.
CHAPTER 74
Escalation
The beast glowered at her with a twisted grin, assessing her in a standstill prowl. Pan could sense his energy building as his eyes grew more and more wild with each passing moment, taking in her naked body with obvious hunger and a lust for the fight. Despite his chaotic eyes and fanged grin, he looked exactly like Uub with his signature dark mohawk, albeit with a new dark green-and-yellow vest and white pants that transmuted from his original green gi. But his energy, his eyes, and his maniacal grin all spoke to how this was not Uub.
This… was her mortal - no, immortal - enemy. And his rising excitement grew on both his face and the tightening of his pants. And the longer he looked at her, the more giddy he seemed to grow.
Pan watched as his fingers and lips twitched, as if he were holding something back. She knew it was a pipe dream, but despite the evil aura, she still held out hope that there might still be good in him… that there still might be a chance to get through to him, despite being controlled by Baby. After all, he hadn't proven himself to be bad yet.
"Fight it, Uub." Pan spoke slowly and deliberately to not incense him, but it came out more as a pleading tone.
The creature slightly tilted his head as if in thought. "Uub?" Then the monstrosity nodded and acknowledged her for a moment. "No," he concluded in a faraway tone, as if still lost in thought. "Baby. No, Buu, no…" he continued to think as he straightened his posture while standing on his floating platform. His piercing eyes turned to look hard into hers, "Majin Baby Buu."
"Majin Baby Buu," Pan half-heartedly repeated in a deadpan tone. She was not impressed. She didn't even want to speak to this villain. His voice, alone, pissed her off. But then again, she might have been feeling anger as a defense mechanism.
Baby was within the body of Majin Buu - the monster that took down every single Z fighter among her friends and family, and had destroyed the planet Earth at one time. This time, as she faced Majin Buu alone, there would be no Piccolo to shield her. There would be no Grandpa Goku to protect her. There would be no Trunks to save her. There would be no Papa to comfort her.. She was all on her own… against Majin Baby Buu…
"Or Baby Buu. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Baby Buu twisted his lips in a sneering grin. "Fits my traditional naming structure. I like it."
Pan bitterly rolled her eyes as she heckled, "More like Baby Boo-hoo after I'm done with you."
"Huh?" Baby Buu blinked, then his eyes went wide and his lips turned up. He roughly slapped his knees as he shouted, "HAHA!" and then he pointed to her, "You've got a sense of humor!" His grin revealed layers of sharp teeth. "I like your mettle."
"You'll like my fists even more," Pan spat.
"Hehehe, oh this is great," Baby Buu's eyes gleamed in sadistic humor as he hungrily drank in the sight of her naked body, "No, woman, I'll show you a true fisting."
Pan tilted her head up in confidence, knowing how her shield had previously held its ground against everyone who had tried to breach it previously, including Baby within Uub. She feigned bravado as she flicked her left hand. "You can't even touch me."
Chaos burned and boiled in Baby Buu's eyes as his grin grew wicked and his voice was low and ominous. "Ohhhhh, I'm going to touch you."
Pan extended her right arm, with her palm facing Baby Buu. She released her mind to the All and was flooded with renewed Mystic vigor. Her purple and black bolts thickened and converged to make a chain-lightning shield, reminiscent of chain-mail. "Try me."
Baby Buu harrumphed with his plastered grin. He licked his lips and again eyed her body up and down. His low voice was calculative and slow-spoken, "I can destroy your shield."
With her right arm still extended, Pan haughtily turned her palm to face herself, and curled her fingers twice rapidly, in a beckoning taunt. "How about we play a game?"
"Oh?" Baby Buu's eyes lit and his eyebrows rose in both suspicion and interest, "I do like games..."
"Let's test my shield," Pan stated, tilting her head, "I'll give you a free punch."
"A free punch?" Baby Buu mused in his intrigue, licking his lips.
"If you can't hit me, then I get a free punch on you." Pan grinned as she inwardly focused her power and melded her ki to reinforce her shield.
After only a split moment of consideration, Baby Buu cracked his neck to the side with a wide grin and mirth that gleamed in his eyes. "Sounds fun!"
Baby Buu reared his right fist backward to punch from his distance, about 40 feet away. All of his weight and power were being backed into his momentum. He infused his fist with all of his might to destroy.
