1747
Bura-sama --- (daring to be different)
Friday. June. 14. 2002
Tuesday. July. 23. 2002
Disclaimer: DBZ is copyrighted by BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION, and is licensed by FUNimation. Dragon Ball Z and all logos, character names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. Bad disclaimer, bad. DBZ ain't mine, y'all. (It's time I start acting like the hick I was raised to be.)
Warnings: Eh.. My poor excuse for humor. There's death in the second chapter. Violence in the third. Random stuff in the next couple of chapters. Some implied shounen-ai in the first chapter (for humor only). No Pan bashing, no one is paired with anyone non-cannon (except the obvious). This is Nappa and Pan.
Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay. I just haven't had any inspiration for this fic. Anway, Nappa's introduced here. Eventually. Lots of senseless violence. Pan beats the shit out of some Saiyajins. That's about it, I guess. Oh yeah. I also realized that I absolutely HATE the title to this fic.
When the Fog Lifts, When the Smoke Fades
Chapter Four
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Pan groaned to herself as she opened her eyes and immediately shut them as dirt flew up. I have to be the most cowardly Saiyajin girl in Hell. You knew you were in Hell, Pan. You should have expected to see Saiyajins. Common sense told you that that can not be your grandpa. Moron. She opened her eyes again and pushed herself off of the ground. The ground seemed to shake beneath her feet as she tried to regain her balance.
She hadn't been out very long because the Saiyajin was still standing there in front of her. He looked exactly like her grandfather, only he had a feeling about him that promoted malice. He was wearing purple and black armor and had a furry brown tail wrapped around his waist. He was staring down at her with a look of disgust.
"Weakling human." A man to his right sneered.
The one that looked like her grandpa continued to face her, though he looked at the other Saiyajin from the corner of his eye. "True, Raditz. She is a human." He rolled his eyes back to look at her. "However, she did get a good punch in at Cell and Zarbon." He crossed his arms in front of him and kept his eyes focused on her, "Besides, Raditz... Weren't you beaten on a human planet by your human-raised brother."
The Saiyajin -- Raditz -- mumbled something in reply. She couldn't quite catch what he said, but it sounded like 'so did you'. The other Saiyajin heard the man clearly-- he grimaced and let the subject drop. Raditz took a step forward, "Where'd you learn to fight, girl?"
Pan subconsciously took a step backwards, realized what she was doing, and stepped forward again. "My... my grandpa taught me a lot." She realized that it wouldn't be the best idea to throw her grandfathers' name around in Hell. Too many enemies might like the thoughts of revenge by getting his only grandchild. That he knows about, Pan added silently. Goten had always been a player, but Pan didn't like to think she had cousins out there she knew nothing about.
"I know you think you're something, girl." The unnamed Saiyajin said to her gruffly. "But don't, for one second, think you're good enough to associate with the great Saiyajin warrior race."
Pan shivered. There was something about the man's disposition combined with her grandfather's familiar face. "O.. okay."
The Saiayjin grinned. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her in the opposite direction. "The humans mostly congregate over there." Pan was shoved roughly against a purple-skinned alien that snarled at her and pushed her back as it continued on its way. The Saiyajin called out from behind her, "If you get there, tell 'em Turles sent you!"
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Pan scoffed her shoe against the dirty, cold, scorched floor as she walked in the general direction Turles had pushed her. Along the way, she began kicking at small stones. The stones kept getting bigger as she walked, and she looked up to see a cliff edge high above her. There was someone standing at the top, glaring down on all those below. Pan picked up her pace and was soon leaning into the cliff wall. Beside her, a petite human girl was kneeling on the floor. She looked up at Pan's approach. She had a breathtakingly beautiful face, and perfectly shaped features. Her face was a look of sadness. "What happened to you?" Pan asked casually.
The girl, as young as she was, turned away from her. "Vanity really is a sin," she whispered.
Pan took a step back in shock as the girl's beauty faded away and was replaced by blue skin and roughly cropped orange hair. She hissed at Pan and the quarter-Saiyajin found herself turning in the opposite direction.
I am a Saiyajin, She thought to herself as she strode back the way she came. Self-conscious that the thought wasn't true, she hastily added, Partly. My Grandpa is the most powerful fighter in the world -- the universe! She thought of her grandfather's smiling face, then turned her thoughts to her parents. Mom and Dad aren't bad, either. I was raised amongst the strongest fighters alive, and if those Saiyajins have a problem with me standing in what they claim as their territory, they can just get over it! Her strides were becoming faster, her footsteps clapping against the ground with unmistakable anger. I'm a strong girl! I bet I could beat those Saiyajins. Secretly, she doubted herself. She had never been the big participant in a real fight; she'd always just been there to back up her grandfather. Beating up regular humans didn't count as a battle. She knew she was stronger than most people; she needed a chance to prove herself and test her own strength.
