? Break his promise?”

“Oh no. He’ll keep to his word...”

Towa’s blue finger pressed a button.

“...at least as far as that tyrant is concerned.”

Frieza combated the two without using his hands, Pan and Goku finding him moving fast and either hopping away from their attacks or blocking them with one of his legs.

“Don’t know if Frieza’s gone up in power... or if he’s this hard to tag when he focuses on defense.”

“Still haven’t had to use Kaio-Ken yet... but now I can barely even touch him. And his legs alone are giving me trouble.”

A dodged punch from Pan had her looking over at Frieza’s hands behind his back, the angle she was exposed at leaving enough of an opening for his left arm to hook her, but he instead stuck out his right leg and span. Pan’s left wrist intercepted it in time, but even as she stood initially, the force behind the leg then threw her through a wall of rock.

Goku saw Frieza eying his work and his tail completely exposed for a grapple only for his opponent to turn around and throw a kick, forcing Goku to swerve his upper body underneath it. An attempt at a sweep missed when the tyrant hopped over and as Goku watched him to counteract any number of kicks...

...a glint of red flashed followed by beams from his eyes. Goku pushed off the ground with both hands, getting away just in time, but right as Frieza landed and Goku was about to move his feet to charge at him once more...

...he saw a large pebble flying towards him from the corner of his eye. He fired an invisible eye beam to destroy it, then turned back to Frieza, finding the tyrant flying at him feet-first, then delivering a barrage of kicks that he was forced to block. While successful, each kick sent him further back towards the same wall that Pan had been knocked through before.

Pan climbed out of the hole, seeing her grandfather guarding against Frieza’s kicks, then saw a nearby pebble behind the two floating off the ground...

...and Frieza’s fingers moving from behind his back.

“He’s still using telekinesis!”

Goku, so focused on protecting himself, then saw said pebble disappear from his sight, flying in too low for him to see. He adjusted his left leg, but then felt a scratch between his left thigh and knee. This gave Frieza enough of an opening to get in his last kick directly to Goku’s forehead. As Goku was launched upward, Frieza zoomed directly above him to capitalize on this with a two-legged stomp.

He then saw the Power Pole being thrown directly at him and Goku saw it stopped in midair, inches from touching the tyrant. Frieza then found the back of his head gripped and pushed down, shoving his forehead into the frozen-in-place polearm, the initial impact like hitting something immovable until he released it from his telekinetic grip.

Goku, about to throw a punch of his own, found his right arm caught by Frieza’s tail, then, as Pan tried to break her grandfather out of it, stopped her advance as Goku was held in front of her. With that moment of hesitation, Pan saw Frieza grin, then saw the Power Pole racing towards her. Goku saw the polearm launched with high speed and power directly towards Pan’s chest as she put her hands out to try catching it. He didn’t see or hear the point of impact, only catching Pan being sent high into the air with the polearm at least striking her. It gave him the worst sense of deja vu, recalling Bora being struck straight through by his own spear thrown back at him by Mercenary Tao when he was younger.

“Now that is how you use such a weapon!”

After Frieza’s taunt and feeling unable to get out of the constrictor-like grip on his right arm by the tyrant’s tail, Goku practically snarled. Frieza looked downward, his eyes practically glowing with what he was about to unleash now that his trapped opponent was in peak position.

“AGK!”

Frieza spat out, seeing Goku had actually bitten his tail.

“A-again with the tail! These monkeys! Filthy degenerate little...!”

He then saw Pan coming straight back down with a Power Pole swing, his eye beams intended for Goku now firing at her instead. The polearm didn’t just appear to deflect them away from Pan, but actually tore straight through without resistance.

“What kind of relic is that?!”

He then quickly threw Goku back out in front of him to dissuade Pan, then saw that instead of breaking off the attack entirely, she flipped forward, then shifted forward so the Power Pole swing would strike the back of Frieza’s head instead.

Goku finally released, he then took hold of Frieza’s tail and span in place with the tyrant at massive speed. Pan saw the Dragonthrow in motion, then Frieza released, crashing through several rocky structures before he came to a stop.

“You gave me a real scare there,” Goku started. “I thought he'd thrown it right through you.”

“He tried to, certainly.”

The two hovered downward as it appeared the dust around Frieza’s crash landing was fading away. The tyrant then flew straight towards the two, his arms still behind them.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t use your hands,” Goku began.

“I said I’d FIGHT without my hands. And I’m not exactly touching you or anything with them, now am I?”

Through a technicality on his use of words, Frieza’s telekinesis was him, from his perspective, staying true to that.

“Sly like a rabbit...” Goku quietly muttered to himself.

“Sly like a fox, Grandpa...”

“Hey!”

Pan just realized Goku had eavesdropped on her, however unintentionally, not daring to say anything further.

“I know I have a son now, but I’m not grandpa old. Please don’t call me that.”

That was now two people who had listened in on her thoughts without her knowledge and she had to be sure it’d be the last time, especially with someone directly blood-related to her.

“You got it, Goku... if you promise not to read my thoughts without talking to me first.”

He was almost tempted to put a hand behind his head...

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on you just now.”

...but seeing Frieza, who could strike at any moment, kept his hand locked on to his target instead.

“I promise. From now on, I’ll always ring you up first.”

“I’m being extraordinarily kind, waiting on you two to strike first,” Frieza declared. “That is, unless you want me to retract that kindness and attack you first thing.”

Pan stepped forward first, her Power Pole drawn in her right arm while her left wrist scrubbed beneath her nose.

“Then I’ll start us off.”

She span her polearm in her right as she ran forward, then, to the tyrant’s surprise, instead of a swing, hopped upward with a kick. He swerved his head to get underneath it, then saw Goku joining in, a jab aimed at his chest. Frieza practically hovered sideways, then, as Pan and Goku were now counting on, gestured his hands to telepathically take hold of any number of rocks nearby.

As Pan landed, she saw pebbles launched towards her and knocked them away with her polearm. Goku, blocking a kick, felt air ripping behind him and ducked underneath a rock headed for him. Frieza simply caught the rock, just shy of his own projectile striking his face, then launched it straight down at the ducked Goku. The Saiyan, now lifting himself up by his hands, booted Frieza with both legs while the rock only put a hole through the top of his hair.

Frieza going backward, he then found Pan put the Power Pole against the front of his throat, then used the force of her swing combined with Frieza’s own momentum to launch him downward, the tyrant’s back grinding against the blue-green grass and below it. She and Goku saw a substantial number of pebbles lifted into the air from the newly created trail and, as they both charged for him, knew they’d be thrown at any moment.

The two found they had made it straight to Frieza without one thrown, but as they punched and kicked at him, honed their senses to catch the ripping of air once one pebble was launched in their direction. Goku channeled ki into his wrists to smash them apart while still in ample position to attack Frieza while Pan blocked and swung at them with the Power Pole. In fact, she appeared to utilize the polearm all but exclusively to counteract the telekinetically thrown rocks while sticking to kicks when closest to Frieza.

The tyrant, puzzled at her not attacking with the Power Pole when given the chance, hopped upward and bounced off it, the impact forcing Pan’s legs to be partially embedded and pinned.

“Let’s see your stick stop these!”

She saw two entire structures being lifted off the ground, almost appearing like spiked walls. Her grandfather saw this and was ready to fire at them or try getting her free...

“Catch, Goku!”

Instead of trying to use the Power Pole for herself, Pan tossed it right to Goku, who instinctively caught it. Immediately afterward, he saw the two structures slam straight into each other and, to his initial horror, didn’t see Pan above or below it.

Upon trying to find her ki, he did find her, as well as saw the structures cracking, light starting to shine through it. He ran towards it, sensing Frieza was coming for it as well, then saw a round expansion of energy all but shatter the structures entirely, Pan curled into a ball as her ki shield had protected her, then burst. Frieza was sent backward as well, seeing her lift the hopping Goku up by his foot, then threw him in the tyrant’s direction. More and more pebbles fired at the two of them, Pan rotating in midair to avoid them while Goku appeared to go straight through them, the only impact being rocks colliding with each other.

Right as Frieza saw this, the Power Pole struck his right ankle, then his left. And with a thrust upward, Frieza was struck between both legs, then launched upward and slammed back down behind Goku. Right as he made it up to his feet and was about to turn around, Pan punched his face directly and Goku went for a jab with the polearm.

Instead, Goku felt the weapon pinned in place by telekinesis. He then found Pan took hold of it as well.

“Wait, it’s too strong!” he shouted to her. “Trying to move it is...!”

“Power Pole Extend!”

Frieza saw the red polearm start to expand outward towards Frieza, who at first gestured his hand to stop it.

“I’ve caught it already. I just simply have to once more.”

But as it got closer, he found that his telekinesis couldn’t stop its path.

“How?! HOW?! I take hold of it, but as it grows, that end’s like a whole separate object to my telekinesis!”

It struck him in the stomach and now both Goku and Pan ran forward, intending to send Frieza straight through the structure closest to him. They then saw Frieza put both his hands around it, Pan and Goku feeling Frieza slowing down and then themselves coming to a dead stop, unable to move forward any further.

Frieza, now glowing purple, pushed back, Goku and Pan soon finding themselves going backward even as the polearm was still clearly expanding.

“It’s still extending, but Frieza’s stopped it,” went Goku. “Almost like he’s reversed it towards us instead.”

Pan, putting a light elbow to Goku’s arm, gestured for him to let go. As he did and Pan only held on with her right hand, Frieza, feeling neither was pushing it towards him any further, released it. Pan lifted the Power Pole up towards its case as it slowly began shrinking down.

“I think you definitely used your hands there,” Goku lightly taunted.

“That offer has expired. My generosity has limits.”

“Heh. Unlike your overconfidence.”

It was almost rare for Pan to hear anything resembling trash talk from Goku. The one instance she could recall it was during the battle against Piccolo, then known as Junior, at the remains of the World Martial Arts tournament.

“He was eighteen at that time... just as I was on that very first mission.”

She saw her grandfather tilting his head back and forth, shaking off any remaining bits of rock that remained from those he struck.

“Your overconfidence shows in your defense. You leave yourself wide open.”

“Well now, that was awfully generous of you,” went Frieza. “In fact, you’re almost astoundingly powerful.”

“Thanks.”

“Though as fun as this has been, I do believe it’s time we settle this.”

He saw both his opponents clench their fists, ready to continue, and put out a hand.

“But before we do, for what it’s worth, I think it’d be a shame... a waste, really, to kill one with such power. So I extend to you a one-time offer: work for me.”

Pan didn’t mind the fact Frieza had excluded her from this.

“Vegeta was an ungrateful spoiled brat of a prince who couldn’t appreciate what I gave him. You seem much more reasonable. And you’ll be treated quite well for your services.”

But after everything Goku had heard and seen of Frieza, the Saiyan nearly scoffed.

“You really think I’d accept any kind of offer from someone like you?”

“We see SOME things differently, Saiyan, but perhaps we could come to an understanding. What if I leave Earth be as your vacation home?”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

Frieza hardly appeared to be disappointed, as if counting on only a one percent chance his opponent would have accepted it.

“And here I was hoping you’d be one of the good ones...”

Now he peered over at Pan.

“And I suppose that’s a no for you as well, my dear?”

She answered only with her stance.

“The only good Saiyan is a dead one.”

“Then there is only way this can end for you both: with your deaths.”

“Really now?” Goku taunted. “I think I’ll take door number two.”

“You have quite the confidence in yourself. I know you still aren’t anywhere near your full power. In fact, neither of you have shown it.”

So far since her grandfather arrived, Pan had only utilized Kaio-Ken when faced with a mountain-like mass coming down on her. And Goku, after being fully healed from his injuries sustained from Vegeta, hadn’t had to use it once thanks to her aid.

“But even when I consider how much you have hidden away...”

He gestured his hand out to them.

“I only require half of my full strength to kill you where you stand.”

Goku appeared dumbfounded at Frieza’s claim at first...

“You mean all this time, you’ve been...?”

...but then started chuckling.

“That’s a good one.”

He then found that Pan, while not frightened or nervous, appeared to be dreading his words.

“He’s gotta be bluffing... right?” Goku asked.

“He nearly killed me before you got here... and he wasn’t even using ten percent.”

“It was certainly fun while it lasted... for you.”

He had both his arms lowered downward and stretched out from his waist. Not only did rocks and grass alike start floating upward, but even drops of water.

Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin at first sensed Frieza’s increase in power...

“It’s like their power alone could crush me...”

...then felt nothing short of an almost planet-wide quake, the landmass they stood on crackling and all three off their feet.

“Krillin, did you feel that?!”

The short Earthling, lifting his head up, spit out a clump of blue-green grass from his mouth.

“If a person could taste that level of power... then maybe I did just now.”

Pan and Goku, at the epicenter, were pushed back several feet, arms crossed, then saw the area around Frieza was completely devoid of plant life.

“You both should know the last time someone gave me this much of a workout... made me resort to using this much power...”

What he had lifted upward near him was now raining down.

“...was my dear old brother.”

Putting aside her shock at hearing that Frieza had a sibling, Pan tried sensing his ki to see just how much it had actually increased.

“If he was in the 20s or 30s before... this might actually be half of his strength... at least.”

Gohan turned to Piccolo, trying to appear confident and strong in the face of what his father was against.

“My dad is strong enough to win this... right, Mr. Piccolo?”

But Piccolo, while keeping his composure the best of the three, couldn’t bring himself to talk down the threat Goku faced.

“I have no idea. This is beyond anything I could ever imagine, let alone comprehend.”

And then it happened again...

...on an even greater scale. Piccolo actually covered Gohan and Krillin to protect them from a scattering of rocks, and they could all feel water splashing down on and around them.

“Stay strong Goku,” Krillin began, not whimpering, but just trying to keep himself from breaking down. “Please... for our sakes... and Bulma’s.”

Bulma, peering out of the cave she had been practically living in since arriving on Namek, felt one massive quake earlier, nearly losing her footing.

“What on this green planet was THAT?!”

An even more violent shake, one that not only sent her onto her side, but even had bits of the cave’s top cracking apart...

...including some having now been made sharp and coming down for her. She rolled out of the way back to the grass, then heard the cave itself crackling.

