Namek Saga (Pan's Ascent)

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The Namek Saga covers the fourth saga of Pan's Ascent in its entirety.

Who Is Towa? Kaio-Ken![]

The following is at least partially a synopsis due to my inability to write out the chapter proper.

After having a senzu bean to heal from her battles prior, Pan listened as both Chronoa and Trunks explained who Towa was:

Towa hailed from the Demon Realm, having a talent for science and technology, but had little to no influence in her home world. In the early days of the Time Patrol, they needed assistance in building and sustaining the Time Patrol's tech, so the two decided to recruit her. While she never trained for combat, she flourished, helping in the early years of Toki Toki City.

They acknowledged her brilliance, but then moved on to what happened: Towa attempted to alter the main timeline for her own gain, which Trunks had to stop. Afterward, she went rogue, leaving Toki Toki City and attempting to alter the timeline several times. Years had passed since her last attempt, and with her being behind the latest attempted alterations, Chronoa and Trunks realized the idea of Towa giving up or moving on was too good to be true. With what Towa had pulled off so far with her power-ups and this ally of hers called Mira, both feared the worst had yet to come.

As the four of them left the library, Pima went ahead through the gate, understanding he was not needed yet, but stating he would be training for if a day were to come where he would be. Pan decided if nothing else was needed of her, she would depart as well, but she found her path blocked by the bearded owl she had encountered prior, whom Chronoa introduced as Tokitoki.

When Pan asked if Tokitoki was Chronoa's pet, the Supreme Kai of Time explained that he wasn't her pet, but that she was Tokitoki's caretaker and had been so for millions of years. After Pan got over her shock at both Tokitoki and Chronoa's astounding age, the Supreme Kai of Time elaborated that Tokitoki, being a divine bird, was incredibly important to their universe and time itself, and that ensuring his safety was of paramount importance.

Once Pan inquired if Tokitoki was very powerful, Chronoa elaborated that physically, he wasn't much to brag about, but he has power over time, making him vital to producing time itself. Even after this clarification, Tokitoki did not take the small jab lightly and flew up to Chronoa, cawing at her angrily. After Chronoa argued back at Tokitoki, telling him to watch his language, Trunks insisted it may take a while and that they'd get back to Pan at another time.

Instead of heading back to her housing unit, Pan sought out Amura, eventually locating her along with Umiu. Her two fellow patrollers in training asked her what it was like to tackle such massive events and battles, but Pan immediately changed the subject upon revealing she saw the Kaio-Ken and a technique of Nappa's, both of which Amura used against Pan herself in their spar long ago. Amura revealed that a large variety of techniques wielded by countless warriors throughout history could be learned by the patrollers and that she had picked them up from others.

Having seen how the Kaio-Ken boosted a fighter of Goku's caliber, Pan requested that Amura teach her how to use that technique, to which Umiu asked the same. Amura agreed to teach the two the technique, but warned that even for her to use it as briefly as she did before took months of training, and that the slightest error could put both their lives in danger. Both accepted the risk and accompanied Amura to the academy's training grounds.

From there, Amura tried to describe the process as basically as she could: that it was multiplying one's ki for a fraction of a second, greatly enhancing power, speed, and even senses, but takes a great toll on the body over time. Since Amura herself had yet to master Kaio-Ken times three or four, and as Pan and Umiu had never attempted it prior, she only wanted them to try working towards the standard version. Amura stood in place and demonstrated the technique first, both Pan and Umiu taking a step back from its power, as well as Pan sensing it was far stronger than when Amura used it in their battle. The two of them were instructed not to move around and just to try to get their power to multiply, then stabilize it.

Pan and Umiu charged up their ki, then shouted "Kaio-Ken!", seeing their ki briefly grow and take on a red hue, then immediately reverted back. Amura believed they weren't timing it correctly and taking too long to multiply their power, and waited for them to attempt it once more. In their second attempt, Pan and Umiu's ki grew moreso and remained red somewhat longer, but still lost it again. For their third try, Pan and Umiu's Kaio-Kens finally resembled Amura's and lasted for several seconds.

Seeing their progress, Amura wondered if they should try moving, but then saw that Pan's ki continued to grow even further. She told Pan to stop and power down, but Pan found she couldn't, feeling a great strain and seeing her muscles greatly increase along with her ki. Umiu had the same issue, but also seemed to grow massively, beginning to tower over the two of them. Both fell to their knees, their veins visible across their skin and struggling to breathe as Amura called for help. Pan and Amura finally managed to exit the Kaio-Ken, but after falling to their sides, they both lost consciousness.

Pan awoke, once again seeing Beetro watching over her.

"Kaio-Ken..." he started. "Perhaps one of the most common cases I heal patrollers from. So many attempt it, but very few master it."

She looked down at her arms, which were still bulkier than usual and the veins, while smaller, were still easily noticeable.

"It will take a bit more time for your body and Umiu's to revert to normal, though if you two continue to train with that technique like your friend Amura, it will take less time going forward."

Aside from her mind wandering back to her first experience using Kaio-Ken, she thought back to the discussion regarding Towa and her former status in the Time Patrol.

"Beetro, you're a non-combatant, right?"

"Yes. In fact, I joined the patrol on the condition that I'd never have to partake in battle."

"Are you the only one?"

"No, there was also To..."

He paused for a moment.

"I really mustn't discuss it."

"Towa?"

"Myself and older members make an effort not to discuss Towa with newer members... but since you're clearly aware of her, yes, she also joined as a non-combatant. We had that in common."

"Know her well?"

Beetro reflected on the past, and his earliest years in the Time Patrol.

"She was very dedicated to her craft. Always strove make everything here better. When we first met, she had already helped to upgrade the patrol's medical tech, which certainly helped me in my endeavors."

"Did she keep to herself?"

"No, not necessarily. Like you, she had been going through a tragedy from her home. We could tell Towa was trying to make the best of what she had here, up until...

"Until what?"

"An accident at the academy, which injured more than a dozen recruits and nearly killed... Hale."

Unknown to Pan and Beetro, Hakusa walked by the room, then stopped upon hearing that last statement.

"The Commander?"

"I mean, he wasn't a commander back then. Hale was a recruit at that time. But his wound from what transpired was the gravest of the bunch. "

"Just what happened?"

"I never saw it occur first-hand: only the results of it."

The door opened and Hakusa had their attention.

"I'll tell you what happened: Towa had just developed a new training bot, one designed to push us to our limits to aid in battles."

"The Saiyans that heckled Hale happened there, correct?"

After Beetro's comment, Hakusa paused, then continued.

"Right. It was them that went first. The bot seemed weak at first, but once they got cocky, they were taken down with ease. Hale tried next."

"But wait..." Pan inquired. "I thought you said you weren't there, Beetro."

"I wasn't. That was what Hale told me."

As Hakusa continued right after, Pan felt a change in the Saiyan's voice.

"Even after their loss, they still underestimated him. The bot powered up and it looked like Hale was done for, but he pushed himself forward, matching it and taking it down."

As much as Pan found something of a happy ending for Hale from that, she had to know...

"But if Hale won, then where was the accident?"

Hakusa crossed her arms, taking in a deep breath.

"Towa called it a wrap and tried shutting it down, but there was a malfunction. It attacked everyone around it and kept increasing its power. It knocked Trunks away and it would've killed..."

Hakusa was trying hard to not let emotion slip through.

"It would've killed those Saiyans were it not for Hale. He got in its way, taking a beam through his torso. It was after that when Trunks came back with his sword and cut it in two."

Trying to wrap it up, Hakusa turned to Beetro.

"Then Trunks flew Hale to you, right Beetro?"

"Indeed. I had to treat him for several days, both due to the extent of his wound and how much of our resources went to the other injured as well..."

Hakusa knew Beetro wasn't finished recollecting what she didn't want to hear.

"And if I recall, your leg had to be treated."

She couldn't hide it anymore and bit the bullet.

"Hale saved my life that day... even after how me and the other Saiyans treated him."

"It's in the past, Hakusa. You and they grew into what you are now."

All the times she had been in Hakusa's prescence, Pan never saw anything remotely close to Hakusa acting condescending towards anyone. Even when Hakusa lightly pointed out Pan's then-lower power level with Trunks, it was done out of concern rather than arrogance.

As much as part of her tried to imagine Hakusa and other Saiyans acting snobby towards someone like Hale, her focused turned towards...

"Beetro... how soon can I get back into action?"

"Not too long."

She saw Hakusa about to leave, but the Saiyan turned back to her.

"Just be sure not to rush it Pan, okay?"

"Towa..."

Deep within her lair, Towa turned toward her inquiring creation.

"If our goal is to fight back against the Time Patrol's interference... why did you make me spare that patroller?"

"That is a fair question, Mira. This girl serves them, yes... but she isn't an unquestioning pawn. There is more to her."

"What would you propose we do when we encounter her again?"

As she considered an answer to his second question, Towa began tinkering with her formula. An idea sparked...

"We will see what happens and go from there."

Pan spent the following weeks in Toki Toki City working alongside Umiu under Amura's instruction to perfect their use of the Kaio-Ken. Neither had to return to Beetro's care since their first attempt, but both still found the technique difficult to hold.

"Now I want you both to spar using Kaio-Ken. Not times 4. Not times 3. Just basic Kaio-Ken."

Umiu walked back, then turned with his stance as Pan followed suit in the opposite direction.

"Ready?"

Both let their ki flow through them to better ensure control of it.

"GO!"

"KAIO-K...!"

"Excuse me."

Pan and Umiu were interrupted by Commander Hale stepping in between them.

"I regret that I am cutting your session short, but I'm afraid..."

"You need Pan for a mission?" Amura asked bluntly. "...not that I would know anything about her missions. I mean I know they're pretty important, but none of the specifics..."

"It's quite alright. And yes, you are correct."

They made their way through the Time Nest towards the library.

"Don't get discouraged," Hale began. "It took Goku months just to get Kaio-Ken to work."

Even as Pan remembered just how well Goku used Kaio-Ken in his battle with Nappa, she also remembered the tremendous strain it put on him against Vegeta.

"Don't forget, you advanced to the 30's without it."

"Commander Hale, if you don't mind me asking..."

"Please... what's on your mind?"

"That day... the accident..."

The topic didn't thrill him, but Hale remained ready to answer.

"How did you get through that?"

"My earliest days in the Time Patrol were hard for me. I was one of the first of Frieza's race to join and not all of my fellow patrollers were thrilled at the prospect."

"And Saiyans?"

"When I saved them from the training bot, things improved... but healing from that wound was a trial."

"That's when you met Beetro, right?"

This caused Hale to pause right at the steps and turn away from her for just a moment. Pan began to regret prying into his affairs.

"What am I doing? I'm treating Hale like an open book."

"I'm sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to pry."

He turned back to her.

"The truth is I don't believe I would have survived without him."

The library's doors opened quickly, Trunks' gloved hands visible to them.

"Pan, get in here now!"

Both ran through the library at a fast pace, Trunks' hand gripping Pan's wrist tightly to keep her from falling back.

"What's the situation?"

He didn't answer.

"Trunks?"

They remained silent after until they made it to the round room. Trunks finally let go of her, then zoomed toward the scroll.

"Trunks, would you please tell me what's going on?"

He stretched out the scroll and placed it into her hands. From what she could see...

Age 762

Bulma and Krillin, both on an alien planet, watched something unfold in shock and terror.

Vegeta lied on the ground in front of them heavily bruised, one of his shoulder guards broken off. He was slow to get up, grasping his chest in pain and spitting out blood as two men approached him:

One tall, green-haired and green-skinned with an aura of elegance, and the other bulkier with pink skin, spikes across his head and wrists, and much less refined in manner.

Zarbon and Dodoria! Vegeta in Peril![]

The following is at least partially a synopsis due to my inability to write out the chapter proper.

Pan watched the rest of the scenario play out: Vegeta fighting in vain against the two figures, eventually being knocked unconscious, and being picked up and flown away. She realized what made Trunks so tense before showing her the scroll: his father's life was being threatened by Towa.

After she asked where Vegeta, Krillin, and Bulma were, Trunks took a breath, then explained after Piccolo's death, the Dragon Balls were turned to stone, and that Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan went to Namek to use the Dragon Balls of that planet to revive Piccolo, in turn reviving the Earth's Dragon Balls. He then revealed that not only Vegeta, but also Frieza and his forces sought out the Namekian Dragon Balls as well.

When Pan asked why Vegeta was against Frieza this time around, Trunks told her Vegeta was defecting and found an common ally in the Z-Fighters there in order to stop him from gaining immortality with the Dragon Balls. Pan saw this as a point of redemption for Vegeta, even after what he did when he first arrived to Earth.

Now that she knew the context of their being on Namek, Pan asked what was going on in that instance on the scroll. Trunks explained that Dodoria wasn't supposed to be there, both him and Zarbon were far more powerful than they should've been, and instead of just killing Vegeta, they were going to deliver him to Frieza. Their one advantage was they both had more time before any negative effects could creep in due to Vegeta not being killed from that battle, but even then, time would run out soon.

Handing Pan the scroll, he told her to be careful and to protect Vegeta, both for his own sake and Bulla's. Pan clenched the scroll and closed her eyes, disappearing from Trunks' sight.

On Planet Namek, Pan arrived nearby Krillin and Bulma's location, the former holding a Namekian Dragon Ball in his hands. As Bulma explained that Gohan was off tracking another Dragon Ball, Vegeta flew in and landed nearby, demanding they hand over their Dragon Ball. Her thoughts on Vegeta soured when he threatened both of them, especially his future wife Bulma. Just as the situation looked like it would lead to Krillin having to battle Vegeta, everyone's attention turned to Zarbon landing from across Vegeta.

Bulma wondered if Zarbon was there to save them, to which Krillin told her he was one of Frieza's men. Zarbon intended for Vegeta to reveal where he hid Namekian Dragon Balls, but also hoped he'd have to beat Vegeta within an inch of his life for an answer. Vegeta scoffed, informing Zarbon that Saiyans grow in power immensely from near-death, and that it was a mistake for Zarbon to have had him healed. As Vegeta taunted Zarbon to transform, a flash of light emerged next to Zarbon, then began to reveal someone to Vegeta's shock: Dodoria.

At first, Dodoria appeared confused as if he didn't know where he was or how he got there, but once a purple aura flowed through him, he recomposed himself. He turned to Krillin, remembering him and Gohan ambushing him and Krillin blinding him while fleeing. Krillin warned him that he was more than strong enough to defeat him this time, but Dodoria reassured the Earthling that he would let him live for now, as his main focus was getting revenge on Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince tried to hide his shock at Dodoria's survival, telling him that he still stood no chance against him. With a grin, Dodoria charged his newfound ki, unleashing a gust that gave even Vegeta pause. As Zarbon began to question just where Dodoria had been, Dodoria asked him "What do you say to us working together to bring down this Saiyan?" Just then, the same aura enveloped Zarbon, who then answered "For once, we are in agreement. And gladly."

As much as Krillin despised Vegeta, having seen even the proud Saiyan begin to lose his composure made part of him consider joining forces with Vegeta against a greater threat. Seeing Krillin take a step forward. Pan flew in front of him, signalling him and Bulma to get to cover, then stepped to Vegeta's side, keeping an eye on the two newly-empowered elites of Frieza. Vegeta warned her that this did not excuse her transgressions against him on Earth, and they would settle their score after they survived this battle.

Zarbon flew at Vegeta first, going for a kick to his neck. The Saiyan Prince stopped it with one hand, still standing, but being forced downward as he saw Dodoria running in for a ducking uppercut. Zarbon grinned, keeping Vegeta unable to stand or evade the incoming attack.

Dodoria found his uppercut intercepted by Pan blocking it, but the sheer force caused a whirlwind around the area. Vegeta and Pan were sent rolling, and the Saiyan Prince was immediately intercepted by Zarbon, who took him into the air. Pan saw Dodoria ready to take off and flew in his way.

