Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.
Pan found herself waking up in another cold sweat brought about by another nightmare of Frieza. She sat up, trying to control her breathing to relax, but it wasn't until she looked up at her grandfather's Power Pole, which she had hung up on the wall the night before, that she finally began to relax.
Having it back in her possession after she believed it to be lost was a large comfort for her: it was like her grandfather Goku was still watching over her.
As breakfast was heating, she checked her closet for the uniform Trunks left for her training:
Black and white track clothes and shoes, with "TP" on the back of the jacket top.
"I can work with that color scheme."
Upon getting dressed, orange bandanna included, she had a full meal: probably the most she'd eaten in Toki Toki City so far. She wanted to make sure she had full energy for today.
She opened her door, then turned to the Power Pole.
"Wish me luck, Grandpa Goku."
Pan had plenty of time and simply walked over out of the housing area towards the academy. She saw plenty of other Time Patrollers nearby and waved back to those that said hello.
Though she did catch a few seeing her, then talking amongst themselves. Pan didn't want to try eavesdropping, but did hear a few things on the way.
"It's that girl. The one from four days ago."
"I saw her. She was in pretty bad shape when they found her."
"Rumor has it she was summoned here."
But Pan thought nothing of it as she arrived bright and early, only a few other patrollers there alongside her.
It didn't quite feel like high school, since this looked to be entirely based on physicality, more akin to gym. Maybe this is what college felt like... but for fighting.
Of the people there, it was a mixed cast: humans, or maybe even Saiyans since it was often difficult to pick them apart from each other, as well as Piccolo's race...
"What are you, Mr. Piccolo?"
She thought back to when Piccolo was babysitting her for her parents. Why they were away, she couldn't even begin to recall.
But there she was, coloring a picture while asking Piccolo this question. He didn't quite know how to approach it.
"What do you mean, Pan?"
"You look different..."
Pan was getting old enough to figure out most people in her life didn't have green skin and antanea.
"So what are you?"
He grinned.
"My father was from space. A planet called Namek."
"And where is your dad?"
Piccolo immediately changed the topic by leaning over her.
"Hey. What's that you're coloring, Pan?"
Pan had just finished.
"A dragon."
She had colored the dragon's skin green and was putting the finishing touches on its eyes with a red crayon.
"From Namek, so... Namekians?"
She saw a few members of Frieza's race. Some short and with exoskeletons, others much smoother-looking, and some large and bulking.
Pan had definitely internalized what Hale had told her the day before, not looking at them with a scowl and being gracious whenever they approached her.
And then there was that odd group entirely new to her: the males, short and tall, seemed chubby, while the females were much slimmer. They all came in a variety of colors and with almost cartoonish faces.
But she didn't know what they were or where they came from.
"Well, you're certainly early..."
Pan saw a familiar face approaching her.
"Hey, Trunks. Just checking on me?"
"Actually, I'll be assisting with today's session."
Trunks' wrist beeped, then Commander Hale's voice could be heard all across the area.
"All new recruits, report to the training grounds."
"That's our cue."
Trunks ran off as Pan saw the other newcomers making their way there and joined them.
There Pan stood in the arena-esque training grounds alongside a mass of other new recruits. They all didn't know what was to come, but knew the life of a Time Patroller would not be a cakewalk.
But then Pan caught Trunks approaching alongside Commander Hale, the ground beneath those two rising until they came to a stop.
"Welcome, everyone. Before we start, a few words from Commander Hale."
Trunks moved to the side as Hale took center stage, his arms behind his back as he stood up straight while overlooking the crowd before him.
"I know the fears and doubts that plague you. 'How can I survive these battles? Or these opponents?'"
Anyone who had been initially talking during his speech were completely silent at this point.
"But I promise you that if you stick with me... I will ensure your survival."
This statement was met with applause, though Hale raised his hand to quiet it down.
"Today will be simple enough: you will all be gauged individually so that we can place you into your designated levels."
All the recruits split into several lines, each leading to stations to process each individual's strength.
Pan saw herself in front of a punching machine, one far more high tech than the one at the World Martial Arts Tournament. A round robot looked at her, then at a holographic list in its three-fingered hands.
"Name?"
"Pan."
It marked her name, then gestured toward a circle on the ground in front of the punching machine.
