Walking up the path to Mount Paozu, was a certain 14 year old Son Pan. She was one of the most powerful female fighters on Earth, and currently, she was deep in thought.
It had been approximately 5 years since Goku had passed away. Or rather, passed on?
Pan wasn't quite sure what had happened to her grandpa. All that she saw was that he somehow fused with the dragon balls themselves and left for good. But she wasn't really mad at him this time. Because it was all to prevent the Shadow Dragons from rising again.
In hindsight, everyone should have expected there to be some sort of trade off to using such powerful artifacts to the extent that the Z-Fighters did. Everything had a price after all. So after Goku "died" they all unanimously made the decision to never use the dragon balls again. Even
if someone died, they were forbidden to use the dragon balls to revive them. At first Pan thought this was totally unfair, but then she realized that this is what the majority of people had to deal with. Most people didn't have dragon balls to conveniently revive their loved ones whenever they pleased.
Suddenly, things didn't seem quite so unfair.
One thing that changed since then was Pan's schooling situation. Her parents felt that they had been neglecting her for far too long, and with them not getting any younger, they decided to homeschool her. Pan REALLY didn't like this. She was an extremely social person who loved being around the people that she loved, which is why it hurt so much when grandpa left (again). But eventually, they came to the agreement that she would be able to hangout with her friends on the weekends, so long as she told them explicitly where she was going.
So it wasn't totally bad.
But right now, it was a Friday, and she was scheduled to train with her father right after she finished her homework for the day. He said that he was gonna teach her a new technique.
'Wonder what it's gonna be' the quarter saiyan mused to herself. Suddenly feeling a sort of giddy anxiousness she hadn't felt in a while, she decided to speed up the trip by taking to the sky.
She soon found Gohan at the top of the mountain. He was wearing an orange gi with...glasses. Sigh. Man, Bra really was right when she said her father was a dork.
But he was a strong dork, so she certainly wasn't complaining.
Gohan crossed his arms when she landed and, as the typical doting father does, started chastising her.
"Pretty sure I told you to be here 15 minutes ago Pan", Gohan told her in a strict yet forgiving tone.
"Pretty sure I was busy doing my homework", Pan fired back. "Not everyone is as smart as you, Papa". To which Gohan could only roll his eyes at.
The half saiyan decided to get things started by closing his eyes to focus his energy, then opened them up with new determination. "Right, well, let's get started. Today, we're going to be learning a new technique: the Special Beam Cannon." Gohan's lips curled into a straight line,"It was Piccolo's signature technique." Pan grimaced in understanding. Gohan was hit the hardest when uncle Piccolo sacrificed himself in order to prevent the Black Star Dragon Balls from being abused ever again. He didn't work for days after that.
Apart from the useful drilling mechanisms of the beams, teaching her this technique was just Gohan's way of keeping his memory alive.
However, Pan was never one for gloomy atmospheres, so when Gohan started to get depressed again, Pan just put on a cocky smirk.
"Don't worry Papa, this'll be a piece of cake for me to learn. It can't be that hard."
Her method of cheering Gohan up worked, and he just scoffed in amusement. "Took you a little while to manage a Kameha wave though, as I recall from father's retelling of the event." Pan blushed at the reminder.
"So" Gohan, now in scholar mode, started, "the Special Beam Cannon works a bit differently than the Kamehameha that you are used to. With the Kameha wave, you're focusing your energy outward, trying to cover as much surface area as possible. But here, you're doing the opposite. You focus all your energy inward, which, while it hardly covers any surface area, it makes up for in sheer precision, able to overcome foes much stronger than yourself." Pan's eyes widened at that. Maybe she would be able to beat Goten and Trunks with this technique! Especially since she still couldn't turn into a Super Saiyan!
Gohan put his fingers on his forehead and proceeded to charge. "I'll show you a demonstration first, then you try it." As Gohan focused more and more, the energy on his fingers grew bigger and bigger, and after a minute or so, he fired it off at a boulder.
"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" The beam drilled into the boulder like a power tool, and after a second, completely passed through it.
"Woah, it didn't even take that long to charge!" Pan exclaimed excitedly. To which Gohan only laughed.
"Well, yeah, I've spent a good portion of my life with Piccolo, so it's only natural that I would pick this up. Don't be disappointed if you don't pick this up immediately though." Pan pouted at this.
"Okay then, I'll try it on that rock over there." Pan pointed to a rock right next to the boulder that Gohan shot at. "We'll be able to compare our holes that way!" Gohan nodded in approval.
"Good idea Pan, also make sure you don't lose focus for even a second, otherwise the technique won't work." Pan nodded in approval right back.
