Vegeta was irritated by Goku's sudden arrival, but he couldn't cover up how intrigued he was. He watched from a distance while Goku huddled by Chi-Chi, Gohan, and Krillin, and they filled him in on the events prior to his arrival.

"Chi-Chi finally took Nappa down, and - well - you saw her fighting Vegeta when you showed up," Krillin finished - sitting up unaided after Goku had insisted he take part of a senzu bean. The rest of the senzu had been split between Chi-Chi and Gohan - it didn't fully heal them, but it eased the ache and exhaustion that had built up over the course of the fight.

Goku nodded slowly, his eyes shifting over to Vegeta, who seemed to loom over them despite his distance and unimpressive stature. The look in his eye almost made Chi-Chi shudder; she'd only seen him look like that when he had fought Piccolo over five years ago. "I see," he said slowly. "This Vegeta's not gonna be easy to beat, I can tell you that much..."

Mood turning on a dime, much like Chi-Chi's was prone to do, Goku beamed and rustled Gohan's hair. "I'll do my best though! He may be tough, but so am I. I'll give him a run for his money, at least," Goku said.

Gohan seemed to buzz with anticipation, and he jumped to his feet. "I-I'll help you, Dad! I could get close and - um - scratch his eyes so he can't see! Or I'll sneak in with a sharp rock and sever his achilles-"

With time, Gohan certainly could have come up with countless other increasingly-painful and irritating ways he could harm Vegeta, but Goku just shook his head and silenced him there. "Out of the question, Gohan," he said.

Gohan's face fell. "But-"

"No buts," Chi-Chi chimed in. She only needed to make eye contact with Goku for a split-second for them to understand each other perfectly. She frowned - she didn't like it one bit, but she supposed it was best. "You and I will only get in Daddy's way. It's best we give him some space to work, alright?"

Krillin eyed her as if she'd sprouted an extra head, while Gohan hung his in disappointment. "Chi-Chi, are you serio-?" he started, but he balked when met with twin glares from Goku and Chi-Chi both. "I mean- yeah, Gohan. Your dad's obviously gotten a lot stronger..."

"Right, we'll head back home then," Chi-Chi said in a tone that beckoned no argument. She beamed at Goku, a performance for their son, and said, "I'll go ahead and start dinner. You better not be late, understand?"

Goku grinned right back at her, looking as confident as he ever had. The glint in his eye betrayed him, though. Chi-Chi could tell he was taking this much more seriously than he was letting on. Her heart lurched with the thought of losing him again, and she stood on the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on his jaw (she always forgot how tall he was). "I said, do you understand?" she asked again.

"Yeah - you bet, Chi-Chi," Goku said, his eyes knowing. He gave her a quick wink. "I'll be there."

With one last heartfelt smile, Chi-Chi turned to Gohan and Krillin and once again was all business. "Okay, you two, let's get moving. Krillin, can you fly on your own?" she asked.

Krillin jumped up. "Yep, that senzu fixed me up good," he confirmed. He pounded his chest with a fist to demonstrate.

Chi-Chi nodded. "Good. Gohan, I want you to stay close to me. Let's head home now," she said.

Gohan nodded. "Y-yeah," he said.

Krillin jumped up and took off in the direction of Mount Paozu, but Gohan hesitated to follow him. "Dad?"

"Yeah, Gohan?" answered Goku.

Chi-Chi expected Gohan to wish him luck, or say he missed him, that he loved him, but his face hardened like stone and he said, "Don't mess around, okay?" He waited for Goku to nod, then kicked off after Krillin without another word.

Eventually, they couldn't ignore the wild fluctuation of ki and strange lights from the battle behind them.

Gohan froze first, eyes fixed on the horizon with his mouth agape. Chi-Chi was next - stopping more out of concern for Gohan rather than anything else. Krillin flew a bit further, before looping back around to meet them. "Hey, what's the idea? Mount Paozu isn't gonna grow legs and meet us here," he said.

"It's Goku," Chi-Chi said.

"He'll be fine-"

"No he won't!" Gohan snapped, sounding more scared than angry. "Don't you feel it, Krillin? His energy's fading - he's in trouble! We have to help him."

With a burst of energy that made Krillin and Chi-Chi shield their eyes, Gohan shot off in the direction of the battle. In seconds, he was just a pinprick moving steadily over the horizon. Krillin looked to Chi-Chi with his mouth agape. "Y-you're not just gonna let him run off like that alone, are you? It's dangerous!" he said.

Chi-Chi nodded solemnly. "It is dangerous," she agreed. "And no, I'm not letting him go alone."

Krillin picked up on her wording and his face faded a shade or two. "O-oh," he said. He gulped, and his resolve returned. "We better get going, then."