“Probably should stay out here until this...”

Right as she was about to finish, the entirety of the cave collapsed.

“...dies down.”

Realizing where all her supplies were...

“There goes all my gear! If we have to stay here another day, let alone a week...!”

She fumed out into the distance.

“Hasn’t Goku gotten here by now?! If you have, then kick the stuffing out of Frieza already so we can get out of here!”

As if her old friend could hear her, she put both her arms out, shaking them as she looked into the green sky.

“Ooh, you better not let me down! You better not lose!”

She then felt something jump on the ground nearby her, akin to a human.

“What the f...?!”

A purple-skinned man with horns on his head and in armor had its arms and legs positioned like a frog, then hopped towards the shore and to another island.

“...f-freaky frog men!”

She groaned, watching the purple frog-like man leave her sight into the more distant landmasses.

“Adventures were one thing, but not like this. The stress...”

Bulma took a deep breath, turned around, then sat down to try relaxing, not even noticing a blue-green frog with antennas hopping in the same direction the humanoid frog went, sweat profusing from its spots.

“It been almost a whole week, but it’s like I’ve been on Namek for years...”

Pan and Goku were forced to float upward and when they looked down at their feet, they saw that where they once stood was now broken apart almost entirely, water rushing to fill in the gap.

“Yes, it was my own brother who pushed me this far.”

Frieza was in the same pose, floating upward to meet them with his eyes closed.

“And you know what else?”

They opened, red not flashing briefly over his eyes, but violently glowing.

“He didn’t survive either.”

It would appear to Pan that family was in no way sacred to Frieza.

“Even killing his own flesh and blood isn’t beneath him...”

But as she sensed Frieza’s ki once more...

“No, no, this is all wrong...!”

“Frieza’s using more than half his power!” entered Trunks. “Towa must be...!”

“I sensed that ALREADY!”

But with Trunks confirming this to be the case, she caught Goku looking over at her, then felt herself shiver.

“Goku, if you can hear me now, we need to use Kaio-Ken right away. We can’t wait for him to...”

“Were you saying something? I didn’t want to butt in without asking like you said...”

“Kaio-Ken! NOW!!!”

Frieza grinned, seeing Pan shaken by what he had unleashed.

“Just wait until he realizes what I am capable of...”

Thus far, Pan and Goku appeared to have fared well against Frieza and him using half of his power was always an inevitability. But now the Supreme Kai of Time saw Trunks openly worried.

“Their Kaio-Ken, even at Times Twenty...”

“Trunks, you know how this event plays out...”

“But WHAT IF Goku doesn’t survive long enough to use it against Frieza?!”

Goku lost sight of Frieza.

“Kaio-Ke...!”

An elbow to his face stopped Goku from finishing it. Pan, having shouted this at the same time as her grandfather, had her power double.

“Times T...!”

She found Frieza in front of her and blocked a punch with her wrists, but said wrist struck her mouth. They then immediately heard Goku starting Kaio-Ken again and Frieza disappeared once more.

“Crap...”

“What is it, Pan?” went Trunks.

“Me using Kaio-Ken all this time has tipped him off to what Grandpa’s doing...”

Frieza, after sweeping Goku off his feet, had his tail around the Saiyan’s neck, then, as if learning from his experience with the bite, the tyrant struck Goku with an elbow before he could try it again. Now no longer in the right position to get out of it, Son Goku felt the tail not only wrapped around completely, but vying to crush him.

Pan, seeing Frieza still holding onto her grandfather, flew in to stop any number of attacks, fatal or otherwise.

“Pan, even with Towa’s formula, she can’t overwrite their personalities completely,” went Chronoa. “Your grandfather lives this long because Frieza wanted him to do so.”

“But if Towa finds a brief instance to... actually gets Frieza to kill him now...!”

“Kaio-Ken...!”

She saw Frieza emerge straight into her flight path, Goku still in tow.

“Times...!”

She couldn’t retrieve the Power Pole in time, but as she saw a chop coming right for her, Pan rotated fast enough for the polearm to take most of the brunt for her. Even when being flung away...

“TEN!!!”

She achieved the minimal Kaio-Ken she felt necessary to deal with the power Frieza was using, however much over half it was.

“Let him go!”

She had her Power Pole out to jab, but even with her speed increased ten times...

...Frieza had Goku held exactly where she was about to strike.

“Do it!” her grandfather shouted mentally, the tail constricting his neck too much to speak. “If you can get through me to him...!”

“No!”

She guarded against a Death Beam with the Power Pole, but instead of it being a harmless deflection, the force behind this one pushed her back a tremendous distance.

He tried bending his knees to then lift his legs, but the crushing force behind the tail made it all the more difficult.

“Whoever you are, you have to take whatever opening you can get!”

“Not at that cost!”

Several more passes and her grandfather was still a human shield held at the perfect angle.

“I’m fading. I’ll live if you go through me. If there’s no other way to hit him...”

One more pass.

“I won’t do that, G-Goku!”

Frieza, Goku held over his head, peered out enough to see Pan actually jab forward, and couldn’t help but smirk.

“Splendid. Once her own Saiyan friend dies by her hand instead of mine...”

“Right armpit! NOW!!!”

As she shouted this mentally to Goku, he lifted his right arm just enough, exposing part of Frieza’s tail through his armpit.

The jab, spear-like as the stance was, didn’t damage Frieza’s tail in such a manner, but did push Frieza downward and had him grit his teeth from the pain, however minimal. She went to duck from his left hand, but then felt herself stuck, then lifted upward:

Frieza’s hand took hold of the chain on her pants.

“I’ll have to thank your master!”

During this, Goku curled up just enough to put both his feet against Frieza’s waist and with the minimal opening his throat had to speak...

“Kamehameha!”

The Kamehameha from his feet pushed off Frieza, squeezing his head out from his tail, then his left arm took hold of Pan by her left side. She then kicked Frieza’s face, releasing her from his grip, but did hear and feel the middle of the chain break.

The two landing on a larger stretch of land, Pan went out of Kaio-Ken, trying not to use it when out of combat.

“I’ve tried playing it safe with Times Ten, but it’s obviously not cutting it right now... at least not alone.”

Goku, his nose bloodied from the elbow to his face before, was actually trying to catch his breath from the near-suffocation Frieza inflicted with his tail, both his hands to his throat.

“Could’ve shouted Kaio-Ken, but I don’t know if I could’ve gotten past that...”

“I know you were sent to Earth...”

Frieza floated down.

“...but what about you, my dear?”

She saw him rolling the broken square link from her chain between his knuckles.

“The chain suggests you lived under the rule of another. Ownership, perhaps.”

Now it was on his index finger, his thumb in position to fling it at her.

“So who was your master? And how did you leave their service?”

It fired off at a high speed, one that Pan wasn’t about to try catching, actually putting a hole in a structure near her.

“That chain...”

She stepped forward and clenched her fists, ki emanating from her and rocks lifting upward.

“That chain is for holding wallets, you creep!”

Frieza then couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’ve been called many things across my various conquests. That is the first time someone has ever called me a creep.”

“I think it suits you.”

Goku stepped forward.

“Now earlier, you said you wanted to settle this, but tell me, Frieza: wouldn’t you rather have me at my best? Get to see that hidden power of mine? Hers too, for that matter?”

Frieza, hovering downward almost gracefully, crossed his arms.

“By all means. Show me.”

Goku, looking over at Pan, mentally conversed with her once more.

“There. I bought us some time so he’ll let us use Kaio-Ken. Whenever you’re ready.”

She nodded to her grandfather.

“Ready.”

Frieza appeared more than happy to oblige the two.

“It will make it all the better when they realize their very best isn’t even close to my full power.”

“Damn, that Son Goku is clever,” went Towa. “If I had Frieza intent on stopping Kaio-Ken then, now he’s staying true to himself by wanting them to suffer and for longer.”

“I suppose the formula overwrote enough just getting him to skip his third form,” Mira concluded. “But I don’t understand why Goku would openly trick Frieza like this. Wouldn’t a fair fight in his eyes be to let Frieza attack him uninterrupted?”

“It isn’t a fighting tournament or a duel. Goku knows he’s fighting a monster. He knows his son and best friend would be next if he let Frieza have a fair fight.”

“Kaio-Ken...!” the two shouted in unison. “...Times Ten!”

Now both shared the same massive red glow, only rivaled by...

“If this goes well enough, we won’t need to use Times Twenty... at least not right away.”

“Did she learn that from you, or you from her?” Frieza asked, still not in a proper fighting stance.

“Monkey see, monkey do,” taunted Goku before lunging towards the tyrant.

Seeing her grandfather clash with Frieza, she followed suit.

“There! With him occupied by one of us in Times Ten, maybe now...”

Zooming right behind Frieza, a swinging leg towards his face...

...she found her left ankle caught by Frieza’s right hand as his left took hold of Goku’s right wrist.

“He sped up?!”

Bringing his arms closer together, Pan being lowered and Goku lifted upward, Frieza had Pan’s kick strike Goku’s stomach and his punch directed towards her face. He then flung them backward, about to repeat the process, as the two then fired ki bullets, Pan with both hands and Goku with his left, at Frieza’s seemingly unguarded head. His tail poked out behind both shoulders, swatting their attempts away.

“THIS is your best?”

Now intent on slamming the two together with even greater force, his arms gripped the two even tighter.

“I’m frankly insulted.”

But Pan, her two arms free, put them to her face.

“Solar FLARE!!!”

His tail tried to cover his eyes, but Frieza was only able to cover just one, his left arm unable to help itself but cover his left. From this, Goku freed himself, but then found Pan still gripped, then kneed in the back. His other knee was preparing to strike her tailbone, but Goku kicked the left knee. Frieza’s reaction, aside from his left hand taking hold of it instead, was for his tail to slam into Goku’s right side, then shove him directly into Pan, their foreheads colliding.

“I didn’t know dolls could bleed.”

Besides being dazed, both of them felt a drop of blood come down towards one of their eyes. Goku, pulled back by Frieza’s tail across his waist, saw his vision clear up for a moment. It looked like Pan put her hands over her right foot, then her body went limp.

“Poor little girl. Up past her bedtime.”

Goku couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but also tried to squeeze himself free with his hands or kick at Frieza to no avail.

“You could use some sleep too.”

He saw himself about to be flung head-first towards Pan once more, the force preventing his arms from being able to stop himself.

“And inside the doll’s head is...”

He found that Goku hit nothing, then saw the only thing he held was the very top of Pan’s shoe, whose laces were undone.

“Slippery...!”

Frieza then felt not one, but both his ankles grappled...

“Kaio-Ken Times...!”

Frieza tried rotating his upper body to get a better look, but by the time he did, aiming his right hand straight at her in a firing motion...

“TWENTY!!!”

Pan’s grip tightened immensely and his pointed finger curled up along with the others. Goku, feeling Frieza’s tail somewhat loosened, pushed off with both hands, getting out before it could close around him entirely.

With her grandfather free, she span Frieza in place with a Dragonthrow of her own.

“Get ready, Goku!”

Goku stayed in place, then saw Frieza spin so fast as to almost become a white blur, then saw the shape of Frieza clearly when Pan released him. A thunderous kick to Frieza’s forehead had him launched upward, then met by multiple high speed passes before he could even hope to recover. With a double axe handle directly to Frieza’s chest, Pan sent him straight down, then, with one more grapple of his tail, into the waters nearby.

Pan landed, catching hold of her discard shoe, then exited Times Twenty immediately. Goku, seeing Frieza already poking out from the water, covered her.

“You really saved my bacon there. Thanks. Now I’ll return the favor.”

She saw her grandfather go after Frieza and, after the beating she gave the tyrant, actually appeared to be landing hits.

“Think you can hold Times Twenty for thirty seconds now?” Trunks asked. “Or even forty-five?”

“I have no idea. It’s not like I can do it twice or three times as long with each near-death. And right now is not the time to push my luck, or else Grandpa will be completely on his own.”

Speaking of, she peered back to the battle, seeing that her grandfather’s initial success at keeping up with and attacking Frieza was starting to diminish.

“Even when fighting him at Times Ten, Frieza recovered from what I did seconds ago.”

Frieza, his back turned entirely, appeared oblivious to a flying kick from Goku...

...only to kick Goku directly in the face, knocking him straight back down towards Pan, who moved out of the way. She saw and felt Goku hopping upward to higher ground, Frieza then landing in the same spot Goku was in. He had his left hand raised, middle and index fingers together, while his right was out towards her.

Instinctively upon recognizing the technique, Pan reached for the Power Pole.

“I can only hope I can see faster...”

Drawing it, she was immediately met by the barrage of ki blades from Frieza’s swung hand.

“Kai...!”

She put the Power Pole out to block the two closest to her, but was pushed back from the force of their collision.

“O...!”

Pan then planted it into the ground and ducked, a few just missing her while the polearm stopped a few more.

“Ken!”

Another would’ve struck had she not lied down prone completely.

“Times!”

But now more were much too close to the ground for comfort and she had to climb up on her hands, then make herself as narrow as possible, and with more on the way.

“Twenty!”

Making her way to the very top of the planted Power Pole, she saw what looked like a massive pink energy whip at Frieza’s fingertips.

“Grandpa, MOVE!!!”

But Goku, a combination of shock at the amount of power in that one attack along with soreness from using Times Ten for this long, couldn’t quite move his legs immediately upon landing.

“He won’t make it!”

Hopping upward, not even taking the time to take the Power Pole with her, zoomed past any further ki blades headed for her, then put up her ki shield, which stretched so far over her body as to almost appear like a slightly larger Pan with wrists crossed.

By the time the attack collided with her, Goku finally floated to the side, but while it appeared to stop the attack entirely at first, Pan then felt herself pushed downward straight through the rocky landscape...

...then the whip continued, stretching out across miles of the entire planet, both land and water filling in what looked like an endless chasm.

From orbit, a thin line could be made out across nearly a quarter of Namek.

Goku, looking back at the miles-spanning rift Frieza’s attack created, was first awed at such a display of power.

“Frieza’s reserves... he’s barely tapped into them.”

But he then immediately looked for any sign of Pan, who took the entire blow that he had just narrowly avoided.

