A/N: A little side note, this story will probably keep getting darker and
darker. Don't worry, though, 'cause the end will be...relatively...happy.
Oh, and I changed the title of Chapter 4.
Chapter 7: "Hope and Despair"
--------------------------------
Pan was going through one of her usual fits. The only thing different was that Bulma had placed her in a regen tank. One, she was honestly getting tired of cleaning up the blood stains and the regen tank's filters could take care of that. Two, she figured it wouldn't hurt, and Pan might even regain some strength.
Bulma and Trunks were both watching over her, Bulma worried that Pan was getting weaker from malnutrition and blood loss and Trunks feeling himself get weaker and weaker as their bond got strained more and more.
Bulma stepped over to the panel next to the regen tank and took a few more scans of Pan and growled deeply at the results. Trunks folded his arms and blankly glanced at her.
"...The mutation is speeding up... At this rate, she only has... a matter of days. A week at the absolute most..."
They both froze as Pan began shaking violently. Bulma gasped and slowly turned to Trunks.
"...She's going into shock. If we can't calm her body down..." She closed her eyes and shook her head, unable to finish.
Trunks folded his arms and looked away, "'Kaa-san... if the mutation stops, how long will it take to create the cure to kill this thing?"
"Depending on where the mutation stops, I should be able to tweak it in anywhere from a few hours to a day. Why?"
"...If I donate my energy to her, would it stop the mutation?"
Bulma frowned slightly and turned back to the scans, inputting the new data and seeing the prediction, "...Depending on how much energy you donate, it might give her body the strength to neutralize it long enough."
"Then let's do it."
"Wait..." She put more data in and scowled at the results, "To give me enough time, you would need to donate almost all of your energy. You'd be out for...weeks, maybe longer. And there's no absolute guarantee that it'll work."
"I said... let's do it."
Bulma sighed and nodded, pulling up two tables almost right next to each other. Trunks helped her un-hook the shaking girl and lay her onto one of the tables. Bulma held her down as Trunks climbed onto the other table. He grabbed her hand and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Bulma covered her mouth and watched hopefully with tears forming in her eyes. Trunks scowled as he forced his energy to flow into Pan slowly instead of releasing it all on her, which would overload her body. When he had given her all of it except what he needed to live, he released her hand and blacked out.
Pan immediately calmed down and Bulma smiled in relief, going immediately to work.
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{The Androids laughed wickedly, hovering over Pan. She closed her eyes tightly and fell to her knees, waiting for them to get it over with. Suddenly, she was hit with a wave of power. It caused her to fall forward onto her hands and knees. She naturally harnessed it and stood up, glaring at the Androids.}
{Something inside her just seemed to recognize this power as the level beyond Super Saiya-jin. She jumped at Juunanagou and grabbed Gohan's sword out of his hands. Juuhachigou fired a blast at her, but Pan jumped out of the way easily. She stood in front of Juuhachigou with her back faced to the Android.}
{Juuhachigou scowled and pulled back her hand, then thrust it forward in an attempt to plunge it into Pan's back. However, Pan was quicker and thrust her sword straight back, through Juuhachigou's stomach. The Android gasped in horror as Pan pulled her sword out and smirked as the female Android collapsed to the ground.}
{Pan looked over her shoulder and a look of pain flashed on her face, "You were already dead."}
{Juunanagou gasped in horror as Pan glared at him. He crouched down to fight, but knew it was useless. Pan charged at him and sliced downwards, cutting him in half length-wise. Then she sliced him into smaller pieces and blasted them all into oblivion. She swung her sword into its sheath and folded her arms, thinking out loud.}
{"...I wonder why that was the first way I could think to kill him... Oh, well, I always liked that story."}
{She looked around and frowned at the endless abyss of darkness around her. She took a deep breath, deeply grateful that being Super Saiya-jin gave her at least some light. She shrugged and sat down on the ground, which was cold and felt like stone.}
{She closed her eyes and smirked wickedly. Then her eyes went wide open as she realized something was wrong with her. Making a face, she recognized the battle waging inside of her. She wasn't used to this much power, and she was fighting to stay herself.}
{Unwilling to lose being herself, she slipped out of Super Saiya-jin 2 form into a familiar form, regular Super Saiya-jin. She would've gone all the way back to her normal form, but the darkness was thick enough.}
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Bulma scowled as she heard the phone ringing sharply next to her. She leaned back from her place hovering over the keyboard of the computer and grabbed the phone.
"Moshi moshi...?" She was trying to force the emotion out of her voice, and was probably failing miserably.
The person on the other line picked up on her irritation and his voice was a little shaky, "Mrs. Briefs?"
"The last time I checked, now what do you want?" Bulma accidently snapped at him, her nerves seriously frayed.
"Um... this is Docter Merik calling from the South City Hospital. I just called to tell you that Son ChiChi came in a few hours ago, and we're not sure what she has yet. Her body systems are starting to deteriorate... We'll call you as soon as we find out what's wrong."
"...Thank you..." The docter hung up and Bulma didn't bother to hang up, but she let the phone slip from her ear and fall to the floor. The blue- haired woman put her face in her hands as the fact that ChiChi was probably dying slowly sunk in.
-First Goku...then Gohan... now Pan and ChiChi. Why does their whole family have to die?? This just isn't fair...-
After letting a few tears fall down her face, she went back to her computer in an attempt to escape the pain through her work.
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Wai, I absolutely love working on this story! I bet anything this'll be my first completed story. I'm getting better at cliffhangers, too (I think...)! ^_^* Remember to review!
