This is it my friends! The chapter you've all been waiting for! Mind you, I
wrote this from about 10 o' clock last night till about 12! So I better be
gettin' some reviews! Oh, and a few encouraging words from my good friend,
Sir Winston Churchill before we begin!
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball GT.
~
Chapter 18: A Price to Pay
"She does have someone, she has me," This remark came from Trunks, who stepped forward.
"You? Trunks Briefs? The one who follows in his father's footsteps, I presume," Mystro mocked him, his grin widening, "Am I mistaken in also believing that you are the one who was caught with another woman, warming to her affections?"
Pan stiffened; the memory was sour in her mouth.
"That was a mistake that I regret and I will never make it again," Trunks said defiantly.
"Didn't you say that the first time, young Trunks? That you wouldn't have lunch with her anymore, that you only have room in your heart for Pan? See where that got you? If I were you Pan, I wouldn't be trusting his word," Mystro said slyly, looking Pan in the eye.
Pan just stood there, her mind all confuzzled again. Gohan had slipped out of her grasp and was lying on the ground, slipping in and out of consciousness. Images of Trunks and Ashley kissing brought bad feelings back, despite how much she knew she should get over it. But she couldn't overlook the fact that he had done it –twice-, each time telling her he didn't mean it. And she was thinking of all this when her entire family's life was at stake, not to mention the rest of the world being taken over by the bogeyman.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Trunks powered up, his flaming golden locks waving in the force of the aura. His eyes sparkled blue, no, not sparkled, -electrified- the slightest glance. He flung himself at Mystro, attacking him furiously, going all out. Mystro was slightly taken aback and Trunks nearly had him, giving him a few bruises, but nothing more than that. As of now, they were equal in power, but Trunks was enraged, and anger had blown out the lamp in his mind, leaving dust and a windstorm.
Trunks wasn't thinking at all. He attacked out of anger and loathe, forgetting all the good techniques of battle. Mystro however, did not lose his cool and dodged many of the hits that Trunks threw his way. Trunks himself was getting beaten up, his face all bloodied, his clothes torn, gashes from Mystro's nails even.
All through this Pan just gazed. She really didn't know what to think. It was like she was in the daze that Goku, (who was now mysteriously frozen in place in the air) Vegeta, and Kai had been in. She was scared for Trunks, but she also held contempt for him.
In the next instant, Trunks was up in the air, sustained by Mystro's clawed hand, yelling at some kind of pain being inflicted upon him.
"What are you doing?" Pan said, almost quietly.
"Why Pan darling, I'm getting your revenge! Don't you want revenge for all that he's done?" Mystro gave her a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry; let me handle this."
"Ok."
Trunks screamed harder than ever, the pain obviously killing him. His arms were clasped to his sides like he was being held like a doll, his feet flailing, and his face almost stretching to the point of breakage from Mystro's torture.
"I hope you're enjoying this, young Trunks Briefs. Now you can really take after your father. You can die insane! Insane from facing your fears!"
"Wait," Pan interjected, "what fears?"
"Trunks is now living his number one fear, and since he's going to die anyway, I don't see why I cant tell you. You see, Pan, Trunks' worst fear is being alone. Dying alone. He's also scared of being denied by you, my dearest. So he tries to throw his fear to the back of his mind and ignore it. But you see Trunks," he raised his voice, so Trunks could hear him, "your plan backfired! You are dying alone and you don't have a girl!"
Trunks gritted his teeth and struggled to be let free. Mystro dropped him, and he fell down to the floor with a thump, Pan wincing as she heard it. His hair drooped and became purple again, and his eyes were dull, but he was definitely alive.
"Does that satisfy your revenge bug, Pan?"
"NO!" She yelled, snapping back to reality, her black hair slightly rising with the aura. "My revenge is reserved for YOU!" And she screamed, her aura becoming a flaring red, edged with black, but strangely enough, the black and red died down and yellow took its place. A Super Saiyan yellow.
