Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
As Vegeta eyed Zarbon, Pan continued to look back at Dodoria, whom Vegeta was meant to kill and whom she had just slain herself. She didn't know what the consequences would be or if her entire mission was for naught because of it.
"Did I change history?" Pan pondered . "Is what I've done...?"
"Pan, you should've waited for us to..." began Chronoa.
"Dodoria was about to kill my father!" interrupted Trunks. "If she had waited any longer, history would've changed. Now look, none of us expected Towa to be capable of this. We were both caught off-guard and we didn't know what you should do, Pan, so you made a call. As far as I can tell..."
Trunks looked at the scrolls nearby, looking for any evidence of alteration caused by Pan's actions, but found no purple glow emanating from any of them.
"You see, Chronoa? Pan didn't change history by killing Dodoria: she secured it."
"But that's the problem, Trunks: we don't know exactly how she secured it."
"Perhaps after Pan killed him, Dodoria returned to the afterlife from the point he was taken by Towa. So with that, no harm done."
Chronoa pondered, but seeing the lack of distortions that Trunks noted...
"That would appear to be the case, Trunks..."
Having heard Trunks making the argument she had done no harm, Pan was starting to relax, raising her head.
"But from now on..."
Chronoa's tone was lightly stern.
"...this will never again be done lightly. We got lucky here, but in any other case, you might have done something irrevocable. Do you understand?"
"Yes..." began Pan, realizing she was not in the clear from what she had done after all. "I understand, Chronoa."
"Hey!"
She turned, seeing Vegeta looking back at her impatiently.
"Are you done moping?! What, you didn't have the stomach to kill before?!"
The two heard Zarbon grunting, then saw their adversary finally making his way back to his feet, wiping dark green blood from below his lip with his hand. As Pan took a step forward, Vegeta shoved her to the side.
"Now get out of my way while I finish Zarbon off like you should have earlier!"
She didn't appreciate Vegeta's gesture, but kept an eye on him and Zarbon.
"I'd say step back for now," advised Trunks. "As Zarbon is now, I believe my father should be able to finish things as per history."
Pan began to walk around the cave, nearly out of sight, as she watched Vegeta flying straight towards Zarbon at high speed, ready to collide with him with both fists...
...but both caught a glimpse of Zarbon's smile as he glowed purple, followed by his muscle mass increasing nearly instantaneously.
With a single fist, this hulking Zarbon slammed Vegeta into the ground, leaving him bouncing before he caught himself in midair.
"...but how?! I wore him out!"
"It looks like Towa restored Zarbon's energy."
Zarbon, now monstrous and his skin scaled in appearance, pointed to Vegeta as he spoke:
"Is your memory that short? Oh wait... earlier, you told me to transform from the start. I didn't even need it against your so-called 'increased power'. Now you'll wish for death before I bring you to Lord Frieza."
"Ha!" scoffed Vegeta. "I've fought that form before, so now I know how to beat it."
"Oh please. You'd need to be a Great Ape to overpower me. Now that you've lost your tail, all that's left is your arrogance."
"While we can only hope Dodoria gave them some fatigue..." Mira began. "Are you certain that Zarbon has the sufficient strength to defeat them both now?"
Towa, watching the action alongside her creation, grinned.
"We shall see."
Vegeta charged ki in his hands, then shouted as he unleashed a purple beam at the idle Zarbon. Pan flew forward the moment the beam left Vegeta's fingers, taking aim at the monstrous figure's armor. In response to the Saiyan's attack, Zarbon simply swatted at it with his right palm...
...sending it into a nearby island. Just then, Zarbon swung his arm at Pan, who was forced to call off her intended punch and descended, rolling as his fist struck her former position. Vegeta covered the distance and both his hands came down towards the back of Zarbon's head, but were instead met by a swinging wrist. It didn't just block the attack: Vegeta was forced downward.
Seeing Zarbon ready to step on Vegeta, Pan punched at his exposed back repeatedly. She found Zarbon was aware of the hits, but suffered little harm from them. He turned quickly, his leg outstretched.
"That tickled!" Zarbon taunted as the kick landed.
