Chapter 4: Marron vs Chi

Some minutes ago, before Bra and Trunks's match ended, Marron was watching the match with her undivided attention, while Chi (much to her shame) had gotten somewhat bored halfway through. She had managed to hold her attention more with Time and Trunk's fight, but that was only because Time had more cool looking moves then Trunks.

Besides, fighting and sparring against other people yourself was more fun than watching other people doing it. So Chi and had allowed her mind to turn to other thoughts. Thoughts such as what exactly what was it that she was doing here?

She liked sparring and roughhousing and thought it was loads of fun. But did she really like it enough to enter a tournament, let alone one that encompassed the whole world? If she was honest with herself, no, she didn't like fighting enough for that. A hobby was one thing, a tournament another.

In fact, she had entered because everyone, from her mother to her older brother, had just assumed she was going to enter because she was 'the daughter of Goku', which meant that fighting was in her blood.

And, in fairness, it was. The memories of the many spars with her mother, and more recently Gohan, came flooding back, memories of enjoying herself as she blocked and waved and kicked and punched.

Those were far too authentic to for her to lie to herself about. But in the end, it was just a hobby to her. Just one of the many interests that she had, although fighting did seem to be the best of her choices. And Chi knew herself, or at least thought that she knew herself (she was only 7 after all), well enough to know that she didn't have the discipline to become a full time martial artist like Marron.

Thinking of which, Chi glanced over at the blond martial artist and was amazed that she was still watching the match. She voiced said thoughts, and Marron looked away for a brief moment. "Of course I'm still watching, one of us will have to fight the winner after all and if it's me I'd like to see if I could find any weaknesses I could exploit," she said, and returned her gaze to the match.

Chi began biting her lower lip in thought. The difference between Marron and me's way too big, if I wind up fighting her… I'll probably lose. She knows how to take a fight seriously and I don't, what hope do I have against that?

"Marron?"

Marron turned to her. "Yea?"

"I give up, I don't think I can do this."

"Why?"

"Huh?" Chi could see that she now had the blond girl's undivided attention.

"I mean," Marron said, continuing. "Why do you want to give up.? Our match hasn't even started yet."

"You're stronger then me Marron, I'd probably lose if I just fought against you."

Marron blinked as her face turned a small shade of pink. Her blue eyes glanced down at her well worn blue tabi. "I-I'm flattered you think that Chi, but you're a Super Saiyan. I couldn't compete with that in terms of raw strength or ki no matter how much I trained. Truth is I'll one day be surpassed by you and Trunks and Bra and the rest until I just won't be able to keep up. I-"

"DON'T SAY THAT! AND FORGET ABOUT STUPID SUPER SAIYAN THING!" Chi snapped angrily, cheeks flushed with rage.

"If anyone deserves to win this thing it's you, Marron. Or Time, had Trunks not cheated like he did. The both of you have had to work hard for your strength while the rest of us have just been lucky to be born this powerful and have the silly ability to turn our hair and eyes different colors."

"I'm sure Bra had to train hard to get to where she's at now.," Marron pointed out in an uncomfortable voice as she fidgeted with both of her index fingers.

"But you're also the most serious of us when it comes to fighting Marron!" Chi pointed out. "Trunks and I see it as a game and Bra doesn't really care either way. Time, I just met today so I don't know about him any. But you, you've always been so hard working and serious about fighting and martial arts and that's what I like about you Marron."

Marron could feel her face flushing further as Chi continued her ranting. "Everyone always goes on and on about what a big deal it is to turn your hair blond on command, personally… Personally, I always thought the transformation makes me look stupid," she glanced uneasily at Marron for a moment before continuing.

"I just don't think I look good as a blond. And… honestly, I always felt a bit guilty about how Trunks and I just 'became' Super by accident, when everyone else had to lose loved ones or train themselves super super hard to get it It just makes me feel…."

"Like you don't deserve that power in the end? Like you're unworthy of the power that everyone else has worked their entire lives to get, right?"