She felt the rush of adrenaline, the speed of the energy in her. Her emotions erupted into a burst of ANGER and POWER and RAGE. They were all words that described her –being- the person she became. Her hair rose too, and wildly flung about her. Her eyes changed to blue, and her hair became golden spikes. Instead of going up though, on a man's hair, the spikes went down, like a woman's hair, with no bangs, just long spikes of gold engulfing her. It went a little past the shoulders, and it was an amazing and beautiful sight even though it was destructive power.
Mystro was about ten yards from her, his eyes wide and his mouth open. But quickly regaining his calm, he crossed his arms and waited for Pan to finish.
"Prepare to die, Mystro."
Mystro gave a little humph and charged her. He quickly realized her power was not to be underestimated, even though they were pretty evenly matched. Their fight was a huge bang of forces, power on power, fist against fist. Pan fed her side of the force with her anger. She called up all her memories of hatred and death, and this is what fueled her. It was kind of sick, in a way, that death was to persuade her to commit another death, a being made of fear maybe, but it was still a death. And maybe, just maybe, she could have prevented those deaths of the people in the stands, Tien, Yamcha, Kabuto..... Goten. Either way she was going to make up for it now.
"Ah hah!" Mystro cried, for he had locked eyes with her and she had frozen. She was stuck in the air. Her arms were movable but her legs weren't.
"God damn it!" She yelled.
"Here is where the road ends, my dear! Say good bye!"
Oh shit. No. She couldn't die. This isn't the way it's supposed to be! She was a Super Saiyan! Finally she had that power to her beck and call and she was going to die. She had to save everyone. She had to get out and kill Mystro and bring everyone out back to home. Home. Oh no. She would never see it again. She would never see Videl, her mother, and Gohan would die, here, with a hole in his gut........
Mystro braced himself twenty feet away from Pan, a grayish ki blast forming in his hands. He laughed like an insane witch. Then again, that's really what he was. He would kill this girl and all would be over, and he would be in control. She was quite a nuisance and he couldn't wait to get rid of her.
What took place next was in slow motion in Pan's eyes. Every moment was planted in her mind. Mystro's hands thrust forward, and Pan met her death with open eyes, not wanting to face it scared. But then a blur came in front of her, and the light outlined a body. His face was turned toward her, the blast going into his back.
"Pan- I'm so sorry, please forgive me."
A scream-
"No!!!"
~I'm looking down now that it's over
Reflecting on all of my mistakes
I thought I found the road to somewhere
Somewhere in His Grace
I cried out heaven save me
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say~
Gone.
Trunks.
Then the slow motion stopped and time went forward again, the light and energy blasting suddenly and everything was in the grayish light. Pan couldn't even see it was so much like fog. When the smoke had cleared away, Pan's eyes searched frantically for Trunks. Where was he? Would he be hiding? Maybe he went to save Gohan. Foolish thoughts crept into her head, not wanting to believe the truth.
Mystro himself looked upon the scene with complete and utter disbelief. Goku didn't say a word, his face had gone horribly pale.
Pan's mind swarmed with stupid and irrelevant comments. She simply could not focus. Trunks just wasn't there. He wasn't lying on the ground, bleeding. He wasn't in the air, laughing at Mystro, and he wasn't helping Gohan. He just wasn't there. Nothing except dust.
"See what he did? Sacrificed his life for someone who's going to die anyway! What a fool!" Mystro regained his own wits and hurled his head back, laughing. "He threw himself into a ki blast! His own death bed!" He continued to mock Trunks' sacrifice.
Realization hit her with Mystro's words and the tears started to flow. They kept coming and coming, it seemed Mystro's laughing and her own tears would never stop. The laughing was in her head, loud and mocking. The tears crowded her vision. She didn't know what to do--- Oh God help me---
"Your whole life is a joke now, Pan. Everyone you love is going to die."
He circled around her in the air, Pan just being frozen while Mystro taunted her.
