Fade to Black
Chapter 1: Pan Gaiden - I Will Be a Super Saiya-jin Too!!!
Goten floated tens of feet off the ground with a devilish smile. "C'mon Pan, just try and hit me," he taunted. His niece was standing in his silhouette with her face turned skyward. The day was sunny without a cloud in the sky, a perfect day to be training for the inevitable. Even in these times of peace, the protectors of Earth couldn't let their guard down for there was always something stronger than ever imagined just lurking around the next corner.
Pan shot off from the ground with tremendous force, a white aura of energy surrounding her body. She threw a punch at her uncle but all she could connect with was his after image. She quickly spun around to see Goten's leg flying toward her head. With cat-like quickness, Pan blocked his attack with her arm. She opened up her free hand and an white-yellow glow surrounded it. A weak ki attack discharged from her hand and hit Goten's chest, knocking him backward. Pan dashed toward him, spun around and connected with a roundhouse kick to his neck. The kick sent Goten plummeting toward the ground. Just as he was about to hit the hard rock below, he placed his hand on the ground and bounced up onto his feet.
Goten looked up at Pan with yet another smirk. "Nice hit kiddo," he said. "But can you handle…" Goten raised his power and a golden aura burst forth from him. "A Super Saiya-jin,"
Pan's eyes narrowed with jealousy at her uncle's green eyes and golden hair. Her hair slowly began to levitate above her shoulder and the white aura returned to surround her. She placed a hand out in front of her and motion for her uncle to come her way. "Come and get me Uncle Goten,"
The Super Saiya-jin shot off from the ground and hit Pan in the stomach before she could react. Pan tried to tighten her abdominal muscles to soften the blow but the damage was already done. She gasped for breath as Goten grabbed her legs and began to spin her in a circle. When he let go, she flew like a bullet through the air. When Pan finally regained her composure, she back flipped and made a dead stop; accompanied with a loud booming noise. The determined girl shot back toward her uncle who was floating with his arms crossed in front of her.
When she was within attacking range she cocked her fist back, ready to attack. Goten prepared a counter blow but just as he threw an arm up to block the punch, Pan disappeared and he felt a kick to his back. Goten tumbled from the sky and hit the ground hard; unable to catch himself as he did before. He got up slowly and smiled at his niece. "Nice shot Pan," Goten's golden hair fell back to his normal black hairstyle as he powered down. "We'll have to finish this some other time though Pan," he said. He turned and began to walk toward his mountain home that he still shared with his mother. "I've got a date with Paris I need to get ready for,"
"Oh c'mon Goten!" Pan shouted. "You're just afraid I'll win!"
Her taunt fail to coax Goten back into the fight as just waved his hand at her as he continued to walk away. Pan slowly floated back to Earth, a bit dejected that her training session was over. She too decided to return home and call it a night. The sun's orange rays were barely peeking over the forest that surrounded Mt. Paozu and the sky was changing from blue to a deep purple.
"Pan, you're home! All done with training for the day?" Videl asked from the kitchen.
"Yeah. Only because Uncle Goten has a date though. What's for dinner?" Pan questioned as she strolled into the kitchen.
"It'll be served as soon as your father gets home," Videl replied. She tapped a wooden spoon against the side of a pan to get the excess sauce off of it and placed it onto the counter next to the oven. She went over to the refrigerator and took a paper clipping from under a magnet and brought it over to Pan. "Look what was in the paper today,"
She handed the scrap of gray paper to her daughter and Pan began to read it out loud. "Great Saiya-girl Saves the Day Again! The mysterious costumed crime fighter once again foiled a bank robbery in downtown Satan City this afternoon. She quickly dispatched the armed gunmen with a flurry of punches and kicks and the men were rendered unconscious. No one was harmed in the robbery attempt,"
Pan turned to her mom and smiled. "Oh Pan, I'm so proud of you," Videl said happily. She bent over and gave her daughter a tight hug. Pan raised an eyebrow and gritted her teeth. "Thanks mom," It really wasn't her choice to fight crime like her parents. They pressured her into saving the town like they and her grandfather had before. It seemed to be sort of a family tradition in Pan's eyes so she just bared it for her parents' sake.
Gohan entered the house as Videl released Pan from her hug. Gohan stepped into the kitchen and removed his red-rimmed glasses. "Good evening ladies," Gohan was dressed in a blue suit with a yellow tie and a white under shirt. He placed a pile of books as well as his glasses down on the end of the kitchen table and took a seat.
"How was class today?" Videl asked.
"Oh, the same old same old," he replied.
Pan took a seat opposite her father. "Can we eat now mom? I'm starving,"
"You're just like your grandfather, you know that?" Gohan laughed. "Maybe you spent a little too much time in space with him,"
Pan placed a fork into her steaming spaghetti and gave a little smile. It had been nearly five years since her grandfather had disappeared with the dragon balls and she missed him more and more with each passing day. She kept a small part of his gi that was left behind when he flew away with the dragon in her bedroom. She would pull it out from time to time and think of all of the amazing stories he would tell her of his childhood. These stories drove her to become one of the strongest beings on Earth; which in this universe was saying something. One thing kept bothering her though. She wasn't a Super Saiya-jin. Goten and Trunks seemed to have had the ability passed down genetically but Pan hadn't been able to transform. Even with all of the past frustration, she believed that one day she would become the first female Super Saiya-jin.
