Fade to Black

Chapter 3: Konata-jin Attack?! The Statues Come to Life!!!

Pan stood with her hands clenched into fists at her sides. She casually fell into a power-up stance and a tornado of white energy erupted around her body. The sky above Pan was a clear blue with small white clouds periodically dotting it. It was a perfect day for Pan to train to become the next great savior of Earth. She lowered her head, gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. The white aura grew more and more and she rapidly increased her energy output. She opened her eyes and stared angrily at the grassy field that stretched out in front of her. With a scream, her aura grew twice in size and her hair stood straight up on end. Her eyes slowly flashed between their normal black and a teal color before it all ended with a sonic boom. She was now at full power.

She extended an arm out in front of her and examined her partially gloved hand. Pan then turned her gaze to a large boulder that lay about a football field away from her. She jumped skyward and stopped tens of feet off the ground in power-up stance. The female Saiya-jin placed her hands above her head, left hand behind the right, and focused her energy until a basketball sized ball of scorching yellow energy formed. She whipped her touching hands down toward her chest and shouted.

"Ma...sen…ko…HA!!!"

The fiery blast shot out of her palms like a rocket and upon connection with it's target, turned the area around it into a small dark crater of scorched Earth. Dust fell from the sky and scattered the surrounding area of Pan's training ground. She returned to Earth and in the sunlight, instantly began shadow boxing against herself. Her shadow danced across the ground as she fought herself through the grassy landscape. After five minutes or so, Pan stopped to catch her breath. She wiped her forehead with the back of her gloved hand and exhaled heavily. It had been nearly five days since Bulma had taken the mysterious space ship back to Capsule Corp. and there had been no word on where it had come from. Pan didn't spend her days fretting about it though. It could've just been space pirates.

Pan's peaceful rest was soon interrupted by an ear piercing beep from her wristwatch. She rolled her eyes and sighed. It was probably the police trying to reach her superhero fighting persona, Great Saiyagirl, to foil another bank robbery. To her surprise, the tiny LCD screen on her watch flickered and a concerned Bulma appeared. Even with the upgraded watch, the image came in a bit grainy, and thin black lines scrolled from the bottom to the top of the screen. The older women on the screen sighed.

"Pan, I think it would probably be a good idea if you came with your father and uncle to Capsule Corp. We've finished the ship's travel log analysis and I'm afraid Trunks' theory was right," Pan sternly nodded in agreement.

"I see. I'll let my dad know right away. I'll have to leave a message for Grandma Chi-Chi though. Goten's out on yet another date with Paris," Bulma gave Pan a half-smile and thanked her. The two exchanged their goodbyes and the screen blipped off into a single white point on the screen that slowly faded away. Pan turned her face toward the sunshine filled sky and levitated a few feet off the ground. She scrunched herself up a bit and clenched her fists. A white aura swirled around her and she shot off toward her home to inform her parents and hopefully her uncle with the news.

-

At the Son residence…

Gohan sat alone at a large oak table that was situated in the middle of his kitchen. The tan painted walls were adorned with photos of past years and memories. Most of the pictures were family portraits through the years but there were also pictures of Goku and the rest of the family's friends. One of the pictures that sat above the rest was of Goku and Gohan relaxing in a field a few days before the Cell Games…blonde hair and all. Another directly below it held an image of Mr. Satan stooped over with a hand on Trunks' shoulder giving the peace sign. Trunks stood with his arms crossed and his eyes pointed skyward in disbelief. Goten stood on the opposite side with his shoulders slumped over and an angry look directed at his friend. This was taken after the boys had competed in the junior division of the Tenkaichi Budokai the day Majin Buu hatched. As Gohan sat and circled his students' wrong answers with a red pen, Pan touched down outside of the small mountain home and burst through the door. Gohan lifted his head from the paperwork he was correcting and took his red-rimmed glasses off. The seasoned fighter could easily tell something was wrong with the slightly distressed look that was across Pan's face.

"What's the matter Pan?" the concerned father asked. Pan rubbed the back of her head with her right hand and began to explain the situation that Earth had found itself in now.

"Bulma called me on my wristwatch and said they were finished with the ship log analysis. Trunks was right…the ship is from Konats. We need to go to Capsule Corp. right away," Pan said. Gohan sighed and stood up from his seat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue cell phone. He hit a few buttons and placed the small device to his ear. Gohan looked over to his daughter.

