Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Retaliation; the Trouble Inside ❯ Misinformation ( Chapter 3 )

Dragon ball Z and Dragon Ball GT are property of Toei Animation Co. Ltd, and Akira Toriyama, not me, created the characters. This fan fiction means no harm to the anime or manga.

Retaliation

Misinformation

By Trynia Merin

Beta'd by Sarah Slutz

***

Back at Capsule Corp., everyone jolted with the sudden appearance of two full blooded Saiyans in the middle of the living room.  What first began as a crackling image of the muscular heroes now materialized into a pair of three-dimensional figures.  Only a nanosecond later, Goku and Vegita solidified.  Both wore vastly different expressions: the former one of worry, and the latter, one of extreme anger.

"Why did no one see fit to TELL me what the hell was going on with Trunks?"  the Saiyan no Ouji exclaimed, glaring at all of them accusingly.

"Because we don't know till now, Vegeta," Bulma answered for everyone present.  "And that's what we're trying to figure out.”

"Dad, thank Dende," Gohan breathed a sigh of relief.  His younger brother knew the change in demeanor well, for it heralded his following thought.  Now that their father had arrived, everything would work out all right.  Realizing this made the younger Son sibling frown.  That was not always the case, unfortunately.  Theirs was far from a perfect world.

"Daddy," Bra exhaled, unable to stop herself from leaping up from the sofa.  She crossed the room quickly, heading straight for her father.   Her father extended an arm, wrapping it protectively around his little princess.  Pride could be damned, she was in distress and as a father and a prince, he was honor bound to protect her.  She was his treasure, his reminder of a life worth changing; of all he believed in.

Moreover, his daughter was the only person on the planet who could get away with ordering him to shave.  Simultaneously to the Briefs and before Vegeta's pronouncement, his longtime rival had quickly moved over to his sons, asking first, "Is Pan all right?"

Goten announced, “Yes, Dad she's okay!  Luckily Uub got in Trunks' way before anything worse happened.”

"Thank Dende.  If we'd been a moment later…" Gohan trailed off, hanging his head.  He felt embarrassed to show a lack of ability to protect his own daughter in front of his father.

"Gohan, don't start blaming yourself.  We should listen to Vegeta now.  I'm curious about this whole Trunks thing," Goku stated.

Bulma caught a glimpse of the momentary irritation crossing Goten's face because Bra had moved away from him towards the Saiyan no Ouji.  Filing that away for later analysis, she turned to her husband once more, "Vegeta, we're as confused as you are."

"Then let us have it.  Everything.  I want to hear it all!"  Vegeta pronounced firmly, unable to stop ordering everyone around.  Yet, in this case, they were glad to have someone take charge in this time of uncertainty.

"How could I have missed it?"  his daughter broke the silence first.  "Dad, it all started two weeks ago!  When he stopped trying to creep away from work!  You know how he always…"

"All too well," her father rolled his eyes.

Now possessing the floor, she forced the memories to the fore saying, ”Well he was not really acting like Trunks.  I mean he was getting so serious…."

"And he kept coming up with more and more excuses not to hang out," Goten added, looking down at his shoes.  "I figured it was because he wanted more time with Marron."

"But Marron thought he was hanging out with Goten here…" Bra continued.

"And both of us compared notes and realized it wasn't like Trunks at all,” finished Goku's younger boy.  The Saiyan no Ouji squinted slightly at this, but grunted to encourage them to proceed.

"And I thought it was Trunks finally taking his job as President of Capsule seriously," sighed his wife.  "It was so thrilling to see him come to work and meetings fifteen minutes ahead of time.  And he wore a suit every day!"

"That's definitely not the Trunks I know," Goten shook his head, with the look of someone who was embarrassed to be associated with a conformer to the establishment.  As he said this, he happened to look in Gohan's direction.

"Yeah, you're right," Gohan frowned.  "And then I heard Marron and Videl talking earlier today.  Videl was trying to calm her down."

"One at a time!"  their Prince waved him sharply to silence.  "Continue, Bra."

