A/N: Hi all, I'm back! I had to take a break for other life commitments but it ended being prolonged as I have had to deal with an ongoing health issue.

To be honest, writing and the support of great friends have really been getting me through this!

A truly extra special thank you to my amazing friend Kipke for your support throughout this, your help with getting this chapter out and this amazing art for it!

Chapter 6

Looking back down from the sky, Chia took out her DynaCap - capsules that she had used her entire life and now understood were invented and made right here on Earth, by none other than Capsule Corp itself - and threw it to the pristine grounds of the compound ahead of her. Within a few moments her ship had fully reassembled in front of them all.

The small grouping looked on as the raven-haired woman, clad in only the pink shirt and leggings of Bulma's, ran up the now open walkway and disappeared inside the sizeable craft.

"What?! Is she leaving now?" Both Krillin and Yamcha shouted in tandem. The shocked tones in their voices were obvious to everyone who heard.

"No, she's just getting her armour", Bulma answered confidently. I hope.

Admittedly, it had crossed Chia's mind to simply just take off and leave the planet, but she was struck by that familiar tug from within her towards these humans. All this time, she had every intention of stealing their dragon scale and quickly moving onto the next item, but they just gave her one with no other expectations. Knowing that she didn't have the time to process what this meant - nor did she really want to - she pushed it aside and concentrated on the now urgent situation that was approaching Planet Earth at this very instant.

Quickly changing out of the flimsy Earth clothes that Bulma had supplied her with, stuffing them into the capsule that she had taken another set of armour from. Like routine, Chia ran her hands over her under-armour and armour as she pulled it on, but she had foregone her usually meticulous checks because of the time constraints. Opening the chest containing her personal armoury, the now armour-clad warrior grabbed her favoured weapon and began strapping the holster on her hip and thigh tightly.

Feeling the energies of the newly arrived beings, they were still a distance away but they had landed and they were likely to be wreaking havoc wherever they were.

Chia ran out of her ship and down the walkway. After reaching the bottom, she immediately depressed a button, encapsulating it once more.

At the sight, both Krillin and Yamcha stood eyeing Chia's new attire; in their eyes she really did look like a warrior ready for battle and a good looking one too.

"Glad you're on our side", Bulma spoke first, winking at the Saiyan-like woman. This action elicited a simultaneous wince from both Krillin and Yamcha; neither wanted to push this warrior too far and risk her leaving them to fend for themselves. Yamcha turned and instructed Bulma firmly to go inside and stay here.

Shaking his head at the exchange between his friends, Krillin stated to Chia, "There's too many civilians around here, let's take the fight to them. Otherwise these newcomers could just tear the planet apart in frustration." Lowering his voice, even though no-one else was around, "Especially when they find out that the Dragon Balls have already been used."

Looking in the direction of the energy source, Yamcha offered, "They probably don't even know that we're here. I mean we can all conceal our Ki now, right?" Turning around to Krillin and Chia, "Maybe we can just wait them out? They might not even know about the dragon balls on Earth, they're probably just after the pumpkins." Yamcha was desperately trying to sound positive about what he can already feel is a dire situation.

Chia looked up at the dispersing smoke trails high in the sky and spoke in a low and steady tone, "No. Not these guys. They're here for a reason." Why would he send them to Earth of all places?

Having agreed between the three fighters that it would be better - casualty wise - to find the new threats for themselves, they were now flying through the air at speed towards the new energies. Although it had been difficult to deter Bulma from following them, Chia had made a threat to shoot her craft down if she did. Thankfully for Yamcha, that had kept her at bay.

On their route over the rolling hills, the trio barely spoke; each focussed on their own thoughts and strategies.

Krillin pondered the likely devastation that they would be arriving in. His mind was visualising the decimated cities with bodies strewn around. He glanced towards Chia who was flying ahead of him. Krillin knew that she was well informed of who these newcomers were, and that when she wasn't being arrogant, he could see the concern in her eyes. These guys must be something to rattle a warrior like her. How does someone like me even stand a chance?

