Papaya Island, Tenka'ichi Budōkai Green Room
"And that's basically it, really."
While waiting for Lunch's match to start, Caulifla began explaining everything she knew of Chi-Chi to Menra in the hopes of gaining some insightful advice from the halo-adorned Ramen-Sennin. Everything from Gokū's misunderstood promise, to the heated spats from the 22nd Budōkai were brought up. The only thing that was omitted was one of Gokū's first interactions, but Caulifla assured Menra that the ordeal was not worth mentioning just for how embarrassing it was.
"Goodness me," Menra sighed, processing all of the information laid out before her. "All of this simply because Gokū did not understand what marriage was?"
"I know how it sounds, Sensei," Caulifla nodded. "If I knew a better way to approach the whole situation, I would've."
"I think you did the best you could, dear," Menra reassured Caulifla with a warm smile, before it faded into a more serious expression. "Even so, you seem to be her target more than anything. Though, I must ask: Do you love Gokū?"
"Of course I do," Caulifla answered without a hint of hesitation. "Why do you ask?"
"Maybe I should rephrase my question," Menra sighed. "How much do you love him?"
"I've risked my life for him, and I would do so again," Caulifla answered with confidence. "I know the feeling's mutual for he's done the same for me as well. I've taught him so much after he was in isolation for so long, and he helped me understand my tail, and even where I came from. He even reassured me of my own existence when I found out."
"So you know?" Menra inquired with a small smile. "At the very least, you seem much stronger and more confident about it than I would've expected. And you two definitely seem to genuinely care for one another."
"Yeah," Caulifla sighed, looking over at Gokū who was having a small chat with Kuririn. The Saiyan woman then looked over at Chi-Chi, who was simply sulking over by the wall. "If only others could see so easily…"
"Aaaaaalright, folks!" The announcer cheered, spurring on the crowd. "Let's get ready for Round 4 before the semifinals! Will our contestants please step forward?"
Lunch walked out of the green room with a challenging smirk on her face, her green hair wearing the usual ribbon she wore even before her personalities merged. Suffice to say, she was eager to put her newfound training with Tenshinhan to the test. Chi-Chi hopped from her perch on the rooftop and landed gracefully on the opposite side of the arena, her expression cold yet determined.
"Gotta admit," Lunch began, taking note of her opponent. "I'm kinda digging the spiky hair look."
"It wasn't by choice," Chi-Chi responded flatly. "But thank you."
That left Lunch a touch bit perplexed. Did Piccolo have some say with her hair in addition to her outfit? She shrugged as she decided to not ponder the matter. Over by the green room, both Gokū and Caulifla picked up on the conversation and knew precisely why Chi-Chi's hair was the way it was.
"We all remember Contestant Chi-Chi from the 22nd Tournament, folks!" The announcer called out. "She has shown great ferocity in the matches we've seen, even going so far as to defeat a previous champion, Contestant Caulifla! Though she had lost her tournament time due to outside help, she accepted the loss with grace, and it looks like she's here to win fair and square! Her opponent, Contestant Lunch, is a newcomer, but judging by her choice of outfit, she's sought training from the Crane School-"
"Specifically from Tien!" Lunch interrupted immediately. "That dried-up chicken man had nothing to do with my training."
The 'chicken man' quote earned a laugh from the announcement as well as a stifled snicker from the announcer. "Ahem, yes," The announcer cleared his throat, recomposing himself. "This promises to be an exciting match-up, folks! Fighters, ready yourselves!"
With that, the announcer left the arena and the taiko drums began to thunder. Lunch assumed a fortified yet graceful stance, a sort of mish-mosh of Crane and Turtle style tailored to her liking. Chi-Chi opted for a very aggressive stance, with subtle hints from her previous training from both schools showing through.
GONG!
"Begin!"
Both women launched forward and met with a flurry of punches and kicks, each impacting with extraordinary force. Each attack was either blocked or parried by the opposing party. Lunch performed a knifehand swipe at Chi-Chi's head, but the princess-turned-Saiyan ducked under this attack and threw a left hook directly at the green-haired woman's abdomen. Lunch saw this and swiftly raised her knee to block. She then followed through by kicking her shin forward, the toe of her boot colliding with Chi-Chi's jaw, sending her back a meter, but the Volcano Princess was not phased, and rebounded her momentum and pulled her fist back, looking to drive it into her opponent's fist. Lunch suspected a punch and raised her arms to block. Instead of a punch, Chi-Chi opened her palm and let loose a mighty shout.
