CHAPTER 66

Interference

The loading bay was reduced to rubble, with equipment bent and broken from the fallen debris. Steam and smoke whistled from hot vents that had mangled in the collapse of the starship's penthouse from above. Dust, scraps, and fragments of marble continued to rain down, pummeling the ground with DNK-DNK-DNK patter sounds, which could be heard over echoing shouts and screams from within the bay.

Passengers blindly evacuated and spilled into the loading bay from the groaning ship, and as a collective mass, pushed and shoved their ways out into the reception gardens, spilling into the city as a writhing, seething mass of panicked Tuffles. There were cries for Lord Baby. There were cries for family, and those who were lost among the throng. There was fighting and brawling that broke out, and shouts of conflict as people punched and trampled and rolled over each other to be the first to escape the danger. The entire site was pandemonium.

Hercule and Buu had been hiding among the ship's luggage, behind a crate. They watched the bedlam in the loading bay, trying to stay out of sight. Hecule was sweating hard, his heart palpitating as he knew what it meant for the penthouse to have exploded off. Pan had started her fight.

He saw blurs in the sky, and knew that the Z fighters had emerged and were chasing Pan. He was powerless to do anything, but he felt a burning in his soul that he needed to be there for his granddaughter.

"Did ya see that, Buu?!" Hercule jerked a finger to the sky, at the condensation stripes in the sky where the Z fighters burst off with their energy. "Panny's in trouble! We gotta follow 'em, Buu!"

Buu warned, "Big fight coming! Danger to Mr. Satan!"

Hercule paused, trying to think of how to inspire his best buddy to support helping Pan. He gestured to Buu and to himself, "It's at times like this that you and Ah need to rise up, Buu. We need to rise up and be world heroes!" He raised his arms to emphasize his point.

Buu chimed, "World heroes!" He raised his arms up to mimic Hercule's pose.

"You got that right, Buu! Ah gotta save Panny no matter what. She's our last hope, Buu. If I lost 'er, I dun' know what Ah'd do."

Buu considered Hercule's words. "Mr. Satan save Pan?"

"That's right, Buu. That would make me happy. But to save 'er, we need to fight Baby!"

Buu stopped. There was a pause, and Buu stated resolutely, "Buu not fight anymore."

"Not even fer me?"

"Buu not fight."

"There are times that we need ta fight, Buu, to keep our lives at peace. But if yer sure ya don't wanna fight, we'll need to part ways."

"What?" Buu blinked, not understanding.

Hercule teared up a little, "I jus' want ya to know that over these years, ye've meant the world to me, Buu. Ah dun' think Ah could have made it this far without ye." He gave a small push to Buu's shoulder, "Ah love ya, Buu."

"M-Mr. Satan!" Buu blushed, still not understanding.

"Ah want ya to know that. Ah know yer not fightin', and this might be the end o' days. Thank you for being mah best friend."

"Mr. Satan…"

"Ah gotta help Panny any way Ah can."

Buu considered again, and nodded as he made his decision. "Then… Buu come with Mr. Satan!"

"Ya will?!" Hercule jumped and pumped himself up.

"Buu help Mr. Satan save Pan!"

"Then let's go help 'er!" He gestured for Buu to follow him, and then jumped out from behind the crate intending to join the confused mass.

Buu jovially exclaimed, "Yayyy!" as he levitated and rushed forward to pick up Hercule. He threw Hercule onto his back. "This way! The fight is starting!" And then Majin Buu shot off toward the mountain ranges before Hercule secured his grip. As Buu flew and hopped over rocks toward the action, Hercule left a streaking shout of "Ahhhhhhhhh!" in his wake as he held onto Buu's purple cape for dear life.

––––––––

The red, barren planet was an expanse of desolation that spanned from horizon to horizon. Not a single drop of water quenched the dry wasteland, except for the beads of sweat that fell from Uub's temple as he rushed full-speed to the crags where Baby blasted into the mountains. Uub looked behind him to see Pan in his wake, and thought quickly that if she can shake off the Tuffle elites following them, it would clear an easier path for Uub to finish the job of ending Baby.