Unbeknown to Krillin, Yamcha on the other side of him, was having similar worries and doubts. He thought about all the battles that the two orange-clad fighters had already experienced. Although Yamcha had trained hard, he was still convinced that the majority of his wins were more down to luck than skill. Having been a desert bandit for so long in his former years, he had accumulated a great number of tricks and ways to get what he wanted. Master Roshi had taught him how to hone those skills into something that he could control and use decisively to defend against those that would threaten the innocent lives on Earth. If it wasn't for a chance meeting with Bulma, when she was searching for the Dragon Balls all those years ago, then he would never have considered himself the fighter that he is today. Even with all my training, that still might not be enough. Even though he looked overconfident for any outsider, Yamcha still felt inside like the young bandit who got by on a whole lot of luck.

A roar of an engine suddenly appearing beside them startled the trio. Some kind of ship was now flying parallel to them, prompting Chia to snarl at the sight. Lifting her hand, as she was ready to blast the craft, a moment of hesitation caused her to lessen the energy she put into it; which only resulted in one of the wings being taken out. That's survivable unfortunately. I really am getting soft.

The two fighters that were flanking her, shouted out in shock. Startled by their reaction, she looked confusedly at them. "A friend of yours?" She called over to Krillin, who had been closest to the vessel.

"Err…something like that…anyway he's on our side!"

Calling from her other side, "He must be here for something. We better go down there and see what he wants", shouted Yamcha.

With a sighing nod from Chia, the three fighters descended to the ground where the ship had now landed.

Abruptly landing with one successive thud after another. The three warriors saw a figure emerge from the vehicle. A short, stout and messy-haired man stood in front of them. Speaking gruffly, "Really? Shooting me down. That's how you're gonna greet an old friend bearing gifts, huh?"

"Yajirobe? What are you doing here? Did Korin send you?" Krillin hit him with a flurry of questions.

"Yeah, of course he did! As if there's any other reason I'd come into harm's way, unless that old cat hadn't blackmailed me into it!" Yajirobe shouted in response to the shorter orange-clad man.

"Some fighter…" Chia huffed out, whilst casting her eye over this new strong scented human with disgust for his blatant cowardice.

Looking at the female warrior, Yajirobe was incensed. "You! It was you that fired it, wasn't it?! I suppose that you don't want mine or Korin's help then. Fine, have it your way, I'm leaving!" Angrily turning back around to make a dramatic and swift exit, but he frustratingly remembered the condition of the craft as soon as his eyes met with it. Still smoking in the ditch it had created within the ground from his crash-landing.

Korin? I've heard that name before… Chia stood thinking, whilst the two orange-clad fighters tried to make excuses for her in an attempt to make Yajirobe stay. Isn't Korin one of the other masters the old man was talking about? I wonder if this guy is one of his students too?

Snapping the Saiyan-like woman out of her thoughts, she overheard the fat man speak, "Look, Korin saw that you guys are going to be in for a battle and he felt that you may need some Senzu Beans. That's all I'm here for. I ain't got no business getting into a fight with what's coming."

As the new man and the other two fighters stood conversing with each other, Chia listened. Raising her eyes at the mention of these 'Senzu Beans', she'd heard the other fighters refer to them before. But with how reluctant this Yajirobe was to be here, she deduced that they must be an important item. If that was the case, then she'd definitely need to know right now.

"What are these Senzu Beans?"

"I guess the games' up", as Krillin looked over to Yamcha, sighing at the admission he was about to make.

"They're from an extremely rare plant that can aid your healing and restore your health from physical injuries and trauma. We tend to use them to help with endurance during training and battles." Chia's eyes narrowed in realisation. So that's how the short shit survived my punch. Here was me thinking that they might have the same kind of potential, well we're definitely fucked then. I better come up with an escape plan quickly. But first…

With a low growl directed at Krillin and drawing her fists back as she moved towards him, "You weak son of a b…"

Simultaneously, all of the humans stopped their bickering and looked over towards the mountainous region in the distance.