"I knew this peace wouldn't last forever," Gohan sighed to himself. He waited as the phone rang a few more times until his brother picked up. Gohan carefully unraveled the situation for Goten and instructed him to meet them at Capsule Corp. as soon as he could. He hung the phone up and placed the phone back into his pocket. "C'mon Pan, let's go," Pan nodded to her father and opened the door to leave. As she opened the door, Videl was walking toward them with two bags of groceries in her hands. She walked up to Pan and placed a bag into her arms.

"How about helping your mom out sweetie?" Videl asked. Pan frowned, rolled her eyes and followed her mother back into the house. Gohan could be seen clearing the papers he was grading from the table and placing them into a black suitcase. Videl set her bag down on the kitchen counter and turned toward Gohan. Without a word, Gohan told Videl the story as well and a frightened look fell upon her face.

"Not again Gohan! You were sure these things would stop with your father being gone and all," she said, clearly a bit irritated.

"I thought that's how things would be but apparently I was wrong," Gohan walked over to his wife and wrapped her in a hug. "Everything will be ok, it always is," he said into her eyes. Videl gave him a smile and Gohan returned this with a kiss on the forehead. Pan was now standing by the door, waiting for her father to accompany her to Capsule Corp. Gohan made his way over to her and they both waved goodbye to Videl. Once they were gone, Videl left as well and walked next door to visit her mother-in-law. She knocked on the door and in a matter of seconds, was met by Chi-Chi. The mother of two happily greeted Videl and led her into the small house. Chi-Chi sat Videl down at the kitchen table, placed a cup of tea before Videl and took a seat across from her. Seeing the look of anxiety in Videl's eyes, Chi-Chi spoke up.

"Is there something wrong Videl? You look a bit frazzled," Videl removed her attention from her tea and looked up at Chi-Chi.

"Gohan told me there's another problem. That spaceship turned out to be more than just space pirates like Pan told me," Videl took a sip from her tea and waited for Chi-Chi's response. To her surprise, Chi-Chi gave her a short laugh.

"Well of course it's more than just space pirates Videl. If I've learned anything from being married to Goku, it's that nothing is what it seems…ever," she said confidently. Chi-Chi placed a hand on Videl's wrist and smiled. "We've been through this before. We'll pull through…as always," Videl gave Chi-Chi a tentative smile and took a sip from her drink.

-

At Capsule Corp…

Pan, Gohan and Trunks were all gathered around Bulma as she read information that the ship log analysis had provided them off of a computer screen. Vegeta, wearing a black tank top, white Saiya-jin gloves, baggy gray pants and white Saiya-jin boots, leaned up against the door frame. The group was used to his anti-social tendencies by now. He wasn't near them but they knew he was listening just as intently as they were. Once Bulma had filled the Saiya-jins with all the information they needed, Gohan spoke.

"I suppose all we can do is stay vigilant. We must be prepared for anything that could come our way," Gohan said seriously. "There's no telling what will happen next. I remember these Konata-jins are crafty," Vegeta walked further into the room and placed his right fist on his hip.

"I'll save you all the trouble of preparing by letting you know that I can take care of this myself so I suggest you stay out of my way," Vegeta said arrogantly. Gohan frowned at the elder Saiya-jin and crossed his arms.

"Vegeta, we have no idea what this thing is capable of. Who knows how strong it is," Gohan said. Vegeta laughed at him and began walking out of the room. He threw a hand up in the air to wave goodbye.

"With Kakarott out of the way, no one will stand in my way as the most powerful being in the universe," As he left, they could see Goten side step Vegeta, who was busy stalking down the walkway to move, and enter the room. Goten ran a hand threw his newly grown long, black hair and spoke.

"Did I miss anything guys?" he asked. Pan laughed at her uncle and walked past him out of the room.

"Yes Uncle Goten, you missed all of it," Goten raised an eyebrow at his teenage niece and turned back to Gohan, Bulma and Trunks. Goten took a seat on a black computer chair and leaned toward the group, intent on gathering as much information as he could. Once Gohan finished filling his brother in, Trunks pulled his best friend off to the walkway outside of the computer room to have a private word with him. Goten leaned up against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets; calm as could be. Trunks on the other hand paced back in forth nervously in front of him. After a few moments of silence, Goten grabbed Trunks' arm to stop the pacing.

