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CHAPTER 70
Dilemma
The Flash Bang's energy exploded with blazing ki eruptions and a flood of plasma throughout the cratered valley. Ear-piercing echoes of KK-KKA-KKAK re-echoed throughout the sky as the atmosphere KRAKKed in airwaves of friction. The ground recoiled as it hurled up crags and jagged stone high into the air. The tremendous force of the blast, combined with the rising ki level of Baby-Uub, put immense pressure on the terrain below.
With a deafening RRRRMMMM, the planet moaned, and the unstable deep crater began to implode, progressively expanding the abyssal spiral cataclysm toward the lower edges of the closest mountain ranges.
Trunks heaved as he fought the dark riptide current against his ki. His aura burned as brightly as his golden hair, though it was challenging to keep his transformation balanced. He struggled to compensate for the attrited power that he was losing as winds of his ki were sucked into the electric voids that crackled around and within him.
The tempestuous landscape had been a challenge for him to traverse without expending ki. Trunks had dodged several rockslides in his descent to the foothills of the mountainscape. As a fluke, he reached the base of the range in time to witness Lord Baby in the air transfer himself into Uub in a horrific ascension of power.
But Trunks' eyes were not on Uub. They were steadfast on another target, and he knew he only had a small window of opportunity to take advantage of his distraction.
He braved it, and shot forward into the air, WHOOSHing straight past Uub with a single-minded purpose as he threw his energy reserve to the wind. Below him, the whirlpool of rocks rolled and rumbled deep into the planet.
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Vegeta's blonde hair flickered as he swallowed a desperate gasp for air now that Lord Baby finally was gone from his body.
And for a singular moment of clarity, Vegeta's mind was free.
Vegeta saw the full Earth rising on the western horizon, as the planet - his rightful planet - rotated clockwise in its orbit. And for a moment, he remembered this place, as broken as it was. The Planet Tuffle, no - Planet Vegeta had been named after his own father who had won its rightful claim at the end of the Saiyan-Tuffle war, when the Saiyans were able to defeat the Tuffles after transforming into Great Apes.
He remembered the pursuit of his Saiyan legacy, lured by his calling to the stars as his ancestors before him. He remembered his vengeful pride that fueled him in his quest for power. He recalled the torment that he endured and exacted in his years with Frieza, which empowered his villainous nature. He thought of the enslaved life he lived, in which he ironically took pleasure from imposing the same heartless tyranny as the Tuffle predecessors of his planet.
He wondered for a moment about the cycle of hatred in the universe. He wasn't all that different from Tuffles back then. If he had mind control abilities from the start, he would have certainly weaponized them. He could easily have become his own version of Baby in his quest for power. Out there in space, influence was measured by power levels and dominance. To remain in apex leadership, there was no true love or sense of family. There was just a cycle of fighting, and power, and sex, and training brats to continue the chain.
But, then he came to Earth… the same Earth that rose on the horizon; the same Earth that radiated majestic rare blues and whites and greens. It held so much potential for life - for his life… where he met Bulma; where he had his children; where he had accepted his future as being grounded to the planet.
It took a long time, but he had learned to love the Earth.
There might have been a day when Vegeta would have condoned Baby's actions as masterful strategic moves in a quest for power - if Baby had never targeted his own family, that is. But those days seemed a whole lifetime ago. They were from a time before the defeat of Majin Buu; from before his daughter was born. His love for his children changed his entire perspective of the world. And he truly learned to love his world.
And he was so sorry for the world.
He was so sorry for the people of Earth, and for his family, and to Kakarot's family. He felt he did not deserve to live after the things he had done as Baby. The things he did to Trunks. The things he did to Bulma.
And then Vegeta stalled in flight as his nerves shot into burning waves of tingles, and he started sinking as his ki shorted out. His eyes rolled back in his head as he rasped a throaty gasp. And then Vegeta fell backward as he blacked out. Unconscious, he appeared as an almost imperceptible streak against the purple sky as he succumbed to the pull of gravity.
His body dropped as heavy as lead toward the whirling landslide below.