Chapter 7: "Hope and Despair"
--------------------------------
Pan was going through one of her usual fits. The only thing different was that Bulma had placed her in a regen tank. One, she was honestly getting tired of cleaning up the blood stains and the regen tank's filters could take care of that. Two, she figured it wouldn't hurt, and Pan might even regain some strength.
Bulma and Trunks were both watching over her, Bulma worried that Pan was getting weaker from malnutrition and blood loss and Trunks feeling himself get weaker and weaker as their bond got strained more and more.
Bulma stepped over to the panel next to the regen tank and took a few more scans of Pan and growled deeply at the results. Trunks folded his arms and blankly glanced at her.
"...The mutation is speeding up... At this rate, she only has... a matter of days. A week at the absolute most..."
They both froze as Pan began shaking violently. Bulma gasped and slowly turned to Trunks.
"...She's going into shock. If we can't calm her body down..." She closed her eyes and shook her head, unable to finish.
Trunks folded his arms and looked away, "'Kaa-san... if the mutation stops, how long will it take to create the cure to kill this thing?"
"Depending on where the mutation stops, I should be able to tweak it in anywhere from a few hours to a day. Why?"
"...If I donate my energy to her, would it stop the mutation?"
Bulma frowned slightly and turned back to the scans, inputting the new data and seeing the prediction, "...Depending on how much energy you donate, it might give her body the strength to neutralize it long enough."
"Then let's do it."
"Wait..." She put more data in and scowled at the results, "To give me enough time, you would need to donate almost all of your energy. You'd be out for...weeks, maybe longer. And there's no absolute guarantee that it'll work."
"I said... let's do it."
Bulma sighed and nodded, pulling up two tables almost right next to each other. Trunks helped her un-hook the shaking girl and lay her onto one of the tables. Bulma held her down as Trunks climbed onto the other table. He grabbed her hand and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Bulma covered her mouth and watched hopefully with tears forming in her eyes. Trunks scowled as he forced his energy to flow into Pan slowly instead of releasing it all on her, which would overload her body. When he had given her all of it except what he needed to live, he released her hand and blacked out.
Pan immediately calmed down and Bulma smiled in relief, going immediately to work.
--------------------------------------
{The Androids laughed wickedly, hovering over Pan. She closed her eyes tightly and fell to her knees, waiting for them to get it over with. Suddenly, she was hit with a wave of power. It caused her to fall forward onto her hands and knees. She naturally harnessed it and stood up, glaring at the Androids.}
{Something inside her just seemed to recognize this power as the level beyond Super Saiya-jin. She jumped at Juunanagou and grabbed Gohan's sword out of his hands. Juuhachigou fired a blast at her, but Pan jumped out of the way easily. She stood in front of Juuhachigou with her back faced to the Android.}
{Juuhachigou scowled and pulled back her hand, then thrust it forward in an attempt to plunge it into Pan's back. However, Pan was quicker and thrust her sword straight back, through Juuhachigou's stomach. The Android gasped in horror as Pan pulled her sword out and smirked as the female Android collapsed to the ground.}
{Pan looked over her shoulder and a look of pain flashed on her face, "You were already dead."}
{Juunanagou gasped in horror as Pan glared at him. He crouched down to fight, but knew it was useless. Pan charged at him and sliced downwards, cutting him in half length-wise. Then she sliced him into smaller pieces and blasted them all into oblivion. She swung her sword into its sheath and folded her arms, thinking out loud.}
{"...I wonder why that was the first way I could think to kill him... Oh, well, I always liked that story."}
{She looked around and frowned at the endless abyss of darkness around her. She took a deep breath, deeply grateful that being Super Saiya-jin gave her at least some light. She shrugged and sat down on the ground, which was cold and felt like stone.}
{She closed her eyes and smirked wickedly. Then her eyes went wide open as she realized something was wrong with her. Making a face, she recognized the battle waging inside of her. She wasn't used to this much power, and she was fighting to stay herself.}
{Unwilling to lose being herself, she slipped out of Super Saiya-jin 2 form into a familiar form, regular Super Saiya-jin. She would've gone all the way back to her normal form, but the darkness was thick enough.}
------------------------------------
Bulma scowled as she heard the phone ringing sharply next to her. She leaned back from her place hovering over the keyboard of the computer and grabbed the phone.
"Moshi moshi...?" She was trying to force the emotion out of her voice, and was probably failing miserably.
The person on the other line picked up on her irritation and his voice was a little shaky, "Mrs. Briefs?"
"The last time I checked, now what do you want?" Bulma accidently snapped at him, her nerves seriously frayed.
"Um... this is Docter Merik calling from the South City Hospital. I just called to tell you that Son ChiChi came in a few hours ago, and we're not sure what she has yet. Her body systems are starting to deteriorate... We'll call you as soon as we find out what's wrong."
"...Thank you..." The docter hung up and Bulma didn't bother to hang up, but she let the phone slip from her ear and fall to the floor. The blue- haired woman put her face in her hands as the fact that ChiChi was probably dying slowly sunk in.
-First Goku...then Gohan... now Pan and ChiChi. Why does their whole family have to die?? This just isn't fair...-
After letting a few tears fall down her face, she went back to her computer in an attempt to escape the pain through her work.
----------------------------------
Wai, I absolutely love working on this story! I bet anything this'll be my first completed story. I'm getting better at cliffhangers, too (I think...)! ^_^* Remember to review!