"The Z fighters are extinct, of which one you are barely. So what, you have yellow hair, blue eyes, you're still going to die. Tell me Pan," He said, with a toothy grin, still circling her, "How is it to have people underestimate you? It's very frustrating, I know. First they IGNORE you," Pan's anger boiled again, the madness starting to overwhelm her new Super Saiyan control. He continued, "Then they LAUGH at you," That was strike two. "Then they FIGHT you," She couldn't control it, but she marveled in it, the loathing was burning hot and if she didn't let it out it would consume her of its own accord. "And then---"
"AND THEN I WIN!!!" The ending phrase cut threw Mystro's. There was a snap in her mind and she was no longer frozen. The whole universe rumbled, she screamed a scream that could be heard and felt on Earth. Her aura was flames, burning, scorching, deadly, flames. Black and red flames. She was so drugged with the power that her hair was turned to black spikes with red streaks, and her eyes retained her old, well-deep ebony color and depth.
The power flailed all around her, but it did not hit Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, or Supreme Kai. It all ran toward Mystro. He was completely engulfed in her flames. They licked his sides, disintegrated his skin in less than a second. He didn't even have a chance to scream.
~ I'm trying to escape
I yelled back when I heard thunder
But I'm down to one last breath
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking~
A column of gray flared up from where he was, leading into the sky far above, never ending. There was a loud roar of power, drowning out all other sounds.
All the pain she endured, all the emotional crap she had gone through. All the emotional crap she would ever go through, was right here. All her strength, energy, hatred, anger, love, jealousy, grief, and everything she could, went into it. So in reality, it wasn't Pan's power that killed Mystro. It was Pan's essence, her mentality, her very being. She threw her fears away, and used all other emotions to overcome that one.
As fast as the reeling force had begun, it died away, leaving once again the site of nothing but ash in Mystro's place. Then a shadow- like figure floated out of the ground, it wailed, and then floated into the sky. It had been Mystro's last appearance.
Goku finally fell to the ground after being frozen throughout all of this.
"You destroyed him, Pan," Goku said, getting up.
"Yes," she said, almost solemnly, "After all those years growing up, wondering about the monsters under my bed, the bugs in my sheets, I've killed the leader of them all. I've killed the bogeyman."
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
--Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball GT.
~
Chapter 18: A Price to Pay
"She does have someone, she has me," This remark came from Trunks, who stepped forward.
"You? Trunks Briefs? The one who follows in his father's footsteps, I presume," Mystro mocked him, his grin widening, "Am I mistaken in also believing that you are the one who was caught with another woman, warming to her affections?"
Pan stiffened; the memory was sour in her mouth.
"That was a mistake that I regret and I will never make it again," Trunks said defiantly.
"Didn't you say that the first time, young Trunks? That you wouldn't have lunch with her anymore, that you only have room in your heart for Pan? See where that got you? If I were you Pan, I wouldn't be trusting his word," Mystro said slyly, looking Pan in the eye.
Pan just stood there, her mind all confuzzled again. Gohan had slipped out of her grasp and was lying on the ground, slipping in and out of consciousness. Images of Trunks and Ashley kissing brought bad feelings back, despite how much she knew she should get over it. But she couldn't overlook the fact that he had done it –twice-, each time telling her he didn't mean it. And she was thinking of all this when her entire family's life was at stake, not to mention the rest of the world being taken over by the bogeyman.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Trunks powered up, his flaming golden locks waving in the force of the aura. His eyes sparkled blue, no, not sparkled, -electrified- the slightest glance. He flung himself at Mystro, attacking him furiously, going all out. Mystro was slightly taken aback and Trunks nearly had him, giving him a few bruises, but nothing more than that. As of now, they were equal in power, but Trunks was enraged, and anger had blown out the lamp in his mind, leaving dust and a windstorm.
Trunks wasn't thinking at all. He attacked out of anger and loathe, forgetting all the good techniques of battle. Mystro however, did not lose his cool and dodged many of the hits that Trunks threw his way. Trunks himself was getting beaten up, his face all bloodied, his clothes torn, gashes from Mystro's nails even.