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"Daaaad!" Trunks flew faster in his Super Saiyan form. His ki churned as it flooded and drained from him as he focused on his sole target. There was no room for error.
Trunks smacked into Vegeta's unconscious body as he caught his father in his arms. "Oof!"
The impact of their collision threw Trunks off kilter, and he was unable to stabilize himself. His core and feet felt like his rocket engine ki power was off its trajectory, and he listed to the right and spiraled.
Panting heavily in a tailspin, he held his father as if it were a hug, tight against him, with both of his arms around Vegeta's back. As they spun, the world blurred into dark streaks, and Trunks fought his head fog to gain any bearing of his decreasing altitude.
Just as the rolling rocks came rushing toward their heads, Trunks caught himself from his fall by levitating with his core. He pushed his ki as hard as he could against the calamitous terrain under him. He struggled to breathe as he was immersed in a rocky waterfall of sand and dust that pricked against his eyes and face. He bent forward to try to shield Vegeta as much as possible as his father dangled from his arms.
Below Trunks and Vegeta, the black and purple bolts sparked, converging into a round dark flashing shield that kissed and shocked the stony ground that was only inches below Vegeta's boots. Trunks breathed hard with closed eyes against the sand rain. That was a close one.
The electric bolts nipped and zapped at Vegeta's legs, shocking him in his prone state. Vegeta's body then began to convulse in Trunks' arms, roughly jerking and trembling.
"Ughh," Trunks strained to stay aflight. His father's jerking made it harder for him to keep his grip, despite his gloves. The heat around them also slicked Vegeta's skin in sweat, so Trunks had to hold harder to prevent his father from slipping.
But they were close under the enemy. They had to move. Trunks fought to control his breathing as the oppressive mind fog swirled and zapped with him.
"Shit," Trunks grunted and pulled them both up, to lift above the dust cloud. "Fuck, you're heav–!" He gasped in air as he continued to levitate, focusing all his energy on maintaining his balance. "Dad," he gasped as he ascended again, holding his father tight. He was determined to save him.
BOOOOOOOOM! One of the nuclear bursts around Baby-Uub's struggling body blew a massive shock wave through the air and landscape.
Just as Trunks got his bearings straight with his ki control, the impact of the wave blast caught Trunks off guard. He shouted as he and his father were again tossed back toward the rockslides, pushed down by the tremendous, unexpected force.
With flickering hair, Trunks quickly realized that he was not able to summon enough ki in time to stop his imminent crash into the roiling landscape below. In an instinctual move to protect his father, Trunks managed to rotate in the air so that he would hit the rocks back-first. There wasn't enough time to think quickly, but Trunks had the intuitive thought that there may still be a chance for him to escape the current of flowing boulders, even if small.
He closed his eyes to brace for impact.
But instead of hitting rock - SHWPP! - his back collided into a soft warm body that caught and enveloped him, spinning in the air to absorb and redirect the inertia of his fall. What… What..?
He felt himself rising higher as he was held from behind, suspended, as he also held his father.
"Got you!" Pan's voice reassured from behind him.
Pan! Trunks had never felt joy like the kind of elation that he had in that moment. His eyes flooded with tears as the realization of his and his father's own peril finally struck him.
Being held by her, saved by her, gave him a sense of safety he had not truly felt in a long time. He sensed her skin - her chest and her bare body against his bare back, and he felt that this is what he wanted; he just wanted her warmth and her light, and the comfort of her arms. He never wanted her to let go. That thought made him hold his father even tighter to his chest, also refusing to let go.
She reminded him what he was fighting for.
With wet eyes, he wished he could turn around in her arms. He wanted to see her. He wanted to tell her that he was okay; that his mind was free right now.
But when he tried to mouth words to the sky, his body struggled. The stupid fucking Baby egg was still inside him. It made his eyes tear up even more to know he couldn't speak to her or look at her, to at least communicate that he was conscious. It was taking everything he had just to keep his grip on his father.
