Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
The crowd watched as Goten, whose hair was nearly identical to Goku's, placed his cape onto the ground outside the arena, then tossed the sunglasses over to Gohan.
"Wait a minute, folks... it appears an error was made with the writing down of Noget's name. Not Nos Noget... Son Goten... Son Goten! The son of Goku!"
"Piccolo... did you know it was Goten this whole time?" inquired Gohan.
Piccolo nodded, then looked back at the ring, where Pan was shaken by the realization of her opponent.
Goten, however, was entirely relaxed. For him, the ring brought him a sense of clarity, almost like it was a home away from home. It brought back memories of 23 years ago...
When he was seven years old, getting to meet his father for the first time.
"Hey Chi-Chi, I think that's a little me behind your leg."
Ever since Goten was young, he had heard tales about his dad, but knew that he wasn't there. But even then, the two were ecstatic to see each other. Goku taking him up into his arms and playing airplane were among Goten's most cherished moments in his life.
"Listen well, Goku. Remember, I can only give you 24 hours. No more, no less."
He recalled those words from Fortuneteller Baba now as an adult, though at 7, he thought nothing of them. By the time he was fighting his best friend Trunks in the Junior League final, he had probably forgotten all about it.
Then he recalled participating in the tournament with Trunks, using the guise of Mighty Mask. It was working well until they went up against Videl, who got in a kick that went through their disguise, exposing the two.
"Gohan's brother, and...?"
After being disqualified, he watched the rest of the tournament with his mother in the crowd. He remembered the highlights: "Great Saiyaman" fighting Videl and the two leaving the ring happy for each other, his father fighting Vegeta in the ring, and then the final match between Goku and Hercule.
He had seen his dad get this far and was certain he'd become the new world champion. Instead...
"Can you believe it, folks? Hercule managed to ring out Son Goku with just a single punch!"
Goten couldn't believe it: he had seen his father go the distance against Vegeta only to see him lose against Hercule like that. At first, he was about to get upset...
Then he saw Goku shaking hands with Hercule, chuckling happily despite his loss. By the time Goku was in the stands hugging him, Gohan, and Chi-Chi, Goten had moved on from it.
"So, guys... now that the tournament's over, what do you wanna do now?"
Goten's day was even better after that. They went to an amusement park, where they traveled hand-in-hand like a family. Though Goten was too small for most rides, Goku still tagged along with him on the smaller kiddie coasters.
They were eating frozen treats soon afterward when he saw Gohan sitting next to Videl, ice cream cones in hand. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he could see them laughing with each other. Just then, Gohan stomped the ground so hard he accidentally caused a small shake in the ground.
"Uh, is it an earthquake?"
Videl, panicked from the shake, lost control of her hand, which sent her ice cream cone into Gohan's face.
"Gohan?"
Videl saw the ice cream still stuck on his nose, almost like a clown nose. The entire table laughed in joy, Gohan and Videl especially, who couldn't hide their blushes. Goten could barely sit in his seat, pointing at Gohan.
"Gohan looks like a clown!"
Their laughter was interrupted when Goku felt a hand striking his shoulder. Everyone turned to see who it was. Goten saw Vegeta standing before Goku with Bulma and Trunks between them.
"Hey, Vegeta! Bulma! Wanna join us?"
Goten jumped onto the ground to see Trunks as the two families ended up coming together.
A favorite moment of his and Trunks was talking Goku and Vegeta into going on a roller coaster. The two of them watched their dads going up the ramp, Goku noticing Vegeta's arms crossed. They couldn't hear what they said, but they figured Goku was telling Vegeta to put up his hands on the way down.
Sure enough, the two went down and Goku had his hands in the air and chuckling away. Vegeta saw this and decided to follow suit. After they had gone through a loop-de-loop, the two could see Vegeta with the smallest grin, trying in vain to hide it.
"I thought you said your dad didn't like roller coasters."
Once Goku and Vegeta got off the coaster, Goten saw Trunks run over to his dad.
"Was that ride fun, Dad?"
Everyone was surprised to see Vegeta in rare form: he patted Trunks on the head and smiled at him.
"Are you having fun, Trunks?"
Of course Vegeta wasn't the type to admit he was having fun, but even he wasn't immune to the infectious cheer of that day.
