Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
Pan sat on the ground, both Krillin and Gohan looking at the splintered piece of the wooden spear in her abdomen. She put her hand around it, pondering whether taking the spear point out would help or if she was better off leaving it until it could be properly treated. After concluding that it would give her opponents a vulnerable point to hit, the consequence being splintering or pushing the spear point further…
"This is gonna hurt..."
Pan gritted her teeth as she slowly began pulling the spear point out.
"Whoa, whoa!" went Krillin, putting his hands out.
In spite of that, she had torn it out, the end of the spear point red. Gohan noticed how deep the wound went, as well as caught Pan's initial attempt to stop the bleeding with her gloved hand.
"You have to seal that wound," began Gohan. "...maybe we can make something like stitches with what we can find here..."
As impressed as Pan was that her father, even at that age, came up with that idea, she knew time was of the essence and such an endeavor would take too much of it. Generating a small amount of ki in her palm, she gritted her teeth as she felt the heat around the wound. Gohan and Krillin both saw what she was going to do as she moved her hand even closer.
"This is going to hurt even more..."
Pan put her other hand on her wrist, closed her eyes, and finally pushed down.
Vegeta, keeping his back to the Earthlings and Pan after giving up his search for Guldo, and the three remaining Ginyu Force members who stood together all turned in her direction upon hearing an echoed shout of pain.
When Pan moved her hand, she, Gohan, and Krillin all saw that the wound had been seared closed. Not clean or pretty-looking, but now her abdomen bleeding wouldn't be an issue. As she tore off part of her cape, lifted her blue shirt partially over her stomach, and wrapped a makeshift bandage around the wounded area, Vegeta approached the group.
"Done whimpering?"
Before, when Vegeta talked to her like that, Pan tried to be mindful, considering the Vegeta she knew growing up. But now having seen the full scope of the past Vegeta's deeds combined with his generally demeaning attitude towards his supposed inferiors was no longer tolerable to her. She glared, then told him something she'd never dare say to her world's Vegeta:
"Oh shut up."
The three around Pan were surprised at this, both because she generally didn't speak much and also because it was her first showing of disdain for someone who wasn't one of their enemies. Vegeta, having only encountered her as someone dedicated to protecting the Earthlings and Goku on Earth, then having her save him from Zarbon and Dodoria in spite of that, was caught off-guard.
"Last time, this Earthling girl went out of her way to fight alongside me. Protected me. Refused to leave me to them. Almost like… she cared about me."
Seeing the three looking at him contemplating in that moment, he went back to his usual self to hide it.
"Huh. Maybe you do have a backbone after all."
"Hey, Vegeta..." started Gohan. "Did you find Guldo?"
"Damned imp vanished completely. Can't sense him anywhere."
"I don't think he even knew how to hide his power from us," went Krillin.
"He must've used his time stop to get away," Gohan guessed in an attempt to answer his own question.
"But he was exhausted from using it earlier," Krillin added. "He couldn't stop time and hold us with telekinesis at the same time... or could he?"
Towa, having gone a moment, saw Mira at the controls, as well as...
"Where... where am I?"
Guldo stood between the two, at first dazed from the travel, then utterly panicked by his new surroundings just as Towa was surprised at his unannounced presence.
"Who the heck are you?!"
Fearing for his life, he began to hold his breath...
...until a chop to the back of his neck by Mira knocked him out. Mira and Towa stood in silence until she finally broke it.
"Why have you brought him here, Mira?"
"Our aim is to alter history, is it not?"
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Like Dodoria, his disappearance is inconsequential. We can keep him on hand."
Towa took a moment to consider what Mira had done.
"He's taken initiative. Acted without me instructing him."
While part of her was concerned, another part of her was intrigued.
"I wonder what Mira may come up with next..."
She turned back to him, hiding her smile and keeping her tone neutral.
"I commend you for your efforts... but now let's get back to our objective at hand."
Mira stepped aside, picking up Guldo with one hand, as Towa took back the controls.
"Of course."
Recoome, Jeice, and Burter decided to give their opponents a respite for now as they also wondered where Guldo had gone.
"Find him yet?" inquired Recoome.
"I'm not picking up Guldo anywhere..." went Jeice, scanning the area around him with his scouter. "He's gone."
"You think Guldo really ran out on us?" inquired Burter. "Actually turned tail and left us?"
"He's a coward, but even Guldo wouldn't pull something like that. Captain would kill him if he did."
"Well we don't wanna keep them waiting on us," Recoome reminded them. "And I still got a match."
As their bulkier comrade left them, Jeice stopped Burter for a moment.
"Got an idea."
"Hey V!"
Vegeta turned upon hearing Recoome's voice.
"We didn't finish our scrap!"
He clamped his chest armor with his gloved fists, then pointed back to him.
"You used a dirty trick to get away. Use as many as you want. I'm still going to win."
Pan saw Burter and Jeice approach on foot as well and tried getting herself ready for round two against them.
"Tell you what, girlie..." began Jeice, addressing her directly. "We'll give you a little break for now. And once Recoome's done with Vegeta, we'll roshambo for our next match."
"Then all three of us will fight one-on-one," Burter added. "Sounds fair, right?"