"Getting in my way, are we, girl?"

Pan fired off several ki bullets, which Dodoria knocked away with his spiked wrists, then moved them quickly to block Pan's impending punches. None of the blows successfully harmed Dodoria, but each sent him grinding backward. Even still, he kept his balance, never wavering.

"Dodoria was on Vegeta's level..." inquired Pan. "...Right?"

"Right..." began Trunks. "...but after his defeat on Earth, my father's power increased dramatically, allowing him to easily overpower him."

"...so you're saying Vegeta should mop the floor with both of them."

"At this point in time, yes, but now Towa's made them more than a match for him."

Vegeta broke off his clash with Zarbon, both floating in midair. Zarbon saw Vegeta sweating while his light green skin was without any bruises, let alone blemishes.

"How?!" shouted Vegeta, who lost his composure as Zarbon began to cackle. "You couldn't best me without your transformation, and now I'm stronger than I was before!"

"Who knows, Vegeta..." began Zarbon. "Perhaps Saiyans aren't the only one whose power increase from battle after all."

Pan glanced away for just a moment to see what was happening on Vegeta's end, witnessing the dread on the Saiyan Prince's face.

"Aha!"

After Dodoria's comment, he disappeared from Pan's sight.

"I've got to focus!"

Pan tried to sense him, putting up her ki shield in advance, but just as she heard him again, he struck with his hand, managing to hit before her shield covered her completely. His five fingers' nails dug into her back, Pan wincing from the sharp pain, as Dodoria struck at the shield with his other hand. Instead of breaking it, the shield held, but Pan was knocked to the ground, Dodoria's other hand still on her.

"A force field, huh?"

He tossed her towards a wall of rock, finally letting her loose, but leaving an extended scratch upon release. Due to her shield, she bounced off the structure upon impact, but found herself on her back, one hand on her wound.

"He's far faster than he looks. I can't lose Dodoria again or he'll really gut me."

She noticed Dodoria planting his feet firmly into the ground and putting his arms back. Pan then caught a faint glow from between his lips.

"Quick!" shouted Trunks. "He's firing a...!"

She put both her hands out, glowing fast, as she quickly shouted...

"Kamehameha!"

Pan fired a quick Kamehameha burst at Dodoria's head before he could fire his mouth beam, sending him onto his back.

"Not much power, but enough for now."

She used her time to tear off a small piece from her cape, then wrapped it around her from underneath her jacket and over her shirt. The whole time, she watched as Dodoria slowly got to his feet, his face with a few marks from the attack. His joyous smile from before melted away into a near-snarl of annoyance.

"That... stung!"

He put one foot forward.

"Now I'll really crush you!"

His foot dug into the ground, leaving cracks as Dodoria flew at her head-first. She swiftly ducked as Dodoria tore through the entire rocky structure with a headbutt. Even as it crumbled on top of him, Dodoria simply stood, dusting off the top of his head.

"Talk about hard-headed..."

"I think you mean thick-headed," Trunks replied.

"Now's not the time for that," Chronoa reminded them both.

Meanwhile, Pan saw Vegeta's arm forced against his back by Zarbon, who then proceeded to knee the Saiyan Prince in the back.

"Shoot! Vegeta needs my help!"

She zoomed upward, but then found a barrage of ki projectiles in her path courtesy of Dodoria. As Pan had to place her focus in maneuvering around the barrage, Dodoria made his way up to Vegeta, where the two comrades attacked the Saiyan Prince at once. Vegeta tried to block one attacker with each arm, but was soon met a punch to the face from both Dodoria and Zarbon simultaneously, an impact that slammed him into the ground.

Pan, the barrage behind her, saw Vegeta's impact, as well as Zarbon and Dodoria side-by-side in the air, never more unified than in this moment. Zarbon put his hand out, the other hand steadying his aim as Dodoria performed the same motion.

"How is this...?" went Trunks in astonishment. "Dodoria's performing one of Zarbon's techniques."

Vegeta, still getting up, saw the dual Elegant Blasters ready to fire at him. Instead of trying to get out of the way, he put both his wrists out, believing he could deflect both of them.

"What is my father doing?! Against two of them and with their power-up, there's no way he can withstand them! That arrogant...!"

The two attacks fired just after Trunks' comment, to which Pan flew in front of Vegeta, gesturing him so her back faced the beams. She put up her ki shield, but she was unsure if that alone could stop the combined attack.

"Kaio-KEN!!!"

The shield doubled in size upon the attacks' collision. A massive explosion, one large enough to engulf the body of land they stood upon, sent Pan and Vegeta in the shield flying back before the two rolled closer to Bulma's cave where she and Krillin watched in shock. Once she deactivated the ki shield and her Kaio-Ken, the Saiyan Prince shoved her off of him.

"Get off me! What is this, woman?! You attack me on Earth and here you nurse me!"

He made it onto his feet, then pointed up at Zarbon and Dodoria, who floated above in no hurry to continue.

"You had a clear shot! You should've attacked them! Did you think I needed your help?!"

Pan kept it together in appearance in front of him, but she kept trying to justify putting up with it to herself.

"He's just like this now! He'll change! He'll become a better person!"

"Vegeta's difficult, I know," went Trunks. "At this point, he's still not much better than Zarbon and Dodoria, but Krillin and Gohan needed his help just to survive until Goku arrived. And even then, he was paramount against Frieza' forces."

"Hey!" shouted Dodoria from above. "Are you two just going to lick your wounds or will you at least put up a fight?!"

"I'm going to shut him up," declared Vegeta.

Zarbon prepared to advance, but Dodoria put out his arm in front of him.

"Let me take the Saiyan Prince. I'll make him beg."

Instead of arguing against this, Zarbon grinned.

"Be sure that you do, Dodoria. I won't give you long."

Dodoria scoffed, then slowly hovered downward eying Vegeta, who turned back to Pan.

"Don't delude yourself, girl: you are on your own," warned Vegeta. "If you can't handle Zarbon, I'd sooner watch you Earthlings die than spill one drop of my royal blood to help you."

Pan simply nodded as she eyed Zarbon, who waited with crossed arms. Vegeta's ascent began slowly, but then sped up rapidly as Dodoria did the same with his descent. A midair collision caused a big shockwave, senting them both back and causing sides of the cave to shed small pebbles.

"Will he be a better match against Dodoria as he is now?" asked Pan.

"Maybe..." began Trunks. "...but I fear my father will still underestimate Dodoria, much more-so than he did Zarbon. Should things get worse for him..."

"You know I'll step in if it comes to that."

"I know you will, but Zarbon will need your focus."

Pan made her way up to Zarbon's level, who turned his head, his green ponytail following.

"You surviving against the likes of Dodoria is impressive. I'd offer you the opportunity to join Lord Frieza's forces, but judging by the look on your face, you've already rejected it."

As much as Pan wanted to tell Zarbon she would never join the likes of Frieza, she kept it to herself and readied herself for battle.

"Such a waste. Oh well."

As soon as they began trading blows, Pan could already tell that Zarbon fought much more precisely and elegantly.

Whereas Zarbon seemed to have the complete edge over him earlier, Vegeta found Dodoria a much more even battle. Granted, he had yet to overpower him as of yet.

"Surprised, Vegeta? You thought I wouldn't be a match for you. Well I'm not just a match..."

"About to call yourself a forest fire?" Vegeta taunted.

"Not this time! This time, I'm a...!"

"What, a flaming hurricane?"

This further infuriated Dodoria into lashing out, but even then, Vegeta's taunt didn't gain him much more than a few free shots.

"Damn it, Father! You should've learned the stakes from Zarbon!"

Zarbon flew upward, firing an orange arrow-shaped projectile down at Pan, who flew out of the way. She fired ki blasts in retaliation, but then heard a shout from Vegeta: Zarbon's attack nearly struck him from below, exposing him to a hit from Dodoria.

"Pan, focus!"

She turned back to Zarbon, just barely avoiding a kick from him. He looked down at Vegeta, then back to her, seeing the concern she tried to conceal.

"Ah. Loyalty to Vegeta?"

Pan knew she couldn't answer, but even with the Vegeta she knew growing up, her best friend's father, a Saiyan unrelated to her by blood, but that Pan sometimes treated like an uncle being long gone, she wouldn't allow either Zarbon or Dodoria to do anything to this brutal younger Vegeta.

"I highly doubt it's love."

With a shout, Pan struck Zarbon's cheek, but found herself immediately met with a barrage of kicks with the last sending her downward. She caught herself in midair, then flew back up for another punch. Zarbon swerved backward, then struck Pan below the chest, forcing her backward.

"My rib..."

"You have exceptional beauty, Earthling... but your power isn't enough against one of my caliber."

He covered the distance before Pan could fire off a ki blast, and took hold of her by her neck with one hand. Zarbon felt Pan gripping his wrist, but continued speaking with the same calm as before.

"You're stronger than that bald brute Vegeta ordered around, but not anywhere near myself, let alone the universe's last Saiyan."

He saw Pan's arms finally drop, believing her will to fight to be gone.

"It's a shame to snuff you out, but those who stand against Frieza must perish."

His other hand began to charge with ki as he was then startled to see Pan's hands against the side of her face.

"Solar Flare!"

Blinded, Zarbon let go of Pan, covering his eyes with both hands, and still keeping himself afloat, but trying to maintain his altitude.

"You! You insufferable little...!"

Pan knew this was her one chance to end things quickly.

"Kaio-KEN!!!"

A gut punch caused Zarbon to spit out dark green blood and forced him to release his eyes. His vision had not yet returned to him as he tried to follow what he could only perceive as a red blur zooming around him. Pan attacked all around him for as long as she felt she could before he could successfully hit back, but knew both that her window would soon expire and that her body couldn't hold Kaio-Ken forever.

A two-handed slam into the back of Zarbon's head sent him falling at a high speed. Pan followed him, booting his chest with both her legs to further accelerate his descent. She flew as fast as she ever had before, feeling her body tire, but knowing she had to land before Zarbon did.

"Come on, come on!"

As she landed, her feet practically embedded in the ground, she put both her hands out and caught the high-speed Zarbon by his back. Pan didn't feel anything close to Zarbon being crippled like Goku had done to Nappa, but she could tell from his cries that it was not something he'd recover from soon.

Pan reverted back from Kaio-Kan, dropping Zarbon just from her body trying to recover. She remained on her feet, but had to crouch over just to catch her breath.

"So... leave Zarbon as is, right?"

"The damage you've done to him was a bit much already, so..."

As Chronoa tried to finish, Pan saw Dodoria kicking Vegeta multiple times in midair, then knocking him down.

"Hurry!" shouted Trunks. "My father's...!"

"In trouble. I know."

Dodoria landed to the ground hard, causing Vegeta to stumble as he saw his adversary about to unleash Maximum Blaster.

"Go down alread...!"

Dodoria felt a crushing pain across his throat, causing the massive yellow beam to fire off from his hands into the sky instead of his intended target. Pan wrapped her legs around his sides, then pulled back with her family polearm with all her might. As Dodoria tried to grapple Pan, Vegeta took hold of both his arms and slammed both his feet into his stomach before tugging on them.

"That's it, Pan! Just keep Dodoria in place!"

"You already told me everything I could want to save your skin before! You have nothing to bargain with now!"

Pan didn't care to see Vegeta's sadistic side and just wanted the battle to be done with.

"What are you waiting for, Vegeta?"

The Saiyan Prince was surprised to hear her refer to him by name for the first time, but still scoffed at her.

"If you want Dodoria dead that badly, then do it yourself!"

In the midst of Vegeta's berating, a sphere-shaped projectile struck Pan's back, causing her to lose her grip on Dodoria and the Power Pole, her weapon dropping to his feet. Vegeta turned, seeing Zarbon, even after the beatdown he took earlier, having had enough power to fire off this attack.

"Damned brat should've finished him off first!"

He turned back to Dodoria, hiding his gasping for air with a look of intended wrath.

"Bastard!"

Just as Dodoria began to lift Vegeta off his feet, the Saiyan Prince quickly let go of one of his hands and fired off a blast at Zarbon, knocking him back. Just as he prepared another for the top of Dodoria's head, he felt his leg being tugged and was slung helplessly downward.

Pan, trying to reach for the Power Pole, saw it rolling away from her down towards the water, then lost sight of it: Dodoria grabbed her by the head, obscuring her vision with his palm. With a roar, he slammed Pan into Vegeta's chest, taking chips out of his armor and causing him to spit out blood. Before Dodoria could perform another attack on Vegeta with Pan's body, she fired at his face, forcing him to let her go. Just as she landed, Dodoria struck with a titanic punch. Pan guarded against it, but she was still floored by its force, leaving her exposed to a kick.

"Stay out of this, Earthling!"

He sent her rolling towards the cave's entrance, where she saw Krillin and Bulma watching her approach, as well as the figure that approached Vegeta.

"I'll be with you space trash in a minute."

Vegeta, who finally made it to his feet, lost sight of Dodoria as he finished his sentence.

"But first..."

Dodoria was behind Vegeta, grabbing him by his arms. For Vegeta, a nightmarish reminder of what he had done to Dodoria. For Dodoria, a reversal he was in control of this time.

"Prince Vegeta, was it?"

A tug caused Vegeta to spit out, followed by a shout of pain.

"Enjoying yourself, prince? It's fun on the other side, isn't it? ISN'T IT?!"

Pan watched as Dodoria continually pulled Vegeta by both his arms to the sound of the Saiyan's cries, fully intending to rip him in two.

"I'll take your arms, Vegeta! Let's see you get stronger from that! From bleeding to death!"

"Wait!" shouted Zarbon, who even admist the power-up looked deathly terrified at what Dodoria was doing. "Lord Frieza wants Vegeta alive! For the Dragon Balls he stole from us! It was an order!"

"Aww shove it!" Dodoria retorted. "Make an excuse! He'll summon the Ginyu Force to finish up here anyway! The prince is mine!"

Before, Dodoria was content with beating Vegeta down and returning him to Frieza, but after Vegeta had him at his mercy for the third time, he wanted nothing more than to make Vegeta feel the same agony he had felt each of those times.

Pan, seeing Dodoria's back turned, floated quietly to him. She grabbed his shoulder with one hand as the other delivered a chop to the back of his neck...

...which was followed by Dodoria striking her with the back of his head.

"You thought that measly chop would knock me out!? Now leave me to my fun!"

She swerved her body back upward, then tried wrapping both arms around his neck, but even as she tried to tighten her grip, it was to no effect.

"Ha! Go ahead! Try and choke me to death! Without your precious pole, your arms might as well be hugging me."

Every time Pan was in combat with someone, she had always been told not to go too far, whether it be ringing out Piccolo, knocking Raditz into the path of the first Special Beam Cannon, or nearly flying Vegeta and herself into orbit. Here, she was faced with all efforts to down Dodoria turning up short.

"I don't know if I can get him unconscious! What would you have me do?"

She knew Dodoria was supposed to have been killed earlier and that his prescence here alone invited alterations to history. Pan waited to hear what to do in this situation, but she heard nothing from either of them.

"Trunks! Chronoa! What do I do here?!"

Pan knew they were both as stumped as she was.

"He'll kill Vegeta! Your father, Trunks!"

As Pan clearly became more panicked and after hearing what would befall Vegeta, Trunks and Chronoa both desperately attempted to come up with what to do.

"My father killed him... but Towa pulled Dodoria out before he was killed. So if he's here now, surely..."

"Vegeta is supposed to kill him. That is how history is supposed to be. Anything else would be..."

This deliberation between the two did nothing to help Pan, who kept waiting for confirmation. She could see Dodoria beginning to grow impatient with his attempts to tear Vegeta in two.

"This is taking too long. I'll just end this right now."

