In the Eyes of a Child
Chapter Nineteen - We Follow the Way of 'The Pan'
The Saiyajin no Ouji, however, clearly underestimated his foe. He thought that the priest was some lowly alien clone who did not know anything about the fighting arts, but he was seriously mistaken. It was too late when he found out that his look-alike was more than a match to him, and that his butt was being kicked by a replica of himself that spoke about light and love in cheerfully annoying tones.
Spreading out his arms, the priest sang, "Love lifts us up where we belong!" in the same voice that intimidated his foe, before he rose into the air, tiny bolts of lightning cackling around him, but his hair and eye color remained the same. He finished with all of his heart, "Where eagles fly, on a mountain high!"
His voice made Vegeta fall on his knees and cover his ears as a head-splitting pain tore through his head. Not only was the clone horribly off-key, his voice seemed to be one of the tools to his success. Eventually, the pain wore off, and the saiyajin warrior managed to squint an eye open to see what was going on, but the priest would only sing another verse or two about love in his ultra-powerful voice...
... until the Prince dropped cold.
Meanwhile, Goku was busy fighting the Great One, the Supreme Overlord of the alien clones. If there was any one of the Z-Senshi who found his match in terms of battle skills, it was their leader. They exchanged one punch after the other, one kick after the other, one ki-blast after the other. They disappeared into thin air, reappeared from thin air, exchanged blows, then disappeared into thin air, reappeared from thin air, exchanged blows, then disappeared, reappeared, exchanged --- and the cycle repeated itself.
"You are abominations," the warlord began in a low growl, sounding like Goku only more sinister, as he pointed at the saiyajin warrior with an accusing finger. "You and your cursed saiyajin friends. How dare you mock us by taking on our appearance! You will pay for this, then we will take over your world!"
"Not a chance! You will not take over this world!" Goku exclaimed in return, before the features on his face transformed into complete confusion. He then touched his face gingerly. "We're the ones who took on your appearance? Really? But if we did, how did we did it?"
The Great One laughed, noticing the other's error in grammar. "It's how did we do it, Kakkarot. But nonetheless, that is no longer important." He swept his hand as he took one step back to show his opponent what had happened to his comrades. "They have fallen by our hands. You will join them very soon. Fight me now!"
But Goku was still pondering on what he was told. "No, you're wrong," he blurted out, looking at the enemy with a determined look on his face. "It's how did we did it. See? It's past tense. We didn't copy your faces at present, did we? If we copied it, we did it a long time ago, because we've been living in these faces for the past years. So you're wrong and I'm right."
"You act like you're so smart," the Great One snarled, before he folded his arms in front of his chest smugly. If the saiyajin warrior did not want to fight physically, then they were going to fight mentally --- and he was going to win. "Very well, then. If that is what you wish. But Kakkarot, do tell me, what is 1 + 1?"
His answer was confident and direct. "Two."
"2 + 2?"
Unfortunately, the saiyajin warrior was not prepared for that. He knew the answer to the clone's first question, because he and Vegeta discussed it a few days back, but 2 + 2 was a completely different story. "2 + 2?" he asked, then he began pacing around as he thought of the answer, using his hands to figure out the answers. "If one and one is two, then two and two... one, two, three, four... ah! I know!"
"Tell me, then, oh great Kakkarot. What is 2 + 2?" He smiled at his counterpart, although it was nowhere near the genuine classification. "Come on, Kakkarot. Tell me what you've come up with."
"Since one and one is two," Goku began with a proud smile, rocking back and forth in his own way of expressing his excitement, "and two is next to one, so... two and two... well, the next to two is..." He held up his fingers to express his answer, along with a dramatic pose that was the best he could come up with in an unusually short span of time. "Two and two is three!"
At the far end of the campus grounds, Gohan and his clone played a game of tag. His vicious dog-thinking counterpart sprinted after him in a feral fashion, even if he would take refuge in the air --- for the other would run up into him as well. The teenage demi-saiyajin threw one ki-blast after the other, but the clone was too fast for him.
