Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
There Pan stood in the wasteland-like remains of the World Martial Arts tournament grounds, save for the square shape of the ring. Her grandfather, a young man about her age, stood to her right and Piccolo, whom everyone here referred to as Junior, in front of her.
Even as the battle was about to take place, and even with everything she had read from the Time Patrol manual, she was still processing everything...
"Pan, you're in the field now," stated the Supreme Kai of Time. "Everything rests on your shoulders. You've got to stay focused."
She began to recompose herself.
"Alright."
She watched Piccolo like a hawk, whose feet began moving.
"If there's one advantage you have, Pan, it's that Piccolo's laser-focused on Goku."
Sure enough, Piccolo made his move towards Goku, just as Pan had counted on. Their left wrists clashed, along with their right knees.
The two were now trading kicks and punches quickly, neither managing to land a successful blow as of yet. Goku watched the two clashing in front of him.
"She didn't have to do that... but wow. This girl's managing to keep up with him."
The Z-Fighters were also amazed at this as Master Roshi's gaze was hidden behind his sunglasses.
"Whoever this young lady is, human or otherwise, must be well-versed in martial arts to be standing her ground against Junior."
But as she clashed with Piccolo, Pan caught her mind wandering through memories.
"No, no, not now!"
There Pan was, four years old, sparring with Piccolo. She was trying as hard as she could to hit him while Piccolo was clearly feigning, swinging his arms halfheartedly and letting Pan slip past his guard.
"I'm gonna beat you, Mr. Piccolo."
Piccolo, smiling, covered his face with his arms.
"What? I am being defeated?"
Her punches hardly affected him, but he played it off like he couldn't stand them.
"You better look out."
He cowered.
"Oh no, this can't be..."
Piccolo pretended to fall over onto his back as Pan's fist was aimed right at him. He raised his hands upward.
"You win, Pan. Have mercy."
And in that moment, Pan realized as she was thinking of that memory of play-fighting with Piccolo, she had began striking with less force.
"What's this?" asked Piccolo. "Pulling your punches on me?"
In spite of her gesture, he struck hard with his left arm, which Pan barely blocked with both arms.
"You dare to underestimate me?!"
Pan just realized she was only stopping one of his arms.
"You brat!"
A punch from his right hand slammed Pan into the ground.
"Junior!" shouted Goku, getting Piccolo's attention.
With a blast of air creating by thrusting his fist forward, Piccolo was partially knocked back.
"Come and get me!"
From there, the two stood their grounds, charging with electricity-like ki, Goku's red and Piccolo's blue.
Pan, starting to get up, realized the side of her lip was bloodied by that punch.
"What happened, Pan?" inquired the Supreme Kai of Time. "I told you before this that Piccolo's a villain here."
She looked over at Goku and Piccolo clashing, almost appearing to be surrounded by orbs of electricity.
"I know Piccolo was there for you growing up, but if you don't fight him seriously, he'll kill you if he gets the chance."
Pan could now see that Goku's field was beginning to weaken due to him having used much of his energy throughout the fight.
"Oh, Goku..." taunted Piccolo. "You can barely even stand against me now."
The other Z-Fighters saw the clash going in Piccolo's favor, as well as Pan wiping the blood on her lip with her gloved hand before...
"Hey..." went Krillin. "Where did she go?"
She had vanished from their sight. Even Piccolo took notice of this while overpowering Goku. But then Goku caught him grinning.
"This girl won't save you now..."
He pushed Goku back with left hand while his right reached behind him...
Grabbing Pan by the back of her head. Goku quickly got back to his feet and rushed Piccolo for an attack, only to see him turning around, holding Pan off the ground in front of him. This gave him some bad deja-vu of when he faced Demon King Piccolo, who took Tien hostage.
"Damn it..." thought Goku. "I knew this was going to happen."
Confident, Piccolo cackled away.
"I knew it: you really do care for these pathetic weaklings... even one that interrupts our match."
He began to charge his left hand for an attack.
"I wonder what'll take longer: you being blasted to pieces, or this whelp's head being crushed in my..."
Pan had enough. Both her hands charged with ki as she aimed them behind her, blasting Piccolo's chest. He began to lose his grip for a moment, lowering her just enough to stomp on his foot.
Freed entirely, she struck him on the chin, causing him to stumble backward. Before she could follow up, she saw Piccolo's eyes glow red, then saw a beam firing from them.
"Oh crap!"