Pan didn't know what their play was, but stood by and watched as they flew off.
"Besides..." went Jeice privately to Burter. "It'll give you time to recharge. Gonna need you at top speed for the next round."
"Same for you and your Crusher Ball," responded Burter. "Need it to hit fast and hit hard."
Now that the two were away, guaranteeing Pan didn't have to fight, at least for now, she had time to recover.
"So Trunks, Chronoa..." she began. "History back on track so far?"
Recoome looked over, seeing Pan looking away as if talking to someone else.
"Hey!"
As she waited for an answer from the two, Pan turned to the shouting Recoome.
"Aren't you going to watch my match?"
Vegeta saw his opening and his flying punch rocketed Recoome into the air. Pan watched as Vegeta unleashed an onslaught against him in midair.
"Okay, now it is..." answered Trunks.
"You know the drill," started Chronoa.
"Right..." began Pan, getting out of sight behind cover…
"Where do you think you're going?"
Burter stood next to her, arms crossed.
"Damn. Can't get out of sight with him keeping an eye on me."
"I hope you haven't forgotten about our upcoming match. Hate for you to leave."
"Guess I'm staying a little longer, then..."
The both of them then saw Recoome come crashing back to the ground followed by Vegeta firing blast after blast before he could get up. She could tell Vegeta was putting as much into each as he could, desperate to bring Recoome down right then and there.
After he stopped, panting heavily, Krillin and Gohan turned back to him.
"You did it, Vegeta! You…!"
"Quit your celebrating, idiot!" shouted Vegeta at Krillin. "Can't you both sense it?!"
"He's..." shivered Gohan. "He's still alive."
The dust began to settle...
"Heh."
Recoome stood, his armor almost completely gone save for part of his chest piece and one cracked shoulder, his black sleeves and shorts partially tattered, and some of his hair missing.
"I told you, Vegeta. Even with your dirty tricks..."
He spat out a little debris from his mouth, then grinned, showing a few cracked teeth. Then with a stomp as he took a pose...
"RECOOME…!"
The impact shook the four of them, but Vegeta especially in the midst of his exhaustion.
"KICK!"
Vegeta would've likely avoided it at any other point, but in his current state, even trying to move his feet to get out of the way, was struck in the chest.
Pan remained where she was, watching the Saiyan Prince bounce off the ground, then fly back to Recoome, not backing down even with the odds stacked against him. But in just a few moments, it was all for naught as Recoome took a strike to his stomach, then overpowered Vegeta and slammed him head-first into the ground, the Saiyan Prince's legs and lower body poking out.
"Hey look! I planted me a tree!"
"Right now, Recoome should be picking my father up," Trunks explained.
Instead of doing what Trunks described, Recoome hopped backward, beginning another pose as the purple glow around him increased.
"It's been fun... but now to finish you!"
Burter, recognizing the technique, tapped Pan on the shoulder.
"Now this, you have to see..."
He pointed past Vegeta's location to the distance beyond him as his comrade shouted…
"RECOOME…!"
"Namek's gonna look a lot different," explained Burter.
Seeing that she didn't have much time, Pan went ahead and formed a plan based on something her grandfather Hercule had done long ago:
She crouched over, grabbing her stomach with one hand and groaning, catching Burter's attention.
"What's the matter with you?"
Instead of looking over at Vegeta slowly making his way out of the hole, Burter looked more closely at her hand grasping her stomach as Recoome continued…
"ERASER…!"
"You got a stomach ache or something?"
Now that Pan had him looking where that hand was, her other hand charging ki went undetected at first. By the time Burter's scouter picked up a build-up in power…
"Wait a minute…!"
Pan had fired at the ground below Burter's feet, causing one foot to sink.
"Hey!"
She flew towards Recoome, ready to strike the back of his head with a kick…
...as she saw Krillin coming in from another direction intending to do the same.
"Hey, watch out!" he shouted, trying to steer around her and still get to Recoome first.
Recoome finished…
"GUN!"
...but then he heard Krillin behind him and actually turned toward him, his mouth foaming with ki as he was about to unintentionally fire at the Z-Fighter instead.
"Krillin!" Pan shouted as she, not having the time to push him out of the way, fired a blast at Recoome's face.
The impact forced Recoome to turn away as the Eraser Gun finally fired, Krillin bracing himself as it flew past him. But Pan saw he was turning back towards Vegeta. Pan knew she had to act fast and flew forward to the back of his head, finally going through with the kick as originally intended.
She saw that the impact, which sent Recoome onto the ground on his chin, didn't stop the Recoome Eraser Gun from going towards Vegeta...
"No!"
...but then Pan saw Gohan flying in and grabbing Vegeta, saving the life of someone who had tried killing him, his father, and everyone he knew just weeks ago.
"That's my dad," she thought, seeing that even at that age, her father did exactly what she knew he would do.
Now the Recoome Eraser Gun finally went into the far off distance as it was meant to, causing an explosion that shook the very planet.
"Pan!" shouted Chronoa. "Do you realize what you almost did?!"
"I didn't know Krillin and my dad were going to save him," Pan tried to explain.
"You went in without sensing where they were. They were close! That might've tipped you off!"
