Chapter 3: Others like me?
A/n: As I promised, they guys are a lot more predominant in this chapter. The first part is also about Videl, before Pan finds her.
Gist of this timeline: Goku died when he was supposed to, because future Trunks never appeared. Also, instead of Vegeta dying, I altered it to where he lives. In essence, this story is like the alternate timeline that appears in the series, but because of a single change (Vegeta living), it is completely different in several aspects
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ!
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Age 784
She had sent her daughter out scavenging to keep her out of the house so she could make this day special for her. After all, it was Pan's birthday! It only came around once every year and though times were hard, she wanted to make sure her daughter had wonderful memories. So, while Pan was out, Videl decided to get the house looking festive.
It didn't take too long for her to make the house look 'nice' but it wouldn't be a proper celebration without a cake to go with it. She sang softly as she went about mixing everything and placing the batter into the oven so it would bake. Knowing it might take a while for the cake to rise in the oven, Videl decided to take a brief nap, claiming the couch as her resting place and she napped for a good twenty minutes before she was rudely awakened by the sound of the door opening.
"Pan, is that you sweeting?" She called out, half asleep. When she recieved no reply, she sat up and yawned, only to have her breathing hitch when she saw them. There were two men, about a decade or so older than she, standing in the kitchen doorway, grinning like they had just found the gold at the end of a rainbow.
"Lookie 'ere! A present, for us. Whatcha say Joe, wanna take a go at 'er?" Videl stood abruptly, backing away from the men, towards the front door.
"Me thinks we should unwrap 'er."
"Get out! I'm not afraid to hurt you!" Videl said bravely, stepping into a fighting stance that had been pounded into her ever since she was a child. Her father had been a champion martial artist, and she wanted to be just like him, so she took lessons from him, and he didn't go easy on her either.
"Like a lil bird like you could 'urt us!" They came at her, trying to overpower her, but she lashed out with quick kicks to both of their groins, only she missed one of them and he grabbed hold of her hair.
"Bitch!" He dragged her into the kitchen wait on his accomplice to regain strength. He shoved her down onto the ground, and started pulling at his pants. Videls eyes widened, and she hastily scrambled to regain her barings, standing up, and looking for something to protect her. She knew her attacks would do nothing in this situation because it had been years since she practiced.
Spotting a pan, she grabbed it, and swung wildly hitting the man in front of her, only after her second hit, she stopped, feeling something protruding from her stomach. Looking down, she noticed a knife sticking casually out of her clothing, blood beginning to stain the front of her shirt. When she looked back, the other man pulled the knife out of her back, and dropped the offending object like it was burning his hand.
"I didn't sign up for this Joe!" The man who she'd been attacking backed away and ran out of the kitchen, the other man following shortly after cursing in a language she didn't know.
She watched them leave before her attention was drawn back to her wound, and she pressed her hand against it, shock beginning to slowly fade away into pain. She dropped to her knees and slowly fell to the ground, lossing both blood and consiousness rapidly.
The last thing she remembered was the smell of blood and thinking that Pan's birthday cake was going to be burned soon.
"...Pan."
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His father could be such an ass sometimes, really. He couldn't stop to think of anyone but himself, and when Trunks asked for anything, he looked at him like he had grown a second head. So, rather than helping his deceased mates people, Vegeta would rather train, train, train. It really pissed him off sometimes. After all, he couldn't do it all alone. Someone had to make sure these people didn't starve to death, or kill each other for what little they had. There had to be some sense of order. Today was one of his distribution days. Thanks to his inheriting his mothers genius, Trunks was able to grow food at such a fast rate that he knew he wouldn't run out of supplies for a long time, still he had to be careful how much everyone recieved.
All day, he handed out food to people, knowing he was helping these people survive. And that knowledge alone made his day. It was just becoming dark when Trunks sensed some powerful energy in the distance. Immediately, he was on the defensive, and ordering his assisant Emily to keep distributing while he investigated. It wasn't the androids, they were able to cloak their power, and with one of them gone, he had rarely seen the last android, seventeen.
Taking to the skies, Trunks flew hard and fast, knowing he needed to get to the energy before it disappeared, his hand clasping his sword, ready to withdraw the blade from it's sheath to deal with any enemy.
The energy lead him deep into the forest, where it began receeding almost as quickly as it began, driving him to fly faster, and within minutes, arrived on the scene. He was silent as he serveyed the area, but seeing only what appeared to be an abandoned house, he hesitantly landed on the ground, walking purposefully into the building. Once inside, he quickly covered his nose to protect it from the smoke, and headed to the only Ki residing in the building.