“Come on, come on... I know you got away from that attack. Just show me you’re okay.”

“I thought you and your friends could sense energy.”

Frieza floated upward to meet Goku on the structure he had just split in half.

“She’s beneath us as we speak.”

The Saiyan kept one eye on the tyrant the entire time, but did catch a glimpse of an orange bandanna to his left...

...after which Frieza practically teleported face-to-face to Goku, causing him to actually stumble backward.

“You should be paying more attention to your impending demise.”

As Frieza took another step to face him...

...the Power Pole came crashing down into his path and both looked up to see Pan floating downward.

“You’re okay!”

“Not even a hint of damage?!”

Pan, out of Kaio-Ken, appeared entirely untouched by Frieza’s attack...

...but upon landing, she took hold of the Power Pole as if to keep from falling over. Goku instinctively tried helping her upward into a standing position.

“You went Times Twenty. That much power was what it took to withstand that. You didn’t hold it for long, but it’s already taking a toll of some sort.”

“Moving and attacking in Times Twenty is one thing, Goku. Blocking something like that... wasn’t expecting it to kick this much.”

Once he believed Pan to be situated, Goku, still in Kaio-Ken Times Ten, stepped past her.

“It might just have to come down to that. My body might not be able to take it, but...”

“Goku, wait...!”

She addressed him directly, hinting at mental communication.

“I can’t wait. Times Ten won’t bring him down. I have to do it!”

“I get it, but drop out of Kaio-Ken, at least for now,” she almost ordered. “Let me buy you time. Stall for whatever breather we can get.”

Frieza, continuing to wait, then had a flash of purple over his body. Goku, from all his battles alongside Pan, pieced together a commonality between these instances.

“It won’t work! Whenever their bodies do that, they...!”

“Just let me try, please!”

The tyrant looked ready to attack both of them with another swiping hand.

“Frieza!”

He peered at Pan from hearing her call his name.

“Why are you doing this?”

It still wasn’t enough to get him to stop entirely, but seemed to slow his impending swing.

“Do you see yourself as a necessary evil?”

Not only did a quiet chuckle emerge from Frieza’s lips, but he then ceased the attack entirely, the purple aura having left him.

“In all my conquests, no one has asked me such an interesting question.”

Goku, seeing that Pan’s attempt to stall had paid off, moved backward to stand next to her, then left Kaio-Ken, giving his body a break.

“How did you know that’d work?”

“He loves to hear his own voice. At least, I was counting on it.”

“Well?” went Goku, joining in. “Are you?”

Frieza faced them not in the stance of an opponent, but with the poise of a speaker.

“I suppose yes, I would call myself a necessary evil... but frankly, such talk is outdated in this day and age.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“You want to know what’s really wrong with this universe? It isn’t that there is evil. No. It is that there is good.”

Both Pan and Goku were simultaneously shocked at Frieza’s statement, yet unsurprised, like it explained so much about him.

“‘Good,’ this. ‘Morality,’ that. Feh. Utter nonsense. Nothing more than inhibitions. There is only one truly universal rule: strength governs everything. It has for my empire... and my father’s... and the ones who founded it long before his time.”

“And your strength justifies all the innocent people you’ve killed?” Goku asked.

“You believe my empire does what it does for no purpose? We’ve spread law, order, and civilization across these backwater systems. Each and every planet we’ve conquered has become better for it: beacons of sophisticated society built atop the bones of such lowly and uncivilized natives. Savages, really.”

“Is that what you’ve done here on Namek?!” went Pan, now standing up without the Power Pole. “By wiping out the Namekians?!”

“There is a cost to such endeavors, death most assuredly. But we have the courage not to shy from it.”

“You think this... ALL THIS... is courage?!”

While Pan had set this conversation in motion to give herself and Goku a breather, the not just unapologetic, but entirely unempathetic ideology Frieza subscribed to legitimately spat in the face of everything she had been taught and believed in.

“Fate dictates those with the courage to use their strength will rule. I am simply doing as fate asks and taking over the universe. To stand against me now is to go against fate’s own design.”

“You actually believe fate WANTS THIS?!”

Frieza could tell Pan couldn’t stomach much more of this.

“Vegeta rebelled against me, but even he mostly subscribed to my doctrine, unlike this Saiyan girl...”

“There are two types of people in the universe: those who serve me and those that do not. The only way the latter can hope to survive in this world is to pledge allegiance to me, and to my empire, for which it stands. To take what I give and be grateful for it. And above all else, unquestioning and undying loyalty to my flag. And if this offends you, I will personally pack your bags... on your one way trip to Hell, which awaits all who dare to question or challenge MY divine right.”

Trunks had only encountered Frieza once, and only knew that he was simply an enemy of Goku, as well as a galactic emperor and conqueror. But now that the tyrant’s twisted ideology was laid out from hearing Pan’s comms, Chronoa caught the half-Saiyan absolutely disgusted by it.

“Trunks?”

“He’s worse than the Androids. They were punks programmed to be without empathy. Forced into what they became. Frieza revels in cruelty and believes it’s not just justified, but that it actually makes him the hero.”

“In short, everything in my dominion is a tune, and it must be sung together or else. Now does that sufficiently answer your inquiry, my dear?”

Frieza found Pan was absolutely livid at him, then peered to the full-blooded Saiyan.

“In spite of your time on Earth, surely you can understand.”

What Pan couldn’t tell was that Goku, taking in every detail of Frieza’s conquest playbook, was now imagining a nightmare scenario of what Frieza, or his men for that matter, would do upon touching down on Earth:

“No one will be spared. Not Chi-Chi, Ox-King, Doctor Brief, Panchy...”

He then pictured his master and the centuries-old turtle, the two shapeshifters, and the blue haired woman who turned blonde haired and back upon sneezing.

“Suno, Eighter, Bora, Upa...”

Four friends whom, while he didn’t visit often, were there at a pivotal juncture of his life when he took on the Red Ribbon Army.

“Yajirobe, Korin, Mister Popo, Kami...”

These four emerged both before and after his climactic battle against King Piccolo, an adversary Frieza began to remind him of.

“King Piccolo was cruelty incarnate, but even you would make him sick.”

But if Goku lost the battle now, even if Frieza had no intentions of going to Earth...

“Gohan... Krillin... Bulma... he would take all your lives.”

“Why Saiyan, you enjoy using your strength as well, do you not? Fighting and laying waste to your enemies?”

“You couldn’t be more wrong, Frieza.”

“Hmm?”

Frieza wasn’t puzzled so much as snobbishly waiting on them, just shy of looking at his wrist.

“I do enjoy fighting... but I take no pleasure in bringing death. Destruction too, for that matter.”

His face became not just one of determination in the face of evil, but also of desperation for what he was about to do.

“I’m going for it now! You can go Times Twenty or just Ten! Either way, are you ready?”

She nodded once more to her grandfather.

“Ready.”

“This is it! Our last chance! I pray he’s been bluffing this whole time!”

But Pan, knowing full well Frieza was using more than half his power, could only hope both of them using Times Twenty would wear him down in even the slightest.

“Here goes...”

“Kaio-Ken...!”

“They could use that level of Kaio-Ken for a full minute and it wouldn’t make the battle any more winnable,” went Mira.

“Do what you can, then drop out and save as much ki as you can for what comes after,” Trunks cautioned.

“Times TWENTY!”

Goku struck the tyrant back, then Pan followed suit.

Towa simply watched what was to come in silence.

Chronoa, even knowing the event to come like the back of her hand, dreaded what would come.

“Hang in there, please...”

Neither even tried keeping track of the hits they landed, but struck Frieza back and forth repeatedly, not quite in sync or with any coordination, but their efforts collaborative.

Goku struck the tyrant upward, hopped upward a few feet off the ground, then cupped his hands together.

“Ka... me...”

With the combination of the force dealt in that strike along with the beating prior, Frieza couldn’t hope to recover in time.

“Ha...”

Or so Goku thought, as Frieza then appeared ready to fly in any direction he so needed.

“Shoot, he’s recovered! I can try bending it, but that’ll take too much power!”

“I’ll set him up! Keep going!”

Pan, seeing Frieza more than able to avoid her grandfather’s attack, untied both her shoes and hopped upward towards the largest peak nearby.

“Me...”

Frieza fired a barrage of Death Beams, but Pan swerved through them, and then he saw Pan’s feet glowing.

“Kamehame...”

Once her feet touched the structure, Pan almost appearing to stand sideways on it...

“HAAA!!!”

...her Kamehameha from the feet launched her straight into Frieza’s backside, tackling the tyrant.

“HAAAAA!!!”

Now the two of them were being sent straight into the path of Goku’s Kaio-Ken Times Twenty Kamehameha. Frieza could strike at Pan with his elbows to break free...

...but not wanting to chance escaping from Pan would leave himself exposed to the impending blast, he instead put both his hands out in an attempt to shield himself.

Letting go just nanoseconds from joining Frieza, Pan swerved upward and back down, immediately dropping out of Kaio-Ken when she saw Frieza enveloped in it. She crashed straight down as if pulled, like gravity increased several hundred times over, steam emanating just from how close she was to the point of impact as she climbed out of the hole she made.

“That’s the most damage we’ve done to him at... whatever percent power he’s at...”

Seeing her shoes just next to her, Pan expected to feel her bare feet touch the blue-green grass...

“Huh?”

She saw and felt that her socks were entirely undamaged from the Kamehameha.

“Kami didn’t just repair them: he made them ki-resistant.”

She then looked over at Goku, who had exited Kaio-Ken Times Twenty soon after the largest Kamehameha he had pulled off, far eclipsing the one he used against Vegeta on Earth.

“He’s... out of breath?”

Her grandfather dropped down onto his feet, having to use his hands to catch himself.

“H-hey...”

She then heard Goku give a chuckle even amidst his exhaustion.

“This was the first time I’ve used Times Twenty and just like that, I’m spent. But you... you still have some fuel in the tank. You’ve got a better handle on Times Twenty than I do.”

Pan, receiving such praise from such a highly regarded fighter, couldn’t help but blush.

“Well, give it time. Next time, you’re bound to catch up.”

“I don’t think there’s going to be a next time...”

Now her grandfather tried getting back up to his feet.

“He’s not just alive... he’s still going strong, even now. He... he wasn’t bluffing.”

She tried to help him up, but Goku tried waving her away.

“Wait. I didn’t want it to come to this... the planet might not be able to take it... I just need time to pull this off...”

“Pan, Goku’s going to use the Spirit Bomb...” entered Trunks on comms. “Now all you need to do is...”

A high-speed zoom between Pan and Goku...

...and Frieza, purple over him, had his arm poised for a spearpoint strike to the back of Goku’s neck, her grandfather struggling just to try turning around.

“...protect him while he...”

Pan, without the time to say Kaio-Ken, but able to reach the Power Pole, pulled it just far enough out of its case to intercept the blow.

Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin saw Frieza’s attack on Goku blocked by the Power Pole...

...then had to shield themselves from a massive gust.

Goku not only reeled from the impact of the Power Pole, but then fell onto his knees, his arms going limp.

“I’ve... let you all down...”

He looked Pan in the eyes just as his were about to close.

“For... forgive me...”

He lied on the ground, Frieza appearing ready to fire straight at his heart through his back.

“Now’s the perfect opportunity!” went Towa. “Do it! Kill Son Goku!”

But Frieza saw Pan stand in his way with the fully drawn Power Pole, even as she was the furthest from peak condition, to protect Goku.

“What do we do now, Trunks?! Chronoa?!”

“At first, I was disappointed that my attempt to skewer your fellow Saiyan only knocked him unconscious, all thanks to your meddling...”

...but then the purple aura left him and he grinned.

“But now that I think on it, I’m rather glad you meddled: it would have been so unsatisfying if he died as such.”

“This shouldn’t be possible, Mira: he’s overwriting my formula’s command. He refuses to kill Goku.”

“No, I want him to live to see what I do.”

Pan tried staying on her feet, her stance becoming shaky.

“We have to revive him... wake him back up...”

“I mean, if we borrow just one more senzu bean from Korin...” Trunks replied.

“IOU-aside, completely healing Goku could alter the course of the battle entirely!” Chronoa countered. “I couldn’t begin to predict what would come from it!”

“Imagine how much better it will be once he wakes up to the results of his failure.”

“Crap, I’m...”

She stumbled to the side, short of falling over.

“I don’t know if I’m at twenty percent or even ten...”

“Don’t keel over... at least not yet. You and his little friends will have parts to play.”

But then she found Frieza crouching down, his right hand out as if about to lift her up by her right wrist.

“But between you and me, that blast of his...”

His hand squeezed into a fist...

“...HURT!”

...then became a chopping palm, its back facing her.

“REALLY! HURT!!!”

Try as she could to lift the Power Pole up to protect herself or even swerve her head, the backhand struck her right temple, the thunderous force sending her rolling into the same rock structure she leapt off of to tackle him.

“Suppose I should at least make the Saiyan comfortable while he’s dreaming...”

“Get away from him!”

Krillin charged forward, Frieza keeping his back to him...

“I thought I sensed a rat...”

...the Earthling’s palm up in the air in a stance Frieza would recognize.

“Or do you want to lose your tail again!”

Gohan followed soon after.

“I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else!”

Piccolo appeared to be the last to stand to Goku’s defense, albeit in silence.

“Now that you’re all here, I have big plans: a surprise for when he wakes up... and you can help me with the setup.”

Gohan, seeing the Power Pole under Frieza’s foot, and the tyrant holding something against his chest as if keeping it hidden for a surprise...

“All FOUR of you.”

Frieza turned to the trio, holding Pan’s orange bandanna, which had been discarded from his last hit.

“So while the Saiyans sleep, how about another game? Might as well let you have just a little fun... until they see what’s left of you.”

Pan, blood coming down towards her right eye, lied, her fingers moving, but unable to get back up.

“Pan, do you copy?!”

“Pan, you have to get up!”

She couldn’t even hear her comms, both sight and sound muddled.

“You have to hurry! Your father...!”

“If Piccolo and Krillin die now...!”

Pan could only lift her head just enough to see a purple pair of shoes she hadn’t seen since she was last on her Earth.

