A/N: This whole story originally started as an idea for a one-shot for a prompt week (GoChi Fall Week 2022 - Day 2: Pumpkins/Apples/Cinnamon). However, once I started writing it kind of snowballed and now here I am with my own multi-chapter Space Adventure AU!
It has consumed me at times, but I love it and I'm so glad to give Chi-Chi (Chia) the opportunity to be the badass warrior that we all know she is. You'll find out more about her back-story as we go along. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also posted on A03: RobynX_x
*Thank you to the brilliant Kipke (on FF & AO3) for your support, you do more good than you know 😉*
*This fic contains Mature Content*
Chapter 1 - Into Deeper Waters
Feeling the acidic taste running down the back of her throat, the armour-clad woman held her head up towards the ceiling with her mouth firmly shut and her eyes closed tightly whilst she savoured the familiar burn that she had craved. Bringing her head back down, with eyes now level with the barkeep, she slammed the now-empty glass a little too hard on the bar, causing the glass to splinter from around the base and her fingertips, then fracture into sparkling shards littering the surface, along with another new dent in its place. Although she had previously been trying to avoid drawing attention to herself in the busy establishment, she was beginning to give fewer fucks the more she drank.
Almost instantly, the woman received a familiar grumbling, strained whisper from the other side of the bar, "C'mon now, Chia! Don't start wrecking my place again." As the barkeeper hurriedly cleared up the debris of her drink, he frequently surveyed the crowd for any signs of raised attention from the other patrons.
"Someone pipped me to my claim. Again. Of course I'm pissed." Opening her hand to scan for any injuries. Hmph. Nothing as usual. This did not surprise her in the slightest; despite seeking out tougher challenges, she had come to barely feel much of anything anymore. Looking back up at the man, she added, "Be glad that the bar is the only thing that's dented," continuing to rant to herself.
"Well, the bar and your ego." Speaking with half a smirk, he soon sighed as he looked over her slumped shoulders, almost in defeat of life. He couldn't help but start to wonder how far the raven-haired woman was going to sink this time. He'd had to put up with many tantrums from this one woman over the years, but as long as she didn't wreck his establishment and him, then he actually considered her to be a good creature to have around, if not a little temperamental at times. Most other patrons tended to keep in order when she was around, so the barkeeper often let her outbursts slide.
Double-tapping the surface of the smoothed hardwood, wordlessly signalling for another strong drink from her acquaintance on the other side of the bar.
Sliding the amber-coloured liquid over to her, he asked, "So what are you going to do now? Last time, you said that you didn't think you'd ever get back to this sector again."
"The only reason I'm still allowed around here is because I'm still in favour with Zarbon; without that, I'd be very dead already." Chia admitted dejectedly. "I suppose that's something at least."
Hearing a bang and a shout from a seemingly rowdy table by the far wall of the establishment behind her. Probably bets gone wrong again, but if they lose badly enough, they might get a decent bounty put on them. Chia looked up at Tien but quickly saw him staring and frowning at the loud group behind her. With her hand lightly hovering over her weapon, which was tightly strapped to her thigh, and wearing a half-smirk on her face, she asked, "Want me to sort them out?"
"No, I can handle that lot myself." He replied swiftly, not wanting to add this fiery drunk warrior to the mix either. Although a thought did cross his mind as he narrowed his eyes and focussed back on her.
"Plus, that's not going to get you out of paying this time."
Shrugging her shoulders, Chia resumed her actions and simply picked up the new glass - that had now been placed in front of her - and downed the caustic drink in one go. Landing the receptacle only slightly lighter than last time, with a small crack where her thumb had been placed.
Wincing at the sound and display in front of him, the barkeeper couldn't help but wonder if he was ever going to get paid again by this woman at this rate. "So how are you planning to pay for today's bill? Sounds to me like you were desperate to get that claim." His eyes trained firmly on her hunched form.
Rolling her head to look up at him with a glint in her eye and that winning smile of hers, she spoke reassuringly, "Ah, you know me, Tien. I'm good for it; I always pay my debts."
