Chi-Chi stood in the middle of the arena while the announcer hyped the crowd around her. She could hear her name and 18's being yelled out and cheered for, but it sounded distant. The sound of her heart beating in her ears drowning most of it out.
Something about this day had her on edge and her stomach in complete knots. And the feeling just continued to grow by the minute.
The obvious answer was Dr. Gero, and though that did contribute to some of her stress, there was something else. Something more. The first giant warning sign was the fact that anything she had planned today had somehow gone wrong.
The Androids were now suspicious of them, and she now had the risk of them leaving at any moment in fear of a trap. If they left she had nothing to lure Dr. Gero here with.
Even worse, she wasn't even sure [that] was enough to make sure he came to the tournament. She knew it was still early, but seeing no sign of the old man was beginning to pick at her.
She didn't know what she was expecting. There was no way such a secretive man would just be hiding in plain sight. She knew that, and yet it still worried her.
What surprised her though was while she had been trying to look for Dr. Gero within the crowd of people, she had caught 18 doing something similar
She had half expected the blonde to either be glaring at her, or be looking disinterested in the whole fight, but instead her perfect, unmoving eyebrow had a slight wrinkle in it, as she glanced at the crowd.
The android's loyalty was not something she was hoping on. She knew they weren't on each other side. Just momentarily cordial with each other. Them because they needed to win the tournament and had no idea who she was, and her because she needed them as bait to lure out Dr. Gero.
At least that's what she had thought.
What if this whole thing was a set up? If somehow they figured out her identity and faked a sob story on one of her friends just to find an opening on them?
"Are you two ready?" The announcer said cutting through her thoughts.
She gave him a small nod, and 18 hardly even acknowledged his presence. "Let's get this over with." She told him.
"R-Right." The announcer awkwardly replied. "Whenever you're ready, ladies."
Chi-Chi knew why she was here and what she needed to be doing, but there was something about 18's attitude that got under her skin. The girl treated everyone she met like they were beneath her.
She wasn't going to enjoy having to lose to her, but she would take joy in getting a few jabs in before she had to lose.
Making the first move, she ran towards 18, who had surprisingly, decided to run too. They met in the middle, clashing with their forearms.
"You…" 18 she roughly said, fighting to overpower her. "Something about you isn't right."
Caught off by her words, she unintentionally let her guard down allowing 18 to use the opportunity to shove her back.
She landed on the ground, looking back up in anger. This girl had no reason to hate her in her current form! 18 raised the corner of her lip in disgust at her, fueling her anger even more.
If she didn't have to save her energy for the simple fact that she had the looming threat of a stronger foe hiding out, waiting for his opportunity to attack, she'd have no problem dishing it back at 18, but unfortunately, that very much was the case.
She gave a quick punch towards 18 that she knew she would be able to dodge. 18 retaliated with some hits back, that Chi-Chi dodged at the nick of the time for the sake of concealing her true abilities.
One thing that this fight showed Chi-Chi, was that 18 wasn't as fast as she once was. Or to put it more accurately, she had gotten faster thanks to her training. She knew 18 was holding back some, but Chi-Chi had also been dialing it back, and her training showed.
It was like she was manipulating this whole fight. Almost like a dance. She would hit slow enough so 18 would easily be able to dodge, and stilled when 18 returned the favors, only moving the very last minute.
Knowing she wouldn't be able to dodge forever, without making this fight look unrealistic, she stopped completely, allowing 18 to hit her cheek. Chi-Chi pulled back, holding onto her cheek. Unfortunately, her punches did not get any weaker.
Looking back up, she was surprised to see 18 didn't look smug that she finally hit her, but instead confused.
"That wasn't right." She said, looking back at Chi-Chi like she had been the one to hit her instead. "What did you do?" She demanded.
Chi-Chi's heartbeat quicken at the thought that her foolproof plan had somehow failed. "What do you mean?" She had intended it to come out more confident and mocking, but there was a slight quiver in her voice.