"HA!" Chi-Chi shouted and a massive kiai barreled into Lunch's upper body, knocking her off her feet. The Frypan Princess followed her target and delivered a swift knee to Lunch's back, sending her upward. This caused the green-haired woman to yelp with pain as the attack hit the small of her back, and launched her upward. Chi-Chi leapt up in pursuit, but was surprised when she saw Lunch swivel in mid-air, her hands clasped together, save for the index and middle fingers, almost like a double-handed finger gun.
"EAT THIS!" Lunch shouted. A bright orange ball of ki fired from her fingertips with the same bang from a high caliber handgun, complete with recoil. The attack impacted Chi-Chi with a large explosion and Lunch landed back onto the arena, holding up her finger guns and casually blowing the smoke away from the tips. "How do ya like them apples, Princess?"
By the time the smoke cleared, Chi-Chi was hovering in mid-air, her hand outstretched and unscathed. She landed on the opposite side of the arena and simply stared down her opponent before smirking.
"A stunning display folks!" The announcer called out. "Contestant Lunch has already shown how fierce she can be! Despite an interesting technique, Contestant Chi-Chi remarkably seems unfazed!"
"Not bad," Chi-Chi applauded flatly. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that. But lemme do one better..."
Chi-Chi's smirk faded as she stood tall and splayed her arms out, her hands fanned out. She then raised her hands above her head, palms facing outward.
"Masenko…" Chi-Chi muttered as a sphere of yellow ki began to manifest in her frontmost palm. She then thrust her hands in front of her.
"HA!"
A massive golden beam of ki barreled towards Lunch. Instantly she recognized its properties as being similar to a Kamehameha and as such countered with just that, quickly reciting the incantation and firing immediately. The two beams met in the center, but Lunch's was swiftly overpowered by Chi-Chi's technique. Thinking quickly, Lunch jumped up and clenched her ring and pinky fingers. This instantly changed the beam's color from blue to red. Once enough distance was put between her and the offending attack, she pulled her hands apart, and the break in the now separated beam ripped towards the struggle and exploded in brilliant fashion. Lunch did not have to wait for the smoke to clear as Chi-Chi flew right up, unscathed, but looking thoroughly pissed off. Lunch was also unharmed, but beads of sweat began to roll down her face, whereas Chi-Chi was not even breathing hard.
"So you're borrowing from that Thistle head?" Chi-Chi growled. "I was gonna play nice with you, just because you're with Tien, but now I'm angry…"
"Really?" Lunch sighed, arching an eyebrow at the petty decision. "I get you don't like Caulifla, but really?"
"Yeah, really," Chi-Chi spat back in a matter-of-fact tone. She then lifted her cloak up by the shoulders as well as her domed turban and tossed them towards the outside of the ring. A gentle fluttering impact was to be expected, but instead both the cape and turban hit the ground with the force of a boulder, leaving a pronounced dent in the earth. This was enough to make Lunch flinch, as she had no clue those articles of clothing were weighted, and by so much as to leave a tremorous impact. The same thing that happened to Tenshinhan was about to happen to her.
Chi-Chi then vanished from sight, and it was all Lunch could do to try and track her movements. She was able to follow the Princess's blurs, but not keep up enough to see what she was planning. Then she had an idea. Immediately, the green-haired woman descended back down to the arena and threw her palm right down onto the tiles. Upon impact, a deep shockwave disturbed all of the dust settled on the ring and even affected some of the audience wings. Lunch then looked up and bolted upwards with a fist ready to strike. As she threw the punch, Chi-Chi brought her forearms up to block the attack and the two separated to opposite ends of the ring.
"One way to track you down, eh?" Lunch stated with a smirk. "A seismic thump to echolocate where you're gonna go, even in the air." Chi-Chi said nothing but continued to glare daggers at her opponent. The green-haired woman then rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Gotta give the cold shoulder like that?"
"No," Chi-Chi said flatly. She then vanished again. Suddenly, Lunch felt a painful jolt at her left shoulder, and everything to her right fell numb, and her arm fell limply to the side. She looked over and saw the Frypan Princess holding up a knifehand where her arm fell limp. "I'm giving it like that."
