Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ When Things Go Wrong ❯ Help! ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Title: When Things Go Wrong
Author: Evil Child
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, but I do own Bob the Macaroni Penguin.
AN: This is set in Mirai Trunks' timeline. Pan is only four years younger then Trunks, because Gohan met Videl when he was fourteen…and Videl had Pan when she was 18.
***
"Videl?" Gohan grabbed the nearest woman with a bundle in her arms, turning her around to only see that it wasn't her. Pushing her away a bit roughly, he continued his search through Saatan City.
She has to be her somewhere, he thought, trying to encourage himself. But the chances of finding Videl and Pan in time were very slim. How had they known about them? He cursed himself under his breath. He had managed to keep them both a secret for so long! Not even telling his own mother! How had they managed to find out that Videl was his lover and Pan his daughter?
***
A voice behind her laughed, sardonically. "Here she is 17," 18 shook her head in contempt. "She even was foolish enough to keep the child with her!"
"At least we don't have to look for the child too," 17 laughed, and then addressed Videl. "Do you realize how foolish the two of you have been?"
Videl's mind was working overload. How could she get away from them? She had never fought them herself of course, but she had heard enough from Gohan that she knew it was a miracle he was still alive!
"Gohan really should have hid the two of you better," 18 told her, giving Videl another look of pure hatred.
"What makes you so sure that this Gohan has any reason to hide me?" Videl asked, trying to figure out how much the androids exactly knew. That and she was buying time, trying to figure out a way to get Panny away from this mess at the very least.
"Gohan told us of course," 17 snorted. "How do you think we know?"
"Liar," Videl said. There was no way Gohan would ever tell these androids anything about her or Pan. He'd die before he told them anything!
"You don't believe me?" 17 asked, his eyebrow rising slightly. "We killed him, didn't we 18?"
"He was groveling like a baby," 18 added. "He'd have done anything for us to spare his life."
"He would never grovel," Videl spat, before she could help herself.
"Ah, so it is true," 18 shook her head. "I didn't think that even Gohan would be stupid enough to have a child when he was having a hard enough time staying alive himself."
"Bitch!" Videl screamed, but she was unable to do anything because of the little bundle she held in her arms. The baby cooed, and let out a giggle. Videl didn't bother to shush her.
"What did you call me?" 18 asked, glaring at Videl.
"…"
"I'll teach you some manners," 18 said, and with one swift kick, Videl was laying on the ground. The baby had been thrown out of her mother's protective arms, and landed on the road about two meters away. It was all over in an instant, and ended in Videl scrambling across the road, trying to get to her baby.
17 stood in her way, silently staring at her as if she were a mere spec on the road. Videl growled under her breath, knowing that no matter what she had to get her baby. With one swift movement, she jumped through the air towards the android and promptly found herself flying in the opposite direction. She hadn't even seen what had exactly happened.
This time she was unable to get up from her sprawled position. She had landed on a pile of rubble, and her foot was twisted in an odd angle. She could have almost swore that she heard a snap from her back when she landed, though she couldn't be sure if it had snapped because her whole body was wrenched in pain. Ignoring the pain, she flipped over onto her stomach and began to crawl towards the two androids.
"Pathetic," 18 shook her head in disgust. 17 nodded his agreement nonchalantly.
Videl saw 18 advance towards her through unfocused eyes. She tried yet again to stand up, but her efforts proved to be fruitless, and the pain only intensified. Not only was her leg not cooperating, but the rest of her body was pretty mangled as well.
She managed to pull herself up into a sitting position anyway, though she was a bit wobbly. And then 18 was there, standing in front of her, telling her that it wouldn't hurt that much- the words that any true warrior heard often, but never truly believed. This time wasn't an exception- it would hurt. A lot. Videl was sure of that.
"Please," She said. 18 paused; obviously thinking that Videl was about to plead for her life, which she would have found very amusing. "Please don't hurt Panny."
A smile tugged at the corner of 18's lips. "We'll see," She promised, and then laughed. "But you, I'm afraid, have no chance."
17 chuckled in the background, and picked up the baby. "Pan!" Videl shrieked, trying to get up for the last time. She saw through the corner of her eye the last fatal blow, which would end her life: it came as a relief.
***
"What should we do with her?" 18 asked, staring at the baby in mild disgust. They had taken her to their house, unable to think of what else to do. There was really no point of killing the child when she could prove to be useful.
17 stared at the baby from across the table intently. He seemed to be trying to figure the child out. 18 shook her head in disgust. "17, what are you doing?"
