Dark Fire: A DBZ Fan fiction.

((This is something I thought would be fun to do, seeing as I haven't seen a story like this yet. (Note the 'seen', there probably is, but I can't find it.) Also, I must point out that this involves character death, a lot of it. So if you have a favorite character, they will probably die at one point or another. Last thing is that this might be a full story, or a one-shot, depends on what you guys think, so please review. Read to the end and you'll understand.))

Timeline: Chapter 1 takes place after the Buu saga, the rest of the story… Well, you'll see. ((I'm horrible at keeping secrets.))

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters from the show, or Bra and Pan. I do however own 'The monster', which is just a temporary name.

Dark Fire.

Chapter 1: A World Burning.

Death, it's a horrible smell. It's something you never get used too, no matter how long the stench hangs in the air. At least that's how it seemed to the young girl, who stood out in front of one of the few remaining buildings in what had been West City. Now it was nothing more but a graveyard, a relic of human life. All that was left of it were large craters, and a few burning buildings; and of course, the three of them.

The girl looked down at the small necklace she wore, and sighed.

'To think, this is all that's keeping me safe.'

It was a simple thing, just a silver chain that hung down to a red sphere that glowed slightly. It was a Ki inhibitor, the one thing that kept that thing from finding her.

That thing, her body shook at the memory. It was the reason the world was dead, the reason everything she cared for had been destroyed. She looked down at the red Gi she wore, and the tears returned again. It was all she had left to remind her of her grandpa, who was one of the first to fall to that thing. And following him was her own father.

Her mind drifted back to that day three years ago. The day the world had gone to hell.

She knelt by her Grandpa, her whole body shaking, her voice caught in her throat as she stared at the hole that had been blasted through his chest. His blue Gi was now coated in blood, and his breathing was coming in short, pained bursts. But even so he managed to turn his head to look at her.

"Pan…. You… Have to run. There's nothing… You can do…"

She knew he was right, she was only six. How could she help?

Pan shook her head at this; she couldn't just leave her grandpa there to die. She had to help him.

She tried to pull him up, but he just groaned and shook his head.

"No, Pan. It's… Too late. The… Others will… Have to win this fight…"

Her eyes widened, she had never heard him talk like that before. Her Grandpa never gave up, no matter what. And now he was admitting defeat, refusing to be helped.

"Grandpa…." She started, but he just smiled at her.

"It's ok…"

That was the last thing she heard from him, as he smiled at her, his eyes closed, and he breathed one last time.

"Father!"

She whirled around, to see her dad standing over them; tears flowing down his eyes. He turned his head and looked down the street at the glowing pair of red eyes that stared back at him.

The thing, their whole bodies consumed in flames, the only part of it visible were its glowing eyes, and the evil grin that spread across its face. At its feet were over thirty mangled bodies, most of which were charred, and burned beyond recognition

"You… You will pay!" Her father screamed launching through the air towards the thing. She tried to call to him, to tell him to stop. But she couldn't find her voice; she could only let out a small gasp.

As he got close, the thing's grin grew, and suddenly it was standing in-front of her dad, its hand around his throat; before any of them could make a sound, her father burst into flames.

Everything after that was a blur, she remembered her father falling to the ground, his whole body consumed by fire. She screamed out to him, and the thing's evil eyes focused on her. And then a blast of energy was heading directly at her while she found herself unable to move. Then suddenly she was pulled into the air, as the ground erupted in a huge sphere of energy.

"Pan! Get to safety; we'll keep that thing busy!"

It was her uncle Goten, and Trunks. They had grabbed her off the street just before the blast hit. She nodded, and took off into the sky, flying as fast as she could, not knowing where she was headed. Behind her, she heard the chant.

"Fusion-ha!"

She wanted to turn around, to see what they had just done, but she shook her head, and flew on. She sensed that their power had skyrocketed, and then joined together. And just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. She swallowed hard; knowing that they were both dead.

She couldn't remember everything that had happened after that. She eventually had found her way home. She didn't want to tell her mother or grandma about it, but as soon as she opened the door and walked in; they saw her blood soaked Gi, and rushed over. She tried to explain, to tell them everything she had seen, that her father, grandfather, and uncle wouldn't come home. But all she could do was collapse on the floor, and cry.

