Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Retaliation; the Trouble Inside ❯ Unlocking Pan's Potential ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Pan, Uub or Goku. They belong to Akira Toriyama. The idea of ss4 and GT belongs to Toei Animation Co. Ltd. In this story Goku did not run off with Uub without first promising Chichi he would come back often using his Instant Transmission. Also, Bulma found a way to bring Goku back to his original age with one of her inventions. The adult Goku still has his tail btw.

Retaliation

Exasperation

 

4/8/2008

 

Another day passed by, bringing with it another morning. Already three fighters gathered in the traditional training area Goku used far from the Son home. It was a chain of small islands off the coast of the continent where Goku and Gohan's families resided. Here, they could use energy blasts and various attacks to their heart's content while bothering no one but some unsuspecting dinosaurs. Ironically, it was not far from where Gohan had once sailed as a child back home to visit Chichi before the Saiyans originally invaded.

 

Goku, Uub, and Pan once again performed their various stretches. This time Pan seemed much calmer to him. Sometimes Goku puzzled why Pan seemed so shy when close to his student Uub, but he was beginning to see the possible explanations why. A small feeling of warmth came over him at the answer, and it gladdened him. Perhaps his granddaughter finally saw someone she could share her life with, and maybe marry. He had not always thought of Uub finding a wife, but he hoped in more recent years that the lad would have someone like chichi in his life to care for his needs. It only seemed natural since he relied on his wife so much for his student to have the same. Glancing at his granddaughter he noticed her faraway gaze. Though she moved easily through the warm-ups, her mind was clearly in another place. Ten feet from her Uub seemed equally preoccupied.

 

“Pan, are you okay?” Uub asked. She snapped out of her daydream. She still grappled with unknown feelings every time she beheld Uub and was not sure, if she was more frightened of them than the unseen enemy.

 

“Pan?” Goku asked, glancing at her. He strode up to his granddaughter and rested a hand on her shoulder.

 

“I'm okay Granpa. Let's get to work!” she said brightly. Goku and Uub exchanged a knowing glance and smiled.

 

“So what's first up today, sir?” Uub asked Goku. Leaning back and forth Goku stretched his thighs and calves with the same exuberance he always possessed for fighting. Like a puppy, willing to please Goku bounced with energy and joy to see Uub and his own granddaughter eagerly waiting for his first lesson.

 

“Like we did yesterday. But I am going to kick it up a notch. I'm going to change to a Super Saiyan 4. Both of you are going to have to work together to try to take me down. And you should do whatever it takes,” Goku said.

 

“Wow, you're really starting in high gear. It's not your style, Gramps to just transform right out!” Pan blinked, sharing an uncertain gaze with Uub.

 

“I'm sorry Pan, but since you insisted you were ready for the next level, it's the only way to get you over your fear,” Goku said. “You and Uub need to be ready for anything if I'm going to protect you. And if I'm not around this time… I'd feel awful that I hadn't done all I could to help you when I could have trained you.”

 

“Gramps you don't have to make up for what happened. It was my own fault for keeping my guard down,” said Pan.

 

“Don't blame yourself Pan. Stop it,” said Uub with frustration as he strode over and grasped her shoulder. “Goku and I want to help you now? Is it so hard to let us?”

 

“I'm not used to having people take care of me,” Pan admitted, blushing.

 

“Get ready!” Goku said as he suddenly lifted into the air, as silently as a falling leaf. Around him swirled a vortex of energy, slashing Uub and Pan in the face with a gust of wind. Simultaneously they threw up their arms to guard themselves in their respective defensive postures. For Pan it was a pose with one fist raised the other pulled behind her with her feet planted one before another. Uub stood with his feet planted apart, both arms crossed before his face in a pose identical to Goku blocking a chi ball.

 

Goku's cry echoed on the peaks of the mountains around them. The ground itself quaked and shivered from the resonance of the whirlwind howling with golden sparks. Once the veil of spiral force parted like a curtain on either side, it revealed the transformed figure in its heart. Cerise fur swirling in the wind along with the thrashing tail behind his legs that Goku had unwrapped from around his waist. Most people did not see his tail for he took a cue from Vegeta and wrapped it around his hips just under his shirt so nobody could use it as a weakness against him. It was his ace in the hole, responsible for this ultimate transformation and he realized all these years how smart Vegeta had been to keep his tail from swirling free though it was confining. Amber eyes blazed with inner energy, intense as sunbeams as their owner gave his pupils a feral smirk.

 

“All right, you two ready?” Goku throatily queried, his instincts fully awake as he faced off against them, fists raising but leaving his bare chest open.

 

“All right Grandpa, don't go easy on us!” Pan said, her mind snapping to their times before. She immediately shot forwards only to have a bronzed arm drop before her.

