Disclaimer: Ya know, I don't know why we even bother to put these stupid things up here. I mean, if we _did_ own all of the characters and the show, do you _really_ think we'd spend our time here? Didn't think so.
A/N: Hi y'all! Guess what? I am proud to say I received my very first flame! Yep, I gots one all right. 'Why am I not mad?' you ask. Because, frankly, I think it's sort of a part of the initiation process of Authordom. I mean, you can't get everyone to like everything you do, so you just have to deal with what other people say without throwing a hissy-fit.
I'll be happy to explain all the flaming parts of the flame to that flamer. First off, it's unrealistic because it's fanFICTION! Not real, FICTION!! Secondly, I _did_ say that I was going to make Piccolo very OOC around me. Third, that scene was added for comedic effect. And fourth, I don't take it offensively.
Also, back in chapter 7 I mentioned a certain character, Lady Siortine, which has not been mentioned since in the story. I am here to assure you that she in fact _does_ play a very important role in this fic and it will be revealed very soon.
Erin: A-huh.
Cat: Hey! How'd you get in here?
Erin: I walked through the door. I'm the reviewer who physically talks to you. So it is my duty to make sure you do your job, so I'll be spending more quality time with you.
Cat: *in an unexcited voice* Oh, yippee.
Erin: So you were saying about this character...
Cat: Oh yes. Her role in the story will be revealed in chapter 12.
::Note:: Piccolo's Girl has a really cool story up called 'Twisted Dimensions'. It's about the Buu saga, and the Authors and Authoresses of FF.net. She needs YOUR help to make her story, for without you, she doesn't have any characters. You can see the first chapter for details, but I know for a fact that there are some pairings. Maybe not romantic, but ya get to be w/ the character you like, so who's complaining? There are plenty of PICCOLO, VEGETA, TRUNKS, GOKU and many more character openings to be filled. And maybe for you guys (if you're nice) she may get you a girl. So go and check it out, K?
Now, enjoy (or not) chapter 10!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And the winner is....Goku!!" The announcer yelled into his microphone. The crowd cheered with excitement and stood out of their seats.
Goku went over to the edge of the ring and picked his competitor up in his strongly muscled arms.
"Remember," his competitor says. "You promised, and you can't back out of it."
"Don't worry, ChiChi. I said I'd marry you and I will." Goku said grinning widely.
"Oh, Goku!" ChiChi squeals and hugs his neck tightly kicking her legs.
Goku walked himself and his new bride-to-be over to the backstage area of the ring where everyone is happily waiting to greet and congratulate the new couple. Well, everyone except Piccolo of course 'cause he's a party-pooper.
ChiChi hopped out of Goku's arms and ran up to Colleen and they both started squealing like teenage girls, which they were.
Colleen hugged ChiChi's neck. "Ah! I can't believe it, you two are getting married!"
"I know! This is the best day of my life!" ChiChi stopped hugging Colleen and looked off to the side with her hands clasped and starts in her eyes. "We'll have a big wedding out in the open with hundreds of flowers. I can see my wedding dress now."
ChiChi closed her eyes. "We'll live in a small house in the middle of nowhere so we can be together forever. We'll have lots of kids, and maybe a pet, or two, or three! Oh, I can't wait to start the rest of my life with him!"
Colleen smiled at her, though not very much because the cut on her lip still hurt. Both of the girls turned their heads behind them towards the door when they heard screaming from down the hall. Bulma came storming in and started screaming and jumping up and down.
"You're getting married, you're getting married!! How dare you get married before me!" she said teasingly. "I'll only forgive you if you make me a bride's maid!"
"Of course you'll be my bride's maid!" ChiChi said and grabbed both Bulma and Colleen by their shoulders and hugged them. "You'll both be!" All the girls started to giggle and ramble on about the wedding, and the clothes, and other wedding type things.
Krillin sweat dropped. "Man, girls are weird." He said scratching the back of his head. Piccolo was not too far away looking at the group of girls, mainly Colleen. It was amusing watching her giggle and ramble with her girl friends, the only girl friends she had here. He frowned and looked away closing his eyes.
"For our next battle, we have everyone's favorite monk, Krillin against........uh, MaJunior!" The crowd started cheering again.
"Well, I guess it's our turn to fight." Krillin said nervously to Piccolo. "Hey, you awake?" He asked seeing Piccolo's eyes closed and reached up to tap him on the shoulder.
Piccolo's hand shot out to grab Krillin's wrist before it touched his shoulder. "Don't touch." He said without opening his eyes.
"Right-o!" Krillin said, pulled his hand away and quickly ran to the ring.
Piccolo was soon to follow and made his way into the ring. When he stepped into view, the cheering died down and the crowd just stared at him.
"Ahhhh.......ahem, our two competitors!!" the announcer said. The crowd was still silent, but you could hear a whistle here and there.
Piccolo and Krillin faced each other. Krillin crouched down in a tiger position, while Piccolo just stood there looking bored.
"BEGIN!"
Krillin charged Piccolo, running towards him. Piccolo retracted his arm in preparation for a punch, but before the little monk came close enough, Krillin dropped down leaning on one leg with the other sticking out past Piccolo's ankles. He brought his foot around kicking Piccolo's feet out from under him. Piccolo started to fall, but did a back flip and landed on his hands. He pushed himself off and flew at Krillin at a great speed. Krillin, still in a crouched position, quickly rolled to the side as Piccolo's fist connected with the cement floor of the ring, cracking it a little.
Krillin flew up off the ring and Piccolo followed in hot pursuit, fangs bared. Krillin saw Piccolo headed towards him and panicked.
'What am I supposed to do now?!' he yelled in his head. He had a great plan to thwart Piccolo once he learned he would be facing him. Unfortunately for him, he had just forgotten it all at that moment and his head was blank.
He kept staring at the fast approaching Piccolo and put his arm up in a defensive position and closed his eyes tightly.
'This is going to hurt.' He thought dolefully.
Piccolo flew up to the cowering baldy. Instead of flying into him, he flew around him until he was directly behind him and punched him hard in the back of the neck. Krillin went flying towards the earth and connected to it.(I know I made their fight a LOT shorter than it actually was, but I need to save space for the rest of the story, cause if I don't, it'll be impossibly long!)
Piccolo smirked as he looked down upon his beaten foe. His smirk soon faded, however, because Krillin had failed to get up. He hadn't even twitched since he slammed into the ground.
'Oh crap! I killed him!' Piccolo thought. 'I _cannot_ be disqualified!' He pinched the bridge of his nose. 'This cannot happen!'
The spectators in the backstage area looked on in shock and fear as their friend failed to get up. Bulma had her hands clasped over her mouth, her eyes wide. ChiChi was next to Goku and was squeezing his hand, her head leaning on his shoulder. Goku's eyes had a look of complete horror as he watched his friend's still body.
"Krillin!" he yelled and started to run towards his friend. Colleen, who was by the entrance to the arena, put her hand out in front of Goku's chest as he was about to exit the stage area.
"He's fine." She said.
Goku looked down at her, out to Krillin and back to her again with a look of worry on his face.
"Trust me." She said lowering her arm. "Just let the medical team check him out. You'll see."
"I hope you're right."
A group of men in white rushed over to Krillin with a stretcher and a red box with a white cross on it. One of the men opened the box and took out a package. He opened it and pulled one of the smelling salts out and put it under Krillin's nose.....or nostrils, or whatever the heck he smells with! You know, at some points they say he has no nose, but yet he can smell. And sometimes they say he can't. Does this make any sense to anyone???
