On Deaths Doorstep
It was another day at work, with the exception of her parents, brothers, and sister-in-law being there. The halls quickly became crowded as people filtered out of their cubicles as the lunch rush was starting to get under way. Pan was still sitting there, in her seat, just thinking. No one came to see her, because they knew when she was in a trance like state, you don't interrupt her.
Only one person was able to get her out of that state, and it was Trunks. "Wanna get some lunch?" He asked looking down at her. She looked up in surprise; he was never able to sneak up on her. He saw her expression and knew something was up.
Pan pulled her hair back, straightened her skirt and began walking with him to the Capsule Corp. cafeteria. "You look awfully nice today." She looked at him and smiled.
"Thanks Pan-Chan." He answered. "I hate meetings; nobody knows what the hell their talking about." She had to let a small laugh escape her lips, because she knew exactlywhat he was saying. His suit jacket was left in his office and the tie was loosened. The hope was that Bulma and him didn't have any more of those annual budget meetings to attend.
The two sat down with lunch, an appetizing bunch of what looked like slop, and a salad Pan swindled from another R&D worker. 'This is what passes for food? Utterly disgusting, seems like what they served back in high school.' Trunks thought as he made a face. His girlfriend looked up at the sight and mumbled, "There has to be better food then this..." Tilting her salad up toward him, "Want some?"
He shook his head and responded, "no, Goten will probably find better food. I'll just mooch off of him." She just rolled her eyes and smiled.
On the way back to their respective work stations, there was an explosion. It shook the whole building, and both Trunks and Pan ran to the scene. "What -who the hell is that?" One man yelled. About twenty men in armor stood directly in front of them. Bulma and Vegeta where the second group to arrive with Gohan and Videl. It was apperant that Gohan was in fight back mode as soon as he set eyes on them. Goku and ChiChi were soon to arrive, then Goten and Bra tailed slightly behind them.
Ki blasts were exchanged, the smoke cleared, not one of the men had not shown any damage. Bra's eyes widened as she caught a glimpse what seemed to be the leader's armor. The insignia was immediately recognized. "Oh shit." She cursed. Her mother turned her head back to her in shock. Bra Briefs never let a curse slip through. Vegeta looked over proudly at his daughter until he saw it. The crest of Vegeta-sei, the Sayian royal guard. But that can't be right, can it? Every Sayian alive now were on this planet, with the exception of Tarble. The only conclusion that could be drawn, this was not the Royal Guard.
"This is real nuisance, isn't it?" mumbled Gohan.
Trunks and Goten rolled their eyes, "Duh." They responded together. The grand hallway cleared out, because the workers were too freaked out by the scene.
"Who are you and what business do you have here?" Vegeta asked. He relaxed his stance, letting them know he wasn't about to fight.
It was silent as the commander, and second in command exchanged looks. "He asked you a question, and you're expected to answer it." Said Goku.
A petite, young looking woman stepped forth. She stood next to the commander, which gave the impression she was their second, or another higher up. Her voice radiated authority as she responded in the old language, "you need not know either of those questions, all you need to know is today is the day you die." She launched herself toward Vegeta but he was too fast and dodged out of the way.
He pushed Bulma near an access hall to get her away from the scuffle. Once Goku caught on, he attempted to pull ChiChi in the same hall. But she resisted, and he whispered harshly, "ChiChi, don't fight me please. I have to keep you out of this." She opened and closed her mouth to speak, but the words died in her throat. He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her quickly as he pulled her to the corner.
Gohan and Videl sprang into action. Kicking and punching with such force, and speed to match. At first the advantage was in their favor, but it wasn't that way for long. Each one of them were evenly matched with at least one of the rogue guards. Bra and Goten switching places from time to time to throw them off. Kicking and punching with such force, and speed to match.
Trunks was against a short, black haired teen. Even though he had a slight advantage, the teen gave him a run for his money, boy he was fast! There was a woman about the age of her mother against Pan, who pulled out a knife. She swiftly cut through the air in an attempt to cut or stab her. In a daring move Pan went on the offensive, grasping her wrist tightly, her bone making crunching sounds until the dagger was released. As it fell, a hard punch connected to the woman's left jaw. Vegeta and Goku were fighting the commander and a couple other higher ups, to them, it was like sparing, but soon that all changed when a small weapon was pulled from one of their armor. 'Since when do they use conventional weaponry?'Thought Goku. He had only learned more of his Saiyan heritage in recent years, but never heard of them using stuff like this. Just pure instinct and skill.
