Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.

Pan remembered two moments of her life prior to her last day on her Earth that hit her the hardest:

One was the passing of her great-grandfather and Chi-Chi's father. She recalled Bulla trying to console her, as well as Vegeta offering his sympathy to Chi-Chi, even allowing her to cry on his shoulder.

The next moment was the passing of both of Bulla's grandparents and Bulma's parents. Pan consoled her best friend and Trunks, who was running Capsule Corp, took the day to mourn.

After Bulma spoke at length about her parents, Vegeta decided to say a few words. In his usual fashion, he didn't say much, but he indicated they always made him feel like a part of their family in spite of being a total stranger and that he would never forget their kindness towards him.

But her dream took a dark turn when she saw four memorials of those who died in their battle against the Saibamen and Nappa followed by the Vegeta of the past laughing at them. It was worse when she looked to her side, seeing a larger number of memorials with writing that was alien to her, to which Vegeta continued laughing.

The worst came when Pan turned around completely, seeing memorials that kept going farther than her eye could see. Just then, she saw herself and Vegeta floating upward, seeing the memorials stretch even farther until, from orbit, the entire planet was blanketed with them.

He then pointed to distant planets, cackling that Pan had only scratched the surface as those planets too were filled with those whose deaths he was responsible for.

Pan woke up in a sweat from everything her brain was trying to process. While her dreams of Frieza destroying everything were still the worst nightmares her mind could muster, this one stood among them.

"Grandpa made Krillin spare his life... the life of the Saiyan that ordered Nappa to kill their friends... and for what?! A rival?!"

After catching a glimpse of the Power Pole, she turned away, not even wanting to look at her grandfather's prized polearm.

"You let Vegeta do this. Those Namekians... if you hadn't stopped Krillin..."

"Mira, I told you: I am not angry with you."

Towa stood across from a sitting Mira, whose expression remained unchanged as always, but whose face was looking away from her.

"Then you are disappointed in me?"

She walked over to sit next to him, trying to be more nurturing towards her creation.

"Trunks is the one that ruined our mission. Not you."

She lifted up his chin with her finger, looking him in his eyes.

"Your decision to get me away from Trunks was understandable and certainly preferable to him taking me into the Time Patrol's custody. I admit I acted out, but I don't blame you for your choice."

While Mira saw her trying to cheer him up, he still detected something bothering her unrelated to him.

"Then why are you upset?"

Towa gave a sigh.

"I gave that patroller everything about me. I knew her pain... and her, my own. We were coming to an understanding."

Now she was looking at her hands, making fists.

"If I had cloaked my trail more efficiently... if Trunks hadn't found us... she would have joined us."

Mira noticed Towa's nails digging into her palms and took hold of her wrists, stopping her from hurting her hands. She stopped what she was doing and looked back at Mira.

"I reached out to her... and she was about to take my hand."

"She hesitated."

"I know, but given time..."

Mira took to his feet, a gesture Towa took note of.

"Even with a high probability you could have turned her to our side, there remained the possibility she would have turned you down regardless of your efforts."

He even went as far as opening several files of the four battles, each showcasing Pan overcoming her opponents.

"You know what she has done so far. You may want her to join us, but we cannot afford to go easy on her."

She knew Mira was trying to get her to focus on her primary goal and couldn't help but agree with him.

"If we encounter this patroller again, you need to make the appropriate measures to stop her interference at all costs... even if it means killing her."

Upon turning off the monitors, Mira's ultimatum was perfectly clear to Towa and she begrudgingly knew what he was saying was true.

"You're right."

Privately, she still wanted to find another way where Pan was by her side and Mira's.

"If it comes to that..."

Pan stood in place, hitting a punching bag hanging on the ceiling with several two hit combinations, causing it to fly backward, then forward back to her. She had much on her mind and exercising seemed to be her best way of working through things.

"I know what you're thinking, Earth girl..."

She paused as saw what looked like the Vegeta from their battle on Earth clear as day to the side of the punching bag. The voice was unmistakable. Just then, a flash through Pan's mind:

Vegeta punching Goku several times during the course of their initial battle, then preparing to destroy their home with his Galick Gun.

This projection of him put both his hands to the sides of his face, then tilted his head back and forth in a mock feminine fashion.

"'Oh, how cruel. How terrible. How could anyone do such things?'" he said mockingly imitating Pan's own voice.

She tried to stay focused on the bag in front of her without paying him any mind.

"I'm imagining this. Vegeta is not actually here," Pan said out loud to herself.

