Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
Hurrying across the Time Nest, Trunks and Pan made their way through the library to meet with Chronoa. The two were handed the scroll, seeing what would transpire without intervention:
Age 762
Guldo and Recoome, neither with a single sign of damage, stood triumphantly with a purple glow as the bodies of Krillin and Gohan lied before them. Vegeta, who appeared to be playing dead, zoomed off into the air to try to escape.
He found his path immediately blocked by Burter, the same purple glow around him as his comrades, who nonchalantly had his back to Vegeta. He struck the Saiyan Prince's face with a backward palm and as Vegeta tried to recover in midair, Jeice grabbed hold of him by his neck with one arm while the other struck his back.
Just then, a blade of ki pierced through Vegeta's chest. Once Jeice deactivated the blade, Burter flew over and was ready to stomp on his head with both feet. Jeice seamlessly let go right at the moment Burter struck the Saiyan, leaving Vegeta falling straight for the water until he was caught by Recoome.
The massive member of the Ginyu Force placed Vegeta's feet on the ground, then proceeded to slam his fists onto Vegeta's shoulders thrice, each hit knocking Vegeta deeper into the ground. Now left with only his arms and head sticking out along with his severe wound, Vegeta was in no condition to do anything as Recoome took poses while shouting...
"RECOOME... ERASER... GUN!"
A massive beam of pink ki fired from Recoome's mouth headed right for Vegeta, who put both hands out to try to stop or repel it, but it was all in vain as he was obliterated on contact.
As unnerved as Pan was seeing the three deaths, she knew this wasn't the true history and that it could be stopped.
"What's the change?"
"That's just the thing, Pan..." began Chronoa. "I'm not sure. All I can tell you for sure is that Guldo should've been out of the picture by that point."
"So maybe Guldo was enhanced, followed by Recoome." pondered Trunks, his gloved hand to his chin. "Towa's covering her tracks well."
"Since we don't know for sure the exact moment when the change will occur, I will have you go back fairly early," explained Chronoa, scrolling back to right before the start of the battle. "Just keep out of sight for as long as you can until we can assess it."
"Alright Pan," went Trunks, the scroll handed to him by Chronoa and offering it to Pan. "This battle's what Taino's been training you for."
"That's right," answered Pan.
She knew Taino still had more lessons for her, and could only hope it would be enough for what was to come as she closed her eyes and gripped the scroll tightly. Within seconds, she vanished from the room and traveled through time.
She emerged back on Namek, hiding behind a hulking set of land above the ground which gave her several points by which to view what was occurring without being easily spotted. Pan peered over at Krillin, Gohan, and Vegeta, who appeared uneasy in the presence of the five members of the Ginyu Force, who already had five of the Dragon Balls in their possession.
While not hearing them clearly, she could tell that Captain Ginyu was asking the Saiyan Prince to hand over the Dragon Ball he held. Instead, Vegeta threw it as hard and as far as he could instead, believing it would escape the Ginyu Force's grasp…
...but then Burter, whom Pan had been learning was known for his speed in battle, intercepted the Dragon Ball in midair, then flew back to Ginyu in little time at all. Vegeta then turned to Krillin, who held the last one, and shouted at him to destroy it. Krillin prepared his fist for a punch, but by the time it should've met the ball, it disappeared from his hand and was in the hands of Guldo.
"I didn't even see Guldo move," Pan thought to herself. "Did he just stop time?"
"That's right," Trunks began to explain. "The time stop is completely instantaneous to everyone else. He can't hold time for very long, but when he does, Guldo can elude just about anyone around him."
Pan turned her attention to Ginyu, the seven mystic balls at his feet. He lifted the Dragon Balls into the air without even touching them, then began walking in her direction.
"I shall deliver the Dragon Balls to Lord Frieza," Ginyu began. "Roshambo among yourselves. The winner takes Vegeta and the runner up shall have those two."
He turned back to his comrades.
"Understood?"
All four made poses, raising a fist as they shouted "Yeah!" back to their leader. Ginyu flew off into the distance as the four Ginyu Force members casually played a four-way roshambo, which wrapped up with...
"Fooey," grumbled Guldo. "I got the small fries."
"Alright!" exclaimed Recoome. "I got Vegeta."
Recoome then pointed over to Guldo.
"You first."
Guldo grumbled under his breath...
"Oh fine..."
This had been the longest Pan had stood back and watched prior to a battle taking place, seeing as how nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, at least that she could tell.
