Chapter Seventeen: Pan vs Vegeta
Chapter Notes: -
A/N: -
"Weren't you listening, grandpa? We can't use the Dragonballs or a calamity will happen."
Somewhere in King Kai's place, Goku grinned widely. It was his signature grin.
"What's hard to believe is that I have such a strong granddaughter," Goku said as he felt Pan's ki. "I think you may be even stronger than I am now."
"You know that's not true, grandpa. You're just being modest."
"Hehe, well, in any case, I just want to fight these Shadow Dragons, so why don't you go and wish for the girl's grandfather back to life?"
Pan sighed at her grandfather's complacent attitude. Once he was set on something, he never changed his mind.
"Wait a minute," Lime interrupted.
She was still upset but she too could hear the voice in her head. However, before she could continue, Gohan cried out, "Father, didn't you tell us not to wish you back because trouble seemed to be attracted to you? And what of the seven years that me, mum and Goten spent without you? Don't tell me you're going to come back as if those seven years never even happened."
Gohan was upset. He still hasn't forgiven himself for indirectly causing his father's death, but he conducted that anger to his father who didn't want to be wished back on the pretence that he only attracted trouble. Half of him wanted to believe that and justify the seven years he spent without a father. But the other half of him knew that that was just a lame excuse for his father to train and fight against the other fighters in the universe, so of course, he was upset.
"Wish back to life? Dragonballs?" Lime asked.
She asked the question that Erasa, Videl and Sharpner, who was hiding against the wall outside of the room, were all wondering.
"How do I explain this… basically, the Dragonballs are seven orbs that when gathered together can grant you a single wish."
Videl sneered.
She didn't believe in the supernatural which made it hard for her to believe that the Great Saiyaman could fly in the first place. It was also the reason why she blindly clung to the hope that her father's lies about beating Cell were true since she couldn't believe that the feats by the Z-Warriors, no matter how briefly shown, were real.
"Oh please. You really think such nonsense exists?" she said sharply.
"Be quiet, Videl. Go on, Gohan," Lime urged.
At this point in time, fictional or not, Lime was willing to try out anything to get her grandfather back.
"Uh, yeah… to say it simply, Dragonballs are seven orbs created by the Guardian of the Earth. When you gather all seven of them together, you can call on the Eternal Dragon - Shenron - who can then grant you a single wish."
"Pfft, Dragonballs? Guardian of the Earth? Eternal Dragon? Wish? I'm not buying it."
"Be quiet, mum!" Pan interjected.
"Look, kid. You have me half convinced that you're my daughter and you're from the future only because time machines which seem impossible are still technological advances that can be made possible by Capsule Corporation. Heck, even DynoCaps seem impossible but there are scientific explanations for them, so I'm half convinced that you really are my daughter and you really are from the future. Still, that and summoning a wish granting dragon are two complete opposite ends of the spectrum. You can't expect me to believe that."
Pan sighed. Her mother really was hard headed.
Up at King Kai's place, comical sweat appeared on Goku's temple.
'So that's Gohan's future wife. She really seems like Chichi!'
He wanted to continue his suggestion but thinking about Gohan's earlier opposition, he tried approaching it a different way when King Kai told him that he had already gone beyond the amount of time King Kai was willing to allow him a telepathic link.
"Anyway, King Kai's getting angry, so I'll have to cut the connection short today. But think about it and I'll talk to you some other time, okay?"
Gohan reluctantly agreed to continue the discussion at a later time while the others continued bickering about the small details.
On the other hand, Sharpner smiled wickedly.
The girls might have trouble believing it, but he was open to anything. No, it wasn't that he was open to anything. It was just that he was simply too dumb that he would believe almost anything. In any case, he was interested and thought about finding out more. If he was granted any wish, he WILL make Gohan pay.
"Fufufu, finally, my chance has come!" he crept silently away from the room.
He needed more information if he was going to do this right. As he left, he thought about using the internet, but since he was already in Capsule Corporation, he might as well use the facilities in there such as the in-built library. He was certain that Capsule Corporation had more information available than the internet itself so it probably wasn't a bad choice. First he needed an access card, so he assaulted one of the kids that he used to bully in class and took his access card before disappearing for days in the library.
"In any case, I don't think you should use the Dragonballs, papa."
"What do you know?" Lime said maliciously to Pan. "Gohan, I think we should go for it. It's my grandfather that we're talking about here!"
"So you would rather have your grandfather alive and bring catastrophe to the whole world?" Pan said in disdain.