Then, in a sound-breaking BOOM, he released his fist forward and it flew!...over… two feet! … And then he double-stepped forward in a hop, hop, hop as he lost his balance, waving his arms in a circular motion to regain his footing.
"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Baby Buu teetered on his tip-toes… before falling flat on his face.
It took him a moment, as he lay face-flat on the rock, to realize what happened. He peeled himself up with a flustered face. As he stood, he grinned up to Pan. "Well that was embarrassing!"
Pan's brow creased as she was trying to judge what exactly was happening right now.
Baby Buu belly-laughed and circled in a twirl before dipping his body forward in a dramatic bow. He brought his right hand up to tip an imaginary hat to Pan. He courteously said in a dark tone, "Let's try that again."
As he stood back up from his bow and looked to her, he wore an ominous grin. His right arm came up and he snapped two fingers.
SNAP.
In an instant, his body erupted with light and morphed into a visceral pink goo that oozed into a hominid structure, and then solidified as a monstrous beast of a Buu.
His pink body was tall - very tall - with broad muscular shoulders and an evenly muscular frame that protruded pink veins that pulsated with dark fluid. His eyes were void-black with yellow beady pupils that bore into Pan's soul. Above his strong brow ridge, his pink antenna had dorsal fin-like flesh that was reminiscent of a mohawk.
His rows of teeth were as sharp as a shark grin, and his lips twisted and turned on his face, stretching like a putty and reflecting light like plastic. He looked at Pan with a wide mangled smile, and then he brought his hands up and streeeeeetched his cheeks even wider, as if to emphasize his grin. And then he let go, and his cheeks bounced back like cartoon rubber.
"Ohhhh YEAAAHHHH," Baby Buu bounced up with all of his limbs extended in a childish joy that was reminiscent of an eight-year-old. He started boxing the air, whiffing at an invisible punching bag, as if demonstrating his excellence. "HOO HOO HOO HOO HOOOOO!"
With his final punch he thrust his fist ALL the way, throwing his entire weight into the thrust that streeeetched over to Pan with all his force. And with a BZZT the lightning blocked the attack.. and then SHATTERED like a thin layer of ice, into voidal fragments.
The pink fist SMASHED straight into Pan's face with ALL the power.
With a crack of her nose, Pan was thrust backward by the blow. Her mind was in shock and delirium at the explosion of pain that blinded and deafened her. As soon as she felt the pain, she also felt the buzzing of the lightning within her, holding her structure and re-fortifying her flow as she freely flew through the air.
"And now time for my free punch!" Baby Buu gleefully howled.
As she gained her bearings, another long rubber fist swung from below, SNAPPING into the middle of her spine as she was again thrust upward. Pan felt her lower half go numb and buzz uncontrollably as she gasped through the pain and shock of losing control of her legs.
Pan smashed into the bottom of a rock plane, with the Mystic aura blocking most of the impact, but the crack against the back of her skull resonated pain throughout her entire head like a reverberating belfry.
Breaking through the stone, she ascended to the apex of her trajectory. As she flew upward from the attack's momentum, Pan could barely breathe. She panted from her bloodied and swollen mouth, but she still focused as hard as she could to keep her mental balance. She couldn't lose it now.
She slowed to a hover for just a moment before her fall. As she lingered, she knew this was her moment of weakness for an attack on her, and it would not be lost on Baby Buu. She couldn't stop it, but she did have enough time to summon a sturdy rock, which she clenched to reinforce her right fist.
Pan sensed the punch coming from its energy alone. And she focused her energy to spin in mid-air to dodge it. Baby Buu's fist doubled back, stretching and elongating in its path toward her.
As Baby Buu's fist came close, Pan thrust out her hands, and her rock hammered into Buu's fist. The impact of the rock's thrust threw off Baby Buu's punch trajectory, and the blow narrowly missed Pan.
Pan exhaled her deep breath, and then inhaled another deep breath. This time it was easier. She felt the tingling sensation in her body already working to heal and repair her nose and her spine. She felt a numb feeling return to her toes.
"Woah, wait a minute!" Baby Buu retracted his arm and hovered about fifty feet away, watching her as she caught her flight balance and she regained control of her legs. "You heal too?!"
"Huh?" Pan wiped her nose and glared at Baby.
"Ohooo," Baby Buu crooned as he grinned to her. "Turns out you're funny. And you're strong."
Pan felt neutral. "I'll take the compliment, thank you."
"I've decided I like you…" he rolled his green tongue wetly in his mouth as he molested and tasted her name, "... Pan."
