Chapter 10: The Connection is Very Real

Over the course of the next week, Noca and Pan seemed to have their growing friendship on display, but not in an obvious way, it was just noticeable by both Bra and Kiera. The two new friends would actually talk to each other which was really lots of growth for them, especially after their first few weeks together. At least there wasn't so much anxiety floating around the place when Noca and Pan were in the same room.

Even after school, the two teens would spend time together working on any homework. It was nice that Pan had someone to bounce her thoughts off of when it came to the schoolwork, and Noca already disliked it so he was just pleased that he didn't need to tackle it by himself anymore. This did, however, mean that they got a chance to become more familiar with one another. Noca was starting to feel more comfortable and feel like he was actually able to open up around Pan and be himself.

That also meant Pan was able to drop the defensive persona she would put on when around him before. It was a very nice change of pace, and it made life seem so much easier. One night after school, Pan and Noca were sitting in the latter's bedroom, finishing up a piece of homework.

Thursday 15th March Age 792

Pan noticed a photo on Noca's bedside table. It was the first time they had really been together in Noca's room, so it was the first time she had a chance to look around. As far as she could tell, that was the only real personal possession that Noca had on display. In fact, it seemed like the only thing in the room that was truly his own. Pan couldn't see what it was a photo of from where she was sitting but was intrigued by it.

"Who's in that picture?" Pan asked, pointing over to the table. Noca looked up from his paper and turned to see where the photo was sitting. He reached over and grabbed it, turning to Pan, but looking down at the picture.

"It's me and my mother, on one of my birthdays," He said, smiling slightly. He handed it to Pan for her to see. She took it and properly took it in, examining it. She noticed Noca looked younger, not much younger, but there was definitely a difference. He seemed to exude genuine happiness in that picture, something that she wasn't sure he had ever really shown in her company.

"Your mother's beautiful. You both look so happy," Pan said smiling at the picture, but her expression turned to a sombre one, remembering Noca's situation. She looked up at him. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I keep that photo to remind me of the good times, and to motivate me," Noca said, glancing over at the picture. Pan looked down and continued to stare at it. She was in awe of the Noca she saw in that photo. It was almost like looking at an entirely different smile. A wide grin, a hopeful and satisfied face, beside a woman who breathed love and strength from what she could tell. She was holding her son in a tight embrace and Pan could tell they were absolutely enthralled in that moment.

"What was her name?" Pan asked, realising Noca never said it before.

"Emna. I don't know if it's a traditional Saiyan name, something from the village, no one ever told me… and I guess I didn't think to ask," Noca said, thinking on it and chuckling to himself. He looked back down at his homework, but Pan could tell he was a little upset, and he wasn't really paying attention to what was on the page.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't really pry…" Pan started, placing the photo next to her and shifting uncomfortably. Noca looked up and shook off what he was feeling.

"No, please, don't apologise," Noca said, "I shouldn't push it down. It feels right to talk about her, doesn't mean it's easy."

"Well, I'm here to talk when you want to, feels weird to say that," Pan said, laughing nervously. Noca smirked and moved off the bed, over to his wardrobe. Pan wondered what was going on and turned to watch him. He opened the wardrobe and pulled out his old backpack. Noca took out the folded up Gi he had been given when he first left his village and placed it in front of Pan.

"Apparently this belonged to my grandfather," Noca said. Pan saw that it looked pretty rough and like it had been through a lot. There were rips in it, and places where the material had started to wear away. The weirdest thing was the material felt odd. "I'm not a fan of the colour." Noca said, chuckling as he looked at Pan. She shot him a smirk and looked back down at the green Gi.

"It's not really my colour either. My dad had a green outfit once," Pan remarked, remembering the Great Saiyaman outfit, and cringing inside.

"I feel like I should wear it to honour my family, and my village, at least in the tournament maybe," Noca mentioned as he packed it away inside the bag again, "But I would need to have it adjusted a little to actually fit me."

"You definitely have to wear this," Pan said, lifting up the fabric that would be used as a headband. "I think that would suit you," Pan laughed as she tossed the fabric too him. Noca tied it around his head, but in a very rushed fashion so it didn't look quite right. "Perfect," Pan joked.

Noca chuckled as he started to close up the bag, but Pan thought she noticed something strange as he was doing so. There was just the slightest hint of an orange glow.

"What was that?" Pan asked, stopping Noca from closing the bag by grabbing his arm. Noca was completely caught off guard. He looked at her and down at his bag.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I saw something glowing," Pan said, motioning to the backpack. Noca's brow furrowed as he started to open the bag up again and pulled out the only other thing that was left in there. The good luck charm he had been given back when he left the village. He pulled it out, but it was still inside the little brown bag, but Pan could definitely tell it was ball shaped.