They had a big dinner that night, where the Saiyans especially ate copious amounts of food to Videl and Hercule's surprise, who thankfully had the money with which to pay for all of it.
At the end of the day, they all got ready to go their separate ways. Goten and Trunks traded prizes from games between them as Goku and Vegeta shook hands, wishing each other well. Afterward, Trunks saw Goku crouching down in front of him.
"Hey, Trunks. It was nice seeing you again. Keep an eye on Vegeta for me."
Before, Trunks didn't think much of Goku from what he had heard, but his view of him had changed. He shook Goku's hand like his father had before.
"You got it."
Goku then went over to Videl, who was getting ready to leave.
"It was really nice meeting you, Videl. I hope you and Gohan continue to be good friends."
He was still utterly clueless in regards to romantic relationships, but Videl shook his hand happily all the same.
"We will."
That night, Goten recalled falling asleep on his parent's bed, between Chi-Chi and Goku. It was the best day of Goten's life.
Then, the next day came.
"Why are we back at the tournament, Dad?"
Goten had enjoyed one day with his father and soon saw Fortuneteller Baba appearing before them.
"Goku, it is time."
Goten could see his mother and Gohan tearing up a little.
"What does she mean 'it's time'?"
Chi-Chi hugged Goku tightly as Goku pat her back reassuringly.
"It's okay, Chi-Chi."
He then looked over at his eldest son.
"I'm proud of you, Gohan."
"Goku, we mustn't keep them waiting."
Goten was finally starting to piece together everything: his father had to leave for good. The realization hit him so hard he couldn't control himself.
"No! Dad!"
He ran over, grabbing onto Goku's leg as tightly as he could, not wanting to let go.
"You can't go, Dad! You can't!"
Goku looked over at Goten, whose tears were running down his gi.
"You're going to be alright, Goten."
"No! Not if you go!"
Goku gently grabbed hold of Goten and lifted him up, allowing his youngest son to hug him.
"I love you, Dad."
His father hugged him back.
"Take care of Chi-Chi for me."
Goten, tears running down his cheeks, looked his father in the eyes and nodded. And as Goku placed Goten back onto the ground, he saw Goten's sadness had left his face.
"I'll grow up to be as strong as you, Dad. I promise."
Goku nodded, then joined Fortuneteller Baba as Goten watched his father leave his sight, never to be seen again.
Since that day, Goten had trained hard to become the man he had met. To become Goku. And now that he was at this tournament, he would see that come to pass. But now there he was against his niece Pan, who he could tell was panicked.
"Uncle Goten has trained with everyone I have... longer than I have. Even if I'm younger, he knows everything I do."
But even then, Pan had fought hard to get to where she was now. She couldn't back out now. The shock was out of her system, replaced with determination.
"Alright, Uncle Goten. I'm ready."
"Let's both give it our very best, Pan."
Both finally took on their stances.
"With that error corrected, let the quarter finals begin!"
*GONG!*
Goten saw Pan rushing at him, swerving to avoid her strike. Before he could attack back, she threw a swerving kick, forcing him backward. He found himself standing in place, moving his upper body side-to-side to avoid Pan's punches towards his head.
After Goten grabbed hold of Pan's left wrist with his right hand, Goten threw his own left-handed strikes, each of which Pan redirected with her right arm.
He went for a sweep to Pan's legs, only for her to hop over it, then fire off a ki blast. Goten moved his arm to block it, then saw Pan squeezing her wrist out of his grasp.
In both their heads, it seemed like eternity had passed with the two simply avoiding or blocking each other's blows without either getting in any successful hits.
"It has been a full minute into the match so far and both remain at a standstill."
Pan and Goten paused for a moment, eyeing each other's subtle movements.
"I've stopped Goten from getting me so far, but I can't land anything on him either."
"Pan can't hit me, but she's quick enough that I can't hit her."
Goten could see Pan slowly moving her feet: she was about to charge at him. He saw her flying forward and readying her fist, as he began taking on a defensive stance. As her feet touched the ground before the impending strike, Goten went for a block with his right and a counter with his left.
"This is too predictable for Pan."
