"Chi-Chi!" Kakarot cried, running towards her. She was almost touched that the Saiyan was rushing to help her. However, Piccolo was also advancing on her and she had little time to dwell on the matter. She struggled to stand. Piccolo raised his hand, energy filling his palm. As he launched the blast toward Chi-Chi, Kakarot reached her side deflecting the blast. He helped Chi-Chi to stand. She was puzzled as to why the Saiyan had such a desire to help her. Neither of them had really coexisted peacefully until now.
"Why did you help me?" she asked. She wasn't angry, she was merely curious. Kakarot shrugged his shoulders and smiled sheepishly.
"I can't let him hurt you," he admitted. Chi-Chi mustered a smile and shakily repositioned her limbs in a defense position. Kakarot stood slightly ahead of her, tensing for an attack.
"My quarrel is with this Earthling," Piccolo grunted at Kakarot. "Move out of my way and you will be spared." Kakarot merely squared his shoulders and stared at Piccolo, a fiery rage in his eyes. Chi-Chi could hardly believe she was starting to develop feelings for the Saiyan right now; it was pitiful.
"If your fight is with her, then it's with me too," Kakarot said. He wasn't about to back down. Piccolo's face contorted into a twisted smile.
"Fool," he laughed. "You cannot hope to defeat me." He began to advance once more, this time focusing his attacks solely on Kakarot. Both of them moved too fast for Chi-Chi to follow. She wasn't sure who had the upper hand. She saw a couple ki blasts as well as some hits contact, but other than that she was completely unsure of what was happening. She wished there was some way in which she could help, but she was afraid she would hit Kakarot instead of Piccolo. As she squinted, trying to determine what was transpiring in the battle between Kakarot and Piccolo, she felt a blow- seemingly out of nowhere- connect with the base of her neck. She stumbled forward, collapsing to the ground. Her vision was fuzzy and her head was light. She felt entirely useless. She looked around, trying to see where Kakarot and Piccolo were fighting now.
To her surprise the two of them had stopped, and were facing each other. Kakarot looked quite relaxed, but Piccolo was breathing heavily and signs of Kakarot's blows were appearing all over his green skin.
"Quit toying with me," he said, angrily. He dabbed at some blood underneath his eye. "I know you're not using half your power. I won't accept that." Kakarot shrugged.
"Alright," he grinned. "It's your life." As though through silent consent, both Kakarot and Piccolo continued their attacks on each other.
"Kakarot!" Chi-Chi called, though she had long since lost sight of him, "Be careful!" There was something in her, a warning that made her sense he was too confident in his abilities. She looked around at the other Saiyans. They were standing calmly in the distance, their eyes following Piccolo and Kakarot's rapid movements.
"Aren't you going to help him?" she asked them. Raditz turned his eyes from the fight to answer. He looked shocked that Chi-Chi found it necessary to ask such a question.
"Kakarot clearly has the upper hand," he said, calmly. "He can handle this easily." He flashed Chi-Chi a reassuring smile before returning his gaze to the fight. The Saiyans' unwillingness to help frustrated her. She didn't want to sit there uselessly when Kakarot had stepped up to protect her. She hated owing people. If no one else was going to help, she might as well step forward. Chi-Chi concentrated, not with her eyes, but with her mind. She focused on the two immense power levels. Currently, Kakarot and Piccolo were fighting in the sky. She gathered all her energy and pushed it underneath her, gently raising herself to the sky. For a moment, she was able to lay eyes on Piccolo. She flew forward full speed, charging to attack him. Things happened so quickly. Piccolo disappeared again, and she heard Kakarot cry out. She realized that Piccolo had her in his grasp. She struggled against him, but it was no use. Even in his weakened state, he was still stronger than she currently was.
"You are strong, aren't you?" Piccolo asked, addressing Kakarot. Kakarot was paying little to no attention to him. He was staring at Chi-Chi. She whispered her apologies. Her attempts to assist had done nothing but make the situation worse.
"But I have noticed your one weak spot," he grinned and held Chi-Chi tighter. It took all she had in her to not cry out in pain. "If you leave the fighting to the two of us, I promise I'll give her a sporting chance. Otherwise, I'll just kill her now."
"Not if I kill you first," Kakarot growled, charging up an energy blast. Piccolo merely laughed. Chi-Chi heard Raditz call from the ground.
"Kakarot, don't be a fool! If you try and attack him, you could hit Chi-Chi," he reasoned with his brother. Kakarot lowered his hand and Chi-Chi said a silent prayer of thanks.
"I think you're finally starting to see reason," Piccolo smirked. An idea popped into Chi-Chi's head. She cursed at herself for not thinking of it sooner. She wasn't sure how much longer Kakarot would be able to distract Piccolo, but it was better late than never. She placed her wrists together, gathering her concentration together once more.
"Ka…me…ha…" she muttered the syllables under her breath. For the moment Piccolo was too distracted with taunting Kakarot to notice his impending doom. Kakarot, however, picked up on the fact that Chi-Chi had the chance to hit Piccolo with a powerful attack and did his best to keep him distracted. She raised her voice to its full level as she spoke the last two syllables. She unleashed all the fury she could into the attack. It caught Piccolo, unaware, full in the chest. He released her and she began to fall. She assessed the damage she had done as they both fell and she smiled to herself. Piccolo had a gaping hole in his chest and wouldn't be able to last long.
She closed her eyes, too weak to save herself from her impending impact with the ground. Suddenly, she felt gentle arms underneath her before she connected with the ground. She was falling slower now. She opened her eyes to see Kakarot, grinning hugely at her.
"You did it," he said, happily.
"You did most of the work," Chi-Chi admitted. "Thanks," she said, feeling her face flush scarlet. She didn't think she'd be able to feel much of anything for awhile, but she could feel her elevated heartbeat as well as the increasing thickness of her own tongue. She was pitiful. She smiled back at Kakarot.
"Hey, he had the Dragonballs with him," Bulma cried, running towards Piccolo. "We've almost got them all!" She picked up the Dragonballs surrounding the fallen foe's body. He was too weak to protest, his body losing its strength. He merely glared at her with all the hate he could muster.
"We're only missing the four star Dragonball," Bulma said, studying the stars embedded in the other balls.
"We're not missing it," Kakarot spoke up. "I have it."
"How did you get a Dragonball?" Bulma asked, placing her hands on her hips. Chi-Chi laughed a little. Bulma was so serious.
"Gohan gave it to him," she smiled. "No one was supposed to know. Not even me, but I overheard their conversation."
"Well then, what are we dawdling around for?" Verspa piped up. "Let's make our wish."' She looked around at the others, her eyes glinting with a certain mischievousness.