"Alright Miss Pan. Stand right there and hit the machine as hard as you can."
She swung her arm to get ready, then fueled her arm with ki as she gave out a shout.
*CLUNK!*
The machine didn't even shake as she struck it.
"Huh. Maybe they're nailed in more here."
A screen next to the machine blinked red and beeped. The robot looked at this while appearing to scratch its head with one of its arms.
"...is that good or bad?"
She tried to play it off casually.
"So how did I do?"
"Miss Pan, your striking power is under the requirement."
A requirement? Pan was unaware of this.
"M... maybe I should hit it again?"
"I'm sorry, but you're several hundred points below the minimum requirement."
Pan didn't want to hold up the line of other recruits behind her, but she had to know if this was really it for her.
"Is there nothing else I can do?"
"I'm afraid..."
Trunks overheard all this and couldn't bear to see her potentially getting turned down.
"Now hold on just a minute," Trunks stated, stepping in front of the robot. "Power isn't everything."
Hale took a step forward.
"You bring up a perfectly valid point, Trunks. Power alone does not win battles... it is how it is utilized."
The robot didn't have a face to convey emotions, but almost put up its hands nervously.
"Look, I'm just programmed to inform recruits when their striking power is too low. It's nothing personal towards any of them. It's all a matter of ensuring their safety against others here and on the job."
Hale pat the robot on its top.
"You've done nothing wrong. We'll keep an eye on this one."
The two gestured Pan to move forward as the robot remained nailed to the ground at its station. It swiped its hand against its top like one would wipe sweat from their forehead.
"Next."
As much as Pan appreciated Trunks and Hale standing up for her despite her lower power, she couldn't help but wonder about the robot's concerns.
"When the robot said I was below the minimum, does that mean I'm...?"
"It's more of a guideline, really," answered Trunks.
"However, it would be wise to exercise caution for the time being," added Hale.
From behind her, Pan heard a loud slam on the machine and could feel it shaking from where she was. The robot turned toward a man in a black and red uniform.
"That is one of our highest scores today. Proceed."
Pan realized her strike hadn't even shaken the machine and there was this man, who had done just that and was one of the highest scorers here.
Nevertheless, she kept moving alongside Trunks and Hale, whom were trying to talk quietly to each other.
"Obviously, with training, she'll reach it in no time, right?"
"It's all a matter of how much time it'll take."
Pan acted like she wasn't listening, though her unintended eavesdrop on their conversation regarding her didn't quite ease how she was feeling.
"I know they're both looking out for me, but what if that robot's right? That my safety could be at stake."
Next, Pan saw herself standing underneath what looked like a large rectangular block. Trunks described its function to her.
"When you catch it, it'll slowly increase in weight to map out your maximum lifting capacity. It'll become light as air when you're finished."
She nodded at him, then placed her hands over her head as she awaited its descent. The robot running the station pressed a switch, causing the block to fall towards her.
"Here goes..."
She caught it with ease, the weight hardly feeling like anything. But then, she could feel it slowly becoming heavier. Trunks saw a gauge next to the machine listing its current weight.
"500 pounds... so far, so good, Pan."
Back home, she could work just about any weight-lifting machine to its maximum, often being coached not to overdo it or she'd risk breaking the machine. But here, she felt she could lift even more and knew the technology could keep up with her.
"I've never tried going this far before. Let's see what I can do..."
Trunks kept watching the monitor.
"15 hundred pounds..."
She was starting to sweat now.
"Two tons..."
Pan could feel the weight of the block increasing faster every couple seconds, as well as her muscles beginning to ache.
"This might be a bit much... but I've gotta keep it up as long as I can."
Some of the Earthling recruits in line behind her were talking amongst themselves.
"That girl's not from Earth, is she?"
"Are we sure she's a human?"
"Five tons..."
Pan nearly lost her footing, crouching over, but still stood on her feet and continued to grip the block. Even with that success, Pan could feel sweat pouring from her face and the veins in her arms bulging.
"This is... a lot."
Trunks saw the monitor's numbers go up once more.
At this point, Pans' arms finally gave out. She fell onto her knees, grabbing her right arm with her left hand, then saw the block falling down towards her head...
...when it practically bounced off her, now weighing next to nothing instead of the several tons she could barely lift seconds earlier. The robot at the station marked down her score.