"Yeah, right." Pan was not amused, but she enjoyed how Baby Buu was giving her a moment to heal. He knew it, too. It was clear from his posture and demeanor that he believed he greatly overpowered her, and was taking his time to toy with her. The monster was having fun.
"Do you know… Pan… one of the things I've learned as I've been the most powerful being in existence… is that it's what I can't have… that I want most."
Pan held back from rolling her eyes, refusing to let him get a rise out of her. "You're right; you can't have this." Pan felt her body buzz as her swellings went down. She brought her hands together, in front of her, palms facing each other as she began to gather her ki.
"Ahhhh," Baby Buu was suddenly dramatic and emphatic with his gestures, "But Pan, it's what I need." He opened his arms to the dark clouded sky that reflected the red of the lava below. "What I can't have… is what drives me to pursue." He clenched his fists and looked down at her with eager, greedy eyes. "And I LIKE the chase." His green tongue licked his lips again. "And with a woman of your caliber…" his eyes showed a lustful hunger as he looked her body up and down, "...it's rare."
Pan gathered more energy into her palms, internally chanting a Kamehameha in her mind while channeling the Mystic power into her blast. Within just moments, the ball within her hand grew from a glowing blue-green aura into a massive ki ball with black and purple sparks that circled it like planetary rings.
"You know…" Pan allowed herself to feel snarky as the ball yearned for release, "I think we have something in common."
"Ooooohhh?" Baby Buu's voice musically swung up in tone in delighted anticipation as his grin widened beyond its physical limits. He blatantly ignored her attack preparation, disregarding its danger.
"I like the chase, too."
The energy pulsed in her palms, desperate for direction, throbbing with need.
"Oh yeah?" Baby Buu bit his lip in anticipation, his face revealing his excitement. "Tell me more."
"I'll show you." And then Pan released.
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
From her palms erupted a massive double-helix wave that shot like a continuous mega-laser cannon, spiraling as both a green Kamehameha wave and a black stream of electric void, tightly coiled into a Special Beam attack.
In surprise at the sudden enormity of the wave, Baby Buu jumped back a step and brought his arms in front of his chest in a crossed, defensive maneuver. The wave smashed -KRRRRR- into his crossed arms. Struggling only for one moment, Baby Buu roared and pushed his crossed arms forward, angling it to guide the beam. He deflected the wave upward from his body as he belly-roared. The massive double-energy wave's inertia pushed his steadfast body backward as he clung to his positioning by his toes.
The roar of the double-beam sounded like a thousand locomotive trains crashing into walls. The brightness of the destruction wave lit the entire local landscape in blue-green light that mixed with the red ambient light of the lava below; the result was a white light that lit the planet like the Sun.
"HAH!" Baby Buu scoffed as the wave concluded and was blasted out of the atmosphere. His eyes remained locked on her. As Pan appeared to recover from her attack, Baby Buu took advantage of his initiative and charged directly at her. As he approached, Pan stood her ground with lightning flaring, and spun her palms.
As Baby Buu reared back to thrust a fist forward, a massive light appeared from above him, bursting through steam clouds. The intense radiance once again lit up the entire planetary landscape as the coiled wave drilled downward straight on Baby Buu's head.
Baby Buu didn't see it coming. Before he could emit a shout, Baby Buu was knocked from his trajectory in the air, and was caught smack in the middle of the double-helix, unable to break out from the energy swirl as it shoved him in its enormous swirling cage of ki down toward the lava.
"AAAAAHH!" Baby Buu was unable to break out of the energy wave as it blasted him downward. Almost in a slow motion, he reached upward, trying to grab onto anything as his pink flesh burned in its heat and intensity. He channeled his own ki to push from his back and tried to levitate himself upward, to stop his fall. It only pushed him further into the pressure of the energy wave, and his entire front of his body burned and melted as he lost control of his flight.
"NOOOOOO!" Baby Buu was caught as he struggled and burned alive. "YOU BIIIIIIITCH!"
The massive destruction wave SMASHED straight into the molten lava sea with Buu in tow, bursting through it. The beam coiled and recoiled as it pushed him deep. Pan molded her palms so that the wave took on a life of its own, with the tail of the wave wiggling like a sperm's flagellum as the wave burned Baby alive, burying him deep, and deeper, within the melted rock.