Just then, Goten looked and saw Pan wasn't there. The ground she was standing on just now had a few cracks: she had jumped upward. He heard something firing above him and moved to the side, avoiding a ki projectile. From there, he saw her flying above him, raining down several in his direction.
He jumped up after her, moving to avoid some ki blasts while firing some of his own to counter them. Finally catching up to her, Goten charged up ki in one hand before unleashing it in a burst. Pan guarded in time, but this powerful explosion of ki sent her far upward: it was nothing like the ones she dealt with in training.
"Okay, there went that plan. Let's see..."
Pan began cupping her hands for a trademark technique Goten knew just as well as her. He proceeded to do the same as the two began the familiar chant.
"Ka..."
"Ka..."
"Me..."
"Me..."
Their cupped hands were flowing with ki.
"Ha..."
"Ka..."
"Me..."
"Me..."
Pan paused for a moment upon catching her uncle's mispronunciation.
"Wait a second... Kamekame? Uncle Goten should know better."
But she realized Goten was counting on her catching that.
"Haaa!"
She wasn't in a position to fire back her Kamehameha in time as Goten's left his hands rapidly towards her.
"I should've stayed focused! Rookie mistake, Pan!"
Even in her frustration, she still managed to move out of the way of it, the kamehameha firing farther into the sky. Pan saw Goten flying right at her afterward as the two clashed in midair.
"Pan and Goten are so high up I can barely describe what they're doing!"
"Yeah, they look like little ants up there!"
With a bubble of ki bursting around Pan, Goten was pushed downward as he then defended against her own onslaught. The crowd watched as Pan and Goten switched places between the attacker and defender constantly while slowly hovering lower back towards the arena.
Finally, they were on the ground once again as Pan saw Goten clearly choreographing a left punch and stopped it with a right of her own.
"Rock!"
Pan was puzzled by this.
"Rock? As in rock, paper, scissors?"
She had never recalled learning any such technique, nor hearing of her grandfather using it. This was one move of Goten's she didn't know.
Pan tried to anticipate the next move: if rock was a punch, a fist, then paper would have to be a chop, or maybe a flat strike with the palm.
Yamcha could barely watch. Bulma turned to him for a moment.
"What's wrong, Yamcha?"
"A memory... just a memory is all."
Just as Pan moved her left hand to try to counter whatever paper was, she instead saw that Goten's right had snuck past her, the index and middle finger coming right for her eyes.
"Scissors!"
Pan cried out, her eyes poked, covering them with her hands. Obviously Goten wasn't trying to hurt her severely with the move, but it definitely didn't tickle. By the time she realized she was vulnerable, she felt a palm strike to her nose.
"Paper!"
She could barely tell where she was as she was sent backward.
"Pan!" Hercule cried out.
Even now, she had to try landing or else it would all be over for her. She tried touching the tile ground with her feet...
And she did. She began to slow down, but she had the feeling she was inches from leaving the square. Sure enough, her heels left and she was hanging on with her toes, struggling to keep her balance.
"Now wait a minute..." Hercules asked while turning to the announcer. "That couldn't have been a legal move..."
The announcer looked over at a paper with the rules to see if that was the case.
"Currently, poking the eyes is not an illegal move... but we'd recommend that it isn't done again."
Goten looked over at Pan, who was standing upward, but her eyes still closed and her hands over her nose.
"He really got me there. Uncle Goten's probably ready to ring me out right this minute."
Finally, Goten floated upward, then flew at Pan for a two-legged kick.
"I can hear him. He's coming. I don't know if this'll work, but it's all I have right now."
Just as Goten closed in, he saw Pan creating two spheres of energy in her hands. He tried to hurry, but before his feet could hit their mark...
He felt something keeping him in place, almost like he was being pulled into a vacuum.
"What? How is she...?"
He could barely move as more and more ki generated in Pan's arms.
"What's this? Pan has stopped Goten in his tracks with a fantastic new technique!"
Goten suddenly felt himself being pushed backward as he then saw Pan combining the two spheres together. Even as he tried to shield himself with his wrists, a large pink sphere of energy emerged in front of him, threatening to break through his guard.
Just then, the sphere burst, causing Goten to grind across the tile floor back-first before coming to a stop by putting his hand into the floor, pinning him in place before he could fly back further.