"Ten tons. Proceed."
Pan managed to push herself upward back onto her feet from the ground, but then stumbled back for a moment before regaining her balance. Three robots with tank tracks moved toward her, their hands helping her to stand as they moved her past the station.
"Careful now..."
The Earthlings then began looking nervously at their arms, then back at the station.
"I knew I shouldn't have skipped weights."
A few Saiyans, however, did not seem impressed at Pan's display.
Trunks saw the robots walking Pan across, then approached them.
"I'll take it from here."
The robots left Trunks to help Pan over to a bench to sit on.
"So... ten tons. That's pretty impressive."
Pan tried lifting her jacket's sleeve, seeing her arm's veins plainly and almost red.
"My arms are killing me already. Any more and they would've fallen off."
"Right. Obviously punching and lifting are two different things. Not to mention your legs certainly helped with that as well."
As Trunks saw and Pan felt, she could still stand up after that session, but it obviously took a lot out of her.
"For someone from Earth, that is still quite the..."
"25 tons! Proceed."
Pan and Trunks watched as the man in black and red continued onward, his arms down, but him not even needing the robot helpers to help him across. She could clearly see his face and his messy black hair, his expression almost indifferent to the experience.
"He lifted almost three times as much as me... and he's still walking around just fine."
He noticed Pan looking at him and stopped in front of her.
"What's with the staring? Do you have something you want to say to me?"
She didn't care for his tone, but didn't want to come across as aggressive or bothered in her current state. Plus, she didn't have many friends here.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."
She used her left hand to anchor her right arm for him to shake.
"I'm Pan."
He didn't move his arms an inch.
"I'm here to defend history, not fraternize."
He turned his back to her as he continued on his way.
"And my name is Pima."
After Pima was far from the group, Trunks turned back to her.
"Look, I know he seemed rude, but..."
"It's fine, Trunks."
As frustrated as Pan was with Pima's attitude, she knew they were all on the same team at the end of the day.
"I don't know all the recruits here, but I know this Pima's a bit of a loner. Not a bully by any means, but a Saiyan of few words."
"A Saiyan?"
Vegeta was the only full Saiyan she had ever known. Her world's Trunks, her uncle, her father, and Bulla were half-Saiyan, and she herself was just one-fourth Saiyan.
"Right. Through several timelines, we've obtained a sizable number of surviving Saiyans. Some even predating Frieza's extermin..."
He caught whose name he had just mentioned and went silent. Pan just took in what he had to say.
"So he's the one who eliminated most Saiyans."
Trunks couldn't help but notice she was somewhat knowledgeable on the topic to an extent.
"You seem to know a few things about Saiyans. Where did you learn about them?"
There she was sitting in her dad's lap.
"Where did Grandpa Goku come from?"
Gohan simply smiled at her.
"He came to Earth from faraway."
"Was he an alien?"
"He was a Saiyan."
"Are you a Saiyan, dad?"
"Well... I'm half-Saiyan."
"Am I a Saiyan too?"
He paused for just a moment.
"A little bit."
"How much?"
"You'll know when you're older."
"How many Saiyans are there?"
He had to pause much longer to find the right answer.
"Not too many."
On another occasion, Pan recalled Vegeta watching over her and Bulla.
"Tell me about my Grandpa Goku."
Vegeta seemed a bit hesitant.
"I'm not sure your parents would like that, Pan."
"I can keep it a secret. I promise."
"So... you really want to know about him?"
Pan nodded her head and Bulla seemed just as curious. He grinned under his mustache.
"Okay, then..."
Much time had passed and her and Bulla remained sitting in intrigue throughout the whole story. With it so far about Goku traveling to other planets and fighting bad guys, they were enjoying it.
"...and when he fought the evil monster Frieza, Kakarot did something incredible: his hair turned golden and he became even stronger."
Bulla raised her hand.
"Like super-duper strong?"
"That's right. He became the one and only Super Saiyan. And with that, he defeated Frieza, who never came back to do evil again. The end."
Pan recalled that day especially: it was when she first heard about Frieza, but most memorable of all was hearing about Goku going Super Saiyan.
She raised her hand.
"Can I go Super Saiyan too?"
Vegeta thought on this for some time...
"Maybe when you're older."