"Who cares about the world!" Lime cried out hysterically. "Everyone only cares about themselves anyway. Why can't I be selfish for once?"
At this, both Erasa and Gohan tried to pacify a now angry and crying Lime.
"Mother and daughter - the both of you… you really are very selfish and only care about yourselves." Lime cried.
"Excuse me?" Videl felt insulted.
She wasn't like that. Was she?
Before any of them could continue, Vegeta walked into the room.
"Oh look, the pathetic humans are having a little bout of drama," he sneered.
What brought him all the way up to Lime's room was anyone's guess, but his presence was unwelcome enough to stop the bickering between everyone.
"I thought I sensed a strong ki presence appear in the basement and I followed it as it moved up here and what do I see? Teenagers arguing with each other."
He was about to turn and leave and dismiss the ki that he felt as a mistake when a strong willed voice stopped him.
"Shut up, Pineapple hair. This has nothing to do with you."
The speaker was Lime. She could feel the guy's strength through the ki that he emitted but she didn't give a damn. For someone who didn't know the situation and dismiss her grandfather's death as mere drama was something she wouldn't let pass.
"Oho," Vegeta could sense that this girl was at least stronger than the black haired girl that he humiliated at the gravity room the other day. "Why does it seem like Kakarot's brat's friends don't know their place?"
"I know you're strong. Stronger than Gohan at this point in time, even," Lime said. "But nobody dismisses my grandfather's death as drama!"
Vegeta smirked.
Under normal circumstances, he would be pissed at a mere, lowly human being talking back to the Prince of Saiyans, but he let it go. In fact, he was rather delighted at the girl's evaluation of his strength.
"Ah, so you can sense ki. Impressive. I'm glad you could tell the difference between a lowly Saiyan's son and the Prince of Saiyan's strength. I'll forgive your impudence. Very well, if it isn't drama, tell me what's all this about."
Vegeta admitted indirectly that he was curious as to what was going on.
Erasa who was friendly towards everyone was about to open her mouth when Pan stopped her.
Pan never really liked Vegeta even when her best friend was his daughter. At this point of time, she knew she was stronger than Vegeta so why not teach him a lesson?
"You. I hate your guts," she said boldly.
"Ahhh!" Gohan cried out in horror before rushing in front of Pan to shield her from him.
"Forgive her, Vegeta. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Aha ahaha ahahahahaha," he forced out a laugh, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Oh yes I do, papa."
"Hm? Papa? You're Kakabrat's daughter?"
"Sure am!"
Vegeta laughed manically. "HAHAHAHA, now that's interesting! A lowly Saiyan family member hating the Prince of Saiyan's guts."
Though he was laughing, he was actually pissed enough for veins to start appearing on his forehead.
"You're coming with me, brat," he reached out to grab Pan's clothes but his hand was stopped by Gohan.
"It's okay, papa," Pan reassured her father. She always liked her father (though she liked Goku the best because he spoiled her). "I take it you were going to bring me to fight?"
"Prove to me that you're not all talk, little girl," Vegeta taunted.
And Pan fell for it. She had a height inferiority complex and Vegeta just managed to hit the wrong nerve.
So, a few minutes later, the group found themselves once again at the basement.
Gohan looked tersely at the tension generated between Pan and Vegeta while the others speculated with interest.
"Ready to lose, brat?" Vegeta smiled confidently.
Pan knitted her eyebrows and matched Vegeta's confident smile.
"Hmph! You wish."
And with that, Pan disappeared from where she was and reappeared in front of Vegeta.
Her speed was astounding. Not just her speed, her strength as well.
Vegeta who was on the receiving end of her punches was dodging her fists but only barely. He couldn't believe that he was being pushed into a corner by a young girl.
Though he was dodging her attacks, he was slowly being fatigued and worse still, he was actually taking damage from the wind pressure generated by her missed punches.
Suddenly, while his mind was busy evaluating the girl's attacks, Pan's fist connected with his side.
The force behind the punch was strong enough to knock him back by a few metres.
'Urgh! That's it. I've had enough of playtime,' he told himself mentally.
He was going to show the girl who's boss. It was time for him to stop dodging and start his counterattack.
While he was sent flying, he quickly somersaulted and bounced off the ground and headed for Pan's direction, but Pan was expecting this and had already began her move to meet him.
Not expecting this, Vegeta only had a split second to dodge Pan's outstretched fist by a few centimetres.