Pan flew Trunks back toward the mountain range from which he had come, along the foothills of the ridge closest to the crumbling city. During their flight, Trunks had a clear view of Baby-Uub who hovered above the rockslides. He watched as the tremendous heat wave of Baby-Uub's ki instantaneously combusted the stony cataclysm underneath him. The rockslides began to glow red as the ground underneath baked and began to boil.
The liquefying rocks melded into a viscous red and black lava whirlpool of molten fire as Baby-Uub's screamed. Baby-Uub's voice evolved into a bloody roar, and then he emitted a second BOOOOM shock wave that flattened the landscape into a melted hellish wasteland.
As Pan touched down on the stony terrain along the outer boundary of the cataclysm, the ground still felt cool to the touch. She could feel her footing sway, however, as the entire planet under them slowly rocked like a boat.
Pan set Trunks down by a straight-edged tall boulder that resembled the foundation of a wall. With his back still to Pan, Trunks slid to his knees holding his father, and then set Vegeta down to lean his back against the red stone.
Trunks kneeled over his father for a moment, taking him in. Flashes of his memory from his father's possession threatened to spark a well of anger within him, but he quickly snuffed out the thought. He reminded himself that everything done was against their volition. He needed time to process everything. But his father was safe for now. It was all Trunks could have hoped for.
"Trunks, I'm going to need you to stay here." Pan's voice spoke to him from behind.
Looking at his father, his throat swelled and caught as he remembered that Pan was behind him.
Still on his knees, Trunks slowly turned his head to finally get a good sight of her.
Trunks swallowed as his eyes widened to take in her naked frame. She was womanly and taller than he last remembered her. His eyes shyly averted from her breasts as he looked up at her eyes. He was spellbound in wonder as her Mystic form silver-toned eyes returned his gaze.
He saw her. She saw him. Her expression shifted a bit as her eyes softened in inquiry. Her eyes darted to each of his own. He so desperately wanted her to know it was him.
Watching her, he swallowed and leaned his hand right back against the rock wall as he slowly slid against it to stand, his expression expectant and eager.
Trunks' eyes softened as he opened his mouth to say something, but the words flitted by his mind and dissolved into the static.
"P-P-..Shit..." Trunks grunted and bent forward, clutching his stomach as he fought Baby's egg. He felt desperate to get his words out, and also anguished that he wasn't able to say the things that he wanted to.
And then his blood ran cold in dread as he felt the ki. He sensed it before his eyes saw it.
Baby-Uub suddenly phased behind Pan with a ki blast already in his palms, targeting all three of them at once.
Trunks had little time to react. "NO!"
Trunks reached out with his left hand to form a blast, but was unable to draw his own ki in time. Instead, he desperately opened his mind to any power that could flood his system. The black lightning within him roared to life as it filled all the gaps within his need for energy. His eyes went wide with surprise as he felt himself swell and pulse with the power as if it were a living life form.
And in that split moment, he watched Baby-Uub fire his blast.
And with his surrender to the lightning, a giant black and purple spherical electric field erupted around them, shielding Pan's back with immense plasmic energy that sparked and crackled in the air.
The ki blast from Baby shook the ground below them with its impact. The lightning shield took the entire hit and swallowed the energy whole, as if it had been sucked into a wormhole.
"Hahh?!" Trunks was goggle-eyed as he felt the rush of the energy convert into a cool force that flooded within him. Trunks suddenly felt invigorated. He looked down to his extended left hand, and then to his body in disbelief, once again processing that both he and Pan were surrounded with the same black and purple bolts. What is this power, and how do I also have it?!
His thought was quickly replaced by his body's instinct for survival as Baby leapt toward them, and phased immediately before Pan with a fist ready for a blow.
But, as he punched forward with all his might, the black lightning flared again and rejected Baby's advance with an angry buzz, ZzzZPPPKZzzZ!
Baby flipped back and landed on all fours. He sneered at the group as it dawned on him that the electric shield also protected the Saiyan and his dissenter from his direct attacks.
Pan spun about-face to face her aggressor, "Uub?!"
"Not Uub," Trunks choked in realization, "Lord Baby." Trunks watched him with a caught throat, wide-eyed and speechless, as he felt his gut yearn for him. Despite the safety of the shield, Trunks unconsciously slid himself back against the rock, beside his father, wanting to go deeper into the rock, and to hide.