Instead of answering her, 18 let out a sound of annoyance. "Don't play with me!" She seethed going over to her, with her hands out.
The heroine was forced to block her attack, feeling the force of it course through her body. There was no way she was getting hit by her at full force. "You're crazy!" She couldn't help, but reply back as she retaliated.
18 side stepped out of the way. "Fight back seriously." She huffed, going for Chi-Chi's head.
With a quick duck, Chi-Chi jumped back to gain some space, only to have 18 immediately follow after her. "What." *Dodge*. "Are." *Dodge*. "You." *Dodge*. "Talking about!" *Bitch slapped*.
Chi-Chi slid across the floor, feeling a familiar metallic taste in her mouth. It was one thing to hit her normally, it was a whole other issue to slap her like some punk in the streets.
Feeling a prick in her pride, Chi-Chi was already kicking her in the gut, before she realize what she had done.
18 had hunched over, holding onto her stomach. She raised her head just to give Chi-Chi a look of pure hatred.
Chi-Chi could easily tell the punch heading her way was going to be pack full of hurt. It was now or never!
"Ugh!" She let out as she hit the wall outside of the arena.
"Oh wow, folks! Both ladies gave it their all, but it looks like 18 ultimately came on top at the end!"
The crowd erupted in cheers. Some disappointment could also be heard. Chi-Chi could feel nothing, but relief though. First part of her plan had gone smoothly.
She stood, intending to congratulate 18 despite the foul look being sent her way. "You fought well." She managed to get out, holding her hand up.
18 was already walking away not even bothering to look at her hand.
Chi-Chi just sighed. The point was she tried, and the first part of her plan was a success. She had no room to worry about anything else further than that.
-LINE BREAK-
Chi-Chi's little cheer squad had been at the edge of their seats the whole time. Now though almost all of them ended up in opposite positions. Bulma had been so disappointed at the outcome, she was completely out of her seat and leaning on the rails in front of her.
Krillin and the Ox King were both leaned back on their seats. The ladder out of sadness for his daughter's defeat, and the former out of complete relief. Mai just sat with he chin resting on her hand. She had also been hoping for Chi-Chi's victory.
"She was so close." Bulma whined.
Krillin chuckled at her exaggeration. "Well I don't know about that, but she certainly held her own out there. Who knew Chi-Chi could be such a good fighter to even last that long against 18."
"At least she didn't appear to be too hurt." Mai chimed in. "Could have been a lot worse."
"You're right." Bulma agreed begrudgingly. As much as she wanted her best friend to win, the most important thing was she came out of it unscathed. "Do you think she's coming up here?"
"I think she mentioned something like that." Krillin answered. "I know better than anyone how she might be feeling a little humiliated. We should think of a way to cheer her up."
"I didn't think of that." Bulma said, feeling more concerned for her friend. "Maybe you should let her know who exactly her opponent was so she doesn't feel so bad, Krillin."
"But…" Krillin started. It was already bad enough he let them know. What if she decided to ask questions?
"It's not good to hold secrets from friends, Krillin!" Bulma scolded. "How would you feel if she kept something big like that from you?"
"If it was for her safety…." Krillin said, only to receive a glare from the bluenette. "Fine!" He conceded.
Bulma smiled at her victory. "Don't worry. Friends will always understand…."
-LINE BREAK-
She did it. She lost. She felt like a weight should be lifted off her shoulder, but it wasn't. Since the beginning of the day she had felt something amiss and just as she got through more of it, the feeling just continued to increase.
It was like a black hole of evilness reminding her that everything she had done was wrong. She never felt like this, did she? Normally she never had to think before, she just… [did].
Now though she was second guessing everything. That fight against 13 had messed her up. She lost her confidence on how to do things. She had thought training had made her feel more secure in herself, but it didn't.
"So what's the plan?" Goku asked her.
Despite some pouting, she had managed to convince him to miss some of the beginning of the next fight in favor of hashing out last minute details for their next and maybe final pre-planned move.