For a moment, the triclops hesitated in his thoughts. He wasn't entirely sure of the decision that he was about to make. But for a few moments, he thought about all that he had seen of this woman in action, as she had previously defended his premises and him, and all the tales that she and her friend had regaled him with countless times were enough to cement the decision to help the female warrior. Tien leaned quietly towards her, speaking in hushed tones, "Well… I might be able to help you," knowing that if he pointed this raven-haired warrior in the right direction, he might just avoid having her latest bad mood spiral out of control and maybe even see his bills get paid sooner. "I heard about a task."
"What kind of task?" She retorted instantly, uninhibited by the copious amounts of alcohol that she had already consumed.
"Well, if you had let me finish, we would've already gotten to that part!" Tien answered in a clipped tone.
"Alright, alright…" she sighed irritably, putting her hands up in front of herself, giving the triclops room to talk.
"There's a list of unusual items, and if you collect them all, quite simply, you get paid."
"Like a shopping list?" Now being offended, she snorted derisively, "I'm not going to be someone's snack bitch, if that's what you think."
"No-no," Tien shook his head, trying to get his point across to her, "It changes every time. Trust me, you'll get the adrenaline rush that I know you've been craving." Giving her a knowing look as he saw the briefest shine of excitement in her eyes. "Most people don't even make it back, but the reward is more than worth it."
Leaning forward towards the man, "And… how exactly do you know about this?" Chia eyed him suspiciously.
"I-I just do. I, uh, hear things," he tapered off, but his nervousness could be read from his facial expression.
"You heard all of that?"
"Yeah… I'm a barkeeper; I hear things. What's so unbelievable about that?"
Chia rolled her eyes, "Tien, that's not what I find unbelievable. It's that I don't believe that you haven't taken part in it yourself. Have you?" Narrowing her eyes at him.
Leaning in closer over the bar, he nodded his head to gesture for Chia to do the same, so that they could speak discreetly. However, the raven-haired woman met his eyes with a crinkled face of confusion, practically squinting with one eye out of distrust as she did not understand his hint.
"Oh for fuck's sakes," he mumbled to himself - not always having the patience to deal with intoxicated people - as he made a move to yank her towards him.
However, massively misunderstanding the situation, Chia's response to Tien's actions was just too fast for him. Her swift movement, even in her inebriated state, allowed her to grab his wrist, twisting it into a lock, and pin it to the bar in one discreet and seamless motion. As the moment caught up with the triclops, he tried not to let out the shriek that was desperately trying to escape his mouth.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the female warrior growled with a sudden sobering menace.
Not wanting to alert the attention of the handful of people standing at the bar itself, but especially not the crowds that dominated the rest of the busy establishment. The triclops knew that this misinterpreted gesture could easily be a catalyst for more unnecessary carnage across his premises. With that concerning thought in mind, which was also being peppered with the pain he was now experiencing, he tried to resume his stoic nature once more in an attempt to mitigate the risk.
Having sharply taken a breath at the sudden pain this armour-clad woman had inflicted on his joints, Tien hissed through his teeth, "I only know… because I won once… That's how I managed to buy this place." With his last words, Tien looked directly at her with three eyes, pleading his truthful answer.
Chia smirked contently, having finally received the truth behind his vagueness. Satisfied, she instantly released the triclops and leaned back, taking in the sight around her. It may be a bit shabby now, but she knew Tien's place had been around for many years and that it happened to be located on an unusually large plot for this area and in a prime location for customers. The establishment was positioned just on the edge of the main Arcosian territory. It was a far enough distance away to not attract trouble from the Colds, but close enough to them to afford protection from the Galactic Patrol, as they seldom visited these parts. Many would have killed to get such a perfect location, and she had always wondered how a three-eyed former engineer managed to get his hands on such a place.
She carefully studied his face and each of his eyes, which were now back in their normal, steadfast positions, hiding his wariness and frustration at their latest altercation. Chia could see in his honourable eyes that he was telling the truth.
"Okay, say I believe you," she replied in a much more subdued tone, leaning on the bar again, not wanting to admit that she might have overreacted a bit just now. "How does this list work? Where would I start? And most importantly, who has this list?" She started to become more eager with every passing second.