His body trembled as he realized the gravity of their situation, and felt waves of horror ride his emotions. This shield protected them, but it was a stalemate. There was no way to get out of the shield without facing Baby, and staying within the shield would mean certain death, as the rock platform that they were on began to heat and rock like a raft as the lava whirlpool by them expanded its radius, and some of the nearby foothills began to tumble.
Baby stood slowly, analyzing the situation calmly. The cogs were turning in his newly-acquired young body's head.
"Oh," Baby stated a simple word, yet it held tremendous realization, "I see." Baby looked between Pan and Trunks with an amused sneer. "You got bonded outside of Earth." He threw back his head and cackled, "Ahahahaha! Saiyans, of all fighting filth, getting bonded! This is rich!"
"What would you know about it?!" Pan bared her teeth at him. "You wouldn't know the first thing about it!"
"Oh, I've seen this before, but never with a warrior race." His cackle shifted into a proud sneer as his eyes filled with amused malice. He stated slowly and ominously, "And I…" his sneer grew wickedly dark, "... know your weakness."
Trunks stood up, leaning his back against the wall as he slid to his feet slowly and cautiously. Pan took a step back, with their shield moving backward with her.
"There is nothing weak in my resolve!" Pan held up a hand to Baby, summoning her power. "You took everyone from me, and it's my turn to take it all away from you." She grew the power in her hand. "I will end you!"
Trunks felt his stomach twist in anguish for Pan. Goading Baby would make him want to hurt her more.
Baby's grin twisted from ear to ear as his eyes grew dark and delighted. "Oh no, Saiyan trash," he slyly leered between Pan and Trunks with wide, fanged teeth. "I figured out how to end this."
Baby raised his right hand toward Trunks. "Trunks," Baby hissed, and his lips warped into a devious grin as he commanded two chilling, murderous words. "Kill Pan." And then he began to laugh in a shrill, grating cackle.
Kill Pan.
Kill Pan. Kill Pan. The order resonated in his head, and filled his mind again with the black sludge that poured in from everywhere in his thoughts at once. Kill Pan. The pull of it - the call of it - the need for it fueled Trunks as his eyes shot wide and the shockwave of Lord Baby's commandment hit his face.
The words were like the lulling music of a siren as he was lured into a dream state. Baby's magnetic pull within Trunks' mind fogged into a phantasmic and encompassing nightmare. Kill Pan.
Trunks' head became clouded, and he lost his perception of reality. He just knew one thing - he needed to please Lord Baby. He felt the warmth and tug of his master reaching for him. He felt the desire for him, the touch of him, and he heard hypnotizing and alluring bells…
He vaguely sensed Pan touching his shoulder, saying something. He was distantly aware of Pan pulling herself against him, to wrap him in her skin as she held him, pleading something.
Baby powered himself up, heating the air as it fizzed in condensation around his body. Baby's energy called to Trunks. He needed it. His gut lurched as he yearned for it. He could not remember any thought or any time that did not include his devotion to his Lord Baby.
No, yes he did. He remembered a time from before Lord Baby. Pan was from that time. Save Pan.
"N-No…!" Trunks managed, wide-eyed and gasping labored breaths, as the words sucked his energy dry. Trunks fought the feeling as he heaved against the stone wall, sensing Pan's arms around his waist, holding him tightly, and somewhat aware of his father, who was still unconscious by his feet. The lightning zapped and sparked in Trunks' mind, but all the static simply added to the fog. He felt lost. He felt ungrounded.
"Kill Pan," Baby repeated with a triumphant tone.
"No." Trunks wheezed as he tried to find the radiant light in his mind. Save Pan. Save Dad.
And in his defiance, Trunks pushed Pan away and stood, readying a ki blast in his right arm that he raised toward Baby.
And then, against his volition, his body jerked and reset with Baby's control. Kill Pan.
Trunks breathed sharply as he felt Baby's egg signal waves sparking his nerves against his will. And then slowly turned his face to look straight at Pan with confused eyes, as he rotated his blast arm to be straight to her face.