Pan immediately recognized that same glow from Dodoria's mouth.

"Nighty night, sweet prince!"

"I won't let Vegeta die."

She didn't know what would happen as a result of this, but Pan saw no other choice.

"Kaio-KEN!!!"

Dodoria felt a huge aura around Pan, and her grip on the top of his head and chin were far tighter than before, almost digging into his skin. As he hurriedly tried to fire his mouth beam at Vegeta, Pan swerved his head sideways...

CRACK!

...breaking his neck and causing the beam to avoid hitting Vegeta. Said beam struck a tall landscape, practically vaporizing it upon impact.

"Pan... what have you done?!"

Pan heard the shock in Chronoa's voice as she let go of Dodoria, who fell to the ground on his side, his dead eyes and shocked face frozen in place.

"You've... killed Dodoria."

Consequences! Zarbon Remains![]

As Vegeta eyed Zarbon, Pan continued to look back at Dodoria, whom Vegeta was meant to kill and whom she had just slain herself. She didn't know what the consequences would be or if her entire mission was for naught because of it.

"Did I change history?" Pan pondered . "Is what I've done...?"

"Pan, you should've waited for us to..." began Chronoa.

"Dodoria was about to kill my father!" interrupted Trunks. "If she had waited any longer, history would've changed. Now look, none of us expected Towa to be capable of this. We were both caught off-guard and we didn't know what you should do, Pan, so you made a call. As far as I can tell..."

Trunks looked at the scrolls nearby, looking for any evidence of alteration caused by Pan's actions, but found no purple glow emanating from any of them.

"You see, Chronoa? Pan didn't change history by killing Dodoria: she secured it."

"But that's the problem, Trunks: we don't know exactly how she secured it."

"Perhaps after Pan killed him, Dodoria returned to the afterlife from the point he was taken by Towa. So with that, no harm done."

Chronoa pondered, but seeing the lack of distortions that Trunks noted...

"That would appear to be the case, Trunks..."

Having heard Trunks making the argument she had done no harm, Pan was starting to relax, raising her head.

"But from now on..."

Chronoa's tone was lightly stern.

"...this will never again be done lightly. We got lucky here, but in any other case, you might have done something irrevocable. Do you understand?"

"Yes..." began Pan, realizing she was not in the clear from what she had done after all. "I understand, Chronoa."

"Hey!"

She turned, seeing Vegeta looking back at her impatiently.

"Are you done moping?! What, you didn't have the stomach to kill before?!"

The two heard Zarbon grunting, then saw their adversary finally making his way back to his feet, wiping dark green blood from below his lip with his hand. As Pan took a step forward, Vegeta shoved her to the side.

"Now get out of my way while I finish Zarbon off like you should have earlier!"

She didn't appreciate Vegeta's gesture, but kept an eye on him and Zarbon.

"I'd say step back for now," advised Trunks. "As Zarbon is now, I believe my father should be able to finish things as per history."

Pan began to walk around the cave, nearly out of sight, as she watched Vegeta flying straight towards Zarbon at high speed, ready to collide with him with both fists...

...but both caught a glimpse of Zarbon's smile as he glowed purple, followed by his muscle mass increasing nearly instantaneously.

With a single fist, this hulking Zarbon slammed Vegeta into the ground, leaving him bouncing before he caught himself in midair.

"...but how?! I wore him out!"

"It looks like Towa restored Zarbon's energy."

Zarbon, now monstrous and his skin scaled in appearance, pointed to Vegeta as he spoke:

"Is your memory that short? Oh wait... earlier, you told me to transform from the start. I didn't even need it against your so-called 'increased power'. Now you'll wish for death before I bring you to Lord Frieza."

"Ha!" scoffed Vegeta. "I've fought that form before, so now I know how to beat it."

"Oh please. You'd need to be a Great Ape to overpower me. Now that you've lost your tail, all that's left is your arrogance."

"While we can only hope Dodoria gave them some fatigue..." Mira began. "Are you certain that Zarbon has the sufficient strength to defeat them both now?"

Towa, watching the action alongside her partner, grinned.

"We shall see."

Vegeta charged ki in his hands, then shouted as he unleashed a purple beam at the idle Zarbon. Pan flew forward the moment the beam left Vegeta's fingers, taking aim at the monstrous figure's armor. In response to the Saiyan's attack, Zarbon simply swatted at it with his right palm...

...sending it into a nearby island. Just then, Zarbon swung his arm at Pan, who was forced to call off her intended punch and descended, rolling as his fist struck her former position. Vegeta covered the distance and both his hands came down towards the back of Zarbon's head, but were instead met by a swinging wrist. It didn't just block the attack: Vegeta was forced downward.

Seeing Zarbon ready to step on Vegeta, Pan punched at his exposed back repeatedly. She found Zarbon was aware of the hits, but suffered little harm from them. He turned quickly, his leg outstretched.

"That tickled!" Zarbon taunted as the kick landed.

Pan blocked it with her wrist, but was soon floored several feet away onto her stomach by its sheer might. Zarbon charged at her, nonchalantly firing a blast behind him at Vegeta who was about to fire his own. Pan was unsure her ki shield could withstand the incoming punt Zarbon intended for her head, and she was aware her efforts a moment ago were fruitless. She put a hand in front of her face and shouted as fast as she could:

"Kaio-KEN!"

The kick was caught, Pan not even being pushed back before she tossed it aside. She rose, using her arms to keep Zarbon's down before going for a headbutt. She found it matched by Zarbon's own, then they both stepped back. In their next clash, Pan struck first, delivering a jab to his cheek, which was visibly a discomfort to Zarbon, but only left a small bruise. From there, Pan found herself able to keep Zarbon at bay, but unable to overpower him.

"That technique caught me off-guard before..."

He caught both of Pan's hands in his palms, keeping her in place.

"But now..."

He lifted his foot...

"I match it!"

Pan cried out as that foot stomped on her own. Zarbon let go of her, then punched with both hands simultaneously. Right as Zarbon watched Pan tumbling back, he felt a bolt strike his back. Vegeta saw a hole in Zarbon's cape from his projectile, as well as light bruising on his armor, but found Zarbon moving at him faster than he anticipated.

As Vegeta leapt upward with Zarbon in hot pursuit, Pan recovered, having deactivated her Kaio-Ken. Before, it overwhelmed Zarbon after she blinded him, but now...

"He's right. My Kaio-Ken isn't enough anymore."

Seeing Vegeta slammed downward, Pan knew she had to hurry.

"I don't know if I can withstand it, but I have no choice."

"Pan, wait...!" warned Chronoa.

She channeled her ki around her...

"Kaio-Ken...!"

"You can't...!"

"Times THREE!!!"

Both Vegeta and Zarbon felt the increase in Pan's ki and saw a large gust of dust around her.

"This is..." Zarbon started before witnessing Pan colliding with him, her body covered with an even greater aura of red over her than before.

As he was being forced backward, Zarbon gestured his hands to aim for Pan's face, but by the time ki fired from them, she left his sight and he was only being pushed back by their momentum prior. He turned around looking for his opponent, then saw the red burst approaching him once more. Zarbon went for a double axe handle, crashing his hands into the ground, but once he realized the lack of Pan lying in the impact point, he found her fist colliding with his face.

Zarbon flew backward standing up, a small purple cut between his eyes and mouth, and his feet dragging across the grass leaving parallel trails of dirt. Seeing a structure behind him, Zarbon put his hand to his back to stop himself from crashing through it. He succeeded, already dreading looking forward.

The moment he so much as saw red, he jabbed with his right. Pan swerved to the side, the fist just missing her head, then delivered an upward hook into his left side. He was lifted off his feet, time seeming to slow as he rotated, then witnessed Pan hopping upward for a spinning kick. After it connected with his chest, he was sent rocketing across on his back.

"She's doing it! She damaging Zarbon and he can't even touch her!"

Trunks seemed excited at Pan's performance.

"Her training with Amura is already paying..."

He paused for a moment when he looked back at Chronoa, who was far more concerned over what they were watching.

"...off."

Coming to a halt, Zarbon started to lift himself upward, trying to dust his massive arms of dirt and pebbles.

"What is this?! That girl could barely harm my true form earlier... but now... not only can she... she's faster than me. She's almost as fast as Bur..."

The dreaded aura zoomed back and he was determined to finally land a hit on Pan. He went for an uppercut, but found it blocked, then followed by a punch to his stomach area, one that send him skating back...

...only to be met by another punch from the opposite hand with the same result. Now Pan was unleashing a barrage of punches, revealing cracks in that region of his armor as they traveled.

"It's working! It's...!"

Just then, a brief pause in between: Pan's muscles began to ache.

Having endured the beating thus far, Zarbon jumped at the momentary pause, grabbing hold of both her arms. Using their shared momentum, he fell onto his back, lifting Pan and slamming her into the ground on hers. She bounced further away as Zarbon stopped himself, then prepared Elegance Blaster.

"Now then..."

Ki gathered in his palm as his other hand kept his hand steady to aim as Pan finally stopped moving...

...but just as the blast left, Vegeta snuck underneath Zarbon, punching at his armor in the same damaged spot Pan left at the stomach. Pan saw the blast coming her way, then going over her head, just missing her. Vegeta looked upward at Zarbon, seeing not a face filled with pain and anguish, but rather annoyance.

"How could I forget about you, Vegeta?"

The Saiyan Prince quickly stepped back and readied a blast, but a swift backhand knocked him away towards Pan's path. Seeing that Zarbon took a moment to revel at his two feats, Vegeta crawled, then rose over Pan, who lied on her back with her muscles partially bulkier from Kaio-Ken.

"This... this is what Kaio-Ken times three did to Grandpa Goku. My whole body..."

"What is this?" questioned Vegeta. "You can't be finished already. Not after what you did to Zarbon."

He lifted one foot...

"Get up."

He kicked her side, getting Pan's attention, as well as causing her to reel from it.

"You take one hard hit and now you need your beauty sleep, is that it Earthling?"

He crouched down, gripping Pan by her left arm. Already, this was painful to her in her current state.

"I said..."

As he yanked her up, his grip tighter...

"GET UP!"

Pan couldn't stop from shouting in pain. Vegeta released her left arm, seeing her crouched over with her right hand over it.

"Oh come off it! I barely even touched you!"

Seeing Zarbon walk slowly towards him, Vegeta turned back to Pan and scoffed at her condition.

"Oh fine! Wallow for all I care! I don't need anyone's help... let alone a woman's."

The Saiyan soldiered forward as Pan slowly made her way back to her feet, each small movement a trial.

"I can't keep up Kaio-Kan like this... but nothing else I've done has hurt this form of Zarbon otherwise."

As she saw Vegeta and Zarbon trading blows, she pondered what to do.

"My mistake was using Times Three for as long as I did. It needs to be in shorter bursts... but even then, what can I do otherwise?"

She thought back to her time with Tien in the Training Chamber over the course of six months, and that one of his most important lessons was to win through tactics, not just strength alone.

"If I can't hurt Zarbon as is..."

Pan had an idea.

"I can set him up."

Slowly, as Pan was out of action, the Saiyan Prince began to get overpowered and lost his footing, allowing Zarbon to strike him upward, then chop him back down.

As he was about to take hold of Vegeta by the collar...

Several projectiles struck Zarbon's back, none of them terribly harmful, but all of them noticeable.

"Hey, Frog-Face!"

He turned, seeing Pan back on her feet, then proceeded to stomp on Vegeta, embedding him into the ground further.

"Wait right here. I'll take care of this real quick."

Zarbon charged at Pan shoulder-first, seeing her hardly move an inch save for her cape flapping with the wind. He didn't feel anything when colliding with her, then plowed straight through rock. As he came to a stop, noticing the lack of her...

"Without that red glow, that girl was nowhere near this fast. She couldn't have acted out this whole time to trick me."

His back was struck by a larger projectile, this one more than a mild irritance compared to the others.

"Nice try!"

Zarbon leapt in the direction of Pan's taunting voice, bringing his fist down on her shocked face...

Only to have apparently missed once again and met by another hit to his back from afar.

"Can't you go any faster?"

A snarling lunge towards an idle Pan.

"Brat!"

"Of course!" said Trunks aloud.

"Of course what?" inquired Chronoa.

"Pan knows she can't do much in the way of serious damage to Zarbon in her current state, and she recalls first-hand what happened with Goku against my father's Great Ape form. She's keeping Zarbon occupied and outwitting him until my father can get back to the fight. Then they can do some real damage collectively."

Vegeta took notice of Pan's ploy as he recovered.

"A moment ago, this one couldn't drag herself up without me doing it for her, and now she's leading Zarbon on a chase, making him look like a lap dog."

He rose onto his feet, clenching his gloved fist.

"But I will be the one to finish him off."

"C'mere, Slowpoke!"

Instead of approaching her this time, Zarbon fired a beam. Seeing zero semblance of any sign of Pan in the ensuing wreckage only to see her untouched from the corner of his eye, he fired once again.

"Ah, I see now..."

As Zarbon said this with a sense of renewed confidence, Pan made her way across from behind several structures, keeping as quiet as possible.

"You were never in any of those places I hit... or rather, you were, then left some kind of hologram behind... an afterimage."

Vegeta, behind a different structure, eyed Zarbon while also looking around for Pan, seeing no sign of her.

"You meant to tire me out, and all this time, you've been working your way close to me so that when I least expected it, you would strike..."

The Saiyan Prince caught a glimpse of a shadow...

"From BEHIND!!!"

Zarbon turned with a kick aimed right at Pan's jaw...

But when it struck, his leg phased through her, the area it passed fuzzy for a brief moment. Then what began as a tug on his cape transitioned into Zarbon being lifted off his feet over Pan's head. As she was about to swing him back down into the ground, Vegeta crashed into Zarbon's torso with both feet. Immediately after, he flew upward, charging ki...

"Move or be blown apart!" Vegeta shouted quickly.

Pan heeded this as Vegeta looked down from high above, firing a barrage of rapid, but destructive blasts at Zarbon. Bulma and Krillin peered out of their cave to see what was happening, then felt the ground beneath them shaking, as well as part of the landmass cracking. The area Vegeta was blasting began to sink, water rising from it.

"You and your pieces can rest at the bottom of the ocean!" cackled Vegeta...

Until he caught a glimpse of Zarbon flying upward, his armor chipping, cape torn, and lip bleeding. He raged onward unhindered even as the blasts rained down around him and Vegeta frantically adjusted his aim. With a thundering knee, Vegeta was exposed, enabling Zarbon to grab him by both arms and descend rapidly. Unable to aim his hands, Vegeta could only watch as his screaming reflection in the water below came closer and closer.

Pan saw she couldn't intercept in time at her current speed, so she quickly fired off Kaio-Ken. Zarbon caught the red aura, but proceeded, figuring if she tried an attack, he could have Vegeta take the hit for him. Instead, she grabbed hold of Vegeta, then pulled with no effect initially.

"Kaio-Ken Times Three!"

Almost blinded by it, Zarbon felt Vegeta slip through his fingers. Once he could see clearly, he saw Pan flying with Vegeta in her arms, even as he protested her carrying him.

"Let go already!"

Zarbon then noticed Pan's aura in flux and created an orb in his hand. Pan deactivated Kaio-Ken, then began to drop.

"Learn to fly, will you?!"

As Pan began to float upward again, she and Vegeta caught Zarbon's attack too late. The sphere struck Vegeta dead-on, knocking him out of Pan's hands and sending him crashing towards the shore by the cave.

Zarbon landed in front of Bulma and Krillin, who began to stumble out of the cave and saw the condition of his armor and ragged cape. He tore it off from his shoulder pads, then tossed it aside, not intending for it to be grappled a second time.

Vegeta could barely get to his knees, coughing up blood while Zarbon simply wiped his lip and grinned.