Sensing the power coming their way, they knew that there was no chance of escape now. Krillin looked around scanning the area for civilians and signs of homes; whilst Yamcha took the Senzu Beans from the reluctant Yajirobe and placed them in his Gi.

Taking pity on their rotund friend, Yamcha proceeded to assist in righting the man's ship.

"Yeah, sorry man, it doesn't look like you're going anywhere", Yamcha smiled awkwardly.

Yajirobe turned and scowled at the armour-clad woman that was the cause of his problems, "No thanks to your new friend, I'll just hide then!" With one last disapproving glare, he turned around and ran for the nearest rocky hill.

Chia - who was already standing in her fighting stance - scoffed at the spineless rotund man, but soon turned her full focus back to that incoming power. How she fought, would really depend on who arrived, running through all kinds of scenarios in her mind. What could she do? How could she save her life and maybe even theirs too? As she glanced with only her eyes at the two orange-clad fighters firmly positioned in their stances, ready to fight alongside her. Their lives too.

Yamcha stood with a stoic face but trembled within, not knowing how this was going to play out. There's always the possibility that he could die from this, it was a risk he had faced many times before but he hadn't really been that worried and maybe even behaved a little reckless at times, knowing that they had the dragon balls to fall back on. But if he failed and Earth was destroyed, there would be no coming back. This was a stark reality that was suddenly dawning on him.

His wavering battle face looked over at Krillin, who was visibly shaking. The scar-faced man gave a reassuring nod towards him, letting his long-time friend know that he was there, ready to fight alongside him.

Seeing this, Krillin nodded in response, almost thanking him for his old friend's acknowledgement. This was it, everything their years of training and fighting had culminated in. Seeing the female warrior beside him, reminded him of all he still had to learn. Chia had already been so powerful and yet, she still had the capacity to learn more; that was more human than she could have realised. He was actually proud of her, though Krillin would never say it out loud to her.

Almost catching them all off-guard, dropping from the sky, seemingly out of thin air and landing alongside them was a fighter that none of them could have predicted would have arrived.

"Picc-"

"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not here for your sake. I just don't want anyone else taking what's mine on this planet." The silence amongst the humans was deafening, "Call it a temporary truce, as our interests have aligned."

Chia held her surprise, there was no time for that. It would have to wait. Besides, if her gut feeling was correct, she knew that they could use all the help that they could get… even if it was from this green demon.

Inbound was a figure she recognised. Shit. It's him.

"What have we here?" A mocking grin appeared at the sight of this planet's defences, "A Saiyan, a Namekian and a couple of Earthlings? It almost sounds like the start of a bad joke!" Now throwing his head back in deep laughter at his own comment.

Resuming his stance, hovering in the sky, he tapped his scouter a couple of times. Chia had instantly recognised the gadget, having used one herself for many years previously.

Chia began muttering quietly to the others, "He's assessing our power levels with that device over his eye. Make sure you keep your energy suppressed around those, that's how we'll be able to trick them."

"Them?"

"Yeah, there's five of them and he's-"

In a loud bombastic voice, the being announced, "I can make my own introductions!

I am…

the one…

the only…

Captain Ginyu!"

Landing on the ground in front of them striking a pose crouched down to the ground with his arms outstretched.

There was a collective 'what the fuck?' from earth's fighters.

"You're right", standing back upright while shaking his head and putting a hand on his chin, "It's just not the same without the others."

Krillin - not very discreetly - asked Chia, "What is this guy and who are the others?"

"He's the leader of a highly trained, secret assault team called the Ginyu Force. They do all of Frieza's bidding. His own personal death squad." She explained, not once breaking eye contact with the being in front of her.

Staring Chia down, Captain Ginyu spoke, "I assume you want to fight first, Saiyan."

This is it Chia. Let's go!

Pushing her foot straight off the grassland, she left a fractured mess of the ground in her wake. She steamed head first with a powerful punch towards the purple-skinned being, landing it square into the centre of his armoured chest.

