Note: Tried to pick up the pace, slightly. I had a few comments that I've tended to run slow on a few things, and figured, since I, as the rest of the world, really wanna see the end of Baby and get on with the Peacetime Saga, and since there is a LOT more to the Baby Saga to go, I'd move slightly faster. This chapter is a pretty good one. I'm personally very proud of it X)

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CHAPTER 59:
Porn!

"Shhh!" Pan pulled him behind the corner of the building so he was once again out of sight, "You don't want to get spotted, do you?"

Uub just somewhat blinked and gave a wincing smile as he scratched his hair, "Sorry, I just wanted to see how many people there are."

Around the corner from the building they were hiding, thousands of Tuffles were lined up as if waiting for a theme park ride. They all had luggage piled by their sides and were gossiping amongst themselves as if it were any normal day in the world. West City was bustling with traffic and pedestrians and also a great deal of tourists who ventured to the city to get a look at Lord Baby's Capsule Corporation palace and catch the launching of his great spaceships.

The entire city was loud; far louder than Pan had ever heard it. West City had become immensely popular, especially since a great deal of Tuffles migrated to the city considering it holy ground, since their 'lord and master' blessed the city and all its countryside within a fifty mile radius.

There was one thing that was odd about the city, though. Nobody was smiling.

Although they talked and gossiped and some children played on the sidewalks, there was not a single ringing laugh to be heard. However, the paucity of laughter was hardly noticeable; one had to be listening for it to ever notice it was not there; but Pan was very keen to it, wondering what all this fighting was for. In the end, it was hard to remember what she was trying to save; especially now, since she realized it was impossible to be saved.

But she was still determined to not go down without a fight. And, currently, the 'fight' was over at the Planet Tuffle. She would do anything to get there, and was quite satisfied with her idea to go incognito. Although her grandfather was set on being smuggled aboard inside Buu, Pan had already had to suffer that treatment almost a year before, and she refused to ever go inside the Majin again. So here she stood, dressed up with Uub, and looking mighty horrendous, just like she wanted to be.

She was wearing her hot green "Boobs Are My Friends" shirt, her bra stuffed with bags upon bags of peanuts to boost her chest; she wore her blue lei under a hot pink feather scarf which contrasted greatly with the black top-hat she sported over her hot green neon wig and dark sunglasses. Thinking the blue hula skirt may have been a little much, she had decided to trim it to resemble a too-too over her jeans, and it looked masterfully horrendous. Her favorite part of her outfit, however, was the small red boa strapped behind her. It made her think of her Grandpa that way; she knew he had something like this at one point in his life.

Uub, meanwhile, had settled upon braiding his mohawk into dreadlocks and putting his hot green visor under the ratted mess. His pink "I Got Lei'd On Penguin Island" shirt matched the pink lei that trailed down his neck. He wore purple suspenders covered with flower pins, and they clipped onto a bear fur belt he had personally made from their dinner two nights before. The belt had several red ribbons trailing down that added what he called 'spice' to the plain dark gi pants he wore underneath, and he finished off his outfit with a pair of yellow rainboots and dark sunglasses.

"Alright," Pan turned to the three members of her entourage, "I'm going to go over the ground rules one more time."

Uub and Hercule nodded as Buu looked down and began to hop from one foot to another.

"One," Pan held up her right hand with an index finger extended, "We are not to be separated." She brought her hand down and nodded to each in turn, "We must always stay with each other. That includes never closing doors from each other." She peered at them all individually, "And that means never."

Hercule winced awkwardly, "What'f we have to go to the restroom?"

Pan pointed to him as if to make her point, "Never."

Uub frowned, "But I don't see why we can't make an exception for that."

Pan spun to face him, growling, "Now is not the time for modesty." She pointed to the ground, "And I won't tolerate any closed doors. I want to know where everyone is at every single point in time!"

"Woah," Uub brought his hands up in defense, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry."

"I'm not angry." Pan sighed as she clenched her fists, "It's just that…" She looked down a moment, staring at her feet before she looked up and into Uub's eyes, "We're the last ones."

"The last what?" Hercule frowned, knowing he probably said a stupid statement.

"Non-Tuffles." Pan sighed again as she looked to her grandfather, "We're the last people who can think for themselves." She panned her head to look at each of them, "And I do not want to lose any of you."

"Okay, okay," Uub tapped his foot as he fought the urge to look around the corner again, "What's the next rule?"

Pan nodded to him and continued, "Two," she held up her right hand with two fingers extended, "If we do get separated," she dropped her hand and paused a moment as they looked at her expectantly.