Her fist brushing Vegeta's spiky hair, Pan did a what seemed like a physically impossible movement to the spectators. Transitioning from a punch, she predicted that Vegeta would do an uppercut so she deftly connected her punch to a forward roll before landing on the ground and twisting her hips to kick Vegeta on the back.
Vegeta however had also planned consecutive moves of his own, so while Pan was aiming for his back, he had turned around and attempted a sweep. This made Pan's kick connect with his jaw instead.
Trying to reduce the damage taken from the kick, Vegeta didn't resist and went along with the flow and flew ten metres to the side.
He was angry. His blood was boiling. Yet at the same time, the adrenaline rush he got told him that he was having fun.
Wiping the blood drawn from him clenching his teeth too tight, he once again smiled.
"You're good, I admit, brat. A worthy sparring partner better than your pathetic father in his sorry state at least. But that's all. Now let's see how your confidence will last."
During that short pause, Erasa, Lime, Videl and even Gohan who were holding their breaths started talking again, their eyes still transfixed at the fight before them.
"Holy! Are you guys watching this?" Erasa asked, just to confirm that she wasn't alone.
"Less of seeing, really… What in the world?" Videl replied.
And indeed, she was right. Only Gohan who was used to high speed battles could actually see the fight going on. The rest were just catching fleeting glimpses. The fight hadn't even lasted five seconds and all of those moves have already been executed.
"My God! I can't believe I was crazy enough to actually try and challenge that guy!" Lime exclaimed.
While they exchanged small talk, Gohan felt two things.
'This is amazing! She actually put Vegeta on edge! And she's so young too! Heck, when I was her age I was scared of Vegeta. What have I been doing these past few years?'
He was impressed. Not only that, his supposed to be daughter's strength astounded him to the point of him questioning what he had been doing the past few years. He hadn't grown stronger, that was for sure, but what disappointed him was instead of at least maintaining his level of strength, he actually degraded and became weaker. His father, while using a crappy excuse, had been relentlessly training these past seven years as well. He now felt a slight, rising disappointment in himself.
Suddenly, the room was bathed in warm, yellow light.
Vegeta had entered Super Saiyan mode.
Without uttering a word, he threw two perfectly aimed ki blasts towards Pan who shrugged the attack off by hitting them with the back of her hand and deflecting them towards the walls.
"Hey! Watch it!"
Someone exclaimed. She didn't have time to register who it was. She was fully immersed in the fight with Vegeta. She was only playing around but now she was getting serious.
If her memory served her right, Vegeta was only able to enter Super Saiyan 2 at this time. She smiled. She could more than handle the situation.
"You dare mock me?!" Vegeta cried out.
Vegeta propelled himself towards Pan but Pan caught one fist and then caught the other as well.
They were now in a lock. Rooted on the spot. The situation seemed favourable towards Vegeta who could use his height against Pan as an advantage, but Pan wouldn't budge.
As if feeding off his anger, Vegeta involuntarily turned into Super Saiyan 2 mode and cracks appeared on the ground as the pressure increased.
Pan was smart enough to know that Vegeta was putting in too much force to push her down so she let go and moved forward quickly and kneed him on the solar plexus as hard as she could.
The blow made Vegeta stagger backwards. Normally it would have been enough to send him flying and knock him out but now that he was in Super Saiyan 2 mode, he could handle the fight better. Still, the attack dealt him significant damage and he moved backwards to gain some wind and move in again for his next attack when…
"Oh boy that seems fun!"
Trunks had joined the fray.
The boy sensed an immense surge in ki and followed his senses down to the basement. Already forgetting his mistake from the prank earlier, the boy eagerly jumped in.
"Hehe, she seems strong, dad. Hey, can I fight her too?"
Vegeta was about to scold his son but Trunks was so eager that he entered Super Saiyan mode as well.
'What the-!' he stared dumbfounded.
Taking his father's silence as an agreement, Trunks was about to attack when a loud voice echoed out from the entrance where he came from.
"STOP THIS NONSENSE AT ONCE!" a shrill voice commanded.
"Vegeta, I expected you to be a good role model and example for your son and what do I see?"
"Be quiet, woman! This is my fight."
"Oh," Bulma let an expression escape her lips. "Is that the way you want to talk to the person whom you begged last night to fix the gravity room for you?"
"I DID NOT BEG!" Vegeta shouted in fury.
"Fine. You didn't," Bulma held her nose up in the air. "You didn't, so I don't have to fix it."
Vegeta stared dumbly at his wife before he forced himself to concede defeat.