He didn't even flinch. It didn't cause any real damage. In that microsecond of realisation, Chia allowed a breath to escape; the same breath that had held her focus as she carefully timed her attack routine. But the sudden and unexpected release, completely threw her off-kilter. That moment of indecision was all that was needed to break her resolve, allowing the self-proclaimed Captain to take advantage of it. He swiped at her, knocking her body down towards the ground a short distance away.

Yamcha shouted over to the seemingly fallen warrior, with both of the Earth's fighters moving to begin their battle. But Chia only shouted in response for them to stay back; she and she alone would handle this. Much to their dismay, they would respect that.

During her time as a warrior, while her adoptive race was under the thumb of the Planetary Trade Organisation, she had heard of the Ginyu Force. The stories of their strength and the futility of anyone who opposed them; Chia was committed to not letting that come to fruition.

Picking herself back up from the damaged ground quickly, Chia let out a chuckle. She knew that there was a good chance that she wasn't going to survive this, but this is exactly the kind of high she used to get being a Saiyan warrior. All she could think about was that Tien had been right after all.

"Is your imminent death that comical?" Snarled Ginyu.

Lowering herself into her fighting stance, she responded, "No, but I am curious. Why is the Ginyu Force here? What does Frieza want?"

Not knowing who the two armour-clad fighters in front of them were talking about or what was happening, Krillin and Yamcha just stared at each other in confusion.

The overly-confident purple being answered, "Lord Frieza, charged us - his elite squad - with the task of locating the Dragon Balls." Shit, SHIT! How does he know about them?!

"The scale was a ploy to have those pathetic Earthlings locate them for us. Now where are they?!" He bellowed at her.

Feigning ignorance, Chia answered in a churlish tone, "I don't know what you're talking about. What are they and what would he want with them? Does this have anything to do with an Eternal Dragon?"

"What he chooses to wish for does not concern the likes of you."

"He'd probably wish to be taller!" Chia retorted while letting out a small snort.

"You'd be wise not to mock me and certainly not Lord Frieza, you're no match for any of us, Saiyan." His voice uttered the last word with such disdain.

"We'll see about that!" She shouted as she instigated another attack, this time she changed her tactics to use energy blasts instead.

Chia attempted multiple Ki attacks, each one hit different parts of him, probing for a weakness. If only I could get past that armour! Noting the weakness in her own protection - that were of similar design and calibre - she caused a number of very small wounds around the edges of his armour, but it still wasn't enough. She would need a bigger attack, with more force for an experienced warrior like him.

She prepared herself a distance away, bringing her hands out in front her and then drawing them back to her side, whilst chanting,

"Kame…

Oof!"

She was hit by one of his blasts. Repositioning herself quickly,

"Ka-"

She released it to move quickly, dodging yet another attack.

The raven-haired woman manoeuvred herself into a different position. She began drawing her hands back once more,

"Kame…

Ha-"

In her concentration she missed him appearing behind her and was thrown to the ground in an almost backbreaking slam.

Chia had repeatedly tried to charge her Kamehameha wave, but she simply wasn't given enough time during the barrage of attacks that the Captain was mercilessly launching at her.

Although she had pretty much mastered the form of the wave, Chia hadn't actually used it in a real battle yet; she also hadn't worked on the timing and brief vulnerabilities that it created. If she got out of there alive, she would make it a priority to master that.

The Saiyan-raised warrior felt her Kamehameha would certainly be strong enough now to do some serious damage to him, if only she had enough time.

Switching her tactics back to full contact, whilst trying to conserve her energy for an opportune moment. Her repetitive blows were landing on him but not causing significant enough damage, as the skilled Ginyu deftly managed to avoid being struck in places that could cause any adverse effects. In his mind, taking a few hits would build up his stamina.

As for Chia, she was feeling the drain starting to creep in her arms and a tweak in her back - old injuries that reared their heads at inopportune times. She had already used a fair bit of her energy in those blasts, but she knew that she had to keep pushing herself. Keep fighting, there was no honour in giving up. Urgh. When am I going to leave those archaic notions behind?

