A/N: Yay, I updated! Woohoo! I hope you're as excited as I am. Well, this chapter is going to be confusing, my friends, I'm afraid. I basically try to explain time in itself, and that is a very tricky subject. But it is my favorite topic, I love the subject of time itself, and how it exactly works. So anyways, that part with be very in-depth. But, it will be confusing, so please don't be afraid to ask. I'll try to help explain everything as much as I can.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the DBZ or DBGT characters, if I did, I would be filthy stinkin' rich and wouldn't have to be looking for a summer job, but alas, I am up for employment.

A special thanks to: hyper leaping frog, The Spiked Dragon, supersaiyanx, Blood's moon, Vampire Queen Kassandra, Silver Shiko, Miki23, and SSJ-Pan-chan. I'm afraid my stats thing says I have nine reviews, but I can only view eight, so if you did review, and I didn't mention you above, thank you. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and is supporting my brand new fic, hopefully this one will be much more successful than my previous DBZ work.

Category: Anime: Dragonball Z

Genre: Romance/Drama/Action/Adventure

Rating: PG-13

Summary: The Z-fighters are fading, their legacy dying. The last of their kind giving up on their blood. Pan, the youngest generation, has been forbidden to fight, yet she refused to lose her heritage. They want her to marry, settle down, start a family, but she refuses to mate any who are weaker than she. She must find the last fighter. MTP

Last Fighters
by: Dark Huntress
Chapter Two: Times within Realms

Rain fell heavily on her face, waking her from the dark world she had found herself in. Sitting up, the young Saiyan looked around her, utterly confused on where she was, let alone why she was there. The last she could recall was being at Bulma's party, and then feeling a weird sensation when the drunk fell on the strange machine. But surely, if she was just injured, they would have taken her inside, not pulled a prank by taking her somewhere else completely. So, why in the world, was she here?

The ground seemed dead, the only foliage in sight was a few trees who had long since given up on life. A strong wind blew her wet locks, the torrent of water biting her flesh. She had obviously been here for quite some time, there was mud soaking through her clothes, and a fine layer of dust beneath the layer of mud. A layer of grime beneath mush, it felt very strange.

Sighing, Pan rose, not sure exactly what she planned to do, but knowing she couldn't stay put waiting for pneumonia to set in.

There was no sign of human life she noted, not even the scurrying movement of a beetle or small flying insect in her sight. It was eerily silent, even with the thunder rolling in the background so loudly. It was like someone had put a cover over the entire planet, taking away the light, leaving behind a vast rolling land of nothing and the ringing silence.

"Well, damn it," Pan growled, twisting her hair high on her head to rid the caked nuisance from lying securely against her face.

Taking a deep breath, she launched herself into the air, avoiding the few bolts of lightning easily. Rain hit her eyes, blinding her every once in awhile, the biting sting of the small droplets burning her pale flesh. She had to find someplace with technology, she had no hope of ever making it back home in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully, there would be a nearby Capsule Corp. building that she could contact the rest of them at.

Streaking through the sky, the young woman felt her heart speed up with each bare land she came across, surely there should have been at least farmers around here. But no, everything looked like a desert. Where in the world was she? Was she even still on Earth anymore? Had that stupid contraption sent her somewhere else in the universe? She did not want to even think about that.

Flying over a cliff, Pan sighed in relief when she caught sight of a city, just the briefest of flashes had let her seen a few of the buildings. Speeding up, and ignoring the pain that sliced through her, she headed for the area a good distance away. Hoping that if she was someplace foreign, that they were all friendly, she really didn't want to fight right now.

Her hopes were crushed however, whoever had lived here, was long gone. Buildings were in ruins, many of them lying completely on their sides. This place had been completely destroyed, and by the looks of it, many of the inhabitants hadn't survived. Many skeletons lined the road, a few decomposing corpses by their sides.

Landing, the young woman bent down on what appeared to be the most recent death. He looked to be completely in contact, and as she touched his ashen face, she found that it still held a little heat. If this man had been murdered not so long ago, then it was very probable that whatever had done this was still here.