They started after Gohan at top speed.

Vegeta didn't often have to resort to his Great Ape form, but Earth was brimming with surprises.

What wasn't surprising was the way the battle had turned once he'd transformed. As soon as Vegeta had shot his artificial moon into the air, Kakarot hadn't stood a chance. He was dozens of times stronger and more resilient as the mighty Oozaru, with no loss of speed of reactivity. He picked out Kakarot's garishly orange gi among the rocks, scooped him up in his fists, and crushed him like a bug in his hands.

And once I've dealt with Kakarot, I'll end the lives of his half-breed son and pathetic Earthling wife as wel-

Somethings buzzed around the base of his neck, a tickling sensation that he scarcely flinched at, but was quickly followed by seven consecutive ki blasts to the back of his skull. The energy seared his fur and rattled his brain, the pain surging out from the spot of impact along the veins in his skin. Vegeta let out an angry roar and dropped Kakarot unceremoniously into the dirt, his hands grasping automatically at his fresh injury.

Wildly, Vegeta looked around, furiously seething with pain all the while. He only managed to catch a glimpse of his assailants, but that was all he needed to identify them: Kakarot's family. He should have known.

Vegeta stomped towards the rock formations they had fled to, intent on crushing them all one by one for daring to interfere with his fight. The tingle returned though, and this time Vegeta knew what would follow. He stepped quickly to the side, just in time to miss being sliced by a spinning disc of energy. And a good thing, too - it sliced clean through the rocks, spinning dangerously through the air, lethal until it would eventually dissipate.

Glaring, Vegeta found the source of the attack.

Ah, yes. The bald one.

Vegeta let out an Earth-shaking roar, saliva flying from his open maw with the force of his battlecry. It was loud enough and horrible enough to strike the bald one pale and immobile. Vegeta took the opportunity to snatch him out of the air and crush him in his fist.

The bald one let out an ear-splitting scream as Vegeta's fingers closed around him, which would have delighted the Saiyan prince had it not been so irritating. "I am going to eat you alive, you worthless Earthling-"

The next thing Vegeta knew, the sky was getting further away, and the bald one was getting much, much more difficult to crush in a single fist.

Realization hit him right before he hit the ground.

Those sons of bitches cut off my tail - I'll kill them for that! Any further scheming was cut short by the bald one landing on his face.

Chi-Chi landed gracefully, though hardly lightly, with a thin tendril of blood from Vegeta's severed tail arcing behind her blade. She spun around in time to see Vegeta land like a fallen ragdoll in the dirt, followed closely by Krillin. In the rocks behind them, Gohan was still hopping over boulders and dodging through crevices in the stone, looking for Goku.

Hopefully, Chi-Chi had bought him some time.

Chi-Chi's attention shifted back to Vegeta, who shoved Krillin off of himself so violently that he was thrown face-first into another rock formation. The Saiyan prince stumbled upright, wiping the blood from his chin with the back of his glove. Battered armor, bleeding face, hunched over and seething - he looked positively feral. Chi-Chi fixed him with her coldest, most calculating glare, and settled into a stance with her sword raised. Vegeta seemed to be in the habit of keeping his tail around his waist, so she couldn't rely on his balance being thrown off from losing it - still, it was an appendage he'd had all his life. Surely losing it would give Chi-Chi some kind of weakness to exploit?

If there was one, Chi-Chi didn't have time to pick it out and strategize - Vegeta lunged at her, roaring, ki flashing in his palms as lethal as it was blinding. All she could do was block, crying out in pain against the searing energy.

She left herself open a moment too long, and Vegeta pummeled her in the gut and chest - one punch after another, making her spit blood and saliva. She brought the pommel of her sword down on Vegeta's head, which made him flinch long enough for her to put healthy distance between them and catch her breath. When he lunged at her again, she was ready - parrying each blow, sword all but forgotten. Fists, kicks, knees, and elbows were matched in a flurry, each contact pulsing with energy and rattling Chi-Chi's bones.

It bears being said, however, that she gave as good as she got.

A particularly well-executed punch knocked Vegeta's head back and sent a tooth flying. He spat blood and bared his remaining teeth in a reddened snarl, and his assault didn't ease up a bit.

Where does he get all this damn energy from? thought Chi-Chi. It must have been a Saiyan thing - her Goku had been through battles that would have killed anyone else, and had walked away from each one perfectly fine and dandy, save for the obvious exception. But if her sparring sessions with Goku were any evidence at all, the Saiyans couldn't hold out forever. All she had to do was hold out for a little longer.

