CHAPTER 32:
The Last of the Saiyans
It was getting dark when Pan awoke on the chilly frozen ground. A cold breeze whipped her hair in the dusk as she tried to lift her head from her arm and see the world, but every muscle ached in her body and she felt dizzy just from being barely able to breathe without pain. Moaning softly, she tried to extend her senses to pick up on any sounds around her other than the wind breathing through the mountains.
She could barely make out light whispering behind her, and it was too hard to make the voice out. Coughing and inhaling frigid air, Pan did everything she could to push herself up from the ground, but collapsed from the effort.
Something cold and wet landed on her arm, and she opened her eyes to see that a snowflake was quickly melting on her skin. Lifting her head up slightly with great effort, she saw the sky overhead was a dark gray which was becoming darker with every passing moment as the dusk was quickly becoming night.
She tried to remember how she got there. She had been with Trunks and her Grandpa, and then they went home and… it was hard to remember what happened from there. She closed her eyes and heightened her senses, burying her face into her arms, trying to sense her grandpa or Trunks, but was met with a shocking surprise. A huge, absolutely gigantic power level was right behind her and she didn't even realize it. She really must have been delirious not to notice it! But it was a different kind of ki. It didn't belong to her grandpa. The only other person who had that incredible amount of ki would be…
Pan summoned up all her energy to call out to him, lifting her head slightly so her words could escape her arms, "Ma…Majin Buu?"
"Oh, uh look Majin Buu! She's awake!"
Pan blinked into her arms, taken by surprise, "Gramps! Is that you!" She felt a body run up to hers and prod her gently, as if searching for the best place to handle her. She smiled into her arms, comforted that she had family with her, but humored more greatly because she could not sense her gramps's ki at all. After going on the trip for a year, she was so tuned to sensing only her other grandpa's and Trunks' energy, she could barely feel any weak kis anymore.
Strong hairy arms wrapped protectively around her and then suddenly brought her to a cold sweaty chest, almost smothering her. Shocked and terrified by the awful smell, Pan's eyes shot wide and she began to struggle, trying to pry her face away from his body. "Grmmp! Gmmrp!" Pan tried to find the strength to break away, but found it was an incredible feat. She continued to whine into his chest while trying to beat at him while Hercule hugged her even tighter and began to cry into her hair.
"Ah, Panny! Panny! -sniffle- Ah thought we'd lost ya! -sniffle- When Ah saw how bad you'd been hurt, Ah said to maself Ah'm gonna get revenge! So Ah let Goku handle them and… and… -sniffle- Ah'm … Ah'm sorry Panny! Ah did ev'rythin' Ah could do!"
Pan brought her face sideways to face upward and frowned, "What do you mean? Where's Grandpa?"
"Well Majin Buu here says Goku's fadin' fast and…"
Pan stopped listening to him, closing her eyes and concentrating all her effort into a ki search. Zooming in to the west, she felt four large kis, one especially large, but she couldn't make out who was who. One must be her grandpa, two her papa and uncle, and one… it must be Vegeta, since Trunks was at Capsule Corp. If that were the situation, then why would Majin Buu be saying he couldn't sense her grandpa anymore?
Pan's eyes sprung open when she felt an enormous power suddenly emerge from nowhere, and it was continuing to grow. She looked west, where the last blues were fading, and gasped as the sky in the horizon began to grow red.
Her heart began to beat faster, her breaths became shorter, and with her widened eyes came a surge of adrenalin from panic. With renewed life, she pushed herself out of her Gramp's arms and found she was able to sit up. While sitting up, she became aware that she could stand. Pan was slightly puzzled, but made the most of it. It seemed strange. It was as if she somehow were tapping into a resource of power she never knew she had.
And, with this new power, she was able to detect another ki – a faint one, one that she could not sense before. Her body trembled as she realized who it was.
Hercule stood back, watching the horizon grow brighter with each passing moment. "What? What is that? What's goin' on!"
Majin Buu smiled and clapped happily, "Buu see bright light!"
Pan felt her breath catch in her throat as something began to pull at her. A part of her began to flow undetected in the air toward the horizon. She could feel her losing something, but she couldn't tell what. A part of her was being given to the horizon, and it continued to pull her, to lull her into giving more.