Tien frowned disapprovingly while flexing his newly freed injured wrist; to him, she seemed like she didn't understand how privileged she was hearing about this opportunity. "It's not an advertised event; it's only reserved for the best of the best."
Unable to resist a chance to wind up the triclops, she asked, "So how did you get in then?" She beamed at him with a teasing smile.
"Look, I don't have to tell you shit," he scowled, "Especially if you're going to keep that attitude up!" He was almost beginning to regret helping her out.
"Fine." Rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. "I'll cut it out. Alright?" Putting her hands up defensively in front of herself, she did want to hear about this after all. "Tell me more," Chia now looked at him, giving an honest, friendly smile - the kind that he knew was only reserved for the few that she respected.
Tien replied to her frank demeanour with a fake scowl from the corners of his mouth, "Fine, but you leave my name out of it, understand?"
On hearing the details of this task and the adventure that she may have ahead of her, for the first time in a while, the fire in her had reignited, and she openly laughed.
Looking through the small groups of beings that made up the crowd around her, Chia attempted to survey every single one of her prospective competitors. Sizing each one up based on their size, species, choice of weapons, and reading their energies. None of the beings that the armour-clad female had seen so far appeared to be too much for her to handle, so with a deep intake of breath, the raven-haired woman confidently strutted through them towards the front, asserting her position as a formidable warrior. While secretly hoping that this action would be enough to eliminate any doubts about her capabilities and make her someone that none of them should consider fucking around with, hopefully.
It had been just over a month since Tien had informed her of the details of the venture, and yet despite all of her research - without letting on about the task - she couldn't find a shred of information about the clandestine competition. Initially, Chia had raced to gather her supplies, including a small arsenal of weapons and armour and copious amounts of food - she had grown up around warriors like the Saiyans, after all. However, over the last couple of days before the gathering, Chia had staked out the meeting location in the hopes of garnering more information. Having made good time travelling across her quadrant, what she found on arrival was a whole lot of nothing. So in the interim, the raven-haired warrior continued to train frequently to keep her body and mind sharp ahead of whatever was going to happen on this quest.
As she moved through the jostling bodies of the various competitors, she felt the cold, rough skin brush up against and stroke her arm. Immediately Chia shuddered and slowly turned her head at the sound that crept up beside her, breathing heavily into her shoulder. The sickening stench of breath that passed through his purple-tinged lips could only belong to one odious being.
"Dodoria," she whispered in a trembling breath as her eyes widened in abject horror. The room dulled, and sounds of conversation and arguments faded into the background; all she could hear was that infernal breathing that lingered over her body like a slick, wretched fog. Gulping down the sensation and memories that were intertwined, Chia took a moment to reclaim her senses. All the incessant chatter resumed at full volume, bringing her back to the here and now. She ripped her shoulder away from his pawing hands while still facing forward, not wanting to see his vile face. "What are you doing here?"
Dodoria let out a malicious chuckle at her reaction, "Now, now, that's no way to greet an old friend."
Chia didn't have to look at him to know the grotesque smile that he was wearing, the kind that she would gladly punch straight through into the back of his head.
"I didn't expect to see you here. You're looking just as delicious as ever, Chia," he spoke sleazily while moving to place his cold, rough hands on her hips. Making contact, he leaned forward towards her ear, licking his lips as he let out a small groan at the sordid thoughts of what lay beneath her armour.
The barely audible low trill of the energy gun that she carried was now firmly positioned in the hateful being's crotch. With a deathly side glance, Chia tightened her grip, poised to commit the revenge on the repulsive being that she had yearned for over the years.
"You would be making an unwise choice here," Dodoria commented gruffly as he immediately removed his hands and shifted uncomfortably in position, while casting an awkward eye around them as he tried to maintain his composure in the crowd. With a threatening tone, he demanded, "Have you forgotten your place? Remove that before you try something that I promise you will regret."
