"Daaad!" Pan screamed as she burst into the house at full speed and stopped abruptly right in front of her father.

Gohan, who was sitting in the living room, peacefully reading a newspaper, was startled at his daughter's sudden entrance, causing newspaper pages to fly everywhere. "P-Pan!" he cried, "What's the rush?! You know you really shouldn't be flying in the house like that…"

"Dad, I want you to train me! Now!"

"T… Train..?" Gohan mumbled, then got up to pick up the misplaced newspaper pages, "Now why would you want that?"

"In case you weren't paying attention," Pan rudely responded, "I didn't do very well in the last battle for Earth. I have a lot of catching up to do, and I've decided I want the real deal this time!"

Gohan paused, and blinked at his daughter, "Real deal..?"

"The hardcore stuff!" Pan replied, punching air, "Real battling, real pain, Super Saiyan, the works!"

Gohan's face turned soft. "Oh, honey, I don't think that's necessary," he said, "Aside from last week's incident, it's been pretty peaceful lately. The chance of a real threat coming to Earth is pretty rare nowadays…"

Pan knitted her eyebrows. "How can you be so sure?" she said, "How do you know another threat could come? One greater than the last? Or greater than the Shadow Dragons?"

"Then we'll stay on our toes and make sure we can beat them," Gohan replied as he went back to picking up the newspaper pages.

This wasn't good enough for Pan. "That's what I need to do!" she cried, "I didn't last a whole ten seconds last time! I need to get stronger if I'm going to be a Z Fighter like you one day!"

Gohan paused once again. He seemed to be taking in her words for a moment, but then gave a heavy sigh. He then placed the pages on his chair, turned to his daughter, and knelt down to her eye-level. "Pan," he said, "Trust me… You do not want to be a Z Fighter."

Pan's face scrunched up once more. "Don't tell me what I want or don't want!" she hissed, "I'll tell you what I don't want! I don't want to be praised for pretending to be a hero! And I DON'T want to be knocked out so easily anymore! I want to be able to take on the REAL threats, like you all do! If Grandpa Satan wants me to take his place as World's Martial Arts Champion and protector of the world, I want to actually PROVE my worth! Not pretend like some cheap celebrity!"

"Pan, listen to me," Gohan's soft face began to harden, and he took a firm hold of his daughter's shoulders, "Being a Z Fighter isn't as glamorous as you think it is. It's HARD work. And it's a life-or-death situation."

"Don't you think I already know that?" Pan spat, "I went into space with Grandpa and Trunks for crying out loud! AND I saw firsthand everybody going against Super Android 17, and Omega Shenron."

"And you didn't have the experience or strength to take part in those battles!" said Gohan.

"Which is WHY you need to train me!"

Gohan shook his head. "Pan, I'm sorry… But you're not ready for this kind of thing."

"Why not?!"

"Because you're too young and too immature to handle it!"

"BULL CRAP!" Pan screamed, pushing her father away, "You were only FIVE YEARS OLD when you fought against the Saiyan Invasion!"

Gohan jumped to his feet in defiance, "I didn't choose to be, Pan!" he shouted back, "I was forced away from my home and put into grueling training against my will! Don't get me wrong, I loved Piccolo and appreciated everything he had ever done for me… but what he did originally wasn't right! He kidnapped me and put me through hell to obtain strength I never asked for to begin with! The last thing I want is for you to go through what I did!"

Pan clenched her fists in frustration and fought back the tears she could feel starting to form. "That's so unfair…" she grumbled.

"Well, I'm sorry," said Gohan, "Life is unfair sometimes. But I'm your father, and I know what's best for you."

"Grrr… I HATE YOU!" Pan screamed as she twisted around and tore out of the house via flight and sending the newspaper pages flying all over the place once again.

"And stop flying in the house, young lady!" Gohan called after her, before going to pick the pages back up.

Pan had flown out of the house and took to the sky. Before she could get far, however, she paused at the sudden sensation of a familiar ki close by. She twisted around to see she wasn't the only one in the air…

Just next door was her Uncle Goten, floating in the air and actively punching and kicking all around him. He seemed very intent with his training, working hard, giving it all he had… Perhaps he wanted to make sure he was still in good shape for if and when the next big threat was to come to Earth…

He then formed a massive ki ball and flung it to the sky. It soared off then rounded around like a boomerang, heading right for him and he evaded with ease. He then turned his back on the wild ki ball, which circled one more, aimed right for him, but just before it could hit, he smirked and simply raised his fist, bursting it like a balloon.

Now THAT was impressive!

"Yaaay!" a young woman's voice rang out from below. Pan glanced down to see a familiar brunette in a yellow dress in the yard, watching Goten above and clapping excitedly. "Goten that was so totally cool!"

Pan twitched her nose and sighed. Of course Uncle Goten was only training just to show off to that bimbo girlfriend of hers…

Goten took in every praise, however, floating down with a big grin. "Thanks!" he chimed, "That's just a small token of what I'm capable of. Wait 'till you see me when I REALLY let loose!"

"Oh wow!" Valese chimed, clasping her hands together, "You must be the strongest man in the entire world!"

"Maybe not the strongest, but he's definitely in the Top Five."

The two looked over to see they had company in the form of Goten's young niece, Pan. The half-Saiyan man grinned but tried holding back his annoyance. "Oh… Heya, Pan, uh, what brings you here in the middle of my date..?"

Valese on the other hand smiled brightly. "Oh hello, Pan! Good to see you!"

"Yeah, good to see you, Pan!" Goten suddenly brightened up himself.

"Hi!" Pan beamed, "So I was just about to fly off when I happened to notice you were training, Uncle Goten. And I've got to say, you really are strong and powerful!"