As Krillin and Gohan powered up in front of Guldo, the shortest member of the Ginyu Force began to get nervous. The two then flew into the air and fired down blasts at Guldo, who was astounded by their speed and power.
"Pan!" shouted Chronoa. "Get behind cover, now!"
Pan already suspected what was coming next and did as asked.
Guldo held his breath...
And time itself around him froze completely. The blasts Gohan and Krillin fired at him and the other three on his team being less than supportive of him. He moved out of the way of the blasts, but also saw no signs of Krillin or Gohan, who had flown off after firing. He ran around with the little time he had left, trying to find their whereabouts.
"Where in the heck did those two shrimps go?"
But something caught his eye...
"Hold on..."
He saw what looked like a yellow sheet sticking out behind a rocky structure…
"Now why would that be out here?"
He started piecing it together…
"That's… a cape. But whose cape?"
Guldo walked around it, seeing...
"A girl?!"
Pan frozen in time, her back against it.
Time resumed, with Krillin and Gohan seeing the aftermath of the blast, but no sign of Guldo. His teammates also noticed him missing, though it was nothing out of the ordinary until…
"Who are you?!" Guldo shouted, falling onto his back, then scurrying back out of Pan's path.
"Oh shoot!" she thought.
"But you took cover," began Trunks. "Unless you stuck out an arm or leg..."
Pan looked over at her cape, the wind blowing it back and forth from cover.
"Now I've really done it..."
Krillin and Gohan, hearing the commotion, saw her along with the retreating Guldo. Burter flew over as well, seeing Pan with her back against the structure.
"Ah, snooping around, are we?!"
Recoome and Jeice followed soon after, also seeing her.
"Trying to wait us out, were ya?" scolded Jeice. "You've got a lot of nerve hiding, girlie!"
The largest member of their team, however, didn't seem as upset at Pan's presence.
"Wow, look at that cape. So cool..."
Pan was not expecting anything close to a compliment from the likes of Recoome or any of them.
"It'll make a nice trophy!"
"...and there's the catch." went Pan in her head.
Guldo pointed over at Pan.
"I bet you know that monkey and those two wimps!"
Gohan and Krillin saw that Pan was becoming the center of attention.
"Well..." whispered Krillin. "At least they've stopped looking for us."
"Have we now?"
Krillin turned, seeing Burter right above him and Gohan. The two flew to the ground, then found Burter having beaten them there again.
"Aha!" shouted Guldo, pointing to them. "They were playing a ruse! Acting like they were the only ones here while she was waiting in place to... to..."
"To what?" asked Jeice.
"I don't know. Uh… ambush us, I guess."
As Guldo stumbled with making his explanation sound good, Pan had a thought.
"The only upside to this is that they're not attacking my dad, Krillin, or Vegeta right now."
"Perhaps..." started Trunks. "But I suspect Towa will show her hand once they do."'
She saw the three other Ginyu Force members less than impressed with Guldo's talk thus far.
"I mean, yes, we're the almighty Ginyu Force, so even a measly ambush shouldn't really be a problem for us…"
After taking a breath, Guldo suddenly spoke far more confidently and with greater resolve.
"...but using such tactics is just dirty, regardless of our overwhelming power!"
"Did he…" went Pan, astounded at the shift and working out what changed with Guldo. "Did he really just stop time to give himself a pep talk?"
"How low they stooped instead of fighting us with honor! And for their deception, let's attack them all at once!"
Pan was terrified at the notion, realizing just what would come from it in theory.
"Crap," Pan mused. "I've jeopardized the entire mission."
She saw Guldo raising his fist into the air with fervor.
"Now who's with...?!"
"Now hold on!" Recoome butted in, completely neutering Guldo's confidence. "You've still got those two and I still got Vegeta."
"That leaves Burter and I..." Jeice pondered.
Just then, he and Burter both exclaimed.
"I've got it!"
"We'll take this one..." began Burter.
"...while you two keep to your matches." continued Jeice.
"I'm good with that," agreed Recoome. "How about you, Guldo?"
"But guys..." pleaded Guldo. "This is..."
After quietly mumbling to himself, Guldo crossed his arms and nodded.
"Fine."
Privately, he was dreading how fast and powerful his two opponents were.
"I'm already regretting my diet."
But as he turned to Burter and Jeice, then back to Pan, he grinned.
"At least against those two, she's done for, for sure."
Vegeta, hearing and looking over at all the upheaval, was not pleased with the development.
"Damned Earthling girl. If she had just kept out of this..."
"Hey, Vegeta!"
He turned and saw Recoome walking over to him.