"Why is she staring at me like that?" 17 asked, and 18 almost laughed. Her brother could be so incredibly dimwitted sometimes.
"She's a baby! She doesn't know what she's doing!" 18 said angrily. "Now tell me what we're going to do with her. She could be more trouble then she's worth!"
"What was her name again?" 17 asked, ignoring 18's irritation. "Panny?"
"I think it was just Pan," 18 said, giving the child a good look. "She has a tail." It was only a comment really. Neither had noticed it until now- in fact they hadn't really seen much of her in the cloth's the girl's mother had put around her. "Should I cut it off?"
"No, leave it," 17 said. "It doesn't do any harm."
"What are we going to do with her?"
"How much trouble can she be?" 17 asked, and 18 shrugged. Neither knew what they were getting themselves into.
***
Dead. Videl was dead. Her skull was shattered- something that the androids had done just to plague Gohan's nightmares, he was sure. She had been left to lay in her own blood, her leg twisted in an odd angle, various bruises adding to her broken state.
Pan was nowhere to be seen, and Gohan didn't have the heart to look much farther. What could these cruel, heartless androids not prove capable of doing? He didn't want to know what they had done to his daughter. So he didn't bother looking.
*** Ten Years Later ***
"Pan!" 18 screamed. Pan looked up from her training. 18 was standing in front of her, looking at her through angry eyes. That's how Pan knew that she was in a lot of trouble this time, though she wasn't exactly sure what she had done.
"18?" Pan asked, standing still and impassive. She had learned from experience to wait and see what 18 would accuse her of doing and then retaliate, while keeping her face passive the whole time.
"Why didn't you tell me that 17 left?" She asked angrily. "And where did he go?"
"17 left?" Pan asked, a bit shocked. He never went anywhere without 18! No wonder she was upset.
"Yes," 18 said, glaring at Pan. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Are you sure he left?" Pan asked, not understanding why he would do this after all these years of them being together.
"Of course I'm sure!" 18 shrieked and pounced on Pan. Pan didn't even bother to defend herself, she knew that 18 wouldn't hurt her. "Tell me where he is!" She said, after pinning Pan to the ground.
"I'm not sure," Pan said, shrugging. "Do you want me to go look for him or something?"
18 growled, but jumped off of Pan. "Why do you think that you can find him?" she asked suspiciously.
"He probably is just killing a few people," Pan shrugged. "It shouldn't be that hard to find him."
"I can find him," 18 spat, and jumped into the air. Pan shook her head when 18 was out of sight. 18 just got crazier and crazier every time Pan saw her. She didn't want to know what 18 would do to 17 when she found him. With a sigh, she went back to her training, wishing 17 was here to help her.
***
"I'm coming too!" Trunks said angrily. Gohan merely stared at the fourteen year-old boy in front of him.
Gohan knew only one thing: if Trunks went with Gohan, he would die. It was as simply as that, and Gohan couldn't let that happen. What would Earth do without at least one fighter to protect him?
Trunks would get stronger as time progressed, of course, but it wasn't time for him to make his last stand against the androids: it was Gohan's time. There was no way that Gohan could explain that to Trunks: Trunks wouldn't understand…hell he might never understand.
"Okay," Gohan said with false cheerfulness. The happiness that spread across Trunks' face was almost too much to bear. With one swift stroke, Gohan ended the happiness, and Trunks lay on the ground, unconscious. "I'm sorry Trunks."
***
"You were going to fight Gohan without me?" 18 shrieked at her brother. She had found him killing a bunch people as Pan had predicted, but he had proceeded to tell 18 that it was a trap for Gohan. To calm herself down, 18 began firing ki blast at the people as well, as she argued with her brother.
"Actually I was hoping that you would get here in time," 17 shrugged. "I just didn't want Pan to come."
"And why shouldn't she be here?" 18 asked, angrily.
"Because then Gohan will tell her, her true identity," 17 said as if it were obvious. "We can't let that happen- we don't know what she'll do."
"She won't hurt us," 18 snorted. "She wouldn't dare."
"She's stronger then me 18," 17 said, sulkingly. "That's why I can't be sure what she'll do. That's why I don't want to reveal to her anything about her heritage."
"You already told her that she is a Saiyan," 18 said.
"She had to know that," 17 replied.
***
"Who had to know what?" Gohan asked. He had come in time to hear 17's last comment, which confused him. Who could the android be talking about?
17 looked uncomfortable, "Pan."
Gohan's eyes widened in disbelief. It had been ten years…and she had been alive the whole time! Before he could help himself he jumped into the air and attacked 17, turning into a Super Saiyan instantaneously.
