"Concentrate, Pan. Feel that power within you and expand it," Trunks instructed.
The pair was training atop Kami's Lookout and they weren't the only ones there. Ocarin and Mr. Popo were working on the stone dragon statue, trying to revive the Dragonballs, while 16 and 18 stood out of the way, the latter keeping a wary eye on the half-Saiyan. While she was unconscious in the gravity pod, his mother had been busy using Dr. Gero's blueprints (salvaged by Trunks when he discovered 16 for his mother to study) and constructed a remote similar to the one Gero used to have. The very same remote that had been the bane of her existence, forcing her to sleep against her will so Gero could carry out his twisted experiments. Dreamless sleeps from which she never knew if she would ever wake up from and now her nemesis had one of his own, safely tucked away inside his jacket. The threat was implicitly clear: step out of line and she would be shut down for good, a fate that she felt was worse than death. At least with death, she still existed in some form, even if it was undesirable. Death would be welcomed over the hell that was the blasted remote. It was bad enough she had to virtually live with her enemy until she could figure out how to kill him, now she had the damn remote to worry about.
Curse him.
"I can't, Trunks," Pan stated, her aura fading.
"Yes you can," Trunks said. He had no other way of pushing Pan to Super Saiyan and he put it down to the fact there were no real threats to force the transformation, since she'd mostly grown up in peace time. As he contemplated it, he remembered how Gohan transformed in the past timeline, figured that he could at least try and hope he could get the same result. If nothing else, it would mean that Pan just wasn't ready yet and so, Trunks powered up to Super Saiyan. "Fight me."
Pan nodded and launched at her teacher. Trunks dodged and weaved around every punch she threw and he dropped her with a punch. She was back at him in an instant, throwing all her power into her attack, trying to apply her training. Once again, Trunks easily got past Pan's defence and landed a few blows that inflicted just enough damage without fully hurting her and his last strike had her skidding along the Lookout. A few ki blasts to barrage her and put the pressure on her and then he cupped his hands to the side.
"Focus on your power, Pan. It's the only way you're going to survive this. Galick Gun!"
Pan's eyes widened as the purple energy slammed into her and she struggled to push it away. Trunks poured extra power into the beam, keeping the pressure on and Pan was driven across the Lookout. Any minute and the beam was going to engulf her if she didn't have the power to stop it. She wasn't strong enough and that realisation made her grit her teeth and utilize every inch of power she had to try and force away the Galick Gun. 18 watched with mild interest as Pan shouted with the full exertion of her power and was enveloped in a golden light at the same time the dragon statue glowed, brought back to life by Ocarin. Trunks stopped his attack and he smiled with pride and satisfaction at Pan. Surrounded by a golden aura, her Super Saiyan hair resembled her grandfather's style exactly, with the exception of her temple bangs that framed her face. Her green eyes were filled with intense concentration, then they softened and with a soft, weary sigh, Pan dropped the Super Saiyan state and fell to her knees in exhaustion and Trunks was instantly by her side, also in his normal form.
"Did I do it?" Pan weakly asked.
"Yeah, you did. You did well, Pan," Trunks smiled. "I'm proud of you."
"Is she his child?" 18 asked 16.
"No. She is the daughter of Gohan," the large Android replied.
"Well, isn't that interesting," 18 thought. "I didn't think Gohan had the time or ability to reproduce."
"The Dragonballs are alive!" Ocarin cried, catching everyone's attention.
A beam of light stretched from the statue to the sky and seven beams shot off into separate directions. Trunks watched in awe and hope bloomed in his heart. At long last, he can finally restore the world to its former glory and erase the damage the Androids had wrought. He shot a withering glare at 18 at the reminder, but she didn't even notice, too busy watching the Dragonballs fly away. He was suddenly thankful that he kept Gero's blueprints instead of destroying them along with the laboratory. It gave him a degree of control over the Android, an extra security measure, but he wouldn't let his guard down around her.
Trunks pulled out the repaired Dragon Radar and clicked it on. Sure enough, seven dots appeared and he couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face. He popped a capsule and tossed it at the ground and a jet erupted from the device. "Come on, let's go!"
Despite her weary state, Pan eagerly jumped aboard. Ocarin joined her, along with 16 and Trunks glared at 18, but she only huffed and basically ignored him as she stepped onto the jet and he followed her. He handed the Radar to 16 and proceeded to keep an eye on 18, who stood in the back corner of the jet, cool detached look on her face as she crossed her arms and stared out the window. The jet left the Lookout and Trunks found himself wishing 18 would do something so he would have an excuse to destroy her. Ever since he woke her up and revealed the remote to her, she'd been quite indifferent with everything around her. He didn't want to bring her to the Lookout while the Dragonballs were being activated, but his mother didn't want the Android at her home, regardless of the remote, stating that she was Trunks' responsibility since he didn't destroy her in the first place. The only he didn't leave her in a deactivated state was due to 16, who seemed convinced that 18 could be rehabilitated and so Trunks left her awake out of respect to the giant Android. If push came to shove however…
In Trunks' mind, 18 was a killer and would always remain so. Even though she had kept to her promise so far, Trunks knew she was itching to kill. It was in her nature and he was waiting for the time she'd slip up and he would get to destroy her for good. There was no way 18 would fight for Earth, not after destroying it for twenty years, although to be fair, there were no threats to prove that theory. He supposed that with the right push, she might, given that she was incredibly perseverant. However, Trunks was not interested in finding out. Despite the evil his own father had caused, Vegeta changed the errors of his ways; 18 had caused too much personal damage for her to ever be redeemed in Trunks' eyes. She was the reason Pan didn't have a father and he could never forgive that.
