Hello everyone,
First I want to thank everyone that reviewed, for the comments and for the compliments. Now I'm back with a new chapter for Almost Doesn't Count, and I think I know in which direction I want to take it. I hope that you like it as much as I liked writing it.
I watched the whole GT series, and I didn't particularly like the ending, so I'm just going to change a few things. For example; the Namekian Dragonballs are still active. And Goku hasn't become one with Shenron, he's just in Other World. The rest really speaks for itself I think. If you have any questions, ask me.
Last time: Pan embarked on her journey and nobody noticed. Perhaps now they will?
Almost Doesn't Count
Chapter 2- Someday
Trunks shut the front door behind his girlfriend and leaned back against the door for a while. He still couldn't get off his mind how distant Pan had been when she had been in his kitchen about a week ago. He'd gone into the kitchen to get something to drink when he had seen her sitting there, muttering something inaudibly.
If there was one thing he hated, it was an angry Pan. He loved the girl dearly and he loved to spar with her, but he also loved Athena. And he had thought that Pan wouldn't mind him having to postpone their spar. But she did.
His pondering was rudely interrupted when his mother came storming through the back door, her face flushed with, probably, anger. Her gaze turned to her son and she stormed up to him, poking an accusing finger into his chest. Trunks looked down at her with a bewildered expression on his face.
"Trunks! I just came back from the storage room - and guess what!" Bulma screeched, making his sensitive ears hurt. Trunks raised a brow and shrugged. His mother's face grew even redder.
"Your father's old ship is gone! You know; the one I built for him to train in!" Trunks looked at her, stunned into silence. They both heard Vegeta's cursing as he stormed out of the GR and stopped before them.
"What the hell is all the screeching about, Woman!" Vegeta crossed his arms and glared at the both of them. Bulma mirrorred his stance and tapped her foot in agitation.
"For your information; your old spaceship is gone! Somebody stole it out of the storage room!" His father's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Why would someone need it?
"But, Mom, that's impossible! That someone must've had access to the labs and storage room, which means that they must've gotten past the retinal scan!" He interrupted and his parents both looked at him.
"Yes, you're right Trunks. Nothing's been destroyed as far as I could see, but the capsule is definitely gone. The only ones who have access are you, Bra, your father and me. But we didn't do it, so...?" A buzz was heard as the door of the GR opened and Trunks stood dazedly as little Gojita came running out of the GR walking where his Grandfather had been moments before. There was a frown on his little face as he ran into his Uncle Trunks' arms and buried his face into the crook of his neck. Both his parents turned to look at him and his little nephew.
"What's wrong, Gojita?" He quietly asked the child, who pulled away and looked into his eyes.
"Panny-chan is gone! I can't feel her ki anywhere!" Trunks' eyes widened and he got a distant look in his eyes as he sensed for his friend's ki. He was shocked to find that it was true. Bulma looked over at Vegeta and he nodded to confirm the little boy's admission. She crossed her arms again in agitation.
"Of course! She has access to the labs too!" Bulma walked over to the wall next to the counter and punched in the security code. The panelling moved aside and a small vid-screen with intricate controls was revealed. After punching in some commands she retrieved the date of the last visit to the storage room. She nodded as she recognized the date; precisely a week ago.
Turning back toward her husband and son who had uncomprehending expressions on their faces, she nodded again and leaned back against the wall, "I gave Pan access to the labs some time ago. She likes to help me with inventing new stuff - she even created the new fighting robots," she redirected her gaze to a blank spot on the cealing, mentally scolding herself for her own foolishness.
"She asked me if she could help, and I reluctantly agreed to let her help me and see if she was any good. Well, judging by your reactions, I'd say the girl's pretty smart." Trunks had put Gojita down some time ago and was now standing with his arms crossed, looking so much like his father it almost made Vegeta smirk as he noticed it.
"And why, exactly, didn't you mention this earlier, Mother?" Bulma's face turned to anger at her son's audacity, but she quickly calmed down as she realized that he was painfully right. Her retort was cut off before it even began as they heard the voice of the Earth's Guardian inside their minds.