"Looks like we're fighting now. You ready?"
Pan got herself ready, watching as Burter and Jeice were back-to-back.
"You seem pretty sneaky, but now let's see how fast you are."
"And if you can even fight."
All four Ginyu Force members began to glow purple, after which they all went on the attack at once:
Recoome going for a chop as Vegeta narrowly avoided it. The Saiyan Prince punched rapidly, but found the giant catching and redirecting them with his hands.
Guldo fired beams from his eyes, forcing Gohan and Krillin to jump over them. He flew upward in a spiral around them, firing projectiles to keep them occupied as he made his way above them.
Jeice and Burter hopped backward, then stood waiting for Pan to make a move.
"I should wait them out. Let them make the first move."
But then she recalled one of her lessons from Taino.
"Even if you can keep up with Burter, if he's given the chance, you might miss him if you so much as blink. The key to combating him is anticipation."
As she looked over at the two, seeing them converse, Pan knew they were planning something collaborative for her.
"I need to figure out where he might go and plan accordingly."
She kept her eyes right on Burter the whole time…
...and even then, Pan lost him.
"Remember your training!"
She felt a brush of air to her side.
"Okay, he flew past me!"
Pan turned, ducking in case of an immediate ambush, but saw Burter, his back against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Made you look."
Pan realized she hadn't paid any attention to what Jeice was doing and by the time she looked over her shoulder, Burter's comrade had thrown a red orb at her.
"Crusher Ball!"
She fired at the ground to propel her out of the way, the Crusher Ball flying past her and piercing through the rocky structure. Pan felt another breeze and turned in midair, seeing Burter in her path about to swing at her. She leaned as far back as possible, seeing Burter's hook over her.
"An opening..."
Her two hands readied ki to fire at him…
But upon her feet touching the ground, the momentum of her movements caused her to slip, throwing off her intended shots and leaving her falling onto her shoulder. Pan rolled on the ground before stopping herself, then saw Burter overhead, descending for a landing on top of her.
"Get up! Up!"
She propelled herself back once again, Burter's intended stomp falling short…
...but then Pan felt her back striking a hard surface.
"The rock wall… I completely forgot where I was..."
But Burter coming in for another jab left her little time to ponder as she side-stepped it. Even with his speed, Burter's punch breaking through left no question as to his striking power. He took a step forward, then swung again with Pan stepping back to get out of the way. It repeated again with the opposing arm, then Burter aimed his next swing, intending to hit where she was going. Pan was forced to duck, seeing more dirt and rock from the impact.
"We never went as fast as this in our sessions..."
Just then, Burter saw an immediate opening and charged into Pan with his shoulder. She was first knocked back-first into another structure, then span across the rest of it before finally falling onto her back.
"I'm a sitting duck on the ground!"
Pan leapt upward and took flight, seeing Burter remaining for the time being. But as for Jeice…
"He's not there! I can't afford to lose him after what I saw!"
Pan turned in mid-ascent to see behind and below her…
...and sure enough, Jeice with the blade of ki she feared coming up for her. All she had time to do was to swerve to avoid the first swing, to which Jeice span his body to go for another. Realizing they were both traveling upward, Pan stopped herself in midair, the next swing going over her head. This still didn't stop Jeice, who was now swinging straight downward.
As fast as she could, Pan reached for the Power Pole and held it out over her head. The blade of ki clanged against the polearm as Pan shoved forward, repelling Jeice. With a swing of the Power Pole, she forced Jeice to block it with the blade, which appeared to be less than pleasant for him.
"That ki blade is especially great for offense. Defensively, and against non-ki especially, it takes a bigger toll."
Jeice's blade was in flux, the Power Pole getting closer to slithering past it. But from a glimpse of what may have been a reflection on her family heirloom…
"They're taking turns..."
She broke off from Jeice and turned around, the Power Pole blocking a kick from Burter. The sheer force still sent her rocketing away as Pan now saw both Jeice and Burter flying at her with their fists.
"Scratch that..."
Not wanting to take the time to put away the Power Pole, she turned it clockwise and counter-clockwise as each went for punches. With Burter's being unleashed even more rapidly, she was forced to redirect on his side more often.
In the midst of this, Pan glanced that, even with Towa's power-up, Guldo was resorting to retreating far more often than he did attacking, disappearing in bursts from her view before Gohan and Krillin found him again and again.
"He's stopping time like crazy," began Burter, also witnessing this. "Guldo's losing it."
"He just needs to get his head in the game" argued Jeice. "If he can just get on top of them..."
