Chapter 47: The Grand-Daughter of Mr. Satan
Pan and Sofia stood in the doorway to the arena as the announcer warmed up the crowd before telling them to prepare for the reveal of the next stage. Unlike with Noca and Vegeta where they had to be standing in position before the stage built itself Pan and Sofia were requested to stay back as the floor opened up and out of the ground a new stage was revealed. The stage had big land mass walls around the outside of the stage that made a sort of bowl. That bowl was filled with water and there was one large land mass located in the middle with lots of other little rocks dotted around. It was similar to the towers, but it was natural land. There was one large fighting area in the middle, water to fall into, and other little rocks to jump around on.
The announcer explained that ring outs did still apply here as they could go over the large walls and fall just outside the fighting area, but he also let everyone know that water wouldn't serve as a ring out and can be used as fighting space. The announcer went on to ask the fighters to step into the field and take their places in their preferred starting positions. The two young women did just that and were itching to get started. A sort of bridge came from the ground near the door and led straight over the lowest wall near the door and onto the centre island.
They stood a fair distance apart from one another and waited for the announcer to tell them when their time started. Sofia was standing side on to Pan and had her arms folded. She was acting like none of it mattered to her. There was an air of arrogance all around her. Pan noticed this but didn't like it. She didn't appreciate it. There was a certain disrespect felt. Pan took a deep breath and moved into her stance to get ready. She kept her eyes focussed on her opponent, but Sofia's stance didn't change. She was starting to act bored and it was annoying Pan now. The Saiyan girl grit her teeth and her brow furrowed. Pan was wishing for the announcer to get this fight started, her fists clenching.
The announcer gave the call and Pan instantly pounced, shooting towards Sofia and attempting the first attack of the match. She punched with her right as Sofia lazily turned away from it. Pan followed up by swinging around her left leg and trying to kick her opponent in the head, but Sofia dropped under the leg and backed away, a smirk on her face. Pan grunted as she turned around and phased, quickly managing to get a punch into the centre of Sofia's face and knocking the girl back a couple of steps. Pan rushed forward with another punch, but Sofia blocked that one.
She broke the block, throwing Pan back a little and then shot forward smashing her own fist into Pan's gut and then kicked her away. Pan rolled back through the air and landed back on her feet, flying forward to meet Sofia in the middle again. Pan landed and slid past Sofia, clipping her leg and causing Sofia's balance to shake, but the girl turned around and attempted another punch down on Pan. The Saiyan girl caught the fist, wrapped her other arm around Sofia's arm and twisted around managing to hit Sofia in the face with her elbow, while still holding her arm.
Sofia kicked Pan in the back of the knee and that caused the Saiyan to fall to one knee. Sofia had her arm back and grabbed Pan's hair and kicked her in the head, causing her to slide across the ground, but Pan rolled and flipped back to her feet. Sofia took a breath and smirked again. Pan wasn't happy. Pan phased forward for an attack, she attempted to drop a kick down from Sofia's left and catch her in the head. Sofia dodged under the kick, backing away. Pan spun around and aimed a fist for her head, but Sofia moved to the side and moved in with a punch to Pan's side. The Saiyan turned and kicked again, Sofia caught this one and pulled Pan towards her. She punched Pan in the face and the Saiyan fell back but managed to stay on her feet, her balance was just shaken a little. Pan, frustrated, jumped forward again and attempted a right jab but it was caught, and Sofia started to twist her arm away. Pan grunted and struggled.
"I'm really having fun here, and I thought I would have a challenge, how foolish of me," Sofia said, with a smirk and a chuckle. Pan grit her teeth and threw an uppercut with her left. It was a strong one that struck Sofia in the chin and knocked her back, Pan was free to charge forward and now she would try to make use of the stage they were on. The terrain and the water.
Pan charged and kicked Sofia back and the girl was sent splashing into the water. Pan stood, brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes. Sofia jumped up out of the water, taking flight and threw a Ki blast down at the Saiyan. Pan jumped back and kicked the blast up into the air, it was only a distraction though as Sofia charged back and grabbed Pan, flying to the other side of the land mass and hovering over the water. Before Sofia had a chance to send Pan into the water, Pan powered out her aura, breaking free from her grip and dropping back onto one of the small rocks. Sofia charged towards Pan as she phased to another one of the small rocks. Sofia had to alter her direction quickly and carried on towards Pan. Sofia threw a Ki blast towards Pan, but the Saiyan jumped up at the last minute and the blast hit the rock, blowing it up and splashing some water up.