 

“Pan, wait,” Uub whispered.

 

“Now just a minute,” she stammered.

 

“Think fast!” Goku shouted, suddenly phasing out in a pink crackle of static like a TV switching off. Pan wildly glanced about, noticing when Uub pushed her behind him and she felt annoyed that he was suddenly protecting her.

 

“What's the big idea?” she gritted.

 

“Look out!” Uub shouted. “Spread out!”

 

One instant she felt Uub's hand grasp her waist and then he levitated up. A split second later, he whirled about, hurling her aside. She just managed to right herself when she saw a blur of reddish pink and heard the crack of Uub's elbow slamming into Goku's midsection. Goku leaned back and then twisted his tail around Uub's leg to flip him over. It all happened so fast that Pan barely had time to react.

 

Sloppily she cocked back one hand and sent the first of many rapid balls of energy towards her grandfather. As he blocked Uub righted himself and then swerved around to move at Goku's other side. In her mind, she heard a voice echo, “Pan, can you hear me?”

 

“What?” she blinked, almost losing her concentration. Goku phased out again, and she barely dodged the oncoming sweep of his kick before Uub himself phased between them and blocked the blow with one wrist and then punched again.

 

“We have to work together. Trust me!” Uub's thoughts echoed in her mind. “I'll hold him off, you get around behind him!”

 

While his mental instructions echoed, Uub still managed to trade a fierce blur of punches with the transformed SS4. Goku's mouth twisted into an animalistic grin, baring his fangs that seemed much longer. Everything about her grandfather crackled with a wild unpredictable energy that surged her blood and cried out to her own instincts to retain her guard. Not for an instant should she let up.

 

As the hours dragged on, Pan struggled to both listen to Uub's voice inside her mind and pay full attention to the melee. To do so simultaneously took Pan great effort, causing her to snap all her energy into one fine point. Memories flickered back in a third mental track to her time searching for the dragon ball with her grandfather. Multiple life threatening battles streamed into the space and time that was suddenly far slower. Every second lasted the extent of a perceived minute. Pan felt as if she were moving sluggishly through water.

 

Uub's series of punches diverted her grandfather, and she had quickly whipped around in a hairpin turn for another pass. Amber eyes glowed like the sun as her grandfather in simian form landed a huge punch that crashed into ub with the force of a thunderclap. She heard the dense thud in his ribcage, followed by his streaking form colliding with the ground. Another large impact crater resulted, which would puzzle astronomers in Satan City for another dozen years. From it arose a pillar of dust, radiating into the atmosphere and blocking view of the fight.

 

“Now, I'm okay Pan,” echoed Uub's voice.

 

“You sure?”

 

“I let him think he hit me harder. Now's your chance!” Uub said.

 

“But what…”

 

“Hurry!” returned Uub's thoughts.

 

Pan gathered her hands at her side, and then started to focus her energy in a Kamehameha wave. Unfortunately, air pulsed from just beside her and she sensed her Grandfather's ki right on top of her. A voice rasped, “Too slow Pan!” followed with a nasty punch in the middle of her back that sent her reeling. Anger filled Pan, squinting through tearing eyes at her Grandfather rushing in for the attack.

 

His next punch connected with her upraised wrist to block, followed by another. Pan brought her knee up, only to have him block that shot next. Fists pumped in and out, each blocking a punch while trying to find an open place to attack him. One particular slash of the hand clipped her hard in the knee, and she doubled over in pain. A viselike grip clamped on her ankle, then she saw the world blur by in three hundred and sixty degrees of arc. Staring down the line made by her body and her leg, she saw her Grandfather whirling her like a hammer at the Olympics. Pan leaned into the motion, and then twisted her body in preparation for him to release her. As she practiced, her grandfather flung her far away on a straight-line tangent to his arc. Snapping one arm back, she generated a thin beam of ki to stop her motion like a retrorocket. At the same time she hurled a ki ball from her other hand at the moment her grandfather's back was turned.

 

The missile whizzed towards Goku, but he snapped his head out of the way as it exploded like a firecracker. Suddenly he was bombarded with a hail of fists like the multiple fronts of a palm whipping into him. Uub's hail of punches connected, followed by a nasty kick that knocked him backwards. Meanwhile Pan had arrested her fall and rocketed towards her grandfather. He snapped his body back, managing to connect with his own attack at Uub. His punch landed on Uub's raised wrist, and the two locked together.

 

“You're… stronger,” Goku gritted through pointed teeth.

 

“I know… I've been… working extra hard,” Uub panted. Then an extra ounce of strength shoved both opponents apart an equal distance.