"Trunks! What are you-!" Pan stumbled back.
Trunks screamed as he unintentionally fired the ki blast, twisting his wrist at the last moment so the heat only brushed her left cheek. But then he dove straight at her stomach to tackle her.
"Trunks, stop!" Pan rolled back and dodged as Trunks grabbed at her, and instead twisted her legs around his right leg. Pushing upward with her ki, she rolled and toppled Trunks who landed on the rock and spun, also trying to grab her leg.
They wrestled and grappled as each tried to force the other down.
"No!" Trunks batted her hands away as he used his weight and the force of his Super Saiyan ki to keep her pinned against the rock as the lightning raged between them. He got a hold of her throat, and began to squeeze. "No!"
"Fight it!" Pan cried out to him as she brought energy to her fingers to burn his hands off of her. Trunks screamed in agony at the pain and shock of it, but could not let go. "Fight it!" She raised her ki as she thrust her arms upward, in between his, and jabbed his arms away from her neck with her powerful elbows.
Trunks lost his balance as Pan pushed him back and kneed him hard in the gut. "Aaagh!" Trunk was thrown back, and Pan was instantly on top of him, wrestling him into an armlock as she stood, pulling his entire body up with her strength and momentum, and with her arm hooking Trunks' arm with both hands, she fell backwards, forcing Trunks' own momentum to cause them to flip forward over her head as he SLAMMED into the ground.
Trunks kept his grip on her arm as he did a spinning wristlock with both his hands. He twisted and yanked her down over him while in a spin that flipped her. Her back slammed hard on the rocks. The stone cracked under their force.
"Aaahahaahahaha!" Baby's belly rolled in deep laughter as he hollered at the fight between Trunks and Pan. This was all too easy for him. He could let the two wear themselves down. At this rate, they would destroy their own stone floating platform and get caught up in the whirlpool. They could take each other down, and bring Vegeta down with them. All Baby had to do was watch, and the last Saiyan and his former-Saiyan elites would be history, locked in a fight to each of their deaths.
"This is fucking hilarious!" His laughter stopped and spoke in an ominously low and humored tone, "Yes, Trunks! Kill Pan! Kill her with all of your power!"
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Hercule cursed and rolled as he fell among the rocks after Buu. In his pursuit of the djinn, he scrambled and huffed, sweating like a horse and panting hard. He was surprised with his own stamina as he chased Buu down the foothills. With adrenaline that fueled his purpose, he was able to dodge rocks and boulders with an agility and energy that harkened back to his younger days. However, his stamina was quickly running out. He was already getting tired and sore, and he knew his knee pain would be the death of him later, but he continued to push onward in his urgency to catch up to Buu.
The valley they had overseen had become a catastrophic rock gyre, and Buu was acting strange, and was heading straight for it. Buu was now acting out of sorts, and Hercule knew Buu needed him. He wanted to talk some sense into Buu for his friend's protection.
As Hercule climbed forward on top of a boulder, he assessed the scene ahead. He saw in the flats below, Pan and Trunks beating down on each other as they chain wrestled with no contest. Pan was naked and Trunks half-naked as they were locked in a struggle to neutralize each other. It looked extremely inappropriate and infuriated Hercule. He had half a mind to charge over to them, but then he saw that Uub - was that Uub? - was laughing strangely while watching their struggle, and Vegeta was leaning limp against a stone rock. The ground looked unstable underneath them, and it looked perilous. Perhaps this would be a better job for Buu.
Hercule blinked, and turning his eyes, he saw the other sight he was looking for - Buu was standing, hesitating on the rocks below in front of him as he watched Not-Uub, ready to blindside him. In the commotion below, nobody had noticed either Hercule or Buu approaching from behind.
"Buu!" Hercule leaped forward, scrambling over the rocks, "Buu! Ya gotta help Panny! She's in over her head! Ah dun' know what te do!"
Despite Hercule's plea, Buu seemed introspective, which was unusual for Hercule to see. Hercule staggered to Buu's side. "Hey Buu..?"