Noca handed it to her.

"It was just some silly good luck charm my village elder gave me the day I left," Noca said, disregarding what it was. Pan opened the bag and took out the ball shaped item.

"Wow, no way!" Pan half exclaimed upon seeing it. Noca was confused but intrigued.

"What? What is it?" He asked, moving closer to her.

"Six stars…" She muttered to herself, absorbed by the ball. She laughed. "I haven't seen one in a little bit."

"What are you on about?" Noca asked. Pan didn't say anything and just lifted it up to his face.

"Look," She said, acting far too odd for Noca's liking.

"Neat…" He said, awkwardly. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what it is."

"It's a Dragon Ball," Pan said, almost expecting Noca to know what she was showing him.

"I don't know what that is," He said.

"You don't? Oh, well, there are seven of these things. You have the six-star ball, see," She started, showing him the ball and the stars glowing inside. Noca nodded, but he was still fairly perplexed. "They grant wishes if you collect all seven," She finished.

"Really? What kind of wishes?" Noca asked.

"Oh, well, anything you could possibly think of, within the power of the dragon, of course," Pan explained, but that only offered more questions to Noca.

"The dragon?"

Pan shook her head and scoffed, amused with herself.

"I'm sorry. This might be my first time explaining this," She said, laughing a little. She cleared her throat and composed herself. "The guardian of Earth creates the dragon balls and gives the eternal dragon, Shenron, the power to grant wishes. Therefore, the dragon can only grant wishes that are within the power of its creator. When you gather all seven balls you summon the dragon and ask for your wish," She explained, even though it still made very little sense to Noca.

He started to smirk, looking at Pan and she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"The guardian of Earth?" He questioned. Pan groaned and the two of them laughed together.

"It's a lot, I know, but it was also a lot for me when I learned," She said, patting him on the shoulder. "It'll make sense at some point."

"Oh no, it makes complete sense," Noca said, sarcastically. She whacked him on the arm, but playfully.

"Don't be like that, it's not my fault the world is far more confusing than it appears to be, I mean, look at us, we're technically aliens," Pan joked, with the two sharing a laugh again.

It was nice that their interactions were more like that now, rather than constantly being awkward around each other, or at each other's throats. It was early days, but the two of them slowly started to realise that there was something that not only literally connected them, but something that seemed to be similar between the two. Things were different, but it was a good different.


The rest of the week passed by without any new issues. Gohan had still not made a choice concerning training Pan, or allowing her to compete in the tournament, so she just continued to train when she could find the time on the weekends. She kept to herself and didn't bother her father, trying to make a point by just training by herself and showing that even if her father didn't approve, she wasn't about to give up.

Noca was given some better sparring in training with Gohan, and that meant he was learning more about actual combat and technique. His fighting knowledge was growing, but things seemed almost a little too simple. He didn't say anything and assumed it was just a choice Gohan was making with his training regime, but Gohan was certainly taking it a little easy on Noca. He was treating the boy like a child, which is what he was, to be fair. Noca didn't like that but he decided to keep his mouth shut and focus on what he was doing. There was still progress being made.

School was fairly simple, with the same stuff going on. Noca had started to get a little bit of teasing from Billy, who made up a story and passed it around that Noca was upset and scared, and that was why he disappeared from the school for some time. However, Noca didn't pay the rumours any attention and showed up every day with a smile on his face, and with his friends by his side.

Pan was his friend now. That was still a weird fact in his mind, but it was a nice thing to have. One less stress in life. As the week drew to a close, Pan and Noca were informed that Mr Satan had invited his daughter and her husband to his mansion in Satan City for dinner that weekend, and the couple planned to stay there, mentioning that with how big and luxurious it is, it's almost like a short vacation.

This did, however, mean they would be trusting the teens to stay home alone and look after themselves that weekend. It wouldn't be the first time Pan had been left on her own at home for the weekend, although that time she had Bra with her. The only difference was that it would just be her and Noca. And Pan already had plans for them. Which didn't seem ominous at all…


Friday 23rd March Age 792

The parents left quite early Friday evening, leaving it up to the teens to sort out their own dinner, which was a task both were pretty fine with. Noca had learned some cooking skills in his village, while Pan was capable of some basic stuff thanks to weekends with her grandmother when she was younger. Food wasn't the first thing on Pan's mind though. While Noca was sitting in the living room, just watching whatever had been left on the TV, Pan walked in, wearing her training Gi and grabbed Noca by the arm. He was surprised by her attire and looked her up and down.

It was a dark orange, almost red Gi top, that went down as low as her thighs, sort of like a dress, but there was a black belt tied around her waist. She also wore white Gi trousers and some basic black shoes that went with the outfit.