"Well Dad…  Marron DID come to me a few times.  I tried to tell her that maybe Trunks was busy.  I went to Trunks once or twice trying to find out what his deal was, why he was ignoring Marron.  She said he didn't call her at all.  And she left tons of messages…"

"And that isn't like Trunks either.  He and Marron were practically joined at the…" Goten began, but quickly changed it when his big brother glared at him.  "Hip…."

"Till two weeks ago?"   Vegita asked.

"This whole two weeks thing.  That's the key," Gohan mumbled.  Again, he rose to pace the floor.  Bulma took much the same stance, until they were pacing opposite directions in a double orbit around the sectional.

"Two weeks.  Trunks wore his suits to work and didn't complain once…"

"And he didn't sneak out of work to try and have a long lunch either," the younger Son nodded.

"Tell me about how he acted when you tried to talk to him about Marron," Bulma interrupted.  Her husband nodded.

"Well, he seemed pretty calm about it.  Almost like he was too calm…"

"A flat effect?"   Gohan supplied.  His father blinked in confusion.

"He means like a robot," Bulma explained.

"He didn't get piss…  I mean ticked off at anything or me.  Usually we argue but he was so… cool and collected.  He said that he was sorry and that he would try to clear things up.  It was just weird.  Then he called me 'dear sister'.  And he NEVER calls me that!"  Bra rested her hands on her hips with a grunt.

"I wonder why," Goten almost said, but bit his lip.

"I see," the Saiyan no Ouji acknowledged.  "Now, what brought on the assault against Pan?"

"Well," Gohan mumbled, tapping the tips of his fingers together.

"I thought she was trying to make something up, because she was jealous of Marron and Trunks together…" Goten shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Me too.  I can just remember Marron in tears and that creepy look on Trunks face when I would mention I was going somewhere with Pan…"

Memories became words that Vegita's daughter quickly wove into a story.  About how she had wanted to shove her brother into a wall for being an insensitive prick.  Marron and he had been going steady for at least two years.  She accompanied Trunks to all the official Capsule functions where he needed a date.  Every Friday night was his 'date night' where he would take out Marron, and Goten would take out Paris or another girl along.  Moreover, they would do… well whatever it was they did.  Bra pushed any thoughts of her brother doing THAT out of her mind with a snort of disgust.

A few days ago, she had been sitting on her bed, in her room, painting her nails when she heard a loud trilling of her cell phone.  Picking it up, she heard Marron's tearful voice.  Yet again, Trunks had not returned her calls, and she demanded to know where he was.  Bra told her she should meet her at their usual hangout, Crème De Lora's.  The nearest one was just outside of West City, and Marron was attending college at West City University.  Naturally, that meant they would go to the one on campus or at the corner of the campus.

Bra had sipped a cappuccino and bought her blonde friend a chai tea to try to calm her nerves.  Eventually the story unfolded, and Bra realized her older brother had reneged on his promise to 'straighten things out'.  Then it took at least two hours to convince Marron that Trunks was not seeing another girl on the side.  Especially when the name Pan surfaced along with the word 'two timing'.  That was when things really turned odd.

"He's been following her.  I admit I cut classes to go check on him.  Most of the time he wasn't at the business meetings he said he was going to.  I saw him once or twice actually sparring with her!  And he doesn't have time for me?" related Trunks' girlfriend.

"It's nothing!  Pan isn't interested in Trunks.  My Dende, I mean he sees her as much as an annoying kid sister as he sees me!  Trunks is no more interested in her than I am in…  G…  I mean Master Roshi!"

This brought a confused look to Marron's face and she shuddered.  "Come on Bra, I'm serious!  Are you covering for him?  I know he's your brother and Pan's your friend too."

"Whoa, TIME out!"  Bra made a T with her hands.  "Slow down.  Back up.  That's NOT true!  I would NEVER do that!  You're practically my sister in law.  Do you think for a minute I'd cover up for my brother's stupid mistakes?"

"I don't know WHAT to think!"  Marron wiped away fresh tears.  "He's such a… a prick!"

"Well he is my brother and I'm the first to admit that," her blue haired friend huffed.  "The way you describe him, he's turned into an ultra prick.  I mean, c'mon he's mad about you.  You should have seen the ring he…"

She clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she had spilled something she had promised not to tell.  The attractive blonde-haired woman's eyes lit up, and she straightened in her chair, hope returning to her face.  "You… a ring?  Could it be he's holding out and trying to propose to me!  That would explain why he acted so cold…  Bra… you're wonderful!"