Popping sounds could be heard, making everyone stop dead in their tracks. Especially Pan. It felt as if her body was being torn apart. She turned around to see her best friend and boyfriend lying limply on the ground. Her eyes went wide as she rushed to his side.
His eyelids felt heavy, really heavy. Breathing jagged, he looked up to see her, his angel watching him with tears in her eyes. Her hands stained in red. "Can you hear me?" She whispered. At least he thought it was whispering. His cognitive response was impaired and he knew it. Pan tried to apply pressure to the wound, but it was just so big. There was so much blood. She reached a blood stained hand to his cheek saying "Trunks, stay with me, don't leave you can't. You promised me that we'd stay here together." Tears more fluently ran down her face. "Please." She chocked out. Faint sounds of fighting could be made out in his mind, but he couldn't tell what was actually happening. The pain was overtaking him, not even her words can bring him back now.
Trunks' vision began to blur, voices began to grow dim, as he wasted away on the floor of Capsule Corp. Pan saw his bright blue eyes one last time, before they dimmed lifelessly as they closed. "No!" She screamed. She cried into his shoulder, wishing this whole thing was a dream. It was only a half an hour ago the two of them were walking back from lunch, laughing and joking. Now, he was dead, and she was in hysterics.
Many emotions washed over her in that one moment. Anger was the first, she let out a scream that hurt everyone's ears. Energy poured from her body at such a high rate, that she could've passed out right then and there. The fighting stopped as everyone's eyes were fixed on the change... an angry Saiyan woman that had snapped. Pan's eyes became as blue as the sea, and her long blonde hair flowed behind her. ChiChi and Bulma looked around the corner at the girl in shock. "My goodness, she's going all out." Whispered ChiChi. Then it hit her, Bulma took a quick sweep of the fight, to find the Sons, Bra, and Vegeta. Her eyes widened in panic, "Where's Trunks!?"
Pan stood with a steely resolve, voice clear, eyes ice cold and asked "hey lady, I know you know Japanese, so I'm going to ask you this. You remember when you said today's the day we die?"
The woman looked, scuffed faced and said nonchalantly, "yeah, what of it?"
The twenty-one year old just smiled. "It's time," Pan breathed. "To die!" She screamed charging at the woman. Adrenaline ran high as she was out of control, grabbing the daggers from the unconscious and using them herself.
The hall turned into a blood bath, and quickly. More shots were fired, as Gohan, and Goten dodged, Videl and Bra breaking necks, and knocking everyone down. When the stakes where upped, Bra went super, and so did the guys. "I think it's time you get out of her sis." Said Goten. Videl grabbed onto Pan's arm as she ripped off the head of one of the assisins. Blood sprayed everywhere, but she didn't notice, or care. They took him from her, from all of them. And she was out for their blood. When the fighting seemed to come to a close, each side looked at the death toll.
Sayians: 1
Assissins: 20
Or so they thought. As the group went to leave to clean up, one last popping sound echoed the room. And all that could be heard was the blood curteling scream that erupted from ChiChi's throat. Goku rushed to her side almost in tears himself. He kept her close, letting her cry deeply into his chest. He saw her last moments, lying face down on the ground, red clashing with blonde as it turned to black. Ki unable to be read, his little Panny was dead. "Call someone, please anybody!" The woman pleaded.
Goten went over to the lone survivor, only to see him smile. He kicked his head in until he couldn't move any longer. Then checked his pulse to make sure he was dead this time. "Where is Trunks?" Asked Bulma quietly. Her husband looked away from her, and toward the nook in the wall where his son lay. From that vantage point his corpse couldn't be seen, but that didn't stop her. Vegeta grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back, "you don't want to see." He said sadly.
It felt dark and cold, like a basement with no light. She wanted to get out, to find out where it is she was. Her head hurt terribly, directly in the back. 'What happened to me?' She questioned. Suddenly, what looked like a door opened up from within the void. A bright light exploded all around her. Then she was it. Otherworld. But wait! This was where dead people go, isn't it? 'This can't be right, I can't be dead, the last thing I remember was turning my back and hearing a-'. She froze. "Oh Kami, why have you cursed us so."