Erin: A-hem!
Cat: Whoops! Going off track, sorry!
Krillin's eyes fluttered a little and he slowly opened his eyes to where they were half lidded. His vision was blurry, so all he saw was white.
"Hey, did anyone catch the license plate number on that 747?" he asked almost drunkenly. "Oh look, snow flakes!" he said pointing to the men around him. "Ehehehehe!"
One of the men put his arm up signaling that Krillin was okay, for the most part. The crowd cheered and everyone in the stage area, stands, and even floating in the air heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"That was too close." Piccolo said floating down onto the concrete.
The men in white (hehe...MIW instead of MIB!) put Krillin on the stretcher and proceeded to carry him backstage.
"Krillin, you're okay!" Goku exclaimed as he ran to the side of his friend.
"Hehe, there are four Goku's!" Krillin said.
Goku sweat-dropped. "Is he going to be all right?" he asked one of the medical men pointing to his delusional friend who was looking at his hand going in front of his face and laughing.
The man shrugged. "Maybe. I only do this part time, I'm not really a doctor." He got up to Goku's ear. "Shh, it's a secret. I only said I was for the benefits!" he chuckled and walked off. Goku face-faulted and fell over anime-style.
The little nerdy man Shen walked up to Colleen who was staring out at the ring. He was wearing a purple outfit. "You've been doing very good in your fights, my dear."
Colleen glanced at him. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."
"I'm just lucky!" the man exclaimed and started laughing. Colleen looked at him funny. He saw her look and went serious again. Colleen rolled her eyes and went back to looking out at the crowd.
"Soooooo, you nervous about facing Goku?" he asked.
"Not really. I know how it'll turn out." She answered coolly.
"Really now? You think you'll win? I like confidence in a girl." He said and smiled.
"No offense, but you're a crappy flirt." Colleen said.
"I wasn't trying to flirt, just talk. You've faired pretty well through your stay here in a word you don't know. I commend you." He said and walked away.
Colleen turned to him with a puzzled look on her face. "What does that mean? Hey, I'm talking to you!" she yelled as he walked away.
'How did he know I'm not from here?' she thought. Then it struck her like a ton of bricks. 'I'm such an idiot! How could I not have seen it earlier?! It was so obvious, how he knew each of us so well, his fighting style, the nerdy way he acts!'
"Ladies and gentlemen! We now have our final two matches. Goku vs. Colleen, and Shen vs. MaJunior!" The crowd cheered loudly. "First up.....Colleen and Goku!!"
Goku walked out of the backstage and into the ring. Colleen started walking for the exit when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up. It was Piccolo, and he was staring down at her with intensity in his eyes.
{Be careful.} he telepathically said.
Colleen smiled up at him. {Aren't I always?} She started to walk, but Piccolo kept a firm grasp on her.
{I mean it.} he said more forcefully. {Goku is not one to be underestimated.}
{I will be careful, I promise. I'll fight the best I know how. I shouldn't be underestimated either. I had a great teacher, ya know.} she said back.
Piccolo smirked. {I wanted to be the one to defeat Goku. But if you beat the shit out of him, it wouldn't hurt my feelings any.}
Colleen laughed. "See you after the match." She said and walked away into the ring.
"Yes I will." Piccolo said. He flew up to the roof of the temple and sat at he edge to see the match better.
"All right, fighters... take your positions!" the announcer said.
Colleen and Goku both went into fight stances. Goku had a smirk on his face and determination in his eyes. Colleen was glaring at him with a serious expression on her face. They both looked at each other for a long time from each other's side of the ring. A very long time. 5 minutes went by before Colleen looked to the announcer.
"Say go already!" she yelled.
"What? OH, sorry! BEGIN!!" the announcer said and sheepishly grinned.
Colleen and Goku both charged in the air yelling battle cries. They both pulled back their right arms in preparation to punch. They met head on and their forearms grinded against each other as they floated in the middle of the ring. They were both pushing, trying to get the upper hand, but for now they were evenly matched.
Goku pulled his left arm to the side and formed a ki blast in his hand. He brought it up and brought his hand down aiming for Colleen's head. It was about to connect with her head but she caught it in her left hand and quickly smashed it against Goku's face. He wend flying sideways a few feet, but was unhurt. Colleen flew at him before he could recover his composure and started punching and kicking. She made a few good hits, but Goku soon regained his footing and started fighting back. They were both making more blocks than hits. Then Goku saw an opening and kicked Colleen in the gut. She let out a cry and stumbled in the air going backwards.
Goku charged again aiming his fist at Colleen's face. She grabbed his arm and swung around his back pinning his arm. She reached her other arm around his neck and held him in a choke hold. He brought his head forward and smashed the back of his head into the front of Colleen's face. She was stunned, but she didn't let go. Blood started to trickle from the top of her forehead down her face.
"Come on, Goku! I know you can fight harder than this!" Colleen yelled. "Fight harder!"
"You're wish is my command." He said and prepared to dislodge himself from her grasp. He thought that it would be easy. He started to try and pull away, but her grip was too firm. He started wiggling and kicking his feet, but he couldn't get free. There was only one way out of this.
'Oh well.' Goku thought. 'It's not like it's against the rules.'
Goku brought his free arm and held onto Colleen's arm around his neck. He opened his mouth so wide you could see his teeth from the stands, and brought his mouth down on her exposed flesh.
Colleen's eyes widened and her eyes began to water. Then she let out a big cream. "Ahhhhh! He bit me!! He-bit-me-he-bit-me-he-BIT-me!!!!!" She let go and rubbed her throbbing arm.
Goku flew to the opposite side of the ring and stared at Colleen laughing.
"That was cheep!" she yelled.
"Cheep though it may have been," Goku started and held out one extended finger. "It wasn't against the rules!" and he smiled a big cheesy grin.
"You'll pay for that!" That was the only warning Goku got before Colleen flew over to him and kicked him in the head. She chased him as he flew. He turned around and round-housed her in the shoulder. She started to turn, but came back with a hard kick to the chest, knocking the wind from him.
He disappeared and reappeared behind her. He put his hands up her sides, pulled her arms back and held his hands behind her head. Colleen wiggled and writhed, but couldn't get loose. Goku then turned them upside down and started a kamikaze dive toward the ground.
Piccolo looked on from his spot on the roof and watched the heated battle. Colleen was good, there was no question about that. That dive-bomb attack wouldn't affect her much. He watched as she spun them around at the last second and Goku's back hit the concrete. He smirked. She would wipe the floor with him. Goku didn't know it, but she was just toying with him. Just wait until he saw her TRUE power.
Colleen and Goku both slowly started to stand up. Colleen took a fighting stance as Goku was still trying to catch his breath.
"Colleen?" he asked tiredly.
"Yes?"
"It's really hot out here, would you mind if I took off some of my gi?" he said fanning himself.
Colleen quirked an eyebrow. "I don't care." She relaxed and stood with her arms crossed as Goku started to peel some of the clothes off his back. First was his shirt, then his armbands. He hopped from one foot to the other as he took his boots and socks off.
"Much better!" he exclaimed. "Here, catch!" he said and threw the pile of clothes to Colleen.