Eventually, the alien clone rammed straight into him, knocked him down on the ground and pinned him there. Gohan tried to wriggle away, away from the face that mirrored his own yet with sharp teeth that looked like a dog's, but to no avail. He tried to talk himself out of the situation he was in, but found that the only language that his foe understood was brute force. He was about to try and hit his foe with another ki-blast when...
CLANG!
The Gohan clone crumpled into an unconscious heap beside the real demi-saiyajin.
"Well. That wasn't too hard, was it?" came a woman's voice, and it was one of those times when Gohan was so glad to hear it. Then, Chichi bent down and extended her hand towards her son, who was smiling at her with much gratitude. "Now, Gohan dear, you have to tell us what's going on, and where everybody else is."
So the demi-saiyajin explained the situation to the two women, and told them that everyone else had fallen except his father, Goku. After his short but very direct to the point narration, the blue-haired genius stroked her weapon lovingly, which made the teenager cringe noticeably. "I see," she mumbled, before she looked at her comrade and smiled. "I believe that it's our turn to save the world ---" She raised IT. "--- with this!"
That made the demi-saiyajin's mother clap in approval, as Gohan heaved a sigh. He was delighted in the fact that the clone torture would be over in a flurry, but he wasn't sure if the two women could break past their enemies' defenses. His unheard question, however, did not happen to be completely unheard at all. "Don't worry, dear," his mother broke through his reverie, "we're going to be able to get past their defenses through your help. All right?"
He swallowed. "I knew there was a glitch."
The battle of wits between the leaders of the two groups did not last very long. Annoyed at the way the other was acting, the Great One decided to go back to the physical match. Standing at where they were most comfortable, the Supreme Overlord's allies looked on, pleased at the exchange of blows that was going on.
By then, the other spectators had fled, afraid to get blasted into the next dimension by the random energy blasts that would appear out of nowhere. Even the Mirai Trunks fangirls had escaped, assuring themselves that their hero would live to tell the fabulous tale about the war that transpired in the middle of the historic Orange Star High School.
Even Videl was nowhere in sight --- at least, to the enemies' eyes. She had regained consciousness and was hiding behind a tree, out of her built-in instinct that she had to do so, for her to stay out of trouble. She was crying, however, although she did her best to stifle her sobs, for she saw the saiyajins fall one by one, her lovely purple-haired Mirai Trunks included. She hoped that her Gohan-kun was safe and sound, and that he would not appear to avoid getting hurt.
But he did, unfortunately. The teenager stepped out from behind the battling warriors casually, obviously unhurt. Videl wanted to run and hug him tight, because he was safe, but a greater, stronger part of her told her not to do so, or otherwise, something bad would happen. She decided to scream instead, but before she could let a word out of her mouth, a hand clamped over it.
"Not now, Videl dear."
Her cerulean eyes brightened considerably as she saw Chichi and Bulma standing behind her, trying to keep themselves hidden by the tree. She also saw the weapons they were carrying, and the moment she did, she knew that they were not going to be defeated. She knew the effects the metal frying pans had on the saiyajins, and she was sure that it would not take long for the war to be over.
Slowly, Bulma edged forward, moving even closer to the battlefield, Chichi close behind. And that was when Videl's eyes caught yet another kitchen utensil sticking out from the back pocket of the older woman's attire.
A ladle.
Stealthily, she grabbed it, and hid her weapon behind her back. She wasn't going to let the adults have fun on their own. If Goten and Trunks got their share in the battle, she was going to get hers to, no matter what everyone else would tell her. After all, wasn't she a fighter too? That she knew --- she wasn't sure how, but she did --- and that she would use to her advantage.
Gohan's voice, firm yet mocking, flooded into her senses. "How many of you will it take to kill a pathetic saiyajin such as myself?" he taunted, his hands tucked casually into his pockets as if he was facing something that he shouldn't worry about. In his raven eyes shone the gleam of mischievousness, but the clones were too thick-headed to notice it.
