Changes: Ginyu Force Saga (Pan's Ascent)

Revision as of 03:08, 6 June 2020

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

Remembrance! Days on Earth!

Pan found herself in the midst of one of Taino's most elaborate exercises yet:

Amura and Umiu had joined with Taino, the three playing the parts of Recoome, Burter, and Jeice respectively. Also included with them was Goma, a patroller who Pan hadn't seen since her earliest days in the Time Patrol, playing the part of Guldo.

All four combated Pan, first one at a time, then in teams of two, to see her progress so far. Taino aside, the other three were taught techniques of their respected Ginyu Force member. Using Kaio-Ken, Amura made herself a greater physical presence while Umiu increased his speed immensely to outpace Pan.

Pan stayed on the defensive well enough to guard against both, but also kept an eye out for Goma as, at any moment, he'd say "Stop". When he did, everyone would act like they were frozen while Taino explained the possible actions Guldo could take at that moment, be it retreating, attacking, or setting someone up.

Once their session was over, the five departed from the training grounds. Taino believed Pan to be making good progress, which would be further built upon in her next exercise.

As Pan took a moment to look over at the academy, her mind wandering to Orange Star High School, she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry about that..."

She saw a familiar set of purple hair: Trunks turned around, surprised to see her.

"Oh, uh... hey, Pan."

Neither really knew how to start with the conversation right then and there, what with...

"The last time we talked, I..." began Trunks.

"It's fine," Pan interrupted. "We both had a lot to get off our chests."

They still remained stumped on where to go or what to talk about.

"So... you've been training hard."

"Yeah, Taino's certainly been pushing me."

Just as Trunks was scratching the back of his head, an idea came to him.

"Want to talk up there?"

Pan saw him pointing up to the very top of the academy. In all her time in Toki Toki City, she had never once gone up there.

After she nodded to Trunks, both hovered to the roof and sat atop it, looking down at the academy grounds. To her right, Pan could see the housing area, and to her left, the Time Machine Station and particularly of note, the golden statue she'd only caught glimpses of:

A very familiar figure with an afro.

"Hercule's a legend even here?"

"That Hercule is certainly something," went Trunks, having taken note of Pan looking over at the statue of him. "Despite not being all that strong, he serves as inspiration to a lot of the patrollers, even outside of Earthlings."

"He's my grandfather on my mom's side."

Trunks didn't quite fall over, but he certainly was surprised to hear this. Pan saw a few patrollers exiting the academy carrying books including a member of Frieza's race wearing reading glasses.

"I gotta say, going to the academy here was like going back to school for me."

She turned to Trunks.

"How about you?"

"I never knew what school was like. My mom taught me everything I knew. What she didn't know, I read from whatever books I could find."

"I gather my parents were the first of my family to go to school. And that when my dad was out in public, he had to keep his abilities in check, and act like he didn't have them."

Seeing more exiting student patrollers left Pan reflecting further.

"When I went to school, or even just out in public, I had to do the same."

"So outside of your family and friends, no one else knew of your abilities?"

"Well... there were just a few who did..."

"Just before I turned 18, there was an exchange student visiting my school."

"Why don't you introduce yourself to our class, Mister..."

"Hello everyone. The name's Colm."

"Blonde-haired, dressed warm, had a bit of an accent. I couldn't remember the name of where he came from, but it was a village that relied on fishing to thrive."

"Tell us about yourself."

"Well... aside from fishing, I look after the birds that live nearby. After I graduate, I want to work towards being an avian veterinarian."

"He seemed nice and got along with everyone fine, though less savory students called him 'bird brain' behind his back."

"So did you two interact much at school?"

"No, not really. But then on one day..."

"I remember waiting for my dad to pick me up, and I saw Colm standing there by himself waiting for his."

Part of her considered going over to Colm to give him company, but that thought was put on hold as she felt her phone going off in her backpack. She zipped it open, reaching into it until she answered:

It was her dad. As she listened to him telling her he was almost there, Pan saw a large delivery truck with a fishing company logo on its side stop in front of Colm, then thought how it would be rather odd for Colm to be picked up in that kind of vehicle.

Then as she put away the phone after the call, Pan remembered that he was visiting from afar, and that she didn't recall him mention anything about his family owning a fishing company. But as she zipped up her backpack, she heard the back door lift open.

When she looked back at Colm, she saw a masked man grab hold of him, then threw him into the back.

Pan couldn't believe it: someone was abducting him.

With the masked man back inside, the back door closed and the truck sped off. Pan remembered she was told not to use her abilities, but in that moment, she wanted to fly off right after that truck and stop it...

But she wasn't the only student around. Several witnessed what had happened and were looking over in that direction. And while some might not have known her in particular, enough could at least recognize her if she decided to do something out of the ordinary.

Pan mentally paced back and forth, debating whether to risk being spotted or leave Colm to whatever terrible fate his abductors intended. She knew she couldn't do nothing and tried looking for any nearby areas where she wouldn't be seen. Sure enough, she saw that if she crossed the street into an alley, it would give her the cover necessary to go after the truck without being easily recognizable.

Once she saw the opening she needed where no one was looking, Pan floated over to there as quickly as she could, her lack of footsteps ensuring no one saw her and even someone who felt her zoom past would mistake it for a breeze. Once far enough in the alley, she flew upward, getting a view of where the truck was going. Upon spotting it, Pan made her way down several roofs to stay hidden, then managed to descend onto the truck's roof, lying on just the right spot not to be seen by onlookers.

She listened closely to what was going on inside: from the sound of it, there were several more people besides Colm and his kidnapper.

"What do you want with me?!" asked Colm in a panic. "I don't have anything that you'd want!"

"Zip it, kid!" shouted the man who grabbed him. "And you're wrong: you're what we want."

"Your pops'll pony up big money for you," went another thug. "Give us a cut of the profit."

"But you'd be taking that money from people who truly need it. From the village! Without it, they'll...!"

"I said zip it, kid!"

Pan did not like hearing the threats made to Colm, and should she had sensed any of them intending to harm him, she would have been willing to stop the truck right then and there regardless of being seen.

"Hey," started a third man, whom in contrast to the other two, didn't sound like a brute. "Don't hurt the merchandise. We have to show his father that he's in good condition. Then the old man will give us what we want to keep it that way."

"Sorry, boss."

Thankfully, it wasn't long before they pulled into a car repair shop attached to a taller building. Once its garage door closed and their truck was now hidden from view, the driver exited, wearing a delivery uniform and cap. He then opened up the back, allowing the three inside to exit with their hostage:

The masked man that grabbed Colm in the first place, another in a tanktop who was quite muscular, and the last dressed more sharply in a buttoned shirt and formal pants.

Another man, dressed like a mechanic and much bulkier than the other four, approached the ringleader.

"Don't you worry, boss. They won't be able to identify a scrap of this truck when I'm done with it."

The boss had his hand out.

"Did you find us something that flies?"

The mechanic placed a capsule in his hand.

"It'll have room for all four of you and the brat."

He held it up in his hand for his men to see.

"Perfect. They'll be looking all over for this truck on the ground. They'll have no reason to suspect anything in the air."

This seemed as good a time as any for Pan to spring into action, but she realized Colm would easily recognize her and her face would be visible to everyone there. With that in mind, she took her orange bandanna off her head, placed it over her nose and mouth, then tied it in a knot over her ears.

But even with the minimal cover, she knew Colm would immediately know her voice the moment she so much as talked. While it sounded goofy, Pan didn't have any other ideas:

"Let him go!" went Pan with a deeper tone of voice, hopping off of the truck.

At first startled at someone having followed and overheard them, their concerns dropped upon seeing her simple attempt at a disguise.

"Just got out of school, little lady?"

"You trying to sound like a superhero or something?"

Pan didn't have time to humor them and began walking towards the group. Their leader, not paying her any mind, took Colm into an elevator.

"Don't take too long taking out this trash."

Right after the elevator doors closed, the masked man ran in first with a punch, but Pan easily caught his arm, then flipped him onto his back. The other three felt his impact with the ground and saw how swiftly he was downed with ease. The driver and the other thug charged at her with a pipe and wrench respectively from opposite sides. Pan ducked to avoid the pipe, then forced him onto his knees with one elbow as the other believed he had a free shot with her back turned to him.

He swung the wrench downward with confidence, then saw that Pan had instantaneously turned around from his perspective, catching it with both hands. He tried to push down, but not only found that Pan's legs never nudged a single bit at his efforts...

But that with a turn of her wrists, the wrench bent. The shock left him entirely exposed to being tossed into the ceiling, hitting his back before being caught by Pan.

"You're good, girlie, I'll give you that..." went the mechanic, who began rolling up his sleeves. "But they were small-fries."

Instead of a brutish stance, this bulked man actually had proper fighting gestures prior to running towards her. He threw fast jabs, all which Pan was avoiding until she blocked and redirected one followed by catching one of his wrists. Even with his other arm still free, he found Pan squeezing his wrist to be excruciating. With a single punch, he was sent flying, sliding across the ground before hitting a tool rack and being covered in its contents.

With the four now taken care of, Pan went up to the garage door and began lifting it open with both hands. Once it was all the way up, she took to the skies, heading over the building as fast as she could.

Having emerged from the elevator on the roof, the ringleader held Colm with one arm and used his freed hand to throw the capsule onto the ground. From it poofed a helicopter for his getaway.

"Alright kiddo, now here's the deal..." he started saying to Colm.

"You're going to let him go or I'm going to come over there."

The man turned around speechless, not believing the voice he had heard:

Pan had somehow made it to the roof not long after him.

"How did you...?"

He tried to rationalize.

"You got away from my men and ran up the stairs?"

"No. I took them out."

"Very funny. You're not even in their weight class."

Pan decided to get her point across by stomping the ground with her foot, the impact being felt by him and Colm.

"No... that's not..."

Now done humoring him, she took another step, stomping with the same effect.

"If you don't let him go now, I'm going to take you out too."

Not liking where he stood in regards to the difference in power, the ringleader went with his last resort:

He drew a gun from his pocket and pointed it right at Colm's head.

"Back off girlie, or this kid gets it!"

As much as Pan knew she could move quickly, she didn't want to risk Colm's life and remained where she was.

"Now you're gonna turn around, walk into that elevator, and head back down. You turn around or so much as look over your shoulder, I'll kill him!"

Pan didn't like this, but it was better than possibly flying in too late to stop the shot. She did as instructed, turning her back to him and walking away. But then Colm caught a grin beginning to grow on the man's face as he took the gun off him and pointed it right at Pan.

But Pan had already suspected as much and began charging the smallest amount of ki necessary in her hand. Once the elevator chimed and the doors began to open...

The leader fired, the bullet speeding through the air towards the back of Pan's head...

...as she swerved downward, ducking, then turning to fire a small projectile right at the gun. It struck, breaking the top of the gun off and partially searing the man's right hand. In spite of the pain, his other arm remained around Colm's neck.

Now the man was sweating, knowing that he was completely out of his league against Pan, and that at any moment, she could come to him. There was nothing he could do to stand a chance of getting out of there...

...until he looked to the side of him.

In that moment, right as Pan ran towards him, he decided getting away in one piece was worth more than the money Colm was worth.