Gigantic lava sprays and spirals of smoke burst up from the remnants of the attack. Hot, wet stone droplets lingered in the air with the rest of the suspended rocks before gravity pulled them back down to the hot glowing sea.
And then it was silent.
Pan stood on her floating rock, panting heavily. She looked down at Baby Buu's molten grave, and felt a sickly sweet wave of schadenfreude.
There. Now he's damned.
Pan scanned for Baby Buu's ki among the hellscape below as her body buzzed with regeneration from her wounds. Seconds felt like minutes, and a minute felt like an eternity of continued peace. A calm and cool wind blew against Pan's skin.
After another minute, Pan's emotions finally began to hit her. The buzz in her body intensified into a tremble of excitement, and she allowed a small smile to touch her lips. She thought of everyone Baby had hurt, both among her family and everyone back on Earth. She thought of the Supreme Kai and his command for her to seal and damn Baby Buu, and she felt her heart fill with warmth and pride.
She did it. Baby was finally dead. Everyone was finally going to be safe.
Pan looked over to the horizon where she confirmed that the large imperial cruiser ships were still docked. She felt a spark of hope that maybe she could make it to the ship in time to get off the planet.
But then she felt it. Or them. Or what was it?
Pan furrowed her brow and tightened her cheeks as she searched for the ki signatures, trying to understand the movement that she sensed below her. It felt like many, many microscopic and scattered ki signatures were pooling into clumps of stronger ki signatures within the depths of the lava.
And then she saw pink bubbles of vapor emerge from the molten fluids. Pockets of gas boiled up and gathered as a miasma that grew thicker with each gaseous splurt.
She frowned, trying to understand what she was seeing.
Pan watched as the cloud gathered more and more bubbles that thickened and condensed into a thick, pink fog. She watched with widening eyes as the thick haze compressed and bled into a pulsing liquid.
Pan's skin tingled and her hair stood on end as she realized what was happening. Majin Buu was regenerating, and she didn't have much time before the next imminent threat.
She calmed her breathing, and then focused her mind on the lava below. She tried to think of what Piccolo would do. Whether or not she was correct, she concluded that Piccolo would stall for time, and try to think of a plan. It was clear that the lava itself was not enough to finish Majin Buu; however, it was enough to stall him and thwart his comeback.
Using her telekinesis with her right palm open and extended, Pan pulled the lava upward as a hollow column that rose around Majin Buu's liquid body. The column was like a swirling molten straw that stemmed from the melted sea and rose to the dark clouds above, encasing Buu within its circumference.
Pan closed her palm, and the lava straw sealed top and bottom, now levitating as a fiery spherical prison for Buu's liquid body. The giant molten ball that he was encased in floated and rotated clockwise on its axis.
Pan tried to use the Mystic energy to reinforce the prison. Using her mind, she held the ball of lava tightly together and cooled the outer shell of the sphere to keep Buu's body trapped within its heat, in a perpetual state of damnation.
Yet even with her hardened-lava prison that should prevent bubbles from forming, Pan was still unable to contain him. She felt her rocks' molecules slip and part as micro-cells of Buu's evil energy pushed and prodded through the rock itself. His particles squeezed through as tiny bubbles that wound and careened through each molecular bond, wiggling and seeping with determination.
Pink miasma again boiled upward and out from the hardened rock. Pan realized with growing dread that Baby Buu could not be contained through any physical means. He could slip through any physical object - slowly, but surely, existing and traveling between atoms, where the Mystic energy similarly lay.
Pan realized Baby Buu's molten containment was only a temporary fix to a much larger problem. As Baby Buu continued to bubble out from hardened stone, Pan focused and readjusted her lava ball to re-contain him. She knew she was just stalling; this delay in battle was not a winning tactic, and she needed to clear her head to formulate a new strategy.
She decided to give herself some distance so she could consider her options.
Looking around, Pan saw a floating mountain range behind her. Her eyes gravitated to the peaks that silhouetted the Earth in the sky. Located above all the other rocks, Pan thought its apex would offer a good vantage point. Keeping a watchful eye on Baby Buu's containment rocks, and adjusting it accordingly to his bubbles, Pan flew to the top, and let her eyes take in the holistic view of the planetary landscape.