It was that day in which her lifelong goal first began: to become a Super Saiyan like her grandfather Goku.
For so many years of her life, she kept trying to achieve that form to no success. When she was younger, she assumed she wasn't old enough to achieve the form. As she got older, however, she began to wonder if she was incapable of it.
Finally, she answered Trunks about his inquiry.
"Family and friends, I guess."
A thought occurred to Trunks.
"Speaking of... you knew my parents, right Pan?"
"I did."
"Did your folks work for Capsule Corp?"
"Actually..."
Their conversation was interrupted by Hale approaching them.
"You're falling to the back of the line. If you've fully recovered, I suggest you get moving."
Pan looked back at her arms, whose veins were plainly visible earlier, and saw they had recovered somewhat.
"Well, now my arms feel loads better."
She got up from the bench, seeing that she wasn't struggling to stand this time.
"Okay, I'm all set."
She got in line for what appeared to be a running station as Trunks turned to Hale.
"I've been thinking, Hale..."
"Yes, Trunks?"
"Pan's at least part-Saiyan and when we found her, she was nearly... so she should get a Zenkai boost pretty soon."
"Maybe so, but that depends entirely on her biology. Once again, I must emphasize that it could take much time."
Trunks mused to himself after this.
"Pan's power hasn't doubled... or even gone up by a third yet. How much Saiyan is she?"
She saw an indoor area more akin to a track and field. A robot pointed Pan in the direction of a sensor at the start and finish line, as well as a monitor.
"This will be a two-part test. First, you'll run a lap as fast as you can. After a ten second rest, you'll fly towards the sensor as fast as you can."
Pan saw several starting blocks: one of human-esque feet, as well as much ones with much larger foot prints including those with more or fewer toes. She grabbed and placed the one closest to her foot size at the designated spot, then got into a running position.
"Ready? Set. GO!"
As soon as the robot gave her the clear, she raced across the track with her feet alone. In high school, her parents had told her to ease up on her speed so as not to draw attention, much like her father had to at her age.
There Pan was back in high school, running a lap outdoors at a casual jogging pace, hardly looking the worse for wear at the finish even as other runners lied down on the grass afterward from their own.
Her PE instructor turned to her.
"With how well you keep a pace, I'm surprised you still haven't joined our track team yet. They could use someone like you."
Pan put her hand behind her head.
"Sorry, I'd love to, but my parents really want me to study hard."
"Knowing Professor Gohan, I'm not surprised."
But here in Toki Toki City, she didn't have to worry about that. She could finally go all out.
The robot simply watched the timer on the monitor:
1 second...
2 seconds...
3 seconds...
Pan rarely got the chance to move this fast. As much as part of her was enjoying it, she focused on the turns.
4 seconds...
5 seconds...
6 seconds...
"Almost there..."
7 seconds...
From there, she passed the scanner and the timer paused at just a little over seven seconds.
Pan crouched over for just a moment, then saw the scanner and monitor moving farther ahead of her current position. What looked to her like a giant pillow emerged on the track wall, which made some sense to her: flying at such high speeds would cause someone to crash straight through otherwise.
"A hundred and twenty-four miles per hour. 8 seconds to the next exercise."
She watched the counter go downward to six and five.
"You may begin floating now."
She was off the ground, her feet facing the other directions and her arms toward her intended destination. With three seconds left, she thought back to all the times she had flown.
Flying to Bulla's at night.
Flying into the sky during the tournament.
Flying into space against a rocket as a kid.
At one second, she was ready.
"And... GO!"
She flew forward with everything she had. It didn't even feel like a second had passed to her as she passed the scanner and monitor. It was then she saw that she heading right for the pillow, unable to change her course before hitting it...
...but as she struck it, almost feeling like she was about to pierce through it, Pan suddenly felt a complete loss of momentum. This material, whatever it was, had stopped her.
But then she saw herself flung backward, not nearly at the speed she was flying, but a high speed all the same. In her path, another pillow-esque structure of the same make at the other side of the track. She bounced off that one as well, then finally began to regain control.
She slid on the track's floor for a moment, but managed to come to a complete stop before the robot. Once she did, she had to crouch down again, this time grasping her stomach.
"How fast was... that?"
"Seventeen thousand miles per hour. Proceed."
