"CHIIIIIICHHIIIIIII!" She barely had time to register just who was grabbing her before Goku had swept her off of her feet. "Where've you been? Did you really meet Kami? Is he cool? You beat the Piccolo-guy, huh? Oof, you've gotten awfully heavy!"

"Thanks a lot you lump!" Chichi laughed, socking her revitalized friend in the shoulder as he set her down. "It's not as if ye've not grown yerself!" Eyes shining, she looked him up and down, noting that, once again, he had grown almost a whole head in height in addition to starting to show some real musculature. His shaggy hair was scraped back into a rather messy bun, a few strands already sneaking free to fall around his tawny face. "Look at you, y'almost look like a real person instead of a little troll like last time I saw ya." She caught his hand, palms smacking and veins in their forearms popping out in a show of strength.

Her own vertical growth was far less impressive. It seemed that any of her remaining growth had gone to packing on muscle, and honing the powerful tissues to solid, lean bulk.

"Yeah, well I didn't adapt to eating bricks or whatever you've done," he made a show of wiping sweat from his brow. She grinned, shrugging her shoulders emphatically to ensure her cape swished behind her. Goku didn't seem to notice. Well, all the better. She loved him, but he'd never be able to keep his mouth shut if he knew her secret. "He didn't give you a symbol or anything to show off?" Goku thumped the turtle sigil on his chest, "izzit on your back or - hey! Where's your tail?!"

Catching up on three years of missed contact was impossible within such a short period of time. Especially with scarlet eyes boring into her back throughout the elimination rounds.

They made eye contact, and the ghost of her tail bristled, the scar tissue in the small of her back aching for the briefest of moments as Heroine and Calamity acknowledged each other for the first time. Chichi's upper lip curled to the left, creasing her face and revealing sizeable canines. The demon sneered, drawing his lips back from over his odd lavender gums, fangs longer than her thumb gleaming in his cruel mouth. Her eyes narrowed, and she drew herself as tall as she could muster, puffing out her chest as she thumped her fist on her sternum, jaw jutting out to punctuate the challenge. Her foe's thick brows cocked, and he turned away with a swish of his billowing cape.

"What was that about?" Goku came up behind her. Her eyes never flickered from her retreating nemesis; the demon was too tall to fade away into the crowd of hopeful martial artists.

"Unfinished business."

"It's always something with you." Tenshinhan joined Goku. She heard him gasp. With Piccolo on the other side of studio, she turned to look at her one-time foe, now friend. "Is that -"

"Keep your voice down," Chichi cocked her head in the direction of Yamcha and Krillin. I'll fill all ya in over there…"

"Alright Folks, we have our contestants for the twenty-third Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament! There are some familiar faces in the mix, folks…" Chichi half listened as the announcer yammered on, scanning the crowd. She found Bulma, Launch, Roshi, Puar, and Oolong flashing a grin their way. "Allow me to introduce… Your fighters! I would like to welcome to our stage for the first time, Contestants Tao Pai Pai, Shen, and Ma Junior! Welcome back to these longtime contestants - Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, and an especially warm welcome to two-time runner up, Princess Chichi of the Ox Kingdom! Annnnd last but not least, our defending champion, Tenshinhaaaaan!"

The crowd erupted into racaus cheering, fists waving, jumping, jostling - the excitement in the air was palpable.

Between each skirmish, Ma Junior and Chichi stared daggers at one another; if looks could kill, half of the stadium would be dead. Tension mounted like a violin string tuned too tightly, each slash of Junior's claws another turn of the knob, until finally, the string snapped.

"You can have this back...but you'll have to kill me - and Kami - for it." The demon threw back his head and cackled, dropping the bottle down his gullet. Goku and Tenshinhan struggled to hold back Chichi as it disappeared down his throat with gulp.

"Kami would rather me kill him than let you keep wasting all the fucking air!"

To say that the atmosphere surrounding the tournament was heavy would be the understatement of the millennium. Piccolo - or Ma Junior as he was calling himself in an utterly arrogant way of shielding his true identity - stood across the arena from her, cape billowing out behind him, turban wrapped around his head, a vicious snarl twisting his face. She had to admit that he looked rather intimidating. But, Chichi smirked, standing as tall as her spine would allow, Piccolo was not the only one with a cape and shoulder pads after all. Sure, she wasn't wearing armor, but she certainly had the aesthetic of a warrior princess. It was a pity weapons were not allowed. Her axe-blade helmet would surely balance out his silly turban. At least as an intimidation gimmick.

Alas, it was not to be.

The crowd around them cheered and whooped, calling for the start of the match. The brutality and bloodshed of Piccolo's earlier rounds had caused some parents with young children and the more squeamish to take leave of the stadium; this final match was sure to be messy.

Chichi's dark eyes found Piccolo's, and she bared her teeth. He snarled right back at her, much longer fangs gleaming, oversized ears pinning to his head. She recalled Kami's being sensitive. Perhaps she could use it to her advantage…

The announcer called for the fight to begin, and for a moment, the world seemed to still. Sound fell away, leaving only the roaring of blood in her ears.

Then Piccolo lunged, and the battle for the future of Earth was on.

Chichi fell back, landing on her hands and bringing her feet up to catch Piccolo in the stomach. Shoving out, she landed a solid blow to his chest rather than his gut; the move was effective nonetheless and the demon flew over her head. She flipped to her feet and spun around in time to see him somersault up into a crouch. His face was twisted in a horrible snarl, and she could see King Piccolo again. She sucked in a breath, heart seizing for a moment. No, not now. She had a planet to save and babies to make. And she would be damned if this green bastard took that away from her.