"Yes. I didn't beg, but I'm asking you for a favour to please fix the gravity room."
Bulma looked at her husband coyly, her playful side showing. It amused her that she could blackmail Vegeta into doing her bidding so easily and besides, she was only play-acting in the first place so she smiled and said, "There. Now that wasn't so hard to ask, wasn't it?"
Then she looked at Pan and her son and addressed them.
"Right, so what do we have here?"
Before any of the two could answer, Vegeta cut her off.
"That's right. Tell me exactly when you started being able to become a Super Saiyan."
Trunks scratched his cheek, his eyes going to one side as he searched his memories.
"Um, it was last year ago, I think," he replied back in a casual manner failing to see why his father was making such a big fuss about it.
"And how did you become a Super Saiyan exactly?"
"I was sparring with Goten when suddenly both of us turned blonde."
Vegeta froze. His mind was racing.
"So you mean to tell me that you and Kakarot's brat #2 became Super Saiyans last year at the same time?"
"Uhh… yeah?"
"Impossible! Last year you were seven and Kakarot's brat #2 must have been only six! Since when did the Saiyan's ultimate form become mere child's play?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.
"Um, hellooooo~? I'm still here?" Bulma interrupted his train of thoughts.
"What is it woman?" he huffed grumpily.
"How rude! Well, I was just going to ask who this young girl is."
"Oh, hi. I'm Pan," Pan bowed slightly towards Bulma out of respect.
She and Bulma were on good terms in the future because she was Bulla's, Bulma and Vegeta's second child's best friend.
"Hi, I'm Bulma. And how did you come about to fighting my husband?"
"Oh, I'm from the future," Pan blurted out. It was a totally unrelated reply!
Somewhere in the room, a young boy about the same age as Pan was invisible to everyone. He was using one of the devices invented by Capsule Corporation and at the moment he felt like slapping his face against his palms. He couldn't be detected by everyone because he had a perfect handling of his ki so he could his existence completely.
"From the future?"
"Yep. I'm Goku's granddaughter."
Bulma looked shocked for a split second before she looked at the three girls in the room and having a look of pure scheming.
"Ehehe, I see. So you're Gohan's daughter?"
"Yep!"
She didn't ask who her mother was, but Bulma assumed that it was one of the three girls present immediately and so, without any questions asked, she dragged her son and husband by the cuff of the neck and left the room.
Halfway after disappearing into the corridor, Vegeta was struck with an idea.
He was in Super Saiyan mode 2 and the brat could handle fighting him perfectly well. Him who trained so hard to achieve Super Saiyan 2 was matched by a mere brat who didn't even turn into a Super Saiyan (he didn't know that Pan couldn't). Hell, even his own son and Kakarot's brat #2 could turn into a Super Saiyan as if it was child's play.
Could it be possible that genetics played a key part? If so then he wanted his own bloodline to be stronger than Kakarot's at least.
He stopped for a brief second as he came to a conclusion before Bulma and Trunks too stopped walking to see what was up.
"Dear?"
"Dad?"
Grinning wildly, he started walking again. Arrogantly. Selfishly.
His wife and son didn't like it. They knew something was up but they didn't have to wait long to find out.
"Woman, get rid of the condoms! We're going to make a baby!"
His loud voice echoing in the corridor, Gohan, Erasa, Videl, Lime, Pan and the invisible guy blushed shyly at the notion.
However, this embarrassment didn't last long as another problem appeared before them.
Deactivating the invisibility he had for cover, the boy appeared in front of everyone.
His striking blonde hair, green eyes and spiky hair could make him easily mistaken for as a Super Saiyan but he wasn't. Apart from his hairstyle which looked exactly like Gohan's, his facial features and hair colour was evidently that of Erasa's.
The boy's name was Knead.
At the moment, Knead moved so fast that not even Pan could see his movements. Before she knew it, he was holding her by her shirt and lifting her up in the air.
"YOU FOOL!" he shouted.
"Ha?!"
"You have no idea what you have just done in the one hour that you've been in this timeline, haven't you?" he growled.
"What are you on about? I don't even know you."
Fuelled by anger, Knead didn't bother explaining and just came to the point.
"You have just made MAJOR changes to MY timeline."
He looked at Pan's eyes and found himself at a dead end. He sighed. She probably didn't get their father's brains.
It wasn't surprising since he came from a different timeline after all. He looked around, noting everyone's confused looks.
'I guess I screwed up too, huh?' he thought to himself, already bracing himself for a long explanation.
End of Chapter Seventeen
To be continued...