Dragonball GT: Infected Memory
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball/Z/GT/Super or any of its characters. That goes to Akira Toriyama. All I own is this story.
In the days that followed after the defeat of the Tuffle Parasite Baby, things have returned to normal for the most part. Life had returned to normal as if nothing happened, even for the Z-Fighters… well, for most of them that is. While they all greatly mourned the loss of Piccolo due to the Black Star Dragonballs, none of them was so affected by the loss as Gohan was, given how close he was to the Namekian, considering Gohan was like a son to him… however, that wasn't the thing that plagued him the most… he never told everyone about this, but deep down, there was something that was nagging at him, making him miserable and sick. So far the only one who noticed this change was none other than his beloved wife Videl, having noticed that in the past few days after, Gohan had returned to bed later than usual and, during one moment of where she felt him entering their bed, she could have sworn she heard some soft sobbing sounds… as if her husband was crying himself to sleep. Deciding to find out what was going on, as she didn't like secrets and all, Videl decided to see exactly what was going on…
As night fell, Videl was getting ready for bed, having put down some fresh clothes for tomorrow, when she realized Gohan wasn't in the room. Once she was done with everything and turned the lights off, she went to find her husband, whom wasn't too far away as she noticed that the bedroom door of their daughter Pan was open. Peeking inside, she noticed her husband sitting on a chair next to the bed where their daughter was sleeping… it was as if he wanted to be sure she was asleep, or wanting to wish her a good night at least. Moving closer, she gently touched his arm, startling him, but he remained silent at first as to not wake her up. Standing up, Gohan followed Videl out of Pan's bedroom, closing the door behind him.
"What's the matter, Gohan? You've been so distant over the past few days…" Videl then said.
"I can't and won't deny that. I apologize for being so distant, I just… there's been a lot on my mind, that's all." Gohan replied.
"Care to tell me about it?" Videl asked.
"Let's head for the living room," Gohan said, "so we don't wake our angel up…"
Nodding, as if feeling this was a serious matter, both Gohan and Videl entered the living room of their house, with Videl deciding to get them both some water.
"Is it about Piccolo?" Videl asked as she sat next to her husband.
"No, although he has been on my mind as well, there's something else…" Gohan said.
"Well, what is it?" Videl asked.
"Videl… I want to ask you something. This is relevant to what has been on my mind, I just want you to answer truthfully… am I a good father?" Gohan asked.
"Where does that come from?" Videl asked, blinking, "you're a wonderful husband and a wonderful father to our daughter. Sure, you may have your shortcomings and all, but I have those too, as do everyone else…"
"I'm happy to hear that from you," Gohan said, "since you're the one of the few who can tell me this to my face, so I can trust you with something that no one else knows so far… not even my mother knows about this."
"Go on…" Videl said, her interest now piqued.
Gohan took a small sip of his cup of water to calm himself, letting out a deep sigh as if he was also wanting to choose his words carefully.
"Pan has been having nightmares the past few days…" Gohan then said.
"Nightmares? What about?" Videl asked, blinking.
"About her being on New Planet Plant, trying to help the infected people there, using those pills she had on hand to try and cure everyone of Baby's influence, although she's always halted by two dark figures… one male and one female, who attack her without hesitation, with the male using an energy blast to kill her… and Pan herself is too scared, horrified or hesitant to fight back." Gohan said.
"So that's why Pan has been crying so much during the night… but why can't she fight back against those dark beings?!" Videl asked, trying to gather the pieces of what she had witnessed so far.
"That's because those dark beings aren't ordinary dark beings, Videl; they're us!" Gohan said.
"What?!" Videl exclaimed.
"Those dark beings Pan is too horrified to fight against are you and me." Gohan replied.
"But… why?! Why would Pan have nightmares about that?!" Videl asked.
"Because we did nearly kill her back when we were possessed by that Tuffle Parasite. Had Uub not intervened, we would have killed our own daughter!" Gohan replied.
Videl remained silent, shock evident on her face as she reached an epiphany, realizing why Pan had become so withdrawn to a degree, almost a bit scared of them… as if she had a PTSD from the events that has transpired back then…
"I would have dealt the deathblow to her, but you did attack her too back when she tried to help the people…" Gohan said, "but what makes it worse is that we didn't do anything to stop it… Baby told us to kill her… and we showed no ounce of resistance…"
Unable to control himself, Gohan buried his head on his arms on the table and wept, throwing everything out which he had held within himself for the past few days. Not just from the loss of Piccolo, but primarily due to the fact that he had nearly killed their daughter… but he was infected, right? He was forced to do so by this Tuffle Parasite whom held a severe animosity against the Saiyan Race, a being whom was created with the DNA of someone of a race whom had been wiped out by the Saiyans decades ago, yet it carried this hatred against anyone whom held even an ounce of Saiyan Blood within them…
Pitying him, Videl put her arms around her husband, comforting as she understood what Gohan meant. She too had been infected and she could not deny that she did attack Pan back on the New Planet Plant… coaxing her even to become a Tuffle too while also showing indifference when Gohan and Goten went and attacked both Pan and Goku… as if the infection placed within both her husband and herself and everyone else they knew except for Pan, Goku, Hercule, Uub and Majin Buu made her hate the Saiyans as much as Baby himself did… just the fact that she was one of Baby's followers herself made Videl cringe… being reduced to nothing more than someone who would do Baby's bidding at his beck and call, just like her husband and everyone else, especially with Bulma as his 'queen'…
"But… that was all Baby's fault, right? He made us do what we did… what we nearly did…" Videl said, trying to find some way to comfort her husband.