"But that's not…" Bra spluttered before her friend squeezed her tightly and rushed home to call him.  Nonplussed she had called Goten to find out if Trunks had ducked out of yet another activity.  Yet it was Goten that called her next, wondering why Trunks failed to join him for the big premiere of that action thriller movie they had planned to see for months.  It was all Goten could talk about when with Trunks, but now his so-called best friend hardly seemed to care.  He was 'too busy with more important things'.

"So you see…" Bra swiveled her head to look at everyone in the sitting room.  "That's when I knew it wasn't right.  And I had to talk to Pan."

"Pan told me that Trunks had suddenly gotten interested in sparring with her again.  She was excited because she always teased him about getting soft," Goten took up the story.  His own memories surfaced, wending back to the half dozen times he had called Trunks to hang out, and there was always another excuse or meeting for Trunks to attend.  On the other hand, a date with Marron.

He had seen the engagement ring in Trunks pocket.  In addition, both of them had conspired how to tell her.  Yet, Goku's younger son had suggested they should ask his mother for advice, and Trunks had flushed bright pink.  Nevertheless, that was a whole month before things had become weird, Goten admitted.  Why the sudden change of heart?  Perhaps his best friend got cold feet, Goten thought.  Bachelors often thought twice when faced with the idea of settling down, calling it a 'big step' that inevitably caused them to back off.  Maybe that was why Trunks was avoiding him and Marron both.

Then his niece had come to him one night.  Her uncle still lived with Chichi and Goku when he was around and not teaching lessons at the Satan City Dojo or filming stunts for Satan City Studios.  She seemed quite preoccupied and Goten had wondered what was wrong.  In a soft voice, she confessed she might be going a bit kooky, but she was sure that Trunks was acting very off.

"He was staring at her a lot, she said.  She could swear it was in the same way that he looked at Marron and other girls.  He had been asking her when the next time they could spar was.  When she would ask him about Marron, he would say that he was already spending enough time with her.  So what was I to think?  And then she came out with something REALLY weird…" Goten continued.

"What was it?"  Bulma wondered, on the edge of her seat.  By now, Vegeta had sat near his wife, with Bra on his other side.  Although he kept his hands to himself, his mere presence was a great comfort to his daughter and Bulma.

"She claimed that the last time they sparred, he pinned her down, and really stared at her.  And that he had tried to kiss her," the youngest Son confessed reluctantly.  "And I got mad and told her she was making it up."

"So did I," his older brother also divulged.  "I… we were both sure it was because she was jealous.  Just being a teenager."

"She did have a crush on him at one time," Goten mumbled.  Nearby, the Brief's lovely daughter glared at him and he snapped his jaw shut.

"And you didn't listen to her, you idiot?"  the Saiyan no Ouji stared daggers at them both.  "Am I the only one who thinks you're both imbeciles for failing to notice the obvious?"

Everyone mentally acknowledged Vegita's acceptance of his first-born's relationship.  In his eyes if his son could not marry a Saiyan, the daughter of the world's strongest man was the best alternative.  Especially to marrying one of Goku's sons.  He secretly enjoyed seeing his lavender-haired offspring was at least making some effort to stop chasing multiple girlfriends and 'settle down'.  Perhaps then, he would be satisfied and train, along with his other responsibilities.  Sadly, this was not the case, or was it?

No one could offer a decent answer to his challenge.  Except for his rival Kakkarot, who ventured, "I don't know about all this.  But I do know for sure that Trunks wouldn't treat anyone like that.  And that Pan wouldn't lie."

"I know Dad but please…  I just…" Gohan started.

"Gohan, look, Pan's hurt.  Trunks has gone crazy.  And we need to know why," his father gently soothed, rubbing his son's shoulder.  "Uub's watching over her, and so's Videl and Chichi.  She'll be fine."

"But what about Trunks?"  Bulma said.

"Yes.  Time for you scientist types to start your tests and find out what the hell could have happened to Trunks.  However, before that, I want to see him.  I take it you put him in a ki resistant room, Bulma?"

"Yes.  I… to think of putting him in a… a prison, Vegeta?"