Pan blocked it with her wrist, but was soon floored several feet away onto her stomach by its sheer might. Zarbon charged at her, nonchalantly firing a blast behind him at Vegeta who was about to fire his own. Pan was unsure her ki shield could withstand the incoming punt Zarbon intended for her head, and she was aware her efforts a moment ago were fruitless. She put a hand in front of her face and shouted as fast as she could:
"Kaio-KEN!"
The kick was caught, Pan not even being pushed back before she tossed it aside. She rose, using her arms to keep Zarbon's down before going for a headbutt. She found it matched by Zarbon's own, then they both stepped back. In their next clash, Pan struck first, delivering a jab to his cheek, which was visibly a discomfort to Zarbon, but only left a small bruise. From there, Pan found herself able to keep Zarbon at bay, but unable to overpower him.
"That technique caught me off-guard before..."
He caught both of Pan's hands in his palms, keeping her in place.
"But now..."
He lifted his foot...
"I match it!"
Pan cried out as that foot stomped on her own. Zarbon let go of her, then punched with both hands simultaneously. Right as Zarbon watched Pan tumbling back, he felt a bolt strike his back. Vegeta saw a hole in Zarbon's cape from his projectile, as well as light bruising on his armor, but found Zarbon moving at him faster than he anticipated.
As Vegeta leapt upward with Zarbon in hot pursuit, Pan recovered, having deactivated her Kaio-Ken. Before, it overwhelmed Zarbon after she blinded him, but now...
"He's right. My Kaio-Ken isn't enough anymore."
Seeing Vegeta slammed downward, Pan knew she had to hurry.
"I don't know if I can withstand it, but I have no choice."
"Pan, wait...!" warned Chronoa.
She channeled her ki around her...
"Kaio-Ken...!"
"You can't...!"
"Times THREE!"
Both Vegeta and Zarbon felt the increase in Pan's ki and saw a large gust of dust around her.
"This is..." Zarbon started before witnessing Pan colliding with him, her body covered with an even greater aura of red over her than before.
As he was being forced backward, Zarbon gestured his hands to aim for Pan's face, but by the time ki fired from them, she left his sight and he was only being pushed back by their momentum prior. He turned around looking for his opponent, then saw the red burst approaching him once more. Zarbon went for a double axe handle, crashing his hands into the ground, but once he realized the lack of Pan lying in the impact point, he found her fist colliding with his face.
Zarbon flew backward standing up, a small purple cut between his eyes and mouth, and his feet dragging across the grass leaving parallel trails of dirt. Seeing a structure behind him, Zarbon put his hand to his back to stop himself from crashing through it. He succeeded, already dreading looking forward.
The moment he so much as saw red, he jabbed with his right. Pan swerved to the side, the fist just missing her head, then delivered an upward hook into his left side. He was lifted off his feet, time seeming to slow as he rotated, then witnessed Pan hopping upward for a spinning kick. After it connected with his chest, he was sent rocketing across on his back.
"She's doing it! She damaging Zarbon and he can't even touch her!"
Trunks seemed excited at Pan's performance.
"Her training with Amura is already paying..."
He paused for a moment when he looked back at Chronoa, who was far more concerned over what they were watching.
"...off."
Coming to a halt, Zarbon started to lift himself upward, trying to dust his massive arms of dirt and pebbles.
"What is this?! That girl could barely harm my true form earlier... but now... not only can she... she's faster than me. She's almost as fast as Bur..."
The dreaded aura zoomed back and he was determined to finally land a hit on Pan. He went for an uppercut, but found it blocked, then followed by a punch to his stomach area, one that send him skating back...
...only to be met by another punch from the opposite hand with the same result. Now Pan was unleashing a barrage of punches, revealing cracks in that region of his armor as they traveled.
"It's working! It's...!"
Just then, a brief pause in between: Pan's muscles began to ache.
Having endured the beating thus far, Zarbon jumped at the momentary pause, grabbing hold of both her arms. Using their shared momentum, he fell onto his back, lifting Pan and slamming her into the ground on hers. She bounced further away as Zarbon stopped himself, then prepared Elegance Blaster.
"Now then..."
Ki gathered in his palm as his other hand kept his hand steady to aim as Pan finally stopped moving...