All around her was a rocky hellscape. The cleft within the valley created a torrential double-lavafall that seemed to have no bottom. Waves of lava crashed along the edges of the remaining solid rock platforms and crags that floated among the molten sea, enhanced by massive earthquakes as the planet faltered in its distress. In the distance, Pan saw volcanoes erupting along a fault line, with more lava to add to the flow. Smoke rose from everywhere and thickened the rock-platformed sky with the smell of ash and sulfur.
All-in-all, there was not much for Pan to work with… but she was creative, and she liked challenges.
She considered the elements that were available as tools within the planet itself. She also thought of the periodic elements that the Supreme Kai had shared. She considered her powers, and how she still had yet to practice and explore her limits.
Trying to source some inspiration, Pan stood tall and unhitched her Nyoi-Bo. She held it out before her and looked at it, reflecting the Earth's light. She thought of the history of the bo staff, from stories of her family. She thought of how her Grandpa Goku had used this same staff for his own adventures, and she felt connected with her heritage.
Pan thought about how Grandpa Goku was the one to defeat Majin Buu last time. She imagined herself channeling his spirit, and thought of how he would have tried to use Mystic power influence. Thinking of him flooded her mind with his illusion; it felt like his ki was on the planet right now… as if his spirit were many places at once, popping in and out like the black and purple bolts of her Mystic energy.
She smiled nostalgically at the bo staff, thinking it funny how the mind can play such tricks when you want something so badly.
"Grandpa… if you were here today, I think you'd be proud of me."
The thought of her Grandpa Goku made her look up to the sky through the clouds. Her eyes settled on the partially cloud-obscured full Earth and its full moon.
Looking at the Earth and its moon, she thought of Piccolo. And then the thought of the Earth brought her thoughts to her grand tour through space with Trunks and her Grandpa. She remembered watching the Earth very much like this, just one year ago, when they all approached their mother planet with their dreams and aspirations. The Earth used to be a place of happiness and hopes; it was a home for family and friends, and futures. Everything was so different a year ago…
She thought of everyone who had passed away since then. Her stomach clenched a bit at the memories. Piccolo… Grandpa… Giru… Uncle… Papa… even Uub and Good Buu now… She thought of everyone whose torch she carried, to continue to live on and enable life on Earth to thrive.
And then she thought of the dragonballs.
The wheels turned in her head as she started to consider the ramifications of losing Piccolo. Now that Piccolo was dead and the Black Star Dragonballs were gone, the Earth was bound for its destruction again soon. This Tuffle planet was supposed to be the ark, to save everyone. She realized with a heavy heart, that even if she did somehow win against Buu today, it would be a pyrrhic victory.
But as long as the spaceship over by the city got off the planet, there could still be hope. There was hope with Trunks and Bulma. They'd survive the Earth exploding - and the thought in itself gave her comfort. She knew they would have a collective power to figure out a creative way to bring back the Earth. They were both clever like that, and Pan needed to open up the possibility for them to truly save everyone.
And the only way to guarantee they would live, and have their freedom, would be to defeat Majin Baby Buu. Pan understood now, upon seeing him survive through lava, why the Supreme Kai considered this enemy so dangerous.
And while Pan had not yet figured out how to kill him, she did learn some valuable information: lava may not kill Buu, but it slowed him; and her Mystic power did not stop him, but it hindered him.
And then Pan thought of an idea.
–––––––
The roar of the lava deafened Goku as he popped in and out of space among the floating rocks and surging heat, searching within a several-mile perimeter of where he had found Trunks falling. He had thought he had sensed Goten's ki somewhere around here.
With his right fingers constantly to his forehead, Goku pulsed his ki to instant transmit to as many places as he could, as quickly as his focus allowed.
Despite only focusing on one mission, Goku was having a hard time focusing. Although he tried to keep calm, he inwardly was feeling increasingly frustrated and desperate. Goku knew he had his duty to get the people off the planet… but his son… He couldn't just leave him!
The feelings that swirled within Goku were intense and conflicted, and they flooded through him in intensifying waves. These emotions were alien to him. He was used to feeling anger and despair that driven from others. But this… this despair came from within him. This feeling of loss and melancholy - this guilt… was foreign… and eye-opening.
Goku had never felt guilt like this. He had never drowned in so much self-inflicted sorrow. Goku had no idea how to handle these feelings. He was beside himself.
"Goooooteeeeennnnnn!" The name rang empty among the destruction. Goku's breath hitched as he tried to control his breathing and to continue to focus. "Goooooteeeeennnnnn!"