All through this Pan just gazed. She really didn't know what to think. It was like she was in the daze that Goku, (who was now mysteriously frozen in place in the air) Vegeta, and Kai had been in. She was scared for Trunks, but she also held contempt for him.
In the next instant, Trunks was up in the air, sustained by Mystro's clawed hand, yelling at some kind of pain being inflicted upon him.
"What are you doing?" Pan said, almost quietly.
"Why Pan darling, I'm getting your revenge! Don't you want revenge for all that he's done?" Mystro gave her a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry; let me handle this."
"Ok."
Trunks screamed harder than ever, the pain obviously killing him. His arms were clasped to his sides like he was being held like a doll, his feet flailing, and his face almost stretching to the point of breakage from Mystro's torture.
"I hope you're enjoying this, young Trunks Briefs. Now you can really take after your father. You can die insane! Insane from facing your fears!"
"Wait," Pan interjected, "what fears?"
"Trunks is now living his number one fear, and since he's going to die anyway, I don't see why I cant tell you. You see, Pan, Trunks' worst fear is being alone. Dying alone. He's also scared of being denied by you, my dearest. So he tries to throw his fear to the back of his mind and ignore it. But you see Trunks," he raised his voice, so Trunks could hear him, "your plan backfired! You are dying alone and you don't have a girl!"
Trunks gritted his teeth and struggled to be let free. Mystro dropped him, and he fell down to the floor with a thump, Pan wincing as she heard it. His hair drooped and became purple again, and his eyes were dull, but he was definitely alive.
"Does that satisfy your revenge bug, Pan?"
"NO!" She yelled, snapping back to reality, her black hair slightly rising with the aura. "My revenge is reserved for YOU!" And she screamed, her aura becoming a flaring red, edged with black, but strangely enough, the black and red died down and yellow took its place. A Super Saiyan yellow.
She felt the rush of adrenaline, the speed of the energy in her. Her emotions erupted into a burst of ANGER and POWER and RAGE. They were all words that described her –being- the person she became. Her hair rose too, and wildly flung about her. Her eyes changed to blue, and her hair became golden spikes. Instead of going up though, on a man's hair, the spikes went down, like a woman's hair, with no bangs, just long spikes of gold engulfing her. It went a little past the shoulders, and it was an amazing and beautiful sight even though it was destructive power.
Mystro was about ten yards from her, his eyes wide and his mouth open. But quickly regaining his calm, he crossed his arms and waited for Pan to finish.
"Prepare to die, Mystro."
Mystro gave a little humph and charged her. He quickly realized her power was not to be underestimated, even though they were pretty evenly matched. Their fight was a huge bang of forces, power on power, fist against fist. Pan fed her side of the force with her anger. She called up all her memories of hatred and death, and this is what fueled her. It was kind of sick, in a way, that death was to persuade her to commit another death, a being made of fear maybe, but it was still a death. And maybe, just maybe, she could have prevented those deaths of the people in the stands, Tien, Yamcha, Kabuto..... Goten. Either way she was going to make up for it now.
"Ah hah!" Mystro cried, for he had locked eyes with her and she had frozen. She was stuck in the air. Her arms were movable but her legs weren't.
"God damn it!" She yelled.
"Here is where the road ends, my dear! Say good bye!"
Oh shit. No. She couldn't die. This isn't the way it's supposed to be! She was a Super Saiyan! Finally she had that power to her beck and call and she was going to die. She had to save everyone. She had to get out and kill Mystro and bring everyone out back to home. Home. Oh no. She would never see it again. She would never see Videl, her mother, and Gohan would die, here, with a hole in his gut........
Mystro braced himself twenty feet away from Pan, a grayish ki blast forming in his hands. He laughed like an insane witch. Then again, that's really what he was. He would kill this girl and all would be over, and he would be in control. She was quite a nuisance and he couldn't wait to get rid of her.
What took place next was in slow motion in Pan's eyes. Every moment was planted in her mind. Mystro's hands thrust forward, and Pan met her death with open eyes, not wanting to face it scared. But then a blur came in front of her, and the light outlined a body. His face was turned toward her, the blast going into his back.