Weighing her options in a split second, this did seem like the perfect opportunity to exact some payback for the years of torture from the repulsive right-hand man to Frieza, but with this many beings around - especially mercenaries - she would be unlikely to make a quick escape, if at all. Reluctantly making the decision in favour of restraint on this occasion, Chia lowered her weapon and quickly holstered it back on her thigh.
"Good. Now where were we, my little pet?" Steadily attempting to return his hands and mouth to their previous locations on her body.
Abruptly, Chia turned directly to face the fuchsia-skinned being, "You were just fucking off." Her stony expression displayed how ready she was to maim the bastard.
A deep belly laugh filled the area around them as Dodoria threw his head back to let the cruel sound - which had haunted her nightmares for years - escape. "Have a safe trip. I wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to you along the way." Some of the beings closest to them had turned to look at the exchange. Not wishing to be caught up in a public spectacle with the woman that he had lusted after many a time, Dodoria let out a loud grunt, expelling more of his vile breath over Chia, and turned as he began to bulldoze his way through the crowd.
Releasing the breath that she didn't know that she had been holding, Chia breathed heavily as she clenched her trembling hands into fists and tightened her jaw in an attempt to assuage her anger.
She was trying to distract herself from the disconcerting experience with Dodoria that had brought up a well of feelings and emotions to the forefront of her mind. Chia decided to focus once more on her surroundings, although she still couldn't quite fathom the place that she had found herself in. As far as the raven-haired woman could tell from her reconnaissance in the days leading up to the meeting, it was just an abandoned terraforming station on the outside. However, now inside, it was just like a palace. On the backdrop wall for the stage ahead of the crowd, a single expansive interior hall was adorned with the finest materials, precious metals, and jewels - that, from what she could tell, were likely not from this planet.
Still staring ahead and now feigning interest in the ornate mouldings, Chia spoke out loud to the being lurking directly behind her, "You can stop stalking me and we'll leave it at that, or you can leave here minus an appendage."
Taking a step forward, he moved closer into her space, but not in the way that he had observed Dodoria doing, being very careful to keep a clear boundary. "Oh, you're good, sensing me like that, but that attitude ain't very friendly, you know." The observer commented, whilst moving around to reposition himself practically in front of her.
Catching sight of him, with one hand hovering over her weapon and the other balling up into a fist, she responded firmly, "Okay then, I'll let you choose which appendage you'll soon be deprived of." She had had enough of arrogant pricks for one day. But as she let her eyes roll over the man as she sized him up, the raven-haired woman instantly recognised his distinctive style of armour, the mannerisms, the way he carried himself, and the furred tail tightly wrapped around his waist - he was a Saiyan. It had been a while since she had last seen one; there were so few of them left now, mostly scattered throughout the galaxies. Although most still work for the Frieza Force, just like she had previously. But most notably, as her eye roved over his features, it did not escape her just how handsome he is. However, she did not want to let any of that - cultural history or attractiveness alike - to distract her from her stance; as far as she was concerned, she had a job to do.
"Ouch, I get the message." Placing his open hands up in front of his chest to show that he meant no harm. "I just thought maybe you might need some backup or somethin'." Causing her to very briefly flinch as the man raised his hand to place it somewhat nervously on the back of his neck and offered an anxious smile.
Noting his apprehension, Chia couldn't help but wonder why he had left himself potentially open to attack in his current position in front of her and why her brief altercation with Dodoria had piqued his interest. Although she berated herself for showing a small sign of weakness as she misjudged his hand movements, she was keen to rectify that, with the armour-clad woman stating firmly, "I do just fine on my own. Now leave."
Smiling with an almost cheeky grin at her assertion, he glanced over Chia's familiar yet unique armour, although he couldn't see a tail on her; his onyx eyes trailed up the protective gear, past her neck and jawline, to meet her dark eyes that burned fierily right back at him. "You look, talk, and act like a Saiyan, but you're not. What are you?" He asked in a surprisingly soft tone, while cocking his head to the side in an inquisitive manner. This well-built, armour-clad man was beginning to find himself slightly mesmerised by this quasi-Saiyan. As he looked over her, a genuine smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he waited for her response.