With the biggest toss he could manage with one arm, he threw Colm towards the edge of the roof...

...and over it. Seeing this and hearing Colm's scream, Pan changed course away from the ringleader, whom ducked and braced himself, practically shivering as she just passed him. She dove off the roof, catching up to the descending Colm, who saw he was seconds away from touching the ground and closed his eyes...

...but when several seconds passed, he opened them, then saw not only that he was still alive, but that he was going up through the air at a controlled ascent instead of falling down uncontrollably.

"Am I... flying?"

He looked down at his chest, realizing he had two arms wrapped over them and under his arms keeping him up. He looked up over his shoulder, seeing the young woman who had just saved him, but since he was unable to see how she was doing this, he inquired...

"But if you're holding me... whose holding you?"

Pan couldn't help but give a small chuckle...

...but in mid-flight, she realized her bandanna was coming undone. It flew off, to which Colm instinctively caught with his hand before it could fly away. Now looking back, he saw her face and realized...

"P... Pan? Is that really you?"

"At that point, the gig was up. I couldn't lie to him."

"Where did you go from there?"

"He directed me to where he was staying and we kept out of sight."

Colm pointed Pan in the direction of a hotel room balcony, to which he let the two in through its sliding door. The interior of the room wasn't overly fanciful, but of a decently high quality for someone doing business.

"I certainly do miss home, but it is nice, all things considered."

Pan just realized:

"Oh shoot. I never got in touch with my dad. He and my mom are probably wondering where I am right now."

"Do you have to go?"

Pan reached into her backpack, taking out her phone which had several missed calls.

"I should probably call him first."

Colm looked at the room's phone and it occurred to him...

"I should call mine and let him know I'm..."

As Colm was saying this, a door creaked open and a man donned in a green jacket and cap entered, at first with his head down and disheartened in posture...

...but upon hearing his voice...

"Colm?!"

He lifted his head up, revealing his blonde and slightly grayed hair with a few on his chin.

"Papa?"

The two ran over to one another, hugging with Colm being close to smothered by the jacket.

"Are you alright, son? I looked all over for you! I was starting to lose faith. I thought..."

Colm's father noticed a silhouette on the floor and turned his head, seeing Pan, who had tried backing away to the sliding door.

"Just who are you, missy?"

Colm took the moment to break off the hug, allowing him to catch his breath, then answered...

"She's one of my classmates at school here. Her name is Pan."

"Oh yeah? And what do you think you're doing here in our room?"

"We... I..." struggled Colm to put a reasonable explanation into words. "I invited her in."

"And this was before or after someone nabbed you in front of that school?"

As happy as Colm's father was to see his son safe and sound, now he wanted answers to what had been on his mind for the past few hours. And seeing that Pan had tried getting out of the room earlier, he pointed at her.

"You have something to do with it?"

Colm stepped next to her.

"It was a bunch of thugs. Said something about holding me ransom to blackmail you."

His father seemed to ponder, as if thinking about potential candidates who could've gone through with it.

"But I'm here now, Papa."

"Okay... then how did you get away from those thugs?"

"Well, I was... I had help from..."

As Colm stumbled to say what happened without stating Pan was there, his father noticed something in Colm's hand.

"What's that now?"

Upon looking closer, he saw that it was an orange bandanna.

"Now why would you be carrying...?"

"Oh, this? This is Pan's."

He hurriedly gave Pan back her orange bandanna and while she would've put it back on her head, the current mood of the room would've made the gesture inappropriate.

"They told me the one who grabbed you was wearing something to conceal their face..."

He walked over to Pan, then yanked the bandanna out of her hand.

"Maybe something like that!"

He held it up with both hands, as if trying to visualize Pan wearing it over her nose and mouth to hide herself.

"Papa, please, that's enough! I already told you, it was thugs!"

"Boy..."

He wasn't in the best mood, but Colm's father didn't want to take out his frustration on his son. But even then, he still wasn't ready to let this go without an explanation.

"Now I'm going to ask you one last time, and this time, you'd better give me an answer, missy..."

Now he was pointing at Pan with her bandanna in his hand.

"Did YOU have something to do with it?"

"I..."

Pan tried as hard as she could to keep her normal demeanor, but she couldn't come up with any lie in regards to how she saw Colm's kidnapping, then just so happened to meet him later.

"I'm listening."

"I..."

Colm intervened once again.

"Papa, believe me, Pan, she... she..."

As much as he wanted to come up with a lie, Colm couldn't bring himself to do that to his father. He looked to Pan, seeing if she had doubts about what he was about to reveal to him. Ultimately, she nodded, letting him go ahead.

"Pan... she saved me from those men. Saved my life."

Now his father went from distrusting to absolutely lost as his initial viewpoint on Pan began shifting at the seams.

"One of the men threw me off a roof and if Pan hadn't caught me, I would've..."

Colm didn't finish, since he began to see tears going down his father's eyes at the thought of what Pan had prevented. He first stretched out his hand with the bandanna, no longer gripping it.

"I've misjudged you."

Pan slowly took the bandanna back, but after this gesture, Colm's father then crouched over and hugged Pan. She could tell that his heart had changed entirely upon hearing what she did.

"Bless you... bless you for saving my boy."

"So did you head home?" inquired Trunks.

"No. I called my dad and he, my mom, and Grandpa Hercule came over. Hercule convinced Colm's dad not to tell everyone I saved his son. Instead, everyone believed that Great Saiyawoman rescued Colm."

"Great... Saiyawoman?"

"That was a superheroine alias my mom used when fighting crime alongside my dad's, Great Saiyaman."

The thought of Gohan being a superhero of sorts actually brought a smile to Trunks' face.

"And after that, what did your parents think?"

"Oh..."

Upon arriving home, Hercule was heading to bed and saw off Pan first.

"Now you get a good night's sleep, my little superheroine, you."

He lightly pinched her cheek, then left for his bedroom. Once the door closed, Gohan and Videl both approached her.

"They were pretty steamed."

"Do you realize what could've happened if someone recognized you?" started Gohan. "If anyone saw you flying?"

"I couldn't just stand there and do nothing," Pan responded.

"Pan, we know you meant well..." began Videl. "But you should've called the police. Told them what you saw. It's their job to handle that. You're a student."

"If I hadn't gone after them, they would've gotten away with Colm, or worse. And didn't you help the police fight crime at my age?"

Videl was caught off-guard and couldn't seem to find a rationale for why it was different for herself and Pan.

"That's not the point," her father scolded. "We've taught you not to fly or use your abilities where people could see. You should've known the risk."

"I did! And I chose to save someone who was in danger!"

Pan, feeling like her father was condemning her for what she did, was losing her ability to keep calm with him.

"You're acting like I did something bad! So I should've left Colm in their hands, is that it?!"

"We're not saying that at all, Pan," went Videl, trying to calm her daughter down. "But had you been seen and word had gotten out of what you did, people would be all over you."

"You know I wasn't doing it for attention or for fame."

Gohan had lost all his patience with his daughter.

"And you are not ready to be making those kind of decisions! Not until...!"

"Not until what?! I'm 18?! Yeah, give me a few more weeks and then I will be!"

Videl saw how heated this was getting and tried to keep the peace.

"Look, let's all just..."

"Grandpa Goku wouldn't have let that...!"

"That's enough!" Gohan shouted, a large gust from around his body shaking a few pictures on the wall.

The three of them went silent after this. Gohan simply pointed to Pan for one final ultimatum.

"If this happens again, we're pulling you from school. No exceptions."

Pan turned away from her parents and opened her bedroom door, not wanting them to see how her face was twisting.

"I thought you would've been proud of me."

Pan wanted to slam the door with all her might, regardless of how it'd undoubtedly break the door off its hinges, but she knew her strength and only slammed it enough to get across how she felt.

She tore her bandanna off her head, threw it onto the ground, then lied against her drawer. She put her head onto her arms which sat upon her knees, not holding back how she felt. That something good she did was being treated like a mortal sin.

But even amidst her anguish, Pan could hear her parents discussing something.

"Now Gohan, you remember the Golden Warrior, right?"

"This is completely different. I realized how easily I could've been figured out and took measures."

"And we both know how well those measures did when we first met... and I mean both times."

Gohan realized his point was less than great and sighed, trying to find the answer to best explain his feelings on the matter.

"It's one thing for us to go out there and do this, but not Pan. Not our daughter. I know how much she's trained, but if there's even a small chance she gets hurt, or does something irreversible, I..."

Videl took off Gohan's glasses, realizing there was a droplet on one of the lenses.

"You okay, honey?"

"My dad..."

He lied his back against the wall, which Pan could hear and feel.

"My dad may not have considered himself a hero, but he died doing what he felt was right. After I made the worst mistake of my life..."

"Don't do this to yourself again, please..."

"He would still be with us if I had just..."

"Son Gohan!"

He composed himself just enough to move on regarding his father, but what he had to say was still heavy on him.

"I know these have been peaceful times and I know Pan is more than capable, but the thought of losing..."

Seeing him struggle to finish that sentence, Videl crouched down to his level, lifting up his chin.

"We're not going to let that happen because we're both looking out for her."

Pan heard all this and began to understand what drove her father, even if he couldn't find the right way of putting it earlier. Just a few seconds later, she heard a knock on the door.

"Pan?"

She didn't move from her spot, but she did respond...

"Yeah, dad?"

Gohan could sense her remaining in place, and elected not to open the door.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to come off... how I did."

He put his head up against the door.

"You know how much your mother and I both care for you... so, so much."

Pan wiped some tears from her eyes, now starting to get back to herself.

"Which is why we're going to make sure you won't have to go into action again."

"And how did they do that?"

"They began patrolling as Great Saiyaman and Saiyawoman again any time there was trouble. First time in years, since I was pretty young."

"I take it Colm left right after?"

"While his father was done having him go to my school, he and Colm still stayed for a few days afterward."

"My family invited both of them over. Colm's father was eager to meet the parent and grandparents of the person who saved his son."

Leaving the adults to talk in the living area, Pan and Colm walked through the hallway, passing by several photos on the wall:

Baby pictures, a young Pan and Hercule with a dog, her at an amusement park with a massive statue of a gentle giant mascot in the background, and Pan in a Halloween costume consisting of her usual attire with insect wings and two antenna holding what looked like a large big-eyed baby bee.

"And here we are."

Pan opened the door to her room and let Colm through. It seemed basic enough with a bulky computer monitor sitting atop a desk, and a bed set on the opposing side. As he noticed the relatively plain walls lacking posters, Pan realized she had left her closet open, leaving old toys kept from her childhood in plain view.

She scrambled towards it at first to try to close it, but saw Colm didn't scoff at any of its contents.

"That's the baby bee from the photo."

He pointed over at the large stuffed bee, whose colors were slightly faded, wings partially bent, and eyes a little fuzzy.

"Yep, it is."

Pan remembered the moment the picture was taken: her cradling the bee toy like she was caring for it, then turning in the direction of the camera, already smiling.

"What about those?"

Seeing how Colm was legitimately interested in her old toys, she decided to pick up and present each one herself.

A dark green chubby-looking monster with two whiskers akin to a catfish...

"One of its whiskers is cut."

"Yeah... that was with scissors."

A shiny metallic-looking red apple.