Now that he was standing in front of her though she felt more unsure of herself than usual. "You continue to watch the fights. I'm not sure if I'll have any luck in the stands, but at least this way we're covering all our angles."
It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all she had. With the way things were going, she had little choice in the matter, except to sit around and wait for Dr. Gero to make his move.
Unbeknownst to her, Goku observed her from the side. He had begun understanding what each of her quirk meant. Not making eye contact was a bad sign. "Hey," he said, getting her attention. "We're going to get through this."
Chi-Chi's eyes widen. Was she that transparent? This was Goku, after all. "I don't…" she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
She moved to tuck her hair behind her ears, but Goku grasped her hand, to her surprise. "You haven't stopped shaking since your fight ended." He told her.
Her brows creased, but looking down at their intertwined hands, she noticed the slight shaking coming from her smaller hand. How could she not have noticed?
"Chi-Chi," Goku said, turning her attention back on him. "I'm sorry. It's my fault you feel this way."
Her head whipped up in disbelief and slight anger. "Your fault? What are you-" she stopped as she felt his grip tighten.
It was then she noticed that her hand wasn't the only one shaking anymore. Though from anger or fear, she couldn't tell. "Your fight against 13. If I hadn't gotten caught in that trap–maybe this wouldn't…"
"Oh Goku…" Chi-Chi lightly chastised. Her tone sounding more sympathetic than angry. "It was a cheap trick they used. If any of us were in that position we would have fallen victim to the same thing."
Goku shook his head. "But it wasn't. It was me. I have to take responsibility for you feeling like this because I wasn't there for you the last time." He looked her straight into the eyes with such intensity, she couldn't say anything back.
"Which is why I swear to you this time will be different, Chi-Chi." He declared. "I can't predict what will happen today, but I swear to you I will protect you this time."
Hearing those words were not something she had ever expected to hear, and especially from Goku. The Goku she knew was silly, light-hearted, and more often than not a little immature. Hearing him get so serious just to tell her this… For some reason it made her hot in the face.
What amazed her most though was how calm she felt after hearing that. She had been so jittery and her mind felt so cloudy, but Goku's words seem to lighten her whole soul.
"Goku, I…" she wasn't sure where she wanted to take that sentence, but spilling her guts out about something seem to hit the right direction. "Thank you." She settled on with a smile.
"That means more to me than you will ever know." Before she could stop herself, she was already walking up to him, standing on her tippy toes to give him a kiss on his cheek.
She could smell a forest scent being so close to him, and she inwardly regretted having to back away, but before she could a hand on her back stopped her, holding her into place.
She looked up, and felt her heart racing, as Goku gave her a look she couldn't quite place. His eyes only darted towards her lips once, before she quickly closed the distance between them, letting their lips touch.
The hand on her back immediately brought her closer, and she in turn placed a hand by his shoulder. "Mmh" she couldn't help, but let out as he lightly nipped her lip.
She gripped his shirt, as their tongues met, and felt her face grow hot at the sudden turn of events. The simple kiss between them had quickly turned to something much more passionate and thrilling.
He placed his free hand on her face, gaining more control as he tilted her back. She was feeling like he was sweeping her up, and she could do nothing, but try to keep up.
Kissing Goku was not like anything she could ever predict. She had expected maybe something like Goku accidentally doing something wrong, or laughing, or even not knowing what a kiss was.
He was so childlike, but this kiss was anything, but. He held her tight, she couldn't back up even if she wanted to. He led their kiss like he was demanding it out of her, and she could only comply.
When it finally became too much to bare, they pulled apart, only enough so they weren't kissing anymore, taking the chance to gain their breath.
Still feeling fuzzy on what had just happened, Chi-Chi meekly looked up, only to immediately catch sight of two dark black eyes staring directly into hers. Her heart sped up, and it strangely felt like something similar to prey and predator.
"G-Goku." She softly said, eyes half-lidded, unsure where this was going to lead them.
He leaned forward, and she shut her eyes back, ready for more.
"Can Piccolo make a comeback?"