Goku decided to try the area around where he caught Trunks again, and then realized the landscape below was different now. Goku realized that the entire landscape had been caught in a current. As Goku looked in the direction of where the land shifted, he saw that the platforms were now moving among growing rapids that headed straight toward the cleft in the planet's crust. All of the land was headed toward a bottomless lavafall.
Goku realized he needed to seriously hurry.
Goku transmitted above the falls, looking down to the abyss below, and re-orienting his ki search as he dodged stray splashes of lava and sulfuric smoke. He closed his eyes and opened his senses, desperate for just a sliver of a signal - anything at all.
And then he felt it. It was small, barely noticeable and too low to detect whose signature it was - but it was definitely a ping of life. Goku transmitted downward and transmit-hopped between the stone platforms that were among rapids, accelerating toward the bottomless lavafalls.
He sensed the ping again, like a weak slow heartbeat. Goku felt his emotions tumbling within him as he tried to pinpoint the precise location of the ki signature. His emotions were in the way, but he also felt the strange residue of a dark electric static lingering in the air, and it weakened his ki when he focused.
"Goootennnn!" Goku called out among the torrential terrain. The ki flickered among the floating platforms and he found himself honing in with small teleportations to mark the ki, sensing through a series of hot-and-cold comparisons. He felt himself getting closer with each transmission.
And then as he stood on a large stone raft that began to rock among intensifying rapids, he looked up to the sight of an endless drop and the sounds of lava falling, and realized his time was out.
Trying to hold back an emotional hurl, Goku tripped on something soft, and rolled forward in surprise. He caught himself on his hands and bounced back to his feet to see. He saw a light cloth among the rocks that caught the wind and reflected the blue light of the Earth overhead.
"GOTEN!" Goku was overcome with a joy that was so intense, his body racked as if it were agony. He grabbed below the rubble and locked his hand on Goten's wrist. "Found you!"
Goku didn't even bother to move the rocks. He had Goten in a solid grip, and that's all he needed. Goku brought his right hand to his forehead and closed his eyes as he instinctively focused on the first associated ki that came to mind. As he instant-transmitted away, the rock platform fell from under his feet and plummeted down to the abyss below.
–––––––
The planet was clearly in distress. And so was Trunks.
Trunks paced incessantly as he barked orders by the medical wing, ordering makeshift beds for extra capacity on board. Intercoms and phones were ringing as staff tried to communicate his orders and their needs as quickly as possible to expedite the ship's takeoff. There was an overall cloud of anguish that hung over everyone on board.
Trunks was unable to keep still as he pointed to the staff and coordinated their next steps. It was mayhem among the lower decks of the imperial cruiser as the citizens were quickly ranked and sorted into refugee groups. While most of the citizens were finally aboard the ship, there were complications getting everyone organized, and there were a lot of injuries. It was taking tremendous patience and organization to prevent the formation of a riot. The people were certainly hyped up enough to become violent with their confusion and fear.
As the only "Tuffle elite" who was conscious, Trunks was put in the unfortunate position of delegating tasks to the ship's crew. He was pissed as hell that he was the one doing this. But there just wasn't anyone else available, and he was tormented by his responsibility to get the ship ready for transport.
Trunks was also torn because of his worry for his friends and family. He had already overseen the staff moving his parents to their quarters to rest, and had supervised the rush of Gohan to the medical bay in addition to addressing and correcting his own displaced shoulder. On that front, things were momentarily stable. However, his mind and anxiety lay elsewhere.
His hands were shaking as he thought of what Pan was going through, all alone facing Baby. Images flashed in his mind of what Baby, whom he sensed within Majin Buu's body now, could do to her, and he shook and sweated in a deep, gut-wrenching fear.
Trunks kept sensing Pan's ki like a strobe, to confirm she was okay; that she was alive. He thought of what it was to face Majin Buu, and every nightmare from his childhood pummeled his thoughts at the same time. He envisioned flashes of the battle and his desperation. He had to train with Goten for two weeks inside the devastatingly barren landscape of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to perfect their fusion dance. And even with their training and Super Saiyan 3 transformation, it was not nearly enough, and in the end they were absorbed and needed to be rescued.
Throughout his year traveling with Pan in space, he never once considered that she would have to fight a monster of this caliber alone. He felt guilt, knowing there were missed opportunities for him to share advice, or to take her more seriously. He felt like he could have done more. He wanted to do more. He wanted to be out there, right now, to support her.
