A/N: Chapter 3, here we go. So we have Pan joining the adventure party by using Bulma's time machine. Hmm...


Kuririn had found out from a fellow monk that it was Age 749. He would be turning 13 very soon; in a few days actually. But whoever said he had to wait that long to join Goku under the mastery of Kame Sen'nin? No one, except maybe the naggy Bulma-Chi Chi voice that sometimes appeared. But the soothing Goku voice pacified his fears.

The monk figured that he did not owe the temple and its monks any goodbyes. Disappearing in the middle of the night seemed good enough. It wasn't like anyone would worry or miss him anyway. He had spent one day in Orin and already he couldn't stand it. The place held bad memories for him, even thought he had managed to quell some of them by beating Kurumi and Pikan, both of whom had done nothing short of making his life hell the first time around.

Kuririn packed his clothes into a knapsack and jogged toward the lake, where he proceeded to try flying once again. How long had it been since he felt the wind blowing against his face? Whipping through his black locks when he still had them? He concentrated on his chi and focused it at his feet. The corner of his mouth twitched upward as he remembered how Goku had shot a kamehameha through his feet during the epic battle against Piccolo in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. The chi expelled through his feet like a giant inflatable cushion and Kuririn found himself up in the air. He wobbled slightly at first before steadily gaining control. In no time at all, he was flying circles around the lake, grinning widely.

The familiarity wrapped itself around Kuririn and he let out a whoop of joy that was carried away by the breeze and swept down rivers and through forests. He swooped downward to fetch his knapsack before flying to the nearest city: Orange Star City, still untouched by the name and influence of 'Hercule Satan'.

This is great, thought Kuririn. It feels so good to fly again. I'll be in Orange Star in no time. Then I might stop by West City and take a peek at Capsule Corp back in the day. I still can't believe the most famous multi-billion zeni empire in the world was founded on one product. He allowed himself to be impressed by the idea of it all. He reminisced about the time when Capsule Corp. first released their famous Hoi Poi Capsules. He had only been a small child back then. They've come so far.

His joyful mood was dampened when his family and friends overwhelmed all other thoughts. I wonder how everyone's doing back home. Most of 'em will be fine. It's Marron and Goku I'm worried about. Actually, scratch that, just Marron. Goku... he and I will meet again one day and he knows it. But Marron... It came like a kick in the gut. Marron had become so closed off when the doctors had diagnosed him. She stopped laughing, smiling. Kuririn realised that she had never looked more like 18 and he hated that. 18... was 18. Stone cold. Icy. Bold. And he was fine with that; he still loved her for it. But Marron wasn't her. Marron didn't need to be her to cope. The transformation from a happy, carefree child to a frosty, snappish shrew almost felt completely unnatural. Oh, why did he have to leave her? If it wasn't travelling back in time it was death. Marron had been 17. She should have been out living her life like any normal girl; meeting boys, going on dates, shopping with her friends. But instead, she got stuck with caring for her sick father for the next 10 years of her life. He knew she held nothing against him for that, but it did not stop him from feeling guilty. She's my daughter. I should have fought harder. I should have hung on longer. For her. But at the end of the day it was all 'what ifs' and 'should haves'.

I'll see her again one day. I will. I'll make sure of it. And when that day comes, I'll give her all my love and be the father that she needed me to be. Marron... we'll meet again. And I promise I'll never leave you this time around.

It was a vow he would not break.


Pan emerged from the time machine. The lab was incredibly different from its future counterpart. For one, there were no blueprints and schematics plastered all over the walls and the inventions were noticeably more rustic. Motorcycles still had wheels, for one. In Pan's time, electromagnetic levitation had been the successor to wheels. Devices were more bulky instead of sleek.

I almost miss the future, Pan thought, amused.

She capsulized the time machine and placed it with the rest of her capsules in the capsule case. She then slipped the case into her pocket before leaving the room casually. With feline grace, she managed to avoid employees and the Briefs family and made it to the building's perimeters. Just as she was about to step out the front door, someone called, "Hey!"

Pan froze. Then she turned around to face a much younger Bulma Briefs: 16 to be exact. She wore her hair down with part of it in a side ponytail. It was a far cry from the short but stylish bob she was used to seeing on the genius. It seemed the younger Bulma wasn't that into ribbon scarves or necklaces either, as opposed to her older self. Her neck was bare and she wore a tight fitting top that showed her midriff. The look was completed by a pair of short shorts.

"Do I know you?" said Bulma, tilting her head slightly and narrowing her aqua eyes. "You seem awfully familiar."