 

Something cracked into the base of Goku's skull, and he blinked to hear the high-pitched shout of Pan ringing in his ears. Already the force of it had jolted him, and he guessed somehow she had increased the force of her blow with an extra edge of speed. Yet he blocked the next series of punches from Uub, and diverted Pan's next rain of blows simultaneously. The air itself sizzled with the released potential energy of each blow connecting. He was not surprised to see sparks flying from the friction generated. Finally, Pan's eyes seemed focused, her moves clean and free of sloppy extra motion. Through the flurry of twin attacks, he realized something; the two were working as a team against him. Just as he had hoped would happen was now unfolding before him.

 

With but a sidelong glance, Pan and Uub drew back their legs and kicked in tandem. The force of it connected with Goku's raised knee, and he felt pain radiating like shards in his increased body density. He was not surprised at the two fists slamming into his jaw, generating a whole constellation of twinkling stars and a snap crack of flesh against bone. The iron tinge of blood dribbled on his palate and down his nose, and he found himself smiling though knocked backwards from the combined punch.

 

Though he flew back, he shook his head to quell the ringing noise clanging like a gong. He still had plenty of energy and presence of mind to rocket back and cup his hands at his side. From a distance of a quarter mile Pan and Uub readied themselves, not questioning the simplicity of how natural it seemed to flow together. Pan's heart pounded in her chest, hovering only ten feet from him. “He's going to attack…”

 

“It's not what you think. Don't take it for granted,” panted Uub. Sure enough, blue energies crackled and through the haze of battle, they saw their mentor's crouched form. Voice sharp like a knife he gritted, “KAH… mee…”

 

“That's too easy,” Pan whispered, her hands dropping at her side.

 

“HA…” Continued the voice, echoing somewhere to the right. Wildly her head flipped back and forth, and Uub froze. Only his eyes moved in the still rigidity of his head.

 

“Pan, move!” he shouted.

 

The next instant they heard “Me HA… times TEN!” roared close enough to feel the sizzling of the air around Goku's generated blast. Blue energy erupted, suddenly transforming to a crimson beam that sliced the air and pushed them aside like leaves in a hurricane wind. All they could do was try to dodge the mighty blast exploding ten feet from both of them. In opposite directions Uub and Pan flew, both with different agendas. Suddenly Goku twisted his hands to the side, and the beam turned and folded like taffy, surging after Uub instead of Pan.

 

“You can't get away THAT easily,” Goku uttered over the roaring torrent of energy he unleashed. Uub rocketed through a crazy series of twists and turns, only mere feet from the twisting Kamehameha beam.

 

Meanwhile Pan flew at full force under the direction and back again, her hands cupped at her side. She stopped a bit below her Grandfather, energy surging between her fingertips. She had not stopped her own Kamehameha beam that she suddenly let loose towards the Super Saiyan 4. Only for a second did he twist his head to the side to see her blue beam blasting towards his head. Releasing his kamehameha blast, he then ducked out of the way. Uub soared headlong towards him, the beam almost twisted back on itself. Two forces of energy collided and blew up with a flash that seared the retinas of anyone unfortunate to witness it.

 

Uub at the last minute veered away, retreating from the colossal explosion. Squinting he felt his Mohawk of hair whipped to the left, along with the slashing wind whooshing in his face. Pan could hardly see anything herself through the veil of her own dark lashes squeezed tightly shut. Both her arms arose to ward off any stray energy. Only by relying on their ki senses could they discern one another's positions. Both moved to one another's traces through the radiance generated, and then felt it diminish.

 

“Did we get him?” Pan panted, hovering near Uub. She lowered her arms, but he still crossed his arms in front of his face to block any further attack.

 

“Yes, but don't relax yet,” Uub urged. He suddenly moved in front of her, his body blocking the fist moving out of thin air. Right before him appeared the singed form of the Super Saiyan 4; his eyes squeezed shut and his hair standing on end. Pan almost had to laugh at how silly he seemed, if not for his next attack.

 

“Nice TRY!” Goku shouted. “Solar FLARE!”

 

“Damn,” Uub cursed to himself as his already overtaxed eyes protested and he saw nothing but darkness. He knew well that the next kick that connected was from his mentor, but was not prepared for the loud shriek of Pan nearby. Next sounded a loud crack, followed by a puff of expanding air and something like a snarl.

 

Shaking off the blindness his ki senses compensated. Two ki patterns were dueling back and forth, one flickering like a candle flame. One rapidly advanced while the other slowly retreated. He could tell the former was his sensei while the latter was Pan.

 

“C'mon Pan, what's with the funny eyebrows!” Goku gritted through the snarling feral voice.

 

“Now that's a dirty trick!” Pan shouted back, each word punctuated by the crack of a blocked blow.

 

“Is this all you can do? The Pan I used to know would have beaten me by now!” Goku taunted back.