"I told you to wait, Prince Vegeta. But no matter: you have my full attention now."

Even in the state he was in, knowing Zarbon was in far better condition than he was, Vegeta rose onto his feet. Whether it was his Saiyan pride driving him to do this or the true spirit of a warrior refusing to give up in the face of his demise, Vegeta began to raise his fists as Zarbon walked forward.

"I am the Prince of all Saiyans, and I will not cower before a..."

He paused once he saw Pan standing in front of him, taking a defensive stance before Zarbon.

"What in the hell is this?! We fought on Earth... she and that damned swordsman cost me my tail... and yet she's... protecting me? I don't get it!"

Zarbon saw the confusion on Vegeta's face regarding Pan standing between the two of them and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Even now, you stand between me and Vegeta. Perhaps it is love, after all..."

Pan couldn't even begin to register what Zarbon had suggested.

"I know I can't say anything, but... he cannot be serious! That's just... ugh!"

Vegeta, on the other hand, scoffed at it.

"As if. She'll pay for what she did to me on Earth."

This resulted in another snicker from Zarbon, who then addressed Pan directly.

"Your efforts go entirely unrewarded. Not even a hint of gratefulness from him."

She could tell what Zarbon was trying to do.

"Go on, then. There's no need to waste your charity on Vegeta, where it is unappreciated."

He signaled for her to move aside and even Vegeta seemed ready to step around her.

"He's trying to get in Vegeta's head: make your father fight him alone while he's vulnerable."

Her back blocked Vegeta's path once again. Zarbon was perplexed at Pan still remaining between them.

"You bleeding-hearted Earthling..."

Zarbon noted Vegeta's reaction.

"I am just as puzzled as you are. But no matter."

He took a step forward.

"Just sit tight while I walk through her."

Pan put her hands together, then took on a stance Vegeta knew all too well from Earth.

"Ka... me..."

Zarbon tauntingly approached slowly, one foot at a time.

"Oh please. Do you really expect that to stop me in the shape you're in?"

She continued.

"Ha... me..."

Another step.

"Just try it!"

"Haaaaa!"

The Kamehameha fast approached Zarbon, who didn't move a single leg. Instead, he put out his left hand, stopping the blast not unlike the way Raditz had against Goku.

"This didn't even stop Dodoria. What makes you think..."

"Kaio-Ken!"

The beam doubled in size, pushing the standing Zarbon back a few steps. It took more effort for him to block it, but he still laughed aloud. She knew what it did to her body earlier and what it might do to that and her ki with such a technique.

"Here goes..."

"Kaio-Ken Times Three!"

The moment this super-powered Kamehameha left her hands, even more massive, Zarbon was forced to guard against it with his entire arm. Once it made contact, he felt an intense burn and for a brief moment appeared terrified at the possibility of the Kamehameha actually being able to best him.

"It appears Zarbon's reached his match. The formula can't save him now."

"Don't be so sure, Mira. With just a little tinkering..."

Pan caught a glimmer of purple emanating across Zarbon.

"Oh, don't tell me..."

His arm, which had begun to burn, now radiated with the formula and appeared to be withstanding even her Kaio-Ken Times Three Kamehameha.

"No, no, NO! This is bad!"

Now Zarbon began running through it.

"Damn it, I'm...!"

The Kaio-Ken fluctuated and her Kamehameha became more narrow. With that, Zarbon span to the side, breaking off from the waning blast, then continued towards his intended targets.

"No afterimage will save you now!"

Having used up so much ki and her body further thrashed by the triple Kaio-Ken, Pan knew she couldn't evade Zarbon now. Vegeta quickly fired a beam at Zarbon just as the beast's left hand grabbed Pan by the back of her head. He didn't strike between his eyes as intended, but managed to leave a scar on Zarbon's cheek.

The Saiyan Prince was grabbed as well and with both him and Pan in tow, Zarbon leapt high, the water below them. Bulma and Krillin watched as the three thunderously descended out of their sight, a massive splash almost as high as the cave resulting from their impact.

Underwater, Zarbon slowed their plunge, wanting to savor the moment until all three could see Namek's ocean floor.

"Once they've had their fill, I'll drag them both to Lord Frieza."

Neither Vegeta nor Pan could break free from Zarbon's grip and while both had ki to spare, it was a question of aim, which their current angle made difficult, as well as how much they'd need just to do any serious damage period. Both desperately tried holding their breath, but could do nothing about their nostrils whereas Zarbon didn't have this issue in his true form, only needing to close his mouth.

While only thirty seconds passed, to Trunks, it felt like an eternity. With Vegeta's beatings and Pan tired out from Kaio-Ken times three, he dreaded their odds against Zarbon.

"I can't watch anymore! I need to get in there now!"

Chronoa stood before him.

"We've got a bigger problem."

"Bigger than this?!"

"Listen!"

She unveiled another event occurring adjacent to the current battle:

"Gohan is about to pass the point Vegeta's supposed to intercept him. This is critical."

Trunks, seeing both events playing out, tried to think of something.

"I could... let me get to my father and Pan first, then I'll..."

"If you save Pan and your father now, he will go down a dark path of no return."

Trunks only had to imagine what would occur if Gohan arrived to the cave and a waiting Vegeta: two Dragon Balls, one stolen from Vegeta, within the Saiyan Prince's grasp, and immortality only three kills away.

"Damn it..."

Trunks' Ploy! Towa's Gambit![]

"If you save Pan and your father now, he will go down a dark path of no return."

Trunks hated this predicament he was in.

"Damn it..."

"I don't know for sure how it would go: whether Vegeta would kill all three of them..."

Trunks pictured his mother, Krillin, and Gohan slain at his father's feet.

"...or if Krillin and Gohan might kill him..."

Now he saw Vegeta dead at Gohan's and Krillin's feet.

"...or if both your father and any one of them would be dead."

Whoever the Earthling casualty was, none of the possible scenarios were any less devastating.

"That's why you have to intervene with Gohan now."

"But even if I intervened now, it'd be too late..."

"Yes..."

Chronoa took the scroll and began to turn back the time on Namek prior to Gohan nearing the vital meeting point.

"...which is why you're going farther back."

Trunks hung up his coat nearby, revealing an olive turtleneck and the full length of his brown gloves.

"Obviously I can't afford to be noticed..." he began, strapping what appeared to be a watch on his right gloved wrist. "...so I think this will do the trick."

Now having found the ideal place to drop him off, Chronoa handed him the scroll.

"Keep Gohan from getting there. I'll let you know when the time is right."

"Watch over Pan. Please."

She noted the concern in his voice.

"I will."

Wrapping both his hands around the scroll, he closed his eyes as a beam of light covered him. Once he disappeared completely from her view, Chronoa took the scroll and moved time forward to Pan's current predicament...

Sinking, Vegeta to her side, and neither of them able to escape their impending descent towards the bottom of Namek. She had overheard the crisis Trunks and Chronoa were in and, as much as she had hoped for it, she wasn't going to get back-up.

"Do what you have to do, Trunks."

Now on Namek minutes prior to Vegeta's final battle with Zarbon, Trunks made his way to cover, sensing Gohan flying in his direction. He clicked on the watch's screen.

"Here goes..."

The young Gohan, the Namekian four star Dragon Ball in his hands, stopped in midair upon noticing a white glow from behind a large rock.

"What could that be?"

From behind it, a figure floated upward, donned in Saiyan-esque armor and shoulders pads, white gloves and boots, and a mouth-covering helmet not unlike those worn by the Frieza Force, but with a dark visor that made his eyes difficult to see.

"Stop right there, uh... scum!"

His mask had a built-in voice changer, distorting it to the point that it would be unrecognizable to Gohan, unlike any voices he had heard or would hear up until the Cell Games.

Gohan tried flying around him, forcing Trunks to fly in front of him without going faster than anything Gohan had seen so far.

"That Dragon Ball belongs to Lord Frieza! Hand it over!"

He fired a ki blast past Gohan, which the young half-Saiyan perceived as a warning shot.

"That was your one warning! I'm taking it from you... now!"

He flew in Gohan's way again, then swiped the Dragon Ball from the son of Goku's hands.

"Hey!"

Trunks made his way to land, Gohan in pursuit.

"Give that back!"

Seeing Gohan about to fire at him, Trunks turned his head and anticipated the angle of the shot.

"Never!"

Trunks could easily avoid it, but as the blast left Gohan's hands, he maneuvered in such a way for it to strike the Dragon Ball head-on, knocking it out of his hands. He gestured as if he was shocked and grunted, then he and Gohan both followed it as it rolled towards a hill. Both fired bolts to stop or slow down the other, Trunks' always just close enough for Gohan to think he was in danger.

As the ball finally came to a stop and Gohan tried picking it back up, Trunks fired at Gohan's feet rapidly. In a fashion akin to his father's reaction to Launch firing bullets at him, Gohan hopped on both feet repeatedly to avoid Trunks' barrage of ki blasts.

"He'll pick up that I'm toying with him unless I change things up."

He stopped firing, then flew in front of Gohan, his foot standing atop the Dragon Ball.

"Tell you what, Kid..."

Gohan waited to see what this mysterious Frieza Force soldier would do next.

"Last one breathing gets the Dragon Ball."

He tried taking on a menacing pose.

"Get ready to meet your maker."

He found Gohan trying to hide any nervousness he may have had, ready to fight.

"I won't run away!"

Upon touching the ground, Pan and Vegeta were both held down, trying to move their faces out of the sanded floor. Suddenly, a thought sparked in Zarbon's head...

One he found delightful.

"Dodoria was right! This is so much simpler! I'll just tell Lord Frieza that Vegeta chose death over facing him!"

He grinned as he mused over this new plan.

"I'll bring the one Dragon Ball as collateral, then Ginyu can find the rest. Oh, this will work out perfectly."

Chronoa already feared the worst.

"Zarbon shouldn't be acting like this. He should want Vegeta alive. But now..."

"He'll kill us both." mused Pan, whose vision was already beginning to blur.

With her left arm stuck, Pan couldn't manage a Kamehameha, and even with a one-handed one, had to assume it wouldn't be enough to get out of the water.

The Surpreme Kai of Time knew she should stay the course, but even now, she was conflicted.

"Pan and Vegeta will die. They'll drown unless I do something."

The scroll in her hand, she readied her hand to swipe time backward to get in contact with Trunks.

"I just hope he has kept Gohan at bay long enough..."

Pan went to reach for the Power Pole's case on her back...

"I forgot. It's not there. It fell into the water after Dodoria..."

She paused in mid-thought when she took a closer look to her right at something nestled between rocks...

"Grandpa's Power Pole!"

Chronoa stopped what she was about to do.

"You found it?"

"I just need to..."

Pan reached in front of her, managing to touch it with her fingertips, and slowly dragged it closer.

"Got it!"

Finally, she held it in her hand and tried to aim with it. She knew a simple jab of it would only slightly irritate Zarbon, so she had to hit something that would leave him vulnerable. As far as she could tell, his head was turned away from her...

Zarbon eyed Vegeta, smirking as the Saiyan shook violently, bubbles flowing from the sides of his head.

"The Prince of all Saiyans... snuffed out by water. I'm going to savor the last of your life leaving your body."

"There isn't much time, Pan!" warned Chronoa. "You have to act, now!"

Pan agreed, especially now that it was harder to see the very Power Pole in her hand. She thought of the size of Zarbon's head, as it was in this form, and tried to account for where it would be from where she lied and where Zarbon stood. Too much to one side, and she'd simply jab his right cheek. Too high up, his forehead, and too low, his chin.

"Here goes..."

"POWER POLE EXTEND!!!"

It extended, one side digging into the ground. The other side struck her intended target and Pan put her strength into the thrusting polearm...

Just then, a muffled scream followed by the smell of blood.

Now that Zarbon's hand no longer held her down, she turned and saw dark green in the water, as well as tons of bubbles spreading out from his mouth.

"Vegeta!"

Pan knew even if they both swam now, they might both lose consciousness by the time they got out, if not drown beforehand.

"Chronoa... how far can the Power Pole reach?"

"Goku reached the Earth's moon with it."

"The moon?!"

Pan planted the Power Power downward, then took hold of the other end in her left. She look to her right and saw Vegeta on the ground, turning over with ki in his hands for an attack. She reached out with her right hand...

"You'd better take me up on this, Vegeta..."

Not about to wait on him, she grabbed hold of his wrist, grabbing hold as tight as she could. On his face, she could see him flustered at what she was trying to do.

"POWER POLE... EXTEND!!!"

She felt herself rising upward as Vegeta felt the same while in Pan's grip.

Krillin and Bulma stood looking over at the water below. Vegeta, Pan, and Zarbon were so deep below the two of them couldn't see anything of them.

"I should have done something..." Krillin mused. "Guru unlocked my potential... and all I did was..."

"Wait...!" interrupted Bulma, pointing... "Down there!"

They saw two blurred figures coming upward, along with some kind of red pole...

"Wait, that's just like..."

A splash...

Followed by Pan holding onto the pole and Vegeta, and both coughing up water and gasping for air. At this point, all Pan could see was yellow and orange blurs atop green-blue blurs.

With a swing of her right hand, she threw Vegeta towards land. Krillin, unintentionally standing in Vegeta's path, caught him.

"Now Vegeta's..."

Pan felt her grip slipping...

And saw herself falling...

When her left hand was gripped by both of Bulma's, who crouched over, trying to keep her footing. With a pull, she yanked Pan to shore, then lowered her down onto her back gently.

"You're okay. Just stay with us."

Krillin did not receive the same treatment with Vegeta, who pushed him away.

"Get o...*cough*!"

Both him and Pan simply looked upward at the sky, their vision slowly unblurring, coughing out all the water they took in, and taking this moment to let their bodies recover from their near-drowning at the hands of Zarbon.

"I promise you, Bulla... I will keep your father safe."

"The second Zarbon is done with his bath, I'll make sure he rests at sea."

Another splash...

Perhaps too soon, Zarbon arose, his right hand covering his right eye. Pan and Vegeta quickly hopped to their feet as Zarbon let go, revealing his right eye had turned the same color as his blood. He pointed at her with his bloodied hand.

"You wretch! You nearly gouged out my eye!"

With a snarl, Zarbon was out for blood, slamming his fists towards the two of them. Bulma and Krillin made their way to cover, stumbling from the impact, as Vegeta and Pan had just managed to get out of the way, then went for kicks. Frieza's right hand managed to block both, Vegeta's striking his right arm to no effect...

But Pan's kicked his left, whose burns from before were far more visible, the impact more than irritable. She noticed unlike before, there was no purple aura.

"Chronoa... you don't think there's any of Towa's formula left, do you?"

"Zarbon shouldn't have been able to block your times three Kamehameha earlier. That formula encompassed his arm, allowing him to withstand it... but from the looks of it, I think it used itself up doing so. So now..."

As Zarbon reeled from her first kick, Pan's second struck his right side. Vegeta, seeing an opening, flew past him with a punch to his face.

"There's no more power-up."

She took on a similar approach to Vegeta, flying past Zarbon while delivering a punch. Once Zarbon began to turn around, he was met by a simultaneous punch from both of them, then two blasts to his chest, knocking him farther away from the water.

From there, Vegeta flew upward, firing several ki bullets at Zarbon, whom shielded himself with his right arm while firing a charged beam with his left. Seeing Vegeta falling out of the sky, Pan flew forward to keep Zarbon at bay.

This time, Zarbon side-stepped her intended punch, then grabbed hold of Pan by her cape. He slammed her downward, then took hold of Pan by her shoulders as he tilted his head backward.

"Come on, body!"

"KAIO-KE...!!!"

She was interrupted by a headbutt from Zarbon.

"Nice try."

He then tilted his head back once again.

"But no more."

Another headbutt, leaving Pan further dazed.