He attacked in a blind rage, thinking only of the daughter he had lost so long ago, and just found out that she was still alive. "I'll kill you!" He never said those words with such venom before in his life.
***
"17!" 18 shouted, watching desperately as her brother tried blocking Gohan's angry shots. Gohan was glowing more brightly then ever in his Super Saiyan form. His power continued to increase, and 17 was unable to block many of his attacks now.
With one last shout, Gohan changed into another form, right in front of 18's shocked eyes. There was no way he could be stronger then her brother! But there he was, glowing in a new Super Saiyan form, his rage still there, giving him even more power.
"17!" She shouted again, knowing that no matter what she had to save her brother. She jumped into the air, and tried to attack Gohan, only to fail miserably. She ended up on the ground, in the midst of rubble, trying to figure out why that scene seemed so familiar to her.
"That girl," 18 shook her head. She had killed Gohan's lover when she was in a pile of rubble, could she met the same death as that girl had? Trying to get up, she realized that her leg was broken. It was exactly what had happened to that girl…
Grinding her teeth she stood up, unwilling to die without a fight, and flew back upwards to Gohan and her brother's battle.
***
As soon as Trunks had woken up with a pounding headache he had known what had happened. Gohan had lied to him- told Trunks that he could fight, and then Gohan had knocked him out.
Trunks didn't want to know what had happened to Gohan. He only had one arm to fight with after all, and when he had two he couldn't take on both androids together. Fearing the worst, Trunks flew towards the direction where the battle should have been.
***
Pan felt a ki flair up all of a sudden and noticed that not only was it higher then 18 and 17's ki put together, but it was strangely familiar. Without hesitation she jumped into the air and headed towards 17 and 18's ki signature. They would definitely need her help.
***
"18," 17 grinded his teeth when he saw her fall to the ground a second time. It was no use- this newly enraged Gohan was too much for both of them. He cursed himself for telling Gohan about Pan- if he hadn't then this battle would have been over already and Gohan would be dead.
Gohan didn't say anything, but attacked unrelentingly. It was only a matter of time before 17 was finished- they both knew that. Gohan would more then likely kill him and 18 without a second thought. They had killed Gohan's lover after all.
"Get away from 17," She had come out of nowhere, and 17 winced. Pan's leg lashed out, and to 17's admazement she made contact with a stunned Gohan.
"Pan," 17 said, hugging the girl in his relief.
"Are you okay?" She asked, concern for 17 etched into her voice. She glared at the startled man.
"P-pan?" he asked, his voice shaking.
"Get away from here Pan," 17 said, knowing what he had to do. Pan couldn't fight her father…it would ruin the poor girl's life when 17 had to eventually tell her who the man was. "Take 18 with you."
"18's not going anywhere," a new voice added to the conversation. 17 looked down and to his amazement the boy 18 had nearly killed the other day was now standing over 18, pinning her to the ground. Gohan must have done more damage to her then 17 had thought.
"Get away from her!" Pan was on the ground in one swift movement, and in another the boy was flying through the air backwards, away from 18. "Both of you, stay away from them!" She shouted, glaring up at Gohan.
17 let himself sink to the ground, and Gohan followed suit. Pan stood in between Gohan and the two people who had raised her. 17 cringed as he looked down at 18's bloodied face and broken leg.
"Why are you doing this?" Gohan asked her.
"Doing what?"
"Protecting them!" Gohan shouted.
"They're my family," Pan said as if it were obvious. Gohan paled, and the boy looked slightly disgusted.
"Gohan-," the boy started to say, but Gohan silenced him with a wave of his hand.
"Did they tell you who you are?" Gohan asked, glaring at 17. "Did they tell you that they killed your mother?"
"Pan," 17 said, and the girl turned her head slightly around to stare at 17 in confusion. "He's right, you know."
18 stared at 17 through unfocused eyes and sighed. "Gohan is telling the truth, Pan."
"You killed my mother," Pan snorted. "I don't believe it!"
"I killed her," 18 said, her voice unwavering. "It didn't take much…"
"You said-," Pan looked at them in confusion.
"It took only one blow…I miscalculated, her head was bashed in," 18 shivered. "You were there…we didn't know what to do, so we took you in, and raised you."
"It's been ten years," 17 reminded her. "We didn't tell you because we were afraid that you would leave us and join Gohan…you're stronger then me you know."