Chia drew a breath to answer, not entirely sure of what was going to pass through her own lips. When a large hand slapped down on the shoulder of the messy-haired Saiyan man standing in front of her, even startling him slightly in the process.
"Kakarot, quit your flirting! There's no time for quick fucks; they're going to start soon." The tall, broad man with a long mane instructed him. Shit. Is that another Saiyan? What are the chances?!
With a sharp intake of breath, wholly offended and ready to challenge the assumption, Chia burst out with, "I am not fucking anyone!"
A charismatic smile now plastered itself across Kakarot's face. "Well, that's good to know."
Completely indignant and trying to contain a blush, she growled, ready to unleash her anger at the insinuation, before seeing the same large arm grab him again, with the accompanying voice demanding, "Now!"
"Goodbye Kakarot." The raven-haired woman spoke in a much lighter, sarcastic voice and mockingly waved at him, watching with a smile as he was being pulled away by the tall, long-maned man.
"Goodbye Chia." He managed to say it with a smirk before he was lost in the crowd.
This left her standing wide-eyed at the fact that this Saiyan man - a stranger to her - had somehow known her name. This was a concerning development that left her wondering how much more he knew. How long had he been following her?
Shaking her from her reverie, the sound of Dodoria's voice echoed throughout the hall. He was speaking of the privilege that the competitors present have to participate in this select event in honour of Lord Frieza. Give me a break; I should have guessed this had something to do with that asshole. In her frustration, the armour-clad female found her eyes wandering the crowd while Dodoria outlined the parameters; however, Chia only caught snippets of the fiend's ranting, as she very quickly found the sound of his voice continuingly grating on her ears. Chia's roaming eyes suddenly stumbled across a familiar sight. Prince Vegeta? No way! But there's no mistaking that hair or that air of arrogance. How is he even still alive? I thought they killed him years ago. Urgh, that lug next to him must be his bodyguard.
After a little chuckle to herself at the thought of the Prince needing a boost to be able to see Dodoria up front, she continued to peruse the crowd, and unexpectedly, she caught sight of Kakarot, who was now staring back at her. Locking eyes, neither of them was able to look away while the noise around her faded into the background. What is this? Am I going to pass out or something? Why am I still looking? Why is he? Is he smiling, am I? Look away, damn it! You are in control of your own damn body, Chia. Thankfully, the shifting crowd closed the gap and severed their connected gaze. Oh, thank fuck for that.
Just about catching the end of Dodoria's speech, "Each one of you was given a device on entry. It contains the list and the consequences of forfeit, which, of course, means your death. The device will not activate until you have left this planet's atmosphere." This was met with muttering in the crowds. "Oh, and one last thing, there's another electrical storm on its way, so you best get your asses moving or you'll suffer the same fate as the workers here who were wiped out by the last one." As he finished his speech, his purple lips curled upward at the corners of his mouth to reveal a vicious smile.
Years spent having to deal with this heinous creature, afforded Chia some insight into his acts. He was definitely planning something, but at this time she couldn't tell what.
Without any further prompting, the crowd quickly dispersed; with everyone only out for themselves, Chia steered clear of the masses that were now fighting each other at the exit. Scanning the room for an alternative escape, she noticed that Dodoria had disappeared from the steps where he gave his little speech. The raven-haired woman nimbly and discreetly made her way over to the steps, with the thought - and maybe even the hope - that there was another exit. Once she had reached the spot that he had used as his podium, Chia regarded the area, and sure enough, she could see an opening in the wall that had been obscured by one of the gilded figures that lined the hall. Looking back over her shoulder at the crowd that was now bottlenecked at the only perceived exit, she saw a flurry of fists as they beat at each other in a desperate attempt to secure their escape first. The warrior returned her sights to the opening in the wall, edging closer and quietly slipping behind the figure until she disappeared from the view of the other competitors.
Following the darkened, dank passageway - a far cry from the decadence of the grand hall that Chia and the crowds of competitors had just been in - she continued on walking slowly and cautiously down the unlit area, until she heard the echoing sounds of a disgustingly familiar voice, causing her to stop abruptly, freezing in place.