She punched at it once more, but just as it was returning back to its original position, she saw Vegeta move right in front of her. Even knowing it couldn't possibly be him, Pan still stepped backward as if anticipating an impending attack.

"Maybe my father beat my compassion and weakness out of me, his cruelty turning me murderous and sadistic. Or maybe he spoiled me, the Prince of all Saiyans, giving me everything I ever wanted and never saying no. So much so I have no concept of right and wrong."

Along came another flash:

The Saiyan Prince as a Great Ape stepping on and breaking Goku's legs, as well squeezing him in both hands to crush him, chuckling at her grandfather's screams of pain.

With each successive combo, Pan punched harder and harder. The next flashes:

Vegeta knocking Krillin away with a backhand, then punching Gohan, a child, in the gut repeatedly.

Still, she tried to rationalize what Vegeta didn't do.

"Nappa killed Tien and Piccolo, not y..."

"I ordered him to," Vegeta interrupted. "To plant the Saibamen and to kill your friends. He and I could've waited for Kakarrot the whole time, but I wanted Kakarrot to see what Nappa had done to them."

Now she was rapidly striking it with her hands, as well as her feet, speeding up as she recalled his worst deeds:

The Namekian villagers being blasted one-by-one, as well as Arlia and its entire population being completely destroyed.

"What's the matter? They weren't anyone important."

Instead of hitting the punching bag once more, she caught it with her left hand, lifting it as she readied her right into a fist. Pan began to picture Vegeta in place of the bag, still grinning at what he did.

"They were all toys..."

Now her flashes were that of Vegeta blasting away Nappa, his own comrade who followed his every order, into nothing with the same smile as when Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo died.

"Toys to break for my amusement."

Having had enough, she finally went through with the punch to his face. This enraged hit tore straight through the punching bag, her fist and wrist visible on the other side of it. With a monumental downward swing, Pan tore the punching bag off the ceiling and slammed it down as hard as she could.

Now no longer picturing Vegeta, Pan saw the extent of the damage she caused to the bag and the ground it once hung over, its contents spilling out. Having worked up a tremendous sweat, she crouched over while still on her feet, her head over her knees as her face dripped.

"What am I doing? Just look at this mess..."

"Don't worry," went a new female voice. "You're not the first, that's for sure."

She turned, seeing a woman of bright yellow skin with black body armor with shoulders, braces, and leggings approaching her. Her ponytailed hair, if it even was hair, curled in the front, partially covering a green scouter.

"Pan, right? I realize this isn't the best time for you... but I'm here to help you prepare."

"Trunks sent you?"

"Commander Hale did. He asked me to help prepare you for what might be your next mission."

"Against who?"

"Not just one person, but an entire team of five."

Pan watched as this woman stood on one leg, then stuck one arm upward while the other gestured across her beneath her armor's chestplate.

"The Ginyu Force. Frieza's most elite fighting force. And you're looking at one of the Time Patrol's foremost experts on them."

After remaining in place for a few seconds, the woman cleared her throat, then exited her pose.

"The name's Taino. I'll show you everything you need to know should you have to face the Ginyu Force."

For the next few days, Pan studied and trained with Taino, learning about the Ginyu Force and the individual members' techniques so she could better combat them. The earliest lessons revolved around Guldo, who was physically the weakest of the team, but whose telekinesis was on a much higher level than General Blue before him, and his time stop, which he could use by holding his breath.

From there, they transitioned to Recoome, the physical powerhouse who could take loads of punishment without tiring and dish out just as much, Burter, the fastest of the group who would blitz his enemies with rapid strikes and fly-bys, and Jeice, the force's 2nd in command who works best in combination with Burter.

But as she trained, Pan found herself haunted by projections of Vegeta. They each taunted her in regards to what he had done and constantly reminded her that she couldn't stop him, not only because it was forbidden by the Time Patrol, but also because it would cause Bulla, Trunks, and Pan herself to never be born.

Taino noticed Pan began to look bed-ridden and disheveled, and would lose focus from time to time, either missing something she said or getting struck by a move even when Taino gave her a heads-up first. Pan knew she couldn't play it off as intentional, but also wasn't sure if it was best to discuss what happened between her and Towa. While this often ended with Taino letting Pan go early, one day, Tiano finally confronted her regarding it, leaving Pan no choice but to discuss what was on her mind.

She chose only to divulge that she learned about specific deeds from Vegeta's past and couldn't stop thinking about them, in particular those he killed. In effect, if Pan were asked to defend him again, a small part of her would almost consider not saving him, but she knew she had to, both for time's sake and because it would prevent her own birth. Taino knew just telling her to get over it would be of no help to either of them and instead insisted that Pan take the time she needs to cope and rejoin when in a better headspace.