About a half an hour later, just about everyone was present at Dende's palace grounds. Chi Chi arrived lastly in one of her old capsule planes and Bulma made a mental note to give a new one to the woman as soon as possible. Vegeta stood next to her and observed all of the people gathered here. Even the Weakling had come up here to listen to what Dende had to say, but Vegeta wondered why - Yamcha was a weakling after all and everybody knew it!
The young God emerged from the housing accompanied by Hell's Guardian. Goku Jr. and Gojita, who had previously been chatting about their different punches, sprung from their sitting places near the ever-present flower beds and ran toward Piccolo.
"Mr. Piccolo!" They both yelled as they each grabbed a pant leg of the tall Namekian and looked up with huge eyes. Piccolo looked down at them with a smirk on his lips, which turned into a full-fledged smile as he saw the smiling face of his old student.
"Hello Piccolo. How are you?" Gohan walked forward and shook hands with him, smiling before retracting his nephew and son from his former sensei's legs.
"I'm fine, Kid. It's nice to see you again, even though we don't have very good news." Piccolo nodded in thanks as Dende came up next to him and smiled at his friends. Bulma stepped forward with a frown on her face. Dende, understanding her silent but obvious curiosity, took on a serious look once again. Chi Chi interrupted him before he could begin speaking.
"This has to do with Pan, doesn't it?" Dende nodded gravely as she continued, "She left about a week ago, she said that she needed some time alone to train more diligently. I didn't want to let her go, but she seemed unstoppable." Chi Chi folded her arms as she remembered the day. Ever since then she had been worried; Pan had been gone for far too long now.
"Pan stole a spaceship from my storage room last week." Bulma admitted and squared her shoulders as she brooded over why Pan could possibly need the ship for the umpteenth time. Gohan and Videl were listening to all this in a daze. Dawning realisation was visible on Gohan's face like a sun rising.
"And you all wait until NOW to tell us! What were you thinking, Mom! You should've told us earlier!" Gohan turned to his mother and glared very uncharacteristically at her. Chi Chi raised her head and something flashed in her eyes, but it was gone before he could read it, for it was replaced with anger.
"You listen here, Gohan! I thought she would be back after a couple of days, so I didn't see the need to make you worry or go after her, when she specifically asked me to leave her in peace to train! I, for one, respect her wishes! Besides, you could've checked up on her more often!" Gohan cowered a little and Goten cringed as he thanked the powers that be that he wasn't at the receiving end of the unmistakable tirade that was to follow if nobody stopped it. Bra frowned at her husband and mate and then turned her gaze to Earth's Guardian, who had been silent for quite a while now.
"But why would she possibly need Dad's old ship? If she'd wanted to train alone she could've done it on Earth! She must be up to something drastic." Bra redirected the conversation and everyone was thankful for it. Dende and Piccolo nodded.
"It's not that hard to figure out, you know," Gojita spoke up and Goku nodded in agreement. The gang turned toward the two little boys with confused frowns on their faces. Bra walked over to her little boy and crouched down in front of him, wiping an unruly lock of black hair away from his face affectionately. Her son looked very much like Goten, but still had some of her traits, like her blue eyes and unbelievable intelligence. Though she could fight quite well herself, his great strength was definitely from Goten. Unlike Goku Jr. who looked very much like a little Goku, even more so than Goten had been when he was young.
"You know something we don't, huh?" Bra asked softly and looked into his soft blue eyes, then glanced at Goku briefly. The other boy was looking at the sky with narrowed eyes, as if actually looking for something, perhaps for his absent sister.
"Mom! Think about it; what does Pan want the most?" His mother smiled a little, thinking of how perfect her brother and friend would fit together, but considered the other possibilties as well. Her eyes widened as she turned back to the others.
"Of course! How could I have missed it!" Bra jumped up and turned back to the group, crossing her arms in self-satisfaction. They looked at her with mystified faces as she smiled secretively and walked over to Chi Chi.
Gently taking the older woman's hands in hers, she announced with a huge smile on her face, "Pan went to New Namek to gather the Dragonballs and wish for the one thing that you have missed the most."