She caught the discarded material, and nearly lost her balance. All of the clothes together had to weigh over 200 lbs.! She threw the clothes over the side of the ring where it left a little indentation in the ground.
"Heavy, huh?" Goku asked smiled.
"Just a little." Colleen answered smirking. "I guess this means I'll have an actual challenge to work with." She said and put a hand on her hip. She may have been acting coolly, but in her mind she knew she was in big dog doo-doo.
Without warning Goku attacked her with a speed almost too fast for the normal person to see. But she saw it, and dodged his attack. He stopped and turned around to see where she'd gone off to, but she wasn't there. She was everywhere. After images spun all around him with her laughing filling the air.
"What's the matter Goku?" her voice echoed. "Can't find me?" She started chuckling.
Goku tried finding the real her by sensing her energy, but it was all around him. How she ever managed to do that was beyond him.
She suddenly stopped in front of him and lunged at him before he had time to react. She jumped in the air and wrapped her legs around Goku's neck and proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the face. When she was finished punching, she loosened her grip on his neck, leaned back and fell gracefully, with her legs still around his neck, with her arms out stretched to reach the ground. When her ankles caught on his neck, she reached all the way to the ground to flip him, only to be 2" short of her destination. Her eyes grew wide. Her fingers wiggled trying to reach, but they couldn't even grace the ground with a single touch.
'Damn my shortness!' she yelled in her head.
"Oh Colleen." Goku said from above her.
Colleen lifted her head up to see Goku smiling evilly and waving.
She gulped. 'This can't be good.'
Goku took her by the ankles and started to spin. He spun faster and faster, and started flying higher and higher. Colleen's vision was now a blur of colors and lines. Her stomach felt queasy and the color in her face drained.
'Oh God, I'm gonna be sick!' she thought and brought her hand to her mouth.
Goku finally stopped spinning her, but threw her instead. She stopped herself from landing on the ground in a standing position. Goku started to charge her again. He went right up to her, but stopped as she clutched her stomach with one hand and held the other in front of her.
"Just give me a minute, okay?" she asked and hiccuped.
Goku slowly floated over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you all right? You don't look so hot."
Colleen nodded and rode out the wave of nausea. Once it was over, she realized that Goku was very vulnerable and this would be the perfect time to attack. Her eyes glinted and she put on a smirk not unlike that of Piccolo's. She abruptly straightened up and kicked him in the face, sending him back a few feet.
"You should know better than to let your guard down, Goku." She teased as she floated higher in the air. "Now feast your eyes on my _true_ power!"
She pointed her hand down at Goku in the center of the ring. He looked up at her with curiosity. She smirked and started to power up.
At first it wasn't much, just a dull red glow surrounding her body. Then the red turned into purple, and her eyes glowed red. The purple aura began to grow, swirling slowly around her body in stray waves. The waves began at her feet and traveled up to the center of her outstretched palm. Yellow sparks began to fly around her and her brown hair billowed as if she were under water. A large purple ki ball formed in her hand.
Goku started up at her in awe at the display of power. He couldn't believe it. Just a few months ago, she couldn't do much more than fly and throw a ki blast or two. Her strength had more than doubled as well. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Colleen's laughter filled his ears.
"Didn't think I could do anything significant, did you?" she asked and smirked even more.
Goku couldn't respond. His mouth had suddenly decided to become the Sahara Desert. He could taste the sand on his tongue. Her appearance was usually so sweet, cute, and pretty. Now that eyes were glowing, and she had energy flowing all around her and smiling evilly.......she was really, really creepy looking!
"Well, since you've obviously lost your voice, I'll be kind and end the silence." Her smirk turned into a large devious smile.
'She sounds so much like Piccolo.' Goku thought. 'And if she's anything like Piccolo in the power department, this is going to sting.'
The ki ball in her hand started to flutter with power. "Now, we end our little game." Colleen said. Her smile turned into a scowl as she yelled, "Psycho Laser Strike!!"
The purple ball of ki shot out from her hand in a flash, looking much like Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. The balled end turned into a sharp spike as it sped towards Goku. He started to panic. He hadn't expected the blast to be so powerful. All he could do now was put his hands in front of his face and brace himself.
The large purple beam of light hit Goku head on, striking in the dead center of the cross his arms made. He stood against it for a few seconds, then flew backwards yelling. He flipped over a few times before landing on his back and hitting his head on the floor of the ring.
"Yep." He said. "That definitely stung."
His eyes grew wide as Colleen flew right above him and fired several yellow spike-shaped ki blasts at him on the ground. 'Eeee!'
Goku quickly rolled over and powered up. He waited for an onslaught of ki blasts, but the air was still. He looked around for Colleen, but once again she was nowhere in sight.
'Is she related to Houdini, or what?!' Goku thought in his mind. 'I can't sense her power anywhere. How can she do this? Even with suppressing her energy I should be able to feel a trace of it somewhere. It's like she totally disappeared or died or something!'
Piccolo smiled. He loved that new attack of hers. He remembered the first time she tried it on him. It nearly took his head off. But it seemed as if she didn't use the full extent of her power on Goku.
'Hmph. No matter.' He thought. 'Now where did my little student go?' He stretched out his senses expecting to find her somewhere where Goku couldn't sense her. But.....nothing. Not a flicker of her power anywhere for miles.
{Colleen?} he tried telepathically. {Colleen, answer me!}
{*giggle* What's up?} she replied.
{Good, you're still here. Where are you?}
{That's for me to know, and you to find out! Pretty cool, huh? I just found out I could totally disappear a few days ago.}
Piccolo couldn't see her, but he knew she was smiling. {Why do you not use your full power on him?}
{What do you mean? He's a tough opponent, I am using my full power on him.} she said defensively.
{Right. And I believe in the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Clause. _And_ to top it off, I have a secret love of puppy dogs.} he replied sarcastically.
{Piccolo! I never knew you were keeping secrets from me!} she laughed.
Piccolo frowned. {Do you not have a fight to finish?}
{Whoopsie! Well, been really nice talking to you, bubie.} And the mental link was closed.
Piccolo opened his eyes and watched the ring where Goku was still trying to find Colleen. She suddenly appeared behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. When Goku turned around, she socked him in the face, followed him as he tumbled across the ring, and kneed him in the gut. Goku landed on his back with an 'ooph'. He rolled back on his shoulders and kicked up with both feet and landed standing.
Goku stood bruised, yet not even panting from the previous fighting he and Colleen had done. It puzzled him. Colleen was a very strong opponent, yet she seemed to be holding back. Goku couldn't place a finger on it, but it seemed as though she was just giving the crowd and other fighters a show, not fighting to win. In fact, it almost seemed as though she _didn't_ want to win the way she let him get away all the time.
Colleen looked at the questionable look on Goku's face. She knew what he was thinking. She knew he knew she wasn't using all her power just as Piccolo did. She knew she'd passed both of them over a month ago, but didn't want them, especially Piccolo, to find out. She knew he wanted her to be powerful, but telling him exactly how powerful she was would give his ego a really big kick in the groin, and she didn't want to crush it anymore than it had to be. She knew she had to loose. Winning would be an option with a high price: the dimension's space-time continuum. She'd changed many, many things by even just being present in their world, but certain things she didn't even dare to attempt to change.
Colleen sighed. All this responsibility was supposed to be for Kami, not a 14-year-old fangirl! But now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to give Goku a good fight, then loose.