Pan stared at them, her eyes widened. "It's not true!" She whispered. "You wouldn't have killed my mother…"
"Listen to me Pan," Gohan broke into the conversation. "I found her lying her own blood, head smashed in, broken leg. I remember every detail of that scene. I didn't look for you, because I didn't want to see what these cruel, heartless androids would do to a baby…I should have looked, I shouldn't have given up so easily. But all these years I thought that you were dead…"
"You shouldn't be here, Pan," 17 said. "Let him kill us, we don't deserve your help."
Pan stared at the four people around her in utter confusion. The boy looked almost as confused as her, which was a small relief. 17 and 18 looked slightly worried, and the man in front of her was staring at the 17 and 18 in disgust.
"Who are you?" Pan asked Gohan, afraid what he might say. "And why do you care whether I know about my mother's death or not?"
"I'm your father Pan," Pan felt a sinking feeling in her heart, and saw the boy's jaw drop. "Videl and I were young…we didn't know what we were doing," Gohan sighed. "It had only been four years after the androids came, and we didn't know how to hide the two of you. I'm still not sure how the androids found out."
Pan wanted to run. She wanted to get away from this situation- she didn't know what to do. If she left this man would kill 17 and 18, but if she stayed then she would have to kill the man who claimed to be her father.
"Leave Pan," 17 told her. "It'll be easier for you- I didn't want you here for that reason."
"You were going to kill him," She said accusingly.
"He's been attacking me since day one," 17 said. "What was I supposed to do? Let him kill me?"
"He's been attacking people since day one," the man snorted.
Pan bit her lip. This man wasn't helping, being so against 18 and 17. But what could she do? Ask for them not to hurt each other? The whole situation was impossible!
"You know what?" Pan asked angrily. "Screw the whole thing. You can all go to hell!" With a burst of speed, Pan was flying through the air, away from the whole situation.
***
"Gohan?" Trunks asked. Gohan was staring after the girl, unmovingly. "What was that?"
"I'll explain later Trunks," Gohan said. "Can you go get her for me?"
"Um…sure," Trunks agreed uneasily. Who was this girl exactly? And what if he couldn't find her? He wasn't too concerned by her fight abilities, however. The only reason she was able to hit him the first time was because she had taken him by surprise. He jumped into the air, after a moment's pause and wondered if Gohan would finally kill the androids.
***
Without hesitation 17 jumped towards Gohan, throwing a wild punch that he hoped would manage to land on Gohan's head. He found himself flying through the air in the opposite direction, without really understanding how it had happened.
This must have been how that woman felt when he had thrown her through the air. He didn't want to think about but he knew that they were both getting what they deserved.
"You killed Videl," Gohan said, ignoring me and was now facing a battered 18. She stared up at him through bloodied eyes, not bothering to defend herself. 17 had seen the same thing happen to the woman…Videl.
Gohan made a small ki blast and through it at the unprotected android. 18's eyes widened in horror as he saw it destroy his sister, who didn't even bother to protect it. "18!" 17 screamed, watching in horror as his sister fell to the ground, never to get up again.
"Do you like how it feels?" Gohan asked 17 quietly. 17 shook his head slowly. "Then you understand why I can never forgive you."
He said it quietly, angry completely absent from his voice. 17 nodded and watched helplessly as Gohan moved forward with lightening quick speed, and brought his hand down onto 17's head, splitting it open in one thwack.
He fell to the ground by his sister, wondering how Pan would take their deaths.
***
Gohan stood by both android's broken bodies, staring at them impassively. Why had he killed them? His father wouldn't have, but he did. Pan had been happy with them: they had been the replacements for her mother and father. He had seen how willingly she protected them, and he had killed them anyways.
But how could he have spared them? Not only had they killed Videl and the rest of the Z warriors. Not only had they taken away his only child and raised her like their own. But they killed for the pleasure of it, destroying innocent bystanders that shouldn't have been hurt. How could he have spared them when they had done all of that?
***
She was sitting on a rock, crying, when he found her. She seemed to be able sense ki readings, because as soon as he stopped flying, landing beside her, she straigtened.
"What did they do to you?" She asked, her voice livid. "Did they kill your mother too?"
"My father," Trunks told her. She sighed.
"Is that why he killed them?" startled, Trunks searched for Gohan's ki, and realized that the girl was right- the androids were dead.
"They killed a lot of innocent people," Trunks told her, not knowing whether this would comfort the girl or not. "If Gohan didn't kill them, then they would have killed somebody else."
She said nothing for a moment. "They might have stopped."
"I doubt it," Trunks said. There was another long pause.