"Yes, of course, my lord. I am leaving the planet now; Zarbon is already in position and poised to obliterate this rock once I've vacated. That'll take care of any weak stragglers."
Her eyes shot wide, and a tremble quickly moved through her body at the realisation of what was about to happen. Her mouth dried up and her breathing started to hitch when the turmoil began to rage within her; on the one hand, she could quite happily leave the others to their own fates, as she had done on so many occasions before. It had served her well in life so far and would likely propel her ahead in this competition, with a tempting opportunity to lay hands on the listed items first. On the other hand, there was this horrid feeling that was bubbling up within her again, the one that had plagued her most of her life and that others around her growing up did not seem to struggle with. She had long wrestled with the creeping desire to help others. It somehow felt alien to her, yet she had been informed that it was completely natural for her species. Human. Despite it being what she is, that title still didn't feel like it belonged to her. The reminiscent thoughts of discovering this still tormented her, and even now it turned her stomach - the very idea of being perceived as some pathetic, weak, and fragile being. With a range of emotions flashing through her, who knew that she could feel like this?
On hearing that Dodoria had moved on further through the passageways, Chia crept slowly forward after Frieza's minion. Although the raven-haired woman briefly hesitated, she felt that awful feeling tugging at her again. Shaking her head - in an attempt to free her mind from the shackles of humanity - and straightening herself out, Chia took in a calm, steadying breath before following the direction that the ghastly being had left in, knowing that she wouldn't have long to escape before she risked perishing like the others in the hall.
Reaching the end of the path, the armour-clad woman came to a diverging path, as she was met with several tunnels. Closing her eyes in an attempt to try to sense his energy, her face contorted in frustration as she struggled to focus on his energy; it felt distorted, and she was unable to point where the loathsome being had exited. This left her with absolutely no indication as to which option of the tunnels was the correct way. Her head began to fill with that sudden, creeping remorse for the others - and even for herself. If the raven-haired woman didn't make it out of this maze sharply, she would be gone, finito, expired, and destined for eternal damnation in HFIL. And all for the sake of a competition to satiate her adventurous nature. With that dizzying realisation in regards to her own mortality, the warrior turned around on her heel, with a single thought to at least inform the other competitors of their fate.
On swiftly rotating herself to return down the original passageway from which she had come, Chia found herself being startled as her armour-clad body bumped straight into a blue-haired woman. The force of colliding with a warrior such as herself caused the other woman to be knocked straight over backwards, letting out a small shriek as she fell, and landing with a harsh thud on the dirty ground. Chia could only watch in stunned silence as the items that the bluenette had previously held clattered to the floor, scattering the collection of devices around the two of them in the process.
Momentarily dazed, the blue-haired woman let out an angry sigh before she curtly told the armour-clad female, "Urgh. I was calling after you!" She pulled herself back up onto her feet, started to dust the debris from her clothes, and asked, "Didn't you hear me?"
Chia bent down to pick up a device that had skidded towards her booted foot. As she stood back up, holding onto it, it let out a series of bleeps, momentarily distracting the warrior from the woman's question.
"I, uh-"
"Well, I was trying to tell you that this exit was a good find, but it looks like there are loads of tunnels and it's easy to get lost in them. Is that why you were coming back?" The bluenette looked around her on the floor at her fallen items. She continued to speak so quickly and resumed talking before Chia could even respond, "Anyways, this should tell us where to go," as she crouched down to collect a device and lifted it up to direct the armour-clad warrior's attention to it, before gathering the rest of her devices and seemingly checking them over. The new woman then busied herself tapping on the screen of the original item as it made soft beeps with every swipe.
Watching this happen in front of her, still in the darkened passageway, Chia could just about let out, "Us?"
"Yeah, me and the warriors from Earth. Although they're waiting for me on the ship because I assumed I'd probably have to make some kind of quick exit," she answered, letting out a small scoff at the current predicament, "But typically, they all just like to fight. And judging by what I've just seen back in that hall, they'd probably be in the middle of it, and I'd have never gotten them away."