"Spar with me," Pan said, still holding on to the boy by his arm, with both of her hands. Noca smirked and let her pull him to his feet. She seemed very excited that he was apparently agreeing to it.

"Let me just change into my training Gi," He said, heading upstairs to change into the blue Gi that Gohan had given him. He was still against wearing the one from his village, afraid of the risk of damaging it.

He rushed back down the stairs and walked out into the field, seeing that Pan was already standing there and waiting. She was just punching the air, warming up for the spar. Noca did the same, performing a few stretches and jogging on the spot for a moment. He ended with a flurry of punches and kicks into the air and by standing with his legs a little wide and his fists brought to his side, right by his stomach, with his elbows bent.

Pan smirked and moved into her stance. She extended her left arm, her hand positioned in an almost beckoning style and brought her right hand up by her face as she stood, left side facing forward. She stood with her legs slightly bent. This was clearly a stance she had worked on for the sake of looking pretty cool. Noca thought it looked good and smiled.

"Ready when you are," Pan said, clenching both of her hands into fists. Noca saw the muscles in her forearms tense as she did that, and he felt a little of that Saiyan instinct inside him get excited.

Noca positioned himself, right side forward. His right hand brought up in front of his face, although not to impair his vision. His eyes were still fixed upon Pan. He kept his left arm down at the side, bent at the elbow, with his left hand clenched into a fist. He stood with his legs apart, and slightly bent, with his left a little behind the right.

Pan eyed up his position and seemed to get the feeling that he intended for her to move first. Pan scoffed and smirked. She started running forward, losing her stance completely, meaning that Noca had no way to really predict what move she was going to make, but he maintained his position until he believed a change was needed.

Pan jumped up as she got close and flipped down, aiming to strike with her foot down on Noca's head. He had followed her movements and managed to move his left arm up and across him to block Pan's foot. She clashed against his arm and Noca trembled slightly, just about managing to maintain his balance and control. He opted to make a use of his right hand and jabbed up towards Pan, but she pushed off of his left arm and flipped backwards, landing on her feet.

Noca had to step back due to the push off from Pan and this gave her an advantage. She jumped forward and aimed with her own right sided jab, going for Noca's head, but he managed to bring up his left hand quickly again and grabbed Pan's arm, stopping her move. He brought his right hand up and chopped into the inside of Pan's elbow, causing her arm to fold, bringing her closer to him, Noca then let go with his left hand and used that, palm forward, to push Pan back by striking her in the chest.

It wasn't too strong, with Noca clearly deciding to hold back in the last moment, but with the right amount of Ki control he managed to push her back, her feet sliding across the ground, but hitting a tiny clump of grass and tripping her back. She managed to drop both hands by her sides and push herself back up immediately, which gave her the momentum to move back towards Noca.

That took him by surprise, and he seemed to have dropped his arms by his side, so he was open. Pan brought her hands up and grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted herself up, planting her feet on his chest and pushing herself back, which also knocked Noca back a little and then she rolled and used her Ki to push herself back towards him yet again. She managed to just float over him and landed on the ground, sweeping her leg low and managing to take Noca's legs out from under him.

He fell to the side as Pan jumped up and flipped forward, aiming to slam her foot down on him again, but he managed to roll back and clamber to his feet again, quickly dropping into a defensive position. Pan, for the moment, stood on one foot as it landed where Noca's head had been.

Noca looked down at Pan's foot and then up at her. He was shocked by how close she had come to kicking him in the head, but he saw the look in her eyes, the focus, and he smirked. Pan had not been able to go all out for a very long time, and Noca saw this. He could only oblige her, right?

Noca dropped the defensive stance and moved towards her, showcasing some of his advanced speed. He swiped with another right sided jab, but Pan ducked under and opted to lift up her right leg and kick Noca in the side, instead of going for the gut shot or an uppercut. That was the first major blow to be struck, and Noca felt it. He arched into the left as Pan struck him, but she was in such a position that it would be difficult for her to get out of that easily and make the next move.

The boy grabbed her by the leg and swung her around, releasing and letting her drop to the ground, however she managed to land on all fours and scramble up to run for him again. Noca shook his head as she rushed him with a few attempted jabs that he blocked with his forearms. Right, right, left, right, and then Pan attempted an uppercut with her left which Noca blocked by putting his hands together in the way. Noca held strong, halting Pan's momentum and managing to keep still.

Pan thought, and acted quickly, by dropping her right shoulder down and lifting up her left leg as she did so, pulling around to strike Noca in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick that was perfectly executed. Noca was knocked back into the ground but flipped up and landed back on his feet, wobbling ever so slightly, and that gave Pan the desire to move in and continue her attack. She had him on the ropes.