She powered up and charged Goku again. Punches and kicks were thrown and blocked. Colleen knew she had dragged the fight on long enough. Now was the time to back down.
'The tricky thing is backing down subtly.' She thought as she blocked a potential kick to the head.
Goku threw punch after punch, but just couldn't find a weak spot in Colleen's defense. Then, as if his wish were granted, a very wide and obvious opening appeared. Goku took it without a second thought. He kicked her legs out from under her and she fell to the ground with a thud. He brought his foot up, and then down onto her neck, just hard enough to trap her not cut off her air supply. She immediately grabbed at his ankle "trying" to pry it off. Seeing the position would go nowhere, Goku released her to let her get up.
Colleen stood rubbing her neck. Loosing was going to be painful, but it was the only way. She ran at him, and got kicked in the stomach. She flew up, and he followed her. He got behind her and brought both fists down on her back. She went falling and hit the concrete, but got up again. She flew back upwards and began a futile attack. Everything she dished out, he easily blocked.
He kicked her in the side and she went falling towards the edge of the ring. He floated down across from her and they started a staring contest.
"Why aren't you trying?" Goku asked.
"I don't know what you mean, Goku." She said back.
Goku sighed and brought both of his hands to his side. "Well, if you won't try your hardest, I'll just end the fight now." He brought both of the heels of his hands together and began to chant, "Ka....me....ha....me...."
'You have to loose, don't block it. You have to loose, don't block it..." Colleen kept repeating in her head. This was going to hurt a lot.
"Ha!!" The beam of blue light sped toward Colleen as she stood her ground with her arms placed firmly at her sides. She tensed and closed her eyes waiting for the burning process to begin.
'What is she doing?!?!' Piccolo yelled in his head and stood up on the roof. "Block it!" he yelled. But she didn't seem to hear.
The ki beam collided into her head on and knocked her into the wall outside of the ring. When the beam disintegrated she fell to the ground and didn't get up. On the wall behind her was a deep impression with many little cracks coming out of the center.
The whole ring was silent. Did they just see what they thought they saw? The announcer snapped to and ordered a medical team to attend to her right away. He wasn't declaring a winner until he knew everyone was alive. The little team of people in white came out and surrounded her and checked her out. One of the men went up to the announcer to speak into the microphone. Everyone held their breath, especially Piccolo, Goku, Bulma, and surprisingly, Shen.
"She got quite a hit, but she'll be fine." He said. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and cheered.
"That means that Goku is our winner!!" The announcer yelled. The crowd cheered, and Colleen was put onto a stretcher and taken into the backstage area.
Piccolo jumped off the roof and walked over to where the medical people were with Colleen. He went up to see her, but one of them stepped in his way.
"Sir, we're working on her, so could you please give us a minute?" he said.
Piccolo snarled and bared his fangs. The man gulped. "Of course, what could it hurt, right?" he said and laughed nervously as Piccolo passed him.
Colleen was laying down with her hand on her head. She opened an eye when Piccolo approached.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"....owe..." was all she could reply. Piccolo sighed. She was bruised, bloody, burnt and covered in dirt, but she was okay. He helped her into a sitting position facing him with her legs over the side of the stretcher. She lost some of her balance from a wave of dizziness and fell forward. Piccolo caught her and she rested on his chest her arms around his waist with her eyes closed.
"Why didn't you block it?" he suddenly asked. "Why did you deliberately loose?"
She looked up at him. "Time tells all tales." She slowly slid down and stood. "Mmmm.......and Morphine kills all pain, so be a dear and get me tank."
Piccolo put her back on the table and summoned one of the medical team to her. He walked over to Goku who was smiling and talking with his friends. They all stopped talking when they noticed his hateful glare at Goku.
"You _will_ pay for that." He said. "Mark my words, you will pay."
"Piccolo," Goku said light-heartedly. "We both know she lost on purpose. There's no reason to get sore about it."
Piccolo turned around and spoke over his shoulder without turning his head. "Freiceadan bhur droim tì.(1)" he said coldly in his native demon tongue.
ChiChi shivered and hugged onto Goku's arm. "I don't like that creep one bit." She said.
"Neither do I." Yamcha said.
"He's not that bad once you get to know him." Bulma said. "In fact, he's actually pretty nice when he lets his guard down."
ChiChi stared at her in disbelief. "Nice?! There's no way that......that......._thing_ could be nice! Honestly, I have no idea what you and Colleen could possibly see in that guy to want to be his friend."
"You just have to trust and respect him and he'll almost, sorta, kinda, maybe be nice to you." Bulma replied.
"Trust that monster? You actually _trust_ him? With your life?" ChiChi asked.
"Well, maybe not with my life, but-"
"See! No one can trust that hideous person! _If_ you could even call him a person." ChiChi put up her index finger. "If you can name one person, _one person_, that trusts him with their life, maybe I'll reconsider what I think of him." She crossed her arms over her chest in triumph.
"Well, Chi, I guess you're going to have to change your views then." Colleen walked up to the group and said. "'Cause I trust him with all my heart and soul." She was no longer covered in blood and dirt, and had a large bandage above her right eye and on her left bicep.
"You would." ChiChi said and Bulma giggled.
"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Colleen asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh, you know." Bulma said and batted her eyelashes.
Colleen quirked an eyebrow. "Okaaay. I'm just gonna be over there by Pic if that's fine with you guys." She said and walked over to Piccolo and sat next to him on the floor.
"So, what does she know that we also know?" Goku asked and scratched his head.
Everyone groaned. ChiChi kissed the confused man on the cheek. "It's a good thing you're cute Goku." She said.
Goku smiled. "Thanks!" and he kissed her on her forehead.
Piccolo and Colleen sat side-by-side on the far side of the room secluded from anyone else. Colleen looked at his stone hard expression and sighed.
"I know I let you down," she said. "But believe me, it was for the better."
"Explain to me exactly how it was for the better, Colleen. Tell me something, anything, why you do the things you do." He said.
"I cannot tell you everything. You know that because of where I'm from I know things that will affect this world now and in the future. Besides, _you_ have the rivalry with Goku, not me. He's my friend, but your enemy. It is _you_ who should fight him. Plus, winning this tournament isn't all that important. I mean, what's 10 million dollars anyway?" she said and smiled.
He said nothing but continues to stare at nothing. "Just trust me, okay?" she asked.
"I do trust you. I just don't understand you. You gave up the chance to defeat one of the strongest men in the world, whom you know you could beat easily. You are the weirdest person I have ever met."
"You flatter me, kind sir." She said and laughed.
Piccolo just shook his head. 'It could be worse.' He reminded himself. 'She could have won and would have had to face me.'
"Attention!" the announcer said and everyone in and out of the stands turned in his direction. "The next match will begin in just a few minutes. Ma Junior vs. Shen!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1)= guard your back human
Long enough for ya? Well, it certainly took long enough for me to get my butt in gear! Sorry bout that. I had to fight with a case of Writer's Block. But I won over it. Nothing can beat me, BWAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!
Erin: A-hem!
Cat: Oh yes, thank you to Erin for letting me borrow you. You're so nice, I hope you don't mind. If you do, it's not like you can do anything about it now.
Erin: Thanks so much.
Cat: Your welcome!
Remember, visit Piccolo's Girl's story and sign up for the fun! I promise to have chapter 11 out soon.
Erin: I'll make sure she keeps it. ^_~
Cat: So till next time.......