"Or maybe YOU could've told me what they were going to do so I wouldn't make a fool of myself!" this time, Pan practically shouted.
Just then, Burter stood in front of her, waving his hand at her face. She flew back after that surprise, then saw Jeice flying next to him.
"Again?!" began Burter. "We agreed on matches and you're still butting into everyone else's!"
"You really have no honor at all, do you?" scolded Jeice. "Few things tick me off more than that."
Recoome, getting up, began feeling for his teeth.
"Aww no! My teeth!"
He turned to Pan.
"Oh, I'm really gonna get you now."
Jeice flew in front.
"Now hold on. You haven't finished Vegeta yet. Burter and I will take her."
As Pan saw the two getting ready to face her once again…
"Wait!"
The two turned back to Recoome.
"I wanna take her and Vegeta. Is that cool with you?"
Burter at first stumbled at this, but then scoffed.
"Fine. Go ahead."
The two moved out of Pan's way, allowing her to fly down towards Vegeta.
"Then that just leaves you and I the two runts, eh?" went Jeice.
"Let's roshambo for which of us takes which pipsqueak," replied Burter.
As Burter and Jeice played roshambo, Pan saw Vegeta, lying on the ground with Gohan covering him, shoving Gohan off of him.
"Moron! You should've attacked him! Makes me sick…!"
"Ungrateful little..." Pan began angrily at how Vegeta treated her father.
Knowing the battle was about to commence, she lifted the Saiyan Prince onto his feet by the back of his armor's collar. He took notice of her expression, but focused on Recoome stepping forward.
"All I'll tell you is that Recoome will not go down easy. Underestimate him because of his dim wit and he'll turn your bones to powder."
Taking heed of Vegeta's warning, Pan tried calming herself and focusing on their opponent at hand.
"What's my play here?" Pan inquired. "Do I try to leave?"
"Because of what you did…!" Chronoa at first shouted before taking a breath. "After what you did, now Recoome's locked on to you. He should be going after Krillin and Gohan."
"Goku will be arriving to the battle in six minutes, and Krillin and Gohan need to be..."
Trunks stammered to explain until finally...
"Recoome nearly killed them both. If he doesn't, Gohan won't get a boost he needs for later."
Pan hated the thought of it, but…
"How likely are they to join in the fight?"
"It's highly probable," started Trunks. "...but you can't afford to hold back against Recoome. Goku only beat him because his gravity training on the way to Namek pushed him far past my father at the time. And I'm not sure you're there yet. Just… just survive."
Pan began to approach Recoome on foot, her impending opponent cracking his gloved knuckles.
"You fought Burter and Jeice… both at once. You're no slacker."
She figured letting him talk bought her more time.
"But now you face Recoome. My name rhymes with doom. Those who hear it feel gloom. And now..."
"Get on with it!" shouted Jeice, still in the midst of his game with Burter. "Or are you gonna talk her to death with a poem?!"
"I just had one more bit," Recoome replied, his hand gestured toward his comrade in the form of a "one" sign.
"Wrapping up any second now…" Pan thought to herself.
"And now..." Recoome began again, taking on a stance akin to a football blocker. "...you're gonna be hurting real soon."
Just then, he flew forward, Pan ducking to avoid a swiping chop. Before she could get on the attack, she had to block a knee with both hands. He went for a grapple, which Pan avoided by jumping upward, but by the time she was ready to fire at him, she saw him nearing her in midair.
"He's not just all about strength... Recoome's fast."
His style began to remind her of Spopovich when he fought her mother in the 29th tournament. A hulking figure that didn't just stomp across the ground, but could zoom across and fly.
Krillin, Gohan, and Vegeta watched as Pan and Recoome clashed with their fists in midair. The two from Earth couldn't even speak as they saw how Pan was doing and hoped she would pull through. Vegeta, trying to remain standing, at first looked up in astonishment.
"First she survived against Burter and Jeice, and now she's fighting Recoome… this girl is much stronger than she was against Zarbon..."
But in spite of his initial praise in his head, he then saw Pan knocked back by a powerful gust of air from Recoome's palm followed by her having to counter a barrage of projectiles. As he then saw Recoome slam into Pan, being sent down in spite of blocking, Vegeta crouched over, both due to his physical state and because of a terrible realization:
"...but even all four of us are no match here."
As the battle between Pan and Recoome further transpired...
"Ro... sham... bo!"
Both Burter and Jeice drew rock. All this time had passed and their continual tie was still going.
"Wha..." stumbled Jeice in shock. "How long have we tied for?"
"I know. It's almost never gone this long... well, except for that time Captain Ginyu and Guldo went at it forever."
"'course, Guldo only won because he stopped time before the captain drew."
"Hey guys!" shouted Recoome.
Jeice and Burter looked over at Recoome, his armor having received further damage with his bout with Pan, stopping for a moment to talk to them.
"Can I take all four of them? Please?"
"Oh, you've gotta be..." went Jeice, at first baffled, but then realizing this was just how his comrade is... "Okay, fine! But you'll owe us big time for this."
Gohan and Krillin both realized they were now targets and Vegeta the fact Recoome would come back to finish him one way or another.
"You, with the six forehead spots!"