"I know…" Gohan said as he calmed himself enough to reply, "but that isn't what pains me the most… her blood would be on our hands if Uub didn't stop me in time… it was on Baby's orders, so he is to blame, yes… but we acted on his behalf… we had to do as he told us…"
Videl remained silent as Gohan did have a point, but that was all in the past, right?
"But why were you in Pan's room just then?" She then asked.
"I had to know if she's peacefully asleep… I saw her trashing about in bed the other day… crying to us, calling out to us, pleading to us to stop what we were doing… but we didn't… we couldn't… we wouldn't… all because of that Parasite… and to think she could have been possessed by him earlier back when she was with Goku and Trunks on a trip to get those Black Star Dragonballs…" Gohan replied.
"She was?" Videl asked, "how come she didn't tell us this?"
"She did tell this to me yesterday, back when I was comforting her… back then she, Goku and Trunks were on an alien hospital planet to have an alien boy treated for his injuries, not knowing that said boy had been possessed by Baby. Goku and Trunks managed to get there in time before Baby could strike, but as they eventually confronted the parasite, Trunks got infected. Although Trunks did manage to force Baby out of his body back then, it was still enough for the parasite to leave an egg behind in his brain, which hatched during the confrontation on Earth, leading to him being possessed as he was being confronted by Vegeta, whom Baby had used as a host…" Gohan replied.
"So Baby caused grief to pretty much all of us…" Videl said.
"Exactly… but Pan is still the worst affected so far… she felt as if everyone she knew, her friends and her family except both of her grandfathers had turned on her, seeing her as either an enemy they had to dispose of on sight or otherwise coax her into joining them. The mere fact that we all still KNEW who she was and how close she was to all of us…"
"Our memories were indeed left intact, yet we believed ourselves to be reborn as Tuffles…"
"Yes… I can't believe I even promised to kill Pan back when we confronted her and Goku together with Chi-Chi and Goten…" Gohan replied.
"Relax, honey; that is now in the past, right?" Videl softly said.
"It is… but the fact we nearly killed the one we cherish the most… our own and only child… I couldn't live with myself if it did happen… I just couldn't…" Gohan replied.
"Come on, Gohan… we should head to Pan… I'm sure she'll forgive you for what has happened. If we can simply tell her that we love her with our hearts and souls, I feel certain that we'll put those nightmares to rest and make you feel better, so we can put that dark page away for good." Videl said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Gohan said, nodding as he and Videl both got up, moving to Pan's room together.
Both Gohan and Videl entered Pan's bedroom silently, with Gohan flinching a little as he heard her whimpering a little, before Videl turned the light on…
In her dream, Pan once more tried to help people in getting rid of Baby's infection by forcing them to ingest laxatives, only to get knocked out of the sky by her mother, before her father confronted her alongside her. But before her father could finish her, a bright light appeared, disintegrating them all except for her. As Pan opened her eyes, she found herself in bed, with her parents looking at her… and was that concern, regret and sadness in their eyes? At that moment, Gohan gently grabbed his daughter and held her closer, stroking her over her head as Pan silently cried, before feeling another hand stroking her head and cheek, as if wiping her tears away. Looking to the source of the touch, Pan noticed she was looking right at her mother, who looked at her with an expression that showed concern, regret and yet also love and support to her.
"M… mom? D… dad?" Pan asked, her voice hoarse.
"Yes, Pan; it's us. Don't worry, it's the real us, nothing like what you've seen in your nightmares… we're no longer infected by Baby anymore…" Videl softly cooed towards her, before Pan heard someone else sniffing… it was Gohan…
"D… dad? W… why are you crying?" Pan asked.
"Your dad is also in pain, Pan," Videl said, "not physically, but mentally… he knows what he and I have done and almost did and wanted to do to you while we were infected… and he's feeling quite bad because of it… just like me…"
"B… but that… that Tuffle… Baby made you do it…" Pan said, her eyes widening.
"We know… but it was still us who acted on his behalf… in a way we're still responsible for that pain our actions have caused you then…" Videl said.
"We never wanted to hurt you, Pan…" Gohan said as he calmed down enough, "yet his actions made us do this… we're so… so sorry for hurting you… for nearly killing you… to believe you were an enemy…"
"Daddy, please…" Pan said, hugging her father close.
"Pan… please forgive us for what we've done…" Gohan said, stroking his daughter over her head.
"I've already forgiven you and mom, daddy… it never was your fault… it was all because of that parasite…" Pan said, a genuine smile on her face as she felt that her parents had, regardless of the Tuffle being the true culprit, taken responsibility for their actions.
"Thank you, Pan, this means a lot to us." Videl said, before she hugged Pan and Gohan both, creating a small family hug between father, mother and daughter, happy that they could finally hope to heal the mental wound inflicted on them by one of the worst villains they had to face in their lifetime.
Needless to say, the young Son Family slept like babies and the nightmares were over time vanquished to the point of never appearing ever again.
The End.
A/N: Hope you all like this story. This is mostly conceived out of a personal idea of mine of what should have happened after the Baby Saga. What irked me to no end was the fact that the whole event was brushed off like it was Tuesday (guess the reference here), so I wanted to explore a scenario where how the event of infection/possession would have on the one after being liberated and what kind of trauma it could have caused them.
Nortship01 out.