"Agh! You little-" Lunch growled as she tried to throw a punch to counter, but her balance was now thrown off and Chi-Chi lazily dodged the attack, and delivered a knife-hand jab to her right thigh, causing that limb to go limp as well. "What the Hell are you doing to me?!"
"Putting your limbs to sleep," Chi-Chi answered coldly. "Just be glad I'm not targeting anything central, otherwise I'd be disqualified."
That bit of information unnerved Lunch. Chi-Chi then delivered one more jab to Lunch's left thigh, causing the green-haired woman to fall over. It took a moment to finally recognize the technique the Princess-turned-Saiyan was using: A basic tool of the Crane School no less.
'She's hitting my pressure points!' Lunch screamed mentally, finally realizing what Chi-Chi was doing. 'Gotta think quickly… Try and remember where Tien mentioned the counter-points. She hit me right at one of my deltoids so…'
"Oh dear!" The announcer called out. "Contestant Lunch is down! I'll start the 10-count! One! Two-"
"Hold up!" Lunch shouted. She then delivered a swift knife-hand jab to the space below her collarbone, creating an audible popping sound, and causing her to yelp from pain. She then found she could move her arm. "Okay, now for the legs... " Lunch jabbed at her hips next, and after a few quick stretches, she hopped back to her feet. "Okay, I'm good!"
'Of course Tien taught her how to revive her nerves,' Chi-Chi mused mentally. 'Still, I'm not gonna let her off easily.'
"What's the matter? You upset because I shrugged off a Crane School Specialty?" Lunch taunted with a grin, though her skin began to pour sweat and her breathing was heavier.
"Will you shut up?!" Chi-Chi shouted, her patience finally beginning to waver. "I've been looking forward to the next fight after this and you're just pissing me off!"
"Sheesh, chill out!" Lunch sighed with exasperation. "It's just a tournament. No need to-AGH!"
Lunch did not finish her sentence as Chi-Chi lodged her fist right into the green-haired woman's abdomen. As Lunch was gasping for air, Chi-Chi glared at her with rage.
"I'm not here for sport, Lunch," Chi-Chi spat, scowling as she slowly forced her fist deeper into Lunch's abdomen, causing her to gag and wheeze. "I'm here for one reason, and one reason only. And you're in my way…"
The Frypan Princess then removed her fist, causing Lunch to lurch over and clutch her stomach. She did not have long of a respite as Chi-Chi delivered a swift kick to Lunch's head, knocking her into the air. She then followed up and delivered a haymaker sledgehammer right into Lunch's gut once more, sending her crashing down outside of the ring.
"Uh, R-Ring out!" The announcer stammered after seeing such a brutal display. "Contestant Lunch loses by ring out! Contestant Chi-Chi is the winner!"
Chi-Chi landed softly onto the arena tile and simply glared at the crater Lunch had created, and then over by the green room, where Caulifla was watching with a determined look in her eyes. Without words, Chi-Chi knew what she was getting across: We'll settle this very soon. To that, Chi-Chi smirked and strode back over to the waiting wing.
"LUNCH!" Tenshinhan shouted as he rushed over to the green-haired woman's side and rolled her face up. "Are you alright?!"
"Remember how I said I was gonna open a 6-pack of whoop-ass?" Lunch groaned, clutching her stomach in pain. "This is not what I had in mind…"
"You fought well today," Tenshinhan sighed, pleased to see Lunch kept together even after such a crushing defeat. The Three-eyed warrior then began to help up Lunch. "Let's get you over to the waiting wing."
"Alright," Lunch sighed as she tried to get to her feet, but buckled with a groan, still reeling from pain, but smirked as she got an idea. "Actually, could you carry me?~"
"Uh, S-Sure," Tenshinhan hesitantly complied, a red tint forming on his cheeks as he picked up Lunch into his arms and carried her over to the waiting wing.
"Alright, folks!" The announcer called out "We'll be taking a small hour intermission between matches! I'm sure we all need it after such exciting matches! We'll be back soon!"
With that, the crowd began to disperse and go about its business. The fighters in the green room, meanwhile, strode over to the gymnasium as Menra had a special surprise ready for everyone.