Krillin, hearing Recoome call him out, looked over in sheer terror.
"...that power!"
"You're first!"
The Earthling hopped backward, firing as many projectiles as he could to try keeping Recoome from reaching him. He looked over at Pan and Gohan, the look on his face calling them both to help him without saying a word. As she saw Recoome tearing through the projectiles with ease, Pan got ready to sprint towards Krillin to defend him...
"Hold it!" shouted Chronoa.
After receiving those two words, Pan stopped herself. Gohan saw this, then tried getting to Krillin himself. Both watched as Recoome finally caught up to him, then with a punting kick...
...Krillin was sent into the distance, not moving at all to try to slow or catch himself. Once Gohan and Pan reached him, they realized why...
"My bones..."
All four of his limbs seemed bent out of shape, and they and the rest of his body didn't even move an inch save for Krillin still being able to open his mouth and talk.
"All that power Guru gave me… and I'm done in by just one... lousy hit."
So far, Pan hadn't taken a single unguarded hit from Recoome, but now having seen Krillin downed and unable to fight any further after receiving just one...
...and Gohan crouched over by Krillin, seeing a friend he had spent months with in such a broken state physically, as well as in spirit.
"We came to get the Dragon Balls… and now... it's all for nothing. It's… it's game over."
For Jeice and Burter, however, they looked over in pride at what Recoome had done.
"Heh. Now I'm curious if he can actually pull this off. Save us all that work."
"Even if he doesn't, we'll just pick off the last one."
Gohan's shock and hurt at what happened to Krillin slowly shifted as he turned over at Pan...
"Why didn't you stop this?"
He got onto his feet and, despite the height difference between them, his aura of anger towards Pan made her step back from its intensity.
"I saw you! You could've made it in time!"
The boy who would become her father, one step from snarling, registered as far more unleashed than her father had ever been when angry with her.
"You saved him earlier, but you stopped yourself!"
Pan couldn't keep a blank expression, which broke down as he continually confronted her, and as she was backed into a corner...
"Tell me why!"
Once her back hit a rocky wall, she felt like Gohan would've stopped her from leaving, no matter which direction she tried to go. Even as an adult being scolded by a kid, she very much felt like one being scolded by her father.
"WHY?!"
Pan crumpled down against the wall, trying to stop tears from leaving her eyes and failing. She knew her duty prevented her from telling him anything, but she couldn't bring herself to lie with an on-the-fly excuse either. Pan looked her father in the eyes and told him how she truly felt in that moment.
"I'm sorry..."
A part of Gohan, seeing that he had made Pan go into tears, began to regret how he had acted.
Towa and Mira looked over at Pan in that moment.
"Chronoa keeps forcing her to restore history, even if it means watching the Z-Fighters… those she cares about… suffer."
She then looked over at Pan, weeping after Gohan demanded an explanation.
"She wanted to tell the young Son Gohan what was happening. It pained her not being able to when deep down, in her heart… she wanted to."
"The patroller is struggling with the orders she has been given." Mira added. "Perhaps if pushed enough, she will be unable to follow them any further."
"Indeed, Mira."
"And the sooner she does, the sooner the patroller can help me… and I can help her."
"Aww, whoops," went Recoome. "Guess I just don't know my own strength."
He tauntingly shouted to Krillin…
"You okay there?!"
...then saw no movement on his part.
"Bummer. I wanted to have more fun with him."
Now Pan was left to wonder what to do next.
"Do I need to sit back and watch from here?"
"The time frame's off," began Chronoa. "Everything's happening earlier. Goku's still four minutes out."
"So can I help my dad or not?!"
After the Supreme Kai of Time gave an audible sigh...
"Up until the point Gohan needs to take the big hit."
Pan practically did the same as Chronoa in her head, not looking forward to being told to stand by when it was meant to happen, but knowing she had to, inquired...
"What is the hit?"
"A kick to his neck."
Pan did not enjoy her mind creating a mental image of it, but now she knew what not to stop.
"Just give me a heads-up when that's coming up."
Recoome, while not approaching Gohan and Pan's position, circled around them.
"You two almost ready?"
Gohan turned away from Pan, facing Recoome's direction and getting ready for battle.
"I'm not going to run away! I'm going to give everything I've got!"
He then turned to see Pan standing to his side. He nodded to her, then she returned the gesture with her own.
"All right!" went Recoome, excited and banging on the remains of his chest armor with a palm. "Now let's go!"
As the two moved towards Recoome, Gohan put out his hands and performed a familiar gestured before shouting...
"Masenko!"
Gohan fired a Masenko at Recoome, which both Pan and Vegeta saw was greater in power than the one he fired at Nappa…
"Kakarot's brat... can he actually stand up to that brute?"
...but Recoome, with his breath alone, deflected it back at Gohan. He tried getting out of the way, but his legs locked up and he could only step slowly to the side. Pan shoved him aside and put out both her wrists to block as her shield began to envelop her.
Her father's attack had her grinding backward while standing, but her shield held, though it appeared to crack. But her efforts to protect Gohan had left him in the path of the charging Recoome, who was going in for a punch. She flew forward and stuck the Power Pole in front of Recoome's leg to trip him...