That plan was quickly dashed. Vegeta jumped in the air, spinning and kicking Chi-Chi so hard in the side of the head that she couldn't see anything but streaks of light. Suddenly disoriented, she lost her balance and fell on her rear, clutching her bleeding ear and rapidly-bruising jaw. Where was she? What was going on?

Vegeta stood over her, blotting out the light. For a moment, Chi-Chi didn't recognize him - all she could think of was strangling whatever it was that was making the high-pitched squealing noise. He started talking, a muffled and indistinguishable mess of a sound she only recognized as words by the flapping of his gab. Chi-Chi blinked, trying to figure out who the strange little man was and what he was trying to say.

Behind him, people were moving around - one of them small, with dark hair, and a violet gi.

That's Gohan! Chi-Chi's brain supplied readily.

All at once, the pieces clicked back into place - even if her hearing hadn't - and Chi-Chi lunged at Vegeta with both fists. They landed, one over the other, in his sternum and abdomen. Vegeta flew back a few paces and Chi-Chi jumped back even further. She followed up with a flurry of energy blasts, all small and negligible on their own, but which congealed into an explosive and inescapable attack. Chi-Chi's hearing was still ruined from Vegeta's kick, but based on the shaking Earth alone, the sound must have been uproarious.

Finally, with no ki to spare, Chi-Chi collapsed onto her knees. Blood ran down her nose, chin, and the side of her face, she was covered in cuts, bruises, burns, and broken bones, every inch of her was exhausted - it was all she could do just to stay conscious. Even staying upright was beyond her at that point. Chi-Chi fell onto her side, panting, eyes unfocused as she gazed into the settling dust -

- where Vegeta was getting up.

Fuck, she would have said aloud if she could.

He had obviously been affected by Chi-Chi's assault, but not as much as she had. He was, after all, still on his feet - blinded in one eye, with dark red saturating his bodysuit and dripping down his torso, but very much vertical. He said something that Chi-Chi wouldn't have been able to make out even if she could hear properly, and rose one hand to the sky. Energy balled in his hand, and his gazed was fixed squarely on Chi-Chi.

Gohan, I'm so sorry-

Vegeta's attack was cut short by a massive ball of energy hurtling directly at him. He jumped out of the way just in time, alerted by the long shadow suddenly cast before him, but it was still en route for Chi-Chi.

Goku, you son of a-

Crisp as an autumn morning, Goku's voice cut through Chi-Chi's impaired hearing. "Chi-Chi, listen to me-" he started.

No, it was coming from inside of her head. Since when was he a telepath?

"I'll tell you later - for now, you just have to bounce the Spirit Bomb back at Vegeta, and quick. We only have this one chance!"

Surely that thing would blow her up, though.

"It won't hurt you, I promise. You're pure of heart, but if it dissipates on you, it's wasted. I don't think we can hold out long enough for me to make another one."

Chi-Chi forced herself to her feet, raising her arms in preparation for the gargantuan ball of energy coming her way. She quickly picked out Vegeta's form in the sky, and calculated the angle to send the Spirit Bomb right at him.

"Thank you, Chi-Chi! You're the best, love ya!"

"Get out of my head already," growled Chi-Chi.

It was all she had time to say before the Spirit Bomb was right on her. Chi-Chi let out a roar as she mustered up the last of her energy and volleyed the giant orb into the sky. It was hot, but not searing - more like a sunbath than a fire - and heavier than anything Chi-Chi had hit before. It did the trick, though: the Spirit Bomb was sent flying upwards at Vegeta. Though Chi-Chi was still deaf, Goku, Gohan, and Krillin weren't, and all listened in awe of the ear-splitting shriek that rung out from the sky. Chi-Chi did get the full effect of the light, though. It was like someone had popped a star like a balloon, and instead of the light dying off slowly over a thousand years, it all burst out at once in a retina-searing explosion.

It was all gone as soon as it came, and before long Chi-Chi's eyes had readjusted. The clearing looked as dark as night after the explosion of the Spirit Bomb, but Chi-Chi could pick out the formations, Gohan as he tentatively moved around the rocks, and - chiefly - Vegeta.

The battlefield was getting brighter by the second. Chi-Chi caught a flash of light bounce off a tiny remote in Vegeta's hand, and not a few seconds later, a spherical pod had landed a ways off.

That coward, though Chi-Chi with a curl of her lip. Short, rude, good-for-nothing COWARD!

With strength Chi-Chi didn't know she had, she stomped the distance between herself and Vegeta, pausing only to scoop her sword up in her hand. It felt like it weighed a tonne, but she didn't slow down one bit. She was a woman on a mission, and she wouldn't rest until she saw it through.