She ducked as Goku hopped over it, then kicked Piccolo in the face. Upon landing on his feet, Piccolo leapt up high, firing a barrage of ki blasts downward at the arena. The two took evasive action, flipping, rolling, and sliding to avoid each that came.
"Wait..."
She saw Goku starting to tire from the constant evasion. Seeing he couldn't avoid the next incoming projectile, she ran right for him with all haste.
"Look out, Gran...!" started Pan, stopping herself from finishing that sentence as she pushed Goku out of the way.
By that point, she could only try stopping it with an outstretched hand. After a small explosion, she found her right glove was nearly roasted off.
Despite her having saved Goku, Chi-Chi was not pleased with her.
"She was about to call my Goku 'Grandpa'. What nerve! After this is all over, I'm really going to give her a piece of my mind."
Pan caught the dirty look from the young woman who would become her grandmother.
"What's with Grandma? What bone could she have to pick with me?"
"Pan, you almost gave away something just now," said the Supreme Kai of Time. "If you call Goku by his name or Grandpa, you risk them catching on and changing history. Try something like 'look out, mister' next time."
"Yeah, that's a good point."
She saw Piccolo starting to land and Pan lunged at him, the two grabbing hold of each other's hands. Piccolo fired eye beams at Pan, who swerved her head to the side to avoid it. She saw Piccolo starting to crouch over.
"Get out of his grip, now!" shouted Goku, running towards Piccolo.
But by the time these words left his mouth, Piccolo had jumped backward, his arms stretching. With another hop, Piccolo yanked Pan off her feet. He swung her around, tossing her into Goku. Before she could touch the ground, Piccolo grabbed hold of Pan below her arms, then lifted her upward.
Pan was back to her memory of her sparring with Piccolo. Despite Piccolo's gesture and plea, young Pan backed away slowly, her fists still raised.
"You won't fool me, Piccolo. I bet you have something up your sleeve."
"But Pan..." went her father, who had just entered the room. "Mr. Piccolo's not wearing any sleeves."
She peered over at Piccolo's arms, not seeing any sleeves...
As well as realizing he had stretched his arms to grab hold of her by her sides and lift her off the ground.
"You let your guard down."
Despite Pan trying to swing her arms and legs to swing free, Piccolo had her.
"Now I'm really gonna get you, Pan."
With flicks of his fingers, Piccolo tickled Pan's sides while lifting her up even further as she laughed.
Finally returning to the present, Pan felt herself being yanked back downward, the back of her head hitting the ground hard.
"Let her go, Junior!" cried out Goku.
He lifted Pan back up once again, then another slam downward.
"Then go on..." taunted Piccolo. "Try and hit me."
Goku already knew Piccolo's tactic: if Goku tried to make a move on him, Pan would be placed in front and take the hit for Piccolo.
Pan turned her head, seeing a few drops of blood on the ground from that last collision: Piccolo was slamming her down as hard as he could. She could feel from the next fling that this one was intended to be his hardest.
She grabbed hold of his wrists with her hands, then squeezed as hard as she could.
"I could lift 10 tons, so let's see what I can do here."
Piccolo thought nothing of the gesture...
Until he felt something crushing his wrists.
"The hell...?!"
She forced herself downward onto her legs, then began tugging on his wrists.
"L... Let go of me!"
Pan didn't heed his words and kept pulling. She knew it was far from pleasant for Piccolo, but, as he had demonstrated with his viciousness thus far, this Piccolo was a far different individual than the one she knew growing up.
"Why... you!"
He charged both his hands with ki and fired two beams aimed for her face. Pan tilted her head twice, one beam only barely touching her hair. The beams in question flew far off into the distance, causing explosions farther away.
"He probably put a lot of energy into those... good."
After this, she tugged as she stepped backward, then, upon letting her feet off the ground, let go of Piccolo's arms and launched herself right at him.
Upon landing a two-knee strike to Piccolo's jaw, causing him to spit up some purple blood, Pan transitioned to a gut punch.
"That's it, Pan. Keep up the damage. Wear him down so Goku can take care of the rest."
Launch looked over at Pan's barrage against Piccolo with intrigue.
"Look at that. That girlie's really putting the hurt on Junior."
Tien watched alongside her.
"You're right. While hesitant before, now she looks to be overwhelming him."
As he got up, Goku saw Pan landing a multitude of punches against Piccolo, who couldn't seem to break free of her blitz.
"Wow... she really is strong. I'm surprised she wasn't in this tournament."