She rushed in for the next move, using her left foot to strike the inside of Noca's right foot, forcing him to drop a little low, and lose his balance a little more. Keeping it up, Pan followed in with her right knee, crashing it into Noca's gut, and then she sliced her right arm up, striking Noca with an uppercut to the chin, and using that momentum she twisted around and positioned herself with both hands thrust forward, pulsing the air with her Ki, and knocking Noca back off of his feet. He landed with a thud on the grass and for a moment seemed to really feel that.

Pan noticed she was smiling but that soon faded when she heard a groan from Noca as he tried to move. All fighting spirit disappeared, and she rushed over to Noca and knelt by his side.

"Are you ok?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Noca moved and managed to sit up, shaking his head.

"Wow…" He managed to say, taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly. He chuckled and turned to look at Pan. "You're really good."

Pan's smile returned but unlike the one she had during the fight it was replaced with one of pride, mixed with a little embarrassment, and if Noca was paying enough attention, maybe there was a little blushing. Pan just shook it off with nervous laughter and she helped Noca up to his feet.

"Thanks, I think my fighting sense is probably just a little better than yours," She said, laughing. Noca scoffed but nodded as they walked back towards the house together.

"You're not wrong," He said, clearly agreeing with her.

"I was just kidding," Pan said, laughing nervously again.

"I'm not. You're clearly better than me, I've only really just started learning properly, you experienced it at a younger age," Noca said, justifying why he genuinely believed Pan was better than him. "I still have a lot of training to do."

"Well, thank you, I guess…" Pan said, starting to feel a little embarrassed again. Neither had realised it but as they walked towards the house Pan still had her hand on his arm from when she had helped him up. "Thank you for sparring with me," She said, doing something that she didn't expect by hugging him, very quickly. She pulled away, wide-eyed and clearly embarrassed. "I don't know why I did that."

Noca chuckled, clearly very nervously.

"It's ok," He said, unable to truly process what just happened. He couldn't deny something he was feeling though, and that was the rush and excitement from fighting Pan and seeing her power on display, even if for a little bit. It was probably because they were both Saiyans. That was something they both told themselves.

They returned to the house in silence, walking to the kitchen and grabbing a drink and snack together. They sat at the table, still silent. Things had got a little awkward. Pan was internally cursing and questioning herself. A complete lapse of judgement and she actually hugged him. That was weird, right? She asked herself this a few times. Noca, meanwhile, was also questioning the hug, but focussed more on how much he really enjoyed seeing Pan showcase her abilities. Both were lost in thought and didn't realise they had sat there for about twenty minutes in silence. Pan decided to break it.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you out there, I got a little overexcited and it was just meant to be a spar," Pan said, shaking her head and seeming quite apologetic. Noca shook his head and scoffed.

"Please, it was fine, I'm not injured, and you needed the chance to show off your strength again, I get it," Noca said, smiling. "Plus, I felt a little bit of the same excitement you did."

"You did?" Pan questioned, sitting forward.

"Yeah, I could sense it," Noca said. Pan sat back again, looking to the side and thinking. Noca watched her. She sat forward again and looked to him.

"Do you think it has something to do with whatever was connecting our Ki before, like how I could sense you?" Pan asked, still clearly interested in getting to know why that was happening. Noca honestly wasn't thinking about it much.

"Maybe, but that was probably the only time I've really felt what you did," Noca, said, trying to point out a flaw in Pan's thought process, however she was prepared with a response.

"You're wrong, we've probably been feeling this while together as well," Pan said, moving into the seat closer to Noca. "Think about how angry both of us seemed to get with one another, our feelings always echoed those of the other person," Pan said, showing that she had clearly been thinking about this far more than Noca. "Like, the argument in the park, and then in the hall where we… fought," Pan said, knowing it was a tough moment for both of them. "I think the way I was speaking to you, and treating you, maybe triggered this connection and made us both feel the same thing?" Pan was questioning herself the more she spoke and sat back, thinking she was being stupid.

Noca thought on it though and sat there, looking into space for a moment, as he started to remember something else.

"Or back in my first week, when we were distant with each other, I had a bad dream…" Noca said, looking to Pan to see how she would react. She looked up and started to think on something that had happened.

"I felt the energy then… your energy," She said, springing to life with her theories again. "Whatever you felt from the bad dream must have bled into me a little bit, plus I was already overthinking the energy… that was…" Pan scoffed and shook her head. "I can't believe it was you all that time."

Noca almost thought he heard disappointment in Pan's voice and looked to her with a furrowed brow, but even as she looked down Noca could see the slightest smile on her face. His expression softened for a moment. Pan's mind also drifted back to another time.