There was a pause then as they watched her. Several wheels were turning in her mind as she was stuggling to say something. Uub frowned at the silence and then spoke as if to complete the rest of her sentence.

"…We go after the person, right?"

"No." Pan shook her head and looked down, "We count that person as lost."

"Huh?" Both Uub and Hercules' mouths dropped. "What?"

"You heard me." Pan looked up with a glare, "If any of us, other than Buu, gets separated, we should consider that person a Tuffle next time we see them!"

"Why not Buu?" Hercule frowned.

"Because he can't get possessed. Didn't you say that?" Pan raised her brow.

"But Pan…" Uub reached out to touch her shoulder, but jerked it back as she flinched with a scowl.

"Third!" Pan thrust her hand out with three fingers extended, "We change our names!"

"Huh?" Uub frowned in confusion.

"Wait, Ah don't remember that rule from b'fore." Hercule scratched his head.

Buu bounced a bit as they all looked at her, "Buu wanna be Candy!"

"Candy?" Hercule frowned at him.

"Buu like Candy! Buu is Candy!"

"Alright," Pan smiled slightly as she nodded to Buu, "We have one alias down."

"Candy?" Hercule frowned again, "That's a terrible name!"

"Then I'll be Cane." Uub grinned.

"And I'll be Corn!" Pan chuckled.

Hercule frowned at them, "Those are terrible names."

"Oh come on, Gramps." Pan chuckled and nudged him gently, "Get a sense of humor. These names are only temporary."

Hercule groaned as he looked down grumpily, "Ah can't b'lieve it! The World Champ havin' to hide under a diff'rent name!"

"And your name…" Pan grinned as she brought her hand to her chin, "… You can be Apple!"

"Augh, no!"

Pan laughed, "Then what else would you like?"

"Anythin' but Apple."

Pan scratched her chin again as she grinned while thinking, "Well, how about Cotton?"

Hercule winced, "Anythin' but Cotton, too."

Pan laughed, "Okay Grandpa Cotton!"

"No!"

Hercule stomped his foot as if to make his point, but Pan just laughed and shook her head at his immaturity. A moment passed as they gathered themselves and looked around to make sure they were still alone in the small alley in which they were located around the corner of one of West City's banks.

"Okay now what, Corn?" Uub grinned.

"Well, Cane," Pan chuckled as she brought her right hand up to comb her short hair, "You all ready to go?"

Uub looked down to his outfit and double-checked his attire. He then looked up to her with a nod and smile, "Sure am!"

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The crowd was still bustling noisily as they wandered through the masses and made their way toward the ship. Light conversation abruptly ended as they'd pass by and everyone's eyes darted to and fro, some dropping to the ground while muttering harsh whispers under their breath. Others turned their backs to pretend to ignore the ghastly sight as they'd continue their talk in a light and somewhat nervous tone.

A little girl screamed in terror as they walked by; some others ran for their lives. Uub cringed in embarrassment behind his sunglasses while Pan proudly marched ahead, sometimes tipping her top-hat to any wary onlooker. Any acknowledgement she made toward the crowd immediately sent their eyes darting elsewhere. It was actually a slight power trip for Pan, that she'd be able to manipulate peoples' gazes in such a way. Ironically, Pan never felt more beautiful.

"Alright, this way." Pan casually gestured for Uub and a slightly shape-shifted Buu to follow her into the heart of the long line. No matter where they were going to enter it, it would take a long time to get onto the ship. She just hoped her grandfather would be okay roasting inside Buu for a few hours.

"Hey!"

Pan and Uub turned to the voice that came from behind them. "Yeah?"

"No cutting in line, miss! … Er… mister… or… whatever you are!"

Pan blinked a bit and looked down to a short man who stood a couple of inches below her height. He had gray hair and a large mustache, but there was something about him that looked so incredibly familiar

Pan immediately gasped at the recognition and stuttered out, "Kr–! –Crap!" She adjusted her sunglasses and tried her best to hide her face as she suddenly made her voice incredibly high pitched and whiny, "Waaayle! Ahy'm sahrry!"

Uub snorted in a laugh and brought a few dreadlocks in front of his face to hide his grin. He couldn't help but repeat aloud in a highly humored voice, "Saahrry!"

"Well you should be!" The Tuffle man growled as he narrowed his eyes, "I've been waiting here a good forty-five minutes!"

Uub slapped Pan's back and chuckled nervously, "Waayle, Corn, Ahy gone thank we'z goin to da end of da layne!"

"Yup yup," Pan began to sweat, "Ayz gone thank that too!"

There was a momentary pause as the man dropped his bags and his eyes bugged, "Corn? Like, THE Corn?"