"It's... quite fascinating."

Inspecting it further, he saw what he thought were teeth marks. A little embarrassed, Pan simply replied...

"Wouldn't recommend eating it."

A fighting robot figure composed of three smaller ones.

"So you're saying it's actually three toys together as one?"

"Right. Well, actually, there was a fourth one... but I broke it on accident."

And finally, a giant tiger whose proportions seemed more suited for hopping around than running.

"Does the tiger bounce?"

"It did, except falling from high places wasn't good for it in the long run."

Once Pan put all the toys back, Colm looked over at a picture of Pan with Bulla. Without him even asking, she explained...

"That's my best friend Bulla. We've been friends since we were little."

"And who is that?"

He pointed to a picture of her most inspiration figure.

"That's my grandpa Goku."

"And what's he like?"

"...he passed away when my dad was a teenager."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"But even though I've never known him, I've heard so many stories about him. All the amazing things he did... that he could do."

Colm could tell from both the tone of her voice and her expression just how much she took Goku to heart.

"I hope that one day, I can measure up to him."

After pausing to reflect, Pan was ready to get going.

"Well, guess we should probably get back and..."

"Pan?"

"Yes?"

He sat down on her bed.

"Since I'm leaving in a few days, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"You learned how to fly, right?"

Pan nodded.

"Can you teach me how?"

"All these years, I never expected anyone would ask me to teach them."

"So how did you do as an instructor?"

"It wasn't easy..."

"And at first, Colm had doubts about himself..."

The two were outside in an area near a forest, far enough from any potential onlookers, with Pan gesturing to Colm as he stood, trying as hard as he could to float.

"Ease into it, Colm..."

In spite of this, he was getting frustrated and instead pushed himself harder, starting to sweat.

"I said ease. Ease into it."

He fell onto his knees, disappointed in himself.

"I can't..."

"Yes, you can, Colm. It just takes time."

"Time?! Like how you've had years?!"

Realizing he had snapped at her, he sighed, then composed himself once more.

"I apologize for my outburst, Pan. It's just been frustrating."

"Hey."

She gave him a friendly jab to his shoulder.

"I promised to teach you, didn't I? And I can guarantee you'll know before you leave."

"Didn't make the next attempts much easier, but he slowly worked his way up to floating. And just the day before he had to leave..."

Both were floating off the ground by a few inches as Pan beckoned him while going up slightly higher.

"Okay, now just a little more..."

Colm matched her height, then saw Pan going further up.

"Little more..."

At this point, Pan started using her arms to stay afloat as she began leaning over frontwise.

"You know what to do."

Seeing the ground beneath him, Colm was getting a little nervous.

"You'll catch me if I fall, right?"

Pan hovered down below him.

"Of course."

Colm closed his eyes.

"Okay, here goes..."

He opened them again as he tipped over...

...and saw neither Pan nor the ground seemed to be getting closer to him. Realizing he was in a flying stance, Colm's eyes widened and his dropped jaw gave way for an open smile.

"I... I'm flying."

He couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"I'm actually flying."

Pan flew up to him and pointed him in the direction of the trees.

"Come on."

She went forward, but keeping at a slower pace as she waited for Colm. Sure enough, she was met by Colm giggling in awe at his accomplishment.

"Keep going."

After going above the trees, the two saw a nearby pond and Colm was eager to fly down to it. Now hovering just above the water, Colm could see his reflection as gusts of wind blew pedals towards him.

A few tickled his nose, resulting in a sneeze. As he went to cover his nose with his wrist, he saw himself starting to lose control and flailed his arms about. Pan quickly grabbed hold of Colm's right hand, keeping level so he wouldn't fall in.

"Close one, huh Colm?"

While being held above the water, he touched it with his left hand, gliding it across while being guided by Pan. She saw him laughing away with child-like delight, like he had discovered a whole new world.

As Pan had to soon change directions, she lifted Colm back up and nodded to him, letting him know she was letting go of him. Once she did, he at first flailed again, but soon regained control, ascending and keeping next to her.

On their way back to where they started, Pan noticed a bird flying to her right. To her left, Colm was astonished at seeing himself at the center of a flock of birds in the air. He turned to Pan, the biggest smile his face could muster, overjoyed. Pan couldn't help but giggle, covering her mouth with her hand as Colm found himself giggling as well.

"The thing I remember most about that day was just how happy flying made him."

"I would imagine going his whole life up to that point not knowing it was possible, then actually flying..."

"Yeah..."

"Then came the day he was leaving. Colm and his dad wanted to see us before taking off for their village."

Colm's father shook hands with Pan.

"You are welcome to come to our village any time. Our home will be your home, Miss Pan."

"Sure thing," Pan nodded.

His father walked over to shake hands with Gohan and Videl, Pan not quite catching what they were talking about."

"Hey, Pan."

There Colm was, a suitcase in his left hand.

"Colm. Hey."

"Well, I guess this will be good-bye... for a little while."

"Just a little while."

Even though she had the night prior to think about what to say, Pan couldn't think of anything in that moment. She reached out her hand to him.

"Best of luck with everything back home."

Instead of meeting her right hand with his own...

...Colm let go of his suitcase and hugged her.

"Thank you, Pan... so much... for everything."

She put her hands behind him and hugged him as well. She still didn't know the right words to say, but she let the shared warmth between them make up the difference.

Once Colm let go and picked up his belongings, he and his father both turned back one last to Pan and her family before heading out in their car. His father waved.

"Take care."

Colm waved soon after.

"Goodbye."

Pan returned the wave with her own.

"See you next time."

But right as Pan wrapped up her story, Trunks noticed her going quiet for a moment.

"Those were the last words I ever said to him. 'See you next time.'"

Trunks didn't even have to ask what came next.

"My family might've gone to his village to visit after I graduated... were it not for..."

He didn't know if this was the exact right thing to say or possibly one of the worst, but he went ahead and said it.

"You got to experience how happy those moments made you. Those good memories will always be a part of you."

While worried he might've fumbled it, Pan seemed to find something to lift her from it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I can always think back on those happy memories."

A thought occurred, which Trunks immediately put into words.

"I realize I'm prying by asking this, but..."

Pan noticed his hesitance in finishing his sentence.

"Yes, Trunks?"

"Would you say you and Colm were... close?"

After he said this, he was already scolding himself in his head.

"Oh, what am I doing? Digging into her personal business!"

Pan thought long and hard on what Trunks had asked her, but even she wasn't sure if she knew herself.

"I can't really say. We were friends, certainly."

She tried recalling what her ideal thoughts of going to visit Colm at his village would've looked like, and what might've resulted from it.

"Maybe if we spent more time together..."

Try as she might, she couldn't create the image of her and Colm together.

"...but I don't know... and I never will."

"I'm sorry, Pan. I shouldn't have asked you that."

She could tell Trunks was working himself up about it and tried to steer him clear of that.

"No, it's fine. Really."

He sighed to himself, convinced he had messed things up, as he felt he was naturally prone to do. Pan put a hand on his shoulder.

"Trunks..."

He turned to her, giving his full attention.

"After what happened, part of me forgot that I had those moments."

He saw Pan's expression of mournful reflection begin to fade, like a ray of light had reemerged.

"But talking about it with you... it brought them back to me. Made me remember that they did happen."

"Really?"

She nodded, then took her hand off him and looked upward at the clouds flowing above the city. Trunks, no longer beating himself up, worked his way back to saying what was on his mind.

"Pan, I just want to let you know that..."

He was interrupted by a ringing on his wrist communicator, and one which he was already dreading as he answered.

"Supreme Kai of Time?"

"It's just as we suspected:"

Chronoa looked over a scroll with a purple glow.

"Towa's using the Ginyu Force."

Mighty Ginyu Force! Results of Training!

Hurrying across the Time Nest, Trunks and Pan made their way through the library to meet with Chronoa. The two were handed the scroll, seeing what would transpire without intervention:

Age 762

Guldo and Recoome, neither with a single sign of damage, stood triumphantly with a purple glow as the bodies of Krillin and Gohan lied before them. Vegeta, who appeared to be playing dead, zoomed off into the air to try to escape.

He found his path immediately blocked by Burter, the same purple glow around him as his comrades, who nonchalantly had his back to Vegeta. He struck the Saiyan Prince's face with a backward palm and as Vegeta tried to recover in midair, Jeice grabbed hold of him by his neck with one arm while the other struck his back.

Just then, a blade of ki pierced through Vegeta's chest. Once Jeice deactivated the blade, Burter flew over and was ready to stomp on his head with both feet. Jeice seamlessly let go right at the moment Burter struck the Saiyan, leaving Vegeta falling straight for the water until he was caught by Recoome.

The massive member of the Ginyu Force placed Vegeta’s feet on the ground, then proceeded to slam his fists onto Vegeta's shoulders thrice, each hit knocking Vegeta deeper into the ground. Now left with only his arms and head sticking out along with his severe wound, Vegeta was in no condition to do anything as Recoome took poses while shouting...

"RECOOME... ERASER... GUN!!!"

A massive beam of pink ki fired from Recoome's mouth headed right for Vegeta, who put both hands out to try to stop or repel it, but it was all in vain as he was obliterated on contact.

As unnerved as Pan was seeing the three deaths, she knew this wasn’t the true history and that it could be stopped.

"What’s the change?"

“That’s just the thing, Pan...” began Chronoa. “I’m not sure. All I can tell you for sure is that Guldo should’ve been out of the picture by that point.”

“So maybe Guldo was enhanced, followed by Recoome.” pondered Trunks, his gloved hand to his chin. “Towa’s covering her tracks well.”

“Since we don’t know for sure the exact moment when the change will occur, I will have you go back fairly early,” explained Chronoa, scrolling back to right before the start of the battle. ”Just keep out of sight for as long as you can until we can assess it.”

“Alright Pan,” went Trunks, the scroll handed to him by Chronoa and offering it to Pan. “This battle’s what Taino’s been training you for.”

“That’s right,” answered Pan.

She knew Taino still had more lessons for her, and could only hope it would be enough for what was to come as she closed her eyes and gripped the scroll tightly. Within seconds, she vanished from the room and traveled through time.

She emerged back on Namek, hiding behind a hulking set of land above the ground which gave her several points by which to view what was occurring without being easily spotted. Pan peered over at Krillin, Gohan, and Vegeta, who appeared uneasy in the presence of the five members of the Ginyu Force, who already had five of the Dragon Balls in their possession.

While not hearing them clearly, she could tell that Captain Ginyu was asking the Saiyan Prince to hand over the Dragon Ball he held. Instead, Vegeta threw it as hard and as far as he could instead, believing it would escape the Ginyu Force’s grasp…

...but then Burter, whom Pan had been learning was known for his speed in battle, intercepted the Dragon Ball in midair, then flew back to Ginyu in little time at all. Vegeta then turned to Krillin, who held the last one, and shouted at him to destroy it. Krillin prepared his fist for a punch, but by the time it should’ve met the ball, it disappeared from his hand and was in the hands of Guldo.

"I didn’t even see Guldo move," Pan thought to herself. "Did he just stop time?"

"That’s right," Trunks began to explain. "The time stop is completely instantaneous to everyone else. He can’t hold time for very long, but when he does, Guldo can elude just about anyone around him."