The red continued to grow brighter, and then suddenly, as if there were a gigantic sun, it rose in the west, becoming larger and larger. It was not just red, but an array of oranges and black shadows within yellow lightning. Pan stood wide-eyed, taking in the sight. She had never seen anything like it before. It was as if it were a tremendously large ki attack, but that made no sense because if it were a ki attack, it wouldn't have its own energy reading!
Pan choked, realizing her Grandpa was out there, and the chances were that he was not the one creating the attack. This new ki was too tremendously evil to be anything good in the world.
Pan stepped back and raised her newfound ki to levitate from the ground. She didn't know how long this power surge would last, or what was causing it, but she would make the most of it. If she had any say in it, she would help her Grandpa right now!
"Panny! Panny, what are ya doin'?" Hercule jumped forward and grabbed a hold of her ankle. "Ye can't go there! You'll die!"
"Let go!" Pan tried to shake Hercule off of her, doing her best to kick him with her free foot, "Grandpa needs my help!"
"I need ye more! You're the last one, Panny! Panny, don't go!"
"Get off! Get aahh….ahhhhh…AHHHHH!" The horizon suddenly exploded as if a gigantic nuclear weapon had wiped out an entire portion of the planet. The entire overcast sky lit up in fantastic beams of reds and oranges. The whole world flashed brighter than day in a breathless pause, and then it was gone, sucked back into the navy blue void in a silent heartbeat.
Pan felt her heart leap to her throat. Reaching out to sense kis, she felt the same four as previously, but the weak ki… It was hard to sense. Pan closed her eyes to focus her power better, probing the entire area for any sign of her Grandpa. Seconds passed like minutes, minutes passed like hours, everything seemed to be so slow, delayed, expectant, as if holding one's breath.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a loud BOOM! blew a mighty gust of wind at the trio on the mountain. The sound from the explosion earlier reached them with forceful gusts and howls, sending both snow and hail pouring down on them with tremendous blows. Pan was thrown backward into the mountain cliff behind them while Hercule toppled onto Majin Buu, screaming at the top of his lungs.
After the wind subsided, Pan lay against the rocks, panting heavily, still trying to scan for any life at all. Feeling a sob escape her, she realized that the four large kis had begun to approach her direction.
Stricken by horror, Pan realized that she had been emitting an enormous amount of unstable ki, easily detected by anyone who could read power levels. She dropped to the ground and masked her ki as quickly as she could manage, trying to hold back tears. Her Grandpa… Grandpa Goku… he…
Pan felt a sob escape from her chest as she pounded the ground with her fists, "Grandpa… why! Why did you die! I need you!" Pan sat down and cried into her hands, mourning his loss. How could this be happening…? How! Just earlier, everything was fine! She was with her Grandpa and with Trunks and they… they went to the park, and they delivered the dragonballs to Dende, and they should have had a nice dinner and a storytime, telling everyone about their adventures. She would have been able to hold her Papa again… She could have seen her Mama… She would have spent Friday over with Trunks and Vegeta and… and now it was all over. Someone… they all.. all of them… they made that ball… They killed her Grandpa Goku…
And now they were coming for her.
Pan gasped and tried to stand up, but collapsed, suddenly lacking that energy she had found before. She pushed herself up and lifted her head to look at Hercule. "Gramps… Majin Buu… We need to get out of here. We need to get to a safe spot. They're coming!"
"But, uh, Panny… Where would be a safe spot?"
Pan trembled as she tried to think of a place they could go. Where had people not been affected? Who had not been affected? Pan's eyes lit as she realized that Trunks was at Capsule Corp. He'd be okay! He was probably wondering where his father was at the moment… assuming that large ki had been Vegeta… but it was so hard to make out, and in a year, he seemed to have increased his power tremendously…
Pan shook her head trying to get her thoughts together. Nothing seemed to make sense, especially since her mind was going through traumatic turmoil. She had to clear her head and focus. First thing's first: she had to find Trunks and tell him what happened. Then, she, Trunks and Giru could go and gather all the dragonballs and wish everyone back to normal. As long as she'd stick to that plan, everything would work out fine.