Another punch struck her, she was taking on more damage to herself now than she was giving out, and it was getting harder and harder to dodge his relentless attacks. Wiping more streams of blood away from her face with her damaged hands. Come on, I can't give up. It can't end here, not like this! With that thought in mind, Chia's pent up anger and frustration lashed out at a furious speed tackling the purple-skinned being. She pounded at his flesh, bursting his blood vessels with her every strike. Seeing that she had drawn blood from him, her anger gave way to a feeling of pride at finally inflicting something on him, finally getting somewhere. When…

A flurry of heavy punches struck at every last bastion of strength within her. The Saiyan-like warrior's shoulders, diaphragm and hips had taken severe damage but the final uppercut to her lower jaw - spraying a mist of blood outwards - sealed her fate.

As Chia was propelled upwards and backwards from the force of the strike, she momentarily realised that she hadn't really been winning. He had been toying with her, her foolish pride had made her blind to it. A damn prideful fool. Her last thought before losing consciousness and plummeting to the ground.

"Looks like the Saiyan's out! Who's up next? Baldy?" The dual-horned head turned to look over Krillin; who was now quaking as he stood looking over at Chia's crash site.

He slowly gulped, turning his head and chattering teeth to question the Captain, "Me?" Pointing at himself.

"I've got this Krillin, go and see to Chia." Yamcha told his long-term friend assertively, suppressing his own inner fears.

"Oh really? Well, show me what you can do, Earthling", Ginyu said confidently, baiting the previous Turtle School student.

Tapping her foot on the ground impatiently, as an irritated sigh left her lips, Bulma - who was never one to be left behind - had enough of standing around, waiting to find out what was happening.

"Screw it!" The bluenette shouted out, as she threw the capsule containing her ship to the ground and watched the craft begin to unfurl before her from the plume of smoke.

Desperate to give those warriors a piece of her mind and get a look at these would-be destroyers, Bulma stalked towards the ship.

Calling from behind her, Panchy asked, "Are you sure you don't want to take some food with you? That nice young lady has a big appe-"

Furious at her mother's lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation, "Mom! We don't need food, it's not a picnic!"

"Oh dear", she vaguely heard her mother express in surprise as the blue-haired woman ran up and into her ship, hopping directly into her pilot's seat and departing straight away in the direction that her friends and Chia had taken off in.

Yamcha had tried a variety of different attacks, but none had a single effect on the purple-skinned alien. He had one more to try, one more giving his everything. Running at speed towards Captain Ginyu, he launched himself..

"WOLF…

FANG…

FIST!"

The wolf-spirited energy tore through the air and collided with the cheek of the Captain, thrusting him backwards as the open palm connected.

Leaping up to a raised position in the air and chuckling darkly, Ginyu revealed, "That was a decent attempt, but not good enough-" as he proceeded to launch an overwhelming energy blast directly at Yamcha.

The look of a plagued realisation was etched across the Earthling warrior's face, with barely any time to process the impending attack. Striking him head on, the light of the blast engulfed the scar-faced man, as all of his comrades looked on in horror of the attack's power.

Krillin was barely able to utter his friend's name to warn him, before the inevitable outcome of such an onslaught.

When the light dimmed and the dust settled, all that could be seen was the body of the warrior who lay slumped on his side at the bottom of the newly created crater. His lifeless corpse, motionless amongst the rubble, with only his hair dancing in the residual winds caused by the blast.

"Ah it looks like I drew another blank!" The Captain shouted and continued to laugh menacingly, while he surveyed the fallen warriors on the ground. The beastly being opened his mouth to let out another mocking statement, but it instantly turned into a breathless scream. His arms shook and tensed as the intense beam of spiralled energy shot through his side, obliterating the armour in that area and causing a nasty injury. Immediately, Ginyu began searching frantically with his eyes darting around for the source of his newfound pain; but instead he was greeted by a small orange-clad man that popped up right in front of him and began emitting a staggeringly blinding light.

