Chapter Text
29
This time, it took Chi-Chi considerably less time to reach her destination compared to the previous time she had tracked Piccolo down. With her ki sensing ability much more developed, and greater steadiness and conviction while riding the Flying Nimbus, she was able to move more quickly toward that prominent point on the horizon, which she was convinced was Piccolo Daimao.
On their way, Chi-Chi and the Flying Nimbus crossed seas, cities, and forests. After several hours, they ended up in a wasteland far from any human settlements, inhabited by dinosaurs and other wild animals. The terrain was rocky, and the climate was desert-like. It seemed a more than suitable place to encounter that demon.
Just as she was about to reach the place her senses were pulling her towards, a sudden resolution crossed her mind.
"Stop, Flying Nimbus!" she ordered, and her transport came to an abrupt halt. Chi-Chi's body was thrown forward by the sudden braking, but luckily, she managed to stay in the air using the flying technique.
Chi-Chi rose a little higher, staring in the direction she was headed. The presence she had identified as Piccolo was still ahead. And the closer she got, the more certain she was that it was him. It was as if their last encounter had left a mark on her, one she was now unable to ignore.
But there was one small detail she had overlooked—and one she had also clumsily ignored during their previous encounter.
"If I can feel him so clearly, chances are he can feel me too," she said softly, as if she were saying it to the Flying Nimbus, although in reality it was simply a reflection to herself.
Piccolo must have been able to sense her presence just as well as Goku could. And even more so now that her power was surely greater. The only advantage Chi-Chi might have was that, because of that very change, Piccolo was unlikely to think it was her; he'd almost certainly think it was Krillin or one of the others. Though that hardly mattered, because whoever he thought it was would be waiting for them.
In fact, Chi-Chi would dare to say that this was why he had not moved or hidden his presence.
Chi-Chi bit her lower lip in frustration. However, she knew there was no point in complaining about it at this point. She was already there, and she wasn't going to back down. If that demon was waiting for her, she wouldn't keep him waiting long.
"I'll continue alone from here, Flying Nimbus," she murmured slowly, turning back to her trusty transport with a candid smile on her face. "Thank you for the ride, but you must go now."
The cloud remained in place, as if hesitant to obey such an instruction.
"Don't worry," Chi-Chi muttered, reflecting a confidence she didn't fully feel. "I'll be fine. If I need you, I'll call you right away. I swear."
The cloud seemed reluctant for a while, but finally flew away into the sky, disappearing from sight in a final flash.
Chi-Chi sighed heavily, then breathed slowly, trying to calm her spirit. Kamisama and the others had taught her to lower her ki until it was almost imperceptible, so she tried it now. Perhaps it was too late, but she tried anyway. She then flew carefully, closing the distance separating her from the point marked on her mental map.
Her journey finally led her to a wilderness filled with rocky mountains and a vast, arid plain. There seemed to be nothing around; very few animals, and barely any vegetation. And no visible sign of who she was looking for. But he was there; she felt his presence overwhelming the entire place, as if it were enveloping her.
Chi-Chi then quickly descended until her feet rested at the top of one of those rock formations. And there she stood, her posture firm, looking out over the desolate landscape. Despite the tense situation, the place felt relatively peaceful. But for someone who had spent a year in a space where there was nothing but absolute silence, for Chi-Chi the small details that made that landscape feel anything but empty and especially lonely were more than evident.
A warm wind blew, stirring her hair and clothes, and also kicking up a bit of dust. Her keen ears heard the fluttering of her gi, but also the long cape swishing behind her…
"Ah, it's you again," she heard that damned voice say behind her, like a recollection of their last encounter. "I didn't recognize you this time. I could have sworn it was another one of Goku's useless friends. Tell me, what have you come for this time?"
Chi-Chi inhaled deeply, then exhaled. She had felt scared and nervous before, but she wasn't the same woman she had been back then. Slowly, she began to turn around completely, finally facing the being she had so long imagined confronting. Piccolo Daimao himself stood before her, his arms crossed, his posture firm and confident, wearing his white turban and cape. The expression on his face was one of absolute indifference, only a subtle hint of annoyance appearing in his eyes.