There was no time to waste - Pan and he were outnumbered, and they had gained initiative through the act of surprise. Uub gestured to Pan to split up, and pointed to the other side of the range, then back to her. Pan nodded in understanding and flew to the left. The pursuing kis followed her path, which left Uub with more time to assess the impending battle landscape.

The entire planet was red, ranging from the sandstone and rust of the land beneath them, to the scarlet atmosphere which was so thick, it partially obscured the sun, slowing its rays within the oxygen on the planet, which turned the edges of the horizon shades of darker red sunset colors. The whole planet was a panoramic dance of its iron oxide mountain ranges and valleys which dipped and wove from horizon to horizon.

Uub's green gi was already damp as it clung to him in his nervous sweat. He hovered over the landscape, scanning the terrain and heightening his senses. He searched for Baby's ki among the rubble, trepidacious that the final battle was finally upon them. As he searched, he flexed his fingers on his hands, focusing energy for a quick attack, unsure of where or how Baby would make his next move.

All was silent and still.

To his right, Uub saw the new construction of the Tuffle city capitol in the distance, with its white structures a stark contrast against the red rocks. A great white marble imperial edifice protruded high into the purple-burgundy sky above - a sacrilegious monument that stood as a blight upon the land.

To his left, Uub heard a low vibration as the land shook from a distant blast. The tremble of the earthquake made a deep rumble that echoed across the horizon-spanning terrain. There was another sound in the distance. It was clear that Pan's battle had started.

Uub tried to focus on his own ki search. Baby was probably waiting for him to be distracted. Uub held his nervous breath for a few moments as he strained his ears to hear movement. A cool breeze blew, whistling among the rocks.

Then everything exploded in light.

A giant column of light energy erupted from directly beneath Uub, shooting straight up to the sky. The light column caught Uub by surprise, and he dodged it barely in the knick of time. The tip of his mohawk singed in the heat, the acrid smell of burning hair taunting his senses. He stumbled mid-air and had to catch himself before he fell backward. "Wow, that was close!"

"No," an ominous voice purred by his ear. Baby had phased so quickly, Uub had no chance to react to a second blast in Baby's hand except to turn his head to see the blinding ball of light, "This is."

Baby blasted Uub straight in the face. KRAKKK!

The bone-breaking shatter of the point-blanc explosion snapped Uub's head back as his body contorted under the impact, and he was driven straight into an adjoining mountain with a giant D-KOOOOM.

Shards of mountain splintered and battered the world below with craters and rockslides of boulders that cracked under their own weight, tremoring violently as the shaking grew larger in intensity.

Rocks shot out as the mountain erupted upward, and Uub rose above the landscape again as the rocks tumbled, with a furious fire in his eyes that locked onto Baby's as they both hovered over the landscape, a few hundred meters apart from one another.

Baby wore a scowl as they assessed each other. He scanned Uub's ki, and looked him up and down as if appraising his enemy.

Uub panted and focused his ki as he wiped his forehead of dirt and debris, once again focusing his energy into his fingers.

Then, Baby's tight lips bent into a bemused grin. His voice projected as a screech on the landscape, "Ahhh," he raised the tone of his scratchy voice, "I know who you ar-."

Uub did not give him a chance to continue.

VSH! Uub phased behind Baby so fast, the air displacement knocked Baby forward in the air, and Uub did a hook kick that landed on Baby's right temple. DWOK!

Baby caught himself in the air, and Uub was already on top of him, pummeling him with his ki-powered fists. DM-DM-DM-DM! Uub finished his attack with a forward thrust kick that again sent Baby flying in the air, toward the sky. Uub phased above Baby, and used his upward momentum drop-kick his foot with full power onto Baby's head, WHACKing him back down toward the landscape. As Baby fell downward, expression in shock, Uub threw an elongated ki blast to KRAK against Baby's stomach, launching him faster toward the ground. He followed up with a barrage of ki blasts that continued to pound into Baby with a deafening BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM-BOM, until Baby hit the ground so hard, he created a giant crater that erupted entire crags into the air that exploded under the pressure of the energy blasts. BA-BOOOM!