“Pan.”

This voice was clear as day to her...

“Hey.”

A voice of someone she just fought alongside on Namek, but the tone and mannerisms of someone she hadn’t heard in some time.

“Look at me.”

Pan peered upward at a pair of yellow slacks, a white shirt underneath a black and red letterman jacket...

“You’re not through. Not yet.”

...to the face of the man that raised her best friend Bulla, a smirk hidden under his mustache.

“V-Vegeta?”

You Have to Wake Up, Goku! Pan's Gambit![]

“So while the Saiyans sleep, how about another game?”

Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin were standing to Goku’s defense after the hit Pan took...

“Might as well let you have just a little fun... until they see what’s left of you.”

...only to become demoralized with what Frieza intended to do to them, as well as him stepping on the Power Pole and holding Pan’s orange bandanna. Piccolo sensed her ki, knowing she was alive, but...

“She’s in no condition to fight, so we’re on our own. And with how low our ki reserves are and the power he’s wielding now, he can tear us apart.”

The Namekian tried to think of something, anything he could do to keep Frieza from slaughtering any one of them now.

“If they think I’m trying to save my own skin, I’m not. It’s the one thing that’ll appeal to him.”

Piccolo was taking a massive gamble in what he was about to reveal, but felt it was the best way he could stall Frieza, at least long enough for Pan or even Goku to get back into action.

“One of you had better get up...”

"Wait, Frieza. You wanted a wish on the Dragon Balls, right?”

Upon hearing Piccolo’s question, he practically snarled at Gohan and Krillin.

“You must have been living under a rock, Namekian, because those two were amongst the three responsible for turning the Dragon Balls to stone! They cost me my wish and I will torture them slowly before they join the little Namekian!”

Seeing the tyrant ready to take action against the two, Piccolo frantically waved his arms to dissuade him.

“T-they’re not the only Dragon Balls! There’s Dragon Balls on Earth as well!”

Krillin was aghast at him for revealing this to Frieza, but Piccolo knew...

“Frieza will invade Earth next regardless.”

“You refer to the Dragon Balls Vegeta and Nappa went rogue to go after. Yes, I’m well aware of them. I only came here first because it was a shorter trip.”

“My life force is linked to the Dragon Balls on Earth. My death means they won’t work, just like the ones here.”

Frieza appeared to be shocked to hear this...

“So if you kill me, you won't get what you wish for...”

...then closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I can certainly appreciate your attempt to stall me. Thinking you could lull me into sparing you from the horrors to come with such information...”

Piccolo didn’t understand why Frieza was acting this way after everything he told the tyrant...

“But you’ve told me nothing new. I already knew about your link to Earth’s Dragon Balls.”

...and was now especially panicked once Frieza revealed this.

“That’s impossible! There’s no way... Frieza should have no way of knowing that!”

With Pan not responding, but otherwise alive, Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time overheard the newfound revelation from Frieza.

“Towa.”

“She gave him the ability to sense ki and even gave him that piece of information.”

“But what good would it do having Frieza spare Piccolo? Wouldn’t Towa want the opposite?”

“Frieza killing Piccolo and going on a rampage without immortality would be one thing... but keeping Piccolo and using the Dragon Balls for that wish and more...”

Trunks put a hand out, interrupting Chronoa.

“Someone’s missing!”

Frieza chuckled at how unnerved Piccolo was.

“Oh, don't worry your big green head about it: you'll still outlive everyone here. I have great plans for you and Earth."

Frieza briefly turned back to the other two...

“Besides, you can regrow limbs. And the Saiyan only needs to see pieces of you when he...”

...seeing one of them missing.

“That little...! He hid his power and snuck away during all this!”

"V-Vegeta?"

The Vegeta of Pan’s past slicked back his hair, then put both hands into his letterman jacket's pockets.

“The stories I told you... nothing at all like this, were they?”

Meanwhile, Pan had just managed to lift herself off the ground by her hands.

“To think you'd be here, facing our old foes... and my younger self...”

Was this real? Was she actually being reached out to by the Vegeta of her own Earth, somehow?

“Had I ever imagined you'd see these battles... live them... I would’ve done as your parents told me.”

Pan looked less rattled and more like she was attempting to decipher what was going on.

“That blow to the head just now... I have to be imagining this...”

He lightly scoffed.

“You see me for the first time in ages and the first thing on your mind is the logic behind it?”

Projection or not, Pan regretted talking like that to him.

“I'm sorry, Vegeta.”

“Don't be.”

He looked away for a moment, the back of his letterman jacket swaying from the wind.

“So... your grandfather. The stuff of legends just as you hoped?”

Pan couldn’t quite put it into words.

“You still don’t know the half of it, Pan.”

Now she actually got up enough to crouch.

“Something else on your mind?”

“When you and Bulma had Trunks...”

She reached into her jean’s right pocket...

“...you met him before.”

...and took out a photograph, handing it to Vegeta:

Bulma, appearing to be the same age as when she had just had Trunks, standing next to the Trunks of the future.

“How to eloquently explain that... ‘Why yes, Trunks. I met another you from the distant future who changed the course of our very lives.’ How would he even react?”

“Bulla too, for that matter. Especially once you mention him fighting Androids using a sword.”

“Heh. Quite right.”

Whatever the cause of this or it even being a reality, Pan spoke to how she truly felt:

“I miss Bulla so much.”

Upon hearing a sniffle, Vegeta turned back to her...

“You told me to guard Bulla with my life and I...”

...then saw tears come down.

“I let her die. It was all my fault. I should’ve... it should’ve been...”

This Vegeta did something his past self wouldn’t dream of doing:

He put his arms around Pan, consoling her when she showed vulnerability.

“You can’t trade lives, Pan.”

“I miss you all so much.”

“We’ve all missed you. You’re the only one who didn’t join us. We had hoped you survived Frieza and here you are now.”

But Pan soon found Vegeta breaking off the hug and standing once more.

“I don't know how much time we have left, so listen well: you have anger and hate, but you don’t use them. Here, against Frieza... you must.”

“But if I give in to my hatred and rage, I'll be consumed by it.”

“You think that lowly of yourself, Pan?”

“I can't focus it. Can’t control it.”

“Yes, you can!” he immediately retorted. “You can use it without losing yourself to it. I know you can. Your will and mind are stronger than you give credit.”

“But if I’m not permitted, I could risk altering...”

Now Vegeta was face-to-face, just shy of putting his hands to the sides of her head.

“Forget timelines! Forget never being born! Forget other universes and forget the damn multiverse! What do you, YES, YOU, want?!”

Instead of closing her eyes or looking away, she looked Vegeta in the eyes.

“I don't want anyone else to die on my watch.”

“There. That was a simple thought.”

With two pats on her shoulder, he got up and appeared ready to walk away.

“Wait...”

“Yes?”

“I wanted to tell you...”

“That you don’t forgive me?”

Vegeta crossed his arms.

“I understand completely. Everything I did... even in death, I have to live with it.”

“No, not that.”

He seemed surprised to hear that Pan didn’t want to talk to him about his past sins.

“I wanted to say... thank you, Vegeta... for what you did for me. Not just stopping me from going into three hundred times gravity that night...”

“Such sentiment...”

Vegeta grinned once more at her.

“...and here, I thought I was just a figment of your imagination...”

He put his hand out to her and Pan reached out to him...

...as another voice reached her.

“Hey, are you okay?”

She then found that in Vegeta's place was...

“Dad?”

But then it became clear that it was her father from her past, still a child.

“What? No. Your dad's not here. You're still on Namek, remember?”

After he clarified this, Pan's vision and hearing became crystal clear at last. Realizing what she could've given away to her father's younger self, she played it off like she was confused earlier.

“G-Gohan?”

“Yes, it's me.”

He put both his hands to the side of her head akin to a doctor trying to see the state of a patient.

“You must have been a bit concussed if you saw someone else just now.”

Seeing the streak of red, almost in a perfect line, near her right eye, he wiped it with the back of his gloved left wrist, then lightly blew on her right temple.

“Feeling better?”

“Better.”

Looking back in the direction of Frieza and the others, he had a feeling the respite was almost over.

“Frieza's left my dad alone, but now he's after us again. If you can still fight, we all need to work together to survive.”

Seeing her father put his hand out, she took it and was lifted back to her feet.

“I won’t let Frieza kill you, Dad... not again...”

“Pan, do you read me?”

She heard Trunks’ voice for the first time since the hit from Frieza.

“Trunks, we’ve ruled out senzu beans, so now what do we do?”

“Trunks and I will find a way to get Goku back in the fight,” entered Chronoa. “We just need Frieza’s attention elsewhere.”

Peering over into the distance at Piccolo...

“Leave that to me.”

Frieza found the culprit helping Pan onto her feet:

“Saiyan brat...”

Piccolo and Krillin saw Pan looking in their direction, but the Namekian could tell from her glance that she wanted to get his attention for immediate mental communication.

“You’d better know what you’re doing. I don’t intend to die on your behalf.”

The Earthling found Piccolo almost appearing to be staring off, not paying his ally or even Frieza any mind.

“What the...?! Hey!”

Trying to get Piccolo’s attention didn’t seem to work.

“Hello! Earth to Piccolo!”

The glare Piccolo gave Krillin told him without words that he was not only busy, but it was important.

“Whatever he’s trying to do, it’s going to determine if we live or die.”

But now Krillin noticed Frieza forming a pink orb in his hand which then grew exponentially.

“Do feel free to stop me if you so please.”

With the smallest gesture of his green arm, Piccolo signaled to Krillin that they should stay back.

“He must think Gohan will be okay, otherwise he would’ve sprung into action by now.”

Pan saw Frieza starting to form an attack and knew which one it’d be from training with Taino. Gohan instinctively stood in front of her, his hands outward, not acting as a human shield as Piccolo did, but prepared to stop it himself with his own power.

“I’ve got you.”

But Pan, now seeing the Death Cannon begin to fire, practically tackled him forward and to the side of it, the two ducked with her shield over them. The Death Cannon went straight through the tall structure and both felt a violent quake from its impact, but as Pan knew...

“It’s what comes after...”

An explosion almost in a perfect sphere shape went off and not only were the two pushed forward by it, but as cracks formed in her shield, Pan soon felt electric shocks and tried keeping Gohan covered from them.

Frieza found them rolling forward, then Pan’s shield dissipating with the two splitting up. She took most of the brunt, steam coming off her back and her father, while well protected, was far from untouched by it.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

She looked up to see the tyrant rolling the Power Pole forward with one foot while holding her orange bandanna out.

“I expected better from you.”

Pan saw the Power Pole come to a stop in front of her and put her left hand over it...

“Now sure, no one has ever survived against me for this long...”

...to which Frieza stepped on her hand with his left foot.

“...but still not good enough.”

Gohan saw him putting more and more pressure on Pan’s left hand and her gripping his left ankle with her right hand in an ultimately vain attempt to stop it.

“See that, little one? She seems to be having trouble picking that up.”

Now it appeared as if the pain was so unbearable she couldn’t even keep her head facing upward, now lying with the right side of her face in the blue-green grass.

“Typical bottom feeder. Can’t do anything by herself. Needs help just to get by.”

Gohan saw Pan looking at him with her left eye...

“Those who oppose my rule don’t deserve help of any kind. They should starve and rot away...”

...then caught her winking at him.

“...or better yet...”

Now Pan felt Frieza poking her left temple with his left index and middle fingers. Gohan didn’t see her panicking, but also wasn’t sure if she had planned this out entirely.

“I can’t risk the chance that he kills you now.”

The son of Goku took a step forward, then saw Frieza pointing his right hand at him in a similar fashion.

“I’ll let you live... longer if you don’t get involved. Just look the other way.”

Even with his reserves having been depleted over the course of the battle and the clear difference in power, Gohan clenched his fists and faced Frieza unafraid.

“I’d rather look a monster like you in the eye.”

“Hmph. Then she’ll watch you die first.”

Just then, Frieza felt Pan shake, appearing to outwardly panic.

“Goku’s gone! Where is he?!”

Frieza peered over and found that the fact of Pan’s comment appeared genuine.

“He was out like a light! Where did he...?!”

Along with Goku’s unconscious body, two more bodies were also missing.

“How can I not sense them either?! I’d have known if they had... USELESS POWER...!”

“Power Pole...!”

Pan gripped his left wrist, moving his hand away from her head.

“...Extend!”

Gohan, seeing the expanding polearm coming towards him, rolled towards it, avoiding the first Death Beam that Frieza fired...

...and before Frieza could go for a second, he found himself and Pan being lifted off the ground in tow with the Power Pole by the child. Pan, using their momentum, along with managing to get onto both her feet to run forward, then shoved Frieza into the polearm’s path and joined her father in swinging it downward onto him. The strength of their combined swing left Frieza with only his hands visible from the hole he was in, to which Pan snagged her bandanna back from him while he was momentarily stupefied by what had transpired.

“Not losing this either.”

She placed it back over her head and tied it in record time as Gohan appeared ready to go for another swing of the polearm. Pan’s hand taking hold of it didn’t stop him, but told him to let go of it.

“Step back a moment, Gohan.”

Frieza, appearing to rotate upward like a vampire exiting a coffin, then saw Pan with a hand out, glowing not with the usual color of her attacks, but instead purple.

“Hmm... almost reminds me of...”

But once the energy wave fired, it was unmistakable.

“Milky Cannon?!”

Frieza stayed right where he was and backhanded it, the resulting blast tearing through several structures and leaving a noticeable trail.

“Captain Ginyu created that move. I don’t believe he taught it to anyone. None even his four flunkies.”

“It’s like Goku said,” Pan began. “Monkey see, monkey do.”

Despite his initial curiosity, Frieza was certain this display of Pan’s was...

“Amusing, but clearly a fluke.”

Gohan believed Frieza would now fly forward at any moment, taking on a defensive stance for himself, but also trying to cover Pan.

“Oh, but that’s not all, Frieza,” Pan taunted.

Gohan stepped aside, able to tell what Pan was doing.

“She’s stalling him. Keeping him occupied. Away from Dad, Krillin, and Mr. Piccolo.”

“Allow me to show you.”