Almost like a spell had been broken, their eyes snapped open in shock at the sudden voice. It had come from the announcer, and the fight must have taken an exciting turn because his voice was loud enough for them to hear clearly, despite being pretty far.
Chi-Chi accidentally backed away from his arm causing him to retract them, and she instantly regretted her actions. "T-That surprised me." She quickly said, hoping he understood she backed away because of the sudden voice, and not because of him.
He scratched the back of his head, not catching as Chi-Chi's eyes flickered to his arms. "Guess the fight got interesting after all."
She avoided his eyes as he turned back to her, and she realized she had been more focused on the way his muscles moved. "I should go." She announced, louder than intended.
He raised a brow. "But Chi-Chi," he reached his hand out for her, but she was already backing away.
Her hands were on her cheeks, as she turned away from him, feeling how blazing hot they were. "K-Kiss–" she felt her face get even hotter. "I mean continue" she quickly corrected. She cleared her throat. "Continue to watch me–Dr. Gero." She had to leave before she exploded in embarrassment. "Just–look out for Dr. Gero, okay? Bye!"
Goku watched as Chi-Chi practically ran off. He brought back the hand he was holding out, scratching his cheek. "Bye?" At least he still had the fight to look forward to.
Meanwhile, Chi-Chi had to finally force herself to slow down before getting to the stands. She only had one thought going through her mind currently. 'Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!'
To be more accurate, her mind was currently racing with so many thoughts at once, that one was the only clear one she could make out. Runner up was, 'what just happened?'
This was too much for her right now. If only she had some kind of distraction to keep her mind off of this for now.
In the future, she would look back on this thought and almost laugh at the irony. What was that saying? Be careful what you wish for?
She had manage to make it to the first column when a shout of fright from the announcer caught her attention. "I-I don't believe what I'm seeing!"
-LINE BREAK-
"Can Piccolo make a comeback?"
Piccolo was holding onto his arm, and heavily breathing as he focused on his opponent ahead. As soon as the match had started, the Anonymous guy had done nothing, but play around with him.
After he had seen the other fights, he had expected the challengers to get tougher, but Anonymous looked like nothing, but a joke. Guess this taught him never to underestimate an opponent. Especially by just their looks.
It wasn't just that though. There was something weird about this guy that made his skin crawl. He couldn't pinpoint what exactly, but there was something dangerous about him.
"Do you give up?" He asked, in the same high-pitched tone he had been speaking with the whole time.
For someone with sensitive ears it was the equivalent to nails on a chalkboard. "Not on your life." He went for another kick, that Anonymous was able to easily grab.
As much as Piccolo tried, he couldn't budge from the steely grip Anonymous had on him. "I tire of your silly attempts. I will end this now."
Before Piccolo could question him, a hand reached out to shut his mouth. Forgetting about his foot, he gripped Anonymous's arm trying to pull him off, but like his foot, he wouldn't budge.
The announcer looked on a little stunned at the move, but did his commentary anyways. "Looks like Anonymous has Piccolo trapped in some kind of lock! Will Piccolo be able to escape it?"
Piccolo continued to struggle as he begin to get a bad feeling about this. 'This isn't right. It feels like I'm losing my energy the more I try to fight him off!' He thought.
Their eyes met and Piccolo felt like he was staring at a cold-blooded killer, rather than an opponent. Without thinking about it, Piccolo gripped the arm that was covering his mouth, and used all his strength to twist it.
It was instinctive. In order to protect himself from whatever potential evil he was feeling. Those were the only thoughts that raced across his mind before he made his final tug at his opponents arm.
There was a pregnant pause as the audience tried to understand what they just witness happen. The announcer was the first to recover.
"I-I don't believe what I'm seeing! In the midst of battling it out, Piccolo has accidentally ripped off Anonymous's arm!"
There was a mix of shock, panic, and disbelief sweeping the audience as Piccolo held onto a detached arm.
Piccolo himself looked down in shock. He had only meant to break free from his opponents hold….