Chi nodded slowly with a guilty look in her eyes as she did her best to hold back the tears that were starting to flood her eyes.

"You're the martial artist Marron, if anyone deserves to win this thing, it's you. I'm just the kid with who lucked out and got the universe's most powerful person for a daddy, you're stronger then me where it really counts, in things like hard work, dedication, and a willingness to go the extra mile that I just don't have."

For a long, very uncomfortable moment, Marron said nothing. It was times like these that Marron wished she took after her father a little more, surely someone as kind and caring as him would know what to say to Chi in order to comfort her.

"I… I'm flattered that you think I'm better then you, really I am. Thank you Chi.," Marron began, before Chi cut her off again.

"Not think." Chi shook her spiky hair from left to right. "I know. You are better than me Marron, maybe not in power, but then again power isn't everything, especially considering I've never worked for my power anywhere near the level that you, or your dad, or my brother, or anyone else we know of has. You have the warrior's spirit, me? I just enjoy roughhousing and sparring but I also enjoy other things too."

For a moment, for a very long moment, Marron said nothing. She said nothing because she had, in truth, thought of herself in similar lines like Chi had just described to her. But now, hearing all of that stuff said out loud? It made Marron feel crummy inside, thinking back to all the times she had felt jealous and envious of the Saiyan hybrids and their naturally impressive power, brief though those thoughts may have been.

Marron knew if she wanted to prove herself and rid herself of this guilt she was currently feeling, that she would have to take Chi down in a fair fight in the next round., The question was, how to convince her?

"I'm truly flattered that you think I'm better Chi, but are you sure you want to give up so easily? After all this will be the only chance your father may ever get to see you fight, are you sure you want to disappoint him?"

"Why should I even care what my dad thinks? I don't even know him any and he's only here for a day so what does it matter what lasting impression I give him? Why should I care what he thinks of my fighting ability?"

"That's true enough I suppose... Alright, what about your mother? She's no doubt been putting you through a lot of training for this tournament right? Are you sure you want to give up your first real match without throwing so much as a punch?"

Chi cringed at the last few weeks' worth of memories of training with her mother. While it may have been nowhere near as bad as what her older brother had gotten at age 4 from Mr. Big Green Bean (Chi's own nickname for Piccolo, not that she would ever have the courage to tell the big scary jerk to his face), it had still been a lot less fun then just regular ol sparing had been. Still, Chi knew full well that Marron was right, if Chi gave up right now without even trying, there was no telling how much her mommy might be emotionally hurt.

"No," Chi admitted, a small blush of her own forming on her face.

"Good, because if you did just go and give up before we even start to trade blows, you know that you'd be hurting her feelings, right? Maybe she'd think that she hadn't trained you good enough to go up against me. That could make her sad and ruin her cheery mood, and on the one day your dad's come back too…"

Even as those last words came out of her mouth Marron felt the weight of guilt descend upon her. She was selfishly manipulating Chi's insecurities just to get a chance to fight her in a tournament just like their fathers had when they were kids. And to relieve her own personal guilt complex. Not for the first time, she wondered why she couldn't have been born an average seven year old.

Chi then looked up and saw her mother, sitting next to her father, one of his muscled arms wrapped around her whole body as she rested her head on his shoulder, looking happier then Chi had ever seen her in all of her 7 years of living. Her giving up could bring that happiness crashing down, and the young Son daughter loved her mother too much to do that.

Chi turned back to Marron. "Alright," she said with a gulp. "I'll give you everything I've got Marron."

Marron grinned and held out a hand. "Then here's to a good match."

Chi gave a small smile of her own as she grasped Marron's hand.

The two child fighters shook and the two friends turned their attention to the battle between the Briefs until Bra was declared the winner.

DBZ

"BEGIN!"

Chi tightened her fists and summoned forth the explosive amount of ki needed to go Super. The familiar tingling of her spiky hair being forced up when it turned from black to blond was one she had never felt comfortable with, though the boost of power and confidence it gave her made up for it.