Elsewhere, Goku lied totally still, Namek’s ocean to his right. Water from Earthling hands cupping it was then tossed at the unconscious Saiyan, splashing down on his face and hair, but so far, to no avail.

“We don’t have much time, Krillin,” Piccolo cautioned.

“I’ve been doing this since we got here, and it’s done nothing.”

Piccolo knelt down in front of his former hated enemy.

“Hmph. He’s just as stubborn unconscious.”

“I still don’t know if you and her planned this out, but if we don’t wake him up now, our geese will be cooked the moment Frieza...”

“Shut up a second...”

Now the Namekian had his hand over Goku’s chest, ki glowing from his palm.

“Wait a minute, you’re...”

“I think I can give him some of my ki directly.”

“And that will get Goku back on his feet?”

“Got any better ideas?”

Just then, the two heard and saw a massive purple energy wave emerge from where they had left.

“Piccolo, they bought us time, but now we need to get back into the fight.”

“Just one more second...”

“Frieza’s ki didn’t go down at all from that just now.”

“I said one more...!”

While Piccolo did feel a small amount of his ki transfer directly to Goku, it still had no effect on him that he could tell. Sighing, he got back up.

“We can only hope that did something for the long haul.”

Chronoa was watching what was transpiring with Goku as Trunks came running back into the library.

“Beetro gave me this: a capsule of senzu bean extract. It’ll give Goku just enough nutrients to regain consciousness. No more, no less.”

So far, she hadn’t paid any mind to what he had said.

“Supreme Kai of Time? Did you hear me?”

Getting closer, he found her staring right at an unfolding event, seeming partially confused and even dreading something, but mostly unable to ascertain something.

“Wait, is that...?”

Now that he saw it clearly as well, he was in the same boat as the Supreme Kai of Time.

Krillin and Piccolo flew back towards the battle with Frieza, Goku still as immobile as when they brought him to that spot.

“The higher up isn’t going to like this one...”

The hooded figure made his way over to the unconscious Goku, the others now far enough away for him to avoid being noticed.

“...but the rules forbid me from interfering with death more than once, not waking somebody back up.”

From his long brown robed sleeved, a glowing palm touched Goku’s forehead.

“Goku? Hey.”

He lightly ruffled Goku’s hair as the glow encompassed the Saiyan’s whole body.

“Rise and shine. It’s time to get up.”

Despite the glow, Goku still had his eyes closed.

“Oh, this simply won’t do.”

Now the hooded figure resorted to lightly smacking the sides of Goku’s face.

“Wakey wakey. No time like the present.”

He rose back to his feet and seemingly walked past him...

“I am sorry, but I have no other choice but to resort to this...”

...then somehow on his person, he pulled out from his robes...

...a twin bell alarm clock attached to a string, which he placed directly behind Goku’s head. He then slowly stepped backward with the increasingly long string stretching out. By the time he took cover behind a rock, it was akin to him preparing to use a demolition plunger.

“We both learned just how effective this could be...”

And with a yank of the string...

...the alarm clock went off, the ringing having Goku sitting back up in a panic.

“Oh shoot! I’ve really overslept now! Krillin probably beat me there! And Master Roshi’s going to...!”

But once Goku heard the noise no longer, he saw that he was still on Namek and immediately sensed...

“Frieza’s way over there! And so is Gohan and that girl! I’d better get back there and...!”

But he then realized his ki reserves were near-drained, and his body ached and was still as sore as before from Kaio-Ken Times Twenty earlier.

“Think Goku, THINK! I was brought out here so I wouldn’t be a target!”

During Goku’s initial panic, the hooded figure had tiptoed over and picked up the alarm clock, slowly putting it back in his sleeve...

...but upon fumbling with it, almost dropping it...

“Oh dear...”

Goku could’ve sworn he heard something behind him and turned around, to which the hooded figure leapt towards the water, putting his robed hands together.

“Is someone there?!”

Goku found no sign of anyone behind him...

...all except for a red Namekian crab climbing and then walking nearby his feet.

“Focus, Goku! There’s still life on Namek. And I could draw from nearby planets...”

Knowing exactly what he had to do, Goku raised both his hands up towards the sky.

“Plants and animals of Namek... please... lend me your energy.”

Below Goku in the depths of Namek’s ocean, the hooded figure appeared standing, not even the least bit concerned with being underwater.

“Much too close there, you old geezer...”

“Who the heck was that?!”

Trunks had seen a mysterious figure in a brown robe hop towards the ocean and vanish out of sight the moment his hands were together.

“I have no idea, Trunks,” Chronoa answered. “I’ve never seen them before.”

“And this mystery person... helped us? Helped Goku get back into the fight?”

“It would appear they’re on our side, but to what end, I couldn’t say.”

“Pan wasn’t counting on something like this, that’s for...”

Then Trunks began swiping at the scroll itself.

“Shoot!”

A purple sphere surrounded Pan’s body as she then charged straight for Frieza with an elbow.

“How about that?” the tyrant responded...

...stopping it with one hand. Pan saw him immediately aiming his other hand to fire at her and the orb then took on a more yellow-orange glow before bursting. Frieza slid back, still on his feet, as he then found Pan running right for him. He chopped at Pan, but found she had launched herself upward with his wrist, then elbowed the back of his head. Once he turned back to her, she threw rapid punches.

“Look at that. The trifecta.”

One hand was all he needed to redirect them.

“Why it’s almost like Ginyu taught you these himself.”

But now that Dynamite Punch had ceased, Pan found herself exposed in midair, another pointed hand intended to fire for her.

“Masenko!”

Gohan fired right as Pan’s technique expired, forcing Frieza to stop it with that hand instead.

“That just gave me an idea, Dad...”

Landing on her feet, Pan had both wrists out to block a swing. Pushing forward, Pan had Frieza go back a few inches, then slid down straight between Frieza’s legs. He went for an immediate retaliation with both hands, but saw the fast hand gestures Pan performed followed by...

“Masenko!”

It was likely he would’ve avoided it in just any other context, but at this close a range along with the shock he felt...

“What?! She did that after seeing the brat do it... JUST NOW?!”

...Frieza had to actually cover himself with both hands, but was still sent upward.

“Replicating a technique just from sight...! Is that what she did against Ginyu?!”

Pan flew up in pursuit of him with her left hand out to Frieza’s face and her right hand over her left wrist...

“No... she couldn’t have...”

...then gripped it.

“IMPOSSIBLE!!! It’s my technique! MINE!!! To think such a lower life form could be capable of it...!”

Expecting to be caught in an Imprisonment Ball, he froze.

“Heh.”

Hearing this from Pan, as well as not realizing the technique didn’t leave her hand after all...

“You bamboozled me...!”

...he was perfectly vulnerable to a double axe handle to the back of his head by Gohan. Pan floated next to her father as both charged ki in their hands for any number of attacks. Gohan saw her forming purple spheres in her hands, then tried something similar, but with a yellow hue. As Frieza rotated, he found a two colored barrage of blasts coming down right for him, one of them being...

“Galaxy Dynamite!”

Despite his defenses never wavering, he found his back striking the ground, then himself sinking further downward with each successive hit.

“Hey! Take it easy with the planet!”

Pan ceased her attack and then gestured for Gohan to stop as well upon hearing that voice.

“Goku. You’re finally awake.”

“If it was your idea to get me far away from Frieza, it was a really smart play. It won’t be quick, but if you can keep Frieza at bay, we’ll have a shot at beating him.”

Gohan knew Pan wasn’t just staring off blankly.

“Is my dad talking to you?”

“Gohan.”

Now he heard his father communicating with him.

“D-Dad?”

“I need you all to keep buying me time for something. You’ve been doing great, Gohan, so I know you can do it.”

“I will, Dad.”

Pan thought something bright was getting into her eyes, so she and Gohan started floating downward.

“The Spirit Bomb...” Gohan whispered to her.

From below where they sent Frieza, they heard...

“How dare you...”

Krillin and Piccolo floated into their view.

“We got here as soon as we co...”

Pan gestured with her arm for them to get out of sight and the two of them looked for cover.

“HOW DARE YOU!!!”

The tyrant didn’t float up this time, instead creating an explosion that turned the Frieza-shaped hole into a massive crater.

“You learned Ginyu’s techniques from somewhere. The brat’s too. You tried to trick me. Well it won’t work again.”

But Frieza’s initial fuming at Pan was put on hold as he then appeared to turn around towards Goku’s direction.

“What is this...?”

Knowing that Frieza had been granted the ability to sense ki by Towa, Pan at first pondered...

“Did he track down my grandpa? But with his ki...”

...then came to a different conclusion.

“The Spirit Bomb!”

“Even if Frieza doesn’t know what it is exactly...” Trunks started. “Sensing all that energy from across the planet and coming in from outside it...”

“What the hell is this?!”

Frieza was further baffled.

“It’s not a lifeform or even several. No, it’s... power... flowing somewhere...”

Pan quickly realized the danger this scenario presented.

“Is it almost ready, Trunks?”

“The Spirit Bomb’s nowhere near where it needs to be. If Frieza finds it or your grandfather now...”

“I’ll take his mind off it!”

She eyed Frieza, and the tyrant, while still eager to discover this massive ki source, could see in her eyes that she looked to combat him right in that moment.

“If you’re about to do what I think you’re doing...” started Piccolo. “You won’t have much left after. Best case scenario, you’ll drain your ki.”

“I’m trusting you and the others to keep him from killing Goku... please.”

Krillin, next to Piccolo, caught the Namekian still again, then saw Pan eying Frieza’s movements.

“Already got a feeling we’re not out of the frying pan yet...”

Not knowing their plan exactly, Krillin zoomed out of cover, but in a way to not compromise Piccolo’s position.

“HEY, YOU!!!”

Frieza heard the Earthling, then saw him taking on his Destructo-Disk stance.

“Remember this?!”

Pan saw Krillin creating a distraction for her.

“KAIO-KEN...!”

Frieza, who looked ready to swipe his hand for a technique Krillin was already fearful of...

“Yipes!”

...turned away from Krillin the exact moment Pan shouted this.

“TIMES...!”

The barrage of ki blades from the swipe came rushing for her.

“TWENTY!!!”

The moment the massive red aura was over her body, Pan either struck the blades closest to her away or weaved through them. She then zoomed right for Frieza, who already went to block with his wrists, but this led to him being struck into the upright corner of the crater he stood in.

Hopping upward to the point of shaking the ground, Pan then zoomed right for him. Frieza fired a barrage of Death Beams, which Pan avoided in a barrel roll, wrapping around the path before tackling him straight through the crater and perhaps a sports field’s worth of solid ground before Frieza broke it off, flying straight back up.

“You can’t do this forever, you know!”

Pan didn’t pay Frieza any mind, catching up and punching at his face. The first few got in, then Frieza actually appeared to catch her wrists to stop further punches.

“Tiring out, are we?”

But Pan managed to nudge her right hand into pointing directly at Frieza’s forehead. He had already ruled out Pan being able to learn techniques from immediate sight after she tricked him into thinking she knew one of Frieza’s own techniques, but then deciphered...

“That too?!”

The first orb of Visionary Attack struck and exploded at near point blank, then, before Frieza could be sent backward, Pan gripped his other wrist to keep the projectile barrage going. From below, it looked like a rapid barrage of fireworks going off.

But Frieza finally put a hand in Pan’s finger’s path, this resulting explosion sending both back.

“That is much stronger than Ginyu’s...”

The dust settled and he saw Pan giving away the faintest signs of fatigue.

“And it used up much more energy, didn’t it?”

Pan put her right hand behind her shoulder...

“Damn him. I can’t afford to fire any more ki at him.”

...and reached for the one piece of her arsenal that wouldn’t require any use of it.

“I’ll impale you with that once you run out of fuel.”

Pan flew around out of Frieza’s sight, then the tyrant turned to block a swing with both wrists. He found that not only did his wrists hurt, but he actually saw marks left from their impact.

“You first!”

Now Frieza was actually inclined to try avoiding the Power Pole strikes instead of just blocking, but found several swings getting in and himself forced to defend when able. His wrists and legs actually felt something like soreness just from the impacts, which Pan hadn’t accomplished before.

He caught a downward swing of the polearm intended for his head with both hands, but Pan kneed him in the chest, then swung it on the back of his head. As Frieza tried recovering in midair, he found Pan coming right down for him and by the time he had his hands out to stop it, the Power Pole’s end struck his chest.

The two came crashing straight down, a crater not unlike the one Frieza created earlier forming, as Pan then stepped on Frieza’s waist with her right foot to increase the pressure.

“Spirit Bomb ready yet?!”

“A few more minutes, Pan,” Chronoa answered. “But right now, your Kaio-Ken...!”

“I know...”

Frieza then felt the pressure from both the Power Pole and Pan’s foot dissipate.

“That’s all the Times Twenty I can pull off...”

Just as Pan stepped off of Frieza, the tyrant raised a foot initially intended for that leg and booted Pan back. She was first embedded into a corner of the crater, then, as she moved her arms to grasp the region Frieza struck, fell out of it and rolled down for some time before reaching the bottom.

“That Saiyan nearly killed me earlier, you know...”

Frieza floated back to his feet and Pan immediately noticed the Power Pole was still sticking out from where Pan jabbed it.

“But you...”

He then took the polearm out, revealing not blood or a stab wound, but an indent left from it.

“You and your orange headwear are the worst breed of annoying.”

Pan could stand, even fight, but with her reserves where they were now and how her body felt...

“It’s all up to you now, Grandpa.”

While he initially planned to kill Pan with her own weapon, with what she had inflicted on him with it in Kaio-Ken Times Twenty...

“I’ll use all my energies...”

She saw him lowering the Power Pole and lifting one foot over it.

“...to show you that there is nothing...”

It had withstanded what Frieza threw at it in the heat of battle so far, but now that he was free to put everything into this...

“...that I can’t destroy!”

Frieza stomped down onto the Power Pole with all his might...

...and found it didn’t budge.

“Wh...?!”

He tried the same gesture as before, but his stomping foot still couldn’t get it to break or even bend.

“The Devil?!”