"Enough.  I will see him now.  You and Gohan start working on what could have brought this about.  And I'll see what I can get from him," Vegeta said.

“Uub did say he saw a strange thing about Trunks ki," Gohan remembered.  When the Saiyan prince whirled about, everyone else suddenly stopped his or her murmuring.

"What was that?"

"Uub said that Trunks energy was back to normal.  Not in those words, but pretty much to that effect," said Goku's elder son.  He again held his glasses, tapping them on one palm as Vegeta watched the wheels turning in his head.

"Did he?"  Vegita harrumphed.

"What?"  Uub's mentor suddenly growled.  "Uub saw Trunks energy change?  What was it like?"

"Ask him yourself Kakkarot.  He's your pupil.  I suggest… no I order you to go NOW and talk to him yourself.  Find out all he knows.  Bra, you had best go visit your friends and stay well away from here," her father informed her.  She nodded.

"I'll make sure she gets there, safely," Goten volunteered.

"See that if you do, you see nothing happens to her, got it, kid?"

"You got it, Vegeta," Goten promised.

"Dad," the young heiress complained.

"Enough Bra, you are to leave.  It's an order.  Though I will kick myself for this, you can go with her.  Do we have an understanding?" he repeated.  She nodded, and quickly turned to leave.  Goten rapidly followed, and Vegeta glared suddenly after him.

"Idiotic brat."  He thought.  Yet, he had bigger worries.  In addition, he would much rather have someone protecting his princess, especially if it was a Saiyan.

***

Burbling liquid rushed into his ears. Sounds were muffled with the intensified volume of hearing underwater. Opening his eyelids revealed a sea in which his body was buoyant, though casting a blue tinge on the world around him. Panic reasserted itself and the inclination to power up overrode any curiosity.

“Pan, where's Pan!” he shouted into something like a plastic cup over his mouth. A quick glance down confirmed it was a mask to which a breathing tube was attached. Other tubes snaked and undulated at arm's length, burying their heads into his body at several key points while the tails sprang forth from the chamber walls.

Blue energies surged from around him, only to fizzle out. Of course. Judging from the domed curve of the glass he stared out through it was a regeneration tank. Amnesia locked away immediate memories, seen at a distance like a horrible dream he both participated in and could not change. Someone forced his hands on invisible strings, and his will had been pressed far to the back of a dark theater. Now that his inner voice no longer compelled him. His will was comfortably back in its place along with his wits.

“No, oh no… what I…” the lavender-haired half Saiyan trailed off.

“Trunks! He's awake!” uttered a welcomed voice, sweet and high pitched that made his heart flutter. He thrashed about, training his gaze on his girlfriend just outside. The pads of her fingers and palms pressed to the glass with a double outline around them while her face held such concern it made Trunks want to weep.

“Marron!” he yelled, though it sounded garbled and more like: “MWABBBOnnn!”

“He knows me!” she cried, muffled through the liquid. Her boyfriend intently gazed down, his face filled with sorrow and pain. Outside her face reflected the same, filled with sorrow and a sense of hope. Next to her, the blonde shapely figure of her mother Juuhachi-gou stood, looking up at him with her usual piercing gaze. A slight frown still crossed her otherwise saturnine features.

“Trunks! Are you okay?” she cried, tapping on the glass.

“He's not a fish, sweetie,” the blonde android rolled her eyes. She glanced up from her daughter and fixed Vegita's son in that icy stare of hers. “You. You'd better be in possession of all your wits when you get out of there after what you put my daughter through!”

“I… CWFOMDDD HMMPP IDDD!” Trunks answered frustration apparent.

“Mommy, look at him! Does that look like someone who's a madman?” asked Marron.

“I don't think I want to answer that,” Juuhachi-gou mumbled.

“He's this close from smashing that glass to come out and see me! He MUST be okay!” Marron whirled on her mother and pointed directly at Trunks. “Please, we have to let him out!”

Medical personnel swarmed around and he heard their individual voices. Krillin suddenly pushed past them and shouted up, “Hey, Trunks! Are you okay?”

Someone handed him a microphone and he chuckled awkwardly before speaking directly into it, “Trunks… can you hear me, buddy? You went crazy, and Gohan and Goten brought you here. Juuhachi-gou and I've been here with Marron. Is that really YOU in there, or…?”