She bent down in a fighting pose, her now blue-green eyes locked on Marron, who in turn was now smiling. Worse still, it was a small smile at that. Chi might have only been a child, but even she could tell it was something to worry about.

Marron braced herself as her body tensed up and she shouted: "Kaio-Ken times two!" Instantly her whole body was covered in a flame like aura that bore a strong resemblance to the aura that visibly flowed from Chi's own body, the only difference being that Marron's was crimson instead of gold.

There was a moment's interlude, and then Marron delivered a powerful whipping kick to Chi's side, which the young half Saiyan blocked with the side of her arm. Marron lashed out with a few more hasty jab-like kicks before Chi countered with a punch to Marron's stomach that sent the blond reeling back some distance away.

Marron slid back on the soles of her blue shoes, her face nearly emotionless as Chi flew at her and tried to follow up her first punch with an arm thrown back for a second one. Marron, however, swiftly dodged the blow and the next one, and the next one after that, and so on and so on as she continued to weave in and out of Chi's punches and kicks.

Mentally, however, Marron was cringing on the inside, although she was used to fighting people stronger than herself such as her mother, but fighting a Super Sayian was something else entirely. Still, the sheer challenge that stood before her in the form of Chichi Jr. was enough to make her blood flow and eyes gleam with excitement.

This, Marron thought to herself as Chi swung her leg out at her in an attempt to deliver a foot to her noseless face, is going to be FUN. With beads of sweet running down her forehead, Chi knew she couldn't keep burning up her ki in Super form at this rate. That meant that she would have to think of something else and quickly.

Landing back on the area's ground, she raised both her arms above her head, one hand in front of the other with her small fingers going in opposite directions, as she summoned a golden ball of ki.

"Masenko!" A beam of golden energy shot out of her hands and Marron only had enough time to bring her arms up in a X block as she took that attack's full force at near point-blank range.

The intense ki onslaught lasted for a very long moment before the golden light slowly faded away.

Panting heavily Chi slowly raised her arms up in a defensive stance as the smoke and dust faded away as well.

"T-That... That hurt. Not going to lie, that really hurt.," Marron said as she walked out of the cloud of dust, brushing herself off and cringing in pain as she did. Her face was a mess of scrapes and battered bruises and, had the rest of her not been covered by Bra's specially made training suit, the same would have been said for the rest of her body as well.

"But, if it's all the same to you, I think it's my turn now."

With that, Marron bent her knees down and cupped her hands together, shifting her body back slightly as she did.

"Ka-Me-Ha-Me-H-"

Thunk! Before Marron could finish the Turtle School's signature attack, Chi hastily rushed at her and head butted her in midair, forcing Marron to instinctively put both of her hands up near the fresh slightly bleeding wound. Chi took that moment to then throw back her arm with another fresh punch.

Whack!

Marron flew off of her feet and crashed onto the arena's floor on her back, having been interrupted by Chi's sudden and powerful right hook to her face.

Marron picked herself back up and spat out a wad of blood and spit.

"Alright, if that's how you want to do it then. Kaio-Ken times five!"

With that cry, a fresh blast of crimson aura sudden radiated off of her small body in a flame like manner.

Chi said nothing but summoned forth a fresh blast of golden aura for herself, this time pouring every bit of ki out until her power maxed out.

Chi smirked. "Give it up Marron, even if you were able to multiply your power by another five, it wouldn't be enough to keep up with me."

"You're no doubt right there, so it may be time that I take off some of this weight and lend myself an extra hand or two… I just hope that Bra will forgive me for what I'm about to do."

Chi gave her a puzzled look as she raised an eyebrow. "What are you-"

Her voice was cut off as Marron, through focus and concentration, summoned two extra arms from her back, ripping two holes in her suit as she did so.

"Y-You can grow extra limbs now?"

"It's a move that Master Shinhan taught me. Neat, isn't it? Took me a few weeks before I was able to get it right though..."