Sofia darted up towards Pan and punched up, but Pan dodged around it as Sofia turned and kicked down quickly. Pan wasn't surprised by the burst of pace and was knocked down into the water with a splash. Sofia landed on one of the rocks, knowing Pan wouldn't stay down there for too long. Sofia waited, while Pan shot up on the opposite side of the arena and threw a blast towards where Sofia was standing. Sofia turned and noticed it at the last minute, having to jump out of the way, she hopped across a couple of rocks as the blast hit the first one. As Sofia hit a third rock Pan had shot towards her and crashed into her opponent, knocking her into the rock wall that formed the bowl around them. Sofia bounced off and instantly shot towards Pan again. The Saiyan jumped back down onto one of the rocks and bounced to the next one and back to the middle land-mass. Sofia dropped down too and the two stood ahead of each other for a second.
Sofia rushed towards Pan as soon as she set her foot down and punched towards her, but Pan dropped back letting the punch go across her front and then went in for her own punch. Sofia was equal to that movement and dropped down, side-ways, managing to kick Pan's hand out of the way. Sofia used her left hand to push herself back up and used that momentum to continue towards Pan, forming that left hand into a fist. Pan didn't react in time and was struck in the face but when Sofia prepared to follow it up Pan was ready. She blocked the next punch with her left arm, pushing back immediately and performing a spinning roundhouse kick with her left foot, striking Sofia in the head.
Pan's hit had made Sofia very mad. She turned to look back at the Saiyan, a cut on her head from Pan's kick and some blood trickled down. Pan stepped back but retained her composure. Sofia stepped forward, her teeth grit and her eyes narrowed. She screamed and exploded towards Pan from point blank. She grabbed the girl around the throat with her left hand and punched her in the face and then in the gut. As Pan bent down Sofia grabbed the back of her head and pulled her back by her hair, punched her in the throat and threw her across the stage. Pan bounced along and when she finally came to a stop she couldn't stop coughing as Sofia walked over, casually. She kicked Pan in the side, flipping her over on to her back and looked down on her.
"Have you really got nothing else?" Sofia said, chuckling lightly. She then proceeded to kick Pan in the side a couple of times and then released a final kick that lifted Pan off the ground and threw her over to the edge of land-mass. Pan landed and rolled on to her front and started to slowly push herself up off the ground. She had taken quite a beating, but she wasn't down for the count. She wouldn't give up. Sofia continued to walk over slowly as Pan got to one knee. She finally got to her feet and started to turn, but Sofia had rushed forward suddenly and punched Pan across the face. The power in her punch knocked her back down to the ground, flat on her front.
Sofia leaned down and pulled Pan up by the back of her head, turning the Saiyan to face her and punched her across the mouth, cutting open her lip. Blood splattered on the ground and down Pan's face. Pan felt the sting and wanted to wipe blood away from her mouth but wasn't given the chance as Sofia had thrown her back down onto the hard ground. Looking down on her almost beaten opponent, Sofia held her hand up and started to power up a blast. Using this little bit of time that was allowed to her, Pan decided to access some more of her energy and move back into the fight.
She appeared to access some new power, she moved fast and knocked Sofia's hand away preparing to go for the attack. Sofia tried to move first and keep her advantage and threw a couple of punches, but due to Pan's increase in speed she managed to dodge past both of those punches and was right up in front of Sofia. Pan thrust a hand out and put it against Sofia's chest. She used her power to thrust some energy out and pushed Sofia back to gain some distance.
But the mysterious girl was equal to that movement and darted back in for an attack again. She threw a punch towards Pan's chest, but the Saiyan blocked the attempt and pushed back, getting Sofia back again. Then she powered out her aura and jumped towards Sofia, punching her in the chest and knocking her back towards the edge of the land-mass. Sofia practically teetered on the edge and tried to move on forward to safety, but Pan shot forward and crashed her knee into Sofia's gut, knocking her flying back over the edge. Sofia moved across the water and Pan followed after her.
The Saiyan kept up with attempting attacks as she chased after her opponent, but Sofia kept her arms up in a block fashion. She eventually hit against the wall and Pan stopped in front of Sofia and fired a punch forward, but Sofia moved her head out of the way and Pan smashed her fist right into the rock. Sofia ducked under Pan's arm and moved behind Pan, proceeding to kick her in the back, flat-footed. Sofia used that to push off and move to a distance, bouncing across a few of the rocks. Pan was hit into the rock wall by the kick, but quickly turned around to follow.
Sofia continued back, doing her best to keep a distance and rethink strategy. It didn't seem smart to let Pan get to this point where she started to get better control of the fight, but that wasn't going to stop Sofia from believing she could retake that advantage. She tried to make effective use of her speed while jumping back and darting from rock-to-rock. Pan was equal to her speed but couldn't catch up. She was throwing energy blasts in an aggravated fashion. Her aim wasn't the best.