An uppercut to Piccolo's chin sent him flying upward as Pan flew after him. He fired off three projectiles to stop her, only for her to move left and right to avoid the first, then, with a ki-charged fist, punched through the last before it struck his face.
She zoomed above him, Piccolo clearly dazed as she readied both her arms to slam him back down into the ground.
"Wait, wait, stop!" cried the Supreme Kai of Time.
Pan stopped.
"What is it?!"
"Don't you see it?"
Pan began to look downward, seeing that had she struck Piccolo...
"You would've knocked him out of the ring! History will change if you're the one who rings him out. You have to keep him in the ring."
Seeing Pan frozen in midair, Piccolo decided to take advantage of it.
"Foolish girl..."
By the time Pan heard this, she saw too late yellow beams firing from Piccolo's antenna, striking her dead-on. She felt a shock across her entire body, crying out, before it dissipated, leaving her steaming...
And unable to move.
"I'm... stunned?"
She slowly descended as Piccolo floated above her, his fists raised above his head. In spite of his anger from the beating he took earlier, his expression slowly morphed into a cocky smile.
"I suppose I might as well get in a ring out."
As his fists slammed downward toward Pan, Goku intercepted it, blocking the blow with his wrists.
"Save the thrashings for me, Junior."
Piccolo grinned as he lifted his foot up, then stomped the top of Pan's head. She descended faster now, still not able to move.
"Oh, I will... after this."
He managed to move one of his hands in Pan's direction, unleashing a projectile aimed for her.
With a quick look up to see Goku and Piccolo, Pan also saw a projectile heading for her. She leapt out of the way, waiting to see the attack hit the ground, but instead, it curved, avoiding the ground and coming after her.
"Oh, come on!"
Yamcha saw Pan zooming across the area as the projectile kept following her.
"Wait, that's... that's almost like my Spirit Ball... except it's following her all by itself."
Kami turned to him.
"Indeed, it is very much akin to your technique. Perhaps he based it on yours."
Hearing that someone had based their technique off of his would've touched Yamcha in any other context, but this by the hands of the reincarnation of King Piccolo left him uneasy.
Pan was realizing how futile it was trying to outrun it.
"No matter what I do, it follows me."
But as she looked back at Piccolo and Goku's clash, she got an idea.
With a big hop, she zoomed toward Piccolo, then swung her arms in Goku's direction.
"Get outta the way!"
Goku did so as Pan flew behind Piccolo, then tapped him on the shoulder.
"Tag!"
Piccolo swung at her with an enraged hook, which she ducked.
"Quit interfering with my...!"
He realized he had sent his homing attack at Pan earlier, then turned around to see it coming right for him. He had fallen for the same tactic Goku used on him earlier, his own attack redirected back at him.
"Not this time!"
With his wrist, Piccolo knocked his own projectile attack away from him, which then course-corrected towards Pan once more.
"That was a good idea, Pan," complimented the Supreme Kai of Time. "It's just too bad that Piccolo already fell for it against Goku."
Now a distance from the ring, Pan saw the projectile returning to her, and faster than before.
"I can't outrun it anymore. Now..."
She put her hands out in front of her, the fingers in opposing directions.
"Masenko!"
She fired it off, the beam managing to strike Piccolo's projectile before it could hit her.
Piccolo and Goku, arms locked, descended fast and slammed each other into the ground, then saw a midair explosion in the distance.
"There... I did you a favor, Goku. No more distractions."
Goku and all the Z-Fighters looked over, not seeing any signs of Pan anywhere. Bulma was terrified at this.
"Did he... did he really kill her?"
Frightened, she grabbed hold of Yamcha's arm as he looked just as unsure as her. Krillin, next to him, looking all around him.
"I don't see her... anywhere at all."
Even Chi-Chi began to change her tone of Pan from earlier.
"How could that monster do that to her?"
"And now..." began Piccolo, gripping both his arms with his hands. "I'm getting bored of all of you."
Veins grew across Piccolo's body as he charged with an unbelievable energy. Everyone there recognized the technique... especially Goku, who had survived it earlier.
"He's doing that again?!"
Kami couldn't hide the fear on his face.
"This does not bode well for us. Not only is he about to unleash such a massive attack a second time... Goku doesn't have enough power to survive it again."
Tien was especially concerned with this statement.
"What are you saying? That Goku is done for?"
"Get out of there!" shouted Yamcha.
As much as Goku was more than capable of doing so, he saw Piccolo stepping in the direction of his friends and colleagues.
"What's the matter? Don't you want to see your friends one last time before they all go?"