...but just as the blast left, Vegeta snuck underneath Zarbon, punching at his armor in the same damaged spot Pan left at the stomach. Pan saw the blast coming her way, then going over her head, just missing her. Vegeta looked upward at Zarbon, seeing not a face filled with pain and anguish, but rather annoyance.
"How could I forget about you, Vegeta?"
The Saiyan Prince quickly stepped back and readied a blast, but a swift backhand knocked him away towards Pan's path. Seeing that Zarbon took a moment to revel at his two feats, Vegeta crawled, then rose over Pan, who lied on her back with her muscles partially bulkier from Kaio-Ken.
"This... this is what Kaio-Ken times three did to Grandpa Goku. My whole body..."
"What is this?" questioned Vegeta. "You can't be finished already. Not after what you did to Zarbon."
He lifted one foot...
"Get up."
He kicked her side, getting Pan's attention, as well as causing her to reel from it.
"You take one hard hit and now you need your beauty sleep, is that it Earthling?"
He crouched down, gripping Pan by her left arm. Already, this was painful to her in her current state.
"I said..."
As he yanked her up, his grip tighter...
"GET UP!"
Pan couldn't stop from shouting in pain. Vegeta released her left arm, seeing her crouched over with her right hand over it.
"Oh come off it! I barely even touched you!"
Seeing Zarbon walk slowly towards him, Vegeta turned back to Pan and scoffed at her condition.
"Oh fine! Wallow for all I care! I don't need anyone's help... let alone a woman's."
The Saiyan soldiered forward as Pan slowly made her way back to her feet, each small movement a trial.
"I can't keep up Kaio-Kan like this... but nothing else I've done has hurt this form of Zarbon otherwise."
As she saw Vegeta and Zarbon trading blows, she pondered what to do.
"My mistake was using Times Three for as long as I did. It needs to be in shorter bursts... but even then, what can I do otherwise?"
She thought back to her time with Tien in the Training Chamber over the course of six months, and that one of his most important lessons was to win through tactics, not just strength alone.
"If I can't hurt Zarbon as is..."
Pan had an idea.
"I can set him up."
Vegeta and Zarbon traded blows as Pan was out of action. Slowly, the Saiyan Prince began to get overpowered and lost his footing, allowing Zarbon to strike him upward, then chopped him back down.
As he was about to take hold of Vegeta by the collar...
Several projectiles struck Zarbon's back, none of them terribly harmful, but all of them noticable.
"Hey, Frog-Face!"
He turned, seeing Pan back on her feet, then proceeded to stomp on Vegeta, embedding him into the ground further.
"Wait right here. I'll take care of this real quick."
Zarbon charged at Pan shoulder-first, seeing her hardly move an inch save for her cape flapping with the wind. He didn't feel anything when colliding with her, then plowed straight through rock. As he came to a stop, noticing the lack of her...
"Without that red glow, that girl was nowhere near this fast. She couldn't have acted out this whole time to trick me."
His back was struck by a larger projectile, this one more than a mild irritance compared to the others.
"Nice try!"
Zarbon leapt in the direction of Pan's taunting voice, bringing his fist down on her shocked face...
Only to have apparently missed once again and met by another hit to his back from afar.
"Can't you go any faster?"
A snarling lunge towards an idle Pan.
"Brat!"
"Of course!" said Trunks aloud.
"Of course what?" inquired Chronoa.
"Pan knows she can't do much in the way of serious damage to Zarbon in her current state, and she recalls first-hand what happened with Goku against my father's Great Ape form. She's keeping Zarbon occupied and outwitting him until my father can get back to the fight. Then they can do some real damage collectively."
Vegeta took notice of Pan's ploy as he recovered.
"A moment ago, this one couldn't drag herself up without me doing it for her, and now she's leading Zarbon on a chase, making him look like a lap dog."
He rose onto his feet, clenching his gloved fist.
"But I will be the one to finish him off."
"C'mere, Slowpoke!"
Instead of approaching her this time, Zarbon fired a beam. Seeing zero semblance of any sign of Pan in the ensuing wreckage only to see her untouched from the corner of his eye, he fired once again.