Trunks was right. He always did end up getting Pan out of sticky situations. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she depended a great deal on both him and her Grandpa, and with Grandpa Goku out of the picture…
She tried not to think where that thought was heading. She could feel her chest contract again, and fought off the tears. Pressing her hands on the ground, she put everything she had into pushing herself to her feet. Finally able to stand, she leaned against the cliff, panting hard and trying to fight off her depression. Everything… Everything would be okay. Everything always was okay in the end. She just needed to keep reminding herself of that.
"Panny?" Hercule tiptoed closer to her and then lay a palm on her shoulder before speaking in his gruff voice. "Do ya have any ideas where we could go?"
Pan nodded, "Capsule Corp."
"Capsule Corp!" Hercule took a step back and grabbed at his thinning hair, "But… but that's where Baby lives!"
"Huh?" Pan knotted her brow, "Baby?"
"Ye know, BABY!"
A huge lead weight just smacked her in the chest. She inhaled sharply, and narrowed her eyes. She asked slowly and coolly, with a low voice, "What does Baby have to do with this?"
"Ev'ryone's bein' controlled, Panny. Your father, ma daughter, the whole Briefs family… Ev'ryone!"
Pan took several breaths to calm herself. How did Baby get here! How did he know about Earth? What would happen to Trunks, now that Baby was back? Her heart was racing as she shook her head violently, promising herself to figure this all out later, "Well then, we have to get there fast, won't we? Trunks is there!"
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The trip toward Capsule Corp. was a little less comfortable than Pan had hoped. Being forced to conceal her ki, Pan permitted herself, after great reluctance, to be turned into chocolate and eaten by Buu. Apparently she had been inside him before, when that impostor of her father happened to knock her out, but she had no recollection. She almost wished she were unconscious again, though. Buu was not exactly the most graceful limousine.
Being inside Buu was like bathing in a tub of gelatin. It felt strange, sticky, slimy and grimy. Surrounded by pink globs that pinned her inside some cocoon, Pan found herself wondering how she ever was convinced of traveling this method. She was stuck in some shell of goo, and she couldn't budge – not that she'd want to, anyway.
She had heard about the innards of Buu before. Her Grandpa had told her the story of how he and Vegeta entered Buu to save Piccolo, Trunks, her Uncle Goten and Papa, back when Majin Buu was a menace to the world. After hearing about it, she wasn't too keen on going there, herself. And now that she was here, her opinion remained unaltered. She couldn't wait to get out there.
She turned her head to look at her Gramps, frowning slightly from the pungent odor of mildew in the air. He was mumbling something under her breath, and Pan tried to strain her ears to hear, but all she could make out from him was something along the lines of, "I dun' know why we half to go righ' to the heart of…", "What if Baby is thare, how wud we…" and "Ah'm the World Champ! Ah kin take them on anyday!"
Pan sighed to herself, tuning herself out of his nonsensical babble and thinking to herself, It must be really nice to be the World Champ. Everything must seem so much easier if you really believe that you can give your fears a run for their money. Perhaps one day she, herself, would be able to be a World Champ like her Gramps and Grandpa. It was her dream, to be able to follow in their footsteps. Besides, the ten million won at the tournament could really help her out. Although her Gramps offered her a promising trust fund when she would turn 18, she wanted to be able to start off with her own money. She didn't want any obligations to pay people back. As it was, she would make sure to pay Trunks back for all those "barter gems" she spent on the trip in space. He treated her to everything for an entire year, and although her Grandpa was oblivious that it must have cost the Briefs family several million zenie to support them all, Pan took it all into account. Even if Trunks refused any monetary compensation, she wanted to something really nice for him and his family. But her feelings weren't just because of how he took care of her on the trip… There was something else to it. She had never had a real best friend before, and she assumed it was the feeling of being able to trust him with anything, especially her life. She knew she could always run to him. He would always be there for her, no matter what. He promised her that, and she believed him.
And now, it was her turn to be there for him. Majin Buu was doing everything he could to get them to Capsule Corp. fast.
Suddenly, the chamber Pan and Hercule were in lurched forward then sprung backwards, as if Majin Buu had abruptly stopped in his tracks. Hercule grumbled something and yelled out, "Hey! Majin Buu! What's goin' on!"