"I warned you not to bother me again," the green-skinned demon exclaimed coarsely. "I told you that if I ever saw either of your faces again, I wouldn't take responsibility."
Chi-Chi's expression hardened. Her firm stance didn't waver in the slightest under the demon's threat, and he seemed to pick up on it, as a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
"I came for my son," Chi-Chi declared with absolute and iron conviction. "Where is he?!"
"Are you still stuck with an absurd idea?" Piccolo muttered impatiently. "How am I supposed to make you understand? The child will be in my care until..."
"I'm not here to discuss with you, Piccolo Daimao," Chi-Chi interrupted shrewdly, immediately spreading her feet and raising her arms, adopting a fighting stance in less than a second. "I'm taking my son with me. You can hand him over to me willingly, or I'll force you to."
There was a marked confidence in her voice that surprised even Chi-Chi herself. Piccolo, for his part, seemed a little disconcerted at first, but almost instantly a confident, mocking smile appeared on his lips.
"Are you going to force me?" he muttered, followed by a wry chuckle. He then uncrossed his arms, letting them relax at his sides. "Yes, I admit it's obvious you've trained a bit; with that idiot Kami, I guess. But that doesn't matter. It's absurd for someone like you to think that with just a few months of training, you could be at a level good enough to defeat me."
"I don't need to defeat you," Chi-Chi said. "I just need to be strong enough to force you to tell me where my son is. I've come to risk everything or nothing to save my Gohan. And if I have to die trying, so be it."
She clenched her fists tighter and planted her feet more firmly on the ground. She meant it; there was no hint of mockery or fear in her words.
Piccolo, however, let out a not-so-discreet, piercing chuckle.
"If that's what you want, I'll grant your wish," he whispered softly, and with absolute calm began to walk toward her. Chi-Chi immediately tensed, but maintained her posture the whole time. "If you happen to see Goku in the other world, don't forget to tell him that it was your own stubbornness that led you there. And if you happen to be revived with him, don't even think about standing in front of me again, did you hear me right?"
That demon approached her slowly, his posture as casual as if he were any ordinary person walking down the street. However, at the same time, he radiated an aura of menace so great it was impossible to ignore.
Chi-Chi swallowed nervously, but she didn't falter. Her legs didn't shake, her breathing remained calm and steady. She was there with a single goal in mind, and she wouldn't back down once she was there.
Chi-Chi was the first to react. When Piccolo was at the proper distance, she launched herself forward with great speed, leaping into the air to launch a tremendous roundhouse kick at the height of Piccolo's head. He, however, was quick to raise his arm and block the direct blow with his forearm, without the slightest apparent difficulty.
"That's all?" he muttered mockingly. "Don't make me..."
He wasn't able to finish his sentence because Chi-Chi wouldn't let him. While still in the air, she completely twisted her body to use the momentum to launch a second kick with her other leg. The sudden and swift movement on this occasion did catch Piccolo off guard, and his immediate reaction was to step back to dodge it.
Chi-Chi's feet touched the ground again after that first attack, but in the next instant, she used them to propel herself forward, launching a rapid and accurate series of blows with her fists, one after the other. Piccolo began to quickly retreat, lifting his feet off the ground, moving from side to side to dodge those blows and cover some more. And although he managed to do so successfully, his face didn't hide his marked confusion, as the warrior woman's movements were quite different from their previous encounter.
"Enough!" Piccolo exclaimed after a moment of letting her attack him. After dodging one of her blows, he firmly grabbed Chi-Chi by the wrist and yanked her to the side, throwing her through the air as if she were a simple doll. Chi-Chi's body was thrown in that direction, but she didn't get too far, as she managed to stop in midair by resisting.
The next instant, Chi-Chi launched herself, now flying, at Piccolo at high speed, her face iron-faced and determined, her fist raised to strike him. Piccolo soared high into the air, dodging that first attack, and Chi-Chi soon followed him.