Uub panted and rubbed his fists, that ached from how hard he was pulling his punches. He scanned the area below, waiting for the dust cloud to clear. And then he felt it - the demonic ki, bigger and more powerful than he had ever anticipated.

Below, Baby kneeled and rose to his feet slowly from the rubble, his dark blue outfit battered, and a chunk of his yellow vest dangling from a thread. As the dust settled, Uub's stomach dropped as he saw that Baby's hair was golden and gray with blue crackling lightning. Baby's silvered eyes gleamed in anticipation as his twisted smile contorted into a sneer, and he threw his head back for a short screeching laugh.

"Yes!…" Baby snapped his head back with an evil grin, and he licked his lips. "Show me more of your power…"

––––––––

Pan flew as fast as she could to get within Uub's vicinity, feeling three kis trailing behind her. She knew they were outnumbered and she had to get over to Uub if they had any chance of coordinating attacks for surprise tactics. However, this was as far as her plan had taken her. She and Uub had managed to surprise Baby and get themselves out into the open, but this is where she had to start to be creative. She felt her purple training gi, in which she was storing a secret set of laxatives in a patched pocket, and she checked the strap of her red Nyoi-Bo, which she had retrieved from Master Roshi's house in Kame Island. She had brought it to wear in this battle, in memory of her grandpa Goku. She had nothing else to her name to bring to the fight, but she intended to wear her Saiyan name proudly.

She knew that this was it. This was the moment that she had trained almost a year for. This was the one opportunity that she clung to, to give meaning and purpose to her life. She would lie or die as an avenger, in memory of all those she loved, and to protect the universe from the spread of Baby's vile rule.

Besides that, she cleared her mind of all thought and emotion. She knew this was the moment to think back on her training. She thought of what Piccolo would do. She took a breath of a moment to close her eyes and picture his words.

There are no rules, and no honor on the battlefield… Baby will attack you even when you are down.

She looked behind her to see the vessels of her loved ones landing on the ground, close by, the bodies of her former father, uncle, and best friend, salivating for a fight a like a pack of wolves.

No titles, she reminded herself as she took inspiration from her training. Gohan. Goten. Trunks. They uttered a few words to each other, keeping their eyes locked onto her. She watched Gohan start to power up and turn blonde with glowing green eyes.

The initiative was still in her favor for a moment longer. Gohan was her principal battle, but she needed to clear the field. She needed to be strategic.

First tactic, target the weakness.

There were two enemy weaknesses on the field. One, the most obvious, was Trunks. But, he complicated things for her. He had to go.

She immediately charged up her ki and formed a ki blast in her right hand, focusing all her might into the ball. As the ball brightened, the air before her face shifted, and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan phased in, rearing for a punch.

As he swung his punch with full force, she suddenly phased out and was gone. The force of his blow split the air split in two with a CLACK that resonated and echoed in the air, with a sound wave that rocked the planet below, and sent him sprawling forward in the air after it made no contact. Pan had dodged it and had vanished.

SHWING, the air sang as she phased in between Trunks and Goten. Wide-eyed, they stumbled back in surprise. Her body and eyes locked onto Trunks as she thought with instinct, Disarm Trunks.

Pan threw her weight and a flood of her energy into the ki blast in her right hand and aimed straight for the right side of his chest. Trunks spiked his energy level in response and dodged to his left, which was the angle away from her blast, and at a closer angle to Goten. He fell for it.

Second tactic, use variety.

With the ki blast still in her hand, Pan instead whipped her right arm down and BOOOM erupted the ground underneath them, creating debris and a dust cloud blinding them. The rocks exploded in point-blanc range straight into Trunks' and Goten's faces, smacking them with rocks in their eyes and a debris cloud that blinded them. Both cried out in shock as they brought their hands up to their eyes reflexively.

