As te two girls got up and left the stadium behind, the crowd had been reduced to a dull roar. "Geez, what a bust." A hero in the audience said.
"I can't beleive they stopped the fight. If I was the ref, I would have declared the obvious winner!" His friend told him as he pointed to Midnigt.
"How are you going to be a hero if you can't even hold it together during a fight." The pro hero had said, shrugging his shoulders.
Suddenly, the crowd went quiet as Aizawa took the microphone. "Who is that in the crowd claiming that my student should have lost?!" He demanded to know as his blood began to boil. "If you're a hero, then I hope for the sake of others that you're going into an early retirement."
"Hey, man, what's this about?" Present Mic asked, prompting Aizawa to continue.
"It's easy to forget when you're looking at the Hero Course children from the outside, but that's what they still are. Children. If you think it's funny to joke about a child's mental breakdown, or think it's justified to allow someone to beat on a defenseless opponent. If you ask me, our students are more heroic than it seems you ever were. So if you still feel that way, then get out, and grab your refund on your way." Aizawa continued angrily as the crowd went silent.
After several seconds, Present Mic finally broke the stillness of the air. "Well, why don't we go ahead and get the next rounds started, then?!"
/
"Oh my, I'm so sorry..." Recovery Girl told them apologetically, holding her hand over her mouth. "I couldn't possibly understand what you two must have gone through. I'm surprised that you're not in as bad of a position, dear." She told Pan.
Bulla rested her head on Pan's shoulder, holding her tired eyes closed. "Well, it was more my fault than hers. After all, I told her to go into the cave." She explained as Iwase entered the room.
"Son! Brief!" As she ran up to the girls, she wrapped her arms around them tight. "What happened?! I saw you two out there and I got so worried I ran here as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I got a little lost. These hallways are so long, after all." She said with a slight bonk on her own head.
"Ms. Iwase... We're sorry to have worried you. But everything's fi-" Before Pan could finish speaking, Recovery Girl rolled over on her chair and put a hand on her shoulder.
"It'll never get better if you keep it locked away, dear. Ms. Iwase is your guardian now. It's your decision, but I think she should know." She told her as the girls turned to her.
"Know...what? What's going on, girls?" She asked as she pulled away from them.
Locking her gaze with Bulla's, the tired girl could only say one thing before finally falling asleep on her friend's shoulder. "Yeah..."
"Bulla..." Calmly, Iwase picked up Bulla and tucked her into one of the provided beds.
"I don't blame her. Confronting a trauma of that proportion can be so stressful on such a young girl." Recovery Girl explained. "Ms. Iwase, I must inform you that, unfortunately, I've diagnosed Brief with Clinical Depression." Her words were like a heavy knife pushing into Iwase's chest. As she held her hands over her mouth, she continued her official diagnosis. "With your approval, I'd like prescribe her some medication, as well as direct her to a therapist that she can talk to about everything. Additionally, I'd like for her to check back in every week, maybe every week-and-a-half, so we can see how she's doing."
"I can't believe it. Do you know what could have brought this on?" Iwase asked as she crossed one arm over her chest, leaving a hand resting against her lips.
"Ms. Iwase..." Pan said, catching her guardian's attention. Patting on the seat that Bulla had just been on, she gestured the young woman to sit with her. "Could you take a seat? Recovery Girl is right... You should know everything."
In compliance, Iwase sat next to the young girl and pulled her so that her head rested on her arm. "Whatever it is, I'm all ears."
"It's a secret, though. You can't tell anybody."
"Of course, Son." She assured. "Your secrets are safe with me."
"You might not even believe me."
"I'm open to whatever you have to say. Just tell me what it is."
After a moment of silence, Pan took a deep breath, keeping her eyes focused on her feet. "Bulla and I...aren't from this world. About six months ago, we were transported here from our own world."
"Are you telling me that you two girls are aliens?"
"No, ma'am. Well, yes, but no, but- Ugh! It's hard to explain without going into detail!" Pan bit to herself.
"Well, go ahead. We have some time until your rematch." She told her, petting her head softly.
"Okay, well-"
"It started several decades ago." Bulla suddenly said, having sat up after pretending to sleep. "There was a planet, thriving with a race of warriors. These were known as the Saiyans. And under the rule of a terrible tyrant, they would pillage other planets and sell them for profit." She explained, reciting the words that her father would tell her when she was younger.
"I thought you were asleep." Pan reminded her.
