"Odianna I'm sorry! Please!" Pan screamed just before the enraged woman smashed a hand through her chest...
Pan gave a start, a small scream, and woke up, cold sweat all over her body. She sat up and breathed in hard, over and over, hand clutching her chest. Her aura of power was starting to expand over her body. She blinked a few times and focused on completely suppressing it.
"Oh man... being dead four months with no sleep, I forgot what nightmares were like," muttered Pan to herself.
Pan slowly calmed her breath and tried meditating a bit. She didn't often dwell on her dreams or nightmares, especially since she couldn't remember most, but, that one was different. More often than not, back on Terra, her dreams were victory and living alongside the Kaio-Ken warriors, and her nightmares had been losing to the Saiyans, or letting people die. She hadn't had a lot of time to dream on...
She blanked for a moment.
She didn't even KNOW what the name of Bata's world was. She scowled at herself before returning to the thought on hand. She didn't remember dreaming in Bata's world when she was alive. Exhaustive sleep when she was recovering from severe injuries didn't yield much but physical recovery. But...
Her face scrunched up. "Odianna..."
Dammit, she had told her dad she wouldn't care if the teenager... correction, the immortal woman, killed her if it meant helping Terra. Obviously if she was having nightmares about it, that wasn't the case. She sighed to herself as a thought struck her. Was the nightmare about being killed by her, or because being Saiyan was a betrayal to the woman?
*knock knock knock*
"Pan sweetie? Are you okay?" came her mother's voice through the door.
Pan slapped her forehead and groaned. Great, now mom had probably heard her scream. She could remember her mom comforting her through bad dreams in the past. She did not want that right now, there was no way in hell she was letting mom know what haunted her dreams.
"I'm fine," called Pan.
"Are you sure?" called in Videl.
Pan scowled, mostly to herself. "Yes.
There was silence for a moment.
"Well, we're having breakfast in a few minutes, get yourself dressed and ready," called in Videl.
Pan sighed quietly. "Okay mom."
Pan moved to her dresser and opened it, pausing to look down on vaguely familiar sets of clothes before glancing down at her two gis she had on. It had been AGES since she had really worn anything else. The Fox Gi was new-ish, but, she had borne her Grandpa's gifted gi almost the entire time since that whole mess began, except for some time in the time chamber, and while recovering on Bata's world. It was childish in a way, but, she didn't want to take them off.
Slowly, she forced herself to and laid them gently on her bed. All the repairs Bata had done had been undone during her otherworld training and at the end of the battle with Kojin. The Fox Gi was 'barely' acceptable, her Grandpa's gi was in tatters, again. She grumbled to herself, grabbed a random set of clothes from her dresser, and went into the bathroom, putting her clothes on the sink. She could remember always liking to sit in a bubble bath, but, she knew it was childish. A shower was quick, and just as effective. Though, not as fun...
She grumbled to herself and turned on the water, and quickly washed herself off before exiting, dressing, and leaving both the bathroom and her room. She started walking down the hallway, before stopping at the sound of voices...
"So... what should we say?" asked Gohan.
"I don't really know," muttered Videl, "I just... I just want to enjoy my daughter being home for awhile."
"Ah you guys worry to much, it'll be fine," came the sound of Grandpa's voice.
Pan frowned, why was Grandpa here? More importantly, why were they...
Oh.
She looked down at the floor, they were talking about her. But why did they, well, except for Grandpa, sound so strained? She was home wasn't she? She'd thought they'd be happy, but, detecting their ki, mom and dad were anxious... oh kami, they were probably going to ask her what happened when she was in the other dimensions. Ugh, she did not want to go through that right now. She walked back towards her room, then started walking back towards the kitchen, scuffing her feet along the floor so they'd know she was coming, not wanting to barge into the middle of a conversation.
"Morning Pan!" said Goku.
"Morning Grandpa, Mom, Dad," said Pan quietly.
"Morning sweetie," echoed Videl and Gohan.
Pan sat down at the table next to Granpa, eyeing a stack of eight bowls of cereal. "Jeez Grandpa."
"What? I didn't eat all of it, there's plenty of cereal for you," said Grandpa with innocence.
Pan rolled her eyes at that.
Videl gave her a bowl, poured cereal and milk before putting them away. Pan swirled her cereal for a few moments before slowly eating. Aside from Grandpa's constant 'crunch crunching', the table was far more silent than Pan remembered it being the last time she ate at it. It unnerved her and made her not want to be there. It was quickly making her wary.