The power of Pan's blast knocked her skyward, and threw her am up, which she brought behind her back in a smooth motion to grab the red Nyoi-Bo power pole and yank it free.

Third tactic, magnify strength through physics.

Pan pivoted in the air, arching her back, and did a backward somersault, landing on the ground about three meters from the two, and as the rocks and boulders around her fell and shattered, she took one step forward with her left leg, and she swung the power pole with every ounce of her strength.

CLACK! The Nyoi-Bo made contact with both Goten and Trunks at once.

Goten's stomach was smacked in the gut by the mid-range of the Nyoi-Bo, and the end of it came around at lightning speed to smack into the bottom of Trunks' ribs, where the impact crack of the Nyoi-Bo sent him flying upward as fast as a rocket. The air surrounding Trunks erupted in a line of fire burning through the the sky to the horizon, like a meteoric baseball. A line of smoke trailed behind him as he had been knocked beyond the naked eye could see.

Goten had been knocked down with wide eyes, the wind completely knocked out of him as he struggled to breathe, but could not get enough air as his stomach spasmed in its pain. He was in rough shape, with the latest blow adding to his earlier injuries. He writhed on the ground until he went still, unconscious. He seemed to be incapacitated for the time being, but Pan was not taking any chances. Pan cooly glared at him as she walked slowly to him. She put the Nyoi-bo back in its holder with her right hand and formed a ki blast with her left.

Fourth tactic, eliminate them when they're down.

She brought her right hand to her left and started to chant, "Ka…me-"

WHOOSH, Gohan's foot was in her face.

The wind from Gohan's kick was sharp as a blade, swiping by her face as she narrowly dodged his attack. She cartwheeled back several times, then spun and landed in a defensive fighting stance. As soon as she balanced, Gohan was already on top of her again, blasting the ground around her, and forcing her to navigate in directions that would lead to his punches being thrown. The speed of their strikes created deafening blows and pops as the sound barrier continued to be erupted. The call and response of the battle between Pan and Gohan cracked the air like thunder as the sounds of the blows and blocked kicks echoed and rumbled on the terrain. The shaking of the earth under them was rebutted by more rumbling in the distance as the other battle between Uub and Baby raged on.

The planet itself shook from the power that the fighters emitted as they fought. There was a constant low rumble hum like the planet was moaning. The speed of their blows was so fast, Pan had no room to consider how she was able to keep up with Super Saiyan 2 power. She simply continued to tap into her strength, burning through it to keep up the pace, and applying her training with as little thought possible.

Fifth tactic, rely on fighting instinct.

There was no thought for Pan. There was simply her, and the enemy. It was his fist, her fist. His arm, her arm. It was his energy, and her energy. It was dark, and it was light. The dichotomy of the battle was a cycle in time, which passed slowly around Pan as she became one with her training. There was no mercy. There was no holding back. She was able to keep up. And as long as she kept burning her energy, she could continue.

Just keep fighting. Just keep wearing him down. Just keep it up. Pan continued to throw attacks with every ounce of her power. Her breaths kept up, and up… until they started to get deeper and harder.

They phased in and out of places in the sky. Rock smashed and rockslides rumbled. The shock waves continued to throw up clouds of rocks and soil. The skies were cloudy with dust which swirled around the fighters. Together, they danced with death.

She was nimble in the air; quick to dodge, and quick to parry. She was ready for this. The hairs on her skin tingled from the static energy of her blasts, and as she tapped deeper into her power, her hair began to rise from the energy. As she breathed, the dust became her breath. She could feel the potential of the planet. She could almost touch it.

But as close as she was to attaining the power, her body started to show its first signs of fatigue. Pan came to realize, coming out of her fighting trance, that she was running out of energy. Her heart was beating fast, and she wasn't able to get enough air. She tried to attain the next level, but there was a wall, something she needed to break through and she didn't know how.