Landing back safely on the ground, knowing that the solar flare technique - that his old rival had taught him years ago - had only blinded the enemy temporarily, but hopefully it bought him enough time to enact his plan. Krillin darted straight to Yamcha's side, placing a hand on his back and lowering his head in a brief sombre expression of respect, "I'm sorry my friend, I'll find the Dragon Balls for you. It just might be a while." He let out a small chuckle with his last sentence, but knowing that his time was limited, he reached around the fallen form of his comrade to retrieve the small bag of Senzu Beans stashed in Yamcha's Gi. The moment he grabbed it, Krillin raced over to Chia's side - where she still lay unconscious.

Rousing the injured warrior, he was greeted with the stark look of realisation on her face. She had been badly beaten and yet she still lived. Only now, with her key joints destroyed, there was no way to defend herself and she knew it. Krillin offered up a Senzu Bean to Chia's mouth, encouraging her to take it. "Take this, it will heal your body and you'll regain your strength", he urged her and despite rolling her eyes, she begrudgingly accepted.

Landing behind the pair in a swift drop, a deep voice spoke, "Is there one for me?"

Krillin turned and grimaced at the thought of giving his long-term rival a boost, but desperate times called for desperate measures to protect their world, and so Krillin reluctantly threw a Senzu Bean over to Piccolo.

Met with only a gruff 'thanks' from his former foe; Krillin shook his head as the Demon King's son placed it in his pocket rather than taking it now.

What the… Having felt the warm wave of wellness and vitality rush over her body - regenerating her injuries instantly and even healing some longer-term ones - she stood up from her would-be grave and glanced over her newly restored form with her hands. Absolutely incredible.

In the meantime, Captain Ginyu had begun to reclaim his sight after momentarily being blinded. Searching around for the beings that he had been fighting, he locked onto the small bald Earthling tending to the injured Saiyan. Launching himself in their direction, he saw that the Namekian had joined them too; he would not stand for this. It was the orange-clad man's fault and he would be eliminated, just like his taller counterpart. Powering up an energy ball as he flew, he reached the trio and unleashed the blast on the one that he had blamed for his temporary incapacitation.

In the briefest flash, Chia saw the purple-skinned being emerge behind Krillin - who stood in front of her - and the ball of energy in his hand that he thrust into the back of the short human. "Noo-" but the shockwave at such close proximity had thrown both Chia and Piccolo backwards a distance away.

Landing with a thud in the face of a large boulder, the pair found themselves winded from the blast and their awkward landing. Quickly righting herself and standing up tall, Chia was incensed by the unnecessary loss of life. She couldn't quite fathom what she was feeling in that moment, whatever it had been was mixed with her rage; either way she sure as hell wanted rid of it.

Piccolo stood, seething over the sudden manoeuvre and the situation he now found himself in. With the pair unable to handle their emotions and with no-one in particular to blame for the abrupt landing, they began arguing about what to do to overcome this mutual threat. When seemingly out of nowhere, a forgotten stout messy-haired man appeared.

"What are you doing here? Get away, this here is my hiding spot! Get back out there and beat him!" Yajirobe shouted at the duo.

Scoffing at the cowardly man, Chia turned to continue to argue with Piccolo once more, when an idea came to her. "That was you that did that damage to him, wasn't it? Can you do it again?"

"Yeah, but it'll take a little time", came the gruff response, "You think you can hold him until then?"

Nodding her head in agreement, she turned to take her fighting stance once more; as Piccolo disappeared into the distance in an attempt to camouflage himself.

Behind her, poking his head out from the giant rock, came the scared voice of Yajirobe, "Can't you go somewhere else?! You're gonna lead him straight here!"

Without turning, she simply smiled to herself. I'm counting on it.

Approaching the Saiyan-armoured woman once more, Captain Ginyu looked on in surprise, there wasn't a single scratch on her. She was poised ready for battle and the Namekian was nowhere to be seen. How has she recovered so quickly? I've heard Saiyans recover quickly, even gained power after a near-death experience… but this is crazy! As he marvelled at her speedy recovery, he quickly reminded himself that there was someone else keeping an eye out. That buddy of hers is still about, he's probably acting like a sniper somewhere out there.