Chi could only nod dumbly in agreement, her expression dumbstruck.

Marron beamed a friendly smile at her as she bent herself down in a fighting pose, her two extra hands cracking one another as she did.

"Well then, shall we continue?"

Giving another quick nod both Chi and Marron rushed at one another, vanishing from most of the audience's view in a quick blur of color.

Marron's heart was pounding; pounding so hard, so fast that she felt like it was about to explode right out of her chest. Part of it was the natural excitement she got when deep in battle, but the other part of it was excitement of fighting against a Super Saiyan. She was winning, slowly but surely winning with her speed and agility and her much prided stamina.

With the suit's weight taken off Chi couldn't lay so much as a finger on her, let alone the punches and kicks the daughter of Goku was currently trying to land. Add in all those years sparring with a mother who never tired was starting to pay off quite well for her, after all, if she could outlast them until their hair returned to normal, than that meant that victory was all the easier to achieve.

Even if Marron's body was going to become battered with more bruises than her cyborg of a mother had outfits, and her mother had a lot of outfits, it would be worth it all in the end when she won.

Chi was losing, and she was aware enough to know it too. Her ki was depleting rapidly and even if she did have the advantage in ki output and physical strength, none of that meant a darn if she couldn't hit her opponent. And unfortunately for her, if there was one thing Marron was good at, it was being quick and dodging opponents stronger than herself.

And knowing this, Chi thought of a plan, though even for a six year old girl it was admittedly a very simple one.

Cupping her hands together, she began to chant: "Ka-me-Ha-Me-HA!"

She threw her hands forward as a beam of blue energy erupted from the palms of her hands and she smirked in victory. Even Marron's much prided stamina couldn't take her full powered Kamehameha head on, victory was hers!

Or so Chi thought, that was, until she saw her Kamahama wave collide not with Marron but with the resistance of what felt like two beams of ki. It wasn't quite powerful enough to overwhelm her own attack, but the two beams seemed to have enough power packed in them to offer up a good resistance for the moment.

Then, she heard Marron yell something out that made Chi's blue eyes grow wide in fear.

"Ka- me-Ha-Me-HA!"

Now Chi was having to deal with not only the two other beams of energy, but also a Kamahama. A new burst of gold aura surrounded her body as she gritted her teeth together madly, pouring more and more ki into her own Kamahama wave until small, visible jolts of lighting began to dance madly around her body.

Seconds passed and the two girl's remained in a ki-based standstill, sweat pouring from both girl's' respective bodies as it ran down in rivers off of their battered little faces.

Then, Marron cried out: "Kaio-Ken times 11!"

That, it should go without saying, was the clincher for the match. The boost of power lasted for only a moment, but it was all the time that Marron needed as her two Dodon Rays and her Kamehameha blew through Chi's own attack, temporarily overwhelming and washing over the young half Saiyan's whole body as it engulfed her in a beam of yellow and blue light.

The three attacks died down a moment later and when the blinding light had faded away, there stood a badly bruised ChiChi Jr, whose expression was dazed and her orange outfit now nothing more then ruined tatters that still managed to somehow clothe her underage decency.

"Y-You win, Marron.," Chi said as her eyes began to flutter closed, barely having the strength to keep them open. "I'm done."

Marron nodded, her face filled with pride as she looked to her friend as a smile graced her lips. "Thank you for an excellent match Chi. After my match with Bra is over with, do you want to grab a bite to eat?"

Chi gave her a sly grin. "Is the sky blue or is Mr. Satan a blowhard?"

Marron couldn't help but chuckle just a little at her friend's comment as the Announcer declared her the winner and the two walked off for the final round where Bra and the somewhat winded but still energetic Marron would face off against one another.

And thus the second match of the junior tournament has come to an end, since we didn't have any comments/reviews from the last chapter (or the chapter before that), this will be a fairly short author commentary, though thanks to Pootis for both faving the story and adding me to their list. Thanks dude.