"Pan...," began Gohan.
"What?" asked Pan quickly.
Gohan hesitated. "Well... I was wonder if you wanted to talk..."
"About?" murmured Pan, keeping her eyes on her cereal.
"Well...," said Gohan.
Oh for the love of kami, could they just get it over with and ask?
She saw it for a moment, a weak, cowardly look crossed her father's face and she could tell he was backing out of whatever he wanted to say. "Well..."
He scowled at her, masking the look. "What were you thinking using Super Saiyan 2 and the Kaio-Ken together like that? You could have been killed!"
Pan stared at him in disbelief for a minute. Was he... was he really asking that? She would rather he had asked his real question.
She narrowed her eyes. "I did the same thing you or Grandpa would have done, give everything I had."
"But we were almost..." began Gohan.
"Hello! Earth to dad! I was in a life or death beam struggle! Do you think I was aware of anything else going on?" retorted Pan, her temper growing rapidly.
"Pan, he was only worried...," began Videl.
"And even IF I had known you were coming, I would have you wanted to stay out of it," said Pan coldly, "Kojin was MINE to kill. If I failed and died, then you could have finished him off, but not a moment before."
The table went completely silent.
"Do. Not. Coddle. Me." ordered Pan before she stood up and left, leaving the house and flying off in fury.
Oh how she had forgotten. There had been some discipline and responsibility given to her, but, she used to be their spoiled and coddled little girl. What FEW dangers hit the Earth when she was growing up, she had not once been allowed to fight. They had hid battles from her! Ignoring that, having participated in a few life or death battles since she first arrived on Terra, she clearly recognized facts MUST have been kept from her about Grandpa's past battles. There was no way any of the battles she had been told about had been as clean as they were made out to be.
For example, Grandpa's story of how he first became a Super Saiyan was always an awing one for her. But, what about it had set Grandpa off? She knew Krillin had died, but that was it. HOW had he died? Or when Dad and Cell fought, all she had really been told was that Grandpa lost, dad lost, Grandpa died, and then dad ascended and beat Cell. They really weren't specific with her.
She sighed, feeling her blood boiling a little bit. Maybe some light training to get her to cool down would do some good. She probably shouldn't have been that rude, oh well...
There was nothing but silence at the kitchen table for a few minutes after Pan flew off.
"Hers... to kill...," muttered Gohan.
"Oh kami, how could our daughter say something like that?!" sobbed Videl.
Goku frowned, scratching his head. "Umm..."
"You felt her ki when she said that right?" asked Gohan.
Goku continued to frown, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Yeah, but, her ki wasn't like that when we came to her fighting Kojin. It might have been close to it when we first entered the dimension. But, when we arrived at the end of the fight there wasn't an ounce of that kind of ki in her. I don't get it."
Gohan thought briefly. "I imagine her going Super Saiyan 2 went a lot like mine did. Nothing but fury, then something happened to snap her out of it, then it was life or death. At that moment, nothing mattered but stopping the destruction of the world."
Goku nodded slowly. "Mmm, that whole thing was really bad for Pan. Kojin killed her, killed her friend who revived her, and was gonna blow up the world. I... would have liked to have given him the chance to back down, but, Vegeta would probably scold me and tell me to be realistic. Kojin wouldn't have changed... mayb-."
Goku stopped, noticing Gohan's knuckles were bone white. "He broke her in half dad. S-she told me he broke her in half then blasted her to death."
Goku stopped thinking for a moment, his face contorting with rage not seen often on his face. "That... that... MONSTER!"
Goku's anger changed to worry when he saw the conflict on Gohan's face. "What else?"
"The way I learned that was because she joked about and said it would be preferable to starving," said Gohan.
Videl coughed and gagged for a moment, choking on water. "S-she what? Yesterday was bad enough with poor Uub! No one should joke about dying like that!"
Goku frowned. "I do sometimes, but, you didn't say that yesterday. Gohan, is there anything else your not telling us?"
"Her eyes dad...," Gohan whispered, "Get her talking about something serious, and then look into her eyes. You'll... you'll understand."
Goku felt a lump form in his throat. He couldn't remember the last time he felt unwilling to meet a challenge. He always fought his fights head on, even if he was frightened. But... what Gohan was asking him for some reason made him hesitant, and afraid.