Pan stopped and frowned, "Wha?"

"Like, the Corn Muffin, Corn!.?"

Pan was completely lost and tried to avoid a cringe as two dozen eyes suddenly shot toward her.

"Uhh…"

Pan was about to flip. She could hear red alerts going on in the back of her mind as more and more people began to look at her and whisper under their breath.

"Wow!" The man grinned as he scratched the back of his head, "I never thought I'd ever run into a celebrity here!"

"A…" Pan choked, "… ce…lebrity?"

"Yes!" Uub immediately covered and patted her on the back, "But we're trying to keep this, you know, low key. So if you could please keep this down…"

"Oh, oh! Right!" The man beamed as he began to sway in his stance, "Wow, my wife would never believe me if I said I ran into Corn Muffin! I have all three of your records!"

"Oh…" Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she tried to swallow, "Really…"

"Wow, I never would have guessed that was you! Wow!" The man nudged her in the side, smirking, "You really had me going there with that whole costume get-up!"

"Shhh!" Pan gestured for him to be quiet as she nervously looked around at all the curious eyes, "Please Kr…Kreep your voice down!"

"Oh, oh, right! Wow!" The man gestured in front of him, "Go ahead and get in front of me. I'd be more than honored to let you get in line! Wow!"

Pan just had to agree with the man there and whispered into Uub's ear, "Wow."

They heard a voice getting louder, coming from the direction of the front of the line and they turned to see a blue haired Tuffle woman in a dark red dress counting off the people who would get on board the ship, "Four hundred fifty, fifty-one, fifty-two…"

The woman was still a ways off, but Pan could immediately recognize her as Bulma. Her first reaction was slight shock and a pang of recognition of the woman, but then it settled in her mind that Bulma was the bitter enemy and the wife of that monster, Baby. Pan narrowed her eyes behind her glasses, feeling a spark threaten to rise within her.

"Four hundred sixty-five, sixty–Oh!" Bulma scribbled down her number and then turned to look behind her, as she noticed something, "Oh there you are Lieutenant General Son!"

Pan's eyes widened as her blood boiled. Her eyes settled on a man that walked up to Bulma from the front of the line. That man… The impostor… who murdered Piccolo…

"Good afternoon, Queen Bulma," Gohan bowed slightly in respect, "I see you're running late today."

Pan watched Bulma smirk slightly as she brought the pencil to her chin, "I thought you weren't going to make it. Lord Baby would have been… displeased if you missed another ship."

Gohan's smirk faded to a low scowl as he looked down at Bulma's papers, "Do you need any help speeding things up? I really want to get off the ground as soon as possible."

"Yes." Bulma nodded and handed him the forms, "I want to do some last-minute checks on the engines. If you could cut off the line at five-hundred, that would be fantastic."

"Fantastic." Gohan repeated coldly with a stoic face as he took the papers.

Shit! Pan's eyes widened as she realized who would be approaching her in a matter of minutes.

"That guy looks familiar," Uub's eyes narrowed.

"That's my impostor father," Pan growled under her breath just loud enough for Uub to hear, "The one you saved me from."

"What?" Uub clamped his hands on his mouth as he realized his voice had risen loud enough to scare off an elephant herd. "I knew it!"

"Hey!" The little man looked ahead in line and waved like a maniac, "I know that guy! Hey Gohan!"

"Would you quit it!" Pan spun on the man and pointed to him, "We do not want to gain any more attention, got that!"

"Wow! Yes!" The man cringed as his eyes widened. "Wow, tou-CHY!" He bent over and muttered to himself, All celebrities are the same!

Gohan continued to work his way up the line, "Four hundred ninety-three." He looked down at his pencil and then up to the person and asked, "Name?"

Pan saw this and cowered against Uub, "He's asking for names!"

"What are we gonna tell him?"

Buu shifted and took this as his chance to speak, "I like Candy!"

"I know!" Pan hissed to Buu and whispered, "You are Candy!"

"Four hundred ninety-four." Gohan scribbled a comment down as he said coldly, "Name."

"Shhh," Pan nudged both of them to be silent as he made his way closer.

Pan took this opportunity to stare at him. He was so close. He was just as close as the time she saw him last, and she felt just as much anger and hatred toward him as the last time as well. He represented everything evil there was in the world.

She remembered him tearing her hair, tearing her bandana, laughing as he hurt her, cackling as he hurt Piccolo. She still saw him thrusting his hand into her wound, throttling her above him as he laughed and spit at her. It was all so fresh, and her lust for revenge just as prominent.