"I was scared of how Ms. Iwase would react. Besides...I think I know this part better anyway. You butchered a few names and terms."
"Well, sorry that my dad wasn't obsesed with Frizer." Pan apologized rhetorically.
"Frieza was the name of the tyrant. And when he was done with the Saiyans, he blew up their planet, killing all of the Saiyans beside a small handful, including my father and uncle, and Pan's grandfather and great uncle. After Pan's grandfather, Kakarrot-"
"Goku." Pan corrected as Bulla rolled her eyes.
"Whatever! Anyway, Goku grew up on Earth, and made it his home. He started a family, but several threats sought after Earth for its wish-granting Dragon Balls. Thats when my father, the Prince of the Saiyans, and Goku fought for the first time. After losing several of his friends to the battle, Goku claimed victory, and ventured to Namek, the planet of the Dragon Balls' origin. There, he used their Dragon Balls to resurrect his friends, and all those killed by Frieza, before defeating him."
"So the Sands were resurrected, as well?" Iwase asked, trying her best to follow the story.
"No, Ma'am. Only those who were killed within the year prior were revived. This includes my father, who lost his life to Frieza during the struggle for the Dragon Balls. Once the tyrant was defeated, my father began to live on Earth, where he met my mother." Bulla continued, finishing her summarization of her father's adventure to Earth and Namek.
"After that, something like a decade passed and our dads fought against super strong enemies! Strength like you wouldn't even believe! One of them was even a God!" Pan said excitedly. "Around that time, Bulla and I were born, and there was a multiversal tournament that was held!"
"A multiverse? Are you saying there are other universes besides our own?" She asked.
"We'll get to that, Ma'am. So a decade of small patches of peace passed. And then it happened. There was this sword in the stone, something like an old fairy tale, on a faraway planet. We were all looking for the Super Dragon Balls, planet-sized version of the wishing orbs that could grant any wish without fail. After I tried once, Idrew the sword, and the pedestal began to crack and glow. We got away from it, but in the distance, we could see something climbing out of the ground. We didn't stick around after that, and continued our search." Bulla said as she looked down, twiddling her thumbs.
"After a week, we finally gathered all of the Super Dragon Balls. Our parents never told us what their wish was, but before we could grant the wish, some kind of muscled freak showed up. He had pitch-black skin, and his brain was exposed and bloodied, with a gap in the top of it. Nobody saw it coming when it killed Pan's father, and then started to pick off our fathers' friends."
"Oh, my..." Iwase could barely find the words as she clenched one fist over her chest, and the other pressed against her face.
"We'd never seen anything like it. Every time our father's were pushed into a corner, they always pushed back. He wasn't even able to power up to Saiyan God." Bulla continued.
"That form that Super Grandpa Goku fought Lord Beerus with. Maybe he would have stood a chance..." Pan wondered as her spirits began to drop.
Shaking her head, Bulla corrected her friend. "I don't think so. Even when my dad, and Super Grandpa Goku, went Super Saiyan God, it wasn't enough." Tears began to fall onto Bulla's hands and blanket.
"There was nothing that anyone could do?" Iwase asked them.
"We weren't strong enough. Every person it killed only added to his strength. And we had learned from our own Dragon Balls that the only way to defeat was to seal it with blood and soul of the one who awoken. Bulla would have had to sacrificed herself." Pan explained, her sullen eyes meeting Iwase's shocked gaze.
"So my dad used the Super Dragon Balls to make a wish. To send Pan and I to a different plain of existence. Somewhere beyond our own home multiverse..." Bulla concluded as she buried her head in her knees.
"And that is where we are today, right?" Iwase asked, looking for confirmation.
"You probably doubt us. I know it all sounds crazy, so I wouldn't mind if you-" Before Pan could finish, Iwase's soft embrace enveloped her.
"Your secret is safe with me...my wonderful Saiyan girls..." As she got up, she walked Pan over to the bed next to Bulla. "You girls just rest, regain your strength for your rematch. Don't forget that I'll be watching." She said with a warm smile. "And come see me when we get back home. I have something for Bulla." Gesturing for Recovery Girl to follow, the two left the girls alone in the room.
Only a few seconds passed before Pan joined Bulla in bed, holding her tight. "Pan... Do you think that we'll ever be able to go back home...?"
Lightly shaking her head, Pan responded softly. "You dummy. Didn't you hear your dad? This is our home."
"Right..." The stress of having to relive that time six months ago took its toll on the girls, and within minutes, they both rested quietly together.