His eyes were greeted to the sight of a young girl, covered in blood, passed out on the floor, and next to her was a dead woman. He frowned and knelt beside the younger one, fingers on her throat, feeling for a steady pulse. Releasing his grip on his sword, he hesitantly picked up the little girl, and carried her out of the building in his arms. He was about to take off when he felt something wrap around his wrist, and nearly dropped the child on the ground when he saw that it was a tail! And it was most certainly was attached to the girl.
She was a saiyan! Like him and his father!
He knew that he needed to get home as soon as possible with the girl, knowing his father would want to know about this as soon as possible.
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Groaning, Pan slowly sat up, sheets pooling into her lap as she did so. Yawning, she streched, when all of a sudden it hit her.
"Mother!" She cried out, falling out of bed. Immediately it occured to her that she was somewhere she was no where near her home. All she really knew was that she wasn't where she was supposed to be, and that was with her mother! She needed her! Her mom was hurt, and someone had kidnapped her!
Pan looked around wildly for a means of escape, spotting two doors and a few windows, and from the footsteps she heard coming towards her from the hall, she needed to decide quickly. And windows it was!
She dashed to the window and just as the door opened, burst through the glass, making sure to keep her arms in front of her face for protection from the shards. She flew high up into the sky, looking around, panicking a bit, not recognizing anything!
"Hey! Little girl! Stop!" A purple haired man was flying towards her, presumably from the same place she came from, coming to a stop in front of her.
"S-stay away from me!" She threw her hands out in front of her wildly, and a yellow ball of light flew out of her hands, hitting the man in the chest. Pan's eyes widened, and she took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. When the ball impacted the man, he grunted.
"Hey, watch it with those things." It was as if something like that was an everyday occurance for him! The little ball of light which had never once happened before was normal for him!
"Leave me alone you kidnapper!" She flew off in the direction she hoped to high heaven was home, but before she got too far away, another man flew in front of her, this one with black hair and a scowl marring his face.
"Kid, stop freaking out."
"Go away!"
She tried to outmanuver them both, twising and turning elaborately, wanting to lose them, but though she was more agile them the both of them, she wasn't as fast, and the black haired man captured her easily. She screamed bloody murder, wiggling, scratching, wanting badly to get out of his grip. This seemed to only make him madder.
"Kid, you better stop squirming."
"Dad, don't be so mean."
"Feh."
Tears began to sting her eyes, and she felt all of her strength leave her, her whole body drooping in response.
"Don't worry little girl, he won't bite." The lavendar haired man grinned at her. She glared at him in response and bit the arm of the man who was holding her, feeling her teeth sink into his flesh.
"Damnit kid!" the black haired man dropped her, and she went plummetting back to the earth for a good few seconds before she went from falling to flying, and took off once more. This time, she took cover in the trees, knowing they would never find her in a million years. When she came across a river, she followed it upstream and saw a waterfall, and hopping to Kami, she flew through the rushing water into what she hoped was a cave, which it was. Then and only then did she halt her flight and take a rest. She never had to fly this much before, and it was tiring.
After a while, she was so tired that she settled down on the cavern floor and took a short nap.
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When she awoke again, it was to the warmth of a fire, and she was laying on some furs, instead of the flood. She sat up abruptly, and saw the two men from earlier sitting around the fire.
Upon seeing that Pan was awake, lavender smiled and stood up, coming towards Pan.
"Don't be alarmed." She scooted back, away from his advances, feeling like a cornered animal. "I promise, we won't hurt you. What's your name?"
"P-pan."
"Well, Pan, My name is Trunks, and this is my father, Vegeta."
"Feh." She blinked at the older looking man, before turning back to Trunks.
"W-what do you want with me? Why did you hurt my mommy?" She asked, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Your mother...? Oh, you mean that woman I found you with!" He shook his head. "I didn't hurt her, I promise you..."
"W-wll, then why did you kidnap me?"
"I didn't mean for it to seem like I was kidnapping you... You see, you're like us! Like my father and I."
"What do you mean?"
"He means that you carry the blood of a saiyan within you." Vegeta snapped.
"Saiyan...?" she had a hard time pronouncing the word, but she liked the way it sounded.
"Yes! We are a race of alien warriors." Trunks said proudly, a grin on his face.
"How d-do you know?"
"Know what?" He asked, puzzled.
"That I'm like you..."
"Oh! Well, your tail of course." Made sense... but they didn't have a tail... Aparently the question showed on her face because Vegeta snapped at her, "We don't have ours because they've been cut off." Sounded painful... She hated when her mother would grab her tail, knowing it was painful, but she only did it when she was in extreme trouble.
"Why?"
"Becuase they were. Enough with the questions kid!" Trunks shook his head at his father, and grinned at her.