Launching herself at speed towards the Captain, Chia drew her knee back and feinted with her right fist to draw his defences. But instead she quickly bucked her knee straight up into the purple-skinned alien's groin. Her assumption had been correct and he did indeed have a weakness - such moves should have been beneath her, but since she'd been rejected by the people that she was raised by, she felt she didn't owe them any honour anymore - but she wasn't done yet, she still had to move fast. Having collected a fistful full of energy in her left hand, the Saiyan-like warrior thrust into the raw charred wound on the Captain's side; that Piccolo had caused in their earlier altercation. The connecting punch seemed to travel straight through him. Chia was immediately filled with pride from her swift manoeuvre, yet she slightly grimaced at the thought of having to pull it back through again.

Releasing herself from his body, Chia escaped back to the boulder that they had concocted their plan at. But what or rather who she was greeted with took her by surprise.

"BULMA?! What are you doing!" This stubborn woman could cost them all time that they simply didn't have.

"ME? ME?! What are you all doing! Why haven't they been defeated, where are the others? You all left me behind! If you don't move out of my way, I'll take them out myself!" Finally drawing a breath after her bellowing rant, she pulled out some complicated weaponry and began charging it. "Where are they!" With a menacing look in her eye, this furious bluenette reminded Chia of her old friend Launch. Just like a fiery Saiyan, with a temper to match.

Captain Ginyu quickly pursued the Saiyan-like woman, clutching at the side that his purple coloured blood was steadily oozing from. As he approached, he caught sight of the blue-haired female shouting furiously at a scolded looking Chia. Is this female that strong too? His issue was with the Saiyan and she would pay the price as he launched an attack, laughing darkly and manically as he flew.

The Earthling's eyes widened - with Chia desperately yanking Bulma backwards out of the way - as the impending villain's attack was halted by a piercing light of familiar spiralling energy that shot straight through Ginyu's body and hit a mountain in the distance; disintegrating the face of it in the process.

As the light from the beam faded into nothingness, the Captain's body dropped like a stone to the ground. Barely able to contain himself from the searing pain he was experiencing, he writhed around on the unsettled ground.

Making her way over to his battered body, Chia couldn't help but smirk, as the plan that she and the Namekian had concocted had actually worked.

By the time that she had reached him, the Captain had brought himself up onto his knees. He's a tough bastard. She was totally unprepared for what happened next, as he just shouted one word seemingly in her direction,

"Change!"

In a flash of surprise, the body in front of her began screaming in a high pitch and melodramatically crying, while a maniacal laugh began emanating from beside her. Turning to identify who it was, Chia was utterly shocked. Bulma was now standing there, poised with her weapon in the midst of unhinged laughter, declaring that he had won now.

"Bulma?" Chia tentatively asked.

"I'm over here." The armour-clad female heard the weak voice over her shoulder, from the now coughing body of the purple-skinned being.

A wave of realisation struck Chia as her head darted between the beings; the alien that now housed her Earthling acquaintance on the perilous edge of death and the Captain of the Ginyu force that now resides within the bluenette's body. How is that even possible?! I can't destroy either of them now.

She eyed Bulma's body as it became more and more obvious that Ginyu within it was discovering that Bulma, in fact, did not wield any real physical power. Laughing at the predicament, the raven-haired woman shook her head knowing that 'he' wasn't going to be a threat anymore and walked over to the injured body that housed the real Bulma.

Crouching down, she took stock of the wounds on the body that was hunched over in front of her, 'she' likely wouldn't survive much longer.

Startled by the shout behind her, she jumped out of the way - an instant reaction due to her training. The shout had mirrored the bizarre scene that she had just witnessed between Bulma and Captain Ginyu. With the squeal of excitement from Bulma's body, it was apparent that they had switched back. The newly situated Bulma ran over to Chia pulling along Yajirobe - who was quietly muttering his relief that the end was finally near - with her.