The blasts were either splashing down in the water or hitting the rocks and creating smoke clouds around the place. Sofia dodged each blast as they hit down behind her, and in some cases, in front of her. Sofia's movements were precise, and she was doing well. Pan didn't like it and needed to do something more. She powered up and phased, appearing in front of Sofia. The opponent didn't think to slow down and flew right into the attack. Sofia went in with a barrage and Pan had to defend against them all, blocking them with her arm.
When the timing was right Pan caught both of Sofia's hands, Pan then pulled Sofia's arms across her front in a cross-like fashion and then slammed her head down on Sofia's face. She let go and moved on with a forward flip into a kick, but the kick was avoided. Last minute, Sofia caught a glimpse of what was coming, and she moved, phasing away as Pan flipped through the air and came back to her starting position. Sofia stopped behind Pan and punched her right in the back of the head. Pan fell forward and twisted around as another fist came down, she blocked with both arms and broke the block with a pulse of energy that left Sofia open. Pan punched up into her gut and Sofia instantly reacted by throwing a blast right into Pan's face. The blast exploded and sent Pan flying across the main land-mass, shoot across the ground and hitting against one of the large rocks at the opposite end. She falls down on the ground and suffered a slight injury from that attack. There was another open cut on her cheek that trickled blood down, joining the damage already done to her lip.
Pan lifted a hand to her face, felt the sting and wiped the blood away. Pan let out a low growl before screaming as she blasted forward. Sofia charged forward too, but Pan phased right before they met each other. She moved behind Sofia and kicked her in the back, throwing her down onto the ground, Sofia instantly bounced from the impact, but Pan moved quick to grab her by the back of the head and slammed her face down into the dirt with enough power to crack the land. Sofia used as much strength as she could muster to push back on Pan and twist around, firing a blast right into Pan's gut which threw the Saiyan up into the air. However, the blast didn't explode, and Pan managed to contain it as it pushed her up. She managed to get enough power behind the attack to throw it back down to Sofia. The girl dodged back away from the blast as it struck the ground and then exploded, sending some debris flying in all directions. Sofia had to shield her face from the sharp rocks.
Pan smirked and phased right in front of Sofia.
"Bad idea," Pan said as she crouched back a little, beside Sofia and powered up energy in the centre of her hands. "Kame-Hame-Ha!" She yelled as she thrust the blast up into Sofia. The energy exploded out and pushed across the arena, ripping through the ground and across the water, continuing on out through the bowl wall before Pan let the power go. Pan kept her arms aimed forward and wore an expression of hope and worry at the same time. The Announcer jumped out of his commentary area with a microphone, ready to call a ring-out, but soon noticed that nobody was there. People in the ground who had been cheering prematurely had stopped and looked around. Pan did her best to keep her senses attuned to try and find Sofia's energy.
The confusion about the whole situation caused Pan's focus to drop and Noca sensed that. Back in the waiting area he stood, basically outside, hoping for Pan to get her attention back on the fighting area.
Sofia finally shoots up out of the water from behind Pan, flying in behind her and knocking her up into the air before firing an energy ball that was made to get Pan out of the ring through the very same hole she had created with her last attack. Pan is thrown all the way up to the hole but managed to power out to get the blast away from her and stop herself before going all the way through and hitting the ground. She immediately darts in towards the middle and Sofia opted to do the same and they met in the middle with a tremendous clash. A pulse of energy shocked the air and the arena, cracking it even more. Sofia didn't seem to be tiring at all. Pan, on the other-hand, was starting to breathe a bit heavier.
Sofia broke the clash and jumped back away, gaining distance. Pan backed up a bit from the pulse of the clash breaking, but Sofia jumped right back in aiming a kick with her right. The leg came down towards Pan, but the Saiyan ducked. Sofia dropped down next to Pan and attempted to twist around and use her left foot to trip Pan up. Pan jumped over that leg and was right above Sofia. The girl shot up into Pan, hitting her in the gut with her head and after a slight movement, managed to grab Pan by the hair with her left hand and threw her down into the ground. Sofia then jabbed her right fist forward into the back of Pan's head and pounded her into the dirt. As soon as she did that, Pan's energy started to shine, and her aura was back. Sofia reacted, pulling back slightly, but there was a spilt second before a large explosion that obliterated the land and blew the water into the air.