After Pan left, Taino sought out Trunks, and the two of them and Commander Hale had a discussion in his office regarding Pan's current state. While Taino announced that they had made some progress, she knew Pan seemed to be having trouble sleeping and that her current state made her prone to mistakes. Taino knew what was bothering Pan would continue to fester and get worse if she kept it only to herself, which would be disastrous if she were called upon soon.

Trunks dreaded their eventual discussion with everything that occurred between Pan, him, and the Supreme Kai of Time during their last meeting, but with one of the primary issues plaguing Pan being his father, Trunks knew he was the only one who could shed some light regarding Vegeta. Commander Hale insisted that Trunks go to Pan as a friend looking out for what was best for her, not as a superior wanting her in working order.

That night in her housing unit, Pan sat at her table, just trying to eat a bowl of rice as she was yet again met by Vegeta. Even as she tried not to look at him, she saw another Vegeta to the side of her, then another on her opposite side. Their taunts and laughter echoed as she slowly found herself beginning to lower her head downward and start to doze off, eventually falling asleep.

Pan saw herself back inside the Capsule Corp gravity machine. She saw the controls and its default setting at 300 times gravity. At the time, she was more than ready to press it to finally become a Super Saiyan, but after having trained under gravity at Toki Toki City, she knew it would've ended in disaster were it not for...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."

She turned, seeing the Vegeta from her Earth, but instead of approaching her, he stood with his back turned to her. Even without seeing Pan's expression towards him, Vegeta knew what was on her mind.

"So now you know..." he began.

As he turned around, Pan began to approach him.

"You know what I did."

She started walking faster.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time..."

He stretched out his arms to his sides. Pan ran to him, then did something she had never dreamed of doing to her Earth's Vegeta:

She grabbed him by the throat.

"How could you?!" Pan shouted, starting to lift him off the ground. "All those innocent lives... and for what?!"

She found that Vegeta didn't move either of his arms or lift a single finger.

"Even after my Grandpa had you spared, you killed innocent Namekians! As if their lives meant less than yours."

When Vegeta kept silent, she slammed the back of his head against one of the gravity machine's round walls, leaving a large dent.

"ANSWER ME!"

"What do you want me to say, Pan? That I was a different person before I met Kakarrot? That I regret everything I did? That all my sins haunt me each and every day?"

Vegeta didn't have any panic in his words.

"You already know I wasn't just following orders from Frieza. Nothing I could say or do changes anything about what I did. I have no excuse. I did it. All of it."

Him being matter-of-factly about everything in his answers didn't do a thing for Pan, whose other hand lifted up and turned to a fist.

"I will not fight you, Pan."

Even in the face of his death, Vegeta's calm was almost chilling to her. She tried mustering her strength to throw a punch.

"Finish it."

Pan thought back to everything she had seen Vegeta do and was ready to go through with it...

"Dad!"

Pan turned, seeing Bulla having entered and terrified at what she was seeing Pan doing.

"Pan, let him go!"

As much as the shock on Bulla's face shook her, her anger at Vegeta overrode it.

"You don't know what your father did, Bulla! What he... what he really is!"

Bulla seemed conflicted, but even then, she refused to let this happen.

"He's still my dad! I won't let you kill him!"

Now Pan saw Bulla ready to fire at her to save her father. Pan couldn't dream of attacking her best friend back, but she also didn't intend on letting Vegeta go. Her mind juggled with how far she was willing to go.

"No, Bulla!" Vegeta shouted to his daughter, lifting his hand for the first time to point to her.

Bulla could immediately tell that her father didn't want her to stop what was happening. But even with his wishes...

"No! You're my dad! I can't... I..."

"It's alright, Bulla."

Vegeta changed his posture and tone from commanding to nurturing, gesturing her to lower her arm.

"My past has caught up to me. It's time I pay for what I've done."

Even as he was at peace with what was to come, he still tried to comfort his daughter.

"It's okay."

Bulla finally lower her arms.

"Take care of your mother for me."

"I will. I promise."

Pan turned back to Vegeta, who nodded to Pan as her fist was aimed back at him. But Pan couldn't help but look at Bulla, who teared up as she was undoubtedly looking to her father alive for the last time.

"I love you, Dad."

Vegeta turned to Bulla, a tear managing to escape his eye.

"I love you too, my Bulla."

He closed both eyes, awaiting his impending death at Pan's hand. The world around her seemed to slow as Pan moved her fist back one last time.