Turning him over, she gasped in surprise, he was human, so she was definitely still on Earth, and even more discouraging, was the fact that he looked to be of Japanese heritage. Was she still in her own country? Or was she somewhere else, America perhaps? Damn it, she needed to get out of here, perhaps to find the alien who had done it, most likely she would at least find the Z-fighters there. Perhaps that was what they were talking about, or, were talking about before Trunks and Goten showed up.

Shaking her head, Pan gently closed the man's eyes, saddened that even in death he did not look at peace. Reaching for his pocket, she pulled out his wallet, searching through its contents for a license of some sorts. She was definitely still in Japan, according the man's license, so where in this country was she exactly? Surely, though, if she was here, she should at least be able to find one of Bulma's many branch off companies, they'd be more than willing to help her.

Sliding the ID back into the wallet, she gently placed it back, feeling dirty to touch this poor soul's belongings. Where ever this was, this damage had been stretched out for quite sometime, people didn't just instantly turn into skeletons without their being a few years since their death.

"Don't move," a low voice hissed, causing Pan to jump, shit, she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings, this could very well be the killer.

"Stand up slowly, no sudden movements," the man growled, his hand grasped firmly to the back of her neck, she knew that if she didn't do as asked, he'd snap her neck. "Who are you?"

"Pan," she gulped, looking for any way she could escape from this mess, why did she always get into trouble? It really wasn't fair.

"Pan what? And why are you here?" the man asked, his hand tightening for a moment before relaxing slightly once again.

"Pan...Son, and I'm here because I'm lost," she answered truthfully, not really seeing the point in lying, if he was the killer, then it wouldn't matter whether or not she lied.

"Don't turn around," he warned, stopping the young woman from trying to see her assailant, which was rather annoying, if she was going to die, she wanted to at least see who was doing it.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" he said angrily, this time is grip tightened but never relaxed. "Is it not good enough that you kill these people, but you have mess with their belongings too?"

"I wasn't doing that!" Pan cried, somewhat relieved that he seemed to not be the killer like she originally thought, now if she could only convince him that she wasn't either.

"I saw you go through that man's wallet," he sneered, jerking her roughly, not caring that his strong fingers were leaving dark bruises along her skin.

"I was checking his ID, to make sure I was still in Japan," she answered, mentally hitting herself over the head for that one, how was she supposed to explain that?

"You don't know what country you're in?" he said, disbelief and mockery lacing every syllable, she could hear his feet shift every once in awhile. He was getting restless.

"Um, well, you see," Pan struggled, she was unsure of what to say, if she didn't say something to make him believe, then she was through.

"Don't even try to lie, bitch," the man growled, pulling her backwards, before holding her firmly against his chest, his arm holding both her arms securely. "Satoya, grab the ropes."

Fear raced through her, much stronger than before, she wasn't only up against one, but two. And by the ease this man held back her strength, he was no pushover. He had to be some type of alien, there was no other way even an extremely strong human could control her quarter Saiyan strength. And besides the fact, this guy's ki was way out there, it was much stronger than any Earthling's.

A young man came from the front, his eyes were dark, guarded and full of pain, yet they held only anger and disgust towards her. Great, both of them thought she had killed these people, she would have to pull of one hell of an act to convince them otherwise.

A strong wind ruffled her hair, as well as the man's that was holding her, blowing his long locks across her upper arm. Looking at the strand, shock shot through her, she only knew one man that had hair like that, but it was much shorter.

"...Trunks," Pan breathed out, she wasn't sure why she said it, but the sight of lavender strands brought the demi-Saiyan's face instantly into her mind.

"How do you know me?" the man's hold tightened til it felt like he'd crush her bones, the dark headed man in the front having stopped his movements completely.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, struggling against the uncomfortable confines of the man's hold.

"You said my name, how do you know me?" the man growled again, jostling her slightly, why had to keep doing that was beyond her!

"I don't! But I know a guy with that color of hair, his name's Trunks Briefs," Pan returned, her temper taking control of her movements, perhaps if she said she knew the Briefs then they would at least prolong her death. "You better let me go, I'm good friends with the Briefs, and if you so much as harm me, they'll make your life hell."