Both warriors began to move through the air over that arid space. Chi-Chi launched attacks as quickly and accurately as she could, while Piccolo simply dodged her, an annoyingly confident smirk on his lips. A little frustration began to rise in Chi-Chi's chest.
Image commissioned to arts_dragonb
"I'll admit you're a little better than I expected," Piccolo commented smugly as he dodged her in midair. "But the way you were speaking so confidently, I thought you'd surprise me with something else. This is still pathetic!"
After that scream, Piccolo raised his right fist in the air and delivered a decisive blow to the woman's left side of her face. Chi-Chi's body plummeted downward, propelled by the force of the blow, plummeting from above toward the ground. The shock of the blow so disconcerted Chi-Chi that it took her a while to react and bring her body to a stop, just inches from crashing to the ground, though she then dropped to it, sinking into a crouching position.
She brought a hand closer to the blow on her face; the feel of it against her skin made the pain seem even more real. Although the pain didn't affect her as much as it had before, it was still a weak consolation. Only a few seconds had passed in that fight, and it was clear who had the advantage.
What's going on? I should be able to do more than this. Why can't I touch him?! She thought in frustration, her fists clenching tightly.
"Are you finally giving up?" Piccolo's voice exclaimed from above her, forcing her to look up at him. Piccolo was floating several feet away, his arms crossed and his cape billowing in the air. "I don't know what you were trying to prove by coming here, but it's obvious this fight is just a waste of time. Go home and don't bother me anymore."
Chi-Chi's jaw tightened, and her fists clenched even more as she heard him say all that. Hearing him speak to her like that filled her with such intense rage and frustration that...
And then she understood: she was angry. She had been since she arrived, no matter how calm she had tried to be. She was making the same mistake again. Anger could be a catalyst for strength for Goku and the others, but in her case, it was nothing more than a distraction; Master Korin and her time in the Time Chamber had shown her that.
But how could she not be angry at this man who had caused her so much misfortune? She had practically spent all those months thinking only about confronting him; that was her mission. Asking her to put her emotions aside at that moment seemed foolish…
But she had to. She couldn't fight like Goku, Krillin, or Piccolo Daimao himself; fighting at their level, she'd never be a match. But fighting her own way, she might have a chance...
"What's wrong? Are you so scared you can't speak?" Piccolo questioned her again, arrogantly, from on high. "Make up your mind once and for all: you'll leave willingly, or you'll stay and die as you've so longed to."
That provocation stirred Chi-Chi's emotions again, but only slightly. She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment and breathe deeply, calming the tempest in her chest. Slowly, she stood up again, her back straight, her arms relaxed. She let her senses heighten, and her heartbeat calm.
"So what's she doing now?" Piccolo muttered, confused.
Chi-Chi didn't hear him. She sensed the air against her skin, the sound of her clothes rustling, the smell of the grass around her. She absorbed every little sensation around, including, most importantly, Piccolo Daimao's presence and the emotions emanating from his heart.
She opened her eyes again and fixed them once more on Piccolo's. They showed firmness and determination, but there was no longer any trace of fury. This surprised Piccolo, but not as much as what followed. An aura of white energy covered Chi-Chi's body, and she rose into the air in an instant, suddenly ending at the same height as him.
Already in the air before her opponent, Chi-Chi quickly spun her body around, once again launching a spinning kick at Piccolo. He once again covered it with his forearm, but was surprised to see that this time the attack was more effective. It wasn't a stronger kick, of that much Piccolo was certain, but it struck with a more precise strike that, even after he had stopped it, caused Piccolo to be thrown to the side, although he managed to stop just a few meters away.
In a repeat of their earlier exchange, Chi-Chi lunged at him again, rapidly attacking with her fists and alternating with swift kicks. Piccolo dodged and covered them again, but something was different this time. He couldn't tell at a glance what it was; it wasn't that they were excessively stronger or faster, but rather that they seemed to be aimed and launched at just the right spots to make it harder for him to avoid them, or right in the position he'd be in after performing a dodge.