She'd never be as powerful as her grandfather, but she felt confident enough in her own strength to challenge those Saiyajins who would call her a weak human child.
She saw them again after a few minutes of walking faster than she should have been. There were new ones, this time. Pan felt a shiver of doubt. She could win against one -- two, even -- but there were five of them. She could remember Vegeta, from some of her earliest memories, telling her that the Saiyajins were the most powerful race ever. If they were all as strong as her father or her uncle...
As she approached, she took a moment to study the Saiyajins. There was Turles, standing on the left. Next to him was the long-haired Raditz. Next to him, though was a female Saiyajin. She had some sort of pink clothes under her less-bulky armor, and her hair was flatter than most of the Saiyajins she had seen. She had her hands on her hips, and was talking to a Saiyajin male in blue and black armor. Behind them stood another clone of her grandfather. He was different, though. He was darker skinned and had a scar on his face. He didn't have the same feel as her grandpa did, though he was considerably less menacing than Turles.
He was saying something to the Raditz character when he noticed her approach. He glanced her way, gave the Saiyajin-to-non-Saiyajin glare she had seen so much, and went back to talking among his group. Raditz looked up at her and scowled. "Well. The little human is back."
The other two new Saiyajins looked at her briefly, but didn't say anything. Turles's expression darkened at the fact that a weak human was defying him.
Pan marched up to Turles and stood in roughly the same spot she had occupied earlier when he had driven her off. She stomped her foot, and she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked as she had seen Vegeta do so many times. "I'm not moving from this spot."
Turles raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. Raditz was looking annoyed. He moved first and pushed her down. Her bottom hit the ground with a hard THUMP. She got to her feet and braced herself in a fighting stance. The next time he tried to push her, she wasn't going down.
"Ah.. do you want to play with the big boys?" Raditz smirked at her and seemed to have a dangerous expression on his face.
"Bring it on," She dimly realized that she was feeling over-confident, but did nothing to stop it.
Raditz jerked forward and aimed a punch that would have left a normal human dead -- well, as dead as one can get in Hell.
Moving faster than he could see, Pan kicked her leg up and knocked him backwards. His head snapped upward while his body fell down. He crashed to the ground, holding a broken nose. The wound would heal, but that knowledge didn't stop it from hurting.
She moved back into the fighting stance and didn't realize that the Saiyajin smirk was still firmly on her face. She couldn't have known it was the same smirk her entire family got when their opponent was completely outmatched.
Raditz moved to his feet with only slight hesitation. He started to strike again, but Turles stepped in front of him. "Weakling, Raditz." He sneered, "You are truly pathetic."
He jumped into the air and moved behind her. One hand tightly grasped her throat while the other struck her in the back. Pan's eyes closed in pain until she gathered her energy and shook her tormentor off. He obviously had much more of a beating planned, for he looked at her in a shocked silence. He snarled and lunged at her again. She sidestepped and landed a punch to his gut. He doubled over and fell to the ground. And stayed there.
"You're so tough without your precious fruit, Turles." The female sneered as Turles slowly moaned and got to his feet.
"Shut up, Celipa. As if you could do any better."
The female -- Celipa, if she had heard the name right -- merely shrugged. "I'm not going to fight the girl." She turned to the other man that looked like Grandpa Goku. "How about you, Bardock?"
The man started to speak, but a deep voice behind her stopped their informal 'battle.' "I'll fight you, girl."
Does no one want to know my name? Pan thought to herself as she turned to face the new person. Or is it just too far beneath them to want to know who's kicking their asses? She turned and stared.
He had to have been the most hideous man she had ever laid eyes on. He was tall. Very tall. He was bald, and the veins were popping out of his head in a revolting manner. He had a thick chest that was quite possibly wider than Pan would be if she stretched her arms out. His arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks, and he looked as though he could just pop the skulls off of people who got in his way. He had no fashion sense -- barely any clothes. He had a ratty looking mustache that outlined his mouth and gave him a rather untrustworthy appearance.
In short -- Pan wanted to laugh in his face or run in terror.
She remembered something that Vegeta had said once to Trunks about how no real Saiyajin would ever back out of a fight. She took a step toward him, "Fine. I'll fight you."
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END CHAPTER FOUR
Next chapter: (I've always wanted to do these) Pan's salvation! Summon the dragon and make your wish carefully!