Chi-Chi felt odd standing outside Capsule Corp with a group of somber looking Saiyans. Her friends had joined her, too. Bulma and Dr. Briefs were inside, putting the final touches on their ship. She thanked Kami for their genius. Their departure would have been delayed for a long time if Bulma and her father weren't so quick on their feet. All the pieces were set. There was one final thing that needed to be done.
Bardock clutched Verspa's scouter tightly in his fist. He cast a glance at all the somber faces of the group, as though checking to make sure they were ready. He took a deep breath and signaled Frieza. Chi-Chi held her breath, waiting for Frieza's reply. She hardly knew what she expected the devil's voice to sound like, and she wasn't prepared for what it did sound like.
"You maggot," Frieza spoke through the scouter. His cold, sly voice sent chills down Chi-Chi's spine. "Why does it take you so long to report back to me? It's almost like you don't want to talk."
"Your puppet is dead," Bardock said, addressing Frieza. "She didn't get to the Dragonballs in time. Obviously you needed to send someone who could do a better job."
"Bardock," Frieza hissed. "I should have known you'd be the fool to continue to stand in my way. Rest assured you won't be dealing with any of my incompetent men anymore. You'll be dealing directly with me."
"We won't be dealing with you at all, actually," Bardock growled. "We've got the Dragonballs and soon Vegeta will be restored to its former glory. You don't expect to be able to stand alone against an army of angry Saiyans, do you?"
"You don't think I can?" Frieza laughed. "Maybe it's a good thing I'm going to slaughter you. Idiots like you shouldn't be allowed to live."
"Your reign ends now," Bardock said. With that, he dropped Verspa's scouter and crushed it underneath his foot. He looked up at his comrades. "Anyone who's coming with us: let's move," he commanded, walking back towards the Brief's home. All the Saiyans turned to follow Bardock. Kakarot hesitated, waiting for Chi-Chi. She gently squeezed his hand.
"I'll catch up," she whispered. He followed the others, and Chi-Chi turned to her friends. She smiled sadly. "I guess this is goodbye, then," she said, sighing.
"Not for me," Krillin piped up. "I'm not about to miss this." He walked to her side.
"You wished for my health so that I could aid the Saiyans," Piccolo mused aloud. "This Frieza sounds like a worthy opponent. There's nothing to do here, anyway," he walked slowly forward. "I guess you can count me in, too." Chi-Chi turned her eyes to Yamcha, Tien, and Chiatzou.
"I'm not going to be of any use at all," Yamcha sighed. "I think I'll sit this one out."
"Same here," Tien spoke up. "All I'd be good for is getting myself killed."
"I'm staying with Mr. Tien," Chiatzou said, hovering by his friend. Chi-Chi nodded. She turned her attention to her father and Gohan.
"I'm not even going to ask you two trouble makers," she said, laughing slightly. "I don't want to have to worry about you."
"Be careful, Chi-Chi," said her father, pulling her into a tight hug. "Don't let Kakarot distract you too much, okay?" he grinned, winking at her. Chi-Chi blushed, but said nothing. Her attraction to Kakarot wasn't really a secret to anyone anymore. Chi-Chi, Krillin, and Piccolo turned to join the rest of the Saiyans.
"Goodbye, guys, and good luck!" her friends called. She turned and waved over her shoulder. She felt strangely optimistic about the daunting task ahead of her.
The large ship built by Bulma and Dr. Briefs was hard to miss. Chi-Chi quickly boarded, joining the Saiyans. She was greeted by Bulma and her father.
"Okay, kids," Dr. Briefs said, addressing them, "This is it. We modified your Saiyan pod design a bit, obviously to make more room for all of you. We were able to add more thrusters as well, so your travel time will be significantly decreased," he saluted them and then tucked his hands casually into the pockets of his lab coat. "Best of luck to all of you," he called as he exited the ship. Bulma rushed forward and gave Chi-Chi a tight hug.
"Good luck, Chi-Chi," she said, as she pulled away. "Hope you guys get your planet back," she called to the Saiyans. With that, she bounded down the stairs. They heard the door to their ship hiss shut.
As they strapped themselves down for takeoff, Chi-Chi noticed that Vegeta wasn't on board. She turned to Kakarot.
"Where's Vegeta?" she whispered. "We're not leaving without him, are we?"
"Don't worry," Kakarot smiled. "We decided we needed a man on the inside. Vegeta is going ahead of us to try and convince Frieza he's still loyal. That way, we'll know all of Frieza's moves. And when Frieza comes down to planet Vegeta to deal with us, Vegeta can free the Saiyans trapped in the ship and take it over."
"Not bad," Chi-Chi smiled at him.
"Yeah," he grinned. "For a bunch of monkeys, we're pretty smart." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. It burned pleasantly. She subconsciously lifted her hand to her cheek, as though trying to keep the pleasant warmth trapped there. Her cheeks flushed slightly red. She felt the ship hum to life and vibrate gently as they were raised up into the sky. She didn't know what to expect on planet Vegeta. She didn't know how hard it would be to defeat Frieza. But she hoped that she lasted to the end. She wanted to see all of the Saiyans happy again. But more than anything, she wanted to stay with Kakarot. With him by her side, not even someone as ferocious as Frieza could shake her courage.
A\N: Book three is finally finished! Huzzah! Sorry these last updates have been few and far between. With the end of school approaching I had lots of studying to do :\ Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the reviews, favorites, and subscriptions! I got overwhelmingly positive feedback, so that makes me a happy camper! Also, I'm really glad that my portrayal of Chi-Chi as a stubborn, fiery-willed, B.A. fighter was approved (this is the way I pictured she would act if she was actually allowed to do anything in the Dragonball Z universe…)! My next installment of the series, The Last Massacre, will be uploaded soon (if not at the same time I post this…), so keep an eye out! It will be my last "full length" story of the series (told in various POVs), seeing as how the epilogue will be more of a collection of lengthy one-shots than anything else. Updates will continue to be scattered because I don't have internet at my house for the time being. I promise I'm still working, though! Best wishes to you!