Obsessed with snapping her prized possession in two, Frieza continued stepping on it repeatedly, now finding it and himself were starting to become burrowed further downward.

“How is this even possible?! A totally unbreakable weapon?!”

Pan found Frieza’s one-track mind was keeping her alive and his attention away from the Spirit Bomb, but knew that eventually, he’d tire of it.

“I think we’ve bought Goku just enough time,” reentered Trunks. “It’ll be tricky with the Power Pole, but we could retrieve you now and come back for it later.”

As much as she would’ve wanted to get away from easily her longest back-to-back battles...

“Not until the mission is over, Trunks.”

But then Frieza peered back upward.

“That damned sensation again...”

He floated back up and held the Power Pole in one hand, appearing almost tired from his efforts to break the polearm.

“It’s even more massive now...”

Now he had left the crater entirely, looking out into the distance.

“That sun is incredibly bright right now...”

Knowing what Frieza was about to figure out, she floated upward.

“Did you forget about me?!” she shouted to get his attention.

“Oh, how could I ever forget about you?”

Now Frieza actually put out a hand to cover himself from the “sun”, peering downward to see...

“I’ve found you!”

“He’s found your grandfather!”

She saw Frieza look at the Power Pole and then saw him grin back to her.

“I know what to do with this now...”

Frieza flew forward as Pan pursued and tried to keep up, but was clearly falling behind.

“If I had more ki... but I...”

She then felt someone taking hold of her wrist:

“Hold on.”

Piccolo zoomed forward with Pan in tow.

“They’re both already watching over Goku. I stayed back just to make sure you weren’t dead.”

While it almost sounded like he was almost caring for her, he then gave Pan an especially serious look.

“What Goku’s doing had better work. Or Trunks will have some serious explaining to do.”

“Crapbaskets,” went Trunks on comms. “He’s still on about that.”

Gohan and Krillin, standing on a cliffside looking down at Goku, still standing in place with his arms upward, were in awe at the scale of the Spirit Bomb.

“It was about this big when you and Goku used it on Vegeta,” went Gohan, his arms trying to gauge what he remembered of its size.

“I think this one’s well over a hundred feet,” Krillin replied.

“But there’s only so much life left on this planet...”

“Did you forget how many planets we and Bulma passed by on the way here?”

“Heh. You’re right, Krillin.”

Noticing several of the marks left across the landscape from the various attacks Frieza unleashed throughout their fight...

“With everything happening with the planet... I really hope Bulma’s okay.”

“Gohan, she’s been turned into a carrot and back. She’s been through it all.”

“Wait... turned into a carrot?”

“It’s a long story, Gohan. Puar could tell you all about it.”

But the pleasantries were cut short by the two sensing an unmistakable ki fast approaching them.

"He found us already?!" Krillin exclaimed.

“She kept him occupied... and if he’s coming here now, then she...”

“Piccolo stayed back, remember? She’ll be fine. I mean, after everything she went through with Captain Ginyu...”

And then they saw Frieza floating just about Goku, purple over his body and his eyes glowing as he appeared to be taking aim with the Power Pole.

“Toss it straight through Son Goku! Right through his heart!”

Piccolo and Pan saw what Frieza was about to do and that they couldn’t catch him in time.

“I can’t go any faster! Even a blast wouldn’t...!”

“Throw me to Goku, NOW!!!”

Piccolo span at high speed, then threw Pan in an arc around Frieza and downward towards Goku.

Pan’s grandfather, taking notice of Frieza’s presence, then saw the Power Pole thrown right towards him.

“Couldn’t roll out of the way if I wanted to...”

Pan suddenly arced down directly in front of Goku into its path, putting out both her hands to catch it.

“Time it just right and...!”

She had both hands around the polearm, gripping it...

...then felt one end pierce right into her. She violently collided and slid across the ground, just shy of rolling off into the waters below.

Frieza then hovered downward, not intending to go right for the immediate kill as Towa wanted.

“Did you enjoy your nap, monkey?”

Goku didn’t answer, instead looking over at Pan, who appeared still.

“Please tell me you’re okay...”

“I’m... I’m okay, Goku.”

As Frieza stepped closer, the tyrant saw no attempts on Goku’s part to take on a stance, his arms still raised to the sky.

“Are you trying to surrender? Not that that gesture would save your life to begin with.”

“N-no...” Goku responded. “Not quite.”

“Just how long are you going to stand around like that?”

Goku, a trail of blood from earlier still on his lip, lightly chuckled.

“Long as I want.”

“You...”

Frieza then zoomed directly in front of him...

“...ASSHOLE!!!”

...with a kick that practically had Goku skipping across the waters before his back struck another landmass.

Pan, taking the Power Pole out, saw her blood from that end almost blended in completely with its red hue.

“Missed my organs...”

She then saw Frieza floating over to meet Goku on the shore of the other landmass.

“Can’t let Frieza...”

Piccolo put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll go. Patch yourself up.”

Goku, slowly climbing up, saw Frieza waiting for him.

“I didn’t have to expend anything for you. I could’ve just waited for you to swim back. I was generous enough to meet you here and save you the trip.”

Now the Saiyan from Earth lied, only half out of the water, huffing.

“I could’ve destroyed the planet at the very start of our fight, gone at you with all my power all at once... and I didn’t. I don’t ask for much, I really don’t. At the very minimum, you should repay me for my kindness by taking this seriously.”

Seeing that Goku didn’t even look up at him, Frieza pointed down at him.

“Another utterly ungrateful Saiyan... just like Vegeta. And you’ll die the same way he did.”

But then Frieza saw something curious behind Goku, like a bright ball.

“The sun was bright before, but this...”

Frieza had conquered enough planets with one or several suns to know that none would look like that reflected in the water.

“That’s no sun...”

He peered directly at it, realizing...

"It's a ball of energy!"

And while he only saw Goku with that arms up stance for a short time, Frieza pieced together...

“You did this! All that power I felt earlier... that’s where it went!”

Privately, Goku mused that Frieza had figured it out and he was in the worst position to pull it off now.

“Even if I use it now, he’ll... he’ll dodge it! It’s not big enough! Damn... damn it all!”

But now Frieza was ready to finish him once more.

“Defeating me must’ve been a nice dream... but they’re meant to be broken.”

Whether Goku thought there was still a chance to fight back or simply lashed out from what Frieza would do to his loved ones after his death, the Saiyan raised on Earth threw one last punch at the tyrant only to find it easily caught and Frieza’s pointing hand nearly at his eye.

“Ta-ta.”

A punch from a stretched Namekian arm struck the tyrant’s face soon followed by a divekick directly into Frieza’s chest, sending him through the ground and into the water on the opposite side of the landscape.

“T-thank you.”

“Hurry and finish your damn Spirit Bomb!” shouted Piccolo.

Goku was free to put his arms up once more, putting all his focus into the task...

...even as he heard Frieza splashing out of the water.

“Damned Namekian! This is what I get for offering to spare him...!”

With Goku and Piccolo now on the other landmass, Gohan and Krillin descended down to see how Pan was doing. She had rolled up the front of her blue shirt just enough to get a closer look at the wound from the thrown Power Pole.

“My dad made that wrap for you earlier. When this is all over, we can get that taken care of.”

“Look, you’ve done tons for us already. Just take it easy while they...”

But using their senses, they knew that Piccolo’s attack on Frieza didn’t harm him much and that the tyrant would be back any moment.

“Stay here,” went Gohan.

“We’ll be okay, I promise,” added Krillin.

As they flew off to any number of spots nearby, Pan just knew...

“Too much has changed already, hasn’t it?”

“Frieza and Goku weren’t supposed to have their confrontation over there,” went Chronoa. “Once the Spirit Bomb touches down, they’ll be scattered who knows where.”

“You mean the Spirit Bomb will leave them all in...”

Pan took what was left of her ki and put it over her wound.

“They won’t drown if I can help it!”

Piccolo, whether Frieza would spare him or not, knew his anger had reached its boiling point.

“Frieza’s infuriated! It’s now or never, Goku! Do it!”

“W-wait! Just a... just a little more.”

“Cowards! Pests! Flies! Rats!”

The tyrant had any number of attacks planned, some that’d hit the Saiyan dead-center and others where Piccolo would be included in the destruction, but before he could unleash one of them...

Goku saw two projectiles strike the tyrant before he could turn around, one of the most massive detonations from attacks seeming so small he had ever seen.

“You guys... have really outdone yourselves now.”

Shortly, Frieza saw where Gohan and Krillin attacked from clear as day, on a small piece of land nearby.

“I could tear those twerps apart with my bare hands... but then again...”

Looking out at his palm, then closing it with only his index finger out...

“I’ve been on this planet long enough!”

Everyone present saw Frieza raise it upward, an orb beginning to form.

“Feel free to flee anywhere... because when this touches down...”

It grew even more massive with only the Spirit Bomb being larger than it.

“...you’ll die with Namek!”

Goku, meanwhile, felt the Spirit Bomb was ready.

“DONE!!!”

Piccolo, seeing Frieza’s Death Ball reaching its apex, shouted, “Do it, NOW!!!”

Frieza heard this, then saw Goku gesture his arms downward.

“Is that thing...?!”

Seeing the Spirit Bomb coming down for him, he gestured his index finger downward and the Death Ball came down for Goku and Piccolo.

“This isn’t right!” went Trunks. “The Spirit Bomb should’ve devoured it before he even had a chance to throw it!”

And now instead of appearing afraid or too slow to avoid it, Frieza actually looked more than able to fly away from it.

“If Frieza avoids the Spirit Bomb...!”

“He won’t!”

Pan, using what ki she still had, upped her speed to collide straight into Frieza’s back, forcing him to put his hands out towards the Spirit Bomb.

“Good! Now get away from it, Pan!”

Pan then pushed off his back with her feet, Frieza knocked even closer into it.

But now she was left with the Death Ball headed for...

“Grandpa! Piccolo!”

She looked to see Goku trying to pull off a Kamehameha, but...

“It’s... it’s no use...”

...his ki didn't coalesce.

“That was everything I had.”

With everything his body had given, Goku could only crumple onto his knees.

“I’m... I’m drained.”

Even as Frieza was being dragged downward underneath the massive Spirit Bomb, there was nothing Goku could do now against not just his own impending death, but those of his friends and family there as well.

“I... I couldn’t save you all...”

“Masenko!”

Piccolo fired off not a brief burst, but an almost continuous version of his technique, trying to delay it. Goku saw that who was once the son and living incarnation of one of his most hated enemies, the Namekian who desired his death above all else, and who even had some amusement in killing him alongside Raditz, was now trying to save not just everyone on the planet, but him as well.

“Nobody kills you but me, Goku,” he lightly teased, if mainly to hide his own exhaustion and fear of what would come from failure now.

Pan landed quickly, seeing the Death Ball was slowed, but seconds from impact.

“Come on, body. Just a little more...”

“Kaaaa... meeee...”

Goku saw Pan, even with everything she had given so far, managing to use what was still there.

“Haaaa... meeee...”

He actually looked over in astonishment.

“I don’t know if you’re a Saiyan or not... but if Vegeta was right about there being a Super Saiyan...”

“Haaaaaa!!!”

Her blue beam fired side-by-side with Piccolo’s yellow one, the Death Ball being slowed even further...

“...you have the heart of a Super Saiyan.”

...but still not enough to stop it.

“Body, if you can pull this off one more time, I’ll give you a break. For real this time.”

“Kaio...”

Pan didn’t stop from hesitation, but almost as if even her body was warning her against it.

“Kaio...”

Piccolo could see and sense what this would mean.

“Don’t use Kaio-Ken! You’ll burn yourself out at best and then we’re done for!”

“But if I don’t, we’ll...!”

She saw Frieza coming down, trying to push back against the Spirit Bomb.

“This is... no... this is no problem!”

It was a race between which attack would reach Namek first and in one of the two cases, the planet would be destroyed.

“I have to!”

Pan knew her Kamehameha wouldn’t last forever and that, at least in theory, increasing her ki twice over would increase their odds of survival.

“Kaio-K...!”

“Stop!”

Just then, her father stood to her right.

“I’m here too!”

He performed the same gestures as Piccolo to fire a second Masenko, resulting in a third beam pushing back against the Death Ball, which was now at its slowest.

“Gohan, you’re doing it!” went his father. “It’s stopping! It’s...”

Now it almost appeared as if the Death Ball came to a dead stop...

...almost.

“It’s not enough...” mused Pan.

All three knew the exact moment one or more of them were tapped out, it would tear through what remained unhindered.

“All three of us aren’t enough to stop it.”

Pan tried going for Kaio-Ken one last time, but as her Kamehameha actually began to narrow just slightly, she knew...

“I’d power up for a second, then I’d be toast. Them too.”

Goku saw the trio starting to tire.

"You did well... all of you. It's all anyone could be asked to do..."

Frieza, even faced with his own demise, saw that they were about to be finished as well.

“If I die... they die with me.”

“Kaaaa... meeee...”

Frieza couldn’t believe it.

“Haaaa... meeeee...”

The hands of another student of Master Roshi, standing to Piccolo’s right, began the technique...

“Haaa!”

“The insignificant little Earthling...”

Krillin’s Kamehameha struck right as the Death Ball was certain to strike everyone...

...and the Death Ball was going backward.

“Just a little more, guys!”

And with a final push from all four, all but collapsing after the fact, now the Death Ball was rocketing into the sky.

“No, no, no...!”

And now Frieza’s back touched the water.

“NOOOOO!!!”

The five on the landmass saw Frieza disappear from their sight and the Spirit Bomb slowly submerge.

“Krillin, you...” began Gohan. “You saved us.”

“We’re still in danger,” warned Goku. “The moment the Spirit Bomb touches down, the waters will get violent. The ground we’re standing on will break or be submerged.”

“He’s right,” Piccolo agreed. “We have seconds at best now. Grab whoever’s closest to you and...!”

The explosion that resulted from the Spirit Bomb and Frieza making contact with Namek shook the ground with such unequaled force that not only did the landmass all but shatter entirely, but all five of them were thrown into the rampaging waters.

“Goku!”

Piccolo managed to stretch his arm in Goku’s direction, but as for the other three, they practically scattered by comparison.

“Dad!”