"Yeah, that's the way, Pan!" shouted Hercule, his arm up in joy for her.
Pan could still barely see, but she knew an opportunity was in front of her and came right at Goten.
Goten was slow to get up, his long sleeves torn, practically made short-sleeved at this point, and his orange gi was partially singed.
"That power... I could've been sent out of the arena."
As he mused over this, he saw Pan about to attack. She still had her eyes closed, but Goten saw her duck under his swing and punch him in the stomach.
"Shoot... I'm still sluggish from that move."
This time, Pan was finally starting to land blows on Goten. He couldn't cover himself fast enough in the state he was in, and even the strikes he could land barely glanced her enough to throw her off.
"You can do it, Pan!" shouted Bulla from the crowd.
With the exceptions of her, Hercule, and Pan's parents, the rest of the Z-Fighters were torn on who to root for. Chi-Chi especially couldn't pick between her youngest son and her granddaughter.
As Goten was being forced further back, Pan's eye sight began to clear up, giving her an even better advantage.
"Pan has completely turned the tables on Goten. This match may just be over."
Pan saw Goten crossing his arms and aimed for the head to get around them. But then she heard Goten shouting...
A flash of golden light got into her eyes as she felt herself being pushed back by a surge of ki. As she began to get up, her vision was now clear of blurs.
"What was that?"
She didn't even have to look at Goten to realize he had powered up: ki was surging from his body.
"He couldn't..."
Her eyes shot up: Goten's hair was...
"Uncle Goten's gone... Super Saiyan."
The crowd was stunned, almost speechless.
"I think Goten must be wearing a special kind of hairspray. One that, uh, changes your hair color in direct sunlight."
"But wait, Mr. Satan. We've been in direct sunlight this entire time."
"Well, it needs a lot of sunlight. Plus, it takes time, y'know?"
Hercule's excuse for Goten's change in appearance weren't helping Pan's nerves. She knew how powerful Super Saiyan's sounded in the tales of her grandfather using the form. And here she was, faced against the first Super Saiyan she had ever seen in her life.
"What am I supposed to do now? Do I even have a chance?"
She looked down to her fists, whose fingernails dug into her palms.
"I don't have a choice. I have to try."
Goten watched as Pan tried taking on a similar stance he had before, charging with ki, shouting throughout.
Chi-Chi knew what Pan was trying to do in desperation.
"Oh no..."
Videl and Gohan watched as their daughter tried attaining the form in mid-battle.
"Gohan... she's..."
He couldn't even speak: he didn't know what was going to happen.
Bulla turned to her father in concern.
"Can she do it? Can Pan go Super Saiyan, Dad?"
vegeta looked back to his daughter, but didn't have an answer for her.
Hercule didn't know what to think.
"Please be okay, Pan."
Goten continued watching as Pan attempted a transformation, but saw no signs of any gold in her hair or her eyes turning green: all she was doing was burning through her own ki. With that in mind, he finally looked ready for combat.
Pan saw Goten getting ready to make a move and prepared for this while still trying to attain Super Saiyan as quickly as she could. She took a step forward, expecting him to fly straight for her...
Instead seeing only a streak of gold zooming past her. She turned around as quickly as she could, ready to block, but even then, Goten's punch slammed her into the tile floor, causing her to bounce up into the air.
"I couldn't barely keep up with his movement! I couldn't even block that!"
She flipped multiple times in midair, both to regain control and to get some distance, but Goten didn't even have to get near her: he thrusted his fist forward, pushing Pan back with a powerful gust of air.
"Oh, I can't look!" said Hercule, covering his eyes.
Pan's feet were about to hit the wall over the crowd, but she stopped herself in midair just before and flew right to her uncle, fists raised. She went on a barrage, trying as hard as she could to land just one hit on Goten, but seeing him continually disappearing and reappearing left to right to avoid everything she threw at him.
Realizing this wasn't working, Pan finally fired off two ki blasts, which Goten didn't try to avoid, then jumped backward, panting heavily and her expression of frustration and confusion plainly visible on her face.
"It seems that Goten has Pan on the ropes!"