"You're lying again," the man almost roared, suffocating her slightly by the grip he had on her body.

"No, I'm not! I know the Briefs that own and run Capsule Corps., I know Bulma and her husband Vegeta, and their son, Trunks, and their daughter, Bra," Pan seethed, her words choppy as she struggled for the proper amount of breath. "Now, let go of me!"

Pan powered up, her ki skyrocketing as she tried to burn the man with her aura, even if it didn't harm him, maybe it would at least surprise him long enough for her to escape. No such luck, the man powered up as well, well overpowering her own. She didn't know what she was going to do, if only her uncle was here, or perhaps her grandfather and sensei, they'd stand a chance.

"Trunks?" Satoya asked, his eyes staring straight at the man behind her, he suddenly seemed unsure of himself.

"She's lying, I have never seen her before in my entire life," the man behind her stated, bringing down his own ki as she did.

"What are you talking about?" Pan whined, looking about her frantically for any sign of help, she knew there wouldn't be.

"You made a mistake, girl, I'm Trunks Briefs, and my family sure as hell doesn't know you! I have no younger sister, and my father died a very long time ago. How you know of him I'm not sure, but you've been found out," the man said, a searing pain filled her body as her world became blurry, the darkness enclosing her til she felt nothing.

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"Really, Trunks, she's just a young girl," a woman's voice complained as a cool cloth was placed on Pan's head, she didn't yet dare to open her eyes.

"I don't care, they can make them look that young," the Trunks wannabe snarled. "Besides, it doesn't matter how young they are, they can still be evil."

"Well, I don't think she is," the woman said confidently. "I think, she's a normal girl who you scared to death."

"Mom, there aren't any normal girls just walking around the streets anymore," the guy snarled, his movement causing the supposed to be unconscious girl to flutter her eyes.

The arguing duo had their backs turned, the woman much smaller than her captor, who were these people? The other man was no where in sight, well, that didn't mean anything, lavender boy there was strong enough to hold her any day. The other one, blue woman (since she had blue hair), seemed to be standing closer to her, a defensive stance, well, at least she had one ally...maybe.

Silently, Pan struggled out from underneath the thin covers, making sure to not disturb the cot's springs. If she could sneak close enough to the window without lavender boy realizing it, she could escape. The blue woman would be in his way long enough for her to escape, that is, if she got to the window before he found out. Hopefully his senses weren't as good as her's.

Tip toeing over to the window, she grinned madly as the reached her hand up to grasp the handle to open it. Mentally doing a victory dance, she nearly screamed as a large hand reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly. Muffling the squeak as the pain shot through, she turned her head to glare at the offending appendage. Damn it, she'd been so close.

And how was it fair that he had better senses than her! Vegeta was going to kill her.

"Trunks, let her go," the woman demanded, and instantly the strong arm retreated, the deep voice growling his disapproval. "Oh, don't you start."

"But mom, she was trying to escape," he grumbled, Pan hadn't turned around, but she could hear him moving to the other side of the room.

"I would have been too, the way you treated her," the woman hissed, at this point the small woman moved into her line of sight, and it made Pan's blood run cold.

"Oh...god," Pan whispered, horror racing through her, how could this be? Bulma was the only child of the late Dr. Briefs, so how was this clone standing here now?

"Are you alright?" the Bulma clone asked, Pan nodded, still speechless, she even sounded like Bulma, oh this couldn't be happening! What had that crazy scientist done now?

"B...Bulma?" Pan stuttered, gripping the windowsill for support, she was going to collapse if she didn't sit down soon, this was ridiculous.

"How do you know my name?" this Bulma asked, her eyes instantly guarding themselves, she backed away slightly, honestly, she didn't blame her.

"I told you," this Trunks said, and honestly, now that Pan saw more than just his hair, he looked exactly like Trunks, only slightly younger.

"Shut up," the new Bulma snarled, her glare moving to him briefly before back to Pan, oh this was just lovely, exactly how she wanted to spend her weekend.