This time, Piccolo intended to wipe everyone out. Goku looked over at his friends, then back to Piccolo.
"No... I won't let him do it. I know what I have to do. I have to get Junior as far away from here as I can..."
Goku saw Piccolo ready to place his arms outward, and got ready to charge at Piccolo with everything he had...
When Pan flew into Piccolo, grabbing hold of him and directing him high above the ring as quickly as she could.
"Look!" shouted Krillin, pointing upward. "That girl... she survived!"
Pan blasted Piccolo back with a quick burst of ki, then turned in the other direction quickly, knowing something big was coming her way.
"How... dare you!" screamed Piccolo, his arms upward, driven away from his intended targets and unable to stop his attack from commencing now.
A flash of white emerged, much like the one that destroyed the arena before. A huge explosion went off in the air, the shockwave in the air being more than enough to push Pan back with tremendous force towards the ground.
The crisis being averted and with Piccolo having used much of his energy like before, Goku ran in Pan's direction.
"Thank you for your help, but I'll take care of the rest."
Pan placed both her hands out in front of her as Goku jumped towards her. She grabbed hold of him, then threw him in Piccolo's direction as hard as she could. Combined with his own momentum, this allowed him to soar towards Piccolo rapidly, whom was in no position to defend himself.
"Tired already, Junior?!"
He unleashed a rapid barrage of punches, mostly striking his chest, stomach, and face.
Pan slowed down her descent, though still hit the ground hard, bouncing across before coming to a halt. She looked and saw Goku's flurry against Piccolo, then turned to see the Z-Fighters cheering for him.
"Sock it to him!" shouted Launch.
"Send Junior packing!" cheered Yamcha.
"Bring him down, Goku!" shouted Chi-Chi.
With a two-handed slam, Goku knocked Piccolo downward towards the arena square.
Pan looked back up and saw Piccolo coming right for her.
"...really, Grandpa?!"
She rolled to the side, avoiding the crashing Piccolo. Goku just realized he almost accidentally sent Piccolo directly onto Pan and lightly chuckled to himself with his hand behind his head.
"Sorry about that."
But after this, Goku looked down at Piccolo, who didn't show any signs of getting up soon. He then cupped his hands together.
"Ka... me... ha... me... HAAAA!"
The Kamehameha came at the grounded Piccolo, who screamed as the attack neared him, unable to get out of the way.
In a round hole lied Piccolo, partially buried by the dirt, his hands up and his mouth still open from his scream earlier.
As much as Pan didn't like seeing Piccolo in this condition, she knew that it meant the battle was over.
"Good job, Pan." congratulated the Supreme Kai of Time. "Once you get going, the announcer will start the countdown, and history will be restored."
Pan started to make her way to the edge of the ring, one foot raised outside it...
"Hey..."
Pan heard Goku talking to her and turned toward her grandfather.
"You really fought well. Who are you? And who trained you?"
These were exactly the two questions Pan had hoped to avoid hearing. Now what was she supposed to say?
A beam emerged from behind Goku, whom turned around upon hearing it...
And it pierced through the right side of his chest. Goku coughed up blood and fell back, seeing the beam originating from Piccolo's mouth.
Pan managed to catch Goku, holding him upward as he covered his wound with his hand. She was heavily shaken, as were the others, after having believed that Piccolo was defeated.
"Can't stand up without someone helping you, Goku?" asked Piccolo, spitting a drop of purple blood on the ground.
Yamcha could tell Goku was probably going to take this to heart and wouldn't accept this girl's help any longer.
"Don't listen to him, Goku! He's just trying to get under your skin!"
"What do I do, Supreme Kai?" asked Pan. "Can my grandfather still win this now?"
"Had you left unseen earlier, history would have restored itself, but since you're still here..."
Pan began to feel Goku trying to gently push away from her.
"You... you can't be serious, Grandpa."
He grinned at her, a drop of blood still on his lip.
"I appreciate you helping me earlier, I really do... but this is my fight."
"No!" shouted Kami in protest. "If you give in to your pride now, you will only allow him victory."
"Pan, Goku may be right," began the Supreme Kai of Time. "This may be the best time to leave. Once you've exited their sight..."
After seeing that Goku could stand up on his own, Pan began backing up as the Supreme Kai of Time explained. Chi-Chi did not take this gesture well and pointed right at her.
"Are you really going to leave my future husband bleeding here?! You... you...!"
Piccolo, however, was simply surprised to see Goku standing up at all.