Pan put her fingers on her head, and concentrated.
'Direct the energy to one spot, instead of many. Don't let any of the energy leak out. Keep it contained.' For about 3 minutes, the energy on her finger was constantly growing. Gohan was surprised that Pan was able to maintain the beam for this long without losing concentration.
'I guess martial arts is one thing that she's able to focus on', the half saiyan thought in amusement.
But suddenly, Gohan sensed that something was wrong. Something else other than the Special Beam Cannon was forming near Pan, and it felt like an entirely foreign energy, sucking in whatever it could.
Something was seriously wrong.
"Pan, drop the beam! Now!" Gohan frantically shouted at Pan. It seemed like Pan's Special Beam Cannon was contributing to drawing in the black hole. She had to stop charging immediately.
Unfortunately, Pan was so focused on charging the beam that she never noticed the black hole forming around her beam.
'Just a bit longer' Pan stressed out. She just needed to charge a bit more energy and-wait, what was all that black stuff forming around her?
"Uhhh Papa?" Pan was panicking just a bit now, trying to keep her cool. "This isn't part of the technique is it?" Gohan desperately rushed over to try to pull her out.
"Pan! I'll get you out, don't worry!" But by the time Gohan flew over there…
Pan was gone. His only daughter was now gone.
Again
Only this time, instead of being lost into the blackness of space, she was now lost into the blackness of the unknown.
Gohan wanted to scream.
.
.
.
"YOU STUPID APES!" A bald old man with numerous scars on his face shouted down to his not so willing audience.
"People are just people?! NO! I refuse to accept that! Espers are mythical beings of legend! GODS THAT YOU NORMAL PEOPLE SHOULD WORSHIP! Do you hear that?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH TRYING TO CHANGE THE WORLD?!"
The man now started bawling. "Life is so hard without powers, what's the point?! THE ENTIRE WORLD SHOULD FOLLOW ME! THAT'S THE ONLY LIFE THAT MATTERS!" Spit was flying out of Ishiguro's mouth as his temper tantrum went on.
"No, psychic powers don't make you popular". Said a plain looking boy in a plain looking shirt by the name of Shigeo Kageyama.
His master, Reigen Arataka, nodded. "He's right. No one really cares about who you are, old man. Face it, you were never popular in the first place."
These words only served to infuriate the already ticked off old-timer. "I'm going to erase everything here..AND START COMPLETELY FROM SCRATCH!" Pure black and red psychic energy surrounded him, and began to suck his surroundings, completely disintegrating them.
Reigen started to panic a little, "We're being sucked in! Mob, could you lend me your powers again? I ran out!"
"Actually I ran out a while ago as well."
"...Crap"
"DISAPPEAR, DISAPPEAR, DISAPP-BLEUGH!" Ishiguro's destructive rampage was interrupted by a punch from a 13 year old Sho Suzuki.
"You really don't know when to give up, do you?" Sho fixed a deadpan stare at the man.
"Damn it! You can also...DISAPPEAR!" Ishiguro shot a miniature black hole at Sho, the ball of psychic energy destroying everything in its path.
Sho took a deep breath. 'Just imagine the gravity going backwards…' His hand made contact with the black hole, but instead of being disintegrated, it instead turned orange and blew up harmlessly.
"It's not an actual black hole since it's made of psychic energy. If something is made of psychic energy, I can always find a way around it." Sho explained on behalf of Ishiguro's gobsmacked expression. He then sent Ishiguro flat on the ground with telekinesis.
"Old man…" Sho jumped high into the sky, "you're no longer needed." Sho finished things off with a final punch to the gravity wielding esper, rendering him unconscious.
"And as for you", Sho suddenly pointed at Shigeo, "I'm disappointed in you, you coward." Shigeo seemed a bit rattled at the accusation.
Sho looked like he was ready to leave soon. "As of tonight, the 7th division of Claw will be disbanded. I was sent here to see if there was anybody worth taking to HQ, but clearly that's not the case..for most of you, that is." He spared a glance at Ritsu, who returned the glance questioningly.
"Wait." The shoulder pad guy Muraki interjected. "I thought you were a trainee?"
Sho only responded with a grin. "Well, it's been real nice knowin' you folk. See ya!" He then suddenly disappeared from view.
Just when everyone thought the fighting was over however, Matsuo suddenly came out with renewed vigour. But when he opened the jar to 'Marshmallow-Chan' as he called it, out came Dimple, who simply punched Matsuo unconscious.
"Huh?! What do you mean the fighting's already done? You mean the climax happened without me?!" Dimple cried out. Reigen could only marvel at what a disgusting creature Dimple was.