Majin Buu's high and cheery voice echoed throughout the chamber like a mother's voice to a child in her womb, "Mr. Satan come and see! Lightning all over the sky!"
Pan rolled her eyes, irritated that Buu would want to take a sightseeing tour of the world before rushing to help her friend. "Majin Buu! Just hurry and get us to Capsule Corp!" Pan tried to budge her arms, but they stuck fast to the goo that had melted around her.
"Pan see too! Big red dragon! So pretty!"
Pan let out a muffled yelp as she suddenly found her cocoon break apart around her and felt her body magically stretch to a larger proportion. Within a split second, before she even knew what was happening, she found her way shooting through a throat and out a giant hole, landing on the cold night's snow before the fat pink blob. As soon as she looked up to survey her surroundings, another yelp issued from Buu and Hercule was spit out onto the ground beside Pan.
Looking around, Pan noted that they were on another mountain cliff, overlooking West City in the distance. Majin Buu had been taking the back roads to the city, sticking to the ground the whole time so he would not be spotted by Baby. Taking the long route cost them some critical time, but at least they were safe, looking down toward the night-lit city which cast bright lights upon the overcast clouds. The only way Pan could truly make out her surroundings in the pitch black night was from the frequent yellow bolts of lightning scattered throughout the sky. Outside the city, a good twenty miles or more away, a giant red dragon towered in the distance.
What is that! Pan tapped into her ki senses again and tried to read the dragon's energy. Was that Shenron? She had heard stories of how Shenron was a brilliant shade of green. But this dragon was red! Someone was making a wish on the dragonballs… and this dragon was not Dende's dragon! The only other option would be…
Pan's eyes widened as she realized she was looking upon the dragon of the black star dragonballs. The BLACK STAR dragonballs! The ones that would destroy the Earth in a year's time if used again! The ones that she just delivered to Dende and Mr. Popo this afternoon… with her Grandpa… and Trunks…
She felt like she was going to be sick. All that work… All that searching and all those adventures of hers… Running into Baby in the first place… It was all for nothing if those dragonballs were used. Now what was she going to do? Her Grandpa was dead… and Trunks… She had to find him!
In the distance, the dragon's eyes glowed a bright red. Pan could barely see its face, but its mouth moved, as if saying its legendary words, "Your wish has been granted." Pan brought her hands to her hair and dropped to her knees, realizing it was over. Without her Grandpa… Without her family… What… what was she going to do? She felt lost, abandoned, completely hopeless.
The lightning suddenly cleared and the clouds dissipated. Without the lightning, there would be no way to see out in the wilderness at this time of night. Pan let out a sigh as she was prepared to let the darkness swallow her whole, in her misery. It would be a fitting end to such a tragic homecoming.
But the night was not dark. For some reason, the world was enveloped in a pale red light, its source unknown. Pan looked around in bewilderment. Where was that light coming from?
"Oh, uh, look Panny!" Hercule opened his mouth wide and pointed behind her, "The moon is back! But er… It ain't the moon. What is that!"
Pan spun around on her heel and saw something rising in the east – something enormous, red, and stunningly beautiful on the horizon. Even though it was in a crescent shape, it was easily recognized as a planet. A gigantic planet was rising in the East. Pan could practically feel her mouth hit the ground. Whoever had used the dragonballs… That person wished a planet into Earth's orbit! But why! It wasn't M2, that's for sure. Obviously Baby would have made that wish… How else would he have gotten Dende and Mr. Popo to hand over the dragonballs! Pan swallowed a sob in her throat. She, her Grandpa, and Trunks were deceived… She knew something was wrong. She had a bad feeling when returning home… And now it was all over! It was ALL OVER!
Feeling tears stream down her eyes, Pan looked down to her feet, "Mother Earth… I hate to tell you this, but in one year you're going to explode…" She fell to her knees again and clawed the pink-tinted snow, sniffling softly to herself, "Unless we gather all the balls together in one year's time…" She choked, squeezing her eyes closed and feeling the hopelessness, "But I can't… But I can't…" Releasing a sob, she shook her head and let it fall, "I can't do it alo–"
"–The Earths gonna EXPLODE! We're DOOMED!" Hercule let out a high pitched scream and clawed at his hair while running around Buu like a chicken without its head. "What are we gonna do! What are we gonna do!"
