"I just...ah...I just need a second."

"Looks like you need more than that, kid," Oolong rolled his eyes as a drenched Chi-Chi collapsed onto the grass. His future literally rested in the sweaty palms of her hands. "I'm this close to biting that damn monkey. Least that way he slows down some." The pig had taken on the form of a snake and was coiled around the teen's neck and held on tight enough so he wouldn't fall as she sat up.

"No," she breathed out and placed her knees against her chest. Her face was finally cooling down to its normal color. "It wouldn't be right to cheat like that. If Goku was able to get Bubbles on his own, so can I."

Oolong snorted. "Lover boy isn't even from the same planet as you. It's like comparing apples to washing machines."

There was some truth behind Oolong's comments. Each week she was wasting trying to capture Bubbles, Goku was completely transforming his body into something of use against the Saiyans. The clock was winding down to the day the Saiyans would arrive and Chi-Chi wasn't feeling as confident as she did when she climbed that tree. Her nose suddenly got a good whiff of what was cooking from inside the small house of King Kai.

"Mmmmm," she was nearly salivating. The one similarity she had to Goku that recently developed was an appetite. "Dumplings."

The most odd sensation occurred through her body soon after. Her ears perked up and the fine hairs on her arms rose. Time felt like it was slowing down as she looked over her shoulder. Something was telling her to stare straight ahead, but she wasn't sure why.

"Oolong...Do you feel something?"

"Yeah, your nasty neck sweat."

Chi-Chi ignored him. What was this strange feeling going on inside of her? Was it the ki again? Her answer came to her once an orange clad warrior suddenly appeared where she was fixated. He was jogging towards her while licking his lips, knowing it was time to eat.

"Hiya, Chi-Chi!" he came to stop in front of her and grinned. "Long time, no see!"

It really had been. That night she climbed the tree was the last they spent together. He was so into his training with King Kai that he stopped resting except to eat. This was the first time they were going to eat at the same time since she had been busy running marathons around the tiny planet.

Her dark eyes widened when the feeling inside her had risen each step he closed between them. It wasn't the usual butterflies or adoration. It was him. Just him. His presence. "Goku I'm freaking out," she whispered loudly as she placed her shaky hands on his broad shoulders. "I think I have a sixth sense. I feel you inside me."

"I didn't know you had what it took!" Oolong was geniuinely amused. "I'm proud of you! A little weird, but alright! Do what it takes to reel him in, I guess."

Goku had tilted his head slightly as he was trying to figure out what either of them were talking about. Then, he started to laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Oh! You're just sensing my energy! That's what usually happens once you start understanding your ki. Pretty cool, huh?"

"No."

The Saiyan sweatdropped when he noticed Chi-Chi looked terrified. Her clammy hands were so tight into his shoulders that he would be bleeding if his skin wasn't as thick as it is. "Hey," although his voice was gentle, he was rubbing her arms like he was trying to start a fire. "I can imagine it's a little scary for you when you're not use to it, but it's okay. You'll learn. It actually helps you during fights."

"FOOD'S READY-Oh!" King Kai held his hands in front his mouth as he snickered. "I came out here to see why you weren't destroying my kitchen yet. Having fun, you two? I hope it's nothing like my jumper cables that had to separate. They had no spark!"

While King Kai nearly died laughing at his joke, Chi-Chi finally released her group on Goku and brought her attention to the teal skinned being. She could sense his energy as well.

But there was a difference.

King Kai wiped a tear away from under his shades and motioned for the teens and Oolong to follow him. The transformer brought himself back to his true form. Chi-Chi still had to feed him since he couldn't move his arms. He wasn't going to attempt to, either. Back in his glory days, he had tricked a lot of women feeding him at his request. As the female threw the hot dumpling into Oolong's mouth, she couldn't stop looking between King Kai and Goku.

One had stronger energy than the other.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Oh, so she finally speaks!" King Kai snickered. He was use to Goku being quiet because he was a constant suction cup with food, but Chi-Chi always had something to say during their meals. "Question for me or your special friend over here?"

Chi-Chi wasn't sure why her voice was so low. Maybe she didn't want to embarrass Goku. She leaned in closer to King Kai and whispered, "Okay so I'm going through a lot right now and I don't understand much, but I was just wondering why your energy feels stronger than Goku's? I thought you guys would've been even by now. How are we going to win if he's so far behind at this point?"

King Kai used a napkin to remove some grease marks from his mouth. At this point, he didn't need to whisper back. Goku was adding in his sound effects now for background noise. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you're so new to everything, but Goku is in fact stronger than me. He's just concealing his full power at the moment."