"Pan!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voice; she turned and smiled a little at the blue haired girl who was walking quickly over to her.

"Hey, Bra."

"Don't hey me! What are you doing out here?"

"I just needed some fresh air, Bra. I hate being stuck in that bunker."

Bra stared at her black-haired friend for a second, and sighed.

"Look, I know that you don't like staying cooped up, but you have to keep out of sight. I don't want to lose you too…"

Pan just nodded, Bra had lost a lot. Not as much as Pan had, but she had still lost her brother, father and grandparents. Her and Pan had been best friends even before the thing appeared, but since then they had grown even closer.

Suddenly, Bra perked up.

"Oh yeah. My mom says the device is ready! We can go any time you're ready!"

Pan's eyes grew wide at this.

"WHAT? Why didn't you tell me right away? This is our chance!"

Bra slightly blushed.

"Sorry, I forgot; you know how I am…"

Pan calmed down instantly, she had forgotten that Bra was somewhat unstable. Bulma had told her that she at one point had a nervous breakdown.

"It's ok. At least it's ready. So, are you ready?" Pan asked, her excitement building.

Bra nodded quickly, and turned and started running down the sidewalk. But suddenly, she stopped at turned back to Pan.

"Do you…. Think this will work?"

Pan just shrugged.

"You're mom said it did before, so why would it be different now?"

Bra smiled again, and Pan could tell exactly what she was thinking.

'If this does work, it means everyone will come back!'

Everyone; Pan realized exactly what that meant. Her mother, grandmother, grandfather, and her own father; everyone who had died, they would all be back, just like before.

The thought excited her, and she took off running, passing up Bra. The two raced back to an old warehouse, half of which had caved in, and carefully climbed over the collapsed double doors. The whole place was filled with rubble, except for a small path that lead to a metal door in the back of the building. They quickly hurried to it, and Pan pulled it open; at one point the door had been opened by a keypad, but that was long time ago.

They walked down a metal flight of stairs, which were illuminated by a barely glowing light bulb hanging above. At the bottom of the stairs was another metal door, which Pan pushed open; revealing a run down room with three mattresses on the floor, and a small stove over in the corner.

"Mom! I found her!" Bra called out, another blue haired woman came running in from an adjoining room, and sighed when she saw Pan.

"Oh good, you're ok. I was so worried."

Pan instantly felt guilty, she hadn't told them she was leaving, but she had needed some time alone.

"I'm sorry Bulma; I just needed to think…" She said, looking at the floor. To her surprise she felt the woman's hand on her shoulder.

"Its fine, Pan. I understand. All three of us miss the others but this is our chance to undo everything. And I was afraid we were going to have to bring you back as well."

Bulma sighed, and turned around, starting to walk to the other room.

"I guess I'm just getting paranoid, but I'm just so excited about this! If the time machine works…"

"Wait. If?" Bra asked, suddenly getting worried. "You're not sure if it will?"

Bulma just sighed.

"I don't know Bra, according to my calculations it will, but…."

"It doesn't matter Bulma. It's the only chance we have, and we have to take it!" Pan said, a determined look on her face. She didn't care about the dangers; she just wanted her family back.

Bulma smiled at the small girl, and she realized just how much she looked like Gohan.

"Well then, we better get going."

The three walked into a much larger room, which was filled with computers, tools, and other strange devices; and right in the center of the room was the time machine. It was designed the exact same as the one Future Trunks had used, only it was made a bit larger, so that the three of them would be able to ride in it at once.

Bulma stopped, a sudden thought occurring to her,

"By the way, Pan. Before we leave, do you want to get rid of that?" She asked, pointing at a brown belt wrapped around Pan's waist.

Pan's face took on a horrified look.

"What? No! There's no way I'm cutting off my tail!"

Everybody had been surprised when Pan was born with a tail. Vegeta had gone as far as to declare it impossible, as she was only a third- Saiyan. But she also possessed the black hair and eyes of a Saiyan. They had cut off her tail before, but it had always grown back, rather quickly now that she thought about; and after her dad's death, Pan declared she wouldn't cut her tail off. He had always liked her tail, and always protested when her mother would cut it off. Now, she was slightly offended that Bulma referred to her tail as an 'it'.