Looking back over at mortally wounded Ginyu back in his own body.

Through gritted teeth, he let out, "It was supposed to be you!"

A stark realisation hit Chia, she was the intended target. She had heard of rumours of such a technique but never truly believed such a thing was possible; then again, she never would have believed in the eternal dragon had she not witnessed it herself. The Saiyan-like female would have to be careful not to be caught by this, as it was obvious that he was now making any floundering attempts to simply survive.

For a brief moment, she pitied him and thought about putting him out of his misery, but the opportunity to extract more information before he passed was too tempting.

Knowing exactly what she had to do, Chia began berating him and taunting him for failing. "What would your Lord Frieza say if he could see you now, huh? You're a pathetic excuse for a warrior!"

Hissing in pain and seething in anger, the lowered head - of the leader of the notorious Ginyu Force - summoned every last bit of strength and in an instant looked up in the direction of Chia's voice and shouted,

"Change!"

As he looked down at his newly-acquired body, putting his hands out in front of him to confirm his power, he looked up to see Chia coming around from behind him and bursting out into laughter. He was in the body of the rotund, messy-haired man. Opening his mouth to scream at the mistake. Without blinking, Chia delivered a shattering blow to his jaw, rendering him unable to utter a single syllable; let alone shout the necessary command for this bizarre technique that she had witnessed.

The defeated Ginyu in Yajirobe's body collapsed to the floor in a heap. Chia put her foot on his back to keep him in his place, when Piccolo descended down to join them beside her.

"What the hell happened here?" His deep baritone voice asked in surprise.

"Don't ask, just know that this is Ginyu in the other guy's body." Pointing to the scrambling body underneath her boot. "Look, I need your Senzu Bean back."

"What?! No, your injuries aren't too bad."

"Not for me", pointing over to captain Ginyu's mangled old body that now housed the real Yajirobe. But seeing Piccolo shake his head, she stated, "You're not going to be able to defeat the other four members of his squad without some extra help, are you?!"

Reluctantly, Piccolo nodded his head in agreement and threw the bean over to Bulma, who was tending to her old friend.

Only a matter of minutes later, Yajirobe who was in Ginyu's body, jumped up in his newly rejuvenated form and started to test it out; now that it was fully healed. However, being ecstatic with his newfound power, he began claiming that he won't have to run errands for Korin anymore and that he can even take care of the others single handedly.

"From now on, just call me Captain Yajirobe!" He announced enthusiastically.

Chia looked on with a tug of sadness at the sight of the lifeless bodies of Earth's protectors. She knew these people didn't mean anything to her, but then what was this feeling? She'd never cared about the countless lives she had taken herself up until this point, why would they be any different? But they are different. And I'm now different from meeting them and being here, at my…home? Shaking the notion from her head, as she knew that she didn't have time to contemplate any of it.

In the background, Yajirobe was jumping around, flexing his new muscles and letting off blasts in various directions. The real Ginyu, who was still trapped under the crushing boot of the Saiyan-like warrior, could only look on at the spectacle in shame. His perfect body, honed through years of training, being used like this was almost enough to make him wish for death now. Almost.

"Bulma, take this one back to Capsule Corp and keep him silent and bound at all costs." Bulma nodded with tears in her eyes. Chia knew that the bluenette had seen the bodies of her friends and was trying to conceal her grief. "Take them back with you too and give them a warrior's burial. I have some unfinished business to take care of."

"What?! You can't leave us now!" Bulma shouted through her tears.

Ignoring the scientist's pleas, Chia lifted herself into the air. Steadily moving away, she shouted down to Piccolo, "Look after Earth. I'll fight you again someday, so you better train and be ready."

"You better believe I'll be ready for you." Piccolo answered with a fanged smirk creeping across his face.

Stopping herself abruptly and turning to him once more, "Oh and don't take over the planet in my absence." She winked at him, but before he could say anything in response, she shot off into the distance.

A/N: Check out Kipke's amazing talents here:

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Artwork for this chapter: twitter /Kipke_/status/1614414818500554753

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