"Let's make a bet. If Guldo loses..."
"Oh, I know your gig, Burter. You're not conning me like Recoome."
Pan was astounded at how casually they spoke with each other while fighting with her in that moment.
"Fighting at this speed… and just chatting away like this is nothing..."
Pan knew she couldn't keep this up forever and quickly generated ki around her. Letting go of the Power Pole for just a moment, Pan crossed her arms and unleashed a burst, sending Burter and Jeice back enough for some breathing room.
As she zoomed down, catching the Power Pole, she recalled Jeice bringing up Recoome, who, as far as she could see, hadn't dealt any major damage to Vegeta as of yet.
"How strong was Recoome, Trunks?"
"Much stronger than my father at that point," he answered.
"Then with the power-up, Recoome should be even more overwhelming… but he hasn't gone all-out yet."
"Recoome has a knack for not taking fights seriously and goofing around with his opposition."
"So he plays with his food."
"In a way."
"If Towa wants them to win, shouldn't she be making Recoome go for the kill?"
"The formula seems to enhance everything about them, but as for overwriting their personalities completely, it takes considerable power. It's why it's only happened in short bursts."
"So they're still themselves."
"Right. And Towa herself had to be on the ground to control someone remotely, as was the case with Krillin."
Just then, from above, Pan caught a glimpse of a purple vortex.
"I know this one… they've joined together for..."
She didn't have to ponder further as a massive barrage of purple orbs fired down upon her. With the blasts spread too far out for her to simply fly forward, Pan instead traveled upward, swerving to avoid them.
"Hitting them while they're together's going to be tricky, but..."
Just then, the purple vortex began to change...
"This is something else..."
She then saw it swerve downward after her. Pan narrowly slipped past it, but saw it course-correct, leaving a purple streak as it flew back towards her. The feeling was akin to avoiding a giant purple Spirit Ball.
"Move it, Pan! Move it!"
The last pass struck her on the cheek, the impact alone knocking her downward. As she recovered, Jeice tossed another Crusher Ball towards her.
"This again..."
But as she avoided it...
"But then Burter's..."
Another breeze behind her...
...followed by rapid kicks by Burter. Pan kept her arms moving as fast as she could, but even she was starting to waver.
"Am I going too fast for you?" taunted Burter, his naturally red eyes now glowing. "This isn't even my top speed!"
"He can't be serious..."
Right after, the kicks came in even faster, and what she could at least keep pace with before were now slipping past right as she moved to guard them. Burter stopped the barrage, then fired a blue blast at the reeling Pan.
As she was sent back, Pan saw Jeice coming in with his blade of ki once again. She didn't know if what she was about to try would work, but Pan couldn't turn around and didn't have time to take out the Power Pole.
"Don't fail me now, ki..."
With ki covering her hands, Pan reached her hands behind her back to catch it...
...and succeeded in catching it, stopping it from gutting her.
"It still..."
But even then, the smallest point of the blade of ki pierced her back. It gave off a burn, like a searing hot needle.
Another breeze and Pan feared Burter was intending to guarantee the blade of ki killed this time. As much as it hurt to do, she turned and tugged Jeice sideways. She caught a glimpse of Burter slowing down, then zooming around, not wanting to kick his comrade by mistake.
She had to get Jeice back and started by letting go with one hand while quickly firing a projectile at him before he could push forward. It nearly struck his face, taking enough of his focus for her to push herself away. Now able to intercept the blade in front of her, she caught his wrist, then swung and threw him downward. Just then, a hit to her back sent her rocketing down.
After crashing into the ground, Burter was already standing there waiting for her to get up.
"Let me help you up..."
He picked up Pan from under her arms and lifted her up.
"No so high up, Burter!" shouted Jeice.
"Heh, sorry."
Burter kneed her back, then placed her knees-first onto the ground while crouching himself and having his knees atop of her feet, putting his weight on them. Now effectively pinned, Pan saw Jeice walking over as he generated his blade of ki once more.
"Keep her still. This blade's already tiring me out."
Pan looked over to her side, seeing Guldo with his hands out as Gohan and Krillin were stuck in place. Not completely frozen, as they were still clearly trying to move, but trapped all the same.
"Does this look right, with Guldo?" she inquired.
"After Gohan and Krillin exhausted his time stop..."'' began Chronoa. ''"He used telekinesis to pin them, then tried killing Krillin with a makeshift projectile. Before it could hit, Vegeta... well..."
"Killed him?"