Gohan tried reaching for his father, but his fingers were just shy of grasping his hand. And in the next second, he couldn’t move his hands fast enough to stop himself from colliding with a chunk of rock.

“We’ve got to get Pan out of there now!” shouted Trunks.

“I’m not going anywhere until they’re safe!” Pan countered.

“Pan’s right,” the Supreme Kai of Time added. “Once they’re all safe, then we can retrieve her. But in the meantime, Trunks, you have a job to do.”

“Wh... me?”

She handed him the scroll.

“That Death Ball can’t be allowed to hit anything or anyone.”

She telekinetically lifted and handed Trunks a breathing device, almost akin to a mouthpiece.

“I’ll make sure Pan and the others are okay. But you need to stop that thing.”

Clenching the scroll...

“Right.”

...he faded right as his other hand put the breathing device on.

Pan, keeping afloat, but realizing just how much easier such waters would’ve been to deal with if she had ki, kept her eyes peeled for anyone.

“You’re my eyes in the sky, so let me know if anyone’s in...”

She found Gohan, unconscious and his head and shoulders just barely above the water.

“Dad!”

Pan swam as best as she could against the current, then wrapped her left arm under his left armpit and across his chest, keeping him more comfortably above water. But they had to reach ground of some sort soon or they would get pulled into the vortex they were just at the edge of.

“That big gap where the Spirit Bomb entered... I don’t even want to know what that’ll do to us.”

Her right hand gripped the Power Pole, then took aim at a promising piece of land that would’ve been too far for arm’s reach otherwise.

“Let’s get you above water...”

Plunging into it with whatever strength she could still muster, it stuck.

“There! Got it!”

Pan began to slowly release, then grab hold of the polearm with her right hand repeatedly to advance while still holding onto Gohan.

“Goku and Piccolo are okay, Pan, but I’m having trouble finding Krillin.”

“Keep me posted.”

A little more gymnastics and Pan would have her father on dry land.

“Power Pole’s not going anywhere. Just a few more...”

But then she heard massive cracks forming and spreading rapidly. From the little Pan could see in the water, it appeared to originate from below.

“This is a big hunk of rock. It’s gotta...”

Just then, a huge section of the piece of land she jabbed the Power Pole not only broke off, but actually began to sink, her and her polearm being slowly dragged down with it.

“No! No, no, this is bad!”

Pan tried to pull the Power Pole out of it, but through a combination of how deep it dug into the landmass and her own taxed strength...

“It’s too heavy...”

She nearly tried pulling the Power Pole with two hands, but realized that hand was what was keeping her father afloat. And now everything up to her chest was underwater and Gohan’s chin was all that kept water from his mouth.

“It was my grandfather’s... but my dad... I can’t...”

Pan couldn’t begin to fathom it, but with her father’s life on the line, she closed her eyes as her right hand let go.

“Damn it...”

It was one of her most prized possessions and one of the few things from her home, but she released it, allowing it and the landmass to sink into the furthest depths of Namek.

But now without the little ground the broken mass gave her, Pan sank down briefly, keeping Gohan’s head above water before she could rise back up.

“Don’t know how long I can keep at this. When I really reach zero percent...”

“Pan, there’s another mass coming up! Much sturdier! You and your father will be safe up there.”

She saw it coming up on her right and knew whatever energy it’d take swimming in its direction would mean less to keep afloat if she missed it now.

“Just one more chance...”

Her right hand reached out to a piece of land just sticking out...

...and managed a grip.

“Thank God...”

As she began to lift Gohan upward, she heard the same sound of cracks as before, seeing them right above her.

“Breaking apart... but at least Dad will be safe.”

She managed to get his upper body over it, then with all the strength her left arm could muster, tossed him onto the landmass entirely.

“There! My dad’s safe! Now is Krillin okay?”

“Y-yes! He’s just near you!”

“Above water?”

“Perfectly safe.”

“That’s good.”

Pan’s hand’s grip was giving out, her fingertips all that kept her from descending.

“Supreme Kai of Time... you can retrieve me in the water, right?”

“The timing might be tricky, but...”

“Yes or no.”

“I can retrieve you in the water, Pan.”

“That’s good too. Then...”

She saw the area she gripped now nothing more than an odd-shaped rock with indents in the shape of her fingers.

“Then that means...”

She closed her eyes as she was ocean-bound...

“It’s over.”

...letting go...

...until she felt someone grip her with their left hand.

“K-Krillin?!”

“You’re not sinking on my watch!”

She noticed the ground beneath Krillin began to crack as well as he put out his right hand to her.

“Now take my other hand! Quick!”

Pan couldn’t believe the situation she was in:

“Pan, if Krillin falls in, it could...”

“You think I don’t know?!”

She had to refuse Krillin’s help or risk him falling down with her.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

“How am I supposed to tell him?”

“You have to let me go.”

The short Earthling couldn’t believe it.

“What are you talking about?!”

“The ground beneath you’s giving out! You’ll fall in too!”

Krillin heard the crackling behind him, realizing what Pan said was true, but even with that...

“And let you get swallowed up? No way!”

“I’ll be okay. But Gohan... he needs you more than I do.”

“You can’t ask me to pick between him and...”

“I’m not asking you. I’m telling you!”

“What would I be if I...?!”

“Please...”

She looked down.

“Take care of the little guy.”

Pan had tried pleading with Krillin to release her, all to try getting history back on track and remove her from the equation...

...but Krillin crouched down, his right hand managing to grab onto her left arm.

“Not a chance!”

And now she had to continue for his sake.

“Krillin, please! I can’t let you endanger yourself! Let me...!”

“NO! I won’t let go! I AM NOT LETTING GO!”

The ground around Krillin broke up in an almost perfect oval shape, a second away from breaking off.

“If you drown because of me, I’ll never forgive myself, Krillin!”

“How could I sleep at night if I let you drown now?!”

He grinded his teeth, then, with a massive hop, Krillin launched himself and Pan back, the two seeing the ground he was just on split, float away, and sink.

Pan thought Krillin was looking at the ground and Gohan, still out, would mean she was in the clear.

“Time to go?”

“We can’t risk it. They’ve both got eyes on you.”

“Both?”

She saw Gohan awake, looking up at her, then coughing out water. She then heard Krillin have a rough cough, breathing out heavily.

“Krillin, I wasn’t worth the risk.”

But despite this, he transitioned from lying on his side to standing.

“Don’t ever talk like that again.”

He slowly marched towards her.

“We lost Dende... and Vegeta. I wasn’t about to lose one more person.”

Now Krillin was kneeling to her left, just like when she was healed by Dende after Krillin caught her.

“Did you really think after I caught you before that I’d just let you go now? And it’s not about me owing you. I helped because I wanted to.”

He put his right hand to her left shoulder.

“Besides, you would’ve done the same for me.”

Pan wiped her eyes with her wrist, then smiled at him.

“Thank you... Krilli.”

Gohan actually found himself chuckling from it and even Krillin did, covering his mouth with his glove to try quieting his.

“Hey, I kinda like that.”

Pan sat up, putting a hand to the wound she had put off for some time.

“Behind you.”

Piccolo’s voice. Pan turned around and the three of them saw Piccolo climbing up onto this landmass with Goku in tow.

“Piccolo! Goku!”

“Mr. Piccolo! Dad!”

Goku, coughing up water, smiled upon hearing his son’s voice.

“Hey...”

Upon seeing Gohan, his smile grew, and Goku actually crawled forward, arms outstretched.

“Come here, son.”

Gohan couldn’t contain how happy he was, chuckling and all but running towards him for a hug.

“Daddy!”

Krillin joined in, a hand to Goku’s back.

“Goku, you son of a...!”

“You need everyone to look away while you disappear, right?”

Piccolo spoke to Pan once more.

“Over there. They won’t see you. I’ll keep you covered.”

Piccolo acted out having an injury, putting a hand to his chest as Gohan and Krillin tended to him.

“There. All eyes are over here now. You’re free to go.”

“Thanks, Piccolo.”

“Thank you for keeping Gohan safe.”

By the time the other three looked back, Pan was nowhere that they could see.

“Krillin, without you, we all would’ve...” Goku started.

“Aw shucks,” went Krillin. “Come on. It was a team effort. We’re the Z-Fighters, not the Z-Fighter, right?”

Pan heard them laughing in near-unison as she turned her head away from them completely.

“I’m back,” went Trunks. “Death Ball’s all taken care of. Now let’s get you...”

She felt a hand grip her by the throat, then was pulled away before the white beam could touch her.

“No! Pan! He shouldn’t have...!”

“I should’ve seen him coming a mile away! Damn it, how could I have...?!”

Amidst their laughs and talking, Krillin looked out...

...and went quiet.

“Krillin?”

Goku found no answer from one of his oldest friends. Then Krillin’s eyes went wide.

“You...”

The others looked over in Krillin’s direction, then were frozen at the sight of...

“F-F-Frieza!”

“Oh, but I’m not alone. I brought a friend.”

He came out from behind the cover Pan used, holding her up.

“You know, even I thought I was dead.”

They also noticed Frieza’s tail in this form was missing its tip, similar to when Krillin and Pan’s efforts sliced that half off before in his second form.

“Frieza, let her go!” Goku shouted. “I’m the one you want!”

“Well, if you say so...”

The tyrant threw Pan to the ground on her front, then, before she could try lifting herself upward, gripped her by the back of her neck.

“You have used up every last ounce of my generosity. And I want ALL OF YOU!”

“Get to my ship, now!” he all but ordered the others.

“Do that...!”

He poked Pan’s left temple once more with his left hand in a pointing stance.

“And she dies! You fine gentlemen wouldn’t want blood on your hands, now would you?”

He scoffed.

“Which is too bad. None of you are cut out for this business.”

He then peered over at Piccolo.

“Namekian, you will come with me now.”

“And why should I go anywhere with you, murderer?!”

“Because I’ll kill this wretched Saiyan wench if you don’t.”

“Piccolo, don’t...!” Pan began to shout until Frieza poked back at her left temple much more so.

“This transaction doesn’t concern you!”

He found that the Namekian appeared unwilling to approach him.

“Oh, don’t think I’m a man of my word, is that it?! That I’m all talk?! Just hot air?!”

Frieza took his left hand away from Pan’s head, then lowered it, hovering just under her chest.

“Maybe you’ll believe me once I’ve ripped her heart out.”

Still, Piccolo didn’t move one bit.

“I’m sorry, but to become his pawn... for him to use Earth’s Dragon Balls...”

“Wait, I have an even better idea...” went Frieza upon looking over at her left side at her exposed stomach.

Pan felt his index and middle fingers slowly dig into the wound from the Power Pole which she had seared shut and his thumb trying to join them by clamping down on her side. She spat out, then cried out as the tyrant couldn’t hide his grin.

“I can make this Saiyan’s death as slow and painful as you wish, Namekian. I certainly don’t mind the wait.”

Pan had no means of extraction, her ki reserves were practically emptied stopping the Death Ball and saving her father, and now her wound was being reopened.

“He’ll kill me in front of you... then kill you too. Grandpa... Krillin...”

Piccolo couldn’t bear to see Pan in the state she was in and couldn’t help but listen in.

“Dad... I couldn’t save you this time...”

The next squeeze from Frieza had her turning her head towards Goku. It was entirely unintentional on her part, but for Piccolo...

“Dad? As in...”

...then past memories of his battles alongside Pan flashed before his eyes...

“It all makes sense now! From the beginning, she was there...”

...and to the battle in the World Martial Arts Tournament, where she fought him.

“Protecting her father! Starting with protecting him from me!”

From there, she was a guardian angel to Gohan.

“And protecting her older brother!”

Piccolo recalled the woman in blue and red present along with Goku’s other friends and while the similarities seemed purely coincidental, if not superficial before...

“She has traits from both of them... or she will in the future when she’s born!”

While Piccolo wouldn’t let Frieza get a wish on the Dragon Balls, he had a whole new purpose for not letting this mystery woman die.

“Goku dying now means she’s never born! And Gohan, live or die here, will lose family he never even had!”

One last cry of pain from Pan had her unable to lift her head, this time legitimately.

“Want to know my record on keeping a recipient of my torture alive? Any takers? It’s longer than you’d think. Anyone?”

Piccolo took just a few steps forward.

“Alright, I’ll tell you: it was 52 hours at least.”

“Let... her... go.”

Frieza saw Piccolo’s hands glowing.

“Or what? Do you really think you’re in a position to do anything to me with that little power?”

“It’s not for you.”

Piccolo put both hands to his chest.

“You’re right. I couldn’t hope to do a thing to you with my ki now... but I have enough to take my own life.”

Pan lifted her head enough to see what Piccolo was threatening to do.

“If I die now, then the Dragon Balls on Earth go dormant for good. And that means you can’t make your wish for immortality anywhere.”

Frieza appeared to be pondering, then returned to his usual expression.

“I’ll release her if you come with me.”

“Release her and let them all go.”

“Adding demands, are we? That wasn’t part of the original bargain.”

“I’m altering it. Now tell me: are taking four lives worth more to you than immortality?”

Frieza actually took his fingers off Pan’s wound, his now red stained index and middle fingers just shy of touching his chin.

“You drive a hard bargain, Namekian.”

“It’s my final offer, Frieza. Take it or leave it.”

Pan could see the lengths Piccolo was about to go to protect everyone, including her.

“I don’t want history to change, but... there’s nothing I can do.”

“We know, Pan,” Chronoa went, trying to console her. “Whatever it takes, we’ll get you back and fix this.”

“Very well. You have a deal, Namekian.”

Piccolo almost appeared stunned that it worked, but was relieved that she was about to be released.

“First things first...”

Frieza placed Pan onto her feet standing up and appeared ready to let go of her.

“You can take her off my hands!”

He instead threw her forward, off her feet almost immediately from the force, and headed right for Gohan. The son of Goku tried catching her, but she unintentionally headbutt him from the impact, the two watching in a daze as Frieza pointed over at Piccolo.

“And one small change!”

A flash of red over his eyes later, the tyrant pointed over at Goku.

“I get to kill one Saiyan!”

Piccolo saw the shock on both their faces and knew what he had to do.