He closed his eyes. Especially since whatever was going on with Pan was his fault. He just... he just never learned his lesson! He had instigated the Universal Survival Tournament, and now this whole dimension mumbo jumbo. The worst part was, Vegeta was probably right. They'd help Pan now, but who knew what was coming down the road? She was the strongest out of the next generation of Saiyans thus far. Her dad could bridge the gap for a time if he could become a Saiyan god, but, even then it would come to rest on the youngest three, er, four with Bra, at some point.
He blinked, feeling Pan power up in the distance. She was alone, so, training probably. He knew training first thing after something like this was something he'd do, but he'd have thought Pan would rest more. Either way, he couldn't back down.
Goku sighed and put two fingers to his forehead. "I'll go see Pan."
Saying Pan was frustrated would be a bit of an understatement. "Come on body! ASCEND! I did it against Kojin and to save dad! I gotta be able to ascend at will!"
She floated into the air, closed her eyes, forcing images of Bata's death and the Blue Majin trying to eat dad through her mind. There was a brief spark of electricity along her Super Saiyan body, but nothing else. She clenched her fists in fury and threw out a punch to vent...
WHAM
"Owwww! Paaaaan!" whined Goku.
She gave a start, opening her eyes to see Grandpa there, a black and blue on his cheek. "Whaa! Grandpa really? Why would you teleport so close to someone training?"
Goku smiled sheepishly. "Whoops, my bad."
Pan stared at him for a moment, this was a chance to test and push herself, before assuming a fighting stance. "Since you're here, let's fight."
Goku hesitated. "Well... I was wondering if you wanted to talk..."
Pan glared at him.
"...after the spar," said Goku, adopting a fighting stance, a grin on his face.
Pan rushed at him, throwing a heavy hit right for his face. Goku dodged before countering, kicking at her side. Pan grabbed his leg before it could hit, spun, and threw him to the ground.
"What are you waiting for Grandpa? Go Super Saiyan at least!" ordered Pan.
Goku smirked. "Just warming up in my base first."
The veins on Pan's forehead bulged. "I am NO warmup."
Goku frowned. "Pan, that's not what I..."
Pan flew at him, aiming a kick towards his head and gave a roar. "Heeeeyaaaa!"
Goku caught the kick effortlessly, his aura turning yellow and his hair spiking. Pan grinned, finally he was at least taking her somewhat seriously. She knew she had no chance to actually win against him, but, she wanted him to push her.
Goku spun and threw Pan into the air before rushing at her and throwing a bunch of light punches. Pan barely managed to block, deflect, or parry them. She cringed as one hit and flew back at the impact. Damn, she had forgotten just how strong Grandpa actually was. They both might be regular Super Saiyans, but he was WAY out of her league. Even now she had a feeling he was still holding back a considerable amount of his regular Super Saiyan power.
Goku rubbed a finger under his chin and smiled. "Hee hee, that's my Granddaughter, you've gotten really strong!"
"If you say so," said Pan, trying to figure out a good way to land a hit.
Goku gave her a curious look. Where was this negativity come from? "If I say so? You are strong. You're already stronger than your father and I were against Cell before your dad ascended. Speaking of which..."
He smirked. "How about you kick it up to the next level! I wana see your full power for myself!"
Pan floated in the air there for a moment, saying and doing nothing. Dammit body, she could NOT embarrass herself in front of Grandpa. GO SUPER SAIYAN 2 she self-ordered. She clenched her fists, trying to spike her anger and send thoughts of Bata and her dad through her mind again. Do it, DO IT!
Goku cocked his head to the side, studying her. "Oh, haven't gotten the transformation down yet? Yeah, it took me awhile too."
Pan cringed, red flushing her face. No dammit, she would not look WEAK in front of Grandpa!
"HEEEEYAAAAA!" Pan screamed, her power erupting and lightning coursing over her body at her self-fury.
Goku raised an eyebrow. "Huh, not bad at all."
WHAM
Pan drove a fist into his chest, coming at him instantly.
Goku winced and flew back at the impact. "Yeeesh, you ain't pulling punches."
Pan watched her Grandpa's aura expand a little and his power shoot up. She ground her teeth and felt flustered. He wasn't even ascending himself to fight her! Was she really that far behind? NO! She would force him to ascend to match her, she'd prove herself strong. Pan flew at him and threw as many punches and kicks as she could as quickly as she could.
Goku blocked or dodged them effortlessly, he spoke calmly and instructed, "Your getting angry Pan and getting sloppy, calm down and focus. A spar isn't anything to get mad over."