 

“Nice TRY, but you won't GET me!” Pan hollered back.

 

“C'mon Panny, what are you waiting for!” He continued, his eyes sparkling with what seemed like mirth. Was he just teasing her? Worry filled him, and he wondered if Goku was taking things too seriously? Granted Pan was his granddaughter, but he recalled years ago when he first met Goku at that tournament. How nervous he had been, and how the taunts had rolled off the tongue of his opponent and driven his temper to the boiling point.

 

“Don't you DARE call me that! I HATE IT!” Pan screamed loudly, followed by the sizzle of an energy blast at point blank range. As his sight returned, he saw the two figures silhouetted against the sunlight. Goku barely fazed by what must have been her blast in his face while she wildly swung at his head, dodging everything she threw at him. One lucky punch again tagged him in the face, then another in his chest. All the while, her energy steadily increased, and he could feel it reaching a point of no return. It was not his imagination, Uub realized, because her moves had increased in velocity. For a second he wondered if the gleaming gold of the sun painted her in a golden hue because her body seemed bathed in sunlight itself. Indeed the angle of the sun was low, for their battle had lasted well into the mid afternoon.

 

“What's the matter little girl? Can't take your old grandfather?” he almost sneered, his head snapping back into place, and his leg sweeping out. The curves of her muscle gliding under the gi hypnotized him, and he forgot all about fighting and merely watched her next punch connect in Goku's solar plexus. Gracefully her leg swept out in an arc after the punch as her entire body pirouetted.

 

“Shut up and FIGHT!” Pan snarled. Time froze, and Pan's entire body merged into the force of that contact, pushing back with all her strength. As their battle ranged, a shadow fell across Uub, and he squinted to see both figures eclipsing the sun. Goku wheezed and grunted at the collision of her toe sharply in his gut.

 

“Now that's the Pan I know and love!” Goku laughed, hugging himself with one hand. His fist flew up to fend off another powerful punch. Instantaneously the taunting feral glare glowed warm with admiration, and love. Now as he warded and blocked each attack Goku's face brightened with a joyful smile, odd to see through the angular wild features of his ultimate transform. Yet it was a fitting expression because the fanged grin gleamed brightly.

 

“Pan…” Uub blinked, astonished with what he now saw. What he first perceived as two bodies lit by the sun was in fact two bodies in the heart of a golden source of light. To the left and beneath it the sun was just touching the horizon, transformed from gold to burnished copper. Goku's fur appeared the color of blood, and Pan's gi seemed lit from within. Her hair crackled with what seemed like static electricity and she seemed unaware of anything but the ongoing fight between her and Goku.

 

“Goku… don't you see it… Pan… s he's…” Uub blurted out, his heart pounding with excitement and joy.

 

“Shut up and stop babbling already! I can't fight with you yacking…” Pan caught herself saying. Goku caught her next punch in his fist, and then tugged her forwards. She yelped with frustration as his furry arms squeezed her close to his chest, pinioning her wrists. Wildly she kicked and flailed, her anger increasing each second with the firmness of her grandfather's bear hug.

 

“Pan, time out!” Goku panted, laughter peeling through his gasps. “Stop a minute will you!”

 

“Grandpa, stop joking around! I thought you were fighting me seriously!”

 

“Pan I wasn't joking around! Stop and take a look at yourself!” Goku whooped, his grip on her tightening so hard she could barely breathe. Judging from the way he rubbed her back affectionately and from the words `time out' she stopped struggling and blinked up at him.

 

“Pan is it really true? Wow…” Uub exclaimed, phasing in right next to them.

 

Surprised at the proximity of his voice she jerked her head to the side and ceased kicking. Goku relaxed his grip, yet still held her close in what she now realized was one of his warm hugs. Why was Uub squinting and looking at her with his jaw agape she wondered, and suddenly backing away. His young face shone in what to Pan seemed radiant sunbeams, but it seemed impossible because she could swear the light was either right on top of her, or from her grandfather. Letting her go, Goku moved back and beamed with pride. His tail swished back and forth like that of a wagging dog, making her forget her irritation and stop and work out what they were going on about.

 

“What are you two going on about? I'm starting to get really annoyed!” Pan huffed cutely.

 

“You're a… ss... Super Saiyan,” Uub managed to stammer out, still gaping in awe.

 

“You're kidding me! That's not funny!” Pan snapped.

 

“It's no joke Pan,” Goku said, his brow angling a bit. Indeed his cerise fur shimmered much in the same manner as if a spotlight had fallen on him as well. Slowly it faded, and Pan looked down at her skin, and blinked sidelong at whips of golden hair fluttering around her face.

 

“I…” she managed to stammer before everything inside her went out, and her body became limp. Only the action of two pairs of strong arms kept her from pitching to the ground like a stone.