"What's wrong Pan?" Gohan asked. Pan perked her head up and looked at her dad. "Did something happen at school today?" Pan shook her head slowly. "No dad, I'm alright, just daydreaming,"
Pan finished up her meal and decided to go for a walk. The sun had set behind the trees and the air had cooled down. She stared up at the twinkling stars in the sky and sighed. Lightning bugs were beginning to take over the night sky as summer drew near. Life had long since resumed to normal and Pan had become just another normal teenager. She had just finished her first year at the university in Satan City along with Vegeta and Bulma's daughter Bra.
Pan walked up to a large boulder and climbed up onto it. She pulled her legs up to her chest and draped her arms over her knees and continued to stare up at the black sky. After a few minutes, a small red light appeared amongst the stars. At first Pan thought nothing of it. Probably just another plane. As she watched the light, it got larger and larger fairly fast. It then took the shape of a spaceship and she watched it shoot over the trees and out toward a barren field close to the mountain. Knowing how protective her parents were, she took off quickly and followed the ship at a distance so she wasn't detected.
Just as she had thought, the ship landed in a field close to Mt. Paozu. She knelt down behind a rock and watched the ship hover for a few minutes before letting down three metal claw-like legs. The shipped was mainly white and shaped like an insect. There was a purple dome at the front of the ship which Pan assumed was where it was piloted from. With a loud hiss, a door on the bottom of the ship opened and an elevator with two figures descended. The men stepped off of the elevator and it returned to the ship. Pan could see in the lights from the ship that the humanoid aliens were dressed in an orange-yellow baggy outfit with blue scarf-like items wrapped around their necks, matching blue undershirts and tight black pants. One of then aliens had long red hair that went down to the middle of his back, and the other had a spiky red Mohawk. Pan could also see that they each had a sword strapped to their back and daggers at their hips. Pan decided to end this quickly and left her hiding place and stood right in the aliens' line of site.
"Looks like we've got a welcoming crew Zesin," one of the aliens laughed. "Are you here to take us to your leader?"
Pan stood emotionless in front of them with her fists clenched at her sides. The two aliens walked toward her and stopped a few feet away. Their capes blew softly in the wind, making a rustling sound that cut through the usual night silence. Pan didn't give them the privilege of eye contact and stared straight forward between the two men. This clearly irritated the aliens and one of them voiced their displeasure.
"Hey! You are to answer when we speak to you Earthling!"
Pan brushed a piece of hair back that the wind had blown into her face. "Considering your demeanor, I can assume neither of you are here to promote peace between our civilizations so, I'll give you an ultimatum. I'll let you leave now unharmed if you choose. But I will not hesitate to kill you if you cross me,"
The two men broke out in laughter. "Are you hearing this Esau? She says she'll kills us,"
Once the two men finished laughing, the one named Zesin spoke up again. "Since she obviously doesn't want to do this the easy way…" he unsheathed his sword and smiled. "We'll have to do this the hard way,"
Pan still stood with her arms at her sides, fists still clenched. The other alien Esau took a few steps back to give his partner some attacking space. "This shouldn't take long," Zesin said with an evil smirk.
He jumped into the air with his sword raised high over his head in a striking motion. He slashed down at Pan but she easily caught the alien's sword with her right hand and ripped it out of his hand. Zesin fell on his back in front of Pan and saw her effortlessly toss his sword into a bush. He scrambled to his feet and crouched into a fighting stance. Esau stood behind him with his arms crossed, diligently watching his partner. Zesin lunged at Pan with his fist flying toward her face. Pan quickly moved out of the way and kneed the alien in the stomach. She landed and smiled. Zesin writhed in pain on the ground, clutching his stomach and gasping for air.
It was at this moment that his partner Esau decided to enter the fray. He jumped into the air and placed his wrists together and an energy blast shot from his palms at Pan's back. She turned and swatted the ball of energy away like a fly. Esau attempted the attack again but his blasts only hit Pan's after image. Esau floated in the air, his eyes darting back and forth, looking for Pan. She drove an elbow into his back and knocked him into the ground. Zesin had finally composed himself and once again dashed off toward Pan. He took off from the ground and shot blast after blast at the female Saiya-jin who dodged them with ease. He shot one final blast that tore through Pan's after image. He floated with his arms bents and fists clenched in the air. Pan appeared behind him and blasted the red-haired alien into oblivion.
Esau was shaking on the ground. "Zesin! H-how could you?"
Pan returned to the ground and faced Esau. "You've clearly underestimated me," she said, brushing some hair from her face.
Pan began to walk toward Esau and he shakily began to shuffle his body backwards away from her. "You…you can't be real!" he shouted.
The dark-haired girl smiled. "I appreciate the compliment but you should have thought of that earlier," Pan raised her hand and a ball of energy the size of a basketball formed in her palm. The beam shot out and quickly disposed of the remaining alien.
"Pan!" Gohan's voice shouted.
Pan looked into the sky and saw her father flying toward her. He touched down just a few feet away and walked up to her. "What's going on here Pan?"
"Nothing I couldn't take care of," she replied.
Gohan frowned. He looked to the spaceship and then back to his daughter. "You could've gotten hurt Pan. What would your mother say?"
"Dad, I can take care of these things now too. Don't worry about me so much," she said, placing her left hand on Gohan's shoulder.
Gohan sighed. "I suppose you're right. You are my daughter after all," Pan gave him a smile. "We should be getting home though. We'll call Bulma to analyze this ship in the morning,"
As Gohan and Pan shot off toward their cozy mountain home, a cloaked figure crawled out of the alien ship and stole away quietly into the night.