"And there was the time you told me to calm down when Chloe approached, and you kind of stood up for me too," Pan said, looking to Noca. He seemed to misremember that, but perhaps she was right. He could only agree because he really didn't recall it. He just looked up at her again and nodded, smiling. "This connection is very real."

"But what does it mean?" Noca asked. Pan shrugged.

"No idea."

That night, neither of them really developed much of an appetite and went to bed without a proper dinner. Tired out from the sparring session they both just went to their rooms and went right to bed, although they weren't the most peaceful sleeps. Pan was still thinking too much over the sparring session and their possible connection, feeling satisfied with how she was understanding it much better, and also hoping that she and Noca could spar again soon. She had fun.

Noca had similar thoughts, he was more focussed on how impressed he was by how she carried herself in the sparring. Her technique and knowledge were greater than his and it showed. While Noca maybe had better raw power buried deep, Pan had the skills to back up her abilities. Training with her had been thrilling.

Both teens fell asleep with smiles on their faces.


Saturday 24th March Age 792

The teens decided against a training session on the Saturday, still recovering from the one they had the previous day. However, if they were feeling up to it on Sunday, they would definitely try to get in a spar before Pan's parents returned from Satan City.

Both teens were up at around nine in the morning, bright and early. They had breakfast together, that they just about managed to cook together. After that, they cleaned it up together and decided to do their parents a favour and clean up the kitchen properly. Pan played some music while they did, and it was stuff that Noca had never heard before.

It was strange mix that Noca didn't necessarily expect from her. Some pop hits were littered in amongst some more fast tempo classic rock tracks, with a little bit of modern punk rock in there. Noca really was unfamiliar with it all but his eyes were opened a little, as were his ears. He enjoyed what she was playing and watched as Pan started to dance around a little, almost as if she was by herself. Noca caught himself staring a few times and had to keep looking away. Pan did catch him a couple of times but made it seem like she didn't notice.

After they were done with that, it was time to get their homework done, Pan decided. She suggested that they could have a longer training session together on the Sunday if they got all the homework out of the way. Noca wasn't happy with this bit, but Pan brought the music with her and managed to make it seem that little bit less tedious.

They worked through that with little to no problems. Pan even remarked that they made for a good team. Noca thought it was a joke. It was starting to get into the evening and then Pan allowed them to have some proper relaxation time, suggesting they play some games and watch a movie. Pan loaded up the Capsule Corp. Entertainment System, referred to as a CC-ESS (ESS said like the letter S) and she loaded up the Mr Satan: Ultimate Champion fighting game, because she found it amusing.

Cell was even a playable character, with Mr Satan being the best in the game, obviously. Even Mr Buu had a character. They had a laugh while playing the game, wasting a lot of time, as it got later. Pan, still clearly in control of the plans for the day, suggested they watch a movie together. So, Pan suggested one of her favourite films growing up. It was some animated family film, and Noca was only really familiar with whatever stuff had been shown on TV up in his village and didn't seem to get into that film. He actually started to fall asleep while they were watching it.

Pan didn't disturb him, thinking he looked peaceful, and a little cute while sleeping. Although, she was glad Noca was asleep, so he didn't have to see her blush upon thinking he was cute. He may have looked peaceful, for a moment, but Noca's sleep was anything but.


Noca opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of an arena. The stands were huge and filled with people, but they were all sitting completely still, and making absolutely no noise. Noca was confused. He felt like he was in a very familiar place, but none of it felt right. The intense amount of people that were sitting, staring at him, all with blank expressions was terrifying. It didn't help that there were four massive stands, situated around the square shaped arena. Noca literally felt boxed in.

Noca moved around, walking around and trying to see if there was someone in the crowd that he recognised. He felt like he did a full circuit and saw no one familiar. But all of a sudden, something compelled him to turn around and look behind him. He looked down to the edge of the area and standing there, in a line, all with blank expressions like the audience members, were people he knew.

Pan, Bra, Kiera, even Holline, standing there with Gohan and Videl. Noca furrowed his brow and looked around again. Some of the faces in the crowd even started to become familiar. There were people he had met since moving to this part of the world. Bulma, Vegeta, the other Z-fighters he had seen. The rest of the faces were unknown to him, completely unfamiliar, but how had his brain managed to give them faces. Noca could probably walk right up to them and see every little detail. This was surreal.

Suddenly, a huge wall of flame circled the stage and blocked him from anyone else, trapping him in the middle of the arena. Noca had encountered these flames in his dreams before, so he wasn't shocked anymore, just frustrated. He knew that something else was bound to happen and decided to take a chance, stepping towards the flames to see what would happen.