"You've grown stronger since last we met," Piccolo hissed.

"Congrats on Daddy managing to spit out a halfway appealin' spawn. I was worried I'd have to look at that stupid eagle nose he was sportin' again." The demon's ears pinned and he lunged. Again? What did he take her f - she moved to dodge, only to have Piccolo's solid shin collide with the space between her pelvis and ribcage. She was sent flying, but gained control of her momentum before he could reach her again. Landing on all fours, Chichi threw herself back at him, making an obvious strike towards his face, prepared to feint if he was not smart enough to realize she was betting on him thinking she was about to aim elsewhere.

"Really?" He moved to catch her wrist, but she dropped and swung her leg to sweep his feet out from under him. Junior jumped into the air, and Chichi followed him, catching his ankle and slamming him down against the hard stone floor of the ring. The back of his head hit first, much to her satisfaction. She took a brutal kick to the face and tasted blood, but spat it back at the demon. Before he could stand, Chichi was on his chest, knees digging into his elbows as she pummeled his face.

"Spit out Kami and I'll consider sparing your arrogant ass!" She slammed her fist once more into his perfect little nose before he managed to flip their positions, pinning her beneath his larger, yet wiry frame. That was his one disadvantage. He should have waited until he had grown, filled out and had a true size advantage. Sure, he had muscles, but they were nothing compared to her own. Nineteen years was a helluva lot more time to build strength than three. She squirmed, testing his strength. His claws dug into the flesh of her arms.

"I'll have you know, Princess, that if you kill me, you lose your precious Kami. Surely you don't want the old man to die?" His face was close to hers now, and the announcer had started to count. Boos and jeers bellowed from the crowd. She could hear Goku and his friends cheering for her, yelling at her to get up and win. The announcer neared the end of the count, and she saw the disappointment in Piccolo's eyes. "Surely this isn't -" She slammed her head into Piccolo's already blood soaked face. The demon reared back, swearing and choking on a fresh stream of blood. Chichi pounced, somersaulting through the air and bringing her heel down on the top of his head. Lancing pain shot up her leg, but Piccolo fell forward, his turban slipping from his head. She landed awkwardly, cursing as she tested her leg. It would hold.

"The fuck is that thing made of of? Are fucking kidding me? That's solid metal you crazy -" she was interrupted as the spectators began screaming.

"It's Piccolo! He's back, the Demon King has returned!"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

"It's the end of the world!"

"Are you kiddin' me?" Chichi screamed, Blood-flecked saliva spewing for her mouth at the spectators' fleeing backs, "he has green skin an' pointy ears, of course he's Piccolo! They look exactly the damn same!"

Piccolo stood slowly, laughing wildly, his head thrown back. He swayed on his feet, eyes gleaming red.

The crowd was clearing at record pace, people trampling each other in fear as they fled from the Nightmare Reborn. Although she grimaced, it was better this way; fewer casualties. Only the announcer, Goku and the rest of their crew remained.

Piccolo sneered, but moved no closer to her. Instead, he stood stock still, a statue if not for the breeze lifting his cape.

"Come now, Princess, I know you're wearing weighted clothing, as am I; I don't care how densely muscled you are," he fingered his cowl, "you cannot possibly be as heavy as you felt." Chichi snarled at him as he slipped his shoulder pads and cape over his head, throwing them off the side of the ring. They landed with a solid thud, and the earth shook.

"Call me heavy again an' I'll kick your slimy ass so hard you won't be able to sit down for a month."

He spread his arms in a welcoming gesture which was so completely neutralized by the wild look in his red eyes.

"Am I wrong? Are you not wearing weighted gear?"

"I am," she admitted, and hesitated. He had removed his, and seemed to be willing to offer her the same courtesy, but she trusted him about as far as she could throw Shenlong. How was she supposed to know he would not attack her while her face was covered?

He seemed to guess her thoughts, and stepped back.

"I wish to defeat you utterly, and at your best. How can I possibly savor my revenge if I know you were weighted down at the time?"

Chichi scowled, but hooked her fingers under her own cape and yanked it off over her head. Her wild hair was even messier after the ordeal, and she knew that she had failed to look as cool and collected as Piccolo had whilst he stripped. Still, she felt lighter.

Standing before him a simple blue mandarin style shirt and red gi pants, Chichi felt naked. The weighted cowl of her cape had protected her abdomen from blows, and those deadly claws of his…

She took a moment to stretch, keeping a wary eye on Piccolo, who was doing the same. His shoulders and upper arms were rather impressive, even if the rest of him had yet to catch up.

"Scrawny, creepy shit," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that."

"Good!" Crap. Damn those ears of his. Maybe she'd rip them off and eat them in front of him. Add a little insult to injury. The demon before her straightened, rolling his shoulders. Chichi glowered at him, lip curling as she took in his stance.

Junior sneered, his eyes gleaming red over a face contorted by snarl lines. He held himself, completely open. Couldn't he at least respect the art and pretend to set up a defense? Hands resting on his hips, as if his most pressing concern was whether or not his next snarky comment would carry enough bite.

Piccolo's eyes glowed crimson, and she leapt into the air just in time to avoid a beam of burning ki.

With Goku's voice cheering her on, she lunged.


Join us in Chapter 10 for the fate of the world...again! Next time on Dragon Ball C: The Mega Evil Explosion Wave VS the Ultimate Kamehameha