The Great One flicked his wrist, and in an instant, a large rock pulled itself off the earth that held it, then flung itself into the head of the Z-Senshi's leader, Goku, dazing the saiyajin warrior. In fact, the blow made the warrior's vision blurr and his world spin. At that, the clone leader faced Gohan, an angry light escaping his eyes. "You'll never live long enough to find out, boy. Finish him!" he exclaimed, pointing at Gohan.
Nobody moved. Nobody attacked, much to the Supreme Overlord's puzzlement. Annoyed at what his inferiors were exhibited, he yelled, "What more are you waiting for?! I said, finish that pesky little saiyajin---"
His voice trailed off as he whirled around and saw what was truly going on. His comrades were on the ground, unconscious. He could not believe his eyes. How in the world could it have happened?! How in the world could someone be strong enough to knock out his inferiors just like that?! He knew it wasn't possible --- but it happened. The anger in his eyes was replaced by fear.
Then, he saw the cause of it all. He saw the strongest warriors in the world he had chosen to invade. They stood silhouetted by the shadow of a large tree, backs pressed against each other. "You made the wrong choice when you decided to drop by, Kakkarot clone," one of the two began in a voice that was undeniably female. "You're not welcome in this world at all. They might have fallen, but you still have us to deal with."
In unison, they stepped into the light.
Women?! the Great One thought in disbelief, his eyes widening even more than it already did. In front of him stood two women who looked neither young nor old, holding some sort of metal equipment close to themselves. And they... they defeated my comrades with those... those... abominations?!
"Unfortunately for you," the black-haired member of the duo blurted out, cocking a smile, "we follow the way of The Pan, just as you submit to its will." She fell out of their pose, thwapping her weapon which she called The Pan around, as if exhibiting its capabilities when they had done so more than enough. "With these, we are indestructible."
Taking advantage of the enemy's stunned reaction, the women attacked, letting their fighting skills loose. They closed on him from both sides, their weapons lifted up and ready to strike, and still too overwhelmed to move, the Supreme Overlord felt the power of the Frying-Pan-of-Ultimate-Catastropheâ„¢ --- doubled --- on his head. Insantly, he dropped unconscious.
That was when Videl, her sapphire eyes shining with much joy and pride, sprinted out of her hiding place, overjoyed. "You did it, Chichi-san! You did it, Bulma-san! You did it, Gohan-kun!" she shrieked, hopping and skipping as she rushed to congratulate the people who saved the day. "That was awesome! You really showed them---"
CLANG!
"O-oh my Kami!" Chichi gasped as she realized who she had hit with her weapon. Too absorbed in their feat, the two women went into a series of dramatic poses and pan-thwapping moves that she accidentally hit the regressed teenager on the head when she came running to them. Panicking, she knelt down by the girl's side just as her son did so, and when they found out she was alive (to their utter relief, as they had yet to find out the effects of The Pan thwapping a human), the older woman started shrieking that Gohan bring her to the hospital.
Goku, who finally recovered from being slammed on the head by a rock, picked up the bodies of the unconscious aliens, stuffed them into the spaceship they arrived in, and kicked it off into the sky, before firing a Kamehameha that sent it zooming to the far ends of space. He then gathered his fallen comrades, and took them to a safe place to recover with Chichi and Bulma --- the former still sobbing about what she had accidentally done to her future daughter-in-law.
The students, finally noticing how quiet it had become, scurried into the battlefield to see what had happened, and discovered --- much to the fangirls' disappointment --- that everyone was gone. To add to their frustration, the interns who served as their teachers called them back into their respective classrooms to continue with their lessons.
That was when a voice boomed from the school's gate.
"Fear not, fear not, students, countrymen and lovers! The great, the strong, the invincible --- the handsome--- Mr. Satan is here to save the day! Cower before me, evil warriors who have come to threaten the people who I serve and love! Your lives shall not be spared! You will feel the wrath of the most powerful warrior in this planet ---"
He suddenly froze upon whirling around, at the peak of his pose, as he realized that no one was there. No one, not even the crowd of high school students, who he knew was there when he began his classic battlecry and introduction. Sighing, he slumped his shoulders in defeat, turned around and walked away.