Goten blinked, surprised at the unusual compliments coming from his niece, but smiled in response. "Hey, thanks Pan!"

"Aaaand," the young girl continued, "I was thinking that since you're so strong and powerful, maaaybeee… you could be my teacher and train me!"

"Wh, what?!" Goten shook his head, "Are you serious?"

Pan frowned. "C'mon, pleeease?" she pleaded, "Who better to train me than my amazingly awesome uncle?"

Goten wasn't fully convinced. "What's the catch?"

"No catch!" said Pan, "I'm just tired of being a weak little girl who has to always depend on everyone else to fight for me…"

Goten still looked unsure… until Valese spoke up. "You absolutely should, Goten!"

"Huh?!" both he and Pan looked over at her in shock.

Valese nodded. "Yes! It's only fitting that you train your own niece, and the next generation. You're clearly a real inspiration!"

Goten grinned a goofy grin. "You really think so?"

"I do," said Valese.

Pan just stared, wide-eyed. Her uncle's dimwitted girlfriend was actually on her side?! 'Huh… Maybe she's a good match for Uncle Goten after all!'

"See?" Pan smirked over at her uncle, "Your girlfriend thinks you should train me too! Martial arts isn't JUST for impressing the ladies. Just think how inspirational you could be if you can train girls to fight too!"

"Then… there wouldn't be any girls left to impress," said Goten.

"You can still impress me," Valese smiled, "I'm not really into fighting. I'd rather watch you train!" she blushed slightly as she continued, "But Pan is a different girl than me. She'd rather fight for herself, and she'd be an inspiration to all other little girls too. It would be so wonderful if you did help her out, Goten."

Goten gave another goofy grin. "Is that so?" he said, "Well, in that case, sure Pan! I'll take you under my wing and teach you a few things!"

"You will?!" Pan chimed, and quickly wrapped her arms around Goten's waist. "Ohhh, thank you, Uncle Goten! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome!" Goten replied, "I've just got to run it by your father really quick… Huh?!"

Goten trailed off when he suddenly noticed Gohan standing by the edge of their property. Even though it was a beautiful, sunny day, the shadows seemed to cover his older brother entirely, and all he could really make out were angry, red eyes glaring at him down as if to tell him, "Don't even..!"

"Uh, um… On second thought, Pan, maybe training you isn't such a good idea!" Goten quickly said, absolutely crushing Pan where she stood.

"What?" she cried, "Why? You promised!"

"Well, actually, I didn't really promise anything!" Goten quickly responded, "And besides, you're strong enough already, you don't need more training, you're already stronger than your average girl, and uh… And you're too young… and uh… You're… Uh…"

Pan knitted her eyebrows and glared at Goten, but that sight wasn't nearly as frightening as Dark Gohan approached the group, eyes still red.

"Aaand… GOTTA GO!" Goten cried as he grabbed Valese's hand and dashed away with her in tow.

"Uncle Goten!" Pan shouted, "You big jerk! What's gotten into you?"

"Pan…"

The girl froze silently and slowly looked up to see both her parents hovering above her, angry.

"WHEW, that was close…" Goten breathed once he put enough distance between Gohan and them. "I REALLY shouldn't have opened my big mouth like that…"

"Goten, how could you?" Valese suddenly snapped, "You made Pan so happy, then you took it all away from her! How could you crush her dream like that?"

Goten sweated nervously. "Well… um… It's complicated, really," he said, "I didn't think her father would get that upset with me over it. Besides, I don't think Pan could handle the training I go through anyway, so don't worry, it all works out…"

Valese just stared blankly at him for a moment, then furrowed her brow. "I see!" she stammered, "So you ARE against female empowerment!"

"Wait, WHAT?"

"I'm never speaking to you again, Goten Son! HMPH!" Valese shouted as she twisted around and stomped off.

Goten watched in bewilderment… then squeezed his fist in annoyance. "Pan..!" he grumbled to himself, "You owe me a new date!"

"Pan, your mother just got off the phone with Grandpa Satan," said Gohan sternly, "What's this about you destroying his statues?"

"Oh come on!" Pan crossed her arms defiantly. "It was only one, and it was the statue of me."

"But Pan, your grandfather had that statue specially made for you," said Videl.

"I don't want that stupid little thing representing who I am!" Pan spat, "I want to be better than that!"

"Regardless of how you feel, Pan," said Gohan, "That does NOT give you the right to destroy someone else's property!"

"Even though Gramps had it made for me?"

"Because he loves you," said Videl, "And you broke his heart when you smashed it."

"He's only broken-hearted because I don't want to be the next HIM! He wants me to be a weak loser who hides behind the REAL heroes, then steals all their thunder and glory when we don't really deserve it!"

"How dare you speak that way about your grandfather!" Videl shouted.

"YOU know this better than anyone else, Mom!" Pan shouted back.

Videl tightened her look. "Maybe, but I also know that deep down, he's a good man who DOES love his family!"

"Yeah," Pan muttered, "Loves me so much that he'll do anything to keep me from reaching my full potential and continue to make a total fool out of me. You realize he was going to rig the next Budokai so I could take his place, right? How does THAT help me?!"

Videl was silent, but her face was still tight.

"Regardless, that does NOT excuse your bad behavior!" Gohan cut in, "Now go back to your grandfather's dojo and apologize this instant!"

"Why should I?!"

"Because I said so! NOW GO!" Gohan boomed, "Or you can completely forget about training, ever!"

Pan stared hard at him, wishing she could argue back… but she didn't want to risk not ever training again. So she reluctantly took to the sky once more and blasted off towards her grandfather's dojo in Satan City.