"You can..." Chi-Chi blinked. "Conceal it?"

"Oh yeah," King Kai snickered. "I was thinking about that night you were screaming at Goku's face. Your power level actually increased because you were revealing yourself. You were ready for a fight. But when you're sitting here all relaxed and eating, there's no need to get yourself worked up, is there?"

"That actually makes sense," the girl released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in. "I feel a little better now."

"Then dumpling me!" Oolong demanded with a little meaty fist he couldn't pick up. Chi-Chi rolled her eyes and threw another one at his mouth. As King Kai began telling jokes about pigs and food, Chi-Chi's eyes drifted back to Goku whose face was hidden behind a large bowl of soup as he slurped it. His energy was already so, so strong.

There was even more to him.

"What's with the face, Princess?" Oolong raised an eyebrow as he opened his mouth for another dumpling. He spoke through a full mouth once one landed. "Wasn't your childhood dream having a man who could protect you and sleigh dragons and what not?"

Before she could respond, Goku released a loud burp and dropped his empty bowl onto the table. He rubbed his momentarily bloated stomach while grinning. "Phew! I won't be able to eat again for a few hours! That was some goooooood cookin'!"

Chi-Chi couldn't explain why she did what she did next, and neither could anyone else at the table. They watched as her fist collided right into Goku's face.

The desert region is where Piccolo enjoyed training his body and mind the most. No living thing, human or animal, stepped foot out here. It was peaceful and ready to be destroyed. Since he didn't require sleep, he was able to leave the pathetic island of fighters behind without being bothered when night fell.

Except there was always one who never backed off.

Always eyeing him as if he intentionally murdered Goku and that girl.

Seeing if he was going to do it again to someone else.

The Namek shrugged him off each time. He hoped the techniques the observor was seeing was enough to know he couldn't do a damn thing if he tried. But something was different about tonight. As Piccolo fought with After-Images of himself, the spy called out to him.

"How about you fight a real person next?"

"Your two foot tall self hardly counts as a person."

"Ha-ha-ha," Krillin still kept his smirk on his face. He had been called everything in the book and wasn't phased. "I'm serious. I wanted to see what you got. Goku's coming back soon and I want to make sure he's going to have some guaranteed support."

Piccolo lowered himself so the two were on even ground. "Don't you remember what happened last time you and I fought? Are you sure you want to humiliate yourself again?"

"You're the one that had that shocked look on his face!" Krillin chuckled, recalling their match at the World Martial Arts Tournament. "Things are different now. I'm not going to give up some easily."

The Namek's face remained unamused as the former monk rang an imaginary bell for them to start. Krillin began firing multiple ki blasts at Piccolo, hoping at least one would knock him offguard and he could blast him with a Kamehameha wave Unfortunately, he had forgotten about Piccolo's ability to stretch out his limbs. The long green arm of his opponent snatched up by the ankle and dragged him forward. Krillin was then greeted in the face by Piccolo's sharp fist and sent crashing into a dusty mountain.

Piccolo had followed him through it and kicked Krillin's back to send him flying upward. The short human had his Kamehameha ready to release with Piccolo seeing it. Krillin yelled out and released it right at Piccolo's chest.

"You still haven't learned a thing have you?"

Krillin's eyes widened at the sight of an uninjured Piccolo flying above him with his fists raised above his head. It was that damn zainzoken again! Piccolo moved too fast for him to see! The Namek's fist came hammering down hard on top of Krillin's head and sent him into a self made crater on the ground.

Piccolo was shaking his head as he landed on the edge to look down at the bloodied and beatened human. "You're going to need to do a lot better than that if you plan on surviving against the Saiyans."

"That's why..." the human winced as he sat up in his hole. "We're...having...a round two!"

"Are you serious?"

Krillin winked as he removed blood from his lips. "As a heart attack." He was about to stand up on his own, but blinked at the green hand he saw reaching down to him. Was Piccolo being...friendly?

Huh.

"Wow. Thanks, Piccolo. I don't know what to say."

"Just take it."

The fighter smiled as he grabbed onto Piccolo's hand. It gave Krillin hope that Piccolo really could be one of the good guys.

Until he flung him like a Frisbee.

"What the heck was that for!?" Goku's voice came out stuffy as he held his nose. He observed his hand as he pulled it away. There was no blood, but it sure felt like there should've been.

If Oolong wasn't so sure Goku was the type of guy who liked a woman that could kick his ass, he would've gave Chi-Chi some advice on how to handle personal problems without resorting to violence. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon, kid! You could hit harder than that!"