Pan blinked and stopped, floating away slowly. "..."
Goku waited. "Well?"
"Go Super Saiyan 2," said Pan quietly.
Goku frowned. "Pan, you ain't gonna get anything out of this if I win that quick."
Pan flinched. "I-I need to push myself as hard as I can!"
Goku studied her briefly, a concerned look on his face. "Pan..."
He sighed before adopting a fighting stance. "Impress me and I'll ascend."
Pan flew at him, throwing several light punches. After he blocked the third she threw a heavy right hook at his shoulder. Goku raised an arm and barely deflected it, wincing a little. She kept on going, smoothly putting Fox Style in motion, jab jab jab PUNCH!
She gave a start when he preemptively caught the heavy hit, spun her around, and threw her back. "That's predictable Pan. Against a skilled opponent, you're only going to get that off once or twice before they figure it out and adapt."
Pan grinned a little, that's what he was supposed to think. She flew at him, repeating, jab strike kick STRIKE. He caught it again like she hoped, and she grabbed his arm and pulled herself up to him, slamming her head into his chin, making his head snap back. He, being Grandpa, of course reacted without pause, falling backwards through the air, pushing her upward, before kicking her lower back, sending her sprawling through the air. She righted herself and turned to face him, watching him look at her with studious intent. Pan licked her lips, Grandpa was a fighter unlike any other, she was only going to get off that kind of sneakiness a few times before he started predicting it. He'd pick apart any fighting style like that.
She flew at him from above, jabbing towards his head with a few kicks. He raised an arm and blocked each one before surging up and striking back, his counter so fast she barely caught it. Shifting back, his fist passing inches from her chest. She grabbed his arm and swung herself down on it, aiming a kick right between his legs. She scowled when he shifted to take the kick on his thigh instead, a disapproving look on his face, "Really Pan? Below the belt?"
"Alls fair in a fight," she snapped back, letting go and cocking a fist to...
Then she was on the defensive as he came at her, with quick sharp jabs so fast the best she could do was to block or deflect the blows to be glancing more than stopping, a mix between floating back and being driven back. She gritted her teeth in frustration before she saw her opportunity, a swing going high. She brought an arm upwards to push his hand and arm up before ramming her other fist into his chin.
Goku drifted back at the impact, his face turned away, before he brought his head back down to level at her, a smirk on his face. "Good counter."
"Low impact," she muttered, clenching her fists.
She was practically smoldering. This was completely, and utterly pathetic on her part, she knew she couldn't win, but still! She WOULD at least make him go Super Saiyan 2! Pan gave a cry of fury, her power erupting and pushing to its peak before blitzing Grandpa and smashing a fist into his chest, launching him back...
Goku could only think one thing as he flew back through the air. This had gotten very unfriendly, very fast. He stopped himself and flipped upright as Pan came at him again. Goku tightened his defense, blocking and dodging every punch and kick with a little bit of effort, but did not counter. He had noted her moves were deceptively predictable. They came in a rotation followed by a heavy attack. But being predictable made countering the final heavier attack predictable in turn, because she knew her opponent would rather than let a heavy blow land, which let her to try to counter off it or unbalance him. It wasn't exactly a bad strategy, but he did like his own methods much better. He guessed however that she had learned this on Terra, and if the Saiyans there fought like Raditz and Nappa did back in the day... yeah, he could see its effectiveness there. The form had probably been tweaked more towards fighting Saiyans who liked to throw their power around rather than practiced martial artists.
He really wanted to be impressed, and he was with her power for her age, and that she had managed to get down a new style of fighting, but, he was distinctly not impressed with the severity of how she was fighting him. He was all for fighting seriously in a spar, but, she wasn't only going hard. She was fighting him like she was trying to hurt him. There was a cold, deadly edge in her eyes that did not belong in a mere spar. She was fighting almost nothing like the Pan he remembered.
Goku countered all the sudden, hitting her cheek and launching her back. He did not pursue. She was tiring, he wanted to see how'd she how/if she'd shift strategy to compensate; Pan recovered, a little blood trailing down her lips, before wiping it on her sleeve, a savage grin on her face. "That's more like it. Show me what you've got, Saiyan."