Pan turned her attention to Ginyu, the seven mystic balls at his feet. He lifted the Dragon Balls into the air without even touching them, then began walking in her direction.

"I shall deliver the Dragon Balls to Lord Frieza,” Ginyu began. ”Roshambo among yourselves. The winner takes Vegeta and the runner up shall have those two."

He turned back to his comrades.

“Understood?”

All four made poses, raising a fist as they shouted “Yeah!” back to their leader. Ginyu flew off into the distance as the four Ginyu Force members casually played a four-way roshambo, which wrapped up with...

"Fooey," grumbled Guldo. "I got the small fries."

"Alright!" exclaimed Recoome. "I got Vegeta."

Recoome then pointed over to Guldo.

"You first."

Guldo grumbled under his breath...

"Oh fine..."

This had been the longest Pan had stood back and watched prior to a battle taking place, seeing as how nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, at least that she could tell.

As Krillin and Gohan powered up in front of Guldo, the shortest member of the Ginyu Force began to get nervous. The two then flew into the air and fired down blasts at Guldo, who was astounded by their speed and power.

"Pan!" shouted Chronoa. "Get behind cover, now!"

Pan already suspected what was coming next and did as asked.

Guldo held his breath...

And time itself around him froze completely. The blasts Gohan and Krillin fired at him and the other three on his team being less than supportive of him. He moved out of the way of the blasts, but also saw no signs of Krillin or Gohan, who had flown off after firing. He ran around with the little time he had left, trying to find their whereabouts.

“Where in the heck did those two shrimps go?”

But something caught his eye...

"Hold on..."

He saw what looked like a yellow sheet sticking out behind a rocky structure…

“Now why would that be out here?”

He started piecing it together…

“That’s… a cape. But whose cape?”

Guldo walked around it, seeing...

"A girl?!"

Pan frozen in time, her back against it.

Time resumed, with Krillin and Gohan seeing the aftermath of the blast, but no sign of Guldo. His teammates also noticed him missing, though it was nothing out of the ordinary until…

“Who are you?!” Guldo shouted, falling onto his back, then scurrying back out of Pan’s path.

"Oh shoot!" she thought.

"But you took cover," began Trunks. "Unless you stuck out an arm or leg..."

Pan looked over at her cape, the wind blowing it back and forth from cover.

"Now I’ve really done it..."

Krillin and Gohan, hearing the commotion, saw her along with the retreating Guldo. Burter flew over as well, seeing Pan with her back against the structure.

"Ah, snooping around, are we?!"

Recoome and Jeice followed soon after, also seeing her.

“Trying to wait us out, were ya?” scolded Jeice. “You’ve got a lot of nerve hiding, girlie!”

The largest member of their team, however, didn’t seem as upset at Pan’s presence.

“Wow, look at that cape. So cool...”

Pan was not expecting anything close to a compliment from the likes of Recoome or any of them.

“It’ll make a nice trophy!”

"...and there's the catch." went Pan in her head.

Guldo pointed over at Pan.

"I bet you know that monkey and those two wimps!"

Gohan and Krillin saw that Pan was becoming the center of attention.

"Well..." whispered Krillin. "At least they've stopped looking for us."

"Have we now?"

Krillin turned, seeing Burter right above him and Gohan. The two flew to the ground, then found Burter having beaten them there again.

"Aha!" shouted Guldo, pointing to them. "They were playing a ruse! Acting like they were the only ones here while she was waiting in place to... to..."

"To what?" asked Jeice.

"I don't know. Uh… ambush us, I guess.”

As Guldo stumbled with making his explanation sound good, Pan had a thought.

"The only upside to this is that they’re not attacking my dad, Krillin, or Vegeta right now."

"Perhaps..." started Trunks. "But I suspect Towa will show her hand once they do."

She saw the three other Ginyu Force members less than impressed with Guldo’s talk thus far.

”I mean, yes, we’re the almighty Ginyu Force, so even a measly ambush shouldn’t really be a problem for us…”

After taking a breath, Guldo suddenly spoke far more confidently and with greater resolve.

“...but using such tactics is just dirty, regardless of our overwhelming power!”

"Did he..." went Pan, astounded at the shift and working out what changed with Guldo. "Did he really just stop time to give himself a pep talk?"

“How low they stooped instead of fighting us with honor! And for their deception, let's attack them all at once!”

Pan was terrified at the notion, realizing just what would come from it in theory.

"Crap," Pan mused. "I’ve jeopardized the entire mission."

She saw Guldo raising his fist into the air with fervor.

”Now who's with...?!"

"Now hold on!" Recoome butted in, completely neutering Guldo’s confidence. "You've still got those two and I still got Vegeta."

"That leaves Burter and I..." Jeice pondered.

Just then, he and Burter both exclaimed.

"I've got it!"

"We'll take this one..." began Burter.

"...while you two keep to your matches." continued Jeice.

"I'm good with that," agreed Recoome. "How about you, Guldo?"

“But guys...” pleaded Guldo. “This is...”

After quietly mumbling to himself, Guldo crossed his arms and nodded.

"Fine."

Privately, he was dreading how fast and powerful his two opponents were.

"I'm already regretting my diet."

But as he turned to Burter and Jeice, then back to Pan, he grinned.

"At least against those two, she’s done for, for sure."

Vegeta, hearing and looking over at all the upheaval, was not pleased with the development.

"Damned Earthling girl. If she had just kept out of this..."

"Hey, Vegeta!"

He turned and saw Recoome walking over to him.

"Looks like we're fighting now. You ready?"

Pan got herself ready, watching as Burter and Jeice were back-to-back.

"You seem pretty sneaky, but now let's see how fast you are."

"And if you can even fight."

All four Ginyu Force members began to glow purple, after which they all went on the attack at once:

Recoome going for a chop as Vegeta narrowly avoided it. The Saiyan Prince punched rapidly, but found the giant catching and redirecting them with his hands.

Guldo fired beams from his eyes, forcing Gohan and Krillin to jump over them. He flew upward in a spiral around them, firing projectiles to keep them occupied as he made his way above them.

Jeice and Burter hopped backward, then stood waiting for Pan to make a move.

"I should wait them out. Let them make the first move."

But then she recalled one of her lessons from Taino.

”Even if you can keep up with Burter, if he’s given the chance, you might miss him if you so much as blink. The key to combating him is anticipation.“

As she looked over at the two, seeing them converse, Pan knew they were planning something collaborative for her.

"I need to figure out where he might go and plan accordingly."

She kept her eyes right on Burter the whole time…

...and even then, Pan lost him.

"Remember your training!"

She felt a brush of air to her side.

"Okay, he flew past me!"

Pan turned, ducking in case of an immediate ambush, but saw Burter, his back against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Made you look.”

Pan realized she hadn’t paid any attention to what Jeice was doing and by the time she looked over her shoulder, Burter’s comrade had thrown a red orb at her.

"Crusher Ball!"

She fired at the ground to propel her out of the way, the Crusher Ball flying past her and piercing through the rocky structure. Pan felt another breeze and turned in midair, seeing Burter in her path about to swing at her. She leaned as far back as possible, seeing Burter’s hook over her.

"An opening..."

Her two hands readied ki to fire at him…

But upon her feet touching the ground, the momentum of her movements caused her to slip, throwing off her intended shots and leaving her falling onto her shoulder. Pan rolled on the ground before stopping herself, then saw Burter overhead, descending for a landing on top of her.

"Get up! Up!"

She propelled herself back once again, Burter’s intended stomp falling short…

...but then Pan felt her back striking a hard surface.

"The rock wall... I completely forgot where I was..."

But Burter coming in for another jab left her little time to ponder as she side-stepped it. Even with his speed, Burter’s punch breaking through left no question as to his striking power. He took a step forward, then swung again with Pan stepping back to get out of the way. It repeated again with the opposing arm, then Burter aimed his next swing, intending to hit where she was going. Pan was forced to duck, seeing more dirt and rock from the impact.

"We never went as fast as this in our sessions..."

Just then, Burter saw an immediate opening and charged into Pan with his shoulder. She was first knocked back-first into another structure, then span across the rest of it before finally falling onto her back.

"I’m a sitting duck on the ground!"

Pan leapt upward and took flight, seeing Burter remaining for the time being. But as for Jeice…

"He’s not there! I can’t afford to lose him after what I saw!"

Pan turned in mid-ascent to see behind and below her...

...and sure enough, Jeice with the blade of ki she feared coming up for her. All she had time to do was to swerve to avoid the first swing, to which Jeice span his body to go for another. Realizing they were both traveling upward, Pan stopped herself in midair, the next swing going over her head. This still didn’t stop Jeice, who was now swinging straight downward.

As fast as she could, Pan reached for the Power Pole and held it out over her head. The blade of ki clanged against the polearm as Pan shoved forward, repelling Jeice. With a swing of the Power Pole, she forced Jeice to block it with the blade, which appeared to be less than pleasant for him.

"That ki blade is especially great for offense. Defensively, and against non-ki especially, it takes a bigger toll."

Jeice’s blade was in flux, the Power Pole getting closer to slithering past it. But from a glimpse of what may have been a reflection on her family heirloom...

"They’re taking turns..."

She broke off from Jeice and turned around, the Power Pole blocking a kick from Burter. The sheer force still sent her rocketing away as Pan now saw both Jeice and Burter flying at her with their fists.

"Scratch that..."

Not wanting to take the time to put away the Power Pole, she turned it clockwise and counter-clockwise as each went for punches. With Burter’s being unleashed even more rapidly, she was forced to redirect on his side more often.

In the midst of this, Pan glanced that, even with Towa’s power-up, Guldo was resorting to retreating far more often than he did attacking, disappearing in bursts from her view before Gohan and Krillin found him again and again.

"He's stopping time like crazy," began Burter, also witnessing this. "Guldo's losing it."

"He just needs to get his head in the game" argued Jeice. "If he can just get on top of them..."

"Let's make a bet. If Guldo loses..."

"Oh, I know your gig, Burter. You're not conning me like Recoome."

Pan was astounded at how casually they spoke with each other while fighting with her in that moment.

"Fighting at this speed... and just chatting away like this is nothing..."

Pan knew she couldn’t keep this up forever and quickly generated ki around her. Letting go of the Power Pole for just a moment, Pan crossed her arms and unleashed a burst, sending Burter and Jeice back enough for some breathing room.

As she zoomed down, catching the Power Pole, she recalled Jeice bringing up Recoome, who, as far as she could see, hadn’t dealt any major damage to Vegeta as of yet.

"How strong was Recoome, Trunks?"

"Much stronger than my father at that point," he answered.

"Then with the power-up, Recoome should be even more overwhelming... but he hasn’t gone all-out yet."

"Recoome has a knack for not taking fights seriously and goofing around with his opposition."

"So he plays with his food."

"In a way."

"If Towa wants them to win, shouldn’t she be making Recoome go for the kill?"

"The formula seems to enhance everything about them, but as for overwriting their personalities completely, it takes considerable power. It’s why it’s only happened in short bursts."

"So they’re still themselves."

"Right. And Towa herself had to be on the ground to control someone remotely, as was the case with Krillin."