"What's the matter Trunks? Are you really that worried about this?" Trunks' icy blue eyes locked onto Goten's and the black-haired Saiya-jin's mood instantly fell a bit.

"This is our first major test without Goku, don't you remember that?" Trunks reminded him. Goten sighed and placed his hands behind his head.

"Of course I know that Trunks. He is my father after all. Even after all of the things we've been through, we should've expected these various troubles…it's no different than before. But somehow…we'll defiantly overcome this because here on Earth…there are some pretty incredible guys," Goten said, pointing between Trunks and himself. This managed to crack a smile on his friend's face. Trunks turned around and placed his hands on a metal railing. He turned his head back and looked at Goten out of the corner of his eye.

"I did want to talk to you out here for a reason though," Trunks stated. Goten tipped his head and stood up straight. Goten joined Trunks on the rail and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you thinking Trunks?" Goten asked. Trunks smiled and glanced over to his friend.

"Fusion Goten,"

"You've got to be kidding me Trunks. Do you even remember any of that dance? It was ridiculous!" Goten exclaimed. Trunks turned his body toward his friend.

"As ridiculous as it is, it could be our only chance to win. We don't know how strong these guys are," Trunks said, trying to convince him. Goten looked toward the ground, seemingly in thought, for a moment. He looked back up and smacked Trunks on the shoulder.

"I'm in,"

As the two longtime friends were making plans for triumph, Pan was wandering around the lower level of Capsule Corp. looking for Vegeta. Even though he was generally cold toward her, and her entire family for that matter, to her, he was an endless fountain of knowledge just like her grandfather. Pan made her way to the lowest level of the building and found herself staring down a dark corridor. She walked down the dark hallway and stopped once she reached a door outlined in red light. The thick metal door was dotted with screw heads and a small window in the middle of it. Pan placed her hands on the door and looked through the window to see Vegeta kicking rapidly at the air. She glanced over at the wall to the right of her and saw '900G' in red digital numbers. She turned back to the window to see the red lights were now replaced by everyday fluorescent white. Vegeta was now standing with his back to the door and placed a towel around his neck. Assuming it was safe to enter; Pan grabbed the metal door handle, pulled it down and yanked the heavy door open. Without turning, Vegeta took a sip of water from a water bottle.

"What are you doing here?" he spat. Any normal person would be taken back by his demeanor but Pan took it in stride as she continued walking toward him. Vegeta turned toward her and scowled. She stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Now I know all about your history with my family but I'm willing to make a fresh start at this if you are," Pan began. Vegeta placed his right fist on his hip again dropped his water bottle to the ground. The bottle slowly rolled over to Pan and stopped at her feet.

"I don't have time for this. What are you getting at?"

"Goten isn't much of a challenge anymore and my father is always busy with his job. Trunks seems to be working here all the time and Uub is god knows where. That leaves you Vegeta…how 'bout it? You've got to be bored training by yourself by now," Pan asked. Unfortunately for Pan, Vegeta wasn't easy to convince in the least bit. He turned around and walked away from her, grasping each end of the towel that was draped around his neck.

"No one on this planet is worthy enough to fight with me anymore," he said. Pan placed her hands on her hips and stared angrily at Vegeta.

"So I suppose that goes for your own son and my father as well?" she shouted. Pan began to walk out of the room. "I don't even know why I bothered. I'll see you when I need to," she stormed out of the gravity chamber and slammed the heavy metal door, nearly knocking it off of its hinges. Vegeta turned toward the door and shook his head.

-

In a cave on the outskirts of Satan City…

A short creature wearing a light brown overcoat, dark blue undershirt and a tall black hat paced frantically across the dirt ground near the front of a large cave. The late day sun revealed the short man's pink skin, white hair and pointy ears. The man stopped for a moment and looked toward the tall buildings of Satan City with a devious grin on his face.