"Grandpa!" Gojita and Goku Jr. yelled together.
And everything fell into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Pan blinked sleep from her eyes as she woke from her slumber and stretched comfortably. A frown slipped onto her face as she remembered the last few days of dwelling inside the ship. Though her strength had increased dramatically over time, because of her undisturbed training under 500 times Earth's normal gravity, it had helped little to make her forget home.
It had been 7 days since she'd left Earth, about 3 days since she'd landed, courtesy of a much needed refill of gas on some obnoxious planet named Clamok. Due to her hurried leave of Earth, she'd forgotten to check the fuel. Clamok had been filled with millions of lizard-like men trying to cop a feel on anything remotely female. She had tried to remain friendly and thanked them for their refill of her ship, but as soon as possible she'd fled from the face of the planet.
The trip to New Namek was taking longer than the estimated time, but there was nothing to do about it. She would land in about two hours, if she was correct and this thought made her glad. She could hardly wait to set foot on the green planet, for the spaceship was making her feel a little too claustrophobic.
Dragging herself into the bathroom, Pan looked into the full length mirror and swept her gaze over her reflection, content that her muscles were hidden from view until she flexed or powered up. It gave her an undeniable advantage toward any enemy she might encounter.
Yes, deluding an enemy was one of the most important things to do, because it would lead to surprise, which in turn gave her the momentum to initiate an attack.
She slipped her clothes off and once again looked into the mirror. Pan wondered what made her any less beautiful than other women; this caused her to shake her head in horror. What had become of her? Since when did she ever compare herself to anyone else?
'Never!' Pan shook herself and stepped into the shower, turning the water to scalding hot. She toyed with the idea of training some more, but decided against it when she thought about how much time it would take to finish her shower, dress herself and devour breakfast.
When she finished and stepped out of the stall, Pan grabbed a towel from the rack and roughly dried her hair. Her hands pulled it back into a high ponytail with the help of an elestic band that had been lying in bathroom. She had been pleasantly surprised when she had found lots of things still lying around the roomy ship. Her own clothes and things added made her living space rather comfortable.
Satisfied that the locks were out of her face, she donned a robe and walked out to her drawer to grab an aqua blue bra and blue panties to match. After slipping them on, Pan walked over to the closet and opened it, scrutinizing her outfits.
Contemplating the cleverness of wearing Saiyajin armor or even normal Earthling clothes, Pan opted for her orange training gi, which resembled her grandfather's undoubtedly.
It seemed smart to her to wear this, for the elder Namekians would surely recognize the clothing for what it was; a very near copy of the clothes worn by the savior of their race. Convincing the people there to believe she was indeed a relative of Goku seemed much easier this way, which in turn meant it would make it more easy for her to convince them to give her the Dragonballs to wish him back to life.
"It should be no problem to separate him from Earth's dragon and convince Goku to come back to us. When he sees Chi Chi again and the state that she's in, it will surely make him change his mind. When I wish him back, he will appear on Earth, not where I am. That means I will have to travel back alone." She sighed as she plopped into the chair that was in front of the controls. The computer indicated only 2 more minutes before landing.
Though she would never actually admit it, she was terribly lonely in this ship and it was bugging her. She would love to see other people right about now. Strapping herself in, Pan took a deep breath and readied herself for the rough landing that was sure to follow.
Pan smiled broadly as she saw all the young Namekians skittering around, playing with each other only metres away from where she sat. Letting her gaze roam the open fields and the sky, her smile broadened even more.
The Namekians had given her a warm welcome once they recognized the gi and she had explained who she was and the reason she was here. They were glad to finally hear from Earth once again, even happier that it was under good circumstances, namely to wish back Goku.
Elder Muuri smiled back at her, his old green face wrinkling up with the act of kindness. They were sharing a meal together, after which she would go looking for the orange orbs in every village on the planet.
The little children ran up to her and asked her all kinds of questions, and Pan answered them gladly. It was so nice to see this peaceful race fairing so well, even after all these years. Her father had told her all about the little green people, but she had not expected them to be this gracious towards her.