Tenka'ichi Budōkai, Cafeteria
Everyone sat in awe as the most magnificent banquet of various foods was laid out before them. Off to the side were 3 practical mountains of appetizers, meals, and other delicacies stacked on top of one another, which certainly was enough to make both Gokū and Caulifla salivate like broken faucets. Everyone else looked at the table with hungry eyes, eager to taste what was available. Piccolo was the only one who was unfazed by all of the food, and Chi-Chi tried her best to ignore the wafting aromas assaulting her nostrils, but to no avail, as her new biology demanded it. At the far end of the assortment, Menra wore a warm smile and a green bandana atop her head as she waved her arms before the assortment.
"Help yourselves!" Menra declared with glee.
With that, everyone snapped their chopsticks apart and began to dig in, Gokū and Caulifla both going to town with their food mountains, almost foregoing their chopsticks as they began shoveling food into their maws. Everyone else did their best to ignore the spectacle. Bulma, Kuririn, Lunch, and Muten Rōshi were used to this and began to dine, but Tenshinhan, Chaotzu, and Piccolo were not used to the spectacle. The demon especially was disgusted the most, and simply decided to down a bottle of water and leave for the waiting wing.
"Now I see where Caulifla learned it all!" Bulma exclaimed as she moaned in delight after biting into a cut of perfectly grilled steak which was seasoned lightly. "I might never go back to regular food after this!"
"Yeah, but why did Menra make 3 food mountains?" Kuririn inquired, seeing Gokū and Caulifla stripmine 2 of the 3 food piles in question.
"The third is for Chi-Chi," Menra answered, with a smile. "From my experience with folks with tails, they have near insatiable appetites."
"Ain't that the truth," Lunch saluted with her chopsticks before returning to her fried rice. "Oh crap. There isn't any fugu in this, is there?"
Kuririn and Muten Rōshi especially tensed up when Lunch mentioned the fish species. This was enough to earn a big hearty laugh from the Ramen-Sennin herself
"I take it you've had some bad experiences with fugu fish?" Menra chuckled as she collected herself. She then noticed a nervous blush on Lunch's face, cluing the old woman on who was responsible. "There's no fugu. You all can relax."
Kuririn, Rōshi, and Lunch all breathed a collective sigh and resumed eating. Rōshi then paused once more as he noticed his old colleague was not eating. "Not to bug, but you used to eat when you prepped buffets like this. Something up?"
"I actually ate before your sister guided me out of the afterlife," Menra answered, pointing a finger to the halo floating above her head. "Plus I don't really get hungry while I'm dead."
"Ah," Rōshi nodded, understanding Menra's explanation. The rules of mortality don't apply to those passed on, even one who's back for a mere 24 hours, apparently.
Menra smiled, seeing Rōshi accept her answer. She then turned her attention to Chi-Chi, who was clearly in distress from desperately willing herself to not attack that third pile of food. This was enough to cause the hermit's smile to fade, and then she walked over to the Frypan Princess.
"You seem hungry," Menra stated flatly with a small smile.
'Thanks for pointing out the obvious!' Chi-Chi mentally shouted with sarcasm, her face wincing at how right Menra was. "I'm not hungry."
"I think your stomach says otherwise,~" Menra countered. Chi-Chi's stomach then let out a very loud growl, confirming the ramen hermit's suspicions. "The third food stack is for you to have."
"I don't want it," Chi-Chi ground out, her frustration mounting.
"Why not?"
Chi-Chi said nothing and turned her gaze towards Caulifla with a hateful glare. Menra noticed this and frowned at the thought. "If you push others away just because they know someone, you may end up leading a lonely life, and I don't think that suits you."
Chi-Chi remained silent, causing Menra to sigh in slight defeat as she walked away. However, the old woman noticed out of the corner of her eye, and through her trained senses that Chi-Chi swiftly moved the table holding the third food stack to the other room. This earned a smile from the Ramen-Sennin and a small chuckle. 'At least she won't go hungry,' She mused as she then saw Chi-Chi devour her mountain of food at an accelerated pace.
A/N: Hokay! New chapter! Kind of a short one compared to the rest, but we've got a few very big fights coming up. Nothing much to say, except Sorry for the gap between updates. (This must be how LastationLover5000 must feel... :P ) Hope this was a good read. :)