"Your aim is as bad as your fighting..." taunted Goku. "You missed all my vital parts."
"All of them?!"
His composure began to turn as Goku slowly let go of his wound. But then he spotted Pan starting to hover overheard.
"I don't think they like how this looks..." Pan noticed. "...they won't remember a thing, right?"
"Well..."
A beam struck Pan on the back.
"No!"
Goku turned to see Pan being struck, then realized Piccolo was fast approaching him.
With a lunge, Piccolo struck Goku with both feet, forcing him onto his back. Upon landing with a stomp on his wound...
Pan stopped herself from touching the ground, then heard her grandfather screaming in pain: Piccolo was stepping on his wound repeatedly.
"I should've expected nothing less from the demon spawn of King Piccolo!" shouted Tien. "I can't stand aside any more!"
He and the others began charging for the arena when Piccolo, not even looking at them, spread a beam across the ground in front of them. They stopped, seeing a massive wide hole in front of them.
"I'll kill you all when it's your tu...!"
A flying tackle by Pan knocked Piccolo off Goku, followed by several punches to his face.
"I won't let you not kill m... him!"
Knowing to keep him in the ring, she concluded by throwing him straight down. As the two got to their feet, Piccolo looked at Goku's last location only to see a couple of drops of blood.
"Hey!"
A punch to Piccolo's back from Goku.
"I didn't hear the ten count."
Pan immediately attacked in front of him, forcing him to defend as Goku ducked under a desperate swing. In spite of his wound, Pan could at least keep Piccolo's attention split between the two.
He tried to jump upward, but found Goku hopping and grabbing onto his right arm. It seemed his attempt to pull Piccolo was unsuccessful...
But with Pan jumping onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck, their combined force finally forced him crashing down. Goku kept Piccolo's right arm pinned as Pan pinned his left with her own, then raised her right fist to strike him.
"Pan, you've got to let Piccolo go now," ordered the Supreme Kai of Time.
"No offense, but..." began Pan, while noticing Piccolo was pushing back harder. "... this really isn't the best time."
"Goku has to score the final blow himself. If you both defeat him together, history will change for sure."
His eyes glowing red, Piccolo fired beams from his eyes at Pan's stomach, causing a searing pain. Unlike the quick bursts from before, this beam seemed to continue firing as it then zapped straight up across her chest.
Grasping her burning wound, Piccolo was free to use his other arm to push Goku off of him, then flew forward with both elbows reached out. One struck the back of Pan's head while the other...
Pierced Goku's wound. As Goku fell backwards, Piccolo aimed both his knees for Goku's.
*SNAP!*
Both of Goku's legs were broken, leaving only his left arm and neck able to move...
Until Piccolo fired a beam through his left shoulder.
"You see, I learned from my father. I won't repeat the same mistake he made."
Pan could hear Goku's screaming the entire time she was trying to recover.
"Have I... failed?"
With the beam concluded, Piccolo took a look at his immobilized opponent.
"Everything that's happened here is how it went in the official history."
...but then a flash of purple enveloped him as he then pointed his hand right at Goku's head, charging for something.
"...EXCEPT THAT! He's not supposed to...!"
Pan didn't hear everything the Supreme Kai of Time had said and already stood in front of her grandfather, intercepting the beam with her wrists, both covered in ki. With a shout and a swing of both arms, she sent the beam firing away from Goku.
Immediately afterward, Pan saw herself too late to block a punch... and off her feet. An uppercut to her chest struck the wound from Piccolo's beam earlier. Upon hitting the ground, she was left to lie on her stomach as Piccolo finally turned back to Goku.
The sky went dark as Piccolo began to float upward.
"Your body is useless now!"
Pan saw him preparing an attack.
"You couldn't block this even if you wanted to!"
With no sign of Goku getting up behind her, Pan floated upward to protect her grandfather. Piccolo took note of this, but was unperturbed.
"Even now, you're in my way?! Fine! You'll die too!"
Piccolo gripped his right arm with his left hand as it charged with energy, firing a massive beam.
She saw the attack coming and simply covered her head and upper body with crossed arms as her ki shield enveloped her entire body.
"I may not be able to go Super Saiyan anymore... but no matter what, I'll make sure you survive, Grandpa."
She closed her eyes as it finally reached her.
From the distance, the explosion almost looked akin to a nuclear explosion.
Inside their hole, Z-Fighters and friends didn't see any signs of either Goku or Pan standing. Piccolo floated down to see the aftermath for himself.