Vegeta, seeing this transpire, began to charge up ki for a blast. From this angle, he'd end up blasting through her to hit Zarbon. Pan saw this and tried getting her ki shield up.

"Damn it, Vegeta..."

Zarbon headbutt her once more, shattering the shield and leaving her exposed for one more.

"Good night."

As his head was about to go forward...

Two feet crashed into it, followed by Zarbon being tunneled underground by Vegeta's hit.

"He was about to blast us both... but he did that instead."

Seeing Pan staring at him, Vegeta crossed his arms to her.

"What?"

"I..." stumbled Pan. "Thank you."

"You think I did that for you? I saw an opening. That's all."

In spite of this, Pan grinned back at him.

"It's baby steps..."

Just then, an explosion from below her feet expanded through the ground she stood on, knocking her back into the water. From this crater rose Zarbon at his angriest by far.

"No more talk! No more playing around! I'll rend your spine here and now, Vegeta!"

Vegeta, however, was at confident as he had ever been.

"I'll enjoy watching you try, Zarbon."

The two charged towards each other, neither intending to avoid the impending collision and preparing their own killing blows. Pan, taking hold of the massive Power Pole, which shrank as she made her way to land, did not like Vegeta's odds.

"Zarbon may be in bad shape, but Vegeta's not any better."

She saw Zarbon's exposed back and pondered if her Power Pole could do something.

"Tripping him might not be enough and I'm not sure throwing it will do much at this point."

A thought occurred to her and as much as her muscles ached at it, Pan knew what was at stake.

"You can hate me later, body."

She began running on foot herself...

"Kaio-Ken..."

She readied her Power Pole like a javelin.

"Times..."

Zarbon heard this, but disregarded it as he saw Vegeta grasping his stomach with his other hand.

"My fists'll turn your bones to powder before your hand can reach me!"

Pan saw him starting to raise both his fists and finally pushed herself to say...

"Three!"

The thrown Power Pole struck the back of Zarbon's leg, causing him to stumble. Zooming toward the bouncing Power Pole, Pan retrieved it, then, as Zarbon tried to slam his fists down on the approaching Saiyan, Pan struck his back with the Power Pole, causing him to step forward into the path of Vegeta's fist, which pierced his stomach.

"You did it, Pan!" shouted Chronoa. "Now hurry, while everyone's looking at Vegeta."

Pan flew behind the cave with what was left of her Kaio-Ken. Bulma and Krillin did look in her direction initially, but looked back at Vegeta upon hearing...

"Wait, Vegeta! Don't kill me, please!"

Back on Trunks' end, he had spent all his time since being sent back to stalling Gohan with their battle. This whole time, he had to hold back extensively so as not to hit or harm Gohan while simultaneously appear as if he intended to.

"C'mere, you little runt! Fight me up close like a... a monkey!"

Immediately, Trunks knew he had to work on his evil henchman banter. Then for the first time since he arrived, he heard Chronoa's voice declare...

"Pan did it, Trunks!"

"She did?!"

The good news left him exposed to a hit from the slowly angered Gohan. The hit didn't cause too much harm, but Trunks flew backward, flailing and acting like it was a far greater hit.

"Agh! How are you this strong?!"

"Supreme Kai of Time, what should I do now?"

"Wrap things up here."

"Roger."

Gohan, not buying his act earlier, flew around Trunks repeatedly, hitting him with each pass. Trunks knew in any other context, he could easily block and counter each of these, but he had to keep taking the hits.

"Awww nooo!" cowered Trunks.

As he fell down, he felt Gohan charging his ki for a more powerful attack, one that he recognized immediately.

"Masenko!"

Trunks covered himself with his hands, then allowed himself to be pushed down towards the water below.

"This can't be! AUUUUUUGH!"

As he was sent into the sea, he finally let the beam pass him, then hid himself from Gohan's view. He sensed Gohan's ki, hoping he'd finally grab the Dragon Ball and leave, but the son of Goku didn't.

"He's waiting for me. He knows I'm still here. I'd better get back up there."

He made a big splash and gave a huge gasp, as if he was lucky to be alive. He crawled onto land, looking over at Gohan, who remained suspicious of him.

"You're not fooling me."

Seeing Gohan about to make another move, Trunks put out both his hands out nervously.

"Wait, wait, please!"

He crouched onto his knees, his hands over his head and looking down at the dirt.

"The Dragon Ball is all yours."

He looked back at Gohan, appearing to shiver in fear.

"I'm done working for Frieza. I'm going to leave the force and rethink my life."

At last, Gohan grabbed hold of the Dragon Ball, not seeing Trunks making any moves or sensing him preparing ki for a back stab.

"I know you're not as evil as the rest of them," Gohan suggested.

He began to float off the ground.

"I hope I see you as a good guy some day."

Gohan watched as Trunks slowly waved to him before flying forward towards his originally intended destination.

"Good luck, kid."

He stood waiting for the all-clear.

"...and Gohan is headed back at the right time. Well done, Trunks."

"Phew."

He clicked the watch again, deactivating the disguise and allowing him to be free of the helmet.

"I couldn't see in that thing."

"It's not over just yet. When you get back here, I'm going to send you forward in time to do one more thing."

Bulma and Krillin saw Zarbon begging Vegeta to spare him while Pan listened to it behind the cave.

"We... we can work together! Together, we... we can defeat Lord Frieza!"

In spite of this plea, Vegeta caught his bluff.

"Loyal to Frieza to the end. Well don't worry: he'll join you in Hell soon enough."

With a beam piercing through his back, Zarbon was launched off Vegeta's hand and left everyone's view with a massive splash.

Mira didn't hear a single noise out of Towa even as Zarbon was slain by Vegeta. As far as he could see, she didn't have a hint of anger on her face.

"Zarbon has failed and yet you are not... upset."

"Seeing as how this patroller had far exceeded my expectations prior, I had planned for the probability of her success here."

"Just what is your contingency?"

"It is a risk, but it will be worth it, Mira."

Pan, her back against the cave just to keep herself standing up, eagerly awaited her departure.

"Is it time for me to head back yet?"

"Not just yet," answered Trunks.

She heard a conversation begin between Krillin and Vegeta.

"You should've thanked her, Vegeta."

"Ha! For what?"

"Even after the hell you put us through, she still saved you."

Knowing what he had done against both Dodoria and Zarbon, Vegeta turned to look over at the latter's body...

...but didn't see it.

Back in the round room, Trunks and Chronoa looked over the deceased Dodoria's body as the former waved a scanning device over the body, finding....

"Hold on a minute..."

A chemical compound of some kind and its components were being identified.

"Towa's formula! It's still there in Dodoria's body! With this, we could decipher it. Maybe find a way to counteract it the next time."

"Wait a minute..." Pan began to inquire, overhearing them. "You have Dodoria's body?"

"Right as my father was finishing Zarbon, I flew in and grab Dodoria's body unseen."

"What for? It wasn't going to disappear?"

"Dodoria's in the correct place in the afterlife, but not his body. Seeing as how his body will remain intact without my father having destroyed it, we'll hold onto it for the time being."

Chronoa put her hands over the scroll, readying it for Pan's return.

"Alright, it's time to bring you back, Pan."

Pan let herself slide down and sit, letting herself relax.

"Good, because let me tell you two, all this Kaio-Ken has..."

She saw a flash of light encompass her surroundings, but... it wasn't from her going through time.

"What... what is this?!"

Trunks and Chronoa were shocked at what had happened.

"What... what is thi...?!"

Suddenly, Pan's feed had gone completely silent. Trunks saw no sign of her at all.

"Where did she go?!"

Chronoa created a globe of Namek and tried searching for her, but...

"I... I can't read her location!"

Sins of the Past! Towa's Intent![]

"Even after the hell you put us through, she still saved you."

As he heard Krillin telling him off, Vegeta turned towards Dodoria's body...

But saw no trace of it.

"She saved you."

A flash occurred right after Krillin's remark and Vegeta looked puzzled at Krillin and Bulma.

"That blue-haired Earth woman saved me?"

Krillin didn't even know what they were just talking about: both their memories were that of the true history.

"Earthling, I believe we still have business to discuss..."

Krillin saw Vegeta walking closer and eyeing something behind him.

"Regarding your Dragon Ball."

Pan watched as the flash of light she was caught in revealed an entire different part of Namek. She sat on what looked like a round spot of land surrounded by pillar-esque structures. Sitting on a tree stump...

"Greetings, patroller."

Towa, cradling her staff.

"You...!" snarled Pan.

"I'll admit I underestimated you in your first three battles. I took precautions for this one and you still exceeded my expectations."

Even as her body felt sore, Pan began to turn away, ready to fly out.

"What's to stop me from leaving?"

"Nothing... although a sizable number of Frieza's forces are gathered outside this field..."

Pan put out her hand past one of the structures, seeing a field that made itself visible momentarily before vanishing.

"Should they spot you, they will likely report you to Lord Frieza... and that would alter history. You wouldn't want to do that, now would you?"

With a sigh, Pan realized Towa was right.

"So I'm your hostage, is that it?"

"It's simply incentive for us to talk. They will pass us in due time. There is a reason I wish to speak with you..."

Towa crossed her legs, sitting more casually and relaxed.

"And why I had Mira spare your life."

"You expect me to be grateful?"

"You are owed an explanation."

Pan turned back to Towa and sat on the ground.

"You care for them... the Z-Fighters. Goku. Gohan. Even Vegeta. More than professional courtesy."

Towa tapped her staff and the ground beneath Pan began to rise and shape itself, soon resembling a chair.

"You thought about ringing out Piccolo at the tournament, as well as pulling on Raditz's tail so Goku didn't have to die, but you weren't permitted to act on them..."

"She's figuring me out..."

"And yet you warned Yamcha before his death."

In anger, Pan's ki shattered the chair Towa had created for her.

"You don't get to talk about him!"

"You're acting as if he was meant to survive that battle. That was his death in history."

Pan pointed at Towa.

"You're the one powering up villains!"

Towa's grin shifted into a neutral expression.

"It was not my first call, but villains are far easier to utilize."

"All just to kill everyone?"

"Changing the past is never without casualties. Trunks knows that first-hand. One of the many secrets he kept... such as who his father really is."

Towa decided to stand up, her staff touching the ground.

"My last alteration on Earth and this one you stopped would've had positive effects."

"Like Trunks never being born?!"

"Like a smaller body count. Innocents killed by his hand living longer lives instead."

Towa noticed Pan's silence.

"You believe all his evil actions stemmed from Frieza... but that is a fiction."

Pan stepped back, trying to find a counter to this.

"No, he's..."

"Look..."

With a tap on the ground from her staff, a holographic image emerged of...

"A village of Namekians."

To Pan's horror, she saw Vegeta firing into the crowd.

"All murdered in cold blood by him..."

An all-too-familiar object was in his hand afterward.

"All for a Dragon Ball. He did all of this while going rogue against Frieza."

Pan felt sick to her stomach seeing this as Towa's staff formed another hologram of an event that the patroller had participated in.

"Him having Nappa and the Saibamen kill four of the Z-Fighters on Earth, then trying to destroy the planet."

As she saw the holographic Vegeta laugh at the deaths of Yamcha and Tien, Pan could practically hear the memory of those moments.

"All of this... behind Frieza's back."

Another hologram of a planet of insectoid-like beings.

"Arlia. This was a planet he and Nappa stopped at on their way to Earth."

They saw what appeared to be the tyrannical king of the planet being slain by a rock launched by Vegeta.

"They freed its populace from tyrannical rule, it's people grateful to them."

Indeed, Pan saw the Arlians celebrating what Vegeta and Nappa had done and joyously saw them off.

"And what did Vegeta choose to do?"

Pan almost didn't want to look. Before entering his pod, Vegeta fired a massive beam...

"He destroyed it. And Frieza didn't even order him to do so."

Seeing the destruction Vegeta caused nonchalantly combined with her sore body led her to fall onto her knees.

"Are you convinced, or would you like me to go further back than the last few months? Or perhaps a preview of what's to come will help."

Now she saw Vegeta standing in the World Martial Arts Tournament ring, the crowd packed all around him. He fired off a beam behind him without even looking, leaving a colossal hole in the stands where hundreds of spectators once stood. Upon seeing Vegeta, a strange mark on his forehead, smiling with glee, Pan rose to her feet.

"Enough!"

She charged ki in her right hand and aimed it right at Towa.

"I know what you're trying to do!"

Towa didn't show any semblance of fear.

"If you believe my intent is to lie and deceive you... that I've made this all up just to sully him..."

She placed her staff on the tree stump.

"That I am a monster."

Pan couldn't believe it: Towa stood with her arms stretched out, fully intending to take the blast.

"Then kill me. Mira won't stop you this time. I will perish and my fiction with me."

Towa closed her eyes, as if at peace with what could be her death at the hands of Pan.

"All of this... it's..."

Pan's mind went back to her last day on her Earth: Frieza's invasion and destruction of her home. After he taunted Vegeta with his past deeds...

"...had you succeeded in killing Goku, you would have conquered the Earthlings, if not destroyed the planet."

"...after all the people you've killed, all the innocents you slaughtered... do you really think starting a family resolves you of your past?"

She then looked back at Bulla, who tried helping her father up.

"Dad... everything he said... is it...?"

"It's true."

Back then, Pan couldn't believe it, but now, after everything Towa had shown her...

"Everything he said... is true."

A tear leaving her eye, Pan lowered her hand, ceasing her intended attack.

"Just tell me... why did you turn on the Time Patrol?"

Towa took hold of her staff once more and sighed, indicating she wasn't fond of what she was about to discuss.

"Toki Toki City was my home after I lost Dabura. Once my brother was taken from me, the Demon Realm descended into chaos... and I couldn't do anything about it."

Pan could feel the pain in Towa's voice wasn't that of a deceiver. In fact, the tone was all too familiar to her.

"I cherished my time in the Time Patrol... I truly did. Then came the accident."

"Your sparring bot."

Towa remembered what happened clear as day. For the first demonstration, it was pitted against a group of Saiyans, whom initially seemed too much for it, but once it powered up, they were all defeated. The next to battle the bot was Hale, the recruit from Frieza's Race.

The Saiyans who were defeated prior heckled Hale, including Hakusa, but everyone was shocked to see him match the sparring bot even admist its increases in power. When the bot was downed, Towa shook his hand and congratulated him. She went to her control panel to shut her creation down for the day...

An error. Its power kept growing and its inhibitors keeping it from going too far were overwritten. As she tried to fix this, Towa watched as her creation was out for blood, critically injuring several before preparing to fire at the group of Saiyans. Hale, whom she just shook hands with, got in front of the sparring bot, taking the beam himself.

As she looked in horror at the hole in Hale's chest as he fell, Towa tried everything she could to shut it down then and there. Finally, the console was operational again and just as she activated its shutdown, Trunks descended upon the sparring bot, cutting it in half with his sword.

Then she saw the surrounding patrollers, those injured and those tending to them, all looking over at her and what her creation had done.

"I'm so sorry."

She ran, covering her face as she couldn't bear to look them in the eye.

"I was devastated. I couldn't bear what I had done. I ran into Chronoa's library..."

After closing the massive doors so she could be alone, Towa accidentally bumped into a shelf of scrolls, knocking over several before sitting against the shelf's side. When a few of them opened to reveal their contents, she noticed several notable events, including Goku as a Great Ape destroying Pilaf's castle, Goku and Piccolo's confrontation with Raditz, and onward. But one caught her eye... an event she knew by heart...

"A scroll showcasing the one moment I would give anything to change..."

She took the scroll into her hand and squeezed it, then found herself leaving the libary back to...

Age 474

The Demon Realm, her brother, Towa as a child, and a short creature that oozed pure evil.

"The day I lost everything to that monster Babidi."

Dabura stood in front of the younger Towa to protect her.

"Leave, Towa! I will dispose of this warlock!"