"...yeah," sighed Trunks.
Pan saw Guldo taking a log and sharpened one of its ends with his telekinesis, then turned it facing Krillin...
...but just then, the makeshift spear began to move forward to his left, then rotated to its side...
"That's not right..." went Trunks. "He shouldn't be..."
Pan realized then and there that the formula made Guldo no longer content with going for one kill.
"He's trying to get both Krillin and my dad!"
She looked around for Vegeta, but still saw him battling Recoome.
"Your dad's being stalled by Recoome."
"Then there isn't much time. You have to stop the projectile yourself."
Now that Pan had confirmation to act, she put her hands to the sides of her face, a gesture Jeice didn't bother to try figuring out.
"Ain't that cute..."
And with both oblivious to the technique...
"Solar Flare!"
Pan faced Jeice, the blinding flash stopping his intended stabbing as he covered both his eyes with his hands. Pan then tilted her head upward as quickly as she could at Burter, blinding him as well.
"Aww, no fair, you cheater!" shouted Jeice.
"Ah, blasted...!" began Burter.
While Burter had yet to let go of her, Pan struck his face with the back of her head, forcing him to grasp his face. Now freed, Pan flew towards Krillin and her father with all haste.
Prior to this, Vegeta was tackled to the ground by Recoome, pinned down and with only his left arm free. Recoome placed his right hand over Vegeta's wrist, keeping Vegeta from aiming his ki effectively as his left was raised.
"It's been fun, Vegeta, but now it's time for a dirt nap."
As Recoome was ready to bring his fist down...
...something caught his eye. A faint flash of light near Jeice and Burter.
Vegeta noticed it as well, but also saw Guldo completely exposed. His hand had dug into the ground, grabbing a clump of dirt. With Recoome distracted just long enough to loosen his grip on Vegeta's arm, the Saiyan Prince threw the dirt into Recoome's face, getting both eyes.
"Ah, dirty...!"
Vegeta booted Recoome off of him during the confusion, then flew towards Guldo to make use of the opportune moment for a kill while it lasted.
Pan couldn't wait for Vegeta as she saw Guldo already readying his hand to launch the spiked log.
"You want me to hit the log without striking Guldo, right?"
"It would be for the best not to hit him, yes," answered Trunks.
She headed straight for Krillin to intercept it, but couldn't help but shake the feeling that she wouldn't make it in time at her current speed.
"If I'm not fast enough, it's going to...!"
Not wanting to take the chance, she took the risk of Guldo hearing her approach.
"Kaio-Ken times three!"
Guldo noticed it, but instead of cowering at her and the immense power he could feel near him, he threw the log with maximum force with a smirk.
"That's right. Make your move."
With even greater speed for this short burst, Pan zoomed in front of Krillin, activating her ki shield as the spiked log reached her.
The log turned to splinters upon contact and the shield was large enough to keep them from hitting both Krillin and Gohan. At the same time, Vegeta swooped in, his arm and hand ready to chop at Guldo's neck at high speed.
"No stopping time now!"
A blue finger tapped on a button on a control panel.
Vegeta flew forward, confident that the decapitation he had pulled off felt utterly effortless.
"Like a hot knife through butter."
Krillin and Gohan, now freed from the telekinetic hold Guldo had on them, saw Pan floating before them, her shield and Kaio-Ken deactivating. The two flew around to see her.
"You really saved our butts that time," began Krillin.
"Thanks again for..."
Gohan paused.
"Too close..." mused Pan.
The two realized that a piece of the log stuck out from one of Pan's abs, having undoubtedly slipped through before the shield covered her completely.
"A millisecond off and the whole thing would've skewered me."
"That doesn't look too good," Krillin pointed out as he directed her attention to the wounded area in question.
"You helped us, so let us help you," bargained Gohan.
"Let's all touch down over there and figure out what to do here."
After Krillin pointed down to an ideal place to land, the three slowly made their way back to ground level. Vegeta overheard this and paid no mind to Pan.
"Aww, the girl's got a wound? She got herself caught and that's the consequence. If she can't defend herself, then she shouldn't be here."
But now he turned, eager to see his latest in a long line of kills...
"What?!"
Gohan, Krillin, and Pan turned upon hearing Vegeta's shock.
"But Guldo was right here!"
All four of them saw no sign of Guldo anywhere near them.
"He was completely exposed! He had no idea I was coming! How could he have slipped through?!"
Pan already suspected who was responsible for his disappearance.
"If Towa grabbed him up now... there's no telling what she's planning to use him for."