Walking up to the check-in station, she could hear the friendly giant's voice. All Pan had heard were stories from her father, never could she imagine them to be true. "Next." King Yemma's voice boomed. Pan quietly walked up to the front of the desk as he looked over her file. "So you're Goku's daughter are you?" He asked while the young Sayian nodded her head. The demeanor of him changed when he looked at the girl. "This wasn't the job of the Guards, Pan." He said darkly.
"It's a little late for that now, sir" She retorted, as if it were that obvious before.
He set her file down to the left of his desk and said, "Next." Pan stopped and exclaimed "Wait, aren't you going to stamp my destination?"
King Yemma chuckled a bit as a figure from behind the leg of his desk came into view. She gasps as realization takes hold, the first thing noticed was the stained white shirt, then the lavender hair all amessed. A teary mixture of both joy and sadness ignite within her. "What are you doing here?" He asked worriedly. She shook her head, trying to swallow the lump that arose in her throat. "I don't know." She chocked out.
The two were still in the same clothes as what they died in, but something was off. Different about Pan, it took her boyfriend a little longer to finally see it. "You went Super." He captured her in a crushing hug, and whispered smiling proudly. They didn't want it to end, for a split second, time began to freeze. "I love you Son Pan." He whispered.
"I love you too, Trunks." She whispered back to him, head buried in his chest smiling.
Pan felt a brush in the back of her mind, but she disregarded it as nothing. Soon, she felt the dizzy, and the scene around her darkens. "Pan?" a voiced sounded.
"Help me!" She screamed back, hoping they would hear her plea. But the help never came for her.
Once again returning to a familiar place, one where she so desperately wanted to escape from. It was the void. What was she doing here? Only a minute ago, she was with Trunks, next to King Yemma's desk at the check-in station. Did any of that just happen? The next thing she knew, her body was being pulled from behind her. The hand of the guardian no doubt, it was a swift grab as Pan lost all of the breath in her lungs.
Hours were spent in the hospital, waiting for the woman to wake up. Her mother was in hysterics, while both Bulma and Videl tried to calm her down. Her brothers and Bra sat in there, in the waiting room, not wanting to hear any bad news. All while her father and Vegeta where in a discussion over whether this incident was a new threat, or just some rogue rebels.
The heart monitor began picking up speed, notifying the people in the room, that the patient was definitely alive. After a few more minutes, a pair of onyx eyes began to open. The girl's voice was hoarse, and could barely be heard as she said, "Momma?" The back of her head was bandaged, and because of the severity of the wound, Pan could not be placed facing straight ahead, but instead to her left.
A cry escaped her lips as no one saw that she had awoken, her mother still in breakdown mode wasn't helping. She was in a lot of pain, not just physical, but emotional as well. Pan tried to call attention to her mother once again, a little louder this time, "Momma, what happened?" The three visitors just stood there, in their spots astonished at the newly awoken woman. ChiChi went over to her bedside and hugged her, tears pouring from her eyes. "I thought we lost you sweetheart." She sniffled. It hurt her heart to see her baby girl in the hospital with a gunshot to her head. But it made her feel at ease again to know she was alive.
Pan wanted to sit up, get her bearings, but the pain medication kept her in her place. Bulma and Videl left the room, giving mother and daughter time alone. The two others must have called the others over, for the family had crowded outside the door of her room. She looked over at them, and burst into tears. All the pent up stress over his death, and her own needed to be released.
When she spoke, her voice shakily reverted to a child's as she looked to her mother and asked, "do you remember those words we were never allowed to say as children?" ChiChi nodded her head as her eyes began to fog up, already knowing the answer. "I want to say them now... I want to die."
Outside the door, both her father and Vegeta conversed over the assassins. Pan had only caught a few words out of the whole thing. "What... They... Are... Saiyan, or something else?" She had a moment of mental clarity as she sprang from the bed and screamed, "If they weren't, then how the hell did they get their armor?! That's not just something you can just go and pick up at a store!" Goku just shook his head, and placed a hand on her shoulder as he said,
"We don't know Panny. We just don't."