Once the young Towa was at a far enough distance, he drew a sword, ready to do battle.

"Now I will show you why I am the Demon King!"

As Babidi readied a spell...

Towa emerged from behind the warlock, putting her staff in front of his neck before pulling it towards her, choking him. Dabura was stunned at this.

"T... Towa? Is that you?"

Babidi tried to slip free.

"Quickly, brother! Slay him, now!"

With a grin, Dabura pointed his sword at Babidi.

"With pleasure, sister."

He then readied it for a decapitating swing.

"Just when I was about to change his fate..."

Another flash followed by the glow of Super Saiyan hair and the clang of two blades meeting:

"Trunks interfered."

Dabura was puzzled at this stranger and his strength, but was also infuriated by his interference.

"You dare...!"

With a forceful shove, Dabura was sent onto his back, watching as Trunks then grabbed hold of Towa and flew away from them.

From a distance, Towa as a child, hiding behind a boulder, watched as with a single spell, Dabura fell to his knees before Babidi.

The adult Towa, trying to wrestle herself out of Trunks' grip, saw the same event as a child, but at a new angle. Now she saw Dabura's face showcase a struggle to overcome this fate, but once an M-esque mark formed on his forehead, his expression was blank as if he ceased to be his own self.

Once Dabura rose at Babidi's command and the two departed, the young Towa fell to her knees, burying her face in the rock as she sobbed while from above, tears streamed from the adult Towa.

Back in the Time Nest, Trunks and Chronoa both desperately tried to figure out just what had happened.

"Towa could've taken Pan anywhere." Trunks began, panicking.

As Chronoa was looking closely at the scroll at the moment of Pan's abduction, her eyes opened wide.

"Wait..."

"She could be in another timeline for all we know!" continued Trunks. "Who even knows what Towa will do...!"

"Trunks, calm down!"

She gestured Trunks closer to her.

"Look at this..."

She pointed over to the flash of light, which traveled upward, but never exited the planet's atmosphere.

"The trail doesn't exit Namek itself. Pan's still there."

She saw the trail curve and travel back downward before seemingly vanishing.

"I can tell she's on this half of the planet, but from here, Towa's trail seems to cloak itself."

Trunks began to recollect about Towa's last meeting with Pan.

"Towa seems to have found a way of making her location invisible to us and blocking our signal so we can't hear what's on Pan's end."

Now the both of them were attempting to find a means of tracking their location. Just then, a metaphorical light bulb floated over Trunks.

"I think I've got it."

He took out a vial of a sample of...

"The formula in Towa's staff gives off a unique ki signature. That's how Goku managed to find her back on Earth."

He inserted it into a scanning device.

"With this, I could scan for her formula. I'll be able to find them."

Chronoa handed him the scroll, having been moved back to the moment of Pan being taken.

"I know you will. Just make sure no one sees you."

Towa and Pan sat on the ground across from each other, Pan having taken in what Towa told her and Towa waiting until she was composed enough to continue. Finally, she started again.

"I watched my brother fall victim once again, as powerless to stop it in that moment as I was as a child."

Pan could only recall when she was willing to bet it all to change her past and save her family and home. She imagined herself trying to stop Frieza from killing Bulla and Hercule only for Trunks to take hold of her and fly her away, having to watch Bulla killed by a beam to her chest and Hercule choked to death once again.

"If that had happened..."

She then imagined herself in space having to watch the destruction of Earth.

"I don't want to think what I would've done."

She noticed Towa wiping her eyes.

"When I was brought back, they both deliberated on what to do with me..."

Across from Towa was bunches of scrolls knocked over. While Towa sat there listening to what Trunks and Chronoa were saying, she couldn't help but look at one scroll that struck her in particular...

One showing Trunks emerging from a time machine, then flying to confront the newly cyborg Frieza, his father King Cold, and the Frieza Force.

"Trunks..."

He and Chronoa turned to her, then saw her holding out this scroll, watching Trunks slay these enemies of the Z-Fighters.

"You did all of this."

Chronoa put her hand out and tried explaining.

"Towa, what happened there was..."

Further down, she saw Trunks handing Goku a capsule containing medicine designed to prevent his death by a heart virus.

"He wasn't doing this preserve history... he changed it."

She got onto her feet and pointed at Trunks.

"You took it upon yourself, didn't you?!"

"What Trunks did..."

"You stopped me..." Towa interrupted. "...and you let him get away with this. All of this!"

"And what did they decide to do when I pointed this out?"

"Towa..." began Chronoa. "You will be sent back to the Demon Realm with no memory of your time here."

"So I ran out of there, taking only my creation with me. For what was only a short time in Toki Toki City, I spent years back in my old home, now ruined remains of what it once was."

"You tried changing time again..."

"Indeed. Without the Time Patrol's resources, it took me what seemed like ages, but eventually, I discovered a means by which I could travel back in time. With it, I tried again and again at several points in time to change everything and save my brother, but Trunks always came in and stopped me."

Once again, Pan imagined herself in the shoes of Towa: having who were once her friends stop her from what she was trying to do for so long that now she saw them only as her arch-enemies.

"But you stopped at some point."

"Only because I realized my efforts had gone fruitless and I had to rethink my strategy."

"Your formula..."

"That and I finally realized after all those years a way of keeping Trunks at bay: he couldn't afford to show himself prior to his first appearance in the timeline, lest he risk undoing everything he had done. That, I believe, is where you came in, to do what he couldn't."

"Why empower villains?"

"Heroes didn't take to my formula. The demonic energy... or evil, if you prefer... would always be refused and cast out. Villains were the only suitable candidates, as much as I would've preferred otherwise."

"But you got it to work on Krillin. What changed?"

"That was a test, actually. I speculated on if it were used on one in a moment of killing intent whether it'd overwrite their restraints. Time will tell if it works consistently."

"So when the villains kill everyone... when you win... what happens?"

"Every attempted alteration of time releases these..."

Towa opened her hand, revealing to Pan...

"Distortion shards. Their essence can be converted into a source of power. Should I successfully change history, the amount released would be incalculable. With that much power behind my experiments, not even the Time Patrol or Chronoa could stop me from changing the fate of Dabura."

"But what happens to the timelines branching from the main one?"

"They're erased."

This blunt answer gave Pan pause. Towa saw this and circled around her.

"What do you think happened when Trunks changed history?"

"He didn't know..." thought Pan. "He couldn't have known."

"All the original branches are no more, gone for good. That was the cost for Trunks making Earth a better place."

"And you're willing to do the same knowingly? All those lives and worlds lost?"

"Him saving Goku, warning the Z-Fighters of the Androids, and the rest of his interfering birthed new timelines whose people knew better lives. How many more would've lived better without Babidi ruining and ending them... or Frieza?"

Pan tried as hard as she could not to show emotion from hearing that name.

"I may not know who you are or where you come from, Patroller, but I know your anguish. Like me, you want more than anything to go back, save what you lost, and having that chance refused. What would you give to change what happened?"

"I... I can't end worlds for it."

"You had to have tried once."

She still couldn't believe how spot-on Towa was regarding her.

"Yes, but if I had know what it would've done."

"But your family... your loved ones... they must be worth it. Dabura's worth it to me, and I will take centuries if I have to."

She then noticed Pan putting her head down.

"What is it?"

"If you win... my world will cease to exist... and so will I."

Pan noticed Towa moving her arm and lifted her head back up, realizing the enemy of the Time Patrol was putting her hand out to her.

"I want you to join me."

Pan didn't know what to think. She didn't like what Towa was doing and as a patroller, she had stopped Towa's machinations four times now, yet here Towa was now, making her an offer.

"If you join me, I swear to you I will do whatever it takes to ensure your world's survival. I can create better timelines and you can save your world. Just imagine knowing peace for the rest of your life."

Pan's mind jumped to that of her most ideal scenario of her life back on her Earth with all her friends and family. Thinking of how long it'd been since she heard their voices, saw their faces, or felt the warmth from hugging those she loved and cherished.

"Please, let me help you."

For a brief moment, Pan moved her hand towards Towa's...

But she hesitated, her hand frozen in place. Towa simply waited, letting Pan decide for herself.

"If there was a chance to save everyone, I would take it...but this...I can't..."

Both suddenly noticed a shift in the barrier above them, followed by...

"TOWA!!!"

Towa and Pan both saw Trunks hovering downward, but still floating above them both.

"Trunks! Haven't you tormented me enough?"

"You tried to have my father killed!"

"My mistake. I should've done that before he slaughtered that village. Then those Namekians could've lived out their lives."

In spite of his anger at Towa's actions and words towards his father, he slowly morphed to a more calm demeanor, trying to negotiate.

"Please, stop this. All of it. We can work something out with the Supreme Kai of Time."

"You really expect me to believe that after what you both tried to pull on me?"

"No... I didn't..."

"I'm not a fool..."

Then she directed Trunks' attention towards Pan.

"And neither is she."

"Step away from Pa..."

He almost let Pan's name slip.

"Her. Step away from her, now!"

"She's seen your father for what he really is. How many innocents was it over his career?"

Pan saw what Towa's words were doing to Trunks, whose fists began to clench and who began to look down.

"He didn't deserve offspring, yet he had you. You're not the son of a hero. You're the son of a murderer... a monster!"

His teeth were now visible, trying in vain not to grind against each other.

"Tell me: how many Gohan's did you erase?"

With a shout of anger, Trunks put out his hand and began charging ki.

"Trunks!" Pan shouted. "Stop!"

He didn't head her warning and fired a blast at Towa, who, like earlier with Pan, had no intention of avoiding any intended attacks towards her. Trunks watched as his ki bullet approached Towa...

Then he realized Pan was standing in front of Towa, intending to stop the projectile.

"What have I...?"

But before it touched Pan, a flash of light emerged in front of her, then the projectile bounced off...

"Mira!" began Towa in surprise, followed by frustration. "I told you not to be here!"

Towa's partner turned towards her.

"I can't risk your demise at the Time Patrol's hands. We're leaving."

Both his arms wrapped around her as Towa tried to wiggle her way free.

"No! I'm not leaving! Not without her!"

"I am sorry to disobey your order, but we are leaving now."

Trunks, now having recomposed himself, tried to reach out to Towa.

"Towa, wait!"

By the time his hand was about to reach her, Towa and Mira had vanished from their sight. For a moment, all he could think about was their first exchange in years and how poorly he acted in response.

"Towa knew just which of my buttons to press. I was so stupid."

He sighed and turned back to Pan, then clicked on his earpiece.

"Alright, Supreme Kai of Time. Send us back."

And with one last flash, both of them left Namek.

Now having been returned to the Time Nest, Pan let herself crouch over, grasping her stomach.

"Pan..." began Trunks, noticing the makeshift wrap across her stomach to her back she made from her cape. "Are you okay?"

He put a hand on her shoulder...

"Don't touch me!"

She smacked his hand away, then made her way back to her feet.

"After what I almost did..." he thought to himself. "I had that coming."

Pan pointed at him.

"You promised me..."

"I haven't lied to you about anything."

"'My father is difficult.' It's half-truths all over again! You're always finding technicalities!"

She then turned to the Supreme Kai of Time next to him.

"As for you Chronoa..."

While she and Trunks didn't hear any of Pan and Towa's conversation, she already knew what was coming.

"You're going to admit what you and Trunks did. Towa didn't just turn on you: you both tried to wipe her memory! You did this!"

She saw Trunks fumbling to say something.

"Both of you!"

"No!" interrupted Chronoa. "Trunks didn't!"

Pan waited to hear her explanation.

"He didn't. I... it was my fault."

Upon reemerging in the library, Trunks let go of Towa, whom fell to her knees, then lied on her side, sobbing. He didn't know what to say, but he eventually spit out the only thing he could think of.

"I am so sorry."

After hearing this, Towa looked up at him, her sorrow replaced with anger. She sat up on one leg, then jabbed him away from her with her staff. He was bumped into a table, knocking over several scrolls.

"WHY?! Why would you stop me?!"

"TOWA!!!"

Chronoa was furious.

"Do you realize what you could have done?! Did you even think about what would happened to EVERYONE HERE?!"

Towa couldn't even speak.

"Any of the patrollers born after that event would've ceased to exist! Gone for good!"

"I didn't know..."

"You were willing to sacrifice your fellow patrollers for..."

"I DIDN'T KNOW!!!"

In spite of seeing and hearing Towa's sadness and regret, Chronoa didn't change her tone or posture for even a moment.

"You've broken our trust. There is no second chance after this."

As Towa began to notice something about the scrolls near her, Trunks stepped in front of Chronoa.

"Supreme Kai of Time, please... please reconsider."

"When Towa questioned us, I made the decision to wipe her memory then and there."

"You will be sent back to the Demon Realm with no memory of your time here."

Towa looked terrified after hearing Chronoa's sentence for her. Trunks, however, was desperate to stop this.

"You gave me a second chance for what I did. Please, give Towa..."

Chronoa's hand glowed. Towa took a few steps back, dreading what was to come.

"Please, Chronoa, don't...!"

Towa turned and ran, trying to get away as Chronoa fired from her hand.

"No!"

Trunks flew right behind the fleeing Towa, intercepting the blast before it could touch her. As Chronoa ran over to Trunks, shocked at what she had done, Towa was gone.

Pan's entire view on Chronoa and Trunks would never be the same after hearing what had transpired with Towa.

"After I recovered..." Trunks began. "The next time I met Towa, I stopped her trying to change history in the same place as before. I tried to bring her back with me, but she escaped. This happened again and again until I became synonymous with Babidi: the one that kept taking everything from her."

"Having been at war with you for so long, Towa has forgotten what you did for her." thought Pan.

While no tears emerged from Chronoa's eyes, this was the first time Pan had ever seen her with such remorse.

"At the time, I stood by what I did, but as time went on, I realized what I had done."

"That's why you stopped me from doing what Towa did..." realized Pan. "So I didn't become the next one."

"I realized too late I should've had compassion for Towa instead of casting her out. In my millions of years of life, that was the worst mistake I've ever made."

She fell to her knees, looking down.

"She was our friend... and I did this to her. Look at what it has wrought."

Trunks knelt next to Chronoa, trying to comfort her, but unable to find anything to say.

"After I was so heartless... we don't deserve your help..."

"If you don't want to do this anymore, we understand."

Even with all they had done and with the offer Trunks began, Pan wasn't about to knowingly stop protecting history and those she cared about.

"I won't stand by while Towa does harm, temporary or otherwise..."

At first, Chronoa and Trunks felt reassured, but Pan's tone made it clear she was done being kept in the dark.

"But if I even think either of you are keeping anything from me, you can wipe my memory and send me home for all I care! You understand me?"

Both nodded to her, but this did not suffice.

"I want to hear you say it!"

They looked Pan in her eyes.

"Yes."

Trunks struggled to do so, but finally...

"Yes, Pan. We understand."

Now having her answer, Pan left, waiting until she was out of their sight before letting herself limp from her condition. Tokitoki saw Pan pass him, then flew into the library to Chronoa and Trunks.

"Toh... toh..."

Chronoa turned to answer him.

"I don't know anymore."

As Pan lied on her bed, bandages over her wrists and upper body, and her muscles not yet back to normal, her mind kept coming back to her best friend Bulla's lineage.

"How?"

As she saw Trunks and Bulla with their mother and father, Pan couldn't stop seeing flashes of Vegeta's horrible deeds.

"How did you...?"

She then narrowed her focus to Bulma, who had children with Vegeta.

"You didn't know what he did? What he was?"

Trying to think back to her world's Vegeta did nothing but remind her of all the life he had taken, both unnecessarily and joyously.

"...what he is."

Repercussion! Haunting of Vegeta![]

The following is at least partially a synopsis due to my inability to write out the chapter proper.