"Shingai! Ikei! It is time," the man cried. A tall muscular man with a red Mohawk and an outfit similar to the men that Pan disposed of days ago emerged from the cave. Seconds later, a shorter, lankier man with matching clothes and hair followed. The two men stood on either side of the shorter pink one and folded their arms. The pink man placed two fingers on each of his temples and closed his eyes tight. Shingai and Ikei glanced down at the little man and watched his mouth move as it poured out inaudible words.

After a minute or two, the man finished and a devilish smile returned to his face. "It begins,"

-

At Capsule Corp…

Mr. Briefs shot out of his laboratory and bolted down a walkway toward the sitting room that Gohan, Bulma, Pan, Trunks and Goten occupied. His unexpected entrance was met with grave concern as he screamed loudly.

"T-the statues! They've come to life!" Gohan, Trunks, Pan and Goten shot up from their seated positions and immediately began running toward the lab. Before they could reach the room, the door burst off its hinges with a yellow blast of energy. Gohan threw an arm out and stopped the rest from going any further. The insect statues shot out of the laboratory like a swarm of bees and flew around wildly for a second before focusing their attention on Pan and the others. The insects clicked loudly; knowing they had acquired their desired targets.

"We've got to lead them out of here!" Gohan shouted. The three younger Saiya-jins nodded and followed Gohan over the railing and down onto the main floor. The Saiya-jins ran through the double door entrance of Capsule Corp. and out into the streets. As they exited, they nearly knocked Bra over, who was returning home with shopping bags full of clothes draped over her arms.

"Hey watch it!" she cried as they shot off into the sky. "I swear…" Bra reached for the door but as she did, the swarm of insects flew like bullets past the blue-haired demi-Saiya-jin and after Gohan, Trunks, Pan and Goten. Bra let out an eardrum shattering scream and tossed her bags in the air. She fell to her knees and brought her hands up to her mouth as clothes gently fell from the sky around her.

The former statues trailed their Saiya-jin targets closely as they flew away from the city and out toward a desolate area full of tall, red rock formations. Trunks turned his head and looked behind them to count thirteen creatures following them. He glanced over to Pan, who was flying next to him, and saw a look on her face he hadn't seen since Goku defeated Omega Shenron. Goten shot up next to him and nudged him a little bit. Trunks turned to his friend.

"So, you think we should use fusion for this?" Goten asked, thinking the fusion was a joke for a moment. Trunks shook his head.

"No. I think we can take them ourselves…but I feel we'll need it for later," Trunks returned sternly. Goten faced forward and saw his brother shooting down toward the ground. Pan, Goten and Trunks shot after him and touched down on the picturesque desert landscape. They were surrounded by towering rock formations, huge rock arches and high cliffs. Grass could be seen growing in patches here and there but the ground was mainly reddish-brown dirt. The insect creatures landed about twenty feet away from the warriors. Their wings folded on their backs and they each bent down into a power-up stance. Gohan, Pan, Goten and Trunks followed suit and fell into their own fighting stances. Dust slowly blew across the soon-to-be battle field and the tension rose. All of a sudden one of the insects screeched and shot off toward Goten. The rest followed suit and picked a warrior to attempt an attack on.

Goten jumped backward from the group's line and prepared to fight. He crossed his arms in front of him and blocked a double left-armed punch from one of the creatures, but was immediately met with two fists in his back from another insect. Goten lurched forward in shock and was kicked up into the air. He back flipped twice and composed himself once again. He saw the two insects fly toward him and raised a hand in front of his face. A yellow energy blast shot out from his palm, causing his enemies to fly in opposite directions to avoid it. They instantly disappeared from Goten's view and appeared behind him. Goten felt two kicks slam into his lower back and he plummeted quickly to the ground.

Gohan floated in the air with his hands tightly held in fists. A cloud of dust shot up from the ground after he quickly knocked his two opponents down with one kick to both of their necks. He wasn't the strongest fighter anymore, but he surely was the smartest. The two insects had flown at him in a tight side-by-side formation and Gohan took the opportunity to strike them down. Knowing full well that it wasn't over, he watched his opponents stand and shoot back off toward him. They each fired an energy blast at Gohan, who easily brushed them away with hands. Seeing an opening, one insect creature threw a double right-handed uppercut into Gohan's stomach, sending him higher into the air. The alien's partner clasped his two upper hands together and slammed Gohan in the mid back, sending him to the ground.