...but it didn't quite succeed as she was sent back. He only stumbled slightly, his punch being sent partially off-target and hitting Gohan's cheek instead of the center of his face. As Gohan rolled, Pan hopped over Recoome, putting the Power Pole to his throat and keeping it in place with her legs while punching at his head with her hands.
"Thanks for that. Now work on my scalp."
She could tell from that statement that Recoome was hardly affected by it. In fact, her gloved hands hurt slightly just from hitting him.
"His skin… it's like metal."
She then saw Gohan charging with ki and flying straight at Recoome, colliding into his chest with his fist. Pan could see that the last of Recoome's armor broke off from the impact, clattering to the ground…
...but also saw Recoome smiling.
"Ah, good try!"
With a chop, Gohan was knocked out of his sight. Pan saw this, but put her focus back on Recoome, striking him once again, but then she saw Recoome looking up at her…
"Boo!"
Just by blowing air on her face, he pushed Pan back, exposing her to being grabbed by her arms.
"Going down!"
In the midst of the slam, Pan saw Gohan getting back up…
...then nothing but dirt.
Recoome got ready for another punt…
"For the goal!"
But then Gohan slammed into him, actually making him lose his footing for a moment. After digging herself out of the dirt, she saw what her father was pulling off.
"Recoome didn't even flinch at that punch, but now… he's actually moving him."
But Recoome grabbed hold of him, then threw him upward. He pursued right after, kneeing Gohan in the stomach, then throwing him back down to the ground. Pan saw Recoome falling with an elbow to hit the back of Gohan's head at high speed…
"He's not going to survive that..."
Without hesitation…
"Kaio-Ken Times Three!"
She flew over Gohan, her wrists and shield back up and even greater in power than before. This time, Recoome saw his elbow had barely any impact on her at all.
"Whoa!"
Then by separating her arms, Pan unleashed an explosion outside of where she stood, knocking Recoome into the far distance and quickly wrapping up Kaio-Ken. Gohan, while unharmed by Recoome's elbow thanks to Pan's intervention, coughed up blood as a result of the knee from before.
"Th… thanks."
Pan offered him a hand up, which he took, getting to his feet. He then let go, grasping his stomach with that hand. Pan saw in his other hand was the Power Pole.
"This is yours, right?"
Pan nodded and took it from him.
"Your father's... and my grandfather's."
But both sensed something rapidly accelerating…
"Don't forget about me!"
Both hopped out of the way of a two-handed slam into the ground, the impact practically creating a tidal wave of dirt and grass. He fired rapidly as they ascended, forcing the two to swerve to avoid them. Then while spinning like a top, he chopped at both Pan and Gohan. Her father was sent crashing down and her too despite blocking his hit with the Power Pole.
Right as she recovered, she felt the ground shake with Recoome touching down in front of her. She held out her Power Pole to block whatever was coming, but he already grabbed hold of it with both hands, then shoved it forward into her forehead. Afterward, he grabbed her by her face and slammed her into the ground. Believing her to be dazed, he flew off right away towards Gohan.
Pan, lying in the ground in a hole shaped like her, heard Recoome calling out to her father.
"You're really something, kiddo. I'm impressed you're still going…"
Gohan, cuts on his face and blood down his lips, was hunched over as Recoome chatted with him.
"...even though you're still going to lose."
Pan, slowly climbing back out, saw Gohan stand in defiance of the odds.
"I'm the son of... Son Goku..."
And with what he had left…
"...and I won't..."
Gohan flew at him for a punch.
"...I won't give up!"
Pan had a feeling how this was going to go…
"This is it, Pan..." Chronoa confirmed to her.
Recoome didn't quite jump over Gohan. Or rather, he simply flipped from a standstill, swerving over the intended punch, then with his stuck out leg…
...delivered a kick straight to Gohan's neck.
"Dad!"
She saw that once Gohan landed, he didn't move a muscle, just like Krillin. Unlike Krillin, his face was completely frozen in place, not even giving a single twitch.
Recoome stepped back, then turned to his comrades.
"See? What'd I tell you?"
Both clapped.
"Well done, Recoome," congratulated Jeice. "First, you put 'the mighty Vegeta' in his place..."
"...and now those two are easy pickings."
While Recoome had his back turned, she put her fingers to Gohan's neck, desperate for signs of life...
...and her father still had a pulse.
''"Oh thank goodness!"''
"Too bad about the poor kid..." began Burter, him and Jeice facing Pan.
"Spine's broken," continued Jeice. "Won't last long from now."
She then heard Vegeta speak…
"I thought the runt would step up!"
...then after spitting blood onto the ground, followed up with another terrible remark.
"Useless weakling!"
Seeing the inch-from-death condition Gohan was in along with her mind wandering back to Vegeta's killing of the Namekians made her snap at him once again, only this time more-so.
"Zip it, murderer! Or would you prefer I leave you to the hounds?!"
Seeing the three Ginyu's relatively healthy, even as Recoome lacked armor and had clear damage across his head and body, the Saiyan Prince hated what he was resorting to.
"Fine," followed by whispering to himself, "Why waste my breath?"