"Oh, that? Uh, that's a classic technique of mine. You make your opponent think you're giving up and not fighting for real, then when they take the bait, it's all over. It's a highly advanced technique, mind you. Not one just anyone can pull off."
"You're not helping, Grandpa Hercule!" Pan practically shouted in her head.
She went for the first thing she could think of: she ran around Goten, various afterimages of her following suit. Would it work? She had no guarantee, but she didn't have time to think it through.
"It now looks like Pan is using the Afterimage Technique."
"See, look at that! Pan's moving around so fast he couldn't possibly keep up with her."
Goten closed his eyes, then threw a punch from his side. Pan managed to duck just in time, but the sheer force blew her back towards the edge of the ring, her ear ringing. She fell onto her knees for just a moment, slow to lift herself back up.
"I can still stand. I can still fight. I'm not giving up."
She finally got back onto her feet, her fists raised as Goten floated towards her. She then quickly shifted her hands to the sides of her face by her eyes.
"Solar FLARE!"
A flash flew towards the crowd, blinding most of the spectators. The announcer once more was unaffected thanks to his sunglasses while Hercule was not as fortunate.
"The sun's getting in my eyes again!"
Pan looked over to see if Goten was even affected, but she saw Goten nowhere in sight. She could hear him charging ki to her left and turned to strike him, only to see no sign of him once more.
"Can't give up. Can't stop now."
She then heard Goten to her right. Once more, nothing. She then saw Goten standing right before her, his back facing the edge of the arena. As much as Pan was tempted to jump backward or even stumble in terror, she grinded her teeth and punched him in the face.
"Wait...!"
Her fist had gone right through his head. Then afterward, his image disappeared entirely. She heard a flash behind her and even as she tried to turn around, she felt something strike the back of her neck.
After Goten's chop, Pan lost her footing, watching in slow motion as she fell towards the grassy ground outside the square.
"Is it... all over?"
Pan could see her hand twitching: she wasn't paralyzed. She could still move.
"No, it's not over..."
She span horizontally, reaching for the tile floor, but seeing only the side. But she had to try to stay in the fight.
"Come on!"
She struck the side with her hand, embedding into it with her fingers and stopping her fall.
"I've done it! I'm still in it! I can still..."
"We have ourselves a ring out!"
She looked down at her feet and saw one of her legs clearly raised off the ground, and the other...
Her toes touched the grass. She didn't even notice it because she was so caught up in the moment of trying to stop herself.
"Goten wins the match by ring out!"
Hercule was stunned.
"Are you sure? I couldn't see because of the sun."
The announcer pointed at his sunglasses, meaning he could see even when everyone else was blinded by the Solar Flare from earlier.
"Oh." Hercule sighed, finally accepting that Pan had lost. "Pan fought well up to the very end."
The match finally over, Goten's hair reverted back to normal and to the shape of Goku's as he walked over to Pan, who was still hanging onto the edge of the arena. He crouched over to look her in the eyes.
"You did well, Pan."
Goten put out his right hand to help her up. Time seemed to pause as Pan vented in her head.
"I couldn't do it. Nothing I did worked. I needed Super Saiyan to stand a chance... and I just can't."
Even then, she put a smile on her face and grabbed onto Goten's hand with hers.
"No, you did well, Uncle Goten."
As the two stood before each other post-match, she put her hands together and bowed her head to him as Goten did the same back to her. The crowd cheered at the respect the two paid to each other as the two finally left the arena.
Upon being eliminated, Pan sat in the crowd next to Bulla and in front of her parents as they watched the rest of the tournament to see how far Goten could go. Sure enough, they were at the final match.
"Here we are, at the grand finale! Goten, the son of Goku, against last year's champion, Nareg!"
They saw a blonde-haired man in a light purple and white martial arts top with a collar. He wasn't quite the pretty boy of his younger days, but his slicked hair and two bangs in the front still made him irresistible even now.
"That Nareg guy's pretty cute, huh Pan?"
Pan didn't answer, instead watching the match about to commence.
*GONG!*
It didn't take long before Goten knocked Nareg out of the ring.
"It's all over, folks! Goten wins by ring out!"
She watched with her family and friends as Goten took his place before the announcer, whom raised Goten's fist into the air.
"Goten is the new martial arts champion of the world!"