“Neither of you will be without your father!”

He couldn’t push Goku out of the way in time or had the strength to stretch his arms again, but at the angle he approached, Piccolo could intercept the Death Beam.

“Piccolo!” cried out Krillin.

It went through the right side of what would’ve been a human chest, Piccolo immediately going limp and collapsing entirely.

“MR. PICCOLO!!!”

“No need for that, little one. I missed his vitals. And when he wakes up on my ship, he’ll learn that I set the terms. Not him or anyone else.”

The purple glow overtook him...

“He’ll learn that he has no power over me once he sees what’s left of two of you!”

...and he pointed both his hands at Goku and Gohan.

“The scroll’s vision... ”

“No!”

Pan nearly tackled Gohan down, then put her body over him to shield him. But peering to her left, realized...

“Even if I protect my dad now... with Grandpa gone...”

“With Goku dead, the legendary Super Saiyan dies with him... or perhaps a new one will take his place.”

What could Pan do without abandoning her position and letting Frieza kill her father instead?

“GRANDPA!!!”

An Earthling roar took Frieza’s attention as the tyrant then felt a single ki projectile strike, one not even strong enough to get him to nudge.

“No! NO! Kill Son Goku! KILL SON GOKU!!!”

After firing that attack, which was completely non-damaging to Frieza in his final form, Krillin could barely stand on his feet.

“That was all I had left...”

“You chose to involve yourself in MY business.”

He then gestured his palm at Krillin and a tiny beam that fired so quickly as to be indiscernible struck his chest. It was to no effect at first, but then he found himself floating off the ground.

“H-HELP ME!!!”

“KRILLIN!!!” cried out Goku.

To Pan’s horror, she immediately realized this was the exact manner the golden Frieza of her past dispatched Krillin.

“NO!!! NOT AGAIN!!!”

Now it appeared as if Krillin’s armor was puffing outward, but Goku and the others could sense that it was actually his body doing this.

“FRIEZA, STOP!!!”

But Frieza didn’t relent as Krillin’s chest glowed.

“GOKUUUUUU!!!”

The resulting explosion didn’t even leave a single speck of the Earthling. Not one piece of his armor or even a drop of his blood.

Goku, his eyes and face frozen in shock, remained standing...

...while Pan’s face twisted in grief as she fell onto her front.

“Oh, oh, are you crying, poor dearie?”

Only her hands were keeping her from lying down completely, and her face was all but buried in her right wrist.

“Oh, oh no, there’s no need for that.”

Even as Frieza mocked her, she couldn’t find any way to stop her tears coming down.

“Ah, well while the waterworks continue, that leaves the both of you...”

Towa and Mira saw Goku and Gohan moments away from meeting the same fate as Krillin, Pan completely unable to continue.

“This is it, Towa. This is finally it. Your moment of triumph.”

Frieza was ready to fire...

...but stopped, hearing Pan’s continued cries becoming louder.

“Oh boo hoo. Now where was I?”

Once more, he set out to eliminate Goku and Gohan...

...but the same noise from the same person.

“Would you kindly pipe down? I’m in the middle of something.”

Frieza relished the countless instances of his enemies being brought to tears, be it from fear of him or complete and utter hopelessness, the latter most recently from the proud Prince of all Saiyans Vegeta when he lost the will to fight. If he had any means of achieving it, drinking the literal tears of his enemies would be as satisfying to him as having a fine wine.

But tears from grief, he couldn’t stand. Pan wasn’t afraid of him. She didn’t fear what he could do. And while she was inactive, it wasn’t hopelessness that made her so. No. It was her grieving.

He scowled, not even able to focus on two easy kills right in front of him.

“Oh for the love of... ENOUGH ALREADY, you precious fragile little snowflake!”

He sighed loudly to himself and looked back to Gohan...

...who began to tear up as well.

“Oh good lord, not you too!”

And even before turning to Goku, he saw tear drops had landed near his boots and heard a few sniffles.

“I don’t believe this...”

He turned around, both his hands over the sides of his face and fingers over the top of his head, fuming and finally shouting aloud from annoyance before facing the three again.

“Thin-skinned! You’re all THIN-SKINNED!!! You maggots have NO IDEA how the real world works, at all! You seriously expect me to feel ANYTHING from taking one life?! ANYTHING over the loss of ONE SINGLE LIFEFORM?!”

Frieza stomped petulantly, nearly splitting the landmass between him and them.

“You are just like the absolute worst people in my empire! SPINELESS and COMPLETELY UNGRATEFUL!!! Ungrateful of the air they breathe! Ungrateful of the food they eat! Ungrateful of the land they live on taken from the savages that didn’t deserve it! And ungrateful of every single second I let them live!”

He put his hands to the sides of his face in mock feminine fashion.

“It’s always the same damned things! ‘Oh pitiful me. ONE death is just the worst. Oh how cruel and unjust. This simply mustn’t stand. Something must be done. Something must be changed so it never ever happens again.’ GOOD LORD, it never ends with you people over the deaths!”

He turned, punching the structure Pan tried hiding behind, turning it to dust.

“You know what peace is?! It’s not a lack of killing! It’s the lack of whining and whimpering about the killing! If all of you cry babies ceased to exist, the universe would finally know real peace! And I would never have another headache in my life!”

His demeanor of formality and sophistication was shown to be a total facade with his true colors out in the open for them to see.

"With the billions... trillions... perhaps even quadrillions of lives in the entire universe, what makes you think JUST ONE LIFE means anything in the grand scheme?! New lives are born to fill in the void, so NOTHING was lost!"

Now Frieza’s completely unplanned rant had him stuttering.

“Wha... what use is it crying over one?! I killed my brother and you don’t hear me crying about it! My father didn’t shed a single tear for him! He understood!”

He was hunched over, arms out to his sides.

“Don’t you get it?! It’s all about strength! It’s everything! It governs everything! And as I possess the most strength, I govern everything! Those with less are NOTHING!”

The tyrant gestured upward where Krillin was.

“Just as his life was inconsequential from the start, so too is his death. It amounted to nothing! It changed nothing! It meant NOTHING!”

“Pan...”

Trunks had tried reaching out to her, but so far, he and Chronoa were left with silence.

“I’m not hearing anything from her, Trunks. Not a thought.”

And with a deep breath, Frieza tried recomposing himself.

“Now if you would be so kind as to stop being little girls and grow a thicker skin, then maybe you’ll amount to something with the little life you have remaining.”

Pan heard every despicable thought Frieza spelled out, but she had nothing for him. No response. No change in her demeanor. Not even thoughts other than what she felt the moment Krillin died.

“Wh...?”

She felt a warmth, a comfort. Pan turned to find the source of it:

Gohan put a hand on her left shoulder. He mourned Krillin’s loss as well and was frightened by what Frieza could do next to any one of them...

...and still comforted this young woman whose identity was a mystery to him. As if giving a wordless retort to Frieza’s lack of empathy and value of life, Gohan could feel what Pan felt, let her know that she wasn’t alone or weak for feeling that way, and that there was value in what she felt.

“It’s okay, Pan.”

This woman’s voice.

“Is... is that really you?”

“I’m here.”

Pan saw her mother Videl, almost a spitting image of when she sat down on her bed to comfort a younger Pan all those years ago. Illusion or not, Pan was with her parents again.

“Next up...” went Frieza, using Gohan’s gesture to determine who would be his next victim. “The brat.”

"Let out how you're feeling," went Videl, her hand on her daughter's right shoulder before fading away, and Pan saw Namek with clear eyes again.

"Need a wittle kiss on your wittle boo-boo before he goes away?"

The tyrant couldn’t see her eyes, all but hidden under her bangs.

“Was it something I said? Oh. Did I offend you?”

Pan slowly made her way up, hunched over.

“Whatever could be the matter, dearie?”

“He was my friend.”

She stood up straight, facing her death.

“Oh, really? Tell me something I don’t know.”

Goku, having heard and watched all this, clenched his fists.

“I won’t...”

“Hmm?”

These were the first words Goku had made since he pleaded with Frieza to spare Krillin.

“I won’t let you...”

Frieza saw Pan and Goku, some distance between them, but otherwise standing side-by-side in grief combining with anger...

...and their hair appearing to change shape with flashes of a gold hue.

“YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!!!”

Frieza was unsettled seeing Goku’s hair sticking upward, as well as the sky going dark.

“W-what is...?”

Lightning struck in several spots across Namek as Goku practically roared.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

“He was my friend!”

But for Pan, she didn’t hear her grandfather screaming aloud, nor did she look at him. In fact, her eyes were closed, tears still coming down. Frieza and Gohan both saw Pan begin to hover off the ground and the bangs of her hair flow upward. Instead of making fists, her hands were open with masses of ki, practically orb-shaped, surging in them.

“HE WAS MY FRIEND!!!”

After screaming the four words once more, the orbs in her hands were immense and the ground beneath Pan cracked, forcing Gohan to hop forward.

“W-what are you?!”

The intense glow of the orbs now over her entire body, she cried out and roared, a yellow pillar-like mass of energy all around her and stretching upward, and where she once stood shattering with a massive wave striking, then stopping and falling back down as if hitting an indestructible wall.

To his right, Frieza saw Goku with a golden aura, his hair now a yellowish hue and his irises blue-green.

To his left, Pan, the ocean below her, floated forward.

“Pan, do you read us?!” went the Supreme Kai of Time.

She touched down on the ground and her yellow-white hair, which was initially floating upward, came back down. Her sorrowful indignation was now transformed into a quiet rage as Pan opened her eyes, her irises also a blue-green hue.

“I read you loud and clear.”

Chapter Name Pending[]

Work in progress

Starting with when Vegeta told the young Pan about Goku becoming the Super Saiyan, she sought to live up to her deceased grandfather by achieving it. Even at eighteen years old, she had not done so, and began to wonder if it was even possible. When she lost everyone to her world’s golden Frieza, it became a blur to Pan, but Trunks and Chronoa concluded she had gone Super Saiyan.

Here on Namek long before her birth, Pan had become a Super Saiyan and this time, she was fully cognizant of it.

“I read you loud and clear.”

But she didn’t revel in this achievement of her lifelong dream. Not only was there still a battle to be fought, but...

“Frieza won’t kill anyone else. Not while I’m around.”

She was clearly still on mission, as Krillin, the last of the three meant to die at the tyrant’s hands, had perished, and...

“My father, Piccolo, and Bulma won’t die here.”

She peered over to her grandfather, seeing him in the legendary form she had heard from Vegeta’s stories long ago, but didn’t have the time to be amazed at actually seeing something from her lifelong imagination come to life. Pan watched Frieza like a hawk and stepped forward, putting her arm in front of Gohan in case the tyrant tried to do anything. The child was rendered speechless at her hair’s glowing yellow aura.

“Her power... and my dad’s...”

He then marveled at his father, his hair standing up and irradiated with the same aura.

“My dad really is the strongest...”

“Gohan!”

His father addressed him, the anger in his voice greater than any other instance of the child’s life.

“Get Piccolo and Bulma back to the ship!”

He wasn’t angry at Gohan directly, but Goku’s rage vyed to overtake him and he was unintentionally lashing out with his tone.

Frieza had heard Goku be angry at his misdeeds, but not in any way like this.

“What the hell is happening?! He’s changed! But... but Saiyans turn into Great Apes, and neither he nor her have tails!”

“Hurry, Gohan! If Piccolo dies or stays here, you know what that would bring! And Bulma’s my oldest friend! I’ve lost one friend too many today!”

“O-okay, Dad.”

Gohan made his way back to Piccolo, starting to lift him off the ground.

“But Dad, how will you get home if...?”

“For the last time, get out of here, NOW! Before I lose my sense of reason! I don’t know what I’ll do!”

Pan, seeing how enraged her grandfather was and not wanting to chance what Goku feared would come true, shouted, “Do as your father said! Now go!”

Gohan, now lifting Piccolo over his shoulder, started to hover.

“Oh, is that Bulma?”

The three turned to Frieza, looking away from them, hoping against hope that Frieza hadn’t located her.

“Such a tiny energy, just over yonder?”

He formed what appeared to be a miniature version of his Death Ball, smaller than a marble. Gohan immediately feared what it’d bring, but couldn’t intervene without dropping or endangering Piccolo.

“Even at that size, the damage it’d do to even a city...”

And Goku couldn’t let another friend die, but if he intercepted it for Bulma’s sake...

“Gohan will be exposed! That monster wouldn’t have any qualms!”

“With that little power, what worth does someone like this Bulma have, really?”

Frieza tossed the orb into the distance, then found that Pan’s golden aura pursued it.

“The second I get back...!”

Once Gohan saw Pan go after it...

“Thank you...”

He started hovering away from the impending battle between his father and Frieza.

“I see you back home, Dad...”

Even as Frieza took aim at the seemingly exposed son of Goku...

“You think you can get away?!”

...his view was blocked by the Super Saiyan, who then gripped and squeezed his pointing hand before he could fire.

“Krillin was my best friend... and you killed him.”

Frieza ripped his hand free from Goku’s grip and hopped back, then couldn’t help but put his other hand over the area.

“So much power... but why?! How?! It couldn’t be...!”

“I won’t take any more of this, FRIEZA!”

To be continued

Dragonball Fanon Wiki

Frieza Saga (Pan's Ascent)

The Inevitable Comes Next! Be Prepared![]

Super Saiyan In Progress! When In Doubt![]

Kaio-Ken Times What?! Whatever It Takes![]

Training Near Completion! Frieza Ahead![]

Changed From the Start? The Horrors to Come![]

Gohan's Choice! Missing From Action![]

Almighty Lord Slug! Piccolo's Paranoia![]

Fusion Long Prevented? Secrets At Stake![]

Lord Slug's True Form! Pan at her Limit![]

What Happened to Pan?! Slug's Final Bout![]

Back to Namek! How Much Power is Hidden?[]

Not A Fatal Wound! You Have to Heal![]

The Great Pan Is Dead? Unabated Cruelty![]

As Told In Tales! Goku & Pan vs Frieza![]

Fighting For Real! In the Face of Evil![]

You Have to Wake Up, Goku! Pan's Gambit![]

Chapter Name Pending[]

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