She walked across to the next room, ready to lie down on the ground when she saw a handful of other recruits already having done the same.
One Earthling especially took it hard, lying next to a trash container, which she assumed he had to use after he had finished.
"There went my breakfast..."
Pan saw Pima, whom was standing by himself, not even looking at the others lying around him.
"Are full-blooded Saiyans just better with this sort of thing?"
She sat down, her back against the wall and her stomach still bothering her.
"Is my human side really that weak?"
But the longer she thought on it, she realized that wasn't even close to the case.
"There's flying at a comfortable pace and then there's flying at my maximum, then bouncing back and forth. Of course I'm not feeling great after that."
Outside this room was back where they started, with Hale back in his original position.
"Now that we have gauged all of you, you shall all receive your current level."
Swarms of robots skated across the area, each handing out small papers to the recruits present. She could hear the scores from across the various groups read aloud by the robots.
"30!"
"50!"
"40!"
Near the Saiyans, she could hear even larger numbers.
"70!"
"60!"
She saw Pima receiving his.
"80!"
Then a robot approached her, handing her hers. She read the double digit number just as the robot had stated it.
"10!"
Pan didn't know if this was a case where the lowest number was better or not. But then Hale began assembling them by their numbers.
"80 and higher, to your quadrant."
She saw holographic lines appear on the ground nearby her position, an 80 in the center of it. She stepped to the side as only a handful of recruits entered, Pima included.
"These select few ranked the highest in initial testing."
What Pan suspected was true: she was among the lowest of all the recruits.
"10 tons... a hundred and twenty-four... 17,000... and I'm this low?"
She watched in silence as the rest of the groups assembled from 70 to 20 before Hale finally made it to the last group.
"10, to your quadrant."
A square right in front of where Hale stood emerged as she made her way there. She saw what looked like the smaller, shorter, and skinnier recruits assembled around her.
Pan could see and hear the same reaction from others in her square.
"I can't believe this..."
"I trained so hard and here I am..."
"I'll never get anywhere at this level."
"Am I really that pathetic?"
This almost seemed to confirm what Pan had feared...
...but Hale stomped with his foot, the loud noise and impact getting everyone's attention.
"Allow myself to be clear, everyone: for those of you of lower levels... do not be discouraged. Even the lowest level can rise to become one of the highest... but it will take time. Time and hard work. And for the job of defending time itself, I expect you all to put in your maximum effort from this point forward. Understood?"
Pan could see all the other recruits stomping their feet on the ground and saluting, then followed suit.
"Good. Dismissed."
Pan sat in her housing unit, slowly eating the lunch she had prepared and swimming in thought regarding her current status in the Time Patrol.
Just then, a knock on her door. She answered it and saw Trunks before her.
"Hi. Uh... is this a bad time?"
She opened the door all the way for him, allowing him entry.
"Is this about my level, Trunks?"
"Partially."
She sat down at the table while he stood nearby.
"You have to understand that this is just how you rank currently. With enough work, you're bound to go up in no time."
"And how long will that take? A hundred years?"
Trunks could tell what he had to tell her wasn't helping. But then Pan caught how ungraciously she responded to him.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to snap at you, Trunks."
"It's fine."
He pulled up a chair from the table and sat down looking at her from across the table.
"Between you and me, I didn't start off high either..."
He reached into his coat for something.
"In fact..."
He handed her an old piece of paper. Partially torn, the number faded, though still readable.
"I was at the bottom of the barrel myself."
She saw that this paper had 10 written on it, the same as hers.
"And for the longest time, I couldn't get over it. After everything I went through, I figured I should've been a shoe-in for anything but that. But I kept at it. I trained harder. Took on the best of the other levels. And eventually, I made it to where I am now."
Pan knew what he was getting at: for her not to be distraught over her level and to keep trying.
"How long did it take you?"
"Not as quickly as I would've liked, I'll admit... but not that long either."
He stood back up.
"Commander Hale has permitted me to use the academy grounds after-hours to help you train. Starting today in a few hours."
He put his hand out to her.
"Be there and I promise you I'll get you through the ranks quicker than it took me alone."
She shook his hand.
"Deal. I'll be there early."
"Take your time, Pan. I'll see you there."