Vegeta had been deeply affected by the Spirit Bomb. He was reduced to crawling through the dirt on his stomach to reach his pod, dragging his legs behind him as dead weight. The sight of him made Chi-Chi livid, his running away made fury rise in her throat like bile, and she kicked him hard in the ribs so he knew it. The force of her kick spun Vegeta onto his back, and he cried out in pain.

"Worm," seethed Chi-Chi. "Scoundrel, bastard, son-of-a-bitch, coward-" If Chi-Chi could hear, she'd realize she was shouting. As it was, her voice continued to rise in volume and grow more potent with anger.

Vegeta raised his arm - to do what, even he didn't know. He was in no fit condition to fight - and Chi-Chi kicked him squarely in the face. Vegeta tried to get out of her rage, but Chi-Chi fixed him in place with the tip of her blade, which drew a drop of blood right over his adam's apple.

"You think you can come to our planet, kill our friends, threaten my son, and just run away the moment things get too sticky for you? You ought to be ashamed of yourself! To think, you call yourself a warrior..." Chi-Chi spat onto Vegeta's busted armor. "Everyone you've faced today is a thousand times the fighter you could ever hope to be. Yamcha died a true warrior, Piccolo died a hero, Tien and Chiaotzu died with honor - and you dare try to run away?"

Chi-Chi still couldn't hear, but she could read Vegeta's lips plainly enough.

"Don't you call me 'coward'," he said slowly.

He was met with another kick in the face, and fresh blood gushing from his nose. Vegeta protested, clutching his face and trying to get away from Chi-Chi, to no avail.

"Men who run from the end instead of facing it with dignity are cowards," Chi-Chi said. "But if 'coward' is too insensitive for you, let's just go with 'dead' instead."

She raised her sword, ready to bring it down on him and end this sordid business once and for all. Vegeta's one good eye widened just a bit at the blade glistening in the light, and Chi-Chi finally saw something besides snide superiority or rage in his expression: fear. If she hadn't savored it for as long as she had, Vegeta would have died there on Earth - but someone caught her by the arm before she could bring the steel down on Vegeta.

Chi-Chi looked over, bewildered, at Krillin.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" asked Chi-Chi, each word delivered too-loudly and making Krillin cringe.

He said something very quickly that Chi-Chi couldn't catch, and the look of incomprehension must have tipped Krillin off. He took a step back and gestured over by a few boulders where Gohan was helping Goku to stand. Slowly, Goku shook his head.

"Let him live, Chi-Chi."

"Why?" she barked back audibly.

"He hasn't killed anyone on Earth. You told me it was the other fella, the big one you killed, who wrought all the havoc here. He threatened us, beat us all silly, but..."

"Are you crazy, Goku?" Chi-Chi demanded. "This man is a monster! Do you think he's gonna take this sitting down? If we let him go now, he'll turn around and come right back to Earth and blow the whole planet up. Not to mention what he must have done to other people on planets besides Earth!"

Krillin said something to Goku that Chi-Chi couldn't make out, but based on his facial expression alone, he sided with her.

But Goku wasn't dissuaded. He spoke the next few words aloud, simultaneously telepathing them to Chi-Chi, so that everyone could hear: "If Vegeta comes back to Earth after this, we won't let him leave a second time. Simple as that."

Chi-Chi looked between her husband, completely calm and stoic despite his broken body, and Vegeta - the bewildered breaker of things - turning this over in her head. She heaved a sigh, and lowered her sword. "Father always said half of marriage was compromise," she said, this time so quiet the only ones to hear her were Vegeta and Krillin. With her mind made up, she sheathed her sword, watching Vegeta physically relax from the corner of her eye.

He's not getting a friendly farewell, though, Chi-Chi thought.

"Of course not. Scare him good for the Earth, would ya?" Goku said inside her mind.

Chi-Chi grabbed Vegeta by the front of his shattered armor, and pulled him close to her face. She could practically taste the blood on him, pungent and coppery, but more satisfying was the visible fear in his eyes. In a shockingly level tone for someone with no hearing, she said, "Don't - come - back. Got it?" She saw his mouth twitch, as if he were about to agree, which was all the confirmation she needed.

Unceremoniously, Chi-Chi hurled Vegeta directly into the pod, so forcefully that the whole thing rolled on impact. One final 'fuck you' to the man who had tried to kill her entire family. It was better than he deserved, as far as Chi-Chi was concerned.

The pod closed and whirred to life, and she and Krillin got out of the way just in time to not be knocked over by it taking off. The force of the pod leaving Earth was enough to make Chi-Chi's hair whip around her face wildly, and she shielded her eyes from the wind. By the time she looked up, Vegeta's spacepod was just a little dot in the sky, and it was gone not a moment later.

Until next time, thought Chi-Chi grimly, asshole.