"Buu save Pan." Buu seemed more serious, resolute, and then followed with. "But Uub need Buu."
"Yer right, Buu. We gotta get them both outta here!"
"No, Mr. Satan" Buu looked to Hercule suddenly. "You must go."
"What?" Hercule stopped, but looked over to where she and Trunks were fighting. "I can't just leave my Panny!"
"No, Mr. Satan," Buu repeated cryptically, "You Buu friend. Good friend. Because you friend, you must go." His voice became lower, dark and more menacing, "I give chance only once." And then, as if Buu did not even care about Hercule's response, Buu lashed out with his right hand to grab and wrap around Hercule. Hercule huffed in surprise as Buu's arm broke free from his body, snapping off from his body like children's playdough as Hercule fell backwards.
Hercule tripped and rolled with the pink arm, "What's the meaning of-." Then the pink arm stretched like a rope and wrapped around Hercule tightly with a GOMP! "Wha- WOAAAHH!"
Buu's pink rope hand floated with Hercule, and spun in circles, gaining momentum like a sling, WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH, WHOOOSH. Hercule was tossed upward with a shout, and then Buu's arm caught him again and whipped around in the air, spinning four times. Upon the fourth swing, WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH, Hercule was cast into the air like fishing bait as the pink arm stretched to guide Hercule's trajectory as he was thrown at full force toward the crumbling Tuffle city.
Hercule screamed the entire way back to the town.
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No, Trunks desperately tried to fight his body. Stop. He struggled as each impact rocked his ability to surface himself again. There was nothing that he could grasp to ground him as his mind churned to rise from the crude oil that blocked his consciousness. His urgency and desperation boiled within him, until he felt his body become nauseous again. And then a sudden bubble forced its way to the surface.
Only a whisper could come out, "No.." He squeezed with all of his soul that bubbled and burst, desperate, "Stop."
Trunks gagged and missed a swing, which left him with an opening on his right side. In one synchronized swing, Pan unhinged her red Nyoi-Bo, and spun to bat at him again. The red bo staff smacked against black lightning as Trunks was able to block with his right arm just in time, however the impact forced him to the side and he was knocked down to his back with an "Oof!"
The moment he fell backward, Pan gained her initiative. Pan stood over him with her left hand extended to his face, armed with a point-blanc ki blast that sizzled and singed the wisps of his bangs that flew free from his ponytail.
Wide-eyed, facing the ki ball to his face as he was on the ground by the wall, Trunks realized he was cornered and defeated.
Trunks swallowed as the black lightning roared through him, strengthening him, seeking to protect him as the two energies collided by his forehead. The bolts of their proximity zapped and broke through the tar in his head. The putrid ooze split under the electric snaps and was sucked into the plasmic voids within his mind.
The dark mud within his mind blinked out as if sun rays broke through and lit his world. He felt the ground under his hands swell and shake like his own body. And then suddenly, his head was free again, clear as day.
With the clarity came his realization that there was nothing that he could do to truly fight Baby. He was truly captured. There was no way that he could help her anymore. The longer he was here, the more he held Pan back.
He couldn't control his ki. He was her liability. This was the end for him. There was no way out.
"Kill me," Trunks managed with a harsh croak.
"I can't kill you," Pan swallowed.
Trunks' gut reeled as he became cognizant of their dilemma. They were truly between a rock and a hard place. There was no getting out of this.
His eyes welled as he looked to her, his hands clasping the rock under him. "Pan…" his body reeled as he struggled to maintain control. His breaths were haggard and broken. He had nothing more he could give her except to get in her way. But he wanted to live. He wanted to live for her.
His breath caught a final time, and he broke out into a hoarse sob under the ki blast light. "Pan, help me..."
"I'm going to save you." Pan's eyes watered as she looked down to him.
He wailed with gritted teeth, "I can't fight anymore," Trunks wheezed heavily with tears as he felt his energy continue to be sucked from him like a shop vacuum. His eyebrows knitted as he fought the current. "I can't protect you anymore."