"I'm not going with you," she said. "I don't care who he claims to be."
"You can't stay here," Trunks said.
"Why not?"
"At least stay with my mother and me," Trunks suggested. "You don't have to see Gohan if you don't want to but if he is your father then you might as well come and my mom will explain to you about the Saiyan raise."
***
He said the Saiyan race. Pan's heart skipped a beat. How could he possibly know that name if he wasn't who he said he was?
"You're a Saiyan?" she asked cautiously.
"Half," he told her. "You're a fourth if what Gohan said was true."
Pan uncurled her tail and Trunks gasped. "17 told me that I was a Saiyan."
"You still have a tail," Trunks shook his head. "I would have thought they would have cut it off."
"It doesn't do any harm," Pan repeated what 17 had told her when she had asked the same question. Trunks shrugged.
"So…are you coming?"
"I suppose so," Pan said.
***
"Gohan?" Bulma asked when Gohan walked through the door. She was startled when Trunks wasn't with him. "Where's Trunks?"
"Don't worry Bulma," Gohan reassured her. "He's fine."
"Where is he exactly?" Bulma asked, not reassured in the slightest.
"There's no reason to worry anymore," Gohan said, sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs, holding his head in his arms. "It's been so long…"
"You killed them?" Bulma asked a bit worried by Gohan's behavior.
"I actually wasn't expecting to live," Gohan said, staring at the wall with unfocused eyes. "Bulma…did I tell you how they killed her? How I thought they killed both of them? That was the first time I became a Super Saiyan…the day they killed Videl."
"Gohan…are you okay?" Bulma asked, definitely worried now. What had happened? And where is Trunks?
"Videl and I…we met when I saved her from the androids," Gohan sighed deeply, shaking his head. "She was trying to fight them, but I stopped her- I took her to a cave in the woods, and told her she'd be safe there. I don't know why I had done it, and was surprised when I went to the cave the next day and she was still there. She told me how they killed her father right in front of her eyes and she was only trying to avenge his death…she wanted me to train her. So I did, though I knew she'd never be strong enough to be a match for them."
"What are you saying Gohan?" Bulma asked. "Why didn't you tell me about her before now?"
"I was fourteen at the time. We spent four years of our life together- our friendship grew to something more," Gohan sighed. "She got pregnant, and we worried about what we were going to do. It was insane for us to have a child- we hadn't even thought about it… But we couldn't change what happened, so I continued to visit her."
"You have a child?" Bulma asked, her voice shaking.
"Eventually I had to bring her to a doctor- that's when everything began to fall apart," Gohan went on, ignoring Bulma. "We were both eighteen at the time…we didn't know how to have a baby. But when I brought them both back to the cave…she refused to stay again. I wasn't enough for her anymore, or rather she wanted the baby to have more then what we had made out of a cave. So she left…I searched for her of course, but I didn't find her…"
"Gohan," Bulma's eyes widened in disbelief as the truth of the story sunk in. He must have been seventeen when Videl became pregnant…way too young for anyone!
"I continued looking and training," Gohan went on. "But one day when I went to fight the androids, they laughed in my face and told me that they knew who I was looking for and it wasn't them. They knew about Videl and Pan. I panicked of course, and went through the town, searching for them…hoping that I wasn't too late. When I found her…she was dead."
Bulma's hands flew to her mouth when she heard the last part. Dead. They had killed her. But what had happened to the baby?
"I took one look at her, and I didn't want to look for Pan," Gohan sighed. "They really had done a number on her and her dead body still plague's my dreams… I should have looked for my daughter though. I knew I should have at the time, but I didn't want to see what the androids would prove capable of doing to a child."
"No one would have looked," Bulma tried to reassure Gohan, but he shook his head.
"If I had searched for little Panny, I wouldn't have been able to find her body…" Gohan continued to stare at the wall. "Then I would have known that she was still alive."
"What happened to her?" Bulma asked.
"The androids raised her for the last ten years…" Gohan's voice shook with rage. "I've missed ten years of my only daughter's life because of them!"
"Where is she now?" Bulma asked.
"With Trunks," Gohan sighed. "I asked him to get her and bring her here."
"Gohan…I'm so sorry things had to turn out this way," Bulma stood up and gave Gohan a stiff hug. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way."
***
Okay, I hope some people are still reading this. I don't normally make chapters this long, but this is what I wrote and I'm just curious if anyone likes it. If you don't: blah 2 u 2…but feel free to review even if you didn't like it. (in fact please tell me what's wrong with it if you don't like my story)… Thanks for reading.