He proceeded to exit, leaving Pan to finish her meal. She was starting to eat faster now that she had something to help her current situation.
Since Toki Toki City didn't experience night time, Pan was still getting used to her night time schedule taking place in what appeared to be continuous sunlight.
Trunks stood waiting as she approached the academy grounds.
"Now that you're here, let's head to the sparring area."
There Pan saw a square, somewhat larger than the World Martial Arts Tournament's, surrounded by bleachers of some kind.
"To move further up, you'll be fighting your fellow level, as well as those higher than you."
As soon as both entered, he pressed a remote in his hands and Pan saw a field go over the square, then turn invisible.
"Here, there's no ring outs. It's decided by knock out, forfeit, or Commander Hale's call."
She noticed Trunks stretching his arms and neck and followed suit.
"I'm going to gauge your strength and use my power accordingly. But whatever you do, don't hold back on me, Pan. Understand?"
Pan nodded and took on a fighting stance while Trunks just stood normally.
"Attack me any way you like."
She tried coming up with what to start with, but the ease of his stance made it difficult for her to think.
"He's clearly seen more battle than I have. He'll be ready for anything I throw at him."
Nonetheless, she sprinted over to him, noting he was keeping up with her movement the entire time. He blocked her first punch with his wrist, then did the same for the opposite hands. Her kick was met by his own, stopping hers in its tracks.
Sensing she was at a disadvantage right there, she jumped backward, Trunks still in the same position as before. She fired off a ki projectile, which Trunks swatted away behind him, the projectile dissipating upon striking the field. She fired off multiples as quickly as she could, dust appearing all around him, hiding him from her sight.
"I panicked. I always throw out ki like candy when I'm nervous. And when has that ever worked for me?"
She saw the dust settle around her and saw no sign of Trunks in that spot. Just then... it was like she could feel the air behind her moving...
Pan turned around and saw Trunks going for a punch. Despite guarding with both hands, she was sent back so hard that she struck the barrier. It was almost like being struck into a net, but with a slight shock.
"Sorry Pan, but I can't go easy on you."
He fired off a barrage of ki projectiles in her direction, the speed much faster and the quantity much larger.
"Holy crap."
She moved left to right and right to left as quickly as she could, avoiding the first few batches, but soon saw herself completely overwhelmed. In that moment, she was struck by one, leaving her wide open to the rest.
Trunks watched the dust settle this time, seeing what looked like a silhouette of Pan lying on her hands and stomach. He charged ki in his hand, aiming towards her.
"Think fast!"
He fired, the dust practically vaporized, but also without any sign of Pan.
"What?!"
She flew in from behind him with a kick, partially striking his hair as he ducked to avoid it. From there, he charged his ki in his palm and swung it downward into her back.
"Huh?!"
His hand pierced right through her, then she seemed to fade away. He then caught her going for another punch, which he barely caught in time as he slid back a few feet.
"The afterimage technique, huh?"
After pushing Pan back, he went for another ki-enhanced punch, which, as he predicted, struck an afterimage of Pan. He then charged ki around himself and detonated it around him.
Just as he planned, the shockwave struck Pan, who was to the side of him.
"You can't overrely on that technique, or else you'll get predictable."
He charged at her and threw a punch she avoided. The next punch, however, struck her side dead-on. She went to guard an incoming strike to her head with her wrist, but found it and her wrist being slammed into her forehead.
Pan fell onto her back, then realized a small trail of blood dripped from her forehead: that struck her harder than she expected.
"Hurry now!"
He charged a ki blast with both hands, then launched it at the grounded Pan, whom leapt upward to avoid it. She kept flying upward as high as she could with Trunks in hot pursuit until her head struck the top of the barrier. She bounced downward toward the ground to Trunks' surprise.
"She should've known better than to try flying that high up... unless it was..."
It was then that he caught her firing a beam at the ground with one hand to propel herself back upward and with her other fist raised upward toward him. Pan had made him think she was too careless to pay attention to the barrier, but counted on hitting it to send her back downward out of his attack range.
"Clever..."
She finally landed her first blow of the match, striking him in the stomach while the two were propelled into the top of the barrier. Both received a shock from it, but Trunks especially took the brunt of it. She took advantage of this to throw more punches, though even in this state, Trunks was still stopping them.