"Alright, I was just asking." Bulma said, walking over to one of the computers and started typing quickly. The machine started glowing, and making a whirring noise. All of a sudden, the lights dimmed, and the computer flashed off.

Bulma swore loudly, and slammed her fist down on the keyboard.

"What's wrong?" Pan asked, walking over.

"Nothing I can't fix in a minute or two." Bulma said, sighing. "Just a slight annoyance, you two go ahead and climb in. I just have to fix the…"

Pan tuned her out, she never understood Bulma when she started talking technical. She walked over to the machine, and started to climb up the ladder.

As she did, the machine roared to live again, causing Pan to let go of the rung she was holding. She managed to keep herself from falling by hovering in mid-air. She looked down to see Bra laughing at her.

"What's the matter Pan? Did it scare you?" Bra asked, looking up at her friend, who glared down at her.

"Oh… Shut up!" Pan said, it was all she could think to say at the moment. The machine had scared her, it was a lot louder than she had been expecting.

"Sorry Pan. I should have warned you." Bulma said from the computer, where she was finishing typing something in.

"There, we are good to go!" She said, a huge smile on her face. She had done it!

'Now, I just hope it doesn't blow up….'

Pan landed inside the machine, and looked down at her friend. Bra was starting to climb up the ladder, and her whole body was shaking.

"What's the matter Bra? Scared?"

"I don't like heights." Her friend said, carefully stepping up to the next rung.

"Bra, it's only eight feet tall…" Pan pointed out, smirking a little. This smirk immediately vanished when the feeling hit her; an overwhelming, evil power.

Bra looked up at her fried, and gasped.

"Pan? What's wrong?"

Bulma, who was typing in one final command, turned and looked at the girl, whose face had gone as white as a ghost. Suddenly, Bulma realized what was wrong.

"Bra! Get in the time machine! Now!" She yelled at her daughter. As soon as she did, the door behind her was blown open.

Smoke instantly filled the room, and the computer beside Bulma exploded, knocking her to the floor.

"Mom!" Bra yelled, jumping off the ladder. At the same time, Bulma stood up, and started to run towards her. Suddenly, two glowing red eyes appeared in the smoke behind her.

Bulma froze, a sudden pain had shot through her, and slowly she felt all feeling leave her body. Her vision faded, and she collapsed to the floor.

"Mom!" Bra yelled again, she stared as a blast of energy cut through her mother's chest. She started walking backward, her whole body shaking in terror.

Pan couldn't believe it, Bulma, the woman who had taken care of her for over three years now, was lying on floor, with blood pouring from her chest. And standing over her, its body still engulfed in flames, was the thing that had haunted her dreams and memories. The thing they had been hiding from.

'How did it find us?'

Pan shook her head, her instincts kicking in.

"Bra, come on! We have to go!" She yelled.

But her friend just stood there, her eyes wide, staring at the creature. That's when Pan heard the voice.

'You two think you can escape me? You're bigger fools than any of the others! But don't worry, you'll be joining them soon enough!'

It was in her mind, a dark, chilling sound; without any kind of emotion except anger. As she as she heard it her whole body froze, and she had no idea why.

She couldn't even scream as the creature's hand appeared out of the smoke, and fired a blast that disintegrated her best friend.

'No…." She managed to squeak out. And then, she suddenly regained control. She quickly pulled down the hatch of the time machine, and pushed the only button that was lit up, and prayed to whoever was listening that it would work.

The machine started whirring, and a white glow surrounded it. Pan looked out of the glass hatch, only to watch as her, and the time machine, were consumed by an energy blast.

As the smoke cleared, the flaming figure stood in the remains of the room. The evil grin that covered its face grew larger.

"Go ahead, little Saiyan. Warn them of my coming. You'll only enlighten them to their own doom!"

((I know this chapter was a little weird, I meant to not show too much. Everything that happened before this chapter I will tell you later. So, what time period did Pan jump too? Please review, and tell me if you think I should continue this stroy.))