As he looked through the ship's windows to the hellscape, he was increasingly terrified for Pan. There was nobody to protect her. That thought infuriated him, because he knew Goku was supposed to be here. He didn't imagine him, right? Where the hell was Goku?!
As if on cue, there was a POP!, and while Trunks was mid-pace, Goku phased onto the ground straight in front of him, with a prone Goten in tow.
Trunks stumbled back in surprise, "Woah!" And then all of his thoughts fluttered as his eyes honed in on Goten's broken body. Trunks felt he was going to reel. "Goten!"
"Take care of him!" Goku looked shaken as he stood up from Goten. It was clear that his face was wet, as if he had been crying. "I've lost a lot of time!"
Trunks felt his blood drain from his face as he saw Goku, of all people, looking despaired. And then he looked to Goten, and was about to bark orders to the medical staff, but then SNAP, his thoughts flooded right back to him, and Trunks knew Goku was about to leave again.
Trunks had to get his word in first, as he stomped his foot and shouted sharply, "PAN!"
Goku nodded, putting his fingers to his forehead. "Right, she's fighting."
"NO!" Trunks waved his right hand forward for emphasis. "GO TO PAN!" Trunks yelled at full volume merely feet away, but he needed to make sure his words were heard in time.
Goku hesitated a moment, with a deep frown to his brow. He looked determined and hard in Trunks' eyes, "I gotta lift the ship off the planet."
Trunks threw both his hands up to showcase its movement, "It can fly itself!"
"But it doesn't have enough fuel for lift-off!" Goku retorted, looking strained and conflicted.
Trunks stared at Goku like he was crazy. "Why on Earth would you think that?!"
"Kibitoshin Kai told me! I gotta go help the ship!"
Trunks blinked momentarily at the Kai's name, unable to process the thought in his desperation. "T-Then I'll help you!" Trunks over-excitedly nodded to him with a forced grin to shield the panic he was feeling inside, "I'll lift the ship, and you can go to her!"
As if to prove his point, Trunks raised his ki to prepare himself to support Goku. And then his body and legs collapsed under him as soon as the black lightning sprung up. Oh yeah, that's still there. "Fuck!"
Goku blinked, nervously looking down to Goten, and then back to Trunks again, who wore a desperate scowl as he stood back up. "What's wrong?"
"I can't use my ki! Goddamnit! Aaaahhh!" Trunks grabbed his hair and released all of his frustration at once. Without ki, his exasperation was limited to how loud he could wail.
Goku frowned and shook his head quickly, "Even if you could, I'm gonna have to go outside of the atmosphere, Trunks! You'd never survive!" Goku held up his right thumb to point to himself, "But I can!"
Trunks kept his hands in his hair as he lowered his head to stare at Goku in confused shock. "You can survive in space?!"
"Yep, for a bit."
Trunks was thunderstuck. "And you never brought that up before in the entire year we were together?!"
"Ahhhh," Goku looked up, thinking, "It's a Saiyan thing, I think." Then Goku shook his head, as it to clear his thought. "Hey, I gotta go!"
And then as quickly as Goku had popped in front of Trunks, Goku popped out of existence in a blur. Trunks was left with Goten by his feet, and as he stared down at his injured best friend, Trunks felt another wave of dread course through him.
Once again Goku did not go to Pan.
Trunks immediately raised the alarm of Goten's medical emergency as he yelled for medical attention. There were sounds of shouts as his staff passed along the command, and a scurry of feet as staff ran off to find a gurney. He bent down to tenderly squeeze Goten's shoulder, "You're going to be okay, Goten."
Trunks' emotions were in turmoil. His gut felt both heavy with worry for Pan and proud that Goten was able to make it back to the ship safely. On top of all that, he felt vexed for not being able to help Goku. He felt like this was a desperate moment of need, and he was falling short in his ability to support his comrades.
Goku's words kept ringing in Trunks' ears, about allegedly being the only one who could help launch the ship. It's a Saiyan thing…
Trunks looked up, feeling frantic, but also realizing he could do something. He gasped and stumbled beyond the staff that was tending to Goten, and then started to run as fast as he could toward the residential quarters.
Trunks may not be able to survive in space, but if it came down to being a Saiyan thing, there was one person who could help free up Goku so he could finally go help Pan after all.
Dad…! Trunks burst through doors and started running up the residential staircase. DAD!
–––––––
–––––––
–10/6/23–