Nothing. Nothing happened. He just stood near the fire, his hand held close, feeling the warmth. Then he heard a voice. The same voice as before. The same word.

"Revenge"


Back in the real world, Pan was still sitting and watching the film, sitting quite close to Noca, although she hadn't taken any notice of it until she felt something a little odd. His body was starting to give off a lot of heat and he was starting to sweat a little. She could see it on his forehead. It was very confusing because Pan had been feeling quite chilly, she even had a blanket over her. She moved her hand to feel Noca's temperature, touching his head, and realising it seemed very high, but it started to drop, and she decided it was maybe nothing.


Back in Noca's dream, he started to feel like there was a hand on his shoulder and the flames started to die down, just a tiny bit. He felt some comfort, like someone was there with him, watching over him. A part of him was convinced it was his mother. But Noca didn't want to dwell on that anymore, he wanted to know who was speaking to him. He heard the voice again and it seemed to come from behind. He turned around and walked to the centre of the stage again, looking all around.

Once again, there was a sudden change and the wall of flame began to swirl and blend together into a large ball. It was imposing and threatening, and it bolted right for the teen. Noca narrowly avoided the impact by leaping into the air but somehow the flamed formed into the shape of a person and flew up, attacking Noca by slamming him back into the ground.

As Noca crashed into the stage the atmosphere of the stadium seemed to arrive, out of nowhere. People in the crowd were cheering and clapping, and they were all moving. Even the people behind Noca, the ones he knew, they were rooting for him. It was all so weird.

He stood and saw the fire warrior was dropping towards him, ready for another attack. Noca jumped back to narrowly avoid another hit but before he could compose or ready himself for something new, he had been attacked again, flying back a few feet and crashed into the stage. Noca wasn't going to win this fight, and he knew it.


Pan was surprised as Noca started to shift and shake in his sleep. It almost seemed like he was in some sort of pain, and Pan was starting to worry more. There were even a couple of times where it seemed like he winced in response to some sort of attack. Pan wanted to wake him up, find out what was causing this. She turned in her seat and tried to gently wake him by nudging him, but that didn't do it. Pan touched his arm and realised his body heat had grown intensely yet again. She was starting to get scared.


For a moment Noca felt like he heard Pan's voice and tried to look behind him, but before he got a chance to see if she was there, he was struck by yet another flame punch. Noca flew across the arena and slammed down on his back, and he heard Pan's voice again. He sat up and saw her standing at the edge of the stage. She seemed very eager to get to him but saw she was being held back by some sort of flaming chains. She was in pain but trying her best to get to him. Noca stood up and tried to run over to her but was stopped when he heard a woman say his name.

"Noca," the voice said in a sweet whisper.

He stopped and looked around, trying to pinpoint the location of the new voice, but he was drawn back to Pan when the chains around her arms snapped and she rushed forward, hopping onto the stage. Noca went to hold up a hand and tell her to stop but suddenly the huge fire being appeared in front of Pan and slapped her, sending her flying across the arena.

Noca's eyes went wide with shock and…


He shouted "No!"

Pan almost jumped out of her skin as Noca suddenly yelled out but was still clearly asleep. She was still pretty scared and had no idea what she should do.


Noca's anger started to boil. He couldn't stand to see Pan get hurt and the more his anger grew, the more the flames raged, although he couldn't see this. He saw that even Gohan had jumped up to fight the flaming warrior and Noca wanted to run to help, but he was distracted.

"Noca," the woman's voice said, again. Still in a whisper.

Noca paused and turned around but heard a pained cry from Gohan and looked back to see him being slammed into the ground. Everything that was happening felt far too real. Noca had forgotten he was dreaming. As far as his brain was concerned, it was all real. Noca's anger swelled and grew.

Noca's shaking was getting worse and Pan was starting to feel not only his intense body heat, but his deep rage. She could feel his power level raising and, in that moment, she was certain he had hit a level higher than she had felt from him previously.

Both Kiera and Holline jumped up and ran forward, shouting abuse at the fighter, with the red head attempting to fight it. Noca wanted desperately to stop them and stated running towards them but once again he was distracted.

"NOCA!" the woman's voice yelled, in a commanding and controlling fashion. Noca recognised that voice and turned around, only to be met by the sudden appearance of his house, in perfect condition, sitting in the middle of the arena. Noca started to walk towards it but then heard the pained cries of Holline and Kiera. He turned to see them both being thrown back by the flaming warrior and he couldn't take it anymore.


"ENOUGH!" Noca screamed.