Just then, from above, Pan caught a glimpse of a purple vortex.

"I know this one… they’ve joined together for..."

She didn't have to ponder further as a massive barrage of purple orbs fired down upon her. With the blasts spread too far out for her to simply fly forward, Pan instead traveled upward, swerving to avoid them.

"Hitting them while they're together's going to be tricky, but..."

Just then, the purple vortex began to change...

"This is something else..."

She then saw it swerve downward after her. Pan narrowly slipped past it, but saw it course-correct, leaving a purple streak as it flew back towards her. The feeling was akin to avoiding a giant purple Spirit Ball.

"Move it, Pan! Move it!"

The last pass struck her on the cheek, the impact alone knocking her downward. As she recovered, Jeice tossed another Crusher Ball towards her.

"This again..."

But as she avoided it...

"But then Burter's..."

Another breeze behind her...

...followed by rapid kicks by Burter. Pan kept her arms moving as fast as she could, but even she was starting to waver.

"Am I going too fast for you?" taunted Burter, his naturally red eyes now glowing. "This isn't even my top speed!"

"He can't be serious..."

Right after, the kicks came in even faster, and what she could at least keep pace with before were now slipping past right as she moved to guard them. Burter stopped the barrage, then fired a blue blast at the reeling Pan.

As she was sent back, Pan saw Jeice coming in with his blade of ki once again. She didn't know if what she was about to try would work, but Pan couldn't turn around and didn't have time to take out the Power Pole.

"Don't fail me now, ki..."

With ki covering her hands, Pan reached her hands behind her back to catch it...

...and succeeded in catching it, stopping it from gutting her.

"It still..."

But even then, the smallest point of the blade of ki pierced her back. It gave off a burn, like a searing hot needle.

Another breeze and Pan feared Burter was intending to guarantee the blade of ki killed this time. As much as it hurt to do, she turned and tugged Jeice sideways. She caught a glimpse of Burter slowing down, then zooming around, not wanting to kick his comrade by mistake.

She had to get Jeice back and started by letting go with one hand while quickly firing a projectile at him before he could push forward. It nearly struck his face, taking enough of his focus for her to push herself away. Now able to intercept the blade in front of her, she caught his wrist, then swung and threw him downward. Just then, a hit to her back sent her rocketing down.

After crashing into the ground, Burter was already standing there waiting for her to get up.

"Let me help you up..."

He picked up Pan from under her arms and lifted her up.

"No so high up, Burter!" shouted Jeice.

"Heh, sorry."

Burter kneed her back, then placed her knees-first onto the ground while crouching himself and having his knees atop of her feet, putting his weight on them. Now effectively pinned, Pan saw Jeice walking over as he generated his blade of ki once more.

"Keep her still. This blade's already tiring me out."

Pan looked over to her side, seeing Guldo with his hands out as Gohan and Krillin were stuck in place. Not completely frozen, as they were still clearly trying to move, but trapped all the same.

"Does this look right, with Guldo?" she inquired.

"After Gohan and Krillin exhausted his time stop..." began Chrona. "He used telekinesis to pin them, then tried killing Krillin with a makeshift projectile. Before it could hit, Vegeta... well..."

"Killed him?"

"...yeah," sighed Trunks.

Pan saw Guldo taking a log and sharpened one of its ends with his telekinesis, then turned it facing Krillin...

...but just then, the makeshift spear began to move forward to his left, then rotated to its side...

"That's not right..." went Trunks. "He shouldn't be..."

Pan realized then and there that the formula made Guldo no longer content with going for one kill.

"He's trying to get both Krillin and my dad!"

She looked around for Vegeta, but still saw him battling Recoome.

"Your dad's being stalled by Recoome."

"Then there isn't much time. You have to stop the projectile yourself."

Now that Pan had confirmation to act, she put her hands to the sides of her face, a gesture Jeice didn't bother to try figuring out.

"Ain't that cute..."

And with both oblivious to the technique...

"Solar Flare!"

Pan faced Jeice, the blinding flash stopping his intended stabbing as he covered both his eyes with his hands. Pan then tilted her head upward as quickly as she could at Burter, blinding him as well.

"Aww, no fair, you cheater!" shouted Jeice.

"Ah, blasted...!" began Burter.

While Burter had yet to let go of her, Pan struck his face with the back of her head, forcing him to grasp his face. Now freed, Pan flew towards Krillin and her father with all haste.

Prior to this, Vegeta was tackled to the ground by Recoome, pinned down and with only his left arm free. Recoome placed his right hand over Vegeta's wrist, keeping Vegeta from aiming his ki effectively as his left was raised.

"It's been fun, vegeta, but now it's time for a dirt nap."

As Recoome was ready to bring his fist down...

...something caught his eye. A faint flash of light near Jeice and Burter.

Vegeta noticed it as well, but also saw Guldo completely exposed. His hand had dug into the ground, grabbing a clump of dirt. With Recoome distracted just long enough to loosen his grip on Vegeta's arm, the Saiyan Prince threw the dirt into Recoome's face, getting both eyes.

"Ah, dirty...!"

Vegeta booted Recoome off of him during the confusion, then flew towards Guldo to make use of the opportune moment for a kill while it lasted.

Pan couldn't wait for Vegeta as she saw Guldo already readying his hand to launch the spiked log.

"You want me to hit the log without striking Guldo, right?"

"It would be for the best not to hit him, yes." answered Trunks.

She headed straight for Krillin to intercept it, but couldn't help but shake the feeling that she wouldn't make it in time at her current speed.

"If I'm not fast enough, it's going to...!"

Not wanting to take the chance, she took the risk of Guldo hearing her approach.

"Kaio-Ken times three!"

Guldo noticed it, but instead of cowering at her and the immense power he could feel near him, he threw the log with maximum force with a smirk.

"That’s right. Make your move."

With even greater speed for this short burst, Pan zoomed in front of Krillin, activating her ki shield as the spiked log reached her.

The log turned to splinters upon contact and the shield was large enough to keep them from hitting both Krillin and Gohan. At the same time, Vegeta swooped in, his arm and hand ready to chop at Guldo’s neck at high speed.

"No stopping time now!"

A blue finger tapped on a button on a control panel.

Vegeta flew forward, confident that the decapitation he had pulled off felt utterly effortless.

"Like a hot knife through butter."

Krillin and Gohan, now freed from the telekinetic hold Guldo had on them, saw Pan floating before them, her shield and Kaio-Ken deactivating. The two flew around to see her.

"You really saved our butts that time," began Krillin.

"Thanks again for..."

Gohan paused.

"Too close..." mused Pan.

The two realized that a piece of the log stuck out from one of Pan's abs, having undoubtedly slipped through before the shield covered her completely.

"A millisecond off and the whole thing would've skewered me."

"That doesn’t look too good," Krillin pointed out as he directed her attention to the wounded area in question.

"You helped us, so let us help you," bargained Gohan.

"Let's all touch down over there and figure out what to do here."

After Krillin pointed down to an ideal place to land, the three slowly made their way back to ground level. Vegeta overheard this and paid no mind to Pan.

"Aww, the girl's got a wound? She got herself caught and that's the consequence. If she can't defend herself, then she shouldn't be here."

But now he turned, eager to see his latest in a long line of kills...

"What?!"

Gohan, Krillin, and Pan turned upon hearing Vegeta's shock.

"But Guldo was right here!"

All four of them saw no sign of Guldo anywhere near them.

"He was completely exposed! He had no idea I was coming! How could he have slipped through?!"

Pan already suspected who was responsible for his disappearance.

"If Towa grabbed him up now... there's no telling what she's planning to use him for."

Chapter Name Pending

Work in progress

Pan sat on the ground, both Krillin and Gohan looking at the splintered piece of the wooden spear in her abdomen. She put her hand around it, pondering whether taking the spear point out would help or if she was better off leaving it until it could be properly treated. After concluding that it would give her opponents a vulnerable point to hit, the consequence being splintering or pushing the spear point further…

”This is gonna hurt...”

Pan gritted her teeth as she slowly began pulling the spear point out.

“Whoa, whoa!” went Krillin, putting his hands out.

In spite of that, she had torn it out, the end of the spear point red. Gohan noticed how deep the wound went, as well as caught Pan’s initial attempt to stop the bleeding with her gloved hand.

“You have to seal that wound,” began Gohan. “...maybe we can make something like stitches with what we can find here...”

As impressed as Pan was that her father, even at that age, came up with that idea, she knew time was of the essence and such an endeavor would take too much of it. Generating a small amount of ki in her palm, she gritted her teeth as she felt the heat around the wound. Gohan and Krillin both saw what she was going to do as she moved her hand even closer.

“This is going to hurt even more...”

Pan put her other hand on her wrist, closed her eyes, and finally pushed down.

Vegeta, keeping his back to the Earthlings and Pan after giving up his search for Guldo, and the three remaining Ginyu Force members who stood together all turned in her direction upon hearing an echoed shout of pain.

When Pan moved her hand, she, Gohan, and Krillin all saw that the wound had been seared closed. Not clean or pretty-looking, but now her abdomen bleeding wouldn’t be an issue. As she tore off part of her cape, lifted her blue shirt partially over her stomach, and wrapped a makeshift bandage around the wounded area, Vegeta approached the group.

“Done whimpering?”

Before, when Vegeta talked to her like that, Pan tried to be mindful, considering the Vegeta she knew growing up. But now having seen the full scope of the past Vegeta’s deeds, that combined with his generally demeaning attitude towards his supposed inferiors was no longer tolerable to her. She glared, then told him something she’d never dare say to her world’s Vegeta:

“Oh shut up.”

The three around Pan were surprised at this, both because she generally didn’t speak much and also because it was her first showing of disdain for someone who wasn’t one of their enemies. Vegeta, having only encountered her as someone dedicated to protecting the Earthlings and Goku on Earth, then having her save him from Zarbon and Dodoria in spite of that, was caught off-guard.

”Last time, this Earthling girl went out of her way to fight alongside me. Protected me. Refused to leave me to them. Almost like… she cared about me.”

Seeing the three looking at him contemplating in that moment, he went back to his usual self to hide it.

“Huh. Maybe you do have a backbone after all.”

“Hey, Vegeta...” started Gohan. “Did you find Guldo?”

“Damned imp vanished completely. Can’t sense him anywhere.”

“I don’t think he even knew how to hide his power from us,” went Krillin.

"He must've used his time stop to get away," Gohan guessed in an attempt to answer his own question.

"But he was exhausted from using it earlier," Krillin added. "He couldn't stop time and hold us with telekinesis at the same time... or could he?"

Towa, having gone a moment, saw Mira at the controls, as well as...

"Where... where am I?"

Guldo stood between the two, at first dazed from the travel, then utterly panicked by his new surroundings just as Towa was surprised at his unannounced presence.

"Who the heck are you?!"

Fearing for his life, he began to hold his breath...

...until a chop to the back of his neck by Mira knocked him out. Mira and Towa stood in silence until she finally broke it.

"Why have you brought him here, Mira?"

"Our aim is to alter history, is it not?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Like Dodoria, his disappearance is inconsequential. We can keep him on hand."

Towa took a moment to consider what Mira had done.

"He's taken initiative. Acted without me instructing him."