“Don't ask him that!” Juuhachigo sighed, grabbing the mike from him. “Listen, Trunks. You are going to stay in there unless you give us some sign that you're not going to do something stupid."

The elder Briefs sibling nodded his head. He would have to insist on the scientists installing a proper microphone into the mouthpiece when he exited the machine. Any aches and pains were gone, yet the machine's ki dampening system suppressed any attempts to power up. “Um, Trunks, I'm sorry man but you'll have to stay in there till Bulma gets back. Because I um… you know…”

Cursing to himself the half Saiyan really wished he could find some other way of communicating. Pushing forward he tapped hard on the glass, startling everyone. Although the blonde android tensed, pushing Marron behind her, all he continued was to beat a staccato cadence on the tank sides. Puzzled, his audience of medical techs, girlfriend, and associated family scratched their heads.

“Is he trying to throw us off guard?” Juuhachi-gou wondered.

“Maybe he's trying to send a message?” her husband chuckled. “Or else… he's gone completely nuts.”

“No, don't you see it IS a message Daddy! He's tapping out OUR song! The beat to it!” Marron realized. She held a finger to her lips to shush them.

“That's not really a romantic song, but it has a catchy beat,” Krillin confessed.

“Only Trunks would be that… sentimental. Yet he could be playing another mind game.”

“I think we should let him out of there,” their daughter suggested softly, still gazing up longingly at her boyfriend. “And see for ourselves if he acts himself or not. Have everyone else leave the room but just us…”

“I don't like that, but we have to know,” said Marron's mother. “Let him out of there Krillin. If he so much as makes a false move I'm on him.”

“I don't know how this thing works,” her husband whispered to the doctors. One of them showed him the sequence of buttons and then Juuhachi-gou shoed them all out of the room. Her daughter remained glued to the side of the tank, her eyes not deviating from the gaze they had locked with Trunks. In his own way, he tried to tell her all the things he wished, explain without words. Yet he could barely wait as Krillin punched buttons in what the person hoped was the right sequence. The blonde android grasped her daughter's shoulder and nudged her away.

Bubbles flew up from the floor, where a drain opened. The fluid level began to drop as it gurgled out of the machine into the waste tank. Once his body was no longer floating, the President of Capsule stood up on his own. Once it reached waist height, the top of the tank hissed open after the seals broke, and the lavender haired half Saiyan Trunks pulled the wires off his chest and arms. He was halfway out of the tank and standing in front of it before anyone could blink, but Juuhachi-gou moved between him and his girlfriend.

“Stop right there,” she said. “No more games.”

“No more games Juuhachi-gou. Something nasty got hold of me. You have to tell Pan I am sorry because I wasn't myself. And it took two weeks of hammering at it with sheer willpower to get it to break,” Trunks raspy voice confessed.

“Mom please, move out of the way,” his girlfriend whispered from over her mother's shoulder.

“Honey, would you please step aside?” Krillin suggested.

“You're dead if you try anything to screw with my daughter's brain again, Trunks. Let me make that crystal clear,” his wife whispered. “Or you would wish you were dead.”

Marron rushed over to grab a bathrobe hanging on the wall. She tiptoed towards her boyfriend who remained where he was. Extending his right hand to her, his eyes were soft and full of sorrow. “Marron… I don't know where to begin… except to say how sorry I am…"

“You'd better put this on. It's cold in here,” his blonde girlfriend shyly whispered, darting around him and holding out the robe. The son of the Saiyan no Ouji suppressed a fond smile and simply allowed her to slip it on over his outstretched arms. He belted it, and then turned around to raise his hand. Again, Marron's mother watched tensely, only to see him caress her daughter's cheek with a wistful sigh.

“If I could have killed that THING I would have…” Trunks began before his lovely girlfriend leapt forwards.

“Shut up and just hold me you jerk,” she pleaded, threading her arms around his neck. Blushing a bit, Trunks opened his arms to her and clasped her around the waist. The two lovers squeezed each other tightly in a fond hug.

“You see?” Krillin whispered.

“For now,” Juuhachi-gou relented. “But I'm still saying we should watch him.”