"Ah, I see now..."
As Zarbon said this with a sense of renewed confidence, Pan made her way across from behind several structures, keeping as quiet as possible.
"You were never in any of those places I hit... or rather, you were, then left some kind of hologram behind... an afterimage."
Vegeta, behind a different structure, eyed Zarbon while also looking around for Pan, seeing no sign of her.
"You meant to tire me out, and all this time, you've been working your way close to me so that when I least expected it, you would strike..."
The Saiyan Prince caught a glimpse of a shadow...
"From BEHIND!"
Zarbon turned with a kick aimed right at Pan's jaw...
But when it struck, his leg phased through her, the area it passed fuzzy for a brief moment. Then what began as a tug on his cape transitioned into Zarbon being lifted off his feet over Pan's head. As she was about to swing him back down into the ground, Vegeta crashed into Zarbon's torso with both feet. Immediately after, he flew upward, charging ki...
"Move or be blown apart!" Vegeta shouted quickly.
Pan heeded this as Vegeta looked down from high above, firing a barrage of rapid, but destructive blasts at Zarbon. Bulma and Krillin peered out of their cave to see what was happening, then felt the ground beneath them shaking, as well as part of the landmass cracking. The area Vegeta was blasting began to sink, water rising from it.
"You and your pieces can rest at the bottom of the ocean!" cackled Vegeta...
Until he caught a glimpse of Zarbon flying upward, his armor chipping, cape torn, and lip bleeding. He raged onward unhindered even as the blasts rained down around him and Vegeta frantically adjusted his aim. With a thundering knee, Vegeta was exposed, enabling Zarbon to grab him by both arms and descend rapidly. Unable to aim his hands, Vegeta could only watch as his screaming reflection in the water below came closer and closer.
Pan saw she couldn't intercept in time at her current speed, so she quickly fired off Kaio-Ken. Zarbon caught the red aura, but proceeded, figuring if she tried an attack, he could have Vegeta take the hit for him. Instead, she grabbed hold of Vegeta, then pulled with no effect initially.
"Kaio-Ken Times Three!"
Almost blinded by it, Zarbon felt Vegeta slip through his fingers. Once he could see clearly, he saw Pan flying with Vegeta in her arms, even as he protested her carrying him.
"Let go already!"
Zarbon then noticed Pan's aura in flux and created an orb in his hand. Pan deactivated Kaio-Ken, then began to drop.
"Learn to fly, will you?!"
As Pan began to float upward again, she and Vegeta caught Zarbon's attack too late. The sphere struck Vegeta dead-on, knocking him out of Pan's hands and sending him crashing towards the shore by the cave.
Zarbon landed in front of Bulma and Krillin, who began to stumble out of the cave and saw the condition of his armor and ragged cape. He tore it off from his shoulder pads, then tossed it aside, not intending for it to be grappled a second time.
Vegeta could barely get to his knees, coughing up blood while Zarbon simply wiped his lip and grinned.
"I told you to wait, Prince Vegeta. But no matter: you have my full attention now."
Even in the state he was in, knowing Zarbon was in far better condition than he was, Vegeta rose onto his feet. Whether it was his Saiyan pride driving him to do this or the true spirit of a warrior refusing to give up in the face of his demise, Vegeta began to raise his fists as Zarbon walked forward.
"I am the Prince of all Saiyans, and I will not cower before a..."
He paused once he saw Pan standing in front of him, taking a defensive stance before Zarbon.
"What in the hell is this?! We fought on Earth... she and that damned swordsman cost me my tail... and yet she's... protecting me? I don't get it!"
Zarbon saw the confusion on Vegeta's face regarding Pan standing between the two of them and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Even now, you stand between me and Vegeta. Perhaps it is love, after all..."
Pan couldn't even begin to register what Zarbon had suggested.
"I know I can't say anything, but... he cannot be serious! That's just... ugh!"
Vegeta, on the other hand, scoffed at it.
"As if. She'll pay for what she did to me on Earth."
This resulted in another snicker from Zarbon, who then addressed Pan directly.
"Your efforts go entirely unrewarded. Not even a hint of gratefulness from him."
She could tell what Zarbon was trying to do.