"It's a very long story," Pan stated, sitting down on the cot, she placed her head between her knees, breathing in and out slowly to slow her heartbeat.

"We have all day," Bulma said comfortingly, sitting down beside the girl and rubbing her back in several differently patterns.

"Well see, I was at one of Bulma's many different parties, which are really boring, oh, no offense," Pan said, she knew she was rambling, but how do you explain something like this? "Which was, weirdly, and engagement thing also for Trunks, but that's another story. Anyways, there was this guy, and he was plastered, let me tell you. Well, he fell on this new invention, and like this strange beam hit me, and I don't know what it did, but wham, I wake up...here, in the middle of no where!"

A moment of a silence passed as the other two occupants in the room stared at her as if she grew a third head, which at this point, Pan wasn't so sure she hadn't.

"Huh?" the two said at the same time, oh great, she just knew Dende wouldn't make this easy on her, he just loved making her life miserable.

"Ok, let's start off to who I am. I assume you know Goku, right?" Pan asked, smiling warmly, she was going to try to be nice...keyword: try.

"I've heard of him, mother knew him though," Trunks said, moving over so he was closer, interested in this strange girl's story, she didn't smell of deception.

"Yes, but he died several years ago, let me see, Trunks you're twenty-five...so...he would have died twenty-seven years ago," Bulma announced.

"Oh well, where I'm from, Goku is very much alive and well, and he's my grandfather," Pan said, holding up her hand as they tried to interject. "Goku was mated to Chi Chi, and I guess that much was the same." The two nodded, so she continued.

"Ok, um, well they had two sons, Gohan and Goten...," Pan stopped herself by their looks. "And I guess this is where the story changes.

"Ok, well, they did, Goten would be a year younger than you Trunks, even though Trunks in my home is thirty-two, but anyways, you get it. Gohan mated a woman named Videl, they went to school together, and they had me. I'm the youngest of all the Z-fighters, and only a quarter Saiyan," Pan explained, biting her lip as she did.

"Wait, but you mentioned a girl named Bra when we first meant," Trunks said.

"Yeah, um, that's your younger sister. She'd be a year older than Marron, so she's twenty-four. Um, she doesn't fight, but she looks a lot like you Bulma, her and Marron are real good friends. Me and her...not so much," Pan went on.

"Wait, who's Marron?" Bulma asked.

"Oh yeah, you don't know her either. Um, well, she'd be Krillen and Eighteen's daughter, do you guys know them?" Pan asked.

"Krillen was Goku's ally, and the only Eighteen I know is a murderer," Trunks growled, his eyes flashing momentarily.

"Aw, yes, um, well you see, where I'm from, she was evil, but she turned good, and married Krillen. They have a daughter, who is, ironically, marrying you...or...the other you. Gaw, this is confusing," Pan murmured, trying to get everything straight.

"I don't believe that, she's evil, plain and simple," Trunks growled, a grim line forming over his brows.

"But wait," Pan said, again, another sinking feeling entered her stomach. "You've never visited my um, whatever it is, have you? I mean, if you had, then you would have known about Eighteen, and...and, oh no!"

"What are you talking about? Of course I've never been to where you came from," Trunks said, looking at her as if she were crazy.

"You see, another Trunks from a different time...or realm...or something, came to give my grandfather a medicine to cure the heart condition that was supposed to kill him. I guess I should thank you, or, your alter self, for saving my family. Anyways, he later came back to help with the androids of my plain, but you're not even that one. Oh, I'm really screwed," Pan moaned, concluding that she was about as far up the river as she could get without a paddle. No, it was more like she was zapped of all her powers, tied up with rocks on her feet in a boat, floating down a river, about to go over a gigantic set of falls. Yep, it couldn't get much worse.

"Oh my, so I did succeed, or will," Bulma mumbled, racing off the cot and around the corner, sharing a look with Trunks, they both rose and followed.

Finding the woman in the basement where a small lab was set up, Pan walked around curiously, this Bulma definitely didn't have the equipment like the one she knew.