***

Pan still sniffled intermittently despite their efforts to calm her.  While she had ceased sobbing, she could not stop the tears still leaking from the corners of her dark eyes.  Finally, she lay against the pillows, surrendering to the weariness she felt.

“Mom, I think I'd like to be alone for a bit,” she requested, closing her eyes.

“Sweetie, I promised I'd sit with you,” Videl said.

“I'll stay with her, if you like,” Uub found himself saying, though he stopped with a fierce blush.

“All right dear, I suppose it's all right… but I still don't' think we should leave you alone…”

“I'll be safe Mom.  Besides, didn't you just offer to hang out here?”  Pan turned her gaze to her rescuer.  “If it's okay.”

“I'll check in on you later.  Your father will probably come visit.  I just need to talk to the doctors some more.  I just don't like the idea of you here… when you'd be safer home…”

“Mom please…  I can take care of…” she began, but then relented.  “What does it matter?  Damn.  If he could catch me off guard once, he can do so again.  I hate feeling helpless.”

“You aren't, honey…”  Videl started, but then realized from the pained look on her daughter's face it was the worst thing she could say.  Silently she cast a helpless look at the other occupant of the room and he gave her a knowing tip of the head.

“Is it all right if I stay, Pan?  Do you want me to?”  Uub asked politely.

“Yeah, that would be cool with me,” Pan said.  “I'm sorry mom…  I just can't stop being angry.  I guess I just need to cool off.”

“I understand.  I'll be talking to the doctors and stop in a bit later,” she said.  Surprised and pleased she allowed him to stay; the young bronze-skinned warrior perched on his stool a bit more.  Pan had flipped on the television to distract herself as she often did.  For a time he was unsure of what to say as she let herself lie still with dark lashed eyes closed.  Although she was the strongest woman on the planet, she seemed so fragile and still laying there among the sheets.  

“I'm sorry Goku; I wished I could protect her better.  Because of everything you've taught me I know it was enough.  But I need to get stronger,” Uub found himself muttering aloud.  A 24-hour music channel blared in the background and he found himself glancing back to the screen.  

Pan's dark lashed eyes opened after a time, and she looked up into her friend's worried face.  “You're still here?” she asked.

“Yes, of course I am,” Uub said defensively.  “Unless you want me to leave…”

“No, it's okay.  Stay.  I just couldn't stand my mom hovering around me.  I love her and all, but she and Grandma can just smother me so I feel like I can't breathe,” Pan confessed, straightening up in bed.

From his `perch', her young companion regarded her.  “I wish I was better company, you know.”

“Just being here is fine,” she confessed, and saw the faint blush cross his cheeks again.  “At least I know the two of us could beat most jerks… but when it's your own friend…”

“You're thinking about Trunks?  I wish I could have beaten him Pan.  It made me so angry to see what he did … I'm not helping am I?” he despaired seeing her face crumple again.

“No, don't blame yourself!  You kicked his butt!  I mean I was half passed out but what blows my mind is that you could stand up to him.  I mean Grandpa taught you everything he knew, but I've never really stopped to think how strong you are.  No offense… but Saiyans usually…”

“I'm not sure of how strong I am,” he confessed with an awkward chuckle.  “Your grandpa says I'm his best student.  Every time I fight, I learn something new.  Push myself to the limit.  But it doesn't seem like there's any end to it… sure I get tired and everything… but…”

“Dammit.  If only I could turn super Saiyan, I could have defended myself!  I need to get stronger!”

“Maybe you need to train harder?” he blinked.  “Though you already know that.”

“Maybe it's HOW I'm training,” she thought.  “Grandpa and Daddy always went too easy on me.  I'm thinking you might do the same.  But if you really want to help me you could help me get stronger.”

“If you want.  But you have to get better first... which I'm sure won't take forever because you still have Saiyan blood,” he pointed out.  “And don't Saiyans heal stronger then they start out?  Or is that only Goku that has that talent?”

“I never really thought about it.  I heal much faster than most ordinary people do.  But I think only full blooded Saiyans can really get stronger when getting beat up…” she trailed off.

“I'll help you get stronger Pan.  I promise.  It's the least I can do to help you,” he promised, taking her hand in his.  “But it's going to be hard not to hold back.”