Her exhaustion brought her out of focus as she tried to catch her breath. But then she missed blocking one of Gohan's punches. His fist made a SMACK connection to her cheek, throwing her head to the side, knocking her out of the air and into the rocks. BADOOOM!

Her head throbbed, and her back felt like every part of it was bruised, but she picked up her head, panting, realizing that without her fighting high, she suddenly felt winded. She coughed, and stood up, suddenly feeling drained. Her stomach rumbled tremendously. She thought of her Grandpa and recalled how he said he ran out of steam without a good meal. She couldn't remember the last big meal she ever ate.

Gohan landed confidently, his hair still golden as blue lightning encircled him. He raised his right hand to her with a ki ball, which he brought to his left hand, and started to build the intensity of the energy.

"Looks like this is the end…" Gohan sneered, "Saiyan."

Pan gasped air, and pulled forth all of the remaining power she could muster. Her ki spiked, and wind rose as she levitated. She cooly taunted, "Good to see there's still some fight left in you."

"You did well, better than I thought. But without a transformation, you will always be weak." Gohan's sneer grew to a dark grin, "And this is where the Saiyan line ends. This," Gohan finished collecting the energy in his hands, "is where you die."

Gohan released his ki all at once at Pan. She felt her power falter as the light blinded her, about to disintegrate her. It was all so slow… She thought about her family, her loved ones, her Grandpa, Piccolo, and the life she had before she returned from the grand tour in space. She thought about all the love that she lost. She thought about the life that she could have had, but she never would be able to live out.

The light was closer now. Bigger. Hotter. It seemed almost welcoming to her, a twisted comfort to feel the heat of her own Papa's blast, to know at least he could have killed her. At least it was from someone she used to love. She closed her eyes in acceptance.

Then through her closed eyes, she saw the light was blacked out, the heat suddenly deflected with a blast of sound, BOOM. The blazing hot torrent shifted to an icy wind that sucked the warmth from her, and then made her tremor in a frigid, fiery heat.

Her eyes flew open to view the shadow of her savior. "T-Trunks…?"

Trunks, enraged, stood before her, back to her in a defensive stance, surrounded by blue lightning. His long hair was brightly golden and blinding with heat and energy that radiated from his body. His hair and jacket blew stiffly in the tremendous wind that followed in the wake of the deflected blast that hit a distant mountain, spontaneously combusting its peak in a radioactive detonation.

Pan felt the heat of Trunks' energy field, and despite everything, for a moment she felt a glimmer of warmth and hope. For a breath of a moment, she felt safe.

BOOOM, The energy shock from the explosion blasted through the sky in all directions, and another tremendous wind smacked into them with such a force that Pan rolled backward a bit. Trunks' hair and jacket again flapped in the wind as he maintained his steadfast stance, stoutly between Pan and Gohan.

Trunks' arms were out by his sides as he shielded Pan from Gohan, both of their blue lightning bolts crackling and clashing with each other. Pan could not see Trunks' face, but Gohan's expression was a mixture of incredulity and surprise.

Trunks looked up at Gohan with anger rumbling in his voice, "Why don't you pick on someone your own level."

Gohan's eyes flickered quizzically, but then hardened as his brow furrowed and his voice lowered. "Trunks," he hissed in a menacing tone that was more of a statement, "What are you doing."

Trunks sneered as his stance continued to shield her, "Get lost, Gohan."

Gohan looked confused again for a moment, until his brow turned low again and his eyes narrowed as he took on a castigative tone. "What. are. you. doing?"

"This one's mine." Trunks sneered at Gohan.

Gohan snarled, and powered up for another round of ki shots, aiming toward Trunks. "Get the fuck out of my way Trunks. She's my mission!"

But Trunks again deflected each one, easily, using mostly his right arm. He took a stronger stance on the ground by Pan, the wind whipping his hair.