"Lowering myself to doing as this girl says… to survive. We're still no match… but at least now, if they focus on her, I have a chance at getting away… and when I recover..."
"Mira?"
Towa saw Mira looking over at the controls, trying to gesture her to move aside.
"May I?"
She moved aside, seeing him ready to operate once again.
"What are you doing now?"
"I wish to try something."
"Hey guys," began Recoome. "Vegeta and those two are done for, right?"
Jeice and Burter didn't nod, but Recoome knew they agreed.
"Just one left standing."
The purple glow overtook Recoome once again.
"How about we all finish this... with style?"
Both Jeice and Burter's eyes glowed along with their bodies as they smiled back.
"Yeah, let's do that. Three-on-one."
Trunks, seeing the three Ginyu Force members slowly walking towards Pan, their bodies glowing purple and their eyes red...
"Wait... they shouldn't be acting like this."
Then as they began their attack...
"Towa…"
As Pan avoided a hook from Recoome, Trunks continued.
"Towa… she's targeting you. Getting you out of the way to get my father, Krillin, and Gohan easier."
After avoiding a kick from Burter, Pan asked...
"What's my grandfather's ETA?"
"Goku should be there in just two minutes. They should stop once they sense his ship touching down."
"I'll hold them off until then. Just tell me when to break for it."
Then after a swing from Jeice's blade that she ducked under, she saw the other two trying to circle around her to keep her from moving.
"Just need to space this out over two minutes..."
Pan closed her eyes and charged with ki as the three charged at her.
"Kaio-Ken… "
"Just two minutes..."
"Times Four!"
The three were blown back by a massive gust, aghast at her glowing red aura. With her first move, she zoomed into Jeice, grabbing hold of and throwing him as far as she could. As she saw Recoome running in swinging, Pan simply turned her head to avoid it, then tossed him as well. Burter was stunned at her speed.
"I could barely keep up with that…!"
But he got into position to move.
"That's it! Top speed, now!"
He flew to her and found that Pan had met his attack head-on with her wrists. He broke it off and continued the attack, but found she was still keeping pace.
"This is my top speed! How is she… as fast as me?!"
But Pan knew if she kept this up, her body would break down, so she went on the attack herself, Burter keeping up, but struggling as her frenzy continued.
"Need to slow him down… or else he's going to overwhelm me the moment I exit Kaio-Ken."
After forcing both his arms downward, she lifted her hand quickly to poke him in his eyes. Pan followed this up with two blows to his chest and an uppercut. She caught Burter and headbutt him, dazing him enough to leave his legs exposed. Grabbing his arm to keep him in place in the air, she kicked at the side of his thigh, then flipped him. By the time he tried to recover, Pan chopped at his other thigh, then kicked him downward towards the water below.
She landed, exiting Kaio-Ken now that Burter would take some time to return. But as she tried to catch her breath, she saw Jeice and Recoome returning.
"Now that the fastest one is out of the picture… just a little longer until my grandfather gets here..."
She traded punches with Jeice as Recoome hopped over her.
"Another minute..."
"Mira, what are you doing? The plan was to stall her. Keep her focused on protecting the Earthling, Gohan, and Vegeta."
Mira at first kept silent as the two watched Pan fending off the three while going in and out of Kaio-Ken. But as they saw a timer had expired...
"You'll see."
Trunks and Chronoa both looked at the scroll, waiting for what they needed to happen.
"It's been two minutes," went Trunks. "Goku's ship should've arrived by now. What's keeping him?"
A charging Recoome punch was dodged, Pan hopping past him. As she began to flip over, she saw Burter flying in for her.
"Do you see him approaching?" Pan asked Trunks.
He looked through the glowing purple scroll, seeing a lack of Goku's spaceship anywhere near Namek. He then scrolled backwards while covering the distance it traveled over the course of the six days after his departure...
...and saw nothing.
"How can this be?"
Pan grabbed hold of Burter by his leg as he flew past her, then swung him into Recoome.
"Trunks! Do you see my grandpa?! Is he almost here?!"
"Get out of there, now Pan!" shouted Trunks.
In mid-discussion, Recoome slammed his fist downward, Pan stopping it with both wrists. As she tried pushing upward, Burter flew in between her legs, knocking her off her feet with his shoulder pads. Landing with her hands, Pan hopped backward as she saw Jeice firing projectiles at her.
"I've used Kaio-Ken too much. Even if I tried now..."
Recoome flew in for a flying knee, which Pan barely avoided by catching and pushing herself off the knee before it could strike her. Just then, Burter flew in for a high-speed tackle, rocketing her away.
"They're all over me!"
After managing to break out of it, heading back to the ground, she saw Jeice already heading right for her, his blade of ki swinging below her waist.
She winced as it struck the side of her left leg towards her knee. As Jeice lifted that arm, intending to swing it at Pan's neck, she caught it with ki-covered hands.
Jeice's other hand was free, which he took advantage of to punch Pan in the gut, causing her to crouch down and loosen her grip on his other arm. Jeice then decided to go for a chop to the side of her left shoulder.
Unlike the leg, which was a quick cut, this cut continually burned as Jeice tried pushing it to the left. Jeice went for another gut punch, which Pan stopped by catching it with one hand...