While part of her was concerned, another part of her was intrigued.

"I wonder what Mira may come up with next..."

She turned back to him, hiding her smile and keeping her tone neutral.

"I commend you for your efforts... but now let's get back to our objective at hand."

Mira stepped aside, picking up Guldo with one hand, as Towa took back the controls.

"Of course."

Recoome, Jeice, and Burter decided to give their opponents a respite for now as they also wondered where Guldo had gone.

"Find him yet?" inquired Recoome.

"I'm not picking up Guldo anywhere..." went Jeice, scanning the area around him with his scouter. "He's gone."

"You think Guldo really ran out on us?" inquired Burter. “Actually turned tail and left us?”

"He's a coward, but even Guldo wouldn't pull something like that. Captain would kill him if he did."

“Well we don’t wanna keep them waiting on us,” Recoome reminded them. “And I still got a match.”

As their bulkier comrade left them, Jeice stopped Burter for a moment.

“Got an idea.”

“Hey V!”

Vegeta turned upon hearing Recoome’s voice.

“We didn’t finish our scrap!”

He clamped his chest armor with his gloved fists, then pointed back to him.

"You used a dirty trick to get away. Use as many as you want. I'm still going to win."

Pan saw Burter and Jeice approach on foot as well and tried getting herself ready for round two against them.

"Tell you what, girlie..." began Jeice, addressing her directly. "We'll give you a little break for now. And once Recoome's done with Vegeta, we'll roshambo for our next match."

"Then all three of us will fight one-on-one," Burter. "Sounds fair, right?"

Pan didn’t know what their play was, but stood by and watched as they flew off.

"Besides..." went Jeice privately to Burter. "It'll give you time to recharge. Gonna need you at top speed for the next round."

"Same for you and your Crusher Ball," responded Burter. "Need it to hit fast and hit hard."

Now that the two were away, guaranteeing Pan didn't have to fight, at least for now, she had time to recover.

“So Trunks, Chronoa...” she began. “History back on track so far?”

Recoome looked over, seeing Pan looking away as if talking to someone else.

“Hey!”

As she waited for an answer from the two, Pan turned to the shouting Recoome.

“Aren’t you going to watch my match?”

Vegeta saw his opening and his flying punch rocketed Recoome into the air. Pan watched as Vegeta unleashed an onslaught against him in midair.

“Okay, now it is...” answered Trunks.

”You know the drill,” started Chronoa.

“Right...” began Pan, getting out of sight behind cover…

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Burter stood next to her, arms crossed.

“Damn. Can’t get out of sight with him keeping an eye on me.”

“I hope you haven’t forgotten about our upcoming match. Hate for you to leave.”

”Guess I’m staying a little longer, then...”

The both of them then saw Recoome come crashing back to the ground followed by Vegeta firing blast after blast before he could get up. She could tell Vegeta was putting as much into each as he could, desperate to bring Recoome down right then and there.

After he stopped, panting heavily, Krillin and Gohan turned back to him.

“You did it, Vegeta! You…!”

“Quit your celebrating, idiot!” shouted Vegeta at Krillin. “Can’t you both sense it?!”

“He’s...” shivered Gohan. “He’s still alive.”

The dust began to settle...

“Heh.”

Recoome stood, his armor almost completely gone save for part of his chest piece and one cracked shoulder, his black sleeves and shorts partially tattered, and some of his hair missing.

“I told you, Vegeta. Even with your dirty tricks...”

He spat out a little debris from his mouth, then grinned, showing a few cracked teeth. Then with a stomp as he took a pose...

“RECOOME…!”

The impact shook the four of them, but Vegeta especially in the midst of his exhaustion.

“KICK!”

Vegeta would’ve likely avoided it at any other point, but in his current state, even trying to move his feet to get out of the way, was struck in the chest.

Pan remained where she was, watching the Saiyan Prince bounce off the ground, then fly back to Recoome, not backing down even with the odds stacked against him. But in just a few moments, it was all for naught as Recoome took a strike to his stomach, then overpowered Vegeta and slammed him head-first into the ground, the Saiyan Prince’s legs and lower body poking out.

“Hey look! I planted me a tree!”

”Right now, Recoome should be picking my father up,” Trunks explained.

Instead of doing what Trunks described, Recoome hopped backward, beginning another pose as the purple glow around him increased.

“It’s been fun... but now to finish you!”

Jeice, recognizing the technique, gestured to him.

“Wait, Recoome! Lord Frieza wants Vegeta alive!”

Recoome didn’t exit his pose, but did ponder for a moment before answering back.

“That was before we found the Dragon Balls, right? So now we don’t need him anymore... I think."

Jeice took a moment to think it over, then smiled back at him.

"You got a point there. Now send him to another dimension."

Burter was curious about this at first, but then was just as excited at what was about to transpire.

“Now this, you have to see...”

He pointed past Vegeta’s location to the distance beyond him as his comrade shouted…

“RECOOME…!”

“Namek’s gonna look a lot different,” explained Burter.

Seeing that she didn’t have much time, Pan went ahead and formed a plan based on something her grandfather Hercule had done long ago:

She crouched over, grabbing her stomach with one hand and groaning, catching Burter’s attention.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Instead of looking over at Vegeta slowly making his way out of the hole, Burter looked more closely at her hand grasping her stomach as Recoome continued…

“ERASER…!”

“You got a stomach ache or something?”

Now that Pan had him looking where that hand was, her other hand charging ki went undetected at first. By the time Burter’s scouter picked up a build-up in power…

“Wait a minute…!”

Pan had fired at the ground below Burter’s feet, causing one foot to sink.

“Hey!”

She flew towards Recoome, ready to strike the back of his head with a kick…

...as she saw Krillin coming in from another direction intending to do the same.

“Hey, watch out!” he shouted, trying to steer around her and still get to Recoome first.

Recoome finished…

“GUN!”

...but then he heard Krillin behind him and actually turned toward him, his mouth foaming with ki as he was about to unintentionally fire at the Z-Fighter instead.

“Krillin!” Pan shouted as she, not having the time to push him out of the way, fired a blast at Recoome’s face.

The impact forced Recoome to turn away as the Eraser Gun finally fired, Krillin bracing himself as it flew past him. But Pan saw he was turning back towards Vegeta. Pan knew she had to act fast and flew forward to the back of his head, finally going through with the kick as originally intended.

She saw that the impact, which sent Recoome onto the ground on his chin, didn’t stop the Recoome Eraser Gun from going towards Vegeta...

‘’“No!”’’

...but then Pan saw Gohan flying in and grabbing Vegeta, saving the life of someone who had tried killing him, his father, and everyone he knew just weeks ago.

”That’s my dad,” she thought, seeing that even at that age, her father did exactly what she knew he would do.

Now the Recoome Eraser Gun finally went into the far off distance as it was meant to, causing an explosion that shook the very planet.

“Pan!” shouted Chronoa. “Do you realize what you almost did?!”

”I didn’t know Krillin and my dad were going to save him,” Pan tried to explain.

”You went in without sensing where they were. They were close! That might’ve tipped you off!”

“Or maybe YOU could’ve told me what they were going to do so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself!” this time, Pan practically shouted.

Just then, Burter stood in front of her, waving his hand at her face. She flew back after that surprise, then saw Jeice flying next to him.

"Again?!” began Burter. ”We agreed on matches and you're still butting into everyone else's!"

"You really have no honor at all, do you?" scolded Jeice. “Few things tick me off more than that.”

Recoome, getting up, began feeling for his teeth.

“Aww no! My teeth!”

He turned to Pan.

“Oh, I’m really gonna get you now.”

Jeice flew in front.

“Now hold on. You haven’t finished Vegeta yet. Burter and I will take her.”

As Pan saw the two getting ready to face her once again…

“Wait!”

The two turned back to Recoome.

"I wanna take her and Vegeta. Is that cool with you?"

Burter at first stumbled at this, but then scoffed.

"Fine. Go ahead.”

The two moved out of Pan’s way, allowing her to fly down towards Vegeta.

“Then that just leaves you and I the two runts, eh?” went Jeice.

“Let's roshambo for which of us takes which pipsqueak," replied Burter

As Burter and Jeice played roshambo, Pan saw Vegeta, lying on the ground with Gohan covering him, shoving Gohan off of him.

“Moron! You should’ve attacked him! Makes me sick…!”

”Ungrateful little...” Pan began angrily at how Vegeta treated her father.

Knowing the battle was about to commence, she lifted the Saiyan Prince onto his feet by the back of his armor’s collar. He took notice of her expression, but focused on Recoome stepping forward.

"All I’ll tell you is that Recoome will not go down easy. Underestimate him because of his dim wit and he'll turn your bones to powder."

Taking heed of Vegeta’s warning, Pan tried calming herself and focusing on their opponent at hand.

”What’s my play here?” Pan inquired. “Do I try to leave?”

”Because of what you did…!” Chronoa at first shouted before taking a breath. “After what you did, now Recoome’s locked on to you. He should be going after Krillin and Gohan.”

”Goku will be arriving to the battle in four minutes, and Krillin and Gohan need to be...”

Trunks stammered to explain until finally...

”Recoome nearly killed them both. If he doesn’t, Gohan won’t get a boost he needs for later.”

Pan hated the thought of it, but…

”How likely are they to join in the fight?”

”It’s highly probable,” started Trunks. ”...but you can’t afford to hold back against Recoome. Goku only beat him because his gravity training on the way to Namek pushed him far past my father at the time. And I’m not sure you’re there yet. Just… just survive.”

Work in progress

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Pan is sent to Earth a week before, finding Goku locked in combat with Turles at Capsule Corp. Towa's mission for Turles is to kill or at least delay Goku long enough for a change in history, and is told to stop, not kill, Pan. Pan joins the fray and Goku flies Turles away from the city to a wasteland. In the midst of their battle upon realizing he was outmatched, Turles takes out the Fruit of the Tree of Might and prepares to take a bite from it.

Chapter Name Pending

The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

When both that and attempting to turn into a Great Ape fail to turn the tide, Turles seems defeated until an inner rage within him awakens. He transforms into some kind of heightened Saiyan that, while not exactly a Super Saiyan, increases his power several times.

Realizing Goku is taking too long to head to Namek and save the Dragon Team there, Chronoa arranges for Popo to arrive and pick him up. Goku at first rejects this, not wanting to leave Pan to face Turles on her own, but she convinces him that they need him a lot more.

As Goku left on Popo's magic carpet, Turles unleashed a frenzy on Pan, refusing to keep to Towa's original orders to keep her alive. Pan's shorter bursts of Kaio-Ken kept her from over-exhausting herself like she had against Zarbon, but it still isn't enough against this empowered Turles, who tries again and again to kill her.

The transformation then expired and Turles was left feeling weakened. Pan capitalized on this with four times Kaio-Ken, completely overwhelming him and forcing him into the sky. Turles cried out to Towa to extract him, but for disobeying her order earlier, she refuses, leaving him to be struck by a massive Kamehameha.