“You'd better not if you know what's good for you,” she mock threatened.  He wondered if she was serious for a moment, but smiled when he saw the gleam in her eye.  It was one of a girl who would not let a setback destroy her chances for success.  Whatever Trunks had done, he had not broken her spirit, and that he was grateful to Dende for.

One second later, they both tensed at the appearance of Pan's grandfather in the room.  Goku hardly bothered to check just where he was materializing into, yet Pan's face lit up considerably to see him standing there.  Uub jumped down off his stool and rushed over at the same time Goku moved to Pan's bedside.

“I'm so glad to see you Grandpa!” she cried, squeezing him around the neck tightly as Goku leaned over the bedrail to hug her.  Always she felt safest in his arms, for there was none stronger than he.  Because of him, she trained diligently, hoping to be the hero he was, despite the thinning of her Saiyan blood.

“I wanted to see my little warrior.  How she was doing.  And to thank you Uub for protecting her so well,” Goku glanced up at his student who stood across the bed.

“I'm sorry I didn't get to her sooner.  When are you going to teach me Instant Transmission?” he asked.

“I wish I'd taught you before.  But I'd say you were ready, more than ready now,” Goku decided.  Still with his arm around Pan, he focused more of his attention on his pupil.

“I also want to get stronger, sir.  I managed to hold Trunks off when he changed to Super Saiyan, but even I don't know how much farther I can go,” he mentioned.

“You've got power that's still locked inside you,” Goku informed him.  “Power I've seen since we first fought.  However, getting it out of you's been tough.  It's like your body changes after each fight…”

“You've told me that before,” he reminded his teacher.

“All right.  Uub, you had better tell me what you saw when you fought Trunks.  That's the other reason I came,” Goku's expression twisted to a serious frown.

“Uh huh, of course,” Uub nodded.  While Goku held his granddaughter's hand, Uub related the tale of his fight.  Both Pan and her grandfather listened raptly, amazed at how he described the duel.  While Pan had only seen the end of it, Goku seemed most intent on picturing it in his mind.  He had the ability to do so just from the barest descriptions of a battle.  

“I don't like it at all,” Goku shook his head.  

“Could it be Baby?  Or another Tuffle?”

“Maybe.  But he was blown up with my times ten Kamehameha.  And I don't think anyone was left alive after Baby killed them,” Goku growled.  

“Ugh, I forgot,” shuddered Pan, shivering.

“But there might have been SOMEONE who lived.  Didn't you and your son Gohan fight a Tuffle scientist years before?  Who managed to escape?”  Uub wondered.

“He was just some fake… that his computer made into our worst enemies,” his sensei shook his head.  “No.  Besides, don't you remember the Tuffle energies looked different hen what you described?  You said you saw a pink tinge… on top of Trunks power aura?”

“Yes.  However, there was something else.  That look in his eyes made me think of how Vegeta gets.  Just before he blasts someone.  The look that Baby Vegeta had,” said Uub. “That's why I thought it had to be a Tuffle like Baby.”

“No I'd sense it if they were alive.  What else did you see?”

“One other thing.  For a moment, it looked like some sort of energy seeped out of Trunks mouth.  It took the shape of someone.  Someone who looked a lot like a Saiyan but wasn't any of you guys I'd seen before,” whispered Uub.  

“WHAT?”  Pan and Goku both demanded.

“That pink tinge that wasn't Trunks power but was mixed in with it wasn't the only thing I saw wrong with Trunks.  Around Trunks' head during the fight, I saw another face.  That other Saiyan,” Uub said in a hush.  “My village has stories about people possessing others.  One thing I learned as a boy was how to tell if someone WAS possessed.  I could see the `other' spirit faintly around the person's ki.  That's one reason I knew what to look for when I saw Trunks.  Not just because I knew what someone looked like who Baby possessed.”

“And you never told me this before?” Goku blinked.

“I did, but you forgot I guess,” Uub suggested.

“I might have.  Pan, do you feel good enough to go home?  Because I don't like leaving you here… when there are things like…” and here he visibly shuddered and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Grandpa I know you hate needles.  You're not the one laying in bed here.  And if we just left now, mom would throw a fit!” Pan said.