Pan jumped out of her skin and moved back to the edge of the couch. She was starting to shake in fear, her eyes were watering. She was confused, terrified, lost. It was all so much. She had no idea what to do and it was killing her. She gingerly moved closer to Noca and held her hands out, almost ready to defend herself, but also just wanting to grab Noca and yank him away from whatever was happening. Whatever was happening, someone was definitely getting hurt and Noca was distraught.


"Noca, please don't leave me!" The woman's voice called from within the house.

Noca froze on the spot and his eyes started to water. He turned around and swallowed hard, starting to head towards it, slowly. He heard the screams of his friends and allies as they fought the flaming warriors, but he persisted and walked inside the house. It was pitch black. He could just about make out the furniture. But as he took a couple more steps, a flaming being appeared in front of him and this one was exactly the same height as he was.

Noca threw a punch but the warrior knocked him down to his knees. The teen felt like he had been completely winded and couldn't move. He looked up and saw that the flaming being started to form into a real person, but not just any real person. It formed into him. It became Noca. The only difference, the flaming hair that was waving and standing on edge. Noca was confused and his fear ran deeper.

"Noca…" the pained voice of his mother said, from behind the doppelganger. Noca looked forward and the doppelganger moved to reveal Noca's mother, trapped under the rubble as she had been before. "Please… don't leave me… stop this…"

Noca wanted to speak but there were no words he could think of. The doppelganger walked towards Noca's mother and raised a hand, suddenly engulfing the woman in flames. Before Noca could react, he was blown out of the house and crashed into the centre of the arena. He stood up and realised all the flames had disappeared. The audience were gone, and around him were the dead or dying bodies of his friends and allies. Noca had nothing to say.

Suddenly a ball of flame appeared in front of Noca and the flaming doppelganger formed once more. It pointed at him.

"You caused pain. You caused sadness. You caused death," It said, continuing to point at him. Noca wanted to deny it but he was hearing his own voice and words that he himself believed. He truly thought he was the cause of his mother's death in some way, and this dream, this nightmare, was ensuring him that he had been correct.


"Noca, please, wake up…" Pan said, frantically trying to shake him awake, tears forming and starting to trickle down her face. "Please."


"Please."

Noca heard all of her words. He slowly turned around to see that Pan was the only one of his friends still standing. She was hurt, but she was determined. Noca shook his head. Pan moved into a stance and rushed towards the doppelganger.


"No, Pan, Please, stop it, he's too strong!" Noca yelled.

Pan started to tremble upon hearing her name and Noca's pained cries. What was she doing in there? What was she doing that Noca had to shout after her like that? Was she breaking through? Noca was still shaking and sweating violently. All the while his hands still closed.


Pan jumped up towards the doppelganger and tried to attack but she was instantly grabbed by the throat and stopped in her tracks. She was clearly being deprived of oxygen.


"Please… leave her alone," Noca said, in a sombre whisper. Pan looked down at him unable to contain her own emotions at this point. "I can't be the reason…"

What did that mean? Pan thought to herself.


Noca stood up in the dream, clenching his fists and started to limp towards the doppelganger, but his grip on Pan didn't loosen and the girl clearly didn't have the power to escape his grip. Noca couldn't allow anything bad to happen to her and he wouldn't. He could feel the heat of the dream world beginning to rise to impossible new levels and saw Pan was in intense pain. She was being burned. Noca grit his teeth and continued to limp forward.

The doppelganger looked to him.

"Revenge," It said, the voice deep and ominous like before. It wasn't Noca's voice saying it that time. And before Noca could make another move, Pan's body turned to ash but at the same time he heard her shriek in pain. A sound that cut through Noca's ears. He dropped to his knees gripping his head and trying to contain the pain.

The flame fighter turned to face Noca and walked towards him. Noca managed to open his eyes and look up, through the pain. He saw his doppelganger standing there with a proud smirk. Noca's fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. His muscles all tensed, and he hunched over.

"I told you…" He muttered. "I said…" He groaned. "Leave her…" Noca tensed up more and was almost curled up in a ball, but suddenly he opened up and raised off of the ground, floating. "ALONE!" He screamed, his voice echoing through the whole stadium, his energy exploding out of him, shining brighter than the sun. It eradicated everything around him and engulfed the entire dreamscape.


Pan sat back, in awe, terrified, staring up at Noca floating in the air, his aura flared up all around him. It was so bright. Golden. She could barely look at it as it grew brighter. But she could see that Noca was hovering above the sofa, his hair standing on edge, also golden. Pan knew what she was witnessing. Pan had seen it enough times before. She was not mistaken. Noca had become a Super Saiyan in her presence.

The light started to die down, but remained bright, and Pan was able to look properly. She noticed that his eyes were different. They were now open, but cold, empty, lifeless almost. They were blank. Nothing. Pan felt as if she were looking into the eyes of a dead man.