The battle over, Pan lied on the ground from exhaustion, then saw that Turles had fallen back to the ground. Trunks arrived, confirming that Turles was alive, and giving Pan a Senzu Bean, since she needed to return to Namek forward in time and ensure Goku had enough time to arrive to counteract his delay.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Pan arrives back, facing the three Ginyu Force members once again, each noting that somehow, she was stronger than she was a moment ago when she seemingly vanished. Goku finally touched down and despite Towa giving the three members of the Ginyu Force a further enhancement to contend with the two, Pan and Goku together were more than a match for them.

Recoome, who seemed to recover from Goku's knockout earlier, was downed once again while Burter couldn't contend with both Pan and Goku's speed before being crippled by Goku. As Jeice retreated, Pan hid from view, then saw Vegeta killing the unconscious and crippled Recoome and Burter before returning. While she despised the act, she knew Towa's next move had to be even worse than her ploy with the Ginyu Force and Turles.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Taino, while impressed with how Pan did against the four members of the Ginyu Force, told her that Captain Ginyu himself would be her gravest challenge yet. She intended to teach her all the moves of his she could manage, but that one move was the most dangerous out of all of them: his body change.

To that end, she had several sparring sessions where Taino would act as Ginyu. Any time Taino shouted "Change Now!", if Pan was in front of her, then the session was over. Pan slowly got better at avoiding it, including a session where she had another patroller try to distract her.

But even with her successful training sessions, Pan dreamed of the possibility of failure should Ginyu hit her with the technique.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

The mission she dread was next: she had to face Ginyu and Jeice alongside Goku. Chronoa showed a change: that Ginyu would switch bodies with Goku, and that both her and Jeice would end up killing him instead of leaving him to his wounds as they did in history. Pan tried to mentally prepare herself for the thought of Ginyu taking her grandfather's body and Goku being in someone elses', but was determined to keep him alive when it happened.

Upon touching down, Goku thanked her for what she did on Earth regarding Turles as Jeice pointed out to Ginyu that Pan was the one who aided the Earthlings and Vegeta, and even seemed to get stronger after briefly vanishing. While the Captain was intrigued by this, his interests quickly switched over to Goku upon reading his power level.

The teams of two engaged, switching between Pan vs Ginyu and Goku vs Jeice to Pan vs Jeice and Goku vs Ginyu. Jeice tried to finish her off with a ki blade emanating from his hand, but Pan redirected his arm towards water, creating surges of steam that seemed to blind him.

After knocking Jeice away, she zoomed towards her battle's grandfather, seeing that Ginyu was laser-focused on Goku, ripping part of his own chest and about to switch bodies then and there. She kept her distance, then noticed Jeice coming right for her. Pan had more than enough time to prepare, but suddenly found that she was stuck, as if an invisible force was holding her.

Unable to move out of the way, Pan was kicked by Jeice, sending her into the path of Ginyu's body swap, causing what she had prepared herself to avoid and what she feared would happen: Ginyu had her body and she was in his.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Pan, now in Ginyu's body, quickly realized that she had lost communications with Trunks and Chronoa due to lacking her earpiece while they realized Ginyu could listen in on them and turned off their feed.

Pan watched as Ginyu in hers began attacking Goku, though to no success. Goku, realizing what had happened, helped protect the wounded Pan from Jeice. The two flew towards Ginyu and Jeice when the two were trapped in midair:

Guldo emerged in front of his comrades, holding Goku and Pan in place. Not able to hold the two for long, he beckoned Ginyu and Jeice to attack now, then retreat the moment he held his breath. Once the hits struck, Guldo did just that, getting as far from the battlefield as possible while Ginyu and Jeice followed suit.

With the wound given to Ginyu's body being further expanded by the skirmish after, Pan began falling and lost consciousness. When she awoke, she found that Goku had placed a makeshift bandage over it along with dirt underneath it. He told Pan to remain where she was so she could heal and promised that he'd find a way to get Ginyu to give her back her body.

Pan sat up for some time, realizing how much worse things would be if Ginyu performed another body switch with Goku, but then began to ponder if perhaps this alone had changed history to the point of no return. She then lamented that without her body, she couldn't go back to Toki Toki City and that whether Towa did this intentionally or if this was by accident, Towa had won.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Pan was surprised at first to see a Frieza soldier wonder what Ginyu (she) was doing there, to which he was knocked unconscious with a chop by Trunks. He arrived to tell her that it wasn't too late to alter the course of history back to where it was supposed to go and had a plan: to fly her over to where Ginyu was heading, to which she would work to intercept another of Ginyu's intended body changes with Goku, giving her back her body.

Ginyu met with Gohan and Krillin alongside Jeice outside Frieza's ship, trying to convince them he was Pan. The two remained suspicious, especially with Ginyu being far more talkative and personable than they were accustomed to Pan being. Ginyu then walked over to Krillin, teasing to reveal her name, then slapping the Earthling back and revealing he was Ginyu.

Goku arrived shortly after, telling them that Ginyu had taken Pan's body, to which Ginyu taunted that she wasn't there to protest it. Pan arrived after his remark, Ginyu stunned by her survival after the wound he gave his body. When Goku realized Guldo was missing, Ginyu and Jeice stated that for abandoning Recoome and Burter earlier, resulting in their deaths, they killed Guldo. The rematch began, but with Gohan and Krillin joining Goku and Pan.

Pan realized Ginyu's techniques worked even better with Ginyu's body, which frustrated him as he struggled to do the same with hers. Seeing Goku exposed by Jeice, he enacted his body change, which Pan counted on and flew in front of to intercept it.

Sure enough, Pan was back in her body, but reeled from the beatings she and Goku had given it while fighting Ginyu. Utterly frustrated that he was back in his body, Ginyu told Jeice to perform a maneuver.

Pan got back in contact with Trunks and Chronoa, asking what Guldo's death by Ginyu and Jeice would mean for history. The two believed that the scroll would've been more affected if that were the case and realized that while they turned off their feed while Ginyu was in Pan's body, they didn't turn off his and began listening in to what was doing prior to his arrival at Frieza's ship.

For the third time, Ginyu prepared himself to change bodies with Goku, who was sent into his path by Jeice, but more than able to get out of the way now that he had seen the move twice. By the time Pan, Trunks, and Chronoa realized what Ginyu had done, Guldo held his breath, running over to Goku and jump-kicking him in the back. When time resumed, Goku was momentarily off-balance, finally exposing him to the body change.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Trunks and Chronoa discovered that while Ginyu was furious with him for his apparent betrayal when he mysteriously vanished, he changed his tone upon the three coming up with a plan to deceive their enemies. Guldo remained out of sight until the signal was given, to which he helped carry the plan through to perfection.

Now more confident than before and with two comrades to his sides, Ginyu targeted Goku to ensure his old body would be unusable. Even in spite of his lower power, Guldo tripped up the three others with his time stop and telekinesis, constantly setting them up for Jeice.

But as things looked grave, Vegeta arrived with the intent of killing the entire Ginyu Force. Guldo panicked, finally giving way to him being punched by Pan while he froze time, which stopped it right at the moment he was hit. By the time he exited, he was too hurt to avoid Vegeta's fate chopping off of his head followed by blasting it away.

Suddenly, Guldo's body and the destruction Vegeta caused destroying his head disappeared, and Jeice seemed to perceive both history and the altered history, struggling to keep it together with Guldo having been killed in front of him twice. This left him completely exposed to Vegeta, who was too concerned with killing Jeice to care about the difference.

Now without his comrades, Ginyu was completely overwhelmed by Vegeta, who unlike the others, wanted to kill him even if it meant killing Goku's body. But as he lied on the ground, Goku's body crippled, Ginyu decided to switch bodies with Vegeta, who he believed would be a better candidate.

Goku tried getting there, but the beatings he had taken from Ginyu meant he would never make it in time. Pan flew over to her grandfather, lifting him up and tossing him into the path as hard as she could. With his hand just managing to touch the path of Ginyu's body change, history was restored.

Chapter Name Pending

SPOILER WARNING! The following is a brief summation of what I will write out later on. It will not be considered a completed chapter until then.

Ginyu, his body utterly exhausted and the bandages covering his wound now undone, couldn't believe this had happened, and was intent more than ever to switch with Vegeta, who intended to blast Ginyu first. Instead, a flash emerged from behind Vegeta and the Saiyan Prince found himself grappled and pulled to the ground by Mira.

Mira held Vegeta in place even as he strained to escape, then addressed Ginyu by name, stating that he would ensure the body change was successful this time. Ginyu thanked him, even offering him a place on a new Ginyu Force, but found his path blocked by Pan. Mira ensured he could still kill her even without letting go of Vegeta, but Pan did not move.

Upon a frog landing in his hand, Goku realized he could still move that one limb. Seeing Pan about to either be hit by an eye beam by Mira or changing bodies with Ginyu once again, threw the frog in their direction. Pan saw this and ducked, just avoiding Mira's eye beams and seeing the frog intercept Ginyu's body change.

Now that Ginyu was trapped in a frog as per history, the only remaining anomalies were the presence of Pan and Mira, the latter still holding Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince finally stomped the ground hard enough to shake the two, allowing him to elbow Mira and break out of his grip. Mira promised that he would kill at least one of them and battled them.

Pan, while not nearly as outclassed as she was when Mira defeated her in one hit, still couldn't believe his power, and Krillin, Gohan, and Vegeta all struggled to even harm him. Mira then realized the easiest way to achieve his goal was by killing Goku, who was immobilized and couldn't hope to avoid his attacks. As he prepared to do this, Vegeta actually stopped him to everyone's shock, as they believed he would've let Goku die otherwise.

As Mira was prepared to kill Vegeta instead, Krillin shouted at Vegeta "Duck!" as he threw a destructo-disk. Vegeta did so and Mira lost one of his hands while also taking some damage to his torso. Capitalizing on this, Vegeta began savagely beating on Mira, ending with placing his hands in front of him and firing a massive blast.

When the dust settled, Mira still stood, but with his arm all but completely removed, his chest armor torn to scrap, and half of his face revealing metal underneath his blue flesh. As Vegeta stormed towards Mira to finish him off, Mira disappeared in another flash.

Pan hid, hearing Krillin and Gohan question Vegeta as to why he protected Goku, to which he replied that they would need all the help they could get now that Frieza would be coming for them. She shuttered at the thought as she disappeared, but upon arriving back, focused on Mira. Trunks and Chronoa first assumed that Mira was simply from the demon realm like Towa herself, but once Pan pointed out metal underneath his flesh, Trunks asked if there were any markings on his skull. Pan noticed there was and Trunks realized that Mira was Towa's original creation from the Time Patrol, but now given flesh and sentience.

While being repaired by Towa, Mira swore he would obtain enough power to defeat Vegeta for what he did to him as squeezed his new hand into a fist.