Pan remembered two moments of her life prior to her last day on her Earth that hit her the hardest:

One was the passing of her great-grandfather and Chi-Chi's father. She recalled Bulla trying to console her, as well as Vegeta offering his sympathy to Chi-Chi, even allowing her to cry on his shoulder.

The next moment was the passing of both of Bulla's grandparents and Bulma's parents. Pan consoled her best friend and Trunks, who was running Capsule Corp, took the day to mourn.

After Bulma spoke at length about her parents, Vegeta decided to say a few words. In his usual fashion, he didn't say much, but he indicated they always made him feel like a part of their family in spite of being a total stranger and that he would never forget their kindness towards him.

But her dream took a dark turn when she saw four memorials of those who died in their battle against the Saibamen and Nappa followed by the Vegeta of the past laughing at them. It was worse when she looked to her side, seeing a larger number of memorials with writing that was alien to her, to which Vegeta continued laughing.

The worst came when Pan turned around completely, seeing memorials that kept going farther than her eye could see. Just then, she saw herself and Vegeta floating upward, seeing the memorials stretch even farther until, from orbit, the entire planet was blanketed with them.

He then pointed to distant planets, cackling that Pan had only scratched the surface as those planets too were filled with those whose deaths he was responsible for.

Pan woke up in a sweat from everything her brain was trying to process. While her dreams of Frieza destroying everything were still the worst nightmares her mind could muster, this one stood among them.

"Grandpa made Krillin spare his life... the life of the Saiyan that ordered Nappa to kill their friends... and for what?! A rival?!"

After catching a glimpse of the Power Pole, she turned away, not even wanting to look at her grandfather's prized polearm.

"You let Vegeta do this. Those Namekians... if you hadn't stopped Krillin..."

"Mira, I told you: I am not angry with you."

Towa stood across from a sitting Mira, whose expression remained unchanged as always, but whose face was looking away from her.

"Then you are disappointed in me?"

She walked over to sit next to him, trying to be more nurturing towards her partner.

"Trunks is the one that ruined our mission. Not you."

She lifted up his chin with her finger, looking him in his eyes.

"Your decision to get me away from Trunks was understandable and certainly preferable to him taking me into the Time Patrol's custody. I admit I acted out, but I don't blame you for your choice."

While Mira saw her trying to cheer him up, he still detected something bothering her unrelated to him.

"Then why are you upset?"

Towa gave a sigh.

"I gave that patroller everything about me. I knew her pain... and her, my own. We were coming to an understanding."

Now she was looking at her hands, making fists.

"If I had cloaked my trail more efficiently... if Trunks hadn't found us... she would have joined us."

Mira noticed Towa's nails digging into her palms and took hold of her wrists, stopping her from hurting her hands. She stopped what she was doing and looked back at Mira.

"I reached out to her... and she was about to take my hand."

"She hesitated."

"I know, but given time..."

Mira took to his feet, a gesture Towa took note of.

"Even with a high probability you could have turned her to our side, there remained the possibility she would have turned you down regardless of your efforts."

He even went as far as opening several files of the four battles, each showcasing Pan overcoming her opponents.

"You know what she has done so far. You may want her to join us, but we cannot afford to go easy on her."

She knew Mira was trying to get her to focus on her primary goal and couldn't help but agree with him.

"If we encounter this patroller again, you need to make the appropriate measures to stop her interference at all costs... even if it means killing her."

Upon turning off the monitors, Mira's ultimatum was perfectly clear to Towa and she begrudgingly knew what he was saying was true.

"You're right."

Privately, she still wanted to find another way where Pan was by her side and Mira's.

"If it comes to that..."

Pan stood in place, hitting a punching bag hanging on the ceiling with several two hit combinations, causing it to fly backward, then forward back to her. She had much on her mind and exercising seemed to be her best way of working through things.

"I know what you're thinking, Earth girl..."

She paused as saw what looked like the Vegeta from their battle on Earth clear as day to the side of the punching bag. The voice was unmistakable. Just then, a flash through Pan's mind:

Vegeta punching Goku several times during the course of their initial battle, then preparing to destroy their home with his Galick Gun.

This projection of him put both his hands to the sides of his face, then tilted his head back and forth in a mock feminine fashion.

"'Oh, how cruel. How terrible. How could anyone do such things?'" he said mockingly imitating Pan's own voice.

She tried to stay focused on the bag in front of her without paying him any mind.

"I'm imagining this. Vegeta is not actually here," Pan said out loud to herself.

She punched at it once more, but just as it was returning back to its original position, she saw Vegeta move right in front of her. Even knowing it couldn't possibly be him, Pan still stepped backward as if anticipating an impending attack.

"Maybe my father beat my compassion and weakness out of me, his cruelty turning me murderous and sadistic. Or maybe he spoiled me, the Prince of all Saiyans, giving me everything I ever wanted and never saying no. So much so I have no concept of right and wrong."

Along came another flash:

The Saiyan Prince as a Great Ape stepping on and breaking Goku's legs, as well squeezing him in both hands to crush him, chuckling at her grandfather's screams of pain.

With each successive combo, Pan punched harder and harder. The next flashes:

Vegeta knocking Krillin away with a backhand, then punching Gohan, a child, in the gut repeatedly.

Still, she tried to rationalize what Vegeta didn't do.

"Nappa killed Tien and Piccolo, not y..."

"I ordered him to," Vegeta interrupted. "To plant the Saibamen and to kill your friends. He and I could've waited for Kakarrot the whole time, but I wanted Kakarrot to see what Nappa had done to them."

Now she was rapidly striking it with her hands, as well as her feet, speeding up as she recalled his worst deeds:

The Namekian villagers being blasted one-by-one, as well as Arlia and its entire population being completely destroyed.

"What's the matter? They weren't anyone important."

Instead of hitting the punching bag once more, she caught it with her left hand, lifting it as she readied her right into a fist. Pan began to picture Vegeta in place of the bag, still grinning at what he did.

"They were all toys..."

Now her flashes were that of Vegeta blasting away Nappa, his own comrade who followed his every order, into nothing with the same smile as when Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo died.

"Toys to break for my amusement."

Having had enough, she finally went through with the punch to his face. This enraged hit tore straight through the punching bag, her fist and wrist visible on the other side of it. With a monumental downward swing, Pan tore the punching bag off the ceiling and slammed it down as hard as she could.

Now no longer picturing Vegeta, Pan saw the extent of the damage she caused to the bag and the ground it once hung over, its contents spilling out. Having worked up a tremendous sweat, she crouched over while still on her feet, her head over her knees as her face dripped.

"What am I doing? Just look at this mess..."

"Don't worry," went a new female voice. "You're not the first, that's for sure."

She turned, seeing a woman of bright yellow skin with black body armor with shoulders, braces, and leggings approaching her. Her ponytailed hair, if it even was hair, curled in the front, partially covering a green scouter.

"Pan, right? I realize this isn't the best time for you... but I'm here to help you prepare."

"Trunks sent you?"

"Commander Hale did. He asked me to help prepare you for what might be your next mission."

"Against who?"

"Not just one person, but an entire team of five."

Pan watched as this woman stood on one leg, then stuck one arm upward while the other gestured across her beneath her armor's chestplate.

"The Ginyu Force. Frieza's most elite fighting force. And you're looking at one of the Time Patrol's foremost experts on them."

After remaining in place for a few seconds, the woman cleared her throat, then exited her pose.

"The name's Taino. I'll show you everything you need to know should you have to face the Ginyu Force."

For the next few days, Pan studied and trained with Taino, learning about the Ginyu Force and the individual members' techniques so she could better combat them. The earliest lessons revolved around Guldo, who was physically the weakest of the team, but whose telekinesis was on a much higher level than General Blue before him, and his time stop, which he could use by holding his breath.

From there, they transitioned to Recoome, the physical powerhouse who could take loads of punishment without tiring and dish out just as much, Burter, the fastest of the group who would blitz his enemies with rapid strikes and fly-bys, and Jeice, the force's 2nd-in-command who works best in combination with Burter.

But as she trained, Pan found herself haunted by projections of Vegeta. They each taunted her in regards to what he had done and constantly reminded her that she couldn't stop him, not only because it was forbidden by the Time Patrol, but also because it would cause Bulla, Trunks, and Pan herself to never be born.

Taino noticed Pan began to look bed-ridden and disheveled, and would lose focus from time to time, either missing something she said or getting struck by a move even when Taino gave her a heads-up first. Pan knew she couldn't play it off as intentional, but also wasn't sure if it was best to discuss what happened between her and Towa. While this often ended with Taino letting Pan go early, one day, Tiano finally confronted her regarding it, leaving Pan no choice but to discuss what was on her mind.

She chose only to divulge that she learned about specific deeds from Vegeta's past and couldn't stop thinking about them, in particular those he killed. In effect, if Pan were asked to defend him again, a small part of her would almost consider not saving him, but she knew she had to, both for time's sake and because it would prevent her own birth. Taino knew just telling her to get over it would be of no help to either of them and instead insisted that Pan take the time she needs to cope and rejoin when in a better headspace.

After Pan left, Taino sought out Trunks, and the two of them and Commander Hale had a discussion in his office regarding Pan's current state. While Taino announced that they had made some progress, she knew Pan seemed to be having trouble sleeping and that her current state made her prone to mistakes. Taino knew what was bothering Pan would continue to fester and get worse if she kept it only to herself, which would be disasterous if she were called upon soon.

Trunks dreaded their eventual discussion with everything that occurred between Pan, him, and the Supreme Kai of Time during their last meeting, but with one of the primary issues plaguing Pan being his father, Trunks knew he was the only one who could shed some light regarding Vegeta. Commander Hale insisted that Trunks go to Pan as a friend looking out for what was best for her, not as a superior wanting her in working order.

That night in her housing unit, Pan sat at her table, just trying to eat a bowl of rice as she was yet again met by Vegeta. Even as she tried not to look at him, she saw another Vegeta to the side of her, then another on her opposite side. Their taunts and laughter echoed as she slowly found herself beginning to lower her head downward and start to doze off, eventually falling asleep.

Pan saw herself back inside the Capsule Corp gravity machine. She saw the controls and its default setting at 300 times gravity. At the time, she was more than ready to press it to finally become a Super Saiyan, but after having trained under gravity at Toki Toki City, she knew it would've ended in disaster were it not for...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

She turned, seeing the Vegeta from her Earth, but instead of approaching her, he stood with his back turned to her. Even without seeing Pan's expression towards him, Vegeta knew what was on her mind.

"So now you know..." he began.

As he turned around, Pan began to approach him.

"You know what I did."

She started walking faster.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time..."

He stretched out his arms to his sides. Pan ran to him, then did something she had never dreamed of doing to her Earth's Vegeta:

She grabbed him by the throat.

"How could you?!" Pan shouted, starting to lift him off the ground. "All those innocent lives... and for what?!"

She found that Vegeta didn't move either of his arms or lift a single finger.

"Even after my Grandpa had you spared, you killed innocent Namekians! As if their lives meant less than yours."

When Vegeta kept silent, she slammed the back of his head against one of the gravity machine's round walls, leaving a large dent.

"ANSWER ME!!!"

"What do you want me to say, Pan? That I was a different person before I met Kakarrot? That I regret everything I did? That all my sins haunt me each and every day?"

Vegeta didn't have any panic in his words.

"You already know I wasn't just following orders from Frieza. Nothing I could say or do changes anything about what I did. I have no excuse. I did it. All of it."

Him being matter-of-factly about everything in his answers didn't do a thing for Pan, whose other hand lifted up and turned to a fist.

"I will not fight you, Pan."

Even in the face of his death, Vegeta's calm was almost chilling to her. She tried mustering her strength to throw a punch.

"Finish it."

Pan thought back to everything she had seen Vegeta do and was ready to go through with it...

"Dad!"

Pan turned, seeing Bulla having entered and terrified at what she was seeing Pan doing.

"Pan, let him go!"

As much as the shock on Bulla's face shook her, her anger at Vegeta overrode it.

"You don't know what your father did, Bulla! What he... what he really is!"

Bulla seemed conflicted, but even then, she refused to let this happen.

"He's still my dad! I won't let you kill him!"

Now Pan saw Bulla ready to fire at her to save her father. Pan couldn't dream of attacking her best friend back, but she also didn't intend on letting Vegeta go. Her mind juggled with how far she was willing to go.

"No, Bulla!" Vegeta shouted to his daughter, lifting his hand for the first time to point to her.

Bulla could immediately tell that her father didn't want her to stop what was happening. But even with his wishes...

"No! You're my dad! I can't... I..."

"It's alright, Bulla."

Vegeta changed his posture and tone from commanding to nurturing, gesturing her to lower her arm.

"My past has caught up to me. It's time I pay for what I've done."

Even as he was at peace with what was to come, he still tried to comfort his daughter.

"It's okay."

Bulla finally lower her arms.

"Take care of your mother for me."

"I will. I promise."

Pan turned back to Vegeta, who nodded to Pan as her fist was aimed back at him. But Pan couldn't help but look at Bulla, who teared up as she was undoubtably looking to her father alive for the last time.

"I love you, Dad."

Vegeta turned to Bulla, a tear managing to escape his eye.

"I love you too, my Bulla."

He closed both eyes, awaiting his impending death at Pan's hand. The world around her seemed to slow as Pan moved her fist back one last time.

"This is for every single innocent you've killed!"

Now her fist was making its approach...

...but despite Vegeta giving her his blessing to kill him...

...this wasn't the Vegeta she hated and despised. Pan clearly knew he was derived from that Vegeta, but in character and action, he wasn't that Vegeta.

"He's not... but he was... he still did..."

Looking over at Bulla, Pan's mind conjured a portrait of Vegeta's family on Earth: his wife, children, and his parents-in-law when the two were still with them.

"I can't take him from his family."

...but her mind wandered back to his past deeds.

"...but that's exactly what he did to so many families, if not entire ones."

It soured her thoughts as her fist neared his nose. Just one more moment and all her might was going to tear through Vegeta's head.

"I have to do this."

"I don't have to do this."

Now it was like she was frozen in time.

"It has to be done!"

"It shouldn't be done!"

"For once, just go for the kill!"

Time moved again and the punch finally connected...

...missing Vegeta and hitting the side of the wall.

"No."

She let Vegeta go, coughing on the ground as Bulla ran over to him. Pan walked towards the entrance, turning her head for just a moment to see Bulla tending to her father.

"I will not."

When she looked back at the gravity machine's door, she instead saw a black void during which she felt no floor to stand on and hurriedly kept afloat before she could fall. Turning around again, there was no sign of Vegeta or Bulla.

In their place, she saw what at first appeared to be a purple body of water below her. Just as she began to see Namekian bodies float to the surface, there was a splash as the Vegeta of the past floated upward, covered head-to-toe in what she then realized was Namekian blood.

"You are so soft!" this purple Vegeta shouted. "That couldn't have been laid out more perfectly for you, and you were still too weak-willed to go through with it!"

As he slowly floated forward, he flicked his open hand, sending droplets of the purple blood towards Pan.

"Look at it! All this blood because you wouldn't let me die! How are you going to live with that?! Knowing that saving me led to all their deaths!"

Pan began floating backward away from him, her back struck something. While it appeared to be nothing, it was like she was against a wall and couldn't get away from him.

"You think you're taking the high road? There is no high road! The high road exists only for weaklings to justify wallowing in their lack of a spine!"

She tried moving sideways, but it was like she was cornered, the invisible walls giving her no choice but to face him.

"It always ends the same with you people..."

He put his hand out in a gun pose, the same he used against the Namekians.

"Dying for 'ideals' while the rest of us aren't stupid enough to do the same thing."

Now Pan couldn't even move her feet, as if she were glued to an invisible floor while Vegeta came closer.

"You're at least part Saiyan. You should know what a real Saiyan would do here. Now are you going to do it or let this keep happening again and again until you're dead?!"