Thunderous applause roared across the crowd as Pan applauded her uncle as well.
Soon after, the family was eating together, a massive table covered with food between them. Goten was eating up a storm, not unlike his father, to the chuckle of Goku's old friends.
Gohan and Videl noticed Pan, whose appetite sometimes neared that of her grandfather, was hardly eating.
"You okay, Pan?" inquired Videl.
"Yeah..." answered Pan. "Just don't want to get a stomach ache."
"Just let us know if there's anything you need," replied Gohan.
It was getting late and everyone was getting ready to go their separate ways. Pan sat by a bench by herself as she saw everyone else around Goten. She was approached by Yamcha, who sat next to her.
"It's a rough break, I know."
Pan hadn't looked over at him yet, still looking down at her feet.
"I made it to the quarter-finals three times... and each time, someone stopped me."
He wrapped his arm around her back to tap her on the shoulder.
"Always keep trying. I'll be rooting for you at the next tournament."
Pan smiled at Yamcha as he began to get back up.
"Be seeing you, Pan."
From what she could hear, it sounded like Goten was about ready to leave. She got up from the bench and walked over to her uncle, her hand out to shake.
"Congratulations, Uncle Goten."
He took her hand and shook back with a genuine smile of appreciation.
"Thank you, Pan. Keep up your training and we're bound to face each other again."
He waved his hand to her and everyone around him as he flew off into the night sky.
"Hey, Pan..."
Bulla approached Pan, Bulma and Vegeta alongside her.
"We're turning in for the night. Call me up tomorrow, okay?"
"You got it."
Pan lied in her bed, trying as hard as she could to get to sleep. She obviously did a lot for one day and it was clearly the time for her to rest. She folded her pillow and turned her body.
She was still awake another hour later. A warm shower later, she tried to cool off in her bed to try again.
Even with her eyes shut as much as she could shut them, no dreams came to her: just the blackness of closed eyes.
"Maybe I should get in some exercise. Tire myself out."
Donning fitness attire, Pan tried various workout machines throughout the house. Weights. Pushing. Pulling. Her arms. Her legs.
Still nothing.
"I can do everything at the max weight. I can go past it, but I'll break the machines. All of this is just a warm-up."
She mused over what to do next.
"There's nothing else I can do... here."
She looked out a window, knowing that Bulla's house was just a flight away. Her family still had the gravity machine outside their place. Maybe if she trained with that...
"It'll just take a few minutes to fly there. I can use that for a while, then I'll be back and able to sleep."
Pan opened it, but then...
"What are you doing up at this hour?"
Her father walked over to her, dressed in striped sleepwear and rubbing his glasses with a cloth.
"Well?"
"I'm having trouble sleeping, so I'm going to go work out outside for a bit and..."
"You're going to Bulla's to use the gravity machine."
Pan couldn't talk her way out of this one: her dad practically read her mind.
"Look, Pan, I understand you're frustrated about the tournament because you lost to your uncle..."
She pointed right at her father, nearly poking him in the chest.
"You think that's what this is about?! Me losing to my uncle?!"
Gohan stepped back to give her space while trying to raise his hands in a "calm down" fashion.
"You told me grandpa was the only one who ever went Super Saiyan... and now so can Goten!"
"I didn't want you to think that..."
"That what?! That I can't do it?! That no matter how hard I work, no matter how much I sweat and bleed, that I can never go Super Saiyan?!"
"Pan, please listen..."
"All my training all of my life was for nothing because I couldn't even do it! Not even if my life depended on it!"
"But your life didn't depend on it. It was a fighting tournament. Nothing was at stake."
He took off his glasses, then put a hand on Pan's shoulder.
"I think it's time I showed you..."
With a burst of ki, Gohan's hair turned a golden hue.
"Your grandfather taught me..."
"You kept this from me?! All of this time?!"
Seeing her father go Super Saiyan had set off Pan even more.
"Pan, I..."
"You knew I had tried for so many years, yet you didn't help me?! You kept it to yourself!"
"I'm sorry, Pan. I..."
She brushed his hand off her shoulder, then turned toward the open window.
"Don't want to share it with me? Fine! Then I'll just find my own way!"