But the strangest thing was the absolute calm with which Chi-Chi seemed to attack him. There was no hatred or desire for combat in them, but rather a cold, unerring precision, as if Piccolo were fighting a machine.
It was strange and confusing, but that's all it was. Piccolo wouldn't let that distract him. After all, she was still just a clumsy human with little training. She was no match for him.
Piccolo then went straight to the offensive, giving her no room to attack. He no longer dodged or covered, but instead began to launch rapid blows of tremendous force. All it took was one well-executed blow, and his opponent's body would succumb, or at least be rendered unconscious; an efficient way to end this absurd fight.
However, it proved more difficult than Piccolo had imagined. To his tremendous surprise, Chi-Chi once again displayed those uncanny reflexes that allowed her to completely dodge each of his blows, moving gracefully as if performing some kind of dance in the air. Piccolo felt as if his fists were trying to hit the smoke that seeped through his fingers.
What the hell is wrong with this woman? How could she change her fighting style so quickly? Piccolo thought, now being the one who felt frustrated.
"It wasn't easy," Chi-Chi suddenly replied, taking Piccolo by surprise. Had she just answered his thought? "And I know I still have a lot to learn..."
That slight lapse, caused by the strong impression it made on him, was taken advantage of by Chi-Chi. From one second to the next, she disappeared entirely from Piccolo's range of vision. The warrior had spun her body in the air, passing over Piccolo's head.
"But like I said, I don't need to be stronger than you!" she snapped, spinning around to deliver a tremendous kick to the demon's back. Piccolo's body was propelled forward by that blow, flying in a straight line directly into one of the rock formations surrounding them. His body slammed hard into the top of it, cracking the rock.
Chi-Chi approached and descended until she hovered in front of the rock formation, waiting. She was momentarily distracted by a sensation of pain and numbness in her right leg, the same one she had used to kick Piccolo. She placed a hand on her shin, squeezing it slightly, trying to soothe the burning sensation. She had kicked with all the strength she could, and it seemed her leg had suffered it.
I still need to gain a lot more strength, she thought to herself, allowing herself only a hint of worry. It wasn't as if she could do anything about that right now, and, as Master Korin had taught her, she should focus on what was right in front of her and what she could fix immediately.
Her senses sharpened again. Even before Piccolo's warlike scream or his attack, what made her body vibrate was the feeling of aggression that surged from the demon toward her, allowing Chi-Chu to quickly become alert.
From all the dust raised by the impact of his body against the rock, the figure of Piccolo quickly emerged, rising again in the air, accompanied by a furious scream.
"You insolent brat!" Piccolo shouted loudly, stretching out his hand towards her, and in the blink of an eye, a sphere of bright golden energy formed from it, which then shot out towards Chi-Chi in the form of a dangerous shot.
That brought a flashback to Chi-Chi, having also been standing before a very similar energy sphere, launched by the same person, which had nearly ended her life. Krillin had intervened to save her back then, but this time he wasn't around to repeat it.
And she didn't need it either...
Chi-Chi remained calm as the attack approached. She raised both hands firmly in front of her, let out a mighty shout, and a white energy blast burst from her hands, cutting through the air directly into Piccolo's energy sphere. The two attacks collided, creating a powerful explosion of light that lit up the entire sky.
Piccolo quickly covered his eyes with an arm.
"It can't be," he muttered incredulously. Once the energy dissipated, he lowered his arm and stared straight ahead. "Did she repel my attack? But how?"
Through the smoke and light, he managed to make out Chi-Chi's silhouette retaking shape, floating firmly and confidently a few meters away from him, though she was breathing heavily. She was staring at him, once again with a firm and determined gaze, and without a trace of perturbation.
"I'll ask one more time," Chi-Chi whispered, striking her battle pose right there in the air. "Where's my son?!"
That resonated like a powerful command, leaving no room for negotiation. Indeed, she had come for Gohan, and she wouldn't leave without him.
Piccolo gazed at her silently, analyzing every inch of the woman, as if he were truly seeing her for the first time. And then, something changed on his serious face, as his lips formed a smile; a pleased smile.