Even more confusing instead of blood, and other expected bodily parts, there were wires and something like blood, but not quite. It was browner in color, and more runny.
Piccolo couldn't help, but stare down in disgust. "You're not human," he stated. Anonymous didn't answer, but instead continued with his same creepy smile, as if he wasn't missing a limb.
"We will finish the fight, yes?" He asked, getting back in stance.
Piccolo wasn't sure what this guy was playing at, or if he even expected him to answer such an outrageous question, but before he could reply, his sensitive ears caught someone walking up to them.
"That's enough 19."
-LINE BREAK-
Chi-Chi stood, the confusion of the scene in front of her, keeping her rooted to the spot.
An old man with long snowy white hair stood just outside the arena interrupting the sudden gruesome fight from escalating any further.
A pit in her stomach told her she knew exactly who was standing in front of her, but she couldn't believe it. Not after all this time.
"I don't understand. Is the green man hurt or not?" Someone nearby questioned.
"Could this be part of some act or something?"
"Either way, I didn't come here for people to be talking. We want to see some action!" An angry audience member shouted. It wasn't long till others joined in and begin booing.
Hearing the rowdiness from the crowd the announcer cleared his throat, getting the order back in place before it got out of hand. "Folks, I'm just as confused as you are." He addressed the audience, before turning to the mysterious old man. "Sir, although your friend is badly injured, we must ask you not to interfere. A medic will be here shortly."
The mysterious old man just continued to stare back. The heavy set frowns in his skin making his unemotional face look like it had a scary frown to it.
The announcer begin to get nervous under his stare down. "U-Uh, sir?"
"Where is the one known as Lady Anonymous located at?" He directly asked.
Only the announcer's eyebrows moved up as everything else was concealed behind his glasses. "Lady Anonymous?" He said holding the microphone to his lips. "You mean the hero, Lady Anonymous? I'm afraid those are only rumors of her attending this place."
"Android 19."
"Yes, Dr. Gero" the fighter known as Anonymous said as he jumped down from the stage.
"Gah!" The announcer said in shock. "You can still move?" He exclaimed, but the android paid no mind as he scanned the audience.
From all the way in the stands, Chi-Chi felt her blood run cold as the android's eyes made contact with hers as he sent her a smirk.
"I've located her, Dr. Gero. She stands in the audience." He reported back, pointing in her general direction.
Chi-Chi's eyes widen, and she unconscious took a step back, hitting a wall. She couldn't keep up with everything that was happening at once.
Dr. Gero easily zeroed in on her. "Lady Anonymous." He addressed. "I admit, I was shock to find out it was just a high school girl getting in my way these past few months, but that all ends today…. Chi-Chi."
Her heart dropped to her stomach as he said her name. It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
"Move it old man!" An audience member cried out. "You're stopping the action!" Grabbing his popcorn, he threw the whole thing successfully hitting Dr. Gero.
In response, people begin booing, and throwing stuff onto the stage.
Dr. Gero turned back to android 19. "There's too much people here for my liking. Wouldn't you agree, 19?"
"Yes, Dr. Gero." The android said, smirking
"No." Chi-Chi could only whisper to herself. Android 19 raised his hand. "STOP!" She screamed.
*BOOM*
-LINE BREAK-
"Ah!" Krillin shouted as he held onto the railing. The whole thing was shaking from the attack, and he could only see smoke. He knew those people had blasted the arena, but thanks to all the smoke, he couldn't even tell from where.
Nearby, he could hear the screams of both Bulma and Mai. Being them closer to him, the Ox King was able to shield both of them from any rumble coming down.
All around them people were shouting and running. It was pure chaos as the smoke kept people from, being able to see clearly and was creating a lot of accidents.
"We need to get out of here! This thing could fall at any minute!" Krillin stated. The blast had probably damaged only part of the stadium, but it was enough damage to cause rubble to keep falling.
"C'mon girls let's get out of here." The Ox king urged. Mai got the message and got up. Bulma continued to sit.
Krillin took notice. "Bulma let's get out of here." He grabbed her wrist, but she never budged. "Bulma?"