"No way!' King Kai objected as he pulled himself away from the table and headed towards the door. He stood with his back towards it as it opened and gestured to the outdoors. "Any spar you guys want to have, you do it away from the house!"

Goku sniffed a few times to make sure his nose was still working. When he could detect the scent of Chi-Chi's uneaten food, he lowered his hands to his sides and looked at the girl with innocent eyes. She was still standing above him with her fist clenched tightly. "You're not trying to fight me, are you?"

Having been silent since the attack, Chi-Chi slowly straightened herself up and looked down at her childhood crush. King Kai must've been telling the truth about concealing his power. But if it was concealed and what she felt was already this strong...

"Chi-Chi?"

Now realizing what she had done, Chi-Chi turned bright red and hid her fist behind her back. "I-I'm so sorry. I'm going to finish my training now," she extended her hand towards Oolong, who raised an eyebrow at her. "Let's go."

"Now!?"

"Now. Please."

Her guardian was going to keep arguing, but could tell by the look on her face that she didn't want to be in here anymore. He clenched his jaw and wrinkled his nose before transforming back into a snake. "You're lucky this is part of my job description!" he literally hissed at her as he slithered up her extended arm. The two had left without another word. Goku was left frowning, puzzled by what had just happened.

"Oh Goku. What'd you do now?"

"Nothing!" Goku raised his arms in defense. "I swear!"

"You've got a lot to learn my friend," King Kai chuckled. "There's always something, especially when you truly believe it's nothing."

The teen held his head in his hands, trying to retrace his steps in his memory of everything that had happened up until lunch. There was that whole marriage thing but Chi-Chi seemed to have moved on from that. Right? Maybe. Then there was that issue with sensing power...

"I think I know what the problem is."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She didn't eat any of her food!"

"Mind telling me what the hell all that was about?" Oolong questioned Chi-Chi as she bolted towards Bubbles. He had noticed how close she was beginning to get to him, but didn't want her to start slacking if he mentioned it. "Lately you're acting like you're on one."

Chi-Chi stopped, needing to catch her breath. Bubbles paused as well to scratch his underarms. "Goku's," she panted. "Really strong."

"So? That doesn't make it okay to wallop the guy in the face for the fun of it."

"I know that," she took in a deep breath and stood up straight after holding onto her knees. She looked over her shoulder at King Kai's house where she could still sense Goku. "That's not why I did it. I guess I can feel the ki of other people now, and his is over the top."

Oolong looked at her through his slits. "Ki?"

"Yeah. Power level," Chi-Chi was smiling now. "The crazy thing is, is that King Kai said he has even more that what I feel now. Isn't that amazing? That one person could be that strong?"

"You better close your mouth before you start drooling, kid," Oolong joked and then adjusted himself so he could see her face better. "You really like him, don't you?"

It was more than that. "I want to be like him. I know I have limitations, but I think I can get close. At least here in The Other World. I don't want anyone to lose their life if there something I could've done to stop it."

As difficult as it may be to obtain her goal, Oolong was liking the confidence. If she saved the world from the Saiyans in her own hands, he'd definitely be off the hook for good. He tightened himself up on her neck but not enough to choke her. "It's a long shot, but I believe in you Princess. All that's in your way right now is a monkey."

Chi-Chi flickered her eyes at Bubbles, who gulped at her new expression. Gone was the unsure, exhausted girl. A warrior with self-respect and fearlessness came charging toward him. He threw his hairy palms in the air and screamed as he began running through the course of the planet. He looked over his shoulder with wide eyes when he noticed there was only an inch separating them.

Goku was in meditating position in the grass, focusing on the natural energy all around. He could feel the energy from the planet, the people, and the animals seeping into him.

"Good, Goku," King Kai's voice was gentle and quiet. "Become one with your surrounding-"

"I CAUGHT THE MONKEY!"

The spirits had faded away as Chi-Chi's cheers rang through his ears. Both the master and student turned their heads in the direction of where all the noise was coming from. She was running towards them with Bubbles in her arms.

"I CAUGHT THE MONKEY! I CAUGHT THE MONKEY!" she continued to yell in excitement as King Kai slowly began to clap his hands.

"Very nice, Chi-Chi! I'm honestly impressed!"

Without realizing what she was doing, Chi-Chi began kissing Bubbles' forehead. "I CAUGHT THE MONKEY! I CAUGHT THE..." then she felt the hair on her lip. "I kissed the monkey! Bleh!" As she dropped Bubbles to the ground and began removing the hair from her mouth, Oolong looked between her and Goku, then smirked.

"Judging by that look lover boy is giving you, that's not going to be the last monkey you kiss."