"I've been toying with this idea for some time now, and from what I see, its true," Bulma told them, her eyes glued on the large computer screen, a huge diagram that made no sense filling the screen. "You see, in the universe, there are several different realms. Thirty-four to be exact. That means, there are thirty-four different scenarios such as this. In your realm, everything turned out alright, in the one where the other Trunks came from, it sounds like he has more technology, while here, the androids are still very much alive, and things haven't been exactly peachy keen.

"Now, within these realms, there are billions and billions of different time zones, basically, each second that passes, can be traveled back upon. So, within this realm, which, by my calculation, this is realm is number fifteen, if we were to have a time machine, and travel in it, we could go back a second and be in a different time," Bulma said.

"Huh? You do realize that unlike you two, I am not a super genius," Pan said, did they have to make her seem incredibly stupid.

"What mom's trying to say is, that there are billions of different times. Like, just now, within this same realm, there is another me that's just now finding you in the city, and another one, you are just now getting here. And in another one, I'm just now meeting Satoya, or your just trying to escape from the house. Or, somewhere, all the androids are gone, because in that time, its been long enough, and they've been destroyed," Trunks said, turning his intense blue eyes one me. "Just like you've heard of time traveling to different time dimensions or zones, well, this is the same, except there are billions of different ones, because there are billions of seconds that have passed."

"I see," Pan mumbled, starting to understand somewhat.

"Yes, precisely," Bulma agreed, turning back to her computer. "But, within realms, they always follow the same path. So, even though there are different times within them, each one occurs the same way as they did before. So, you will wake up in the same spot, Trunks will find you the same way, he will treat and bring you back the same way. Everything happens the same way at the same precise time.

"However, realms, individually, are completely different. I believe they start at the same point, but then they branch off in their own realities. Have you noticed, in all three realms that have been discussed, Goku and Vegeta has existed. And in all three, I met, and fell for, Vegeta, as is apparent by the birth of Trunks in all three. But in one of them, Vegeta-sei, might still be in existence, me and Vegeta may have never met, and Trunks might not exist.

"But see, it all ties together. Each one has the same original characters, but what counts, is who the original players are. The branch off ones, well, they are expendable, so the universe may do as they see fit with them. For all we know, Vegeta and Goku may not be original characters either, they may be branch off ones. We don't know, nor do we know if I am, or if Trunks is, but from what we can tell, you are not.

"But that doesn't matter, not really. Really, this is all a theory, I'm not even sure if its correct. Its all rather confusing, to describe time and all its complexity, its nearly impossible. And I'm not only trying to describe time itself, but several different time-lines, for all the different realms," Bulma finished, her gaze never wavering.

Pan looked between the two, not liking where the conversation had turned. If there were millions, no billions, of time dimensions within this realm alone, plus thirty-four realms, then it was going to be impossible, or nearly so, for her Bulma to find her. It would be of some help if she had a log on her machine, telling all the different travels, then she might be able to calculate exactly where the quarter-Saiyan was. But, being that it had been a prototype, she doubted that the scientist had put one in so soon.

"So, what you're saying is, I'm stuck," Pan said, her eyes dropping to the ground, she never felt so sick in her life, she would never see her family again.

"Well, I'll try to build this machine, and help. But, you need to realize Pan, even if I do get it, there's a very real possibility, since you don't know where you came from, that I won't be able to find it. I will try though. And I'm sure, me in the other realm, is doing the same. Perhaps, with two of us working on it, you will be returned. But, it will take time," Bulma cautioned, her eyes worried.

"Thanks, Bulma, I know you're trying," Pan mumbled, holding back her tears as best she could, she didn't want to cry in front these people.

"Trunks, why don't you go get Pan set up in a room?" Bulma said, Trunks nodded, taking a hold of the younger woman's elbow.

"Come on, Pan," Trunks said softly, the waves of grief coming from her almost made him want to break down, he didn't know how she was holding it in.

A/N: I know it was shorter than the last, but I felt like I'd thrown so much at you, I needed to stop. And its not really a cliffy, so you can't be mad. Again, if there are questions, just ask, I'll answer them at the bottom of the page on my next chapter. Again, thanks for reading and please R&R!

Dark Huntress