Gohan glanced over to his brother and threw him a smirk. Gohan and Goten bent down and gave a little shout. Two bright golden auras shot forth from them and their black hair stood up on end, turning gold as well. Their recently changed teal eyes saw their opponents flying toward them and the Super Saiya-jins smiled.

Pan on the other hand was having an easy time with the insects that chose her as their target. She slammed a roundhouse kick to the side of one of the insect's head, distorting his cheek and sending him flying into a rock formation. The other creature repeatedly shot yellow ki blasts at the young Saiya-jin but his effort failed as she gracefully back flipped away from each of the white hot beams. Pan landed after her final back flip and brushed some hair from her face. Without knowing, a third insect had managed to sneak behind her and landed a flying kick that sent her into the rocks.

She slowly turned to see one of the insects holding his palm in front of her face. His palm lit up with a yellow energy blast and the insect laughed maniacally. Just as he was about to release the blast at the surprised girl, a blue beam of energy tore through the side of the insect. Pan removed her arms from a guarded position and saw Vegeta with his hand outstretched.

"Thanks Vegeta," Pan said. Vegeta threw his hand into the air at her as his way of saying 'you're welcome' before he flew off to annihilate his next victim. Pan exited her near-grave and saw three Super Saiya-jins and Vegeta easily taking care of the remaining insects. Pan's eyes turned skyward as one of them shot a blast in her direction. She dodged the blast with ease and shot a return blast at her enemy. The insect narrowly avoided her attack, but soon found itself flying toward the ground as Pan had landed a crushing punch to the top of the alien's head. As the insect fell, Pan raised her arms at her sides and floated like a cross in the sky. A blue ball of energy formed in each of her hands.

"Totsugeki!!!" she shouted as she connected her wrists together. The two blue balls transformed into a single blue beam of energy. It collided with her downed opponent and when the smoke cleared, left a crater where it used to be. Pan's eyes looked over to where her father and the rest were fighting. She watched as Goten engulfed his opponent with a single energy blast, signaling the end of the relatively easy bout. She flew over to the rest and touched down next to Gohan. Trunks, Goten and Gohan's hair each fell into its normal position as they powered down and greeted her with smiles.

"Nice job Pan. You really held your own out there," Goten said. Pan rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Its lucky Vegeta showed up just in time. I'd be a goner if it wasn't for him," she told them. Vegeta turned his back to the group.

"Don't go on thinking you're special Pan. We need to keep as many of us alive as we can without the Dragon Balls," he snarled. Pan shook her head and laughed a bit. The group's celebration was short lived as they were interrupted by the sound of slow clapping. They looked across the field in front of them and saw the short pink alien clapping. As before, the two men named Shingai and Ikei stood at his sides.

"I'm impressed Earthlings, I truly am. You took my army of insects out with ease…just as I suspected," the pink man said. Gohan glared at the man and began to walk toward him.

"Who are you? What is your business on Earth?" The little man laughed to himself and bowed to the warriors.

"How rude of me," he began. "I am the black magician Kyou from the planet Konats, and these are my warriors Shingai and Ikei," he said as he pointed to himself and to each of the men. "As for my business…I run an intergalactic real estate business if you will. I'm sure I can sell this beautiful planet for quite a high price," he laughed. Gohan glared at Kyou. He was now joined by Trunks, Goten, Pan and Vegeta; who had each taken an interest in the little man's words.

"As I'm always the fan of a fair fight, how about we have one of my men versus…one of yours," he cackled. Goten stepped forward from the group, to everyone's surprise, and pointed at Kyou.

"Looks like I'm your man!"

-

A/N: I thought it'd be neat to include some power levels at the end of certain fights. I saw it in AlphaDelta1001's fic 'Path of a Warrior' and thought it was a brilliant idea so…all credit to him.

Power Levels

Battle with Konata-jin Insects

Pan – 76,000,000

Gohan (base) – 35,000,000

Gohan (Super Saiya-jin) – 140,000,000

Goten (base) – 19,000,000

Goten (Super Saiya-jin) – 77,000,000

Trunks (base) – 21,000,000

Trunks (Super Saiya-jin) – 84,000,000

Vegeta – 150,000,000

Konata-jin Insect – 75,000,000 (each)