@@ Line 908: / Line 908: @@
 ...but then Burter, whom Pan had been learning was known for his speed in battle, intercepted the Dragon Ball in midair, then flew back to Ginyu in little time at all. Vegeta then turned to Krillin, who held the last one, and shouted at him to destroy it. Krillin prepared his fist for a punch, but by the time it should’ve met the ball, it disappeared from his hand and was in the hands of Guldo.
-‘’”I didn’t even see Guldo move,”’’ Pan thought to herself. ‘’“Did he just stop time?”‘’
+''"I didn’t even see Guldo move,"'' Pan thought to herself. ''"Did he just stop time?"''
-‘’”That’s right,”’’ Trunks began to explain. ‘’“The time stop is completely instantaneous to everyone else. He can’t hold time for very long, but when he does, Guldo can elude just about anyone around him.”’’
+''"That’s right,"'' Trunks began to explain. ''"The time stop is completely instantaneous to everyone else. He can’t hold time for very long, but when he does, Guldo can elude just about anyone around him."''
 Pan turned her attention to Ginyu, the seven mystic balls at his feet. He lifted the Dragon Balls into the air without even touching them, then began walking in her direction.
@@ Line 938: / Line 938: @@
 As Krillin and Gohan powered up in front of Guldo, the shortest member of the Ginyu Force began to get nervous. The two then flew into the air and fired down blasts at Guldo, who was astounded by their speed and power.
-‘’“Pan!”’’ shouted Chronoa. ‘’”Get behind cover, now!”’’
+''"Pan!"'' shouted Chronoa. ''"Get behind cover, now!"''
 Pan already suspected what was coming next and did as asked.
@@ Line 970: / Line 970: @@
 “Who are you?!” Guldo shouted, falling onto his back, then scurrying back out of Pan’s path.
-‘’“Oh shoot!”’’ she thought.
+''"Oh shoot!"'' she thought.
-‘’“But you took cover,”’’ began Trunks. ’’”Unless you stuck out an arm or leg...”’’
+''"But you took cover,"'' began Trunks. ''"Unless you stuck out an arm or leg..."''
 Pan looked over at her cape, the wind blowing it back and forth from cover.
@@ Line 1,016: / Line 1,016: @@
 As Guldo stumbled with making his explanation sound good, Pan had a thought.
-‘’“The only upside to this is that they’re not attacking my dad, Krillin, or Vegeta right now.”‘’
+''"The only upside to this is that they’re not attacking my dad, Krillin, or Vegeta right now."''
-‘’“Perhaps...”’ started Trunks. ‘’“But I suspect Towa will show her hand once they do.”’’’
+''"Perhaps..."'' started Trunks. ''"But I suspect Towa will show her hand once they do."''
 She saw the three other Ginyu Force members less than impressed with Guldo’s talk thus far.
@@ Line 1,028: / Line 1,028: @@
 “...but using such tactics is just dirty, regardless of our overwhelming power!”
-‘’”Did he…”’’ went Pan, astounded at the shift and working out what changed with Guldo. ’’”Did he really just stop time to give himself a pep talk?”’’
+''"Did he..."'' went Pan, astounded at the shift and working out what changed with Guldo. ''"Did he really just stop time to give himself a pep talk?"''
 “How low they stooped instead of fighting us with honor! And for their deception, let's attack them all at once!”
@@ Line 1,034: / Line 1,034: @@
 Pan was terrified at the notion, realizing just what would come from it in theory.
-‘’“Crap,”’’ Pan mused. ’’”I’ve jeopardized the entire mission.”’’
+''"Crap,"'' Pan mused. ''"I’ve jeopardized the entire mission."''
 She saw Guldo raising his fist into the air with fervor.
@@ Line 1,066: / Line 1,066: @@
 But as he turned to Burter and Jeice, then back to Pan, he grinned.
-‘’“At least against those two, she’s done for, for sure.”’’
+''"At least against those two, she’s done for, for sure."''
 ----
@@ Line 1,096: / Line 1,096: @@
 Jeice and Burter hopped backward, then stood waiting for Pan to make a move.
-‘’”I should wait them out. Let them make the first move.”’’
+''"I should wait them out. Let them make the first move."''
 But then she recalled one of her lessons from Taino.
@@ Line 1,108: / Line 1,108: @@
 As she looked over at the two, seeing them converse, Pan knew they were planning something collaborative for her.
-‘’“I need to figure out where he might go and plan accordingly.”’’
+''"I need to figure out where he might go and plan accordingly."''
 She kept her eyes right on Burter the whole time…
@@ Line 1,114: / Line 1,114: @@
 ...and even then, Pan lost him.
-‘’”Remember your training!”’’
+''"Remember your training!"''
 She felt a brush of air to her side.
-‘’”Okay, he flew past me!”’’
+''"Okay, he flew past me!"''
 Pan turned, ducking in case of an immediate ambush, but saw Burter, his back against the wall with his arms crossed.
@@ Line 1,126: / Line 1,126: @@
 Pan realized she hadn’t paid any attention to what Jeice was doing and by the time she looked over her shoulder, Burter’s comrade had thrown a red orb at her.
+''"Crusher Ball!"''
-‘’“Crusher Ball!”’’
 She fired at the ground to propel her out of the way, the Crusher Ball flying past her and piercing through the rocky structure. Pan felt another breeze and turned in midair, seeing Burter in her path about to swing at her. She leaned as far back as possible, seeing Burter’s hook over her.
-‘’“An opening...”’’
+''"An opening..."''
 Her two hands readied ki to fire at him…
@@ Line 1,136: / Line 1,136: @@
 But upon her feet touching the ground, the momentum of her movements caused her to slip, throwing off her intended shots and leaving her falling onto her shoulder. Pan rolled on the ground before stopping herself, then saw Burter overhead, descending for a landing on top of her.
-‘’”Get up! Up!”’’
+''"Get up! Up!"''
 She propelled herself back once again, Burter’s intended stomp falling short…
@@ Line 1,142: / Line 1,142: @@
 ...but then Pan felt her back striking a hard surface.
-‘’“The rock wall… I completely forgot where I was...”’’
+''"The rock wall... I completely forgot where I was..."''
 But Burter coming in for another jab left her little time to ponder as she side-stepped it. Even with his speed, Burter’s punch breaking through left no question as to his striking power. He took a step forward, then swung again with Pan stepping back to get out of the way. It repeated again with the opposing arm, then Burter aimed his next swing, intending to hit where she was going. Pan was forced to duck, seeing more dirt and rock from the impact.
-‘’”We never went as fast as this in our sessions...”’’
+''"We never went as fast as this in our sessions..."''
 Just then, Burter saw an immediate opening and charged into Pan with his shoulder. She was first knocked back-first into another structure, then span across the rest of it before finally falling onto her back.
-‘’“I’m a sitting duck on the ground!”’’
+''"I’m a sitting duck on the ground!"''
 Pan leapt upward and took flight, seeing Burter remaining for the time being. But as for Jeice…
-‘’”He’s not there! I can’t afford to lose him after what I saw!”’’
+''"He’s not there! I can’t afford to lose him after what I saw!"''
-Pan turned in mid-ascent to see behind and below her…
+Pan turned in mid-ascent to see behind and below her...
 ...and sure enough, Jeice with the blade of ki she feared coming up for her. All she had time to do was to swerve to avoid the first swing, to which Jeice span his body to go for another. Realizing they were both traveling upward, Pan stopped herself in midair, the next swing going over her head. This still didn’t stop Jeice, who was now swinging straight downward.
@@ Line 1,162: / Line 1,162: @@
 As fast as she could, Pan reached for the Power Pole and held it out over her head. The blade of ki clanged against the polearm as Pan shoved forward, repelling Jeice. With a swing of the Power Pole, she forced Jeice to block it with the blade, which appeared to be less than pleasant for him.
-‘’”That ki blade is especially great for offense. Defensively, and against non-ki especially, it takes a bigger toll.”’’
+''"That ki blade is especially great for offense. Defensively, and against non-ki especially, it takes a bigger toll."''
-Jeice’s blade was in flux, the Power Pole getting closer to slithering past it. But from a glimpse of what may have been a reflection on her family heirloom…
+Jeice’s blade was in flux, the Power Pole getting closer to slithering past it. But from a glimpse of what may have been a reflection on her family heirloom...
-‘’“They’re taking turns...”’’
+''"They’re taking turns..."''
 She broke off from Jeice and turned around, the Power Pole blocking a kick from Burter. The sheer force still sent her rocketing away as Pan now saw both Jeice and Burter flying at her with their fists.
-‘’”Scratch that...”’’
+''"Scratch that..."''
 Not wanting to take the time to put away the Power Pole, she turned it clockwise and counter-clockwise as each went for punches. With Burter’s being unleashed even more rapidly, she was forced to redirect on his side more often.
@@ Line 1,186: / Line 1,186: @@
 Pan was astounded at how casually they spoke with each other while fighting with her in that moment.
-''"Fighting at this speed… and just chatting away like this is nothing..."''
+''"Fighting at this speed... and just chatting away like this is nothing..."''
 Pan knew she couldn’t keep this up forever and quickly generated ki around her. Letting go of the Power Pole for just a moment, Pan crossed her arms and unleashed a burst, sending Burter and Jeice back enough for some breathing room.
@@ Line 1,192: / Line 1,192: @@
 As she zoomed down, catching the Power Pole, she recalled Jeice bringing up Recoome, who, as far as she could see, hadn’t dealt any major damage to Vegeta as of yet.
-‘’”How strong was Recoome, Trunks?”’’
+''"How strong was Recoome, Trunks?"''
-‘’”Much stronger than my father at that point,”’ he answered.
+''"Much stronger than my father at that point,"'' he answered.
-‘’”Then with the power-up, Recoome should be even more overwhelming… but he hasn’t gone all-out yet.”’’
+''"Then with the power-up, Recoome should be even more overwhelming... but he hasn’t gone all-out yet."''
-‘’“Recoome has a knack for not taking fights seriously and goofing around with his opposition.”’’
+''"Recoome has a knack for not taking fights seriously and goofing around with his opposition."''
-‘’”So he plays with his food.”’’
+''"So he plays with his food."''
-‘’”In a way.”’’
+''"In a way."''
-‘’”If Towa wants them to win, shouldn’t she be making Recoome go for the kill?”’’
+''"If Towa wants them to win, shouldn’t she be making Recoome go for the kill?"''
-‘’”The formula seems to enhance everything about them, but as for overwriting their personalities completely, it takes considerable power. It’s why it’s only happened in short bursts.“‘’
+''"The formula seems to enhance everything about them, but as for overwriting their personalities completely, it takes considerable power. It’s why it’s only happened in short bursts."''
-‘’”So they’re still themselves.”’’
+''"So they’re still themselves."''
-“Right. And Towa herself had to be on the ground to control someone remotely, as was the case with Krillin.”
+''"Right. And Towa herself had to be on the ground to control someone remotely, as was the case with Krillin."''
 Just then, from above, Pan caught a glimpse of a purple vortex.
-‘’”I know this one… they’ve joined together for...”’’
+''"I know this one… they’ve joined together for..."''
 She didn't have to ponder further as a massive barrage of purple orbs fired down upon her. With the blasts spread too far out for her to simply fly forward, Pan instead traveled upward, swerving to avoid them.
-‘’”Hitting them while they're together's going to be tricky, but...”’’
+''"Hitting them while they're together's going to be tricky, but..."''
 Just then, the purple vortex began to change...
@@ Line 1,352: / Line 1,352: @@
 Guldo noticed it, but instead of cowering at her and the immense power he could feel near him, he threw the log with maximum force with a smirk.
-‘’”That’s right. Make your move.”’’
+''"That’s right. Make your move."''
 With even greater speed for this short burst, Pan zoomed in front of Krillin, activating her ki shield as the spiked log reached her.