Buu nudged him violently and tried to whisper in the most serious tone of his cheery voice he could manage, "Quiet! Pan should not hear that!"
Hercule stopped and took a deep breath, recoiling from his panic with such swiftness, it was as if his scare had never happened at all, "You're right! Ah'm the adult here. Ah shud act like we're okay even if we're all doomed…" Coughing casually, he wiped his clothes with grace and pride and held his head high, trying his best to appear composed. "Pan, don' worry. Everythin's gonna be okay. Ah promise!"
Pan released another sob when that word reminded her of Trunks. Thinking of Trunks made her think of her Grandpa… "Grandpa…" How would things be okay without her Grandpa? How could he die! HOW! How could he leave her like this?
"We need… We need to get to Capsule Corp." Pan sniffled and got to her feet, brushing the snow off her jeans. "We need to find Trunks before it's too late."
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There was a huge crowd outside of Capsule Corp. The masses of people were cheering for their new master, Lord Baby, and how he now, officially, without any opposition at all, was the proud ruler of the people both on Planet Earth and the new Planet Tuffle.
People were caroling in joy, dancing in the streets in celebration of the death of the "Saiyan Trash Goku," who met his end with a "Revenge Death Ball" which they all were able to contribute to. They all helped their master achieve his ultimate goal, and everyone in the world rejoiced… except Pan, Hercule, and Majin Buu. But Majin Buu didn't understand what was happening, offering to turn everyone into chocolate and rid the world of Baby's new followers. And Hercule, all he did was brag about how he'd be able to defeat Baby once and for all and put an end to this madness that had been affecting the world for almost two months.
When Buu released Pan and Hercule, they took the back stairs to Capsule Corp. Pan didn't want to risk flying, in case someone could sense her, and figured it'd be easier to break into Capsule Corp. jumping in from the roof rather than climbing from the base. There'd be less of a chance of being spotted that way.
Capsule Corp. was an immensely large building, and the fact that the Briefs lived on the penthouse of it didn't help Pan's climb, even though she was going as fast as she could up the fire escape stairs. Her Gramps was lagging behind, panting about becoming old, and Majin Buu was playing games, seeing if he could hop up multiple stairs at a time. Eventually, after being completely winded by the workout, everyone finally made it to the roof.
Pan threw open the doors leading to the roof and stepped outside to the cold night air. The world was a completely red tint by now, and it seemed eerie, slightly creepy, as if the Earth were basked in a shade of blood.
"Finally!" Pan panted a bit and wiped her forehead as she stepped forward to get a better view of the top of the building. The roof was not large, since the building was shaped like a dome, but it was convenient for them. From here, they'd be able to get a good look of the city and see what was going on around them. Ironically, this was perhaps the safest spot they could be in at the moment, since Baby would never imagine they came right to his lair in order to hide.
Pan walked over to the edge of the roof, looking down on the structure, trying to see if any windows were left open or slightly ajar. Hercule was mumbling something to Majin Buu about heights, and preferred to stick to the center of the round pad. Concentrating on her task, Pan found what she was looking for. It was two stories down, in front of a large tree that grew beside Capsule Corp. It was the guest bedroom window, most likely, which was next to Trunks' suite. Perhaps if she could just jump onto the tree and climb in from there…
The ground suddenly shook, throwing Pan off balance against the railing. Majin Buu let out a yip of surprise while Hercule moaned in confusion. Hercule staggered toward Pan and pulled her away from the edge of the roof as the world shook beneath them. Hercule smothered her against his hairy chest while yelping, "What's happenin'? What's goin' on! Why is the world shakin'!" at no one in particular.
Beside the complex of Capsule Corp., the ground suddenly opened and a giant – no, absolutely humungous structure appeared beside the building. Labeled with large "CAPSULE CORP" labeling, the structure was unmistakably a spaceship. A giant spaceship with rockets and everything. During Pan's year away, Bulma had converted the Capsule Corp. parking lot into a launching pad! This was completely bizarre.