"Miss Pan, would you like some more water?" Pan nodded slightly, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear and accepting the new glass with a thankful grin. The Namekian named Samei nodded back, then turned to look at his younger siblings running around, playing tag with each other. She followed his gaze and nodded to herself.
It would be a shame to ever see this peace violated.
Piccolo frowned. He had been observing Pan for the past few weeks, though he hadn't been able to define why. He guessed it was because he had grown fond of her over the years. With Gohan all grown up, he had become quite protective of his quarter Saiyajin daughter. And then he'd sensed her in his meditation and it had made him worried. Now his worries had been proven justified.
"Has she gone insane! What if she gets hurt?" Goten raged, but stopped as Videl laid her hand on his forearm. He calmed significantly as he gazed into the endless blue eyes of his wife, who smiled and hesitantly turned her gaze back to the group.
"Well, it seems the only thing we can do, is wait," She stopped momentarily as a look of concern flitted over her features, "The only way to find out if she succeeds is to stay here and wait for Goku-san to appear." A smile made its way to her face as she remembered the good natured man that was her father-in-law and his warm welcome into the Son family all those years ago.
"Yes. I will try to contact her somehow and find out if she's alright." Bulma spoke up. Pan's parents shot her a thankful look. She nodded to herself as she thought about how to contact the spaceship.
Vegeta stood beside his mate with his arms crossed and glared at the tiled floor in thought. It had been a desperate attempt of the young woman, but a brave one. Though it made him wonder why she even bothered; last time they had attempted to bring Goku back, he had refused. He'd said he thought it best to stay dead.
'Bullshit.' Vegeta had long ago decided as he had watched the strong woman Chi Chi crumple over the days, and weeks, and years.
"I will try to keep an eye on her from down there, but there is not much more I can do." Piccolo offered as he turned his eyes toward his former student. Gohan shot him a grateful glance and nodded.
Trunks sighed, feeling guilty that he and Panny had parted on such bad terms. But he couldn't believe how foolish she was for going out there all by herself! She could be hurt, or worse. What if something happened to her?
Pan shot up in bed and swiftly glanced around, the look in her eyes not at all like one who had been sleeping for the past few hours. But she was always a light sleeper; Vegeta had once told her that it was easy to become weak in times of peace. Always stay prepared, he had said and she had taken it to heart.
There was nothing to be seen however - it must've been outside, so she allowed herself to relax slightly.
Looking back down at her pillow and the sheets, she knew that trying to get back to sleep would be useless. She simply knew she'd heard something and now it would not let her go before she checked it out.
Rising from the much too comfortable bed inside her modest ship, she wondered what could've woken her up when the ship was soundproof, courtesy of Bulma Briefs, genius inventor. It must've been really loud then, and she didn't like the thought of that. At all.
Padding toward the door of the ship, her body as tense as a spring, she pushed the red button on the left side of the door and it swished open. However, Pan was ill prepared for the sight that greeted her like a harsh slap in the proverbial face. It was..
The forest in which she had landed earlier that day seemed mostly intact, but as she walked out into the open, her gasp seemed to echo throughout the clearing, through the loud silence.
The once green fields were barren, shades of brown coating everything in a melancholy blanket of merciless destruction. Once proud dome-like houses laid in ruins, mocking the very things that once represented the homes of a peaceful race. Even the sky seemed to weep for the loss of this kind of untainted peace as the rain poured down on the ground like the beat of a drum.
Her eyes travelled over the scene, her fists clenching as she flew over to the nearest village, the one she had been at earlier in the day. A gasp escaped her once again as her eyes came to rest on the bodies there, and the tears gathered in her eyes as she recognized the little children's bodies as well.
"No.. Everyone... They're dead.. Why?" Her raspy voice broke the deadly silence like a whip, but she did not care for it. This wasn't supposed to happen to these people! They didn't deserve it, nothing of it! She had never seen anything like it in her life, it would be forever imprinted on her mind. Her fists slowly unclenched as she realized that had she been awake, she would've been able to stop whatever had caused this.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" But before Pan could react to the threat in that low voice, or even turn around to face it, a flaming pain shot up her spine and the world turned black, swiftly sinking into the welcoming abyss of unconciousness.