Cat and Erin: Ja-Ne Minna-san!!
A/N: Hi y'all! Guess what? I am proud to say I received my very first flame! Yep, I gots one all right. 'Why am I not mad?' you ask. Because, frankly, I think it's sort of a part of the initiation process of Authordom. I mean, you can't get everyone to like everything you do, so you just have to deal with what other people say without throwing a hissy-fit.
I'll be happy to explain all the flaming parts of the flame to that flamer. First off, it's unrealistic because it's fanFICTION! Not real, FICTION!! Secondly, I _did_ say that I was going to make Piccolo very OOC around me. Third, that scene was added for comedic effect. And fourth, I don't take it offensively.
Also, back in chapter 7 I mentioned a certain character, Lady Siortine, which has not been mentioned since in the story. I am here to assure you that she in fact _does_ play a very important role in this fic and it will be revealed very soon.
Erin: A-huh.
Cat: Hey! How'd you get in here?
Erin: I walked through the door. I'm the reviewer who physically talks to you. So it is my duty to make sure you do your job, so I'll be spending more quality time with you.
Cat: *in an unexcited voice* Oh, yippee.
Erin: So you were saying about this character...
Cat: Oh yes. Her role in the story will be revealed in chapter 12.
::Note:: Piccolo's Girl has a really cool story up called 'Twisted Dimensions'. It's about the Buu saga, and the Authors and Authoresses of FF.net. She needs YOUR help to make her story, for without you, she doesn't have any characters. You can see the first chapter for details, but I know for a fact that there are some pairings. Maybe not romantic, but ya get to be w/ the character you like, so who's complaining? There are plenty of PICCOLO, VEGETA, TRUNKS, GOKU and many more character openings to be filled. And maybe for you guys (if you're nice) she may get you a girl. So go and check it out, K?
Now, enjoy (or not) chapter 10!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And the winner is....Goku!!" The announcer yelled into his microphone. The crowd cheered with excitement and stood out of their seats.
Goku went over to the edge of the ring and picked his competitor up in his strongly muscled arms.
"Remember," his competitor says. "You promised, and you can't back out of it."
"Don't worry, ChiChi. I said I'd marry you and I will." Goku said grinning widely.
"Oh, Goku!" ChiChi squeals and hugs his neck tightly kicking her legs.
Goku walked himself and his new bride-to-be over to the backstage area of the ring where everyone is happily waiting to greet and congratulate the new couple. Well, everyone except Piccolo of course 'cause he's a party-pooper.
ChiChi hopped out of Goku's arms and ran up to Colleen and they both started squealing like teenage girls, which they were.
Colleen hugged ChiChi's neck. "Ah! I can't believe it, you two are getting married!"
"I know! This is the best day of my life!" ChiChi stopped hugging Colleen and looked off to the side with her hands clasped and starts in her eyes. "We'll have a big wedding out in the open with hundreds of flowers. I can see my wedding dress now."
ChiChi closed her eyes. "We'll live in a small house in the middle of nowhere so we can be together forever. We'll have lots of kids, and maybe a pet, or two, or three! Oh, I can't wait to start the rest of my life with him!"
Colleen smiled at her, though not very much because the cut on her lip still hurt. Both of the girls turned their heads behind them towards the door when they heard screaming from down the hall. Bulma came storming in and started screaming and jumping up and down.
"You're getting married, you're getting married!! How dare you get married before me!" she said teasingly. "I'll only forgive you if you make me a bride's maid!"
"Of course you'll be my bride's maid!" ChiChi said and grabbed both Bulma and Colleen by their shoulders and hugged them. "You'll both be!" All the girls started to giggle and ramble on about the wedding, and the clothes, and other wedding type things.
Krillin sweat dropped. "Man, girls are weird." He said scratching the back of his head. Piccolo was not too far away looking at the group of girls, mainly Colleen. It was amusing watching her giggle and ramble with her girl friends, the only girl friends she had here. He frowned and looked away closing his eyes.
"For our next battle, we have everyone's favorite monk, Krillin against........uh, MaJunior!" The crowd started cheering again.
"Well, I guess it's our turn to fight." Krillin said nervously to Piccolo. "Hey, you awake?" He asked seeing Piccolo's eyes closed and reached up to tap him on the shoulder.
Piccolo's hand shot out to grab Krillin's wrist before it touched his shoulder. "Don't touch." He said without opening his eyes.
"Right-o!" Krillin said, pulled his hand away and quickly ran to the ring.
Piccolo was soon to follow and made his way into the ring. When he stepped into view, the cheering died down and the crowd just stared at him.
"Ahhhh.......ahem, our two competitors!!" the announcer said. The crowd was still silent, but you could hear a whistle here and there.
Piccolo and Krillin faced each other. Krillin crouched down in a tiger position, while Piccolo just stood there looking bored.
"BEGIN!"
Krillin charged Piccolo, running towards him. Piccolo retracted his arm in preparation for a punch, but before the little monk came close enough, Krillin dropped down leaning on one leg with the other sticking out past Piccolo's ankles. He brought his foot around kicking Piccolo's feet out from under him. Piccolo started to fall, but did a back flip and landed on his hands. He pushed himself off and flew at Krillin at a great speed. Krillin, still in a crouched position, quickly rolled to the side as Piccolo's fist connected with the cement floor of the ring, cracking it a little.
Krillin flew up off the ring and Piccolo followed in hot pursuit, fangs bared. Krillin saw Piccolo headed towards him and panicked.
'What am I supposed to do now?!' he yelled in his head. He had a great plan to thwart Piccolo once he learned he would be facing him. Unfortunately for him, he had just forgotten it all at that moment and his head was blank.
He kept staring at the fast approaching Piccolo and put his arm up in a defensive position and closed his eyes tightly.
'This is going to hurt.' He thought dolefully.
Piccolo flew up to the cowering baldy. Instead of flying into him, he flew around him until he was directly behind him and punched him hard in the back of the neck. Krillin went flying towards the earth and connected to it.(I know I made their fight a LOT shorter than it actually was, but I need to save space for the rest of the story, cause if I don't, it'll be impossibly long!)
Piccolo smirked as he looked down upon his beaten foe. His smirk soon faded, however, because Krillin had failed to get up. He hadn't even twitched since he slammed into the ground.
'Oh crap! I killed him!' Piccolo thought. 'I _cannot_ be disqualified!' He pinched the bridge of his nose. 'This cannot happen!'
The spectators in the backstage area looked on in shock and fear as their friend failed to get up. Bulma had her hands clasped over her mouth, her eyes wide. ChiChi was next to Goku and was squeezing his hand, her head leaning on his shoulder. Goku's eyes had a look of complete horror as he watched his friend's still body.
"Krillin!" he yelled and started to run towards his friend. Colleen, who was by the entrance to the arena, put her hand out in front of Goku's chest as he was about to exit the stage area.
"He's fine." She said.
Goku looked down at her, out to Krillin and back to her again with a look of worry on his face.
"Trust me." She said lowering her arm. "Just let the medical team check him out. You'll see."
"I hope you're right."
A group of men in white rushed over to Krillin with a stretcher and a red box with a white cross on it. One of the men opened the box and took out a package. He opened it and pulled one of the smelling salts out and put it under Krillin's nose.....or nostrils, or whatever the heck he smells with! You know, at some points they say he has no nose, but yet he can smell. And sometimes they say he can't. Does this make any sense to anyone???