"I think I just have that face," Pan said, her voice wavering nervously. She rubbed the back of her head in typical Son fashion.

Bulma's sharp eyes did not miss the gesture. "You sure about that?"

Pan broke out into a sweat. No! This could not be happening. What did Bulma see? It wasn't like she was wearing her grandfather's trademark gi or anything. She had purposely worn a different set of clothes so she wouldn't be recognized. "Yes, I'm sure," she managed to say.

"Mm. Whatever. So just who are you? You remind me an awful lot about someone I know. A certain Son Goku to be exact."

"S-sorry who?" Pan glanced down at her wrist. "Oh would you look at the time! I have a really important appointment to get to. See ya!" With speed only a saiyan could possess, she dashed out the door and disappeared into streets.

"Hey wait! How did you get in here?!" Bulma released a frustrated growl. "She wasn't even wearing a watch..."

"Miss," buzzed the maid robot, rolling up to the irate teenager. "School starts half an hour. You may want to leave."

"Crap!"


In the early morning light, Kuririn touched down on the outskirts of Orange Star City and walked the rest of the way there. Unlike Goku, Kuririn was no uncivilized hick, and managed to find his way around pretty easily. He searched around for odd jobs to do, like helping out in restaurants and construction, anything to get money. By the end of the morning, Kuririn had earned 35 zeni.

That should be enough for lunch and dinner. Phew. Is this what Goku normally feels like when he's hungry? I could eat a literal horse.

Loud cries and shouts reached his ears and Kuririn turned to his left to see a crowd of people gathered. "Huh," he said aloud. "I wonder what's up there?" Curiosity piqued, Kuririn made his way through the crowd to the front.

"Boo yah!" a teenage boy hollered as he performed a flurry of air punches. "Awright, awright who's next?! Who dares face... the mighty Hercule Satan?!"

Kuririn nearly fell over from shock. Hercule?! Kami, you have got to me kidding me...

Outside of the makeshift fighting ring was a boombox playing a familiar tune. To be exact, it was Hercule's theme song. Kuririn shook his head. The future world champion couldn't even have been 18 and he had his own theme song.

Hercule was quite different to his future counterpart. His muscles weren't as quite filled out, his skin was paler and his face was spotted with acne.

Oh what the heck... why not? "I'll fight you."

There was a brief hush before the expected laughter erupted.

Hercule sniffed crassly. "No way. I don't fight little kids."

"Kid? You can't be much older than me, kid. Fight me. If you're as good as you say that is..."

"Pfft, alright. But don't expect me to go easy on you." Hercule gave Kuririn the 'thumbs down' followed by the 'victory sign'. Kuririn just sighed in exasperation.

Hercule didn't bother shifting into a stance before he went on the offense. It was almost too easy for Kuririn. It was a continual pattern of dodge, block and hit. Dodge, block, hit. Dodge, block, hit.

Upon the final 'hit', Kuririn landed a vicious uppercut, putting his full strength into the punch. If he had had his adult body, Kuririn would have shattered the teenager's jaw into a million pieces.

Instead, Hercule landed on the concrete, disbelief on his face. Then he stood up, brushed himself off and massaged his jaw. Kuririn was surprised at the amount of dignity the future champ managed to retain as he did so.

"Good fight, kid," said Hercule, still wide-eyed. "What dojo did you train at?"

"Orin Temple. But, honestly, it isn't that great. There are better dojos out there."

By now, the crowd had dispersed and Hercule started packing up his things. "You are real good, lemme tell ya. Nobody's been able to take me down that easily before." He capsulized the boombox. "What's your name? I'm Hercule Satan."

"Just call me Kuririn. You're not so bad yourself. But I can't help but notice some faults in your technique."

Suddenly, all the swagger seemed to seep out of Hercule. His smug smirk was replaced by a sheepish expression. "Yeah, I know. I'm real strong and I know it but most of it's all self-taught. I want to be a wrestler, you see. I got most of my techniques from old wrestling videos I found on the internet. But you... wow, what you did was amazing. And I could tell you weren't going all out either."

"I'm a traditional martial artist," explained Kuririn. "Which was why you had such a hard time landing hits. You have more of a brawler style, while my style is more refined and precise. And that was your downfall. I attacked while your defense was lowered. You waste too much energy on excess movement and you leave yourself wide open when you do one of your 'Satan Mega Punches'."

Hercule was awestruck. "You got all that from just one match? That's amazing! I knew that there were stronger guys out there but you're way out of my league!" A determined expression settled on his face. "That does it. I'm going to train and grow stronger. One day we'll fight again and that's when I'll beat you!"