Goku stared at her in disbelief before narrowing his eyes. What in the world had gotten into her? If this was how she was going to fight then it had gone on long enough, he was not going to fight her like this. In the span of a single second, he ascended to Super Saiyan 2 and knocked her to the ground in one hit, leaving a small crater where she impacted. Her aura was gone, and she laid there cringing. He powered down, descended to the ground, his arms crossed, and kept a critical eye on her as she slowly sat up, massaging her shoulder. She looked up at him, a grin on her face. He could tell she was pleased she had ascended, but she had yet to realize his reason why.
"If you had sparred with Trunks or Goten like that, or any of our other friends, you could have seriously hurt them," said Goku calmly.
Pan's grin faded away, a passive and uncertain look crossing her face. "W-well..."
She looked away, shame coating her face. "..."
"I don't remember teaching you to fight like that," said Goku.
"You didn't," she murmured.
That Terra world...
"I might be a Saiyan, Pan, but I'm not one of those kinds of Saiyans, you don't need to fight like that anymore," said Goku softly.
Pan stared at him passively for a moment before she flinched and then her eyes narrowed. "Yeah, you're to soft to be one of them."
Goku went silent for a moment, wondering what he had done to set her off, before he walked forward and offered her a hand. "There's nothing wrong with that. It takes a strong person to be willing to show mercy."
Pan took the hand, and shocked him when she pulled herself up and slammed a fist into his face. He fell back onto his butt, staring at her in disbelief.
"That is what your mercy would have gotten you on Terra! You're lucky it was me, one of those Saiyans would have KILLED you if you offered them a hand!" Pan said with anger and desperation.
Goku opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of what in the world he was supposed to say. He was a bit mad she had done that, it was a low blow. But, he wasn't so blind that he couldn't realize she was trying to tell him something. Her tone was borderline pleading with him.
"It's the right thing to do," said Goku.
Pan yelled at him, "LIAR!"
He looked at her, not understanding.
"I showed him mercy! I wanted to let him live! That Saiyan MURDERED three people when I did!" Pan yelled at him, "They died because of ME!"
Goku winced, seeing tears well up in her eyes. He remembered what that Aideen lady had told them. Goku stood up, walked over, and hugged Pan.
"It's okay Pan, it's okay," he murmured.
"Its NOT okay!" she said hoarsely, "I-I s-saw it Grandpa, I saw it..."
He grow confused. "Saw what?"
She looked like she was trying to speak, but could only start to cry.
Goku hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on her forehead. "Show me Pan, show me what you saw."
Pan trembled for a few moments before she closed her eyes and focused. It had been a long time since Goku had last read someone's mind, but, he did remember how to do it. Memories started flooding through a moment later. First the battle at the fields, then Pan trying to show the Saiyan mercy and arguing with Odianna. The Saiyan spurning the chance and murdering the farmers in cold blood almost threatened to make Goku explode in anger. He remembered when Freeza had done that, taking his own energy he had gifted him to survive and tried to back-stab him. Some people... some people were just fools who would never learn.
He saw Pan explode in rage and kill the Saiyan. While he regretted it had come to that, he didn't blame her, at that point the Saiyan had thrown away his second chance and had to be stopped. He watched Pan begin to break down, only for Odianna hurt and scream at Pan. Cold fury rushed over him. She should have been trying to comfort and talk to Pan! Not rebuke her! Pan was just a kid...
The memories continued, seeing Pan run off and cry to herself for awhile before returning. Goku swore he could feel that slap when Pan returned to Odianna and the teenager hit her. He watched Pan have to take the corpse of the farmer, flying a great distance before arriving at...
Goku briefly stopped reading her mind and closed his eyes once the makeshift mass graveyard came into view. Ah Pan..., she shouldn't have had to see that. He resumed, watching her bury the farmer and fly deeper into the graveyard. He felt... frustrated and saddened when he saw her lose faith in him, seeing her beg him not to hate her for killing, and then accuse him of being a liar.
He stopped reading her mind and sighted a harrowed look in her eyes, desperate for approval; he wrapped her in a tight hug, and spoke softly, "I could never hate you Pan. You did what you had to do, and seeing that graveyard, the Saiyans had their second chance already, a long time ago."
Pan hugged him back fiercely, as if life or death, and began sobbing nonstop with relief. It hit him hard, seeing her like that. She... did she really think he would have hated her? He had a bad feeling this was only the beginning. Just what else had happened to her on that world and the other one?
Reluctantly, Goku put his hand back on her forehead. "Pan, I want you to show me everything that happened, from the moment you left, to the moment you got back. Okay?"
Pan nodded and sniffled. "Okay Grandpa..."