Erin: A-hem!
Cat: Whoops! Going off track, sorry!
Krillin's eyes fluttered a little and he slowly opened his eyes to where they were half lidded. His vision was blurry, so all he saw was white.
"Hey, did anyone catch the license plate number on that 747?" he asked almost drunkenly. "Oh look, snow flakes!" he said pointing to the men around him. "Ehehehehe!"
One of the men put his arm up signaling that Krillin was okay, for the most part. The crowd cheered and everyone in the stage area, stands, and even floating in the air heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"That was too close." Piccolo said floating down onto the concrete.
The men in white (hehe...MIW instead of MIB!) put Krillin on the stretcher and proceeded to carry him backstage.
"Krillin, you're okay!" Goku exclaimed as he ran to the side of his friend.
"Hehe, there are four Goku's!" Krillin said.
Goku sweat-dropped. "Is he going to be all right?" he asked one of the medical men pointing to his delusional friend who was looking at his hand going in front of his face and laughing.
The man shrugged. "Maybe. I only do this part time, I'm not really a doctor." He got up to Goku's ear. "Shh, it's a secret. I only said I was for the benefits!" he chuckled and walked off. Goku face-faulted and fell over anime-style.
The little nerdy man Shen walked up to Colleen who was staring out at the ring. He was wearing a purple outfit. "You've been doing very good in your fights, my dear."
Colleen glanced at him. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself."
"I'm just lucky!" the man exclaimed and started laughing. Colleen looked at him funny. He saw her look and went serious again. Colleen rolled her eyes and went back to looking out at the crowd.
"Soooooo, you nervous about facing Goku?" he asked.
"Not really. I know how it'll turn out." She answered coolly.
"Really now? You think you'll win? I like confidence in a girl." He said and smiled.
"No offense, but you're a crappy flirt." Colleen said.
"I wasn't trying to flirt, just talk. You've faired pretty well through your stay here in a word you don't know. I commend you." He said and walked away.
Colleen turned to him with a puzzled look on her face. "What does that mean? Hey, I'm talking to you!" she yelled as he walked away.
'How did he know I'm not from here?' she thought. Then it struck her like a ton of bricks. 'I'm such an idiot! How could I not have seen it earlier?! It was so obvious, how he knew each of us so well, his fighting style, the nerdy way he acts!'
"Ladies and gentlemen! We now have our final two matches. Goku vs. Colleen, and Shen vs. MaJunior!" The crowd cheered loudly. "First up.....Colleen and Goku!!"
Goku walked out of the backstage and into the ring. Colleen started walking for the exit when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up. It was Piccolo, and he was staring down at her with intensity in his eyes.
{Be careful.} he telepathically said.
Colleen smiled up at him. {Aren't I always?} She started to walk, but Piccolo kept a firm grasp on her.
{I mean it.} he said more forcefully. {Goku is not one to be underestimated.}
{I will be careful, I promise. I'll fight the best I know how. I shouldn't be underestimated either. I had a great teacher, ya know.} she said back.
Piccolo smirked. {I wanted to be the one to defeat Goku. But if you beat the shit out of him, it wouldn't hurt my feelings any.}
Colleen laughed. "See you after the match." She said and walked away into the ring.
"Yes I will." Piccolo said. He flew up to the roof of the temple and sat at he edge to see the match better.
"All right, fighters... take your positions!" the announcer said.
Colleen and Goku both went into fight stances. Goku had a smirk on his face and determination in his eyes. Colleen was glaring at him with a serious expression on her face. They both looked at each other for a long time from each other's side of the ring. A very long time. 5 minutes went by before Colleen looked to the announcer.
"Say go already!" she yelled.
"What? OH, sorry! BEGIN!!" the announcer said and sheepishly grinned.
Colleen and Goku both charged in the air yelling battle cries. They both pulled back their right arms in preparation to punch. They met head on and their forearms grinded against each other as they floated in the middle of the ring. They were both pushing, trying to get the upper hand, but for now they were evenly matched.
Goku pulled his left arm to the side and formed a ki blast in his hand. He brought it up and brought his hand down aiming for Colleen's head. It was about to connect with her head but she caught it in her left hand and quickly smashed it against Goku's face. He wend flying sideways a few feet, but was unhurt. Colleen flew at him before he could recover his composure and started punching and kicking. She made a few good hits, but Goku soon regained his footing and started fighting back. They were both making more blocks than hits. Then Goku saw an opening and kicked Colleen in the gut. She let out a cry and stumbled in the air going backwards.
Goku charged again aiming his fist at Colleen's face. She grabbed his arm and swung around his back pinning his arm. She reached her other arm around his neck and held him in a choke hold. He brought his head forward and smashed the back of his head into the front of Colleen's face. She was stunned, but she didn't let go. Blood started to trickle from the top of her forehead down her face.
"Come on, Goku! I know you can fight harder than this!" Colleen yelled. "Fight harder!"
"You're wish is my command." He said and prepared to dislodge himself from her grasp. He thought that it would be easy. He started to try and pull away, but her grip was too firm. He started wiggling and kicking his feet, but he couldn't get free. There was only one way out of this.
'Oh well.' Goku thought. 'It's not like it's against the rules.'
Goku brought his free arm and held onto Colleen's arm around his neck. He opened his mouth so wide you could see his teeth from the stands, and brought his mouth down on her exposed flesh.
Colleen's eyes widened and her eyes began to water. Then she let out a big cream. "Ahhhhh! He bit me!! He-bit-me-he-bit-me-he-BIT-me!!!!!" She let go and rubbed her throbbing arm.
Goku flew to the opposite side of the ring and stared at Colleen laughing.
"That was cheep!" she yelled.
"Cheep though it may have been," Goku started and held out one extended finger. "It wasn't against the rules!" and he smiled a big cheesy grin.
"You'll pay for that!" That was the only warning Goku got before Colleen flew over to him and kicked him in the head. She chased him as he flew. He turned around and round-housed her in the shoulder. She started to turn, but came back with a hard kick to the chest, knocking the wind from him.
He disappeared and reappeared behind her. He put his hands up her sides, pulled her arms back and held his hands behind her head. Colleen wiggled and writhed, but couldn't get loose. Goku then turned them upside down and started a kamikaze dive toward the ground.
Piccolo looked on from his spot on the roof and watched the heated battle. Colleen was good, there was no question about that. That dive-bomb attack wouldn't affect her much. He watched as she spun them around at the last second and Goku's back hit the concrete. He smirked. She would wipe the floor with him. Goku didn't know it, but she was just toying with him. Just wait until he saw her TRUE power.
Colleen and Goku both slowly started to stand up. Colleen took a fighting stance as Goku was still trying to catch his breath.
"Colleen?" he asked tiredly.
"Yes?"
"It's really hot out here, would you mind if I took off some of my gi?" he said fanning himself.
Colleen quirked an eyebrow. "I don't care." She relaxed and stood with her arms crossed as Goku started to peel some of the clothes off his back. First was his shirt, then his armbands. He hopped from one foot to the other as he took his boots and socks off.
"Much better!" he exclaimed. "Here, catch!" he said and threw the pile of clothes to Colleen.
She caught the discarded material, and nearly lost her balance. All of the clothes together had to weigh over 200 lbs.! She threw the clothes over the side of the ring where it left a little indentation in the ground.
