Chi-Chi stood still as a rock. She couldn't help but think how stupid this was. Why did she have to be the bait? Everyone else got at least a semi-important job. She crossed her arms angrily. The door opened slowly. Chi-Chi looked at the monster entering the house.
She couldn't compare this Oolong creature to anything, for it didn't look like anything she'd ever seen before. He was incredibly tall with dark red skin and haunting eyes. Chi-Chi shuddered. No wonder the people around here were afraid of it. Oolong's face brightened upon seeing her.
"Ah," he said. "My darling Pocawatha," his voice was gravelly and incredibly deep. He flashed a smile in Chi-Chi's direction. Chi-Chi forced her lips to curl into a smile, but she was sure her expression looked more like a snarl than anything.
"Yes, Oolong?" she asked, as sweetly as possible.
"Are you ready to come away with your future husband?" he asked. He reached out his giant red hand. Chi-Chi did her best not to vomit and kick his hand away. Instead, she merely nodded. She wished Kakarot would hurry and step in. Knowing him, though, he was probably enjoying this far too much. Oolong's smile brightened.
"Then climb into my hand, child, and we shall depart," he said, inching his hand closer to her. Chi-Chi heaved a deep sigh and reluctantly began to walk forward towards Oolong's outstretched hand. Just as she was about to set foot on Oolong's hand, Kakarot finally emerged from the shadows.
"I don't know what you think you're doing," he said, standing in a defensive pose in front of Chi-Chi, "but it's going to stop now. " He looked up at Oolong, snarling maliciously. Oolong merely laughed.
"Foolish boy," he said. "You don't think you can keep me from what is rightfully mine, do you?"
"She's not yours," Kakarot said. "She belongs to no one. If she doesn't want to go with you then she doesn't have to." Kakarot lunged at Oolong's hand. Chi-Chi tried her hardest not too laugh. Kakarot was too confident. Even as strong as he was, he wouldn't be able to stop Oolong on his own. Would he?
Oolong seemed to have just as little confidence in Kakarot's abilities as Chi-Chi did. He laughed and tried to draw his hand back. To his surprise- and Chi-Chi's- he found he could not move it an inch. Now it was Kakarot's turn to laugh. With his grip on Oolong's hand, he managed to push him out of the house. Chi-Chi followed eager to see what would happen to the monster. Kakarot had pushed too hard, and had to let go of Oolong's oversized hand. Oolong immediately stood and ran out of the village, but Chi-Chi noticed he was smiling for some reason.
"Raditz!" Kakarot yelled. "You're up!" Chi-Chi saw no sign of Raditz, only Oolong's retreating figure. She rounded on Kakarot.
"What in Kami's name do you think you're doing?" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "While you're busy making sport and waiting around for your brother, Oolong is getting away! We need to follow him!" Kakarot feebly put his hands up as a sign of surrender.
"Chi-Chi," he said, "Raditz is waiting by the gate leading into the town. Oolong won't go far. Even if he does get past Raditz, the rest of my family is nearby." Chi-Chi sighed. There was no problem with Kakarot's logic, and it bugged her. Still, she took pleasure in the fact that he seemed to be afraid of her.
"Well, we don't want to miss all the excitement," she said, grabbing his arm. Together they walked to the gate in the front of the town. Raditz walked happily up to them. He had some pink lump in his arms.
"Humans sure are strange," he said, addressing his brother.
"You got him?" Kakarot asked, looking into Raditz arms.
"Yeah," he said, showing his brother the limp form in his arms. "I couldn't kill the bugger, though." Chi-Chi neared Raditz and saw that Oolong was no longer a menacing giant. He was only a pig.
"What?" she said aloud as she studied Oolong's limp form. This was getting ridiculous.
"Are the others back yet?" Raditz asked. Chi-Chi was puzzled. She wasn't aware the others had gone anywhere all that far.
"No," Kakarot said. "They found the other girls, and they should be back soon," he said.
"When did you have time to relay these messages to each other, and how come I didn't hear them?" she demanded to know.
"See this?" Kakarot asked, taking the weird mechanical device off his face. The Saiyans wore these devices most of the time, Chi-Chi had observed. She wasn't entirely sure of their function. Until now. "We can communicate through these as well as read others' power levels."
"Those devices read chi?" she asked. "I thought that was a skill you had to train to learn," she was muttering to herself now.
"You mean you can read a power level without a scouter?" Raditz asked, awestruck. Chi-Chi nodded. "You'll have to teach me," he said. Chi-Chi said nothing. If she had a skill the Saiyans didn't, she wasn't quite sure she was ready to share it.
"Looks like you three handled things excellently," came a deep voice. Chi-Chi turned. Kakarot's parents- as well as Bulma, Tien, Vegeta, and Verspa- had returned. They were each carrying a young girl in their arms. Chi-Chi had thought that the girls would have been happy to be rescued, but most of them looked unhappy.
"To be honest, it wasn't that much of a challenge," Kakarot said. His tone gave away his disappointment. "But as long as we get a Dragonball, I suppose that's all that matters." He brightened a little, remembering the reward he had been promised.
"We only need to find the elder now," Bardock said. He set down the girl he was carrying in his arms and the others followed suit. The girls promptly ran off to find their families. Sona stopped one- the cheeriest of the group- before she left.
"Would you mind taking us to the village elder?" she asked softly. The young girl obliged and began to walk quickly, motioning for the rest of them to follow. They didn't have to walk far. People had begun to timidly peek out of their houses and crowd the street. They were greeted halfway by the village elder, Pocawatha's father, and Pocawatha.
"So," said the village elder upon seeing the group of saviors. "You have rid our village of Oolong's curse. What is it that we can do for you?"
"We only ask for the Dragonball," Tien said, speaking for the group. The elder studied them for a moment longer. Shortly, the elder procured a chain from around his neck. On the end was a Dragonball. Suspended within the orange orb were seven scarlet stars.
"This trinket?" asked the elder. Tien nodded. The elder smiled. "Then it is yours. It is of little value to me or my people." He placed the Dragonball into Tien's hands, still smiling. "You and your friends are welcome in our humble village anytime you choose to visit."
"Ow," came a small, gruff voice. Chi-Chi looked. Oolong, the mere pig, was stirring in Raditz arms. He looked up at Raditz, growling. "So you're the bloke that knocked me out. Thanks a lot." The villagers seemed to still be afraid of Oolong even in his least powerful form. They backed up slightly.
"There's nothing to worry about," Raditz assured them. "He's quite harmless." This seemed to calm the villagers, but they paid less attention to their guests. They were more focused on the girls who had finally been reunited with their families.
"Harmless, huh?" Oolong said, folding his arms and pouting. "You'd better watch your back then, pal, 'cause I ain't gonna be harmless for much longer."
"You just had to keep that thing, didn't you?" Vegeta scoffed at his companion. Raditz smiled sheepishly. "I guess some habits never die."
"Let's just hope you can keep it alive longer than most of the specimen you decide to keep as pets," Verspa said, smiling menacingly at Oolong. Oolong's demeanor quickly changed.
"I'm a good pig, I swear," he said, looking up at Raditz. "I can tell that you and I are just going to be the best of friends." Even when trying to save his own life, Oolong managed to slip undertones of sarcasm into his voice.
"There's still daylight out," Sona said. "We should get a move on. We've got six more Dragonballs to find."