Pan had to agree with her Gramps in wondering what was going on. It was easy just to consider that Baby took over the world. It was another thing to know he murdered her Grandpa… and another to realize he made a wish on the Black Star Dragonballs, but this! What was Baby intending to do? Ship a country out to space? What did he intend to achieve?
Pan looked up to the sky. The Planet Tuffle was almost above them, now. It clicked in her mind, suddenly. Baby wanted to transport people to the new planet. But why? What was wrong with Earth? Why did he have to make a wish to destroy Earth and create a new planet for people to live on?
Once again, it clicked in her mind… that was exactly Baby's intention. He killed two birds with one stone. By wishing Tuffle into existence, he'd be eliminating Earth and any remnant of humankind.
Pan narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. She'd never let Baby get away with doing this! NEVER! But first, she had to find Trunks…
Closing her eyes and opening her mind to a ki search, she surprisingly found that no strong kis were within Capsule Corp. That must mean that Trunks went out somewhere. Pan hoped beyond all hope that he didn't try stopping by her house for a visit. If he saw what happened to her house… If he ran into her Papa and her Uncle Goten…
Pan's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when she found all the strong kis she was searching for. With a wave of panic, Pan's eyes flew open as her heart threatened to tear itself free from her chest. Her eyes widened further as her body began to shake, and she did everything she could to mask her ki as her body shuddered from fear.
Looking up… right above her head… Right above her… was everyone… Everyone was right above her… Pan worked up courage to look upward, to see the feet of a circle of Saiyans… no… Tuffles… gathered together around … someone… looking at the new spaceship that emerged from the ground.
Who was that person? Was that Vegeta! That couldn't be Vegeta…! He had weird metallic eyes and white hair and…. Pan realized, with a start, that he was Baby. Baby had not only taken over Vegeta, but he had completely morphed the Saiyan Prince into some weird form of the parasite.
All they had to do was look straight down. There was nothing obstructing their view of Pan, Hercule and Majin Buu on the roof of Capsule Corp. Pan's breath caught in her throat as she stepped backward, and signaled for her Gramps to be quiet. Bumping into him, she whispered loudly, "Get back into the fire escape! Don't look up!"
At her command, Hercule instinctively looked up and was met with a rush of panic. "WHA–!"
Pan clamped her hand over his enormous mouth and hissed, "Shhh!" She scowled at him and then looked up again to see if anyone had heard them. The circle of her family and friends were gathered there, talking among themselves, obviously distracted.
Pan narrowed her eyes to see who, in fact, had been taken over by Baby. She saw her Papa… Bra… even Tien and Chaotzu were talking to… Who was that? Squinting, she made out Yamucha in the crowd… But behind Yamucha, talking to her Uncle Goten…
Her heart sunk to the floor as her breath caught in her throat. No…. No! NO! "No!" Pan clutched her chest as a pain swept through her, as if her heart had completely torn in shreds within her own body. She lost all her balance and felt like she was going to faint. Dropping to her knees, and barely propping herself up, her elbows threatened to give out on her, to send her collapsing fully to the ground.
Any shred… Any remote, slightly miniscule shred of the faintest glimmer of potential hope… It was ripped from her as she realized who it was… the last person… the fourth strong ki that had been present when her Grandpa…
"Trunks…" She lowered her head and cried freely, not caring anymore about her pride. Everything was lost now. Nothing was left. Everyone was gone.
Hercule bent down and put his hand on her shoulder, frowning slightly, "Let him go, Pan… Please…"
Pan stood up shakily and wiped her eyes with her hands. Sniffling, she clutched her stomach and rocked a bit as she looked to the ground, "I… I need him… Without him… how can we…? The Earth…" She choked on sobs, closing her eyes for a moment. Opening them, she turned and hugged her Grandpa Hercule with all her might, crying into his chest, "He's… he's my best friend, Gramps…"
Hercule hugged her close and whispered into her hair, "Ah know, Panny. Ah know…"
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-12/14/04-
Quick note to Erica: Check your email, babe! I've sent you stuff that you need to seriously read, and since you are never on AIM, how else am I supposed to rebut your review? Vegeta/Baby has no intention ofdoing that. I don't know where you got that idea from. I think you are confusing Baby with someone. Check your email. >/