"Heavy, huh?" Goku asked smiled.
"Just a little." Colleen answered smirking. "I guess this means I'll have an actual challenge to work with." She said and put a hand on her hip. She may have been acting coolly, but in her mind she knew she was in big dog doo-doo.
Without warning Goku attacked her with a speed almost too fast for the normal person to see. But she saw it, and dodged his attack. He stopped and turned around to see where she'd gone off to, but she wasn't there. She was everywhere. After images spun all around him with her laughing filling the air.
"What's the matter Goku?" her voice echoed. "Can't find me?" She started chuckling.
Goku tried finding the real her by sensing her energy, but it was all around him. How she ever managed to do that was beyond him.
She suddenly stopped in front of him and lunged at him before he had time to react. She jumped in the air and wrapped her legs around Goku's neck and proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the face. When she was finished punching, she loosened her grip on his neck, leaned back and fell gracefully, with her legs still around his neck, with her arms out stretched to reach the ground. When her ankles caught on his neck, she reached all the way to the ground to flip him, only to be 2" short of her destination. Her eyes grew wide. Her fingers wiggled trying to reach, but they couldn't even grace the ground with a single touch.
'Damn my shortness!' she yelled in her head.
"Oh Colleen." Goku said from above her.
Colleen lifted her head up to see Goku smiling evilly and waving.
She gulped. 'This can't be good.'
Goku took her by the ankles and started to spin. He spun faster and faster, and started flying higher and higher. Colleen's vision was now a blur of colors and lines. Her stomach felt queasy and the color in her face drained.
'Oh God, I'm gonna be sick!' she thought and brought her hand to her mouth.
Goku finally stopped spinning her, but threw her instead. She stopped herself from landing on the ground in a standing position. Goku started to charge her again. He went right up to her, but stopped as she clutched her stomach with one hand and held the other in front of her.
"Just give me a minute, okay?" she asked and hiccuped.
Goku slowly floated over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you all right? You don't look so hot."
Colleen nodded and rode out the wave of nausea. Once it was over, she realized that Goku was very vulnerable and this would be the perfect time to attack. Her eyes glinted and she put on a smirk not unlike that of Piccolo's. She abruptly straightened up and kicked him in the face, sending him back a few feet.
"You should know better than to let your guard down, Goku." She teased as she floated higher in the air. "Now feast your eyes on my _true_ power!"
She pointed her hand down at Goku in the center of the ring. He looked up at her with curiosity. She smirked and started to power up.
At first it wasn't much, just a dull red glow surrounding her body. Then the red turned into purple, and her eyes glowed red. The purple aura began to grow, swirling slowly around her body in stray waves. The waves began at her feet and traveled up to the center of her outstretched palm. Yellow sparks began to fly around her and her brown hair billowed as if she were under water. A large purple ki ball formed in her hand.
Goku started up at her in awe at the display of power. He couldn't believe it. Just a few months ago, she couldn't do much more than fly and throw a ki blast or two. Her strength had more than doubled as well. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Colleen's laughter filled his ears.
"Didn't think I could do anything significant, did you?" she asked and smirked even more.
Goku couldn't respond. His mouth had suddenly decided to become the Sahara Desert. He could taste the sand on his tongue. Her appearance was usually so sweet, cute, and pretty. Now that eyes were glowing, and she had energy flowing all around her and smiling evilly.......she was really, really creepy looking!
"Well, since you've obviously lost your voice, I'll be kind and end the silence." Her smirk turned into a large devious smile.
'She sounds so much like Piccolo.' Goku thought. 'And if she's anything like Piccolo in the power department, this is going to sting.'
The ki ball in her hand started to flutter with power. "Now, we end our little game." Colleen said. Her smile turned into a scowl as she yelled, "Psycho Laser Strike!!"
The purple ball of ki shot out from her hand in a flash, looking much like Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. The balled end turned into a sharp spike as it sped towards Goku. He started to panic. He hadn't expected the blast to be so powerful. All he could do now was put his hands in front of his face and brace himself.
The large purple beam of light hit Goku head on, striking in the dead center of the cross his arms made. He stood against it for a few seconds, then flew backwards yelling. He flipped over a few times before landing on his back and hitting his head on the floor of the ring.
"Yep." He said. "That definitely stung."
His eyes grew wide as Colleen flew right above him and fired several yellow spike-shaped ki blasts at him on the ground. 'Eeee!'
Goku quickly rolled over and powered up. He waited for an onslaught of ki blasts, but the air was still. He looked around for Colleen, but once again she was nowhere in sight.
'Is she related to Houdini, or what?!' Goku thought in his mind. 'I can't sense her power anywhere. How can she do this? Even with suppressing her energy I should be able to feel a trace of it somewhere. It's like she totally disappeared or died or something!'
Piccolo smiled. He loved that new attack of hers. He remembered the first time she tried it on him. It nearly took his head off. But it seemed as if she didn't use the full extent of her power on Goku.
'Hmph. No matter.' He thought. 'Now where did my little student go?' He stretched out his senses expecting to find her somewhere where Goku couldn't sense her. But.....nothing. Not a flicker of her power anywhere for miles.
{Colleen?} he tried telepathically. {Colleen, answer me!}
{*giggle* What's up?} she replied.
{Good, you're still here. Where are you?}
{That's for me to know, and you to find out! Pretty cool, huh? I just found out I could totally disappear a few days ago.}
Piccolo couldn't see her, but he knew she was smiling. {Why do you not use your full power on him?}
{What do you mean? He's a tough opponent, I am using my full power on him.} she said defensively.
{Right. And I believe in the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Clause. _And_ to top it off, I have a secret love of puppy dogs.} he replied sarcastically.
{Piccolo! I never knew you were keeping secrets from me!} she laughed.
Piccolo frowned. {Do you not have a fight to finish?}
{Whoopsie! Well, been really nice talking to you, bubie.} And the mental link was closed.
Piccolo opened his eyes and watched the ring where Goku was still trying to find Colleen. She suddenly appeared behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. When Goku turned around, she socked him in the face, followed him as he tumbled across the ring, and kneed him in the gut. Goku landed on his back with an 'ooph'. He rolled back on his shoulders and kicked up with both feet and landed standing.
Goku stood bruised, yet not even panting from the previous fighting he and Colleen had done. It puzzled him. Colleen was a very strong opponent, yet she seemed to be holding back. Goku couldn't place a finger on it, but it seemed as though she was just giving the crowd and other fighters a show, not fighting to win. In fact, it almost seemed as though she _didn't_ want to win the way she let him get away all the time.
Colleen looked at the questionable look on Goku's face. She knew what he was thinking. She knew he knew she wasn't using all her power just as Piccolo did. She knew she'd passed both of them over a month ago, but didn't want them, especially Piccolo, to find out. She knew he wanted her to be powerful, but telling him exactly how powerful she was would give his ego a really big kick in the groin, and she didn't want to crush it anymore than it had to be. She knew she had to loose. Winning would be an option with a high price: the dimension's space-time continuum. She'd changed many, many things by even just being present in their world, but certain things she didn't even dare to attempt to change.
Colleen sighed. All this responsibility was supposed to be for Kami, not a 14-year-old fangirl! But now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to give Goku a good fight, then loose.
She powered up and charged Goku again. Punches and kicks were thrown and blocked. Colleen knew she had dragged the fight on long enough. Now was the time to back down.