"You did great," Pan smiled softly as she kept her ki blast to his head. The lightning friction between them tingled and jolted his skin as she cooed, "Let me be your hero for once."
His eyes widened, and he shot his left hand to her extended left arm, gripping her arm tightly.
He squeezed her arm with immense strength to lock himself against her. Both of their eyes went wide as his eyes raced between hers with a mixed expression of wonder, awe, and ultimately determination.
"No," Trunks looked hard in her eyes with a strong brow, then his expression softened into a sad, reassuring smile. "Let me be yours."
And then he released his energy into her.
He released it into his left hand - into the ring. Winds roared to life around them. The lightning sucked at his power with an insatiable greed; a ravenous vortex of space that shredded him from within and consumed him from the deepest reaches of his soul. And he willingly gave all of it, pouring it to her. He sensed himself screaming, with blue and black electric bolts that lashed and struck as Pan also screamed in surprise and agony with the energy that soared into her, flooding her from within every nook of her body and soul. The energy was an ocean well as he held her tight, looking at her wide eyes through the teal windows to his soul.
And he saw the flicker in her hair as she shouted over the immense wind vortexes that were whipping around them. Surrounded by her crackling lightning, her silvered eyes cleared and glowed into a bright teal green. Her short black glowing hair whipped into a burning bright blonde.
His eyes went wide at the sight as he felt his power flow into her. His hair relaxed to lavender, and the blue bolts from around him shifted to surround Pan with light snaps of yellow energy sparks within her ki.
Pan was a Super Saiyan.
His eyes teared as he saw her radiance. He had once again never seen anything or anyone so alluring in his life.
And then his vision flickered, and he felt completely spent.
When he cut off the energy draw, it was like a train slammed into him. His body felt wrecked and destroyed. His eyes were heavy and drooped, as he had barely enough strength to breathe.
He felt his arm must have dropped from hers. He felt her touch his face, and shift to cradle his back.
It felt so good. Sleep would be so good. Trunks closed his eyes as his body shut down, feeling his consciousness teeter as he pictured Pan radiating in her magnificence. He reached for her in his dream as he lethargically whispered, "Beauti…f.."
Trunks let out his breath in a quiet exhale as he slipped into unconsciousness in her arms.
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As Kibitoshin Kai was watching his crystal ball, he saw the trigger that he was looking for. It was time to finally make their move.
Kibito stood up straight, stern and collected. There was no room for games anymore. Goku would simply have to be tail-less. The thought of not having an insurance policy greatly bothered Kibito, but it strengthened his resolve to personally intervene with the battle today.
It was time to prepare the parasite-abating liquid and finally render Baby's eggs inert. Today was to be the day that the humans and Saiyans would be freed from Tuffle control.
The recipe for the tea was invented by the Kais of Universes 3 and 10, during a dark age within the Spiritual Realm billions of years prior, when a similar parasite almost caused the extinction of life itself for both universes at once. It was a situation that involved all the Kais from each universe as they tried to develop a solution. The answer ended up being simple and close to home. The grass of the Mystic Kai's planet was imbued with the Mystic energy of creation. That was why it grew so fast and healthy on his planet. It fed off the energy of the Other World and converted it into Mystic potential.
Thanks to Goku, they would have enough potency to save Earth's population - Planet Truffle be damned.
Kibito looked firmly at Goku, and then he spoke with a foreboding tone, "We are out of time. Gather all the grass that you mowed. We are going to brew it as the water cools."
Goku groaned, "What? All the grass?!" He looked around in a stupor, realizing how much fresh grass was in piles. "This isn't just another training exercise, is it?
Kibito shook his head. "No, Goku. This time it's for the real final battle."
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9/14/23
Author's Note: I'm personally proud of this chapter, especially of both the rescue scene and the romance.
I feel I've started to hit my stride again with my writing. I spent the last several days reworking this chapter's prose so I could best capture this true reunion of Trunks and Pan. Their love story has always been a driving force of my work, and this chapter is foundational to some of Trunks' realizations in the future. Upcoming chapters are going to be an emotional rollercoaster. I feel I'm finally getting to the good part.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this chapter. Love takes many forms :)