His energy soon died down and he sunk back down to the Sofa. His body settled and he appeared to be quite calm. Pan sat for a moment in the place on the floor she had fallen to when Noca's energy first exploded out of him. After witnessing all of that she was shaking with fear. All she wanted was for Noca to wake up and turn to her. She wanted him to be ok.

When Pan got up beside him, she saw that what she wanted didn't seem to be likely. He wasn't breathing. Pan saw that his chest was definitely not moving, no air was flowing through his mouth or nose. His eyes remained open, and blank. She placed a hand to his wrist and then checked his neck. Nothing. No pulse. She was already welling up and started to feel a lump in her throat.

Did Noca just die, right in front of her, only a little bit after they started to get to know each other? Pan didn't want to believe that, and got on the sofa beside him, and started to shake him.

"Noca… wake up. Please wake up, Noca," She said, shaking him, getting more erratic and panicked. She was starting to cry properly at that point. She placed her head on his chest trying to hear a heartbeat, feeling some slight movement, anything.

It was just as belief was beginning to set in that there was a sharp intake of breath and Noca started to cough. Pan lifted her head up and saw that he was awake. He was alive. She felt so much relief. She saw the colour had returned to his skin and his eyes returned to normal. She flung her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug but Noca was still coming to terms with what had happened.

He remembered everything from his dream, but he had no idea how he would be able to explain it to himself, or anyone else for that matter. He was feeling distraught but that feeling started to fade a little bit and he soon noticed that Pan had her arms wrapped around him. He lifted a hand to her back, gently, softly. And then he suddenly felt all her emotions and he was overwhelmed. He brought his other hand to her back and hugged her tightly.

He could feel her emotions starting to steady and there was a new feeling of comfort, on top of all the panic that remained. Noca's breathing was very rapid and Pan noticed that. She pulled from the hug and looked him in the eyes. It seemed like he had seen something so terrible that he may never sleep again. Noca, on the other hand, saw Pan's red eyes, and knew she had been crying. She seemed to be more distraught than Noca at that point and he wasn't sure why that would be.

"Are you ok?" He asked her. She scoffed, still clearly overwhelmed by her emotions.

"Are you?" She asked back.

"I'm… I'm ok I guess, but what happened to you?" He asked. Pan scoffed again.

"Are you kidding? I just saw you unleash your power and turn into a Super Saiyan in front of me after looking like you were having some terrible dream, and then you just fell down on the couch and I thought you were dead," Pan said, rambling and shooting all her words out at once. Noca took in what he could, and realised Pan had seen his dream, but from the outside.

"You could see what was happening to me?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Not really, but you were so hot, you were shaking, shouting, screaming, you wouldn't wake up," Pan said, still feeling rather shaken and frantic.

They both looked at each other and there was understanding. Noca's panic was starting to settle while Pan's shaking and tears were beginning to subside.

"I'm so happy you're ok," She said, leaning and kissing him on the cheek. "I can't believe this happened," She said kissing him on the other cheek. She pulled back and looked him in the eyes and they both held each other still for a moment. There was a calm. And then they kissed each other on the lips. It was very quick, and they pulled away, looking at each other. Everything seemed to fade away and there was comfort.

Both were speechless, but neither could look away from the other. Embarrassment started to fill the air but both teens had to admit to themselves they liked that feeling. It felt… right. There was a moment where they sat still but then Noca leaned in again and they kissed again.

The kiss broke and they remained in that very same position for more than a few minutes. The new feelings flooding the air were so different and weird. The teenagers were experiencing something neither had before.

"Um… so…" Pan muttered, clearing her throat and finally looking to the side, moving to sit on the other side of the couch. She stared forward, but she was starting to smile.

"Yeah… so…" Noca mumbled, moving and facing ahead too. A smile forming for him as well.

Pan looked up at Noca and he looked to her again. They smiled at each other, and Pan grabbed her blanket from the floor and moved closer to Noca, putting it over them both. She snuggled up close to him and lay her head on his chest. It felt almost like this was just for comfort purposes for both of them. There was nothing either could really think to say in the moment and it was best to just leave things as they were. They fell asleep there on the couch, exhausted from the whole event that had taken place.


Characters Seen/Mentioned in this Chapter:

Noca (OC)
Pan
Bra – Mentioned
Kiera (OC) – Mentioned
Emna (OC) – Mentioned
Shenron – Mentioned
Son Gohan – Mentioned
Billy (OC) – Mentioned
Mr Satan – Mentioned
Videl – Mentioned
Chi-Chi – Mentioned
Chloe (OC) – Mentioned
Holline (OC) – Mentioned
Bulma – Mentioned
Vegeta – Mentioned