...but now Jeice could push the blade further sideways with one less arm stopping it. It cut and burned deeper.
Unknown to Pan, Burter was coming in from the distance behind her, intending to take advantage of Jeice trying to take off her arm.
Summoning all the strength she could in her left arm, she slowly pulled Jeice's wrist out of her shoulder. With a roar, she finally got the blade out of him, then, as Jeice tried to go for a stab, she redirected it past her head...
...into Burter's chest.
"Oh no..."
For a moment, Towa was in awe at what had resulted from Mira's manipulation, believing that history may change if Burter's wound was fatal.
"Has he done it?"
Jeice looked in horror at what he had inadvertently done.
"Burter!"
As Pan let go of him, he ran over and held up his comrade, trying to hold him up with one hand while putting pressure on the wound with the other.
"Hang in there, mate!"
She looked back at them, seeing Burter in bad shape, struggling to even speak.
"Jei... Jeice."
Her task was to hold them off and now she couldn't stop asking herself...
"Did I... kill Burter?"
A massive punch by Recoome met the distracted Pan's side. As she slid, she practically felt a crunch from the attack's impact.
"His first punch..."
Pan pushed herself upward, but the pain to her side caused her to fall back down.
"...all this… this damage..."
As she tried figuring out how many ribs had been broken, she saw Jeice trying to stomp on her head. She rolled out of the way, then saw Recoome running in with his arms raised while Jeice span for a slash. Pan took out her polearm and aimed it carefully at the two.
"Power Pole Extend!"
It struck Jeice, stopping his intended slash, as well as Recoome from delivering an axe slam to her head...
...but both his hands struck her right shoulder, dislocating it.
She dropped the Power Pole, then was met by a two-handed swing upward to her chin. Pan rolled upon touching the ground, too dizzied by the impact to try slowing herself with ki from her other hand.
Once she finally stopped, lying on her stomach...
"Nearly took my head off..."
Pan felt a partial looseness in her jaw.
"...almost dislocated it."
But this thought was immediately interrupted by the Crusher Ball, finally hitting its mark, burning a hole through her cape and searing at her back before detonating, sending her further back.
"Get her out of there!"
After Trunks shouted this to Chronoa, she prepared to return Pan to the library...
...a blue blur was seen overhead, causing Chronoa to stop.
As Pan lied down, trying to lift herself back up...
Burter came crashing down towards her. Pan put out a hand to fire and keep him from aiming for her head. But as she fired, he didn't...
...landing on both her legs instead. She rolled in pain, causing Burter to stumble off of her as he tried to aim a blast with his hands. Even as he tried correcting it, his wound combined with the impact of his landing made him lose his footing soon after.
"Can't feel them... can't feel my..."
It was like when Piccolo crippled her grandfather by taking the use of all four limbs from him. So far, she still had the use of her left arm.
To her horror, upon looking at her broken legs, from a hole in her pants' right knee...
...a bone stuck out.
Towa looked in horror at the crippled Pan. Before, when Pan was merely an obstacle, nothing more than a pawn of the Time Patrol, Towa felt nothing when Raditz had nearly killed her. But when she saw Pan go against their directive to try saving Yamcha, Towa hoped there was more to her. And now that she knew that was the case, that Pan too suffered from events costing her home which she was forbidden from changing, and might've convinced Pan to join her...
...and to see her tortured...
"Not like this..."
She put both her hands on Mira, him turning and seeing her distraught face.
"Why are you doing this, Mira?!"
"To remove the patroller from the equation," he answered matter-of-factly.
She tried getting him to move aside, pleading with Mira to stop what he was doing.
"Have the Ginyu Force stand down... then stay over her so the Time Patrol can't retrieve her. Then I'll go down and..."
"No."
He shoved Towa back as lightly as he could, being mindful not to knock her off her feet.
"The patroller dies."
Even still, Towa had to stop herself from hitting a nearby console. Once he saw this, his cold face slowly shifted with some regret.
"I... I am sorry..."
But after his apology, he went back to form.
"...but if she is dead, then there is no one to stop what you're doing. By the time they find a replacement, it would be too late. You will have already won."
Towa knew if she stopped Mira now, then that would jeopardize everything she had already done. As much as she wanted to look away from what was to come for Pan, she watched solely for the sake of the mission.
"I hope you can forgive me, patroller..."
Now Recoome stood over Pan, grabbing hold of her and lifting her up by the collar of her cape. During this, Pan turned to Burter, who was kept standing up by Jeice, spitting blood as he taunted...
"You have lost!"
The only thing Pan had to be thankful for was that Jeice's attention was on his comrade's condition. As he looked at Burter's wound, then the person who caused him to hurt his comrade, Jeice turned to Recoome.
"Take out this trash."
"What are you waiting for?!" cried out Trunks at the sight of Pan's broken legs.
"If we try it now…" Chronoa explained as she tried to keep calm. "We will grab Recoome as well, or maybe only him. You know what that'd bring..."
"If Goku's not coming, I think history's already changing!"
Trunks's temper was beginning to overtake him.
"And Guldo getting nabbed hasn't ended the world yet! What harm would there be to grabbing one more person?!"
"Trunks, you know what will happen if we're reckless…!"