"He said Chi-Chi's name…." she mumbled out.
She spoke to him, but she stared ahead like she was somewhere else. Was she in shock? "Bulma we're all confused right now, but this isn't the time for this! We need to get out of here before this entire stadium collapses on us!"
Bulma finally looked at him, but instead of looking like she understood what he was saying, she had anger in her eyes. "She lied to us. To all of us!"
"Bulma, I understand where you're coming from," he said in the most empathetic voice he could muster, before fear won out and his voice raised. "but we have a whole ceiling falling on us! You can't be mad at Chi-Chi if your dead!"
Krillin was surprised to see her pride was big enough to cause her to wait out a few seconds longer before she finally stood up.
-LINE BREAK-
Her legs had given out on her, and Chi-Chi did not bother to pick herself up, choosing to stay on the floor, trying to figure out how she made such a fatal calculation.
On the other side, Dr. Gero stood, almost bored. It wasn't till movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. "19." He quietly commanded.
The white Android zoomed in the air, stopping in front of three figures, keeping them from going anywhere. "17, 18, 16." He addressed, his features taking a less angry look.
The androids refused to turn around though. "I don't know what new creepy invention you are, but move it, before I decide to end you." 18 threatened.
It was the first time so much emotion had enter her voice. Despite, threatening someone, and sounding very much like she'd go through with her threat, at any second, she also sounded very panicked.
Though Dr. Gero looked ticked that he had been ignored, he once again made his less angry face, as that was the best he could accomplish with all the sunken in wrinkles giving him a natural frown.
"There is no reason to run my children. Things have…. changed."
"Out of the way!" 18 yelled. Her patience completely running out, as she began to create a ball of ki.
"It is this that makes you run!" Dr. Gero finally said as he held out a remote. The Androids' eyes grew in panic, and Dr. Gero knew he had a limited time before they did whatever they could to successfully escape.
"If you still don't think I've changed, then I will prove it!" He announced before letting go of the small remote and crushing it beneath his feet.
The androids stayed hovering above ground, each displaying their own shocked reaction.
"This fight between us has gone on long enough. Join me, my children, and we will put all the past behind us." Dr. Gero pleaded.
The Androids continued to look speechless, and to the surprise of the other two, 16 was the first to speak. "W-Why." He half whispered. "Why would you do that? Why now?"
"I don't want to fight anymore, my son." Dr. Gero stated. "I've been thinking this way for awhile now. The last straw was when they destroyed your brothers 14, 15, and 13." He said, referring to Chi-Chi and Goku.
"That's why you have this lifeless thing, next to you, isn't it?" 17 finally spoke up. "You need something with no mind of its own to protect you and listen to your every command."
Dr. Gero controlled his reaction, knowing he was going to receive some kind of attitude anyways. "19 was activated when you guys left." He calmly explained. "13 preferred to be more active, so I allowed him to lead most projects with 14 and 15 by his side. At least until those people destroyed your brothers.
"Cut the crap," 17 snapped. "Those weren't my brothers, and you don't give a shit about them, or us. We're nothing, but tools to you."
"You're wrong," Dr. Gero stated. "It might've been that way at first, but the older I get the more that I realize I need you guys. Join me, my son. Together we can easily achieve anything we want."
The tension in the air was thick. Chi-Chi stood in the sidelines unsure of what was unfolding, the turmoil from earlier making her feel too exhausted to really think about it. She just knew if the androids were to team up with Dr. Gero they'd be even more screwed than they already were.
17 continued to look taken aback, before he covered his face with his hand, and his form begin to shake. He threw his head back, allowing his laughter to overtake him. "You must be out of your mind. Old age really got to you, Dr. Gero." 17 said with a sinister smile.
The smile slipped off of Dr. Gero's face, twisting into a frown instead. "You refuse your father?" He yelled accusingly.
It was 18's turn to laugh. "Father?" She repeated. "You're nothing, but the monster that created us."