'The tricky thing is backing down subtly.' She thought as she blocked a potential kick to the head.
Goku threw punch after punch, but just couldn't find a weak spot in Colleen's defense. Then, as if his wish were granted, a very wide and obvious opening appeared. Goku took it without a second thought. He kicked her legs out from under her and she fell to the ground with a thud. He brought his foot up, and then down onto her neck, just hard enough to trap her not cut off her air supply. She immediately grabbed at his ankle "trying" to pry it off. Seeing the position would go nowhere, Goku released her to let her get up.
Colleen stood rubbing her neck. Loosing was going to be painful, but it was the only way. She ran at him, and got kicked in the stomach. She flew up, and he followed her. He got behind her and brought both fists down on her back. She went falling and hit the concrete, but got up again. She flew back upwards and began a futile attack. Everything she dished out, he easily blocked.
He kicked her in the side and she went falling towards the edge of the ring. He floated down across from her and they started a staring contest.
"Why aren't you trying?" Goku asked.
"I don't know what you mean, Goku." She said back.
Goku sighed and brought both of his hands to his side. "Well, if you won't try your hardest, I'll just end the fight now." He brought both of the heels of his hands together and began to chant, "Ka....me....ha....me...."
'You have to loose, don't block it. You have to loose, don't block it..." Colleen kept repeating in her head. This was going to hurt a lot.
"Ha!!" The beam of blue light sped toward Colleen as she stood her ground with her arms placed firmly at her sides. She tensed and closed her eyes waiting for the burning process to begin.
'What is she doing?!?!' Piccolo yelled in his head and stood up on the roof. "Block it!" he yelled. But she didn't seem to hear.
The ki beam collided into her head on and knocked her into the wall outside of the ring. When the beam disintegrated she fell to the ground and didn't get up. On the wall behind her was a deep impression with many little cracks coming out of the center.
The whole ring was silent. Did they just see what they thought they saw? The announcer snapped to and ordered a medical team to attend to her right away. He wasn't declaring a winner until he knew everyone was alive. The little team of people in white came out and surrounded her and checked her out. One of the men went up to the announcer to speak into the microphone. Everyone held their breath, especially Piccolo, Goku, Bulma, and surprisingly, Shen.
"She got quite a hit, but she'll be fine." He said. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and cheered.
"That means that Goku is our winner!!" The announcer yelled. The crowd cheered, and Colleen was put onto a stretcher and taken into the backstage area.
Piccolo jumped off the roof and walked over to where the medical people were with Colleen. He went up to see her, but one of them stepped in his way.
"Sir, we're working on her, so could you please give us a minute?" he said.
Piccolo snarled and bared his fangs. The man gulped. "Of course, what could it hurt, right?" he said and laughed nervously as Piccolo passed him.
Colleen was laying down with her hand on her head. She opened an eye when Piccolo approached.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"....owe..." was all she could reply. Piccolo sighed. She was bruised, bloody, burnt and covered in dirt, but she was okay. He helped her into a sitting position facing him with her legs over the side of the stretcher. She lost some of her balance from a wave of dizziness and fell forward. Piccolo caught her and she rested on his chest her arms around his waist with her eyes closed.
"Why didn't you block it?" he suddenly asked. "Why did you deliberately loose?"
She looked up at him. "Time tells all tales." She slowly slid down and stood. "Mmmm.......and Morphine kills all pain, so be a dear and get me tank."
Piccolo put her back on the table and summoned one of the medical team to her. He walked over to Goku who was smiling and talking with his friends. They all stopped talking when they noticed his hateful glare at Goku.
"You _will_ pay for that." He said. "Mark my words, you will pay."
"Piccolo," Goku said light-heartedly. "We both know she lost on purpose. There's no reason to get sore about it."
Piccolo turned around and spoke over his shoulder without turning his head. "Freiceadan bhur droim tì.(1)" he said coldly in his native demon tongue.
ChiChi shivered and hugged onto Goku's arm. "I don't like that creep one bit." She said.
"Neither do I." Yamcha said.
"He's not that bad once you get to know him." Bulma said. "In fact, he's actually pretty nice when he lets his guard down."
ChiChi stared at her in disbelief. "Nice?! There's no way that......that......._thing_ could be nice! Honestly, I have no idea what you and Colleen could possibly see in that guy to want to be his friend."
"You just have to trust and respect him and he'll almost, sorta, kinda, maybe be nice to you." Bulma replied.
"Trust that monster? You actually _trust_ him? With your life?" ChiChi asked.
"Well, maybe not with my life, but-"
"See! No one can trust that hideous person! _If_ you could even call him a person." ChiChi put up her index finger. "If you can name one person, _one person_, that trusts him with their life, maybe I'll reconsider what I think of him." She crossed her arms over her chest in triumph.
"Well, Chi, I guess you're going to have to change your views then." Colleen walked up to the group and said. "'Cause I trust him with all my heart and soul." She was no longer covered in blood and dirt, and had a large bandage above her right eye and on her left bicep.
"You would." ChiChi said and Bulma giggled.
"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Colleen asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh, you know." Bulma said and batted her eyelashes.
Colleen quirked an eyebrow. "Okaaay. I'm just gonna be over there by Pic if that's fine with you guys." She said and walked over to Piccolo and sat next to him on the floor.
"So, what does she know that we also know?" Goku asked and scratched his head.
Everyone groaned. ChiChi kissed the confused man on the cheek. "It's a good thing you're cute Goku." She said.
Goku smiled. "Thanks!" and he kissed her on her forehead.
Piccolo and Colleen sat side-by-side on the far side of the room secluded from anyone else. Colleen looked at his stone hard expression and sighed.
"I know I let you down," she said. "But believe me, it was for the better."
"Explain to me exactly how it was for the better, Colleen. Tell me something, anything, why you do the things you do." He said.
"I cannot tell you everything. You know that because of where I'm from I know things that will affect this world now and in the future. Besides, _you_ have the rivalry with Goku, not me. He's my friend, but your enemy. It is _you_ who should fight him. Plus, winning this tournament isn't all that important. I mean, what's 10 million dollars anyway?" she said and smiled.
He said nothing but continues to stare at nothing. "Just trust me, okay?" she asked.
"I do trust you. I just don't understand you. You gave up the chance to defeat one of the strongest men in the world, whom you know you could beat easily. You are the weirdest person I have ever met."
"You flatter me, kind sir." She said and laughed.
Piccolo just shook his head. 'It could be worse.' He reminded himself. 'She could have won and would have had to face me.'
"Attention!" the announcer said and everyone in and out of the stands turned in his direction. "The next match will begin in just a few minutes. Ma Junior vs. Shen!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1)= guard your back human
Long enough for ya? Well, it certainly took long enough for me to get my butt in gear! Sorry bout that. I had to fight with a case of Writer's Block. But I won over it. Nothing can beat me, BWAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!
Erin: A-hem!
Cat: Oh yes, thank you to Erin for letting me borrow you. You're so nice, I hope you don't mind. If you do, it's not like you can do anything about it now.
Erin: Thanks so much.
Cat: Your welcome!
Remember, visit Piccolo's Girl's story and sign up for the fun! I promise to have chapter 11 out soon.
Erin: I'll make sure she keeps it. ^_~
Cat: So till next time.......
Cat and Erin: Ja-Ne Minna-san!!