"There's a Dragonball coming up," Pan cried excitedly.
"Do you want to be the first to find it?" Trunks asked and the child nodded. He gave her the Radar and opened the hatch. "Have fun."
Giddy, Pan shot out of the jet, her weariness long forgotten and with the child gone, the tension was immediately noticeable when Trunks resumed his glaring at 18. Finally, she glanced at him. "You look like you're having trouble coming up with a single thought."
"The only thought I've got is how best to destroy you," Trunks growled.
"You need a hobby," was her calm reply.
"Don't tempt me, Android. You know I can easily destroy you."
Her eyes fluttered in bored annoyance. "You must be fun at parties. That shtick is getting old real fast. I think you've told me at least ten times already today and it's not even lunch. Find something else to talk about."
Trunks opened his mouth to retort, but Pan returned to the jet, the four-star Dragonball in hand. "I found it!"
"What is so great about those things?" 18 asked out of curiosity.
Trunks didn't want to answer her, but Ocarin did instead. "Collecting seven of them allows you to summon the dragon Shenron and grant any wish you desire."
"Any wish I desire?"
"You're not making a wish," Trunks snarled at her. "We're repairing the damage you did."
"Is that even possible? I did do a lot."
"I wouldn't be smug about it if I were you, Android."
Previously, she didn't care if he called her Android, since that was what she was. But her time with Demigra, during which the Demon God kept calling her Lazuli, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was her true name and not just a number like Gero had given her. She had to admit, she quite liked the name and would rather use that than her designated number. "I do have a name," she shot back, even though she knew it didn't matter and she didn't really care.
"You're a machine. Machines don't have names. Let's go, 16."
The jet took off in search for the next Dragonball, as 18 glared at Trunks hatefully, wanting more than to kill him right then and there. The second Dragonball was found in a small village, while a third was found in West City. While Trunks endeavoured to keep the Dragonballs out of 18's reach, the Android stared out the window at the cities below her. The outer limits of the cities were still in need of repair, but the main hub showed signs of booming reconstruction, but it was taking time, mostly due to the lack of people and materials available and she knew that it was because of her. She had no regrets, she felt no remorse for her actions and would willing do it all over again as soon as Trunks and his friends were dead and yet…there was a small part of her at the back of her mind that empathised with the humans. She knew about suffering and loss and that tiny human part of her didn't want to inflict any more damage upon the humans. They were weak, clumsy and pathetic and deserved only death, but after her hellish experience, 18 wrestled to find the desire to harm them. She sure as hell didn't want to protect them, yet the idea of killing the humans didn't quite sound as appealing as it used to be. Perhaps the Dragonballs could help with that.
After the discovery of a fourth Dragonball in the ocean (16 took the dive to retrieve it), Trunks decided to head north for the fourth Dragonball. A wintery tundra soon appeared, with a large valley that contained a frozen lake and snow-capped mountains. There were signs of life, a small village nearby, but the Radar was picking up the signal from the lake. The jet touched down on the snowy land nearby and Trunks hopped out alongside Pan and they were quickly joined by 18.
"What are you doing?" Trunks demanded.
"I have been cooped up in that jet while you're going on your ball hunt," 18 coolly replied. "I need to stretch my legs."
"You have unlimited power. You don't need to 'stretch your legs'."
She rolled her eyes. "It's a figure of speech. Please tell me you take after your mother in intellect."
His hand inched dangerously close to his jacket and 18 huffed and took to the air, as Pan rushed out onto the lake in search of the Dragonball. The Android didn't care if Trunks shut her down; it'd be better than being in his damn presence under constant watch. It felt like living with Gero all those years ago and she detested it. The sooner she could solve her problem, the better.
"Trunks!" Pan called, catching the older hybrid's attention. "The Dragonball is here, but I can't see it anywhere."
Guessing that it was under the ice, 18 fired a ki blast that exploded near Pan. The young girl went flying, not expecting the blast and the frozen lake cracked, chunks of ice splitting apart.
"What the hell?!" Trunks shouted at the Android. "You could have destroyed the Dragonball!"
She shrugged without a care in the world. "At least it'll be easier to find now," she shot back.
Ice crumbled and the freezing water boiled and bubbled. A golden aura erupted from beneath the ice and both Trunks and Pan stared in horror as someone rose up from the depths of the lake, the former from his experience in the past and the latter due to the sinister power she sensed.
"Oh, him?" 18 sniffed indifferently. "He's nothing special."
"Oh no," Trunks gasped with horror.
"KAKAROT!"