"Pan- I'm so sorry, please forgive me."
A scream-
"No!!!"
~I'm looking down now that it's over
Reflecting on all of my mistakes
I thought I found the road to somewhere
Somewhere in His Grace
I cried out heaven save me
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say~
Gone.
Trunks.
Then the slow motion stopped and time went forward again, the light and energy blasting suddenly and everything was in the grayish light. Pan couldn't even see it was so much like fog. When the smoke had cleared away, Pan's eyes searched frantically for Trunks. Where was he? Would he be hiding? Maybe he went to save Gohan. Foolish thoughts crept into her head, not wanting to believe the truth.
Mystro himself looked upon the scene with complete and utter disbelief. Goku didn't say a word, his face had gone horribly pale.
Pan's mind swarmed with stupid and irrelevant comments. She simply could not focus. Trunks just wasn't there. He wasn't lying on the ground, bleeding. He wasn't in the air, laughing at Mystro, and he wasn't helping Gohan. He just wasn't there. Nothing except dust.
"See what he did? Sacrificed his life for someone who's going to die anyway! What a fool!" Mystro regained his own wits and hurled his head back, laughing. "He threw himself into a ki blast! His own death bed!" He continued to mock Trunks' sacrifice.
Realization hit her with Mystro's words and the tears started to flow. They kept coming and coming, it seemed Mystro's laughing and her own tears would never stop. The laughing was in her head, loud and mocking. The tears crowded her vision. She didn't know what to do--- Oh God help me---
"Your whole life is a joke now, Pan. Everyone you love is going to die."
He circled around her in the air, Pan just being frozen while Mystro taunted her.
"The Z fighters are extinct, of which one you are barely. So what, you have yellow hair, blue eyes, you're still going to die. Tell me Pan," He said, with a toothy grin, still circling her, "How is it to have people underestimate you? It's very frustrating, I know. First they IGNORE you," Pan's anger boiled again, the madness starting to overwhelm her new Super Saiyan control. He continued, "Then they LAUGH at you," That was strike two. "Then they FIGHT you," She couldn't control it, but she marveled in it, the loathing was burning hot and if she didn't let it out it would consume her of its own accord. "And then---"
"AND THEN I WIN!!!" The ending phrase cut threw Mystro's. There was a snap in her mind and she was no longer frozen. The whole universe rumbled, she screamed a scream that could be heard and felt on Earth. Her aura was flames, burning, scorching, deadly, flames. Black and red flames. She was so drugged with the power that her hair was turned to black spikes with red streaks, and her eyes retained her old, well-deep ebony color and depth.
The power flailed all around her, but it did not hit Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, or Supreme Kai. It all ran toward Mystro. He was completely engulfed in her flames. They licked his sides, disintegrated his skin in less than a second. He didn't even have a chance to scream.
~ I'm trying to escape
I yelled back when I heard thunder
But I'm down to one last breath
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking~
A column of gray flared up from where he was, leading into the sky far above, never ending. There was a loud roar of power, drowning out all other sounds.
All the pain she endured, all the emotional crap she had gone through. All the emotional crap she would ever go through, was right here. All her strength, energy, hatred, anger, love, jealousy, grief, and everything she could, went into it. So in reality, it wasn't Pan's power that killed Mystro. It was Pan's essence, her mentality, her very being. She threw her fears away, and used all other emotions to overcome that one.
As fast as the reeling force had begun, it died away, leaving once again the site of nothing but ash in Mystro's place. Then a shadow- like figure floated out of the ground, it wailed, and then floated into the sky. It had been Mystro's last appearance.
Goku finally fell to the ground after being frozen throughout all of this.
"You destroyed him, Pan," Goku said, getting up.
"Yes," she said, almost solemnly, "After all those years growing up, wondering about the monsters under my bed, the bugs in my sheets, I've killed the leader of them all. I've killed the bogeyman."