"Let me state this more clearly," Trunks bared his teeth as he deflected and reflected incoming blasts, "THIS. ONE. IS. MINE! HAAA!" Trunks blasted a giant beam of energy at Gohan, which Gohan blocked and knocked him backward. Gohan spun out of the attack and formed a ki ball in his hands.

Trunks was trembling. Pan could clearly see that he was having an internal battle. He was mouthing words to himself, speaking to himself under the wind, his energy spiraling in a fury. Every part of him was glowing in his power. Pan was in stunned disbelief.

"Damn traitor. Then I will kill you." Gohan's cold voice rose, and the grounds began to shake again as he powered up the ki ball in his hand, blue sparks snapping against the wind.

Pan couldn't believe her eyes or ears. Trunks was in front of her, fighting Gohan, to protect her. Somehow, Trunks was able to fight Baby's influence in response to the ring. Her mind and heart reeled, and felt a renewed sense of power with her hope. She felt her energy rise enough that she was able to pick herself back up, wobbling a bit as she caught her breath.

She reeled at the idea of him protecting her against Gohan. She had spent so much time worrying that Trunks would interfere with her own focus, and fearing that she would be unable to dispose of him, that she momentarily had forgotten that the rings also triggered Trunks to protect her. She felt her own ring acting up on her as she watched them belt and bellow at each other in their brawl. They raged and howled as they rendered earth and rock to rubble and ash. The way they fought was almost choreographed. They could each see moves and respond to moves so fast, that each movement was a flow into another attack.

She watched awe-stricken as Trunks and Gohan both went full-force at Super Saiyan 2. The ground began to crack from the quakes. She looked down at her feet to see steam rising from cracks. Old wells and geysers burst from the ground, erupting in clouds of boiling vapor. The crack grew into a gorge that split the land all the way down to the palace in the far distance. Whole tectonic plates were shifting under their feet from the massive energy that they were emitting into the Planet Tuffle.

A far mountain exploded its top into a gigantic cloud as it erupted as a volcano.

She was so entranced, that she didn't see the dropkick coming.

DNKK! The sudden foot smacked Pan's head down hard on a rock, which cracked beneath her in a high pitched SNAP. Her vision turned black and her ears rang. She tried to lift her head but her body convulsed forward instead. She lay face-forward on the ground, trembling. Her vision turned white, the sound in her ears humming in a high pitch. She tried again to lift her head, but her body couldn't respond. Everything hurt.

She couldn't move.

Goten stood over her. She only saw his bloodied legs and torn rags of his light pants, but she recognized them. Goten's voice cackled darkly. "Got you."

Pan could just stare ahead at the ground, her face relaxed and expressionless, not even sure if she was conscious as the world buzzed in and out of her vision. She has no control left of her body. She had no awareness of losing. She had no thought.

She was just so tired. She wanted to close her eyes and just sleep this away. She noticed a burning sensation on her finger, and it was the only thing that kept her from falling to the darkness.

She sensed the light of Trunks returning, and figures with thrown away from her. There were muffled cries and energy blasts near her. The ground shook under her cheek and it hurt her skin. But she couldn't do anything about it. Her body was completely spent. Her head hurt like a train hit it. The world was reeling. There were shouts, more energy and burning blasts around her. It all was so muted in her ears. The sounds were so far away.

And then she felt the energy blast. It felt so far, behind static. It was so hot, that she felt cold. Save Trunks.

She felt Trunks in the blast. It was like they were swimming in energy. Save Trunks.

It felt so good to die. It felt so warm and welcoming to be done. To rest. Save Trunks.

But she felt there was something she was leaving behind. Something calling to her. Something important…

Save Trunks.

Something snapped in her mind. The world came crashing in again on Pan as she became aware of the double energy wave that she and Trunks had been trapped in. Trunks had been covering her, screaming in agony as their skin burned in the waves. Then Trunks went silent and limp, as he fell unconscious.

And Pan realized that Trunks was about to die.

And a light switch clicked in her mind.

Off… On.

––––––––

––––––––

-08/29/23-

Author's Note: Buckle up! :)