There was only one reason why she didn't just blow up and surprise-attack him right then and there. It was because she knew, deep down inside, that he wasn't the one that she truly hated. She had to save this fight for Baby.

Baby was the reason why all of this happened. And once she killed Baby, she could worry about trivial puppets like her father.

"Four hundred ninety-seven."

Pan froze as he stood merely inches from her, eyeing her down with his cold lifeless stare. She could feel her blood turn to ice before him and felt her breath catch as her body trembled beneath the layers of clothing.

"Name."

"P–C–" Pan stuttered as she stared at him through her glasses, her body frozen in terror.

A giant slap on the back got her to breathe again as she burst out, "P-PORN!"

Her voice could have echoed half a dozen times in the center of the city as all voices dropped to a hush and every single eye was on her.

Gohan raised an eyebrow as he tapped his pencil against the pad, looking down at the words on her shirt, "Porn?"

"I-I meant Corn." Pan turned beet red as her face flushed and her body trembled from the ultimate embarrassment, "C-Candy, Corn."

"Candy, Corn." Gohan stopped and peered at her for a slight moment. It took everything in her power to keep a straight face under the sunglasses. She felt a bead of sweat form at her temple, partly from anxiety, but mostly from the fact that an inner rage threatened to overwhelm her as his icy glare pierced her own.

Another moment passed as he peered at her, and then he dropped his gaze to his hand and wrote a few notes as he walked a step saying nonchalantly, "Four hundred ninety-eight." He stopped and looked at Uub. "Name." His glance went back to Pan, however, as Uub stuttered.

"Candy… Candy, Cane."

Gohan's suspicious glare then turned to Uub as he noted the dreadlocks and wrote several things on the paper. "Right." He raised a brow and peered at Uub, "Candy, Cane."

His glance then returned to Pan as he moved to Buu, "Five hundred. Name."

"Candy!" Buu's shapeshifted form moved as a blob as Gohan looked at him. He paused a moment and stared even harder as if something were being calculated in his mind. Gohan snorted as he raised another brow and brought his pencil to his chin.

"You remind me of someone."

"Candy, Candy!" Buu pointed to the paper, "Name is Candy, Candy!"

"What a stupid name." Gohan growled a bit as his gaze returned to Pan, his mind still calculating. A moment passed as he glared at her and then he turned and faced the crowd. "Alright." He nodded to everyone, "The line ends here, and from this point we start the 'waiting list'."

"What!" The short man tore at his hair, "But Gohan, you can't do that to me! Eighteen will kill me if we don't make this fli–!"

"Shut up!" Gohan suddenly reared back and smacked the man twenty yards until he hit a brick building with a CRASH! Gohan marched over to him and picked him up by the collar, spitting in his face as he talked, "That is Lieutenant General Gohan, you unworthy scum!"

There was a hush as the dust settled and Gohan released the man. He stood up straight and adjusted his shirt before once again taking the pencil into his hand and glaring at the remaining people in the line, "Anyone else wishing to challenge my authority?"

There was a long silence. The entire city fell under a quiet spell for a moment as Gohan's death glare panned over the crowd.

"Good." Gohan walked back to the line with a regal stance. "I would hate for there to be a death toll today."

Gohan continued to walk past the line and stopped, looking at the people who didn't make the cut, "You are dismissed."

The crowd behind Pan and company began to slowly disperse as Gohan walked up to her again. But, instead of passing, he paused a moment and looked at Pan one moment longer.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Gohan growled and with a hand faster than sound, he tore his right hand through the air and grabbed her throat.

Pan gasped in surprise at how quick he was, and he squeezed ever solightly as he bared his fangs and narrowed his eyes. There was a gust of wind then, and his hair blew gently as his grip tightened. It was at this moment, it registered in Pan's mind that Gohan was once again trying to choke her. Uub dropped into a fighting stance, but Gohan didn't notice as he snarled into Pan's face.

And before anyone could react, Gohan brought his face so close to Pan's, she could feel his hot stale breath on her cheeks.

"…You're ugly."

Gohan then released her with a snarl and spun on his heel to walk back to the front of the line. Pan trembled a bit as she grabbed her neck and gasped more out of shock and surprise than pain.

They watched him walk away and were speechless in a stupor. Uub turned to Pan and said with widened eyes, "That was really close."

Pan growled as she shot her eyes to his and huffed, "I would have killed him."

"Sure." Uub gave a half smile as he nodded to her, "But then how would we have gotten on the flight?"

"Shut up, Cane." Pan adjusted her wig with a scowl, "Just be glad I let him live."

Uub chuckled slightly and patted her on the back, "Right."

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6/25/05