"Go on, then. There's no need to waste your charity on Vegeta, where it is unappreciated."
He signaled for her to move aside and even Vegeta seemed ready to step around her.
"He's trying to get in Vegeta's head: make your father fight him alone while he's vulnerable."
Her back blocked Vegeta's path once again. Zarbon was perplexed at Pan still remaining between them.
"You bleeding-hearted Earthling..."
Zarbon noted Vegeta's reaction.
"I am just as puzzled as you are. But no matter."
He took a step forward.
"Just sit tight while I walk through her."
Pan put her hands together, then took on a stance Vegeta knew all too well from Earth.
"Ka... me..."
Zarbon tauntingly approached slowly, one foot at a time.
"Oh please. Do you really expect that to stop me in the shape you're in?"
She continued.
"Ha... me..."
Another step.
"Just try it!"
"Haaaaa!"
The Kamehameha fast approached Zarbon, who didn't move a single leg. Instead, he put out his left hand, stopping the blast not unlike the way Raditz had against Goku.
"This didn't even stop Dodoria. What makes you think..."
"Kaio-Ken!"
The beam doubled in size, pushing the standing Zarbon back a few steps. It took more effort for him to block it, but he still laughed aloud. She knew what it did to her body earlier and what it might do to that and her ki with such a technique.
"Here goes..."
"Kaio-Ken Times Three!"
The moment this super-powered Kamehameha left her hands, even more massive, Zarbon was forced to guard against it with his entire arm. Once it made contact, he felt an intense burn and for a brief moment appeared terrified at the possibility of the Kamehameha reducing him to nothing.
"It appears Zarbon's reached his match. The formula can't save him now."
"Don't be so sure, Mira. With just a little tinkering..."
Pan caught a glimmer of purple emanating across Zarbon.
"Oh, don't tell me..."
His arm, which had begun to burn, now radiated with the formula and appeared to be withstanding even her Kaio-Ken Times Three Kamehameha.
"No, no, NO! This is bad!"
Now Zarbon began running through it.
"Damn it, I'm...!"
The Kaio-Ken fluctuated and her Kamehameha became more narrow. With that, Zarbon span to the side, breaking off from the waning blast, then continued towards his intended targets.
"No afterimage will save you now!"
Having used up so much ki and her body further thrashed by the triple Kaio-Ken, Pan knew she couldn't evade Zarbon now. Vegeta quickly fired a beam at Zarbon just as the beast's left hand grabbed Pan by the back of her head. He didn't strike between his eyes as intended, but managed to leave a scar on Zarbon's cheek.
The Saiyan Prince was grabbed as well and with both him and Pan in tow, Zarbon leapt high, the water below them. Bulma and Krillin watched as the three thunderously descended out of their sight, a massive splash almost as high as the cave resulting from their impact.
Underwater, Zarbon slowed their plunge, wanting to savor the moment until all three could see Namek's ocean floor.
"Once they've had their fill, I'll drag them both to Lord Frieza."
Neither Vegeta nor Pan could break free from Zarbon's grip and while both had ki to spare, it was a question of aim, which their current angle made difficult, as well as how much they'd need just to do any serious damage period. Both desperately tried holding their breath, but could do nothing about their nostrils whereas Zarbon didn't have this issue in his true form, only needing to close his mouth.
While only thirty seconds passed, to Trunks, it felt like an eternity. With Vegeta's beatings and Pan tired out from Kaio-Ken times three, he dreaded their odds against Zarbon.
"I can't watch anymore! I need to get in there now!"
Chronoa stood before him.
"We've got a bigger problem."
"Bigger than this?!"
"Listen!"
She unveiled another event occurring adjacent to the current battle:
"Gohan is about to pass the point Vegeta's supposed to intercept him. This is critical."
Trunks, seeing both events playing out, tried to think of something.
"I could... let me get to my father and Pan first, then I'll..."
"If you save Pan and your father now, he will go down a dark path of no return."
Trunks only had to imagine what would occur if Gohan arrived to the cave and a waiting Vegeta: two Dragon Balls, one stolen from Vegeta, within the Saiyan Prince's grasp, and immortality only three kills away.
"Damn it..."