The first thing she was aware of was the faint dripping sound some ways away from where she was. The ground was extremely cold underneath her body, chills running up and down her spine and goosebumps sprung up on her skin. Her eyes were closed, for she didn't dare open them yet.
One thing was for sure; she was NOT in her spaceship, and definitely not at home.
The cold seeped into her bones insistantly, and she wasn't able to lie there much longer before she opened her eyes and forced herself to sit up. Strangely enough she didn't feel sore at all, which made her realize that they must've used some sort of apparatus to knock her out, instead of attempting to beat her up.
Pan grunted as she attempted to sit up. After some struggle, and discovering that they had put restraints on both her hands and feet, she slumped against a cold wall with a tired sigh.
Now that her eyes had significantly adjusted to the darkness, she looked around the room, before discovering that no normal person would have the nerve to call it a room. It was more like an oversized, but cramped box of some kind. The only light came from a little round hole on one side, in what seemed to be the only exit out of this place.
She moved her wrists a little, trying to see if there was any way out of them. The only thing she nearly succeeded in was dislocating her wrists, and her feet weren't cooperating either. Just when she was going to use her ki, the door was thrown open with a bang and two men stepped in, the faint light illuminating them with an unholy glow.
The moment they touched her skin to untie her feet and lift her to a stand, a shiver ran down her spine like horses hurriedly galloping in an open field, fleeing. Pan wanted to get away as soon as possible, but as she saw the armor they both wore she decided to wait and see how this would play out. They must be an organisation of some sort, and since she couldn't sense any significant ki at all - she would let them drag and (occasionally) push her.
The halls they entered were made of brick, but the doors that lined them were of some sort of metal that didn't seem familiar to her eyes. She kept her eyes on the two men constantly, and studied them.
The one to the left of her had a huge bluish hairdo, and his eyes were a dark amber, weirdly standing out on his lemon-coloured complexion. He was one of the ugliest men Pan had ever seen in her life. The armor he wore was a deep black, and a golden crest was on his left upper side, near his shoulder. It said something Pan couldn't figure out, so she shifted her gaze to the other on her right.
His appearance was a bit easier on the eyes, but nothing special. His skin was a light orange, his flame red hair cropped short and eyes the colour of midnight blue. He wore the same armor as the other, but this was a shade lighter, which she guessed was due to his higher rank.
Their step was brisk and their stances ridiculously straight as they came up to the first double doors she had seen up until now. The man with the blue hair spoke to one of the guards at the door in a language she didn't understand and they waltzed in.
It seemed to be some sort of lab, and it looked like they were already waiting for her arrival. Without further ado, the two pushed her down into a chair, and one of the white-coated men in the room walked over with a little square between his thumb and pointer finger, a hesitant, placating smile on his face.
Pan's eyes widened as they restrained her and pushed her head foreward. She tried to struggle, but she was still weakened from whatever apparatus they'd used on her earlier. Then the doctor bent slightly over her body, and firmly pressed the little square onto her hairline. The expected wave of pain didn't come, and Pan hesitantly straightened herself.
"Now you can hear me, can't you?" The doctor asked her, the same friendly smile plastered on his features. Pan nodded in astonishment. He must've put some kind of translator device on her, and now she could hear everyone.
Pan quietly studied the man in front of her. He looked completely different from the two guards that took her here. His skin was a rough-looking grey, and he had pointy ears and black hair. All in all, not an unfriendly looking man.
"Well, as you probably already know, I've put a translator on the back of your head which you will wear until you've fully learned our language. Now we can all understand you." The doctor paused a moment to look her over once for injuries, but saw none. Though he did see that she was wearing very little clothes, which could work to her disadvantage, knowing those two guards.
"If I may ask, what is your name?" Pan hesitated for a moment.
"Hn. My name's Pan." The man's eyes brightened, but before he could say anymore, she was roughly pulled up from the chair by the guards and they shoved her forward out of the lab. Pan scowled at the two, but they didn't even glance at her.