"This is for every single innocent you've killed!"

Now her fist was making its approach...

...but despite Vegeta giving her his blessing to kill him...

...this wasn't the Vegeta she hated and despised. Pan clearly knew he was derived from that Vegeta, but in character and action, he wasn't that Vegeta.

"He's not... but he was... he still did..."

Looking over at Bulla, Pan's mind conjured a portrait of Vegeta's family on Earth: his wife, children, and his parents-in-law when the two were still with them.

"I can't take him from his family."

...but her mind wandered back to his past deeds.

"...but that's exactly what he did to so many families, if not entire ones."

It soured her thoughts as her fist neared his nose. Just one more moment and all her might was going to tear through Vegeta's head.

"I have to do this."

"I don't have to do this."

Now it was like she was frozen in time.

"It has to be done!"

"It shouldn't be done!"

"For once, just go for the kill!"

Time moved again and the punch finally connected...

...missing Vegeta and hitting the side of the wall.

"No."

She let Vegeta go, coughing on the ground as Bulla ran over to him. Pan walked towards the entrance, turning her head for just a moment to see Bulla tending to her father.

"I will not."

When she looked back at the gravity machine's door, she instead saw a black void during which she felt no floor to stand on and hurriedly kept afloat before she could fall. Turning around again, there was no sign of Vegeta or Bulla.

In their place, she saw what at first appeared to be a purple body of water below her. Just as she began to see Namekian bodies float to the surface, there was a splash as the Vegeta of the past floated upward, covered head-to-toe in what she then realized was Namekian blood.

"You are so soft!" this purple Vegeta shouted. "That couldn't have been laid out more perfectly for you, and you were still too weak-willed to go through with it!"

As he slowly floated forward, he flicked his open hand, sending droplets of the purple blood towards Pan.

"Look at it! All this blood because you wouldn't let me die! How are you going to live with that?! Knowing that saving me led to all their deaths!"

Pan began floating backward away from him, her back struck something. While it appeared to be nothing, it was like she was against a wall and couldn't get away from him.

"You think you're taking the high road? There is no high road! The high road exists only for weaklings to justify wallowing in their lack of a spine!"

She tried moving sideways, but it was like she was cornered, the invisible walls giving her no choice but to face him.

"It always ends the same with you people..."

He put his hand out in a gun pose, the same he used against the Namekians.

"Dying for 'ideals' while the rest of us aren't stupid enough to do the same thing."

Now Pan couldn't even move her feet, as if she were glued to an invisible floor while Vegeta came closer.

"You're at least part Saiyan. You should know what a real Saiyan would do here. Now are you going to do it or let this keep happening again and again until you're dead?!"

Finally, she raised her palm in his direction, charging with ki. Now the purple Vegeta cracked a smile, revealing even his teeth were covered just like the rest of him.

"That's right. Do it. Put every last ounce of your hatred of me into it. Strike me down."

But Pan closed her eyes. That along with her delayed attack puzzled him.

"Come on. What are you waiting for?"

His finger gun began to shake.

"Do it."

Now he gritted his purple teeth and stretched out both his arms to the side.

"DO IT, WOMAN!"

Pan's eyes opened as her palm aimed to the side away from Vegeta before firing a single ki projectile that missed him entirely. He ready to swing his hand at her.

"You blasted little...!"

*CRACK!*

The noise having caught his attention, he turned around, seeing the blank space she struck begin to crack with a glowing white hue, which grew and spread towards him.

"You may look like Vegeta, act like him, talk like him, sound like him..." she began calmly.

Everything behind the purple Vegeta cracked further and further more rapidly, and he soon realized he had the same cracks forming across him as well.

"But you are not Vegeta. And I'm done with you."

In anger, he put his hand out like a gun once more, trying to fly towards her and fire right at her forehead, but just as he was about to touch her, he shattered like glass along with the rest of the black void, revealing her chambers.

"You will not consume me any more."

She closed her eyes once again...

And when they opened, Pan had woken up, lifting her head off the table and slowly getting to her feet. She decided to clean up her quarters, which she he had neglected to do for these past days, as well as herself.

Now that the inside of her unit was livable again and she felt as well as she looked, Pan decided to get some air from outside. As she took her first steps outside, she looked to her right, seeing Trunks heading in her direction.

"Trunks."

Upon seeing Pan, he seemed to freeze for just a moment, stuttering to find something to say.

"Hey, listen, I was... just passing by. I can leave if you..."

"Wait..."

Pan gestured to him to stay and he could tell from her tone and posture that she wasn't angry with him.

"Can we talk?"