She went for a knee strike, which Trunks countered with one of his own, and then the two slammed into each other shoulder-to-shoulder.
"She's good... but I'm not going to make this easy for her."
"I know he's holding back. I just don't know if this is Trunks at 10% effort, or less even."
Both put their hand out to strike each other with a ki blast, but they each intercepted each other, knocking the two back towards the arena's barrier. Both bounced off them and flew back at each other, Trunks not even having his arms up at this point.
Pan threw a flurry of punches, but instead of blocking them with his hands like before, he simply moved his head and body left-to-right and back to avoid them.
"Something tells me he's not holding back anymore."
He caught one of her hands, then placed his free hand in front of Pan, it charging with a gold ki. Pan covered herself with her ki, anticipating the attack, but as it struck and sent her backward, she saw her ki shield... cracking?
"How is that...?!"
As she neared the ground, the ki shield shattered entirely, the remainder of the beam slamming her hard into the floor. As she slowly got back up, she saw Trunks performing a gesture of some kind with his hands, each fueled with ki.
"MASENKO!"
Pan saw the beam approaching her, but instead of panicking, she simply stood there.
"What is she doing?! She's going to get hit for sure!"
But he realized she was doing the same gesture as him earlier as quickly as she could. Just as the beam was about to hit her, she pushed forward with her hands, her own ki beam striking it.
"MASENKO!"
It fired back, knocking back Trunks' and forcing him to swerve to avoid it.
He floated downward slowly, gesturing his hands in the shape of a T.
"Okay, time out!"
Pan could tell from his tone and demeanor that their spar was over.
"Where did you learn that technique? The Masenko?"
She thought on it for a moment:
First, she recalled some training with Piccolo as a child. Nothing serious, though he was trying to show her how to perform the Masenko.
"Put your hands above your head like this."
He had his hands like so, his palms facing forward, one over the other, and the fingers in opposing directions. Pan followed suit. Piccolo turned her towards a straw training dummy.
"Now just push your hands forward and shout 'Masenko.'"
Pan tried pushing forward, charging with ki.
"Masenko."
But nothing left her hand.
"It's okay. Just a little more."
The ground beneath her lightly cracked as much more ki charged.
"That's it. You're doing it, Pan."
She then shoved forward as hard as she could.
"MASENKO!"
But after firing it off, Pan was sent off her feet and sliding on the dirt on her side, the beam arcing just over the dummy into the ground behind it, leaving a small hole.
"Pan!"
Piccolo ran over to her.
"Pan, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
She saw her beginning to sniffle, then looked over at her left arm: her elbow was scraped with some red emerging from it.
"It's going to be okay. Just hold on. I'll get that treated."
He picked Pan up, putting her over his shoulder and ran to the house.
Inside, he doused a piece of cloth with a liquid antibiotic, then placed it over Pan's elbow. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as it stung.
"I know it's not pleasant, but it'll help."
As soon as he was finished, placing a band aid over her elbow, he saw that she was no longer crying.
"Tell you what, Pan: we'll try that again another time, okay?"
"I learned it from Mr. Piccolo..."
"You knew Piccolo?"
"Yeah. He was like a friend of the family. Of my..."
But she paused for a moment: Piccolo was the first one she practiced the move with.
"But I really mastered it with..."
She then recalled her father trying to help her with it when she was a few years older after her attempt with Piccolo.
"Focus. Concentrate."
Pan's hands were practically beginning to fume with ki.
"Keep it up, Pan. You're getting it."
She saw the straw dummy from before, but this time took more careful aim with her hands.
"Now!"
"MASENKO!"
Pan was pushed back a bit, but was still on her feet as the beam struck the dummy head-on. The Masenko hit it hard enough to tear its bottom out of the ground and split it in two before crashing into the ground a short distance away from it.
Gohan ran over to Pan with a look of excitement on his face.
"You did it, Pan!"
Pan laughed in joy at her accomplishment as Gohan lifted her upward and span her around. When he let her back onto the ground, she saw Piccolo looking right at her.
"Good job, kid."
She flew upward over the two of them, her fist raised in glee.
"My dad."
Trunks had then realized he had never once inquired to Pan about who her parents were.
"What was his name?"
Considering Pan knew Piccolo and his own parents, he was especially curious who her father could be at this point.