"Looking forward to it," Kuririn answered with a chuckle. "Good luck on your training Hercule."

Goodbyes were said, and as they parted ways, Kuririn couldn't help but feel that he had changed history for the better. Or at least taught Hercule a little humility earlier on before the Cell Games fiasco.

You're a good man Hercule. Try not to lose sight of what's right.


Pan searched wildly for Kuririn's chi signature. She had never had such a hard time honing on the chi of a powerful fighter, but Kuririn's chi seemed to blend in right along with the other earthlings. Pan figured it was because he might not be as strong as was before.

After circling around West City, it became obvious that Kuririn wasn't in the city. She was about to take her search somewhere else when something caught her eye. A very familiar girl was being hauled into an ambulance. She was bleeding all over the place, straining the sheets red. Across the road, her motorcycle lay on its side, crushed beyond repair. A very literal chill ran down her spine as the blood in her veins turned to ice.

Oh no. Ohh, Kami, no, please, let me be wrong.

She landed discreetly before hurrying to a police officer. "What happened?"

The officer grimaced. "A pretty bad accident, that's what happened. I'm not allowed to disclose anymore information than that, sorry."

But the officer didn't need to tell Pan the details. Because the carnage spoke for itself. The still, bloodied body of Bulma Briefs lay on the emergency bed. Her chi incredibly weak.

Bulma Briefs was going to die. From the look of those injuries, the doctors wouldn't be able to save her no matter what they did. Pan had seemed some pretty grievous injuries attained from intense training with Vegeta in the gravity room, but what she saw today topped it all. There was no way a mere human like Bulma would survive those wounds.

B-but then how is she alive in the future? The dragon balls maybe? No, I don't think so. Maybe... maybe my visit here effected the timeline more than I thought it would. Or maybe Kuririn changed something. Either way, I can't afford to take any chances.

Not bothering to hide anything, Pan took to the skies.


Bora looked up to the sky. He had sensed something. The muscly Indian was by no means an accomplished chi user, but he could sense that something was coming. Something big and powerful.

"Father?" said a small voice. Upa peeped out from the tent. "Is there something wrong, father?"

"I don't think so," replied Bora. "Something is coming, but I cannot feel any evil intent. Go inside. I will see what it wants."

A speck in the sky appeared. It was surrounded by white light. As the figure got closer, Bora could see that it was a petite, raven-haired girl. He stared in surprise.

Pan saw Bora waving at her but she did not engage him. There was no time for formalities. Instead, she flew upward along the tower.

"Master Karin!" she shouted. "Master Karin!"

The familiar form of said master appeared from the tower's railing. He hadn't changed at all. He was still white, furry and hilariously tubby. The cat sized Pan up for a few moments before nodding gravely. "I'll go grab some sensu beans. But let me tell you this, Son Pan, manipulation of time is a dangerous thing. Be careful."

Pan collected the beans and thanked the master before flying off.

Bora and Upa watched her disappear into the distance.

"What an amazing woman," Bora mused. He turned to Upa. "Promise me Upa, that you'll try to be like her someday. I sense goodness in her heart as well as immense strength."

"I promise, father," vowed Upa. "I will also be strong and kind as you have said."


A/N: It seems that a few things have changed in the course of history. Hercule's lesson in humility came a little (okay a lot) earlier than it did in the original timeline, Upa's promise to be like Goku came in a different form and time and it seems Bulma's life may hang on the line.

Few explanations may be required for this chapter:

1. The scene with Hercule is based off on Goku's encounter with a Bruce Lee wannabe in West City, which he proceeds to wipe the floor with.

2. Kuririn left for Orange Star City at night and arrived in the morning, while Pan arrived in West City in the morning as well.

3. Kuririn is significantly weaker than his future self at the moment, but only in strength. He is mostly experienced in chi manipulation and chi attacks and fighting technique. Kuririn punching Hercule with his full strength wouldn't have hurt him too badly.

4. Bulma got into her accident because she was speeding to school. This is because she wasted time talking to Pan, causing her to be late. Additionally, she was most likely preoccupied trying to figure out Pan rather than focusing her thoughts on the road.

5. Pan did not have sensu beans from the future because she left on short noticed and only packed essentials.

6. Everything happens around the time when the dragon ball hunt ended. Holidays have ended and school has started. I suspect Yamcha wouldn't be living with his girlfriend until a bit later. Kuririn's birthday is in a few days and that's when he will travel to seek training from Kame Sen'nin along with Goku.