Despite Gohan putting out his hand telling her to stop, Pan flew into the night sky.
"Gohan, what happened?!"
Videl had just woken up, seeing Gohan with golden hair.
"And where is Pan?!"
He deactivated his Super Saiyan form, picked up a phone, and began dialing.
As she flew miles a minute, Pan was already regretting how she acted.
"Damn it... I was acting like a kid! I shouldn't have bolted like that!"
But even then, she saw Bulla's house just eyesight away, and with it, the gravity machine outside of it. The chance to train at her hardest was right in front of her.
"But if I use it..."
She remembered Bulla giving her the password for entering, which she recalled seeing her father use. A few taps and the stairway lowered. Pan checked to make sure no one else was around her and closed it shut.
Her parents didn't have a gravity machine like this at home and while Bulla trained from time to time, she had rarely used it due to her father not pushing it onto her. Even when Pan had asked to use it in the past, her parents made sure Vegeta and Bulma had it off-limits.
"With this, I can finally push myself far enough to go Super Saiyan."
She had never used it before, but she found it was simple enough to navigate: the default gravity setting was 300 times Earth's gravity.
"Okay, here goes..."
Pan had her hand over the large on switch.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..."
Vegeta was behind her, walking towards her.
"My parents...?"
"Called, yes, but I heard you flying in before that."
She could tell from Vegeta's facial expression that he wasn't in a gaming mood.
"You want to become the strongest in the universe, is that it?!"
"I just...I just want to be able to go Super Saiyan."
"And you won't rest until you do. You're willing to go to any length, is that right?!"
Pan couldn't answer.
"That's the Saiyan pride in you. A thirst for power. The desire to be superior to everyone around you."
"It's not... it's..."
She stumbled on her own tongue: Pan didn't know what to say.
"Call it what you will, Pan, listen well: obsessing over it to no end will only ruin yourself and cost you everyone you care about."
"What do you mean?"
Vegeta sighed, then turned his back to Pan.
"It was my pride that nearly destroyed this world. I was responsible for the Cell Games... and your grandfather's death."
Pan couldn't believe it: as far as she knew, Vegeta was one of the heroes who helped stop Cell.
"I could've stopped it from happening... stopped Cell when I had the chance... if I had just swallowed my Saiyan pride. But instead, I let it all happen. All because I wanted to prove how great I was. How much better I was than everyone else."
She could tell Vegeta was trying to hide his emotions from her.
"Cell killed my grandpa, not you."
Despite her words, Vegeta turned to her, a lone tear going down his face toward his mustache.
"If I had just stopped obsessing, stopped trying to best Kakarot at everything, he would still be with us. It's my fault... and mine alone. No one else's."
She knew that her grandfather and Vegeta had a rivalry in the past, but never did she think it was that fierce. And now she truly understood why this time of year, around the time Goku was seen for the last time, always got to Vegeta.
"23 years ago, we fought one last time before he left for good. Fought with everything we had. He won. Even in the afterlife, he's perhaps the most powerful warrior in all existence. But it was then that I finally accepted what I was: one of the strongest warriors besides him. I could stop obsessing. Live content with what I am. Be free of my pride."
He turned back to her, wiping the tear off his face with his hand.
"I only wish I had learned that while your grandfather was alive."
Pan saw what Vegeta was trying to tell her: that his pride, his quest to become the best, was destructive, and if she wasn't careful, she could go down the same path.
"Now go on home to your parents."
As Pan walked out of the gravity machine, she paused for a moment, trying to come up with a way of thanking him, or even reassuring him that he was still a good person. But at that moment, Pan couldn't convey it in words. So she left, Vegeta still standing in the gravity machine as the door closed and the room darkened to pitch-black.
Finally arriving home, morning fast approaching, Pan unlocked the front door, seeing her parents waiting for her.
"Mom, Dad... I'm sorry. I'm just so frustrated with myself. With what I can't do right now. I shouldn't have run off like that."
Her parents' eyes steered away from her.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is..."
Pan began to notice they were looking behind her, their expressions showing a sense of dread.
"What is it?"
She turned around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary...
Except for a massive round spaceship hovering over the city nearby. Pan grabbed onto her dad.
"What is that, Dad?!"
"...Frieza's men."