"His name... was Gohan."
Trunks' jaw dropped and his eyes enlarged before her.
"You're the daughter of Gohan?! THE Gohan?!"
Pan was baffled at his reaction.
"What? You never asked me about my parents until now."
After the shock left his face, he grinned to himself...
"He made it. Gohan had a family of his own."
...then he turned to Pan.
"Do you know what this means, Pan? It means you come from one of the world's strongest warrior bloodlines."
He placed a hand over her shoulder.
"I can't wait to see your maximum potential grow even further."
Trunks and Pan headed to the industrial sector, where they both picked up ice cream cones.
"Here. It's on the house."
"I never thought I'd ever have ice cream again."
Both walked across the plaza of time, each having made good progress on their desserts.
"Let me just say that it is an honor to be training the daughter of Gohan."
She stopped for a moment and looked over at him.
"The way you talk about my dad, it sounds like he was your idol."
As much as memories of Gohan came flooding in, Trunks had control over them.
"He was my mentor. Taught me nearly everything I know. I wouldn't be where I am today if I wasn't for him."
Pan was surprised at how grateful Trunks sounded in regards to her father, or rather her father from another timeline.
"What was the Bulla like in your timeline?"
Trunks didn't have a clue what she was referring to.
"Uh, what's a Bulla?"
"Bulla, your sister."
He was completely flabbergasted at this.
"The Trunks from your timeline had a sister?!"
"Yeah. 14 years younger than you and only a year younger than me."
"In a more peaceful future, I had a sister... and Gohan had Pan..."
"She was... my best friend."
He caught her pausing, realizing the Bulla she knew was gone, so he started the conversation up again.
"What was I... well, that Trunks like?"
"He was nice... though as I got older, he put a lot of time into his work at Capsule Corp."
"I worked there, huh? What was I, my mom's assistant, or...?"
"You were Capsule Corp's president."
Once again, he could barely process this.
"Like, I was wearing a suit and tie, in charge of everything at Capsule Corp?"
"Pretty much, yeah. And sometimes you'd wear glasses to look more in charge."
Considering how his world turned out, Trunks almost envied how Pan lived, but knew that all the peace time in the world didn't mean much once calamity took her entire world from her.
Pan saw she didn't have much of her ice cream left as she began chewing the cone.
"Well, I don't want to keep you waiting on me, so I'll let you get going."
She stopped eating, noticing he was starting to turn towards the gateway.
"Gotta do top secret stuff behind there?"
"Yeah, more or less."
He waved at her as he began to enter.
"See you tomorrow, Pan."
She waved back at him.
"See ya, Trunks."
He walked right through it, disappearing from her view entirely.
"Hopefully I'll get to see what's in there soon."
She threw the remains of her cone into her mouth, then began trekking back to the housing area.
A cup of tea was being stirred with a spoon atop a small table as someone saw Trunks approaching.
"So Trunks... how was your day?"
Trunks approached in a pretty good mood.
"We were training when Pan showed me the Masenko, so I asked where she learned it and turns out it was from Gohan. Not just that..."
She could tell Trunks could hardly contain his excitement any further.
"Supreme Kai of Time, Pan is Gohan's daughter."
The cup of tea fell off the table, but was caught with some kind of force before it could hit the floor. Trunks could tell this news had startled her.
"Um... that's not going to be a problem, will it?"
The cup floated back into her hands.
"No. As far as we know, the areas most affected are before her birth, so no, it's not a problem. Just unexpected."
Trunks counted with his gloved hands.
"This would be, what, the second time a major player from an alternate timeline has joined the Time Patrol?"
As he said this, he realized she wasn't in the mood to discuss how he was employed. But even then, he tried to turn the conversation around.
"I mean this is good news, right? The daughter of Gohan, the granddaughter of Goku, is on our side. And her potential's only just begun to be tapped, I'm sure of it."
"She trusts you?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Does Pan trust you?"
"Well, yes. Of course. Why?"
"She may have to be on the front lines sooner than we would have liked. Just make sure Pan has zero reason to lose faith in you or the Time Patrol."
Trunks wasn't sure what she meant by this, but nodded his head all the same.
"Understood."
As he took his leave, the Supreme Kai of Time mused over this situation.
"Pan will either be the one we need... or she may just become another Towa."