"I'm going in!"
He tried taking the scroll from her, but Chronoa pulled back.
"You know you can't!"
"I don't care!"
"We can't risk it!"
With a shout, Trunks went Super Saiyan, then yanked the scroll from her, causing Chronoa to fall over. Both the Supreme Kai of Time's hands were ready to conjure whatever spell needed to stop Trunks when he looked down at her…
...realizing what he did had left a bruise on her chin. Once she saw the look of regret in Trunks' eyes, Chronoa's hands stopped glowing.
"Krillin, Gohan, and your father. All three would see you. If they see you now before you meet, you will not be a stranger to them on Earth. History will change… and you know what will become of all the lives that stem from the main timeline."
Knowing the cost of changing the future still haunted Trunks, and worse, he realized...
"Even if I saved Pan from those three… she would cease to exist because of it."
He exited Super Saiyan and let go of the scroll. Chronoa caught it without touching it, then took hold of it while Trunks offered a hand up.
"Forgive me, Supreme Kai of Time."
As Pan overheard the start of their commotion, she tried to think of how to get out of what was likely her impending demise.
"I could slip away... but without my legs... and even if I could get away, Recoome would catch me in no time."
"You gave us a good run there..." went Recoome, giving his props to her just like he had her father.
Now she saw a pink glow in his mouth, not unlike that from the Recoome Eraser Gun. Pan's brain worked as fast as it could, trying to think of what to do.
"Kaio-Ken can't help me..."
Then she thought about how to slip away unseen.
"Of course! I could use…!"
It hit her that she needed two arms to pull it off.
"I need to buy time. Keep Recoome from firing..."
"Now say..."
"Recoome!"
He was surprised that she addressed him by name, but also found it was partially mumbled due to the state of her jaw.
"Say... you guys are pretty strong."
As she talked to him, her left arm moved its way upward past her chest.
"I want to join your team. I mean you're short one member, right?"
Both Burter and Jeice looked over at Pan puzzled at her talking like this to Recoome.
"Can I join you?"
Her left hand was on her right shoulder, but she still needed to find the right area of it to grip.
"Please?"
"Thanks for the interest, but Ginyu doesn't recruit enemies."
Now Burter and Jeice saw where Pan's hand was and started to piece together what she was doing.
"Now say 'night-night'."
The glow reached its apex as he finished his sentence, appearing even more intense due to the lacking cover from his remaining teeth.
With a tight grip and a tug...
*CRACKLE!*
...She relocated her right arm.
And now with the very last moment she had before the blast, she moved both hands towards the side of her face. By the time Burter and Jeice tried to cover themselves and their warning was about to leave their lips...
"Solar Flare!"
All three were blinded...
"Agh! Not again!"
...as Pan squeezed herself out of her cape that Recoome held, his pink beam just barely missing her head. She then used a small burst to push herself away from Recoome, but from here, she was in no condition to flee any further.
"This is our one shot."
Trunks, hearing Pan and seeing her at a sufficient distance as to not grab anyone else with the teleport, shouted…
"Chronoa! NOW!"
As the three Ginyu Force members ran over to Pan to apprehend her...
...a flash of white...
..and then she was nowhere in sight.
Unlike before, where Pan leaving unseen reverted history back to normal and their memories of Pan's presence disappeared...
...everything was still changed. Burter still grasped his wound from Jeice's blade of ki and all three of them still looked for her.
Recoome, holding her yellow cape in his hand, looked at the back of it and realized it had a massive hole from where the Crusher Ball struck.
"Aww, Jeice! You put a hole in my trophy!"
"Sorry," went Jeice sarcastically, holding the Power Pole in his hands before handing it to Burter. "Obviously quite hard to maneuver my Crusher Ball behind fabric."
The two laughed followed by Burter, his pained laughs slowly sounding better as he planted it on the ground to help him stand up on his own.
But now that Pan was gone, they turned back to their three targets.
"Well..." began Recoome. "Let's finish up here."
Krillin, his memory of Pan still there as well, wondered...
"Did she abandon us?"
Vegeta, knowing he was no match for any of the three now...
"I knew it. The Ginyu Force would be the end of us. Even Kakarot couldn't turn the tide..."
And Gohan, frozen in place due to his broken neck, could only think to himself...
"Dad... I failed... I'm sorry..."
Trunks, knowing that Pan was about to land in the room, took off his coat and placed it on the ground. Just then, Pan emerged, lying on top of it.
"Hang in there, Pan. Beetro should be here soon."
Pan, seeing Chronoa looking over at the scroll in her hands...
"Wait..."
Even in her current state, Pan had to know...
"Where is my grandpa?"
Chronoa focused on Earth, then scrolled back to the day Goku was meant to leave, seeing no departure of his ship.
"He never left."
She scrolled, overlooking the exact moment that Goku left the hospital, then followed him all the way to Capsule Corp...
...only to see a figure that wasn't meant to be there. Just then, battle erupted between the two.
"He's... being stalled. Kept from leaving."
Pan, seeing Chronoa with her back turned as she paced back and forth, caught a glimpse of the unfolding event. And the person fighting Goku...
"Is that... my grandpa in Saiyan armor?"