Pan screamed out as she blasted up into the air, punching Sofia's body all the way. Sofia gradually managed to move her arms and get a grip on Pan's wrists. It all stopped for a second. Sofia was a little bit higher than Pan and had a good positioning. She kicked Pan in the gut a couple of times, letting go of her wrists afterwards, following up with a kick down into Pan. It sends the Saiyan firing down into the water below. Sofia started to descend after this, knowing that things wouldn't last much longer. That was until the water started to rumble and pulsate, then it all explodes up out of what's left of the bowl at once. Pan is hovering there with a white shining aura around her, her eyes narrowed, and her hair waving around, almost standing on edge like Super Saiyan.
A lot of the crowd were awestruck and started cheering for the girl again. Noca was standing at the edge with Holline and both of them couldn't take their eyes away from the spectacle. Vegeta stepped out, also intrigued.
"That's incredible, Pan is finally utilising all of her current potential," Vegeta mentioned. Noca turned to face him with a questioning look.
"Current?" He said, continuing to stare at Vegeta, but noticed that the Prince wasn't looking away from the fight. Noca turned back to look and smirked to himself, knowing that Pan had more power to use and could have access to so much more in the future excited him.
Pan finally settled down, her aura calming and her hair falling back but still waving around a little. She had her eyes firmly narrowed towards Sofia. Sofia smirks, but that smirk is wiped from her face when Pan darts forward and her opponent isn't equal to this newfound speed. Pan hits with a right hook, striking across Sofia's face, and it sends her flying towards the rock wall. Pan phases to meet Sofia's body, but Sofia managed to phase at the last second appearing behind Pan and locking her arms behind her. She flips over, slamming Pan into the rock wall and then turns, opening her hand and blasting Pan immediately. The blast pushes the Saiyan through the rock wall and Pan falls onto the grass. Sofia keeps her hand raised and her eyes on Pan, she appears to be a little shaken up, but takes a deep breath and calms, lowering her hand.
Pan stays down on her back, her energy fading away. She was exhausted from all the power she had. She knows what is about to be said but she isn't prepared to take it.
"After a spectacular fight we finally have a winner. Pan is defeated by ring-out, Sofia will advance to the Semi-Final," The announcer called out.
With that, tears started to fill Pan's eyes. She was angry at herself. She knew she could have won that fight, but she lost. She lost and it infuriated her, but that all transformed into the tears in her eyes. The anger was given a chance to rest when she heard the crowd. Almost the whole audience was cheering her name. As the grand-daughter of Mr. Satan she had the crowd supporting her, but in that fight, they had been completely behind her and wanted her to win. Knowing the crowd had been behind her the entire time gave Pan a strong sense of relief and she started to sob a little bit. It was overwhelming. Finally, however, Pan's energy hit its limit and she passed out. Bruises, blood, and now tears on her face.
Noca rushed over to Pan and lifted her up, carrying her back into the waiting area and laying her down towards the back. Holline and Vegeta were there as Noca supplied her with a Senzu bean. It would take a little time to have its effect, but Pan would be fine. Noca started to wipe the blood from her face but hands off to Holline after noticing that Sofia and her crew were at the back of the room, together. Noca's eyes narrowed and he stood up, walking over to them. Vegeta watched, unsure of what Noca would think to do.
Noca approached them, but before he could even get close, Joji had stepped in front of him to stop him. Noca wasn't fazed by this man and wasn't afraid to attack. Noca flashed Super Saiyan, no Aura, just hair. Sofia doesn't look over to Noca and sits with Yaiko, who tries not to look at Noca.
"You…"
"Save it for our fight," Sofia said, cutting Noca off before he had a chance to say anything. Noca looked up at Joji, who was glaring down at him. Noca looked back to Sofia, dropped to his base form and walked back to Pan. Sofia was right about their fight. Noca would be up against her in the next round.
When Noca got back to Pan she started to shift and wake up. Noca was instantly to attention.
"Are you ok?" He asked, first, but left no room for an answer, "You were amazing out there."
"Thanks," Pan muttered as she sat up and hugged Noca. She smiled as she held him, and he held her back.
"You have some much power and I'm so proud of you," Noca said to her, "We'll definitely need to train together, again."
"That would be nice," Pan muttered back, kissing him on the cheek. She kept her smile as she thought back on the fight. She had to admit she was proud of herself too, but that loss would stick with her. Her smile faded a little. She knew that there was a big opportunity missed there and she would aim to make up for it somehow. But the crowd, they cheered for her. Not because of her family. They were cheering for her.
I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I had a lot of fun writing Pan's fights in this tournament and I do feel like I could have done better by her character if I told this arc in a different way. But there will be plenty of times in the future for that! Leave a review or drop me a PM if you have anything to say or ask.
Next Time... Chapter 48: An Unrelenting Challenger