"I see." Dr. Gero said, closing his eyes.
For a second, Chi-Chi foolishly thought this might have been the end of it, but then he opened his eyes once again and held a bit of smirk. "It is unfortunate, but I will get over it. After all, you didn't think it was just 19 and I?"
Chi-Chi couldn't even hear herself scream as blast started to hit every part of the stadium causing the remaining fragile state of it to begin to cave in.
-LINE BREAK-
"Is everyone alright?" Krillin asked, trying to control his breathing. They had been part of the remaining crowd thanks to Bulma, and they had all been squished and hit from people trying to get passed. It was a miracle they had all managed to stay together.
The others were in a similar state. "I'm fine." The Ox King stated, resting his hands on his knees.
"I-I think I'm okay too." Mai said, still a little unsettled by the sudden turn of events.
"What about you, Bulma?" Krillin asked, focusing on dusting himself off. After getting no kind of response, he turned, only to find his hand holding onto some guy who wasn't Bulma.
"Who are you?" Krillin asked in bewilderment as he tossed the man's hand away from him.
The guy shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "Thanks for saving me?" He offered, before walking away.
"Oh great." Krillin said, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. "So where's Bulma?"
"She must have slipped away during all of the commotion." The Ox King suggested.
Before anyone else could get anything else in, they heard a series of explosions take place in the stadium they had just escaped. "What the hell." Krillin couldn't help, but express.
Mai shakily held her hand up to her mouth in complete fear. "Y-You don't think she…." she couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.
Krillin was pale in the face never hearing so much explosions happen at once. "Dammit." He cursed as he knew what this meant. "You two stay here."
"Krillin, no." Mai said, scared for him.
He smiled the best he could despite feeling nervous. "Don't worry about me, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm just going to sneak in, find Bulma, and then get the hell out of there."
Mai still looked hesitant, so the Ox King put his hand on her shoulder to assure her. "We'll be out here waiting for you." He said returning the smile.
Krillin nodded. "Got it." He said, before jogging towards the direction of the arena. Bulma was going to receive the lecture of the century from him once he found her. He just hoped she was going to be able to hear it.
'Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.'
Long story short, I no longer trust technology. I've had most of this chapter finished, but I forgot how perfect I wanted this to come out, so I kept editing it forever and it still wasn't enough till I finally just decided to stop trying to perfect and overthink everything. On top of that, the outline I had for the end got lost along with a bunch of my notes for other things. So a lot of my notes and outlines for other stories are now gone. I lost some motivation after that, but I got it together again. Anyways, I've been taking this time to write out some of my other stories so it wasn't like I wasn't doing anything , I just don't want to upload anything until I finish this story. I've also been working on the other chapter so hopefully I get it out fast. There's only a couple of chapters left, and I know how its ending, so that should push me to finish this story.
Gokuu the Carrot: Thanks for checking on me lol Haha and I'm glad you remember me, hopefully you haven't forgotten! You're one of my favs reviewers that have been here since the beginning so its nice seeing you still stick around! Hope you liked the chapter!
Epicwolf2: Haha thanks for reading! Hopefully you caught up by now so you can see this reply, but it looks like you got me. I mean I can say that no one really thinks its her not just because she's concealed, but also because she is the least suspected to be Lady Anonymous cause her personality and aura is so different and no once assumes she can fight. Also she has common features, so that wouldn't exactly tip anyone off, but that just sounds like lazy writing lol Honestly, I didn't really think about that at the time. Which is why now I like to finish my stories first instead of going chapter by chapter so I can catch stuff like that and change them before they become plot holes. Good catch!
leneypoo: I appreciate that. Those are also my favorite kind of stories! The ones where heroes work hard from the beginning instead of just starting out super strong though there are some exceptions. And for some reason the girl characters especially don't seem to have a lot like that. I wish I could have developed Chi-Chi more in this story, but it was pretty good. Thank you for you're thoughtful words! They help motivate me a lot!
Son-AbyGC: Updated! Sorry for taking so long! Hope you liked it!