"Anyway, would you like to come stay with us. I'm sure you need some place to stay, am I right...?" He was, but it wasn't a nice thing to remember, after all, her mother had just died! Today!
"Y-yes..."
"Okay then! it's settled! You'll come stay with me and my dad."
"O-okay."
"Feh..."
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Age 786
It had been two years since the fateful day in which Pan's mother had died. Still to this day, the thought of her death hurt. And the fact that it was on Pan's birthday was even worse.
Since she had started living with Vegeta and Trunks, she had learned so much about this culture they claimed she was a part of. They believed her father to be Trunks' dead friend, Gohan, and as such, contacted his only living relative, Chichi with the news. The older woman was adament that she wasn't her grandchild, but the moment she set her eyes upon the ten year old, she knew she was her granddaughter. She looked so much like her deceased son that she wanted to take her in, but because Pan didn't really know her, she refused. This only motivated Chichi and she decided to move closer to her granchild in order to keep from losing the only part of Gohan left, Pan.
It was a good thing too, because as soon as Pan hit twelve, she started developing into a young woman, going from short and innocent, to awkward and somewhat knowledgeable of the way of the world. As soon as it started, Trunks was definitely no help, he was so involved in his company, and Vegeta nearly had a heart attack when she started her period. As soon as she started he avoided her, but after she confronted him about not training her anymore, he let up to training her when she wasn't having her monthlies. Vegeta was always adament that she learn to fight, and though Trunks occasionally trained with them, he was more focused on running Capsule Corps.
It was nice for her to have a woman around sometimes, but she still felt a bit out of place next to the woman.
"Onna." Pan looked up from her plate of food to see Vegeta standing, arms crossed, in the doorway, glaring at her.
"Yes Veggie-head?" Ever since she started her monthlies, he began calling her "Onna" meaning woman... it was annoying! She had barely gotten used to "Kid" and now he was calling her something completely different! Why he couldn't just call her by her real name, she didn't know. He was weird like that. Hince why she started calling him "Veggie-head." It pissed him off. Maybe if he would just get into his thick skull that her name was Pan Satan, maybe, just maybe he wouldn't have to be called something so... demeaning to his station as "Prince" of the Saiyans.
He growled at her, before uncrossing his arms, and walking towards her. "Onna, why weren't you not at training this morning?"
She shrugged. "Maybe I didn't feel like fighting this morning. Maybe I wanted to sleep in for once."
"Onna, have no need for extra sleep! You are a Saiya-jin! And we could go without sleep for three weeks if we had to!"
"Well, we don't! And I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to act like you can control me!" Just then, Trunks walked in, a bit startled by their arguing.
"Dad, Pan. What's going on?" The purple haired genius asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"Nothing. Veggie-head is just being annoying like always."
"Onna!"
"What!"
"If you call me that I'll-"
"You'll what? Throw a hissy fit like the big ass baby you are?" He formed a Ki ball in his hand, tensing up as if he was about to attack, but she merely crossed her arms in defiance, silently daring him to attack her.
"Guys, calm down!" Trunks stepped between them, trying to keep the peace. After all, they all lived with one another and the tension was more than he could handle. Suddenly, Pan started to feel tears stinging her eyes, and she bit her lipm her feelings getting the best of her.
"You're such a jerk Vegeta! I hate you!" She turned and ran away, heading for her room.
Ever since she met him, he's been distant with her. She and Trunks were really close, and he was like a brother to her, but Vegeta wouldn't allow her anywhere near him, emotionally of course. Trunks tried and tried to reassure her that it wasn't just her, that he felt as if his father was distant with him as well. Hell, he rarely acknowledged the fact that Trunks was his son! Pan wished so much that Vegeta would be like a father to her, but it just wasn't going to happen, she wouldn't lie to herself.
She wanted a father, ever since she was young she knew something was off, but Vegeta wasn't going to take that role onto himself.
When Pan first got her period, Chichi explained to her that she was becoming a woman, that her body would change and that she would be emotional a lot until her body was adjusted to the hormones that it was now creating but she still allowed her emotions to best her, she still allowed her mood swings to take hold, and she felt like a failure. Vegeta treater her like one too, saying that she was a warrior, not a cry baby.
Asshole.
More and more recently, Pan was beginning to think about moving in with her grandmother. At least she wouldn't wake her up at five in the morning for training. She would probably pamper Pan, seeing as how she was the only one left alive that she was related to, and her granddaughter at that. What grandma didn't spoil their grandchild?
Yeah, that offer was sounding more and more like heaven.
So, what do you think? And by the way, I need to ask you guys, who do you think Pan should end up with? This story is mostly about her, after all.