They walked down the hall and stood in front of the two biggest doors she had ever seen. They were wooden, but with gold patterns on it and it looked to be very heavy as two guards at either side of it pushed it open.
She had to keep her mouth from hitting the ground when she saw the huge throne room. People were sitting on the ground, some were walking with large plates with food on them, and Pan guessed they were slaves by the poor clothes they wore.
Her eyes trailed the broad royal red carpet toward the throne at the end of the room. On it was a man, imposing and regal-looking. He had a frighteningly pale complexion, with brown hair in shining waves and it was braided, lying almost limply over his right shoulder. He wore pure white armor with a red cape tied on both sides. His spandex was a dark red, instead of the dark blue of the guards'. The man's body was defined with muscles, the spandex only serving to make him more attractive - she absent- mindedly estimated him to be in his thirties.
But as Pan and the guards reached the back of the room, and they forced her to bow with little stuggle, she could sense a.. a wrongness to the man that was definitely unsettling. And when the man came off his throne and pushed her chin up with one finger to make her meet his demanding eyes, she could clearly see the blackness, the evil, in those impossibly violet eyes.
"Hello Little One," Pan's stomach almost lurched as his fingertips travelled down her neck, caressed it deceptively gently, and eventually rested on her nearly bare shoulder. She said nothing back to the handsome man, instead opting for glaring at him in silence. It didn't affect the man at all, however.
"I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?" The man paused a minute, trying to see if he could coax a reaction from the stoic young woman in front of him, "I am Lord Ikaika from the planet Dagoba, where you are currently."
Meanwhile, Pan was studying her surroundings, sensing ki's and trying to find out how much time it would take for her to heal completely, so she could get the hell out of there. The man in front of her raised an eyebrow at her obvious ignorance of him, before his expression turned positively livid. He obviously didn't take lightly to people ignoring him.
"Little One," His tone of voice made Pan turn her attention back to him abruptly, "I am your Master from now on, so I suggest you listen intently to what I have to say or you will be disciplined." Pan, however, wasn't impressed by his threats.
"Do you honestly think you can beat me?" she stood up slowly and looked Ikaika straight in the eye, "I'm much stronger than you will ever be." To her surprise a smile surfaced on his lips and he nodded slightly.
"Yes, I know. That is why I have decided to keep you here." Ikaika's smile widened as Pan raised a delicate eyebrow. She began to doubt his hearing abilities, but was distracted as her 'Master' once again ran his hand down her dove's neck.
"And how do you suppose to do that, Your Holiness?" Pan mocked him with a smirk on her face. Ikaika's face crumpled up into a nasty frown, and his eyes darkened until they were nearly as black as Earth's nighttime sky. Then she felt something touch her mind, seeking entrance but not succeeding. A shiver ran down her spine at the cold touches and she realized with a start that this was Ikaika's doing.
A frustrated, but surprised sigh escaped his mouth as he realized that breaking into her mind, breaking this woman would take longer than he had previously expected, but before long his dark eyes lit up with a plan.
It was like an iron fist encompassed her mind, not yet breaking, but squeezing and clenching it. A pain, the kind of which she had never felt before, grabbed a hold of her and she furiously bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming out. A startled gasp pierced the sudden silence in the room as her back arched and her head fell back, exposing more of her satiny neck, and in doing so, pushing her chest forward.
"Now, what was her name?" He looked at the guards still down on their knees in front of him, and motioned for them to answer impatiently.
"The doctor found out it was Pan, my Lord." Ikaika nodded, and turned back to his 'catch'. She was a special one, this woman, and he would so enjoy breaking her spirit.
"Well, Panny," He paused again, enjoying how that name rolled of his purple tongue, "don't ever disobey me again, do you understand?"
But Pan wasn't able to answer, before everything went black once again.
The plot has developed a bit more. Pan's in peril, on Earth they're trying to contact her, and everything's getting out of hand. What will happen next?
Well, comments and criticism are welcome as always. Hope you like.