With the fighting indeed over as Dimple stated, everyone allowed themselves to relax before they started to head home. Reigen called a cab, but it was going to be a bit before they got there.
But before they could take their leave for the day, they heard a feminine groan from beneath the rubble.
Teru looked concerned. "Did one of the Claw goons not manage to escape? We should probably get them out. I don't really want a death on our hands." Especially since they themselves had come so close to dying right then and there.
Shigeo squinted his eyes. "I don't sense any other psychic energy besides everyone here."
"We should probably all get the rubble out the way right now," Teru suggested.
"It's getting late, our parents are probably very worried about us," Ritsu argued, emotionally drained from tonight's ordeals. He just wanted to go home and sleep. Reigen waved them off.
"Mob, you and your brother can go home. Teru as well." Teru was about to protest in favor of the opposite side of the debate, but Reigen held up a hand to silence him.
"You kids have been through enough tonight. Mob, you can take the day off work tomorrow. The adults will handle the rest." Ritsu and Mob looked relieved while Teru looked disappointed, but in the end they (and Dimple) complied with Reigen's demands and made their trek out of the forest.
The conman then turned to the two former Scars. "You guys are gonna help me remove the rubble." His tone bore no room for discussion.
Sakurai raised an eyebrow, "Why us exactly?" Reigen glared at Four-Eyes.
"Because you guys are responsible for getting those kids into that mess. Also, I had to leave a client early because of you guys." Reigen picked up a small steel pole and threw it a distance away. "If you guys want to be a part of society again, then think of this like community service. Learning how to clean up after yourselves is an important part of contributing to society." Sakurai and Muraki each gave a side glance to each other, shrugged, then started to pick up the pieces. Sakurai cut the pieces into smaller ones with his broken sword while Muraki cloned himself to get the work done faster.
Eventually, Reigen hit the jackpot. When kicked away some stones, he saw some fingers poking out.
"Oi, I think I've found them! Help me get them out!" With the combined strength of the trio, they managed to get all of the rubble off of the person and they were able to see who they were helping.
'It' was a young girl who Reigen suspected was around Mob's age, with short black hair and a bandana tied up on her head.
Sakurai narrowed his eyes, "The girl doesn't have any kind Claw suit on, and she doesn't look like one of the kids we recently kidnapped either. She was probably just a normal civilian who was attracted to all the noise, and got caught in the crossfire."
Reigen took a look at her and promptly decided his course of action. "I'll take her to a hospital. I'd have you guys come as well, but you all are responsible for her condition, and I'd rather not raise questions." The two Scars had the decency to look ashamed this time around, so at the very least one could consider this an improvement.
Reigen pulled the girl out of the hole she was in, then put one of her arms around his shoulder. "Well, it's been...interesting seeing you guys. Hopefully you take what I said to heart and grow up. The choice is yours to make." He waved at them with his free arm. The two Scars awkwardly waved back as he went away.
The conman soon got to the cab that Reigen had called a while back. When he opened the door and put the girl inside, the cab driver raised an eyebrow in alarm.
"Umm, sir, what exactly happened to her?" His eyes widened when he saw her bruises.
"Gas explosion," Reigen easily replied, "she was out partying with her friends when it happened. It ended up destroying the entire building. Luckily, no one died." At least, no one that he knew of. He sure hoped no one died. "Everyone else was able to evacuate." The cabman's face lost all suspicion, and sympathy replaced it instead.
"I see. I'm assuming you want me to take you two to the nearest hospital?"
"Yup"
"And don't worry about paying either. I'd rather get that girl to safety as soon as possible." Reigen's eyes widened in surprise.
'Wow, cab drivers aren't usually this nice!' Reigen thought with glee.
It only took about 15 minutes until they reached the nearest hospital. When they did, Reigen thanked the driver for his generosity and pulled the girl out. As soon as they entered the hospital, the nurses all gave questioning glances. Reigen simply repeated his story, and the nurses promptly pulled out a stretcher and laid her on it, wheeling her off.
Back at the front desk, Reigen was required to answer some questions. Why was he there? Because his employee was also there and since he didn't answer his phone, he thought he was in danger. What is his relation to the girl? Complete stranger, no idea who she is. He didn't even know who her parents were.
That'll be something he's gonna have to ask her once she wakes up.
Reigen looked at the clock. 9:30 p.m. He hoped it wouldn't take that long for her to wake up. He really didn't want to wait the entire night in order to explain things to her. Mob may not have to work tomorrow, but Reigen still had to pay the bills.