In a massive crater in the ring, he saw...
Pan lying inside of it, covered in dirt not unlike how Piccolo was earlier. Her gloves were tattered, her shirt's sleeves had been burned off, and her pants were reduced to shorts at this point.
"You survived?" Piccolo asked in amazement.
It was from there Pan began to wonder about Goku's whereabouts.
''"Wait... if I was in front of him, then..."''
She turned around, digging through the dirt she was laying on for any signs of him.
"I'm not seeing him! He's not...!"
She found nothing. At this point, she was panicking.
''"But... but I was covering him! How could Piccolo's blast hit him from behind?!"''
But Piccolo's grin slowly turned as he started to put together the improbability of his attack killing Goku if Pan survived it.
"Where is he?!"
He stretched his arm to grab Pan, whom leapt to the side onto her right arm and shoulder.
"Girl! Where is Goku?!"
Piccolo raised his hand, poised to strike at Pan at any moment as she simply looked upward at him...
...and began to grin.
"What?"
Pan didn't answer: her grin widened and opened up.
"What are you smirking at?!"
He finally decided to turn around and see what Pan was looking at above him...
Goku flew in from above at a high speed towards him.
"I told you...!" shouted Goku.
Piccolo couldn't move his legs in time and was struck by a flying headbutt to his stomach.
"...I'd win."
Piccolo fell to the ground outside of the ring: not only was he in no condition to fight any further, but as per the tournament rules, he had been rung out.
"You've done it, Pan!" cheered the Supreme Kai of Time. "Now quick! While everyone's looking over there, head to cover and we'll extract you!"
With everyone turning towards Goku and Piccolo, Pan began to walk in the other direction behind a large rock.
"Hey..." inquired Yamcha, turning around looking for Pan, whom was hiding behind the rock. "Where did that girl go?"
After his inquiry, Bulma grabbed hold of his ear and tugged on it.
"Why? Because you want to ask her out on a date?"
After catching a glimpse of this, Pan saw the area around her beginning to disappear and turn into flashing lights...
To which Pan vanished. As for anything Pan had done, from holes in the ground from her attacks to even her footprints, had vanished as well.
In an instant, something flashed through everyone's heads: they lost all memory of Pan being there.
Yamcha turned over, seeing Bulma tugging on his ear. Bulma just realized what she was doing and, not having any reason to do so, let go.
"So..." began Goku, taking Yamcha and Bulma's mind off of what happened earlier. "Is he out of the ring?"
The announcer, whom had kept his head down the entire time, looked over and saw Piccolo lying outside the ring clear as day.
"He is!"
He raised his arms in triumph.
"Goku is the winner of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament!"
Pan found herself back in the Time Nest, the scroll in her hand once again.
"Well done, Pan."
She turned to see the Supreme Kai of Time giving a small clap.
"You successfully protected history."
As much as Pan was happy she had saved her grandfather, she had one burning question on her mind:
Why didn't you tell me Goku flew over that attack?"
"If you knew he would do that off-hand, Piccolo might've caught onto it. So your shock matched Piccolo's just long enough for Goku to get in the winning hit."
"Yeah..." as Pan looked over at her tattered attire. "And it only ruined my favorite clothes."
"Don't worry about that."
A familiar voice.
"We have machines that can repair clothing."
Pan and the Supreme Kai of Time turned to see Trunks walking down the stairs.
"Since the mission's accomplished, Pan, you're free to head back to your housing unit... if you're still staying with us, that is."
The Supreme Kai of Time left the room, leaving Pan and Trunks to themselves.
"Pan..."
He looked downward.
"I'm sorry. I never should have kept that from you."
He turned away from her.
"If it was unforgivable, I understand."
She walked over in his direction to face him.
"Trunks, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean what I said about leaving me dead."
In spite of her apology, she pointed at him.
"Just promise me one thing: from now on, even if you think it'll hurt me... tell me the truth about everything."
He nodded without hesitation.
"I promise, Pan."
As the two began to exit the room, Trunks took out a capsule.
"One more thing..."
Pan saw the capsule in his hand, then caught it when he tossed it to her. With a push of the button...
*POOF!*
A grey-white jacket landed in her hands, an orange Capsule Corp logo on the left shoulder, and a yellow cape attached to it.
"Welcome to the team."
"So... Chronoa found herself another lapdog, I see."
Two shadowy figures looked over a red and white screen at the battle that had just taken place.
"How soon before we make the next alteration?"
"There's no rush. I now have an excuse to improve my formula."