Finally, she raised her palm in his direction, charging with ki. Now the purple Vegeta cracked a smile, revealing even his teeth were covered just like the rest of him.

"That's right. Do it. Put every last ounce of your hatred of me into it. Strike me down."

But Pan closed her eyes. That along with her delayed attack puzzled him.

"Come on. What are you waiting for?"

His finger gun began to shake.

"Do it."

Now he gritted his purple teeth and stretched out both his arms to the side.

"DO IT, WOMAN!!!"

Pan's eyes opened as her palm aimed to the side away from Vegeta before firing a single ki projectile that missed him entirely. He was readying his hand to swing at her.

"You blasted little...!"

CRACK!*

The noise having caught his attention, he turned around, seeing the blank space she struck begin to crack with a glowing white hue, which grew and spread towards him.

"You may look like Vegeta, act like him, talk like him, sound like him..." she began calmly.

Everything behind the purple Vegeta cracked further and further more rapidly, and he soon realized he had the same cracks forming across him as well.

"But you are not Vegeta. And I'm done with you."

In anger, he put his hand out like a gun once more, trying to fly towards her and fire right at her forehead, but just as he was about to touch her, he shattered like glass along with the rest of the black void, revealing her chambers.

"You will not consume me any more."

She closed her eyes once again...

And when they opened, Pan had woken up, lifting her head off the table and slowly getting to her feet. She decided to clean up her quarters, which she he had neglected to do for these past days, as well as herself.

Now that the inside of her unit was livable again and she felt as well as she looked, Pan decided to get some air from outside. As she took her first steps outside, she looked to her right, seeing Trunks heading in her direction.

"Trunks."

Upon seeing Pan, he seemed to freeze for just a moment, stuttering to find something to say.

"Hey, listen, I was... just passing by. I can leave if you..."

"Wait..."

Pan gestured to him to stay and he could tell from her tone and posture that she wasn't angry with him.

"Can we talk?"

Reconvening! Tale of Trunks![]

Inviting Trunks into her housing unit, the two sat down on the couch, Trunks trying to keep his distance.

"I know me apologizing at this point is pointless because I keep making the same mistake," Trunks began. "I keep thinking by not telling you things, I'm protecting you... but I was just worried about myself."

He hunched over for a moment, looking down at his shoes.

"For what it's worth, I can't ask for your forgiveness until I can forgive myself for putting you through this again and again."

Trunks saw that Pan was attentive regarding what he had to say, but so far hadn't given a response.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Your father... and my best friend's..."

Trunks simply lightly inhaled air, having prepared for this impending conversation and listening to what Pan had to say regarding it.

"All my life growing up, I could never imagine Vegeta was like that. If I had known before..."

Pan didn't know what to say: that she would've kept away from Bulla and Vegeta's family, or that if asked to protect him, she would've refused. Trunks decided to speak.

"I've known for years now, but truth be told, I'm still trying to come to terms with my father's actions."

His mind traveled back to his earliest days in the Time Patrol as he spoke.

"When I went back in time... all those times my father and I interacted, I only had a faint idea..."

"...but here, I got everything."

Trunks, not in his dark grey coat, but in a dark green Time Patrol jacket, dropped a scroll in utter shock. Chronoa entered to see him turning around, his back to a shelf as he sat on the ground.

"Father..."

She could read the anguish on his face and his slippery tone.

"No... how... HOW?!"

Chronoa took only a glimpse at the scroll, seeing Vegeta destroying an entire planet.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, FATHER?!"

"I fought alongside him, trained with him, even lived with him... but all of that... I couldn't believe he was capable of that."

"After Towa showed me what he did, all I could think was..." started Pan. "How could Bulma love him? After what he did on Namek, on Earth, and before."

"Perhaps over time, my father opened up and gave my other bits and pieces of who he once was, but I honestly couldn't say. Either she didn't tell me to spare me... or she truly didn't know."

Trunks noticed Pan standing up.

"I want to move on from what Vegeta did, I really do... but this isn't just a few people he wronged: Vegeta killed hundreds... thousands... could it be millions? And how much of it did he actually enjoy?"

"I sometimes wonder if my father, in all the time he lived on Earth, ever once repented over his past killings. I know his encounters with Goku changed him bit by bit, but to that extent... I don't know."

But then Pan thought back to...

"Your father... the Vegeta of my Earth... he was haunted by my grandfather's death. The last day I spent on my Earth, he told me Goku's death and the Cell Games were his fault. He hardly showed emotion, but I could see in that moment it tore him up inside."

"And you said your world's Goku never came back, right?"

"After their last tournament together, yes, my grandfather was gone for good. He had to live with that before Bulla and I were born."

She paused, deep in thought for a moment.

"...but even with all the memories, even with him being Bulla's dad, I... I don't know if I can forgive him for the blood he's spilled."

"As much as I can't forgive him..." Trunks added. "I've far outclassed him for what I did when I changed history."

"You mean Towa wasn't lying about what happened to the original branches..."

"When Chronoa and I first met..."

"...she confronted me and my mother over what we did."

Bulma and Trunks were both stunned at the presence of this short pink-skinned woman adorned in purple glaring and pointing at them.

"DO YOU TWO realize what you've done?!"

Bulma crouched down to her level.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm the Supreme Kai of Time and what you two have done has crossed the line!"

Trunks entered the fray.

"What we did? You mean saving the future?!"

"You really thought there'd be no consequences with trying to change the future?! Your tampering with time opened the gate for that bio-Android..."

Trunks couldn't believe it.

"No... no, no, I couldn't have unleashed Cell..."

"And not just that...!"

She conjured their timeline along with several smaller ones.

"Your world was the main timeline, the one which countless others branched from..."

They saw that a new branch stemmed from it, one similar in appearance and size.

"...but because of what you did, creating a new main timeline, all those branches..."

Both Trunks and Bulma were aghast at what they saw next.

"All those branches are fading away. Disappearing for good as if they never existed at all."

"She showed us what became of those branches... entire universes fading into nothing, people confused and terrified of what was to come. The worst one was seeing an Earth where Gohan and I did the impossible:"

"...we had saved our world."

Instead of the ruined cities Trunks was accustomed to, this vision instead showed a shiny metropolis bustling with people. A younger Trunks, still donning his Capsule Corp jacket, walked alongside an adult Gohan, whom had a mechanical left arm.

"How's it feel, Gohan?"

Gohan squeezed his hand into a fist, then twirled the fingers individually.

"Your mother has really outdone herself. Inside, it feels no different from the rest of me."

"Yeah, once she was able to go outside in peace, she gathered everything she could into making it. Probably would've come in handy earlier, huh?"

Gohan put his hand out in front of Trunks, who stopped.

"Listen, Trunks..."

Trunks gave his mentor his full attention.

"Yes, Gohan?"

"I know it wasn't easy. I know I had to push you farther than you could bare and then past it."

He then put his mechanical hand over Trunks' shoulder.

"But we did it. We saved the Earth. I couldn't have done it without you, Trunks, and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Thanks," answered Trunks after nodding to him. "But without your help, I never would've been able to stand a chance against either one of them... let alone both."

They then continued on their walk.

"Hey, Gohan... you ever wonder what might've happened if my mom had gotten that time machine to work?"

"IF it had worked. But who knows? You could've met the old gang. You might even have met me when I was a kid."

"And your dad... and my father."

Gohan noticed Trunks stopping again for a moment.

"Without the Dragon Balls... they're gone for good."

"Your mother's working on that rocket, right? Once it's finished, we can get to Namek. The Namekian Dragon Balls can bring back Kami and Piccolo..."

"And our Dragon Balls. And then we can bring back everyone those two..."

"One thing at a time, Trunks, but for now, let's just..."

Gohan was interrupted by sudden screaming and panicked running from all around them. The two immediately took on fighting stances back-to-back, looking all around them for the source of what was going on.

"What is it, Gohan? I can't see anything in this crowd!"

"I'm not sensing anything out of the ordinary, Trunks."

"Please tell me it's not another android."

Trunks then turned and saw something in the distance that petrified him: a black void swallowing up the city streets, buildings, and anyone who happened to be too late to escape it. Even with what he and Gohan had accomplished, this was beyond anything they had ever encountered before.

"Trunks, do you see anything?"

He noticed no response, then turned to see Trunks shivering in place in fear.

"Trunks!"

He took hold of him by both shoulders to get his attention.

"Are you okay, Trunks?"

"Gohan..."

He could barely speak. All he could do was point in front of him at what was approaching them.

"It's swallowing everything... everyone!"

Gohan soon turned to find the void was coming in from all around them: even the sky offered no escape as it was overtaken completely.

"My mom... is she...?"

The thought of Bulma's fate led him to tear up.

"She's gone. Everything... everything we did... it's all gone..."

The two knew right then and there that their fates were sealed. But as Trunks despaired...

"Gohan... I... I..."

Gohan simply wrapped his arms around Trunks as if to shield him.

"I've got you, Trunks. I'm here. I'm..."

Trunks fell to his knees, crouched over and his hands around the moving image like a crystal ball.

"Please..."

He turned to Chronoa, tears streaming from what he had seen.

"Please stop this!"

Bulma, just as utterly shaken at what she had seen of these disappearing timelines as her son, pleaded with Chronoa as well.

"Do something, please!"

"If I had found out earlier, I could've prevented it..." Chronoa began to explain. "...but all this... is beyond my control now."

Trunks turned back, seeing this Gohan and his parallel self from this Earth vanish away into nothing.

"I had saved the future..."

"...but the cost was beyond anything my mother and I could have ever imagined."

When Pan first discovered Trunks had changed history, there was a moment where she came to resent him for being allowed to have done so. But now hearing his pained voice describe seeing the consequences of his actions...

"Even knowing new timelines knew peace and some that were erased were perhaps even worse off than my own... whole universes gone for good was too high a cost."

"Then what happened next? Did Chronoa make you join her?"

"Not quite."

"Are you..." began Trunks. "Are you going to punish us?"

Before Chronoa could answer him, Bulma stepped in front of her son.

"Please don't punish my son! I made the time machine, not him!"

Bulma and Trunks saw Chronoa, with just a gesture, guide the time machine towards her in a teal bubble.

"All I can do is take this... to keep this from ever happening again."

"She just wanted the time machine?" asked Pan.

"I don't know if she ever intended to punish us, but if I had guess..."

"...seeing how broken we were by what we did seemed to suffice for her."

"What you've done has opened the doors for others to follow... perhaps some with less than noble intentions. This was all under my watch and I failed in stopping it. I kept the flow of time in check for millions of years, but now... I alone am not enough anymore."

Trunks watched as Chronoa began to float off her feet.

"What will you do?"

"I will gather a group of beings to patrol and defend time. If I fail again, the consequences could be even graver."

"If she was just going to leave you and Bulma... then how did you get here?"

As Chronoa prepared to conjure a portal to leave...

"Wait!" Trunks went, his hand out towards her.

Bulma didn't know what her son was doing.

"Trunks?"

Chronoa stopped what she was doing and looked over at him.

"What do you want?"

"Everything I did... I can't just sit here while it happens again."

"Trunks, what are you saying?" went Bulma with concern.

"To pay for my actions... and to preserve the lives of all these universes... I want to join you, Supreme Kai of Time."

Chronoa was initially puzzled at what he was suggesting, but saw just how serious he was about what he was willing to do. But Bulma couldn't believe what her son was doing.

"She tried to talk me out of it. Telling me I had done enough for our world. That she couldn't bear the thought of me dying a second time, if not for good... but I'd already made up my mind."

"I'm sorry, Mom... but now we know just how massive the scope of everthing is. I can't ignore this. And I can't let something happen that'll erase you and everything."

Chronoa floated down to the ground, then reached her hand out to Trunks.

"I accept your offer, Trunks. But if you are to join me, we will be leaving now."

Trunks was ready to take the Supreme Kai of Time's hand, but he had one question on his mind:

"Will I be able to see her again?"

"I'm afraid you will not see your mother again for quite some time."

Trunks broke off for just a moment.

"Just a second!"

He made his way to Bulma who had already reached out her arms to hug him even before he moved his own. Chronoa waited as the two stood hugging one another for what would be the last time for a time neither would know.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, son. Please... please take care of yourself out there."

"I'll protect everything we've made... and I will see you again, Mom. I promise."

"I know you will, Trunks."

As much as she didn't want to let her son go, Bulma was the first to let go, giving way to Trunks walking back to Chronoa, who reconjured the portal from before. Soon, the two traveled through time into what would be become the basis for Toki TOki City.

"It's been years since I said goodbye to my mother. Part of me wonders if I made the right choice in choosing to leave her behind. Even if time is slower here, even more years could be passing for her. Will I be the same as I am now when I see her while she's on her deathbed just waiting for me?"

As she saw Trunks beginning to look down at the floor, Pan took a seat next to him. When she first met this Trunks, she couldn't begin to dream that he was a man of such penance.

"...and with everything since... Towa... I'm not sure we'll ever get that day."

She put her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him, but he still looked downward.

"Like my father, I'm trying to make up for what I did..."

At this point, he didn't even try to keep his emotions in check.

"But the bill will never be covered! That blood will never be cleansed from our hands!"

He lifted himself up just to cover his weeping eyes with his gloved hands.

"I deserve this!"

As Trunks began to lower himself again, Pan put her arm around his side, letting his face lie down on her shoulder. She simply held him up as let everything out. She knew saying "You're not a bad person" wasn't going to abate Trunks at this moment, but for the time being, she would simply be there for him.

Age ???

Towa and Mira made their way across the lifeless ruins of what was once a lively alien city. Mira was rather curious as to their purpose there.

"Who is it that you are hoping to find here?"

"We shall soon find out, Mira."

Just then, a figure in armor, the one responsible for all this death and destruction, flew in front of their path.

"Ah, right on time. Another warm-up..."

The figure then glanced over at Towa.

"And a weakling."

Towa didn't take any offense to what this man had to say, though Mira stood in front of her in case of an impending attack.

"Your bodyguard here..."

He pressed his red scouter to gauge Mira's power.

"Is actually quite impressive. Might give me a challenge... for a little while."

Towa put out her hand to ease the tension.

"We've come to talk."

"Really? And what's to stop me from destroying you both?"

"Nothing... but then what I have to offer would be lost to you."

Mira still stood ready to defend her, but the figure slowly lowered his hand.

"You've peaked my interest. Now then... what is your offer?"

Towa sat down on a piece of a pillar.

"In exchange for a single mission, you will be given Namek's Dragon Balls to make any three wishes you desire."

The figure smiled...

"Three wishes?"

Then chuckled.

"You must be desperate for my help if you're not using those Dragon Balls yourselves."

Towa was unmoved.

"That is my offer. Now what say you?"

Seconds passed as the figure's hand was over his chin in thought.

"I, Turles, accept."

Towa and Mira noticed him reaching for something in his armor's side pocket.

"Now unless we're leaving right this moment..."

They saw that he held a seed of some sort.

"I have a tree to plant."

"Would one day be sufficient, Turles?" Towa inquired.

"That'd suit me fine. Until then..."

He began to float away, but turned back and pointed to Towa.

"Just don't forget my Dragon Balls."

Towa watched as he left her sight, no doubt off on another massacre. As she and Mira prepared to depart from this world, Mira had an inquiry.

"Regarding the Namekian Dragon Balls... Turles wouldn't be able to..."

"We will worry about that later, Mira."

Dragonball Fanon Wiki

Namek Saga (Pan's Ascent)

Who Is Towa? Kaio-Ken![]

Zarbon and Dodoria! Vegeta in Peril![]

Consequences! Zarbon Remains![]

Trunks' Ploy! Towa's Gambit![]

Sins of the Past! Towa's Intent![]

Repercussion! Haunting of Vegeta![]

Reconvening! Tale of Trunks![]

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