"Earth?"
Tightening her lips in frustration, "Look, as scintillating as this conversation is, we've got to go." Looking back down at her device and up again, "It says we can get out this way. Let's go!" She raised her arm, pointing to one of the tunnels behind Chia.
"But what about the others?" Chia asked, trying to see just how moral humans should be. She couldn't help but wonder what this woman's reaction would be, maybe even measuring it against her own choices.
But before the armour-clad woman could receive her answer, thundering footsteps closed in on them from behind the blue-haired Earthling. "You, woman. Is there an exit this way?" There came a voice that Chia couldn't quite place - that is, until he came out of the shifting shadows of the darkened passageway. It was the Prince. She could tell that he was being followed by a few others too, but Chia could only just about make out the silhouettes of them behind him.
"Yeah, it is, but my name is Bulma, not Woman!"
Prince Vegeta began staring harshly at the blue-haired woman - his eyes shone with a glint that hinted at his next intention - curling his lip in disdain for the woman's impertinence.
Without realising what she was doing, Chia's body went into autopilot as she felt herself lowering to one knee, placing her fist over her heart, bowing her head in deference, and pledging her lasting allegiance to the royal house. "Prince Vegeta, please accept our apologies."
"Ah see, that's how you treat royalty. I'm relieved to see someone still knows their pla-"
Cutting the prince short, Chia looked up at him, her eyes trying to convey the urgency, "I am sorry, my Prince, but we have to leave now, like right now!"
"Whaddya mean?" Came the slightly upbeat, questioning response from behind the Prince, who now stood with his arms crossed over himself. She recognised the voice straight away; it was the Saiyan man she had met earlier, Kakarot.
Standing back up to her full height and trying to see into the darkness at the people beyond them, she explained, "What I mean is that creep, Dodoria, is going to blow this planet up as soon as he gets far enough away from it."
"Looks like they're thinning the herd already." Came the deep, gruff voice of a tall, balding man that approached the side of the Prince out of the darkness.
"Shit, well let's go!" Bulma announced, flinging her arm up in the direction her device had indicated. "We're wasting time here." There wasn't a single disagreement amongst all of them with that statement.
The group of Earthlings and Saiyans moved as one, making their way swiftly through the tunnels and being led by the device that Bulma was wielding. The infernal beeping of the equipment as its sound reverberated off the walls - which still wasn't being drowned out by the sound of their combined thundering footsteps - was fast becoming almost too much to bear. That is, until the signs of daylight began to beckon to them in the distance. Finally, an end to this endless labyrinth.
Stumbling out into the daylight, which was far more dulled than the shining beacon had eluded to in the darkness of the tunnels, as every one of them started regaining their senses, they all set off sprinting away in the direction of each of their own vehicles. Well, except for Kakarot. He stood gleaming one last look with a crooked smirk at Chia, and for a moment she stared back again, still trying to work this Saiyan man and his intentions out. But that moment passed almost in an instant as the longer-haired Saiyan forcibly dragged Kakarot away once more, grumbling about beating the shit out of his little brother if he didn't get his ass in gear. They're brothers; that's actually kind of sweet.
"Hey, do you need a ride?" Bulma offered, instantly reminding Chia of the urgency of their current situation.
"No, I'll be fine." She responded with a smirk while shaking a DynaCap at Bulma. Looking at the open ground ahead of her, Chia quickly depressed the plunger and tossed it into clear space.
Amongst the rocky debris strewn across the floor, the deployed DynaCap began unfolding itself at an unparalleled speed. It strategically reorganised every single element of her ship back into its robust and swift design. Eyeing its fully formed, familiar sight, Chia smiled at her craft.
"Nice model," Bulma smirked knowingly as she began to run off towards her own ship. Before briefly turning towards Chia as she continued to jog away backwards while shouting, "You know, I think he likes you!"
"Who? Oh him. Nah, he probably just wants a fuck!" Chia called back to her with a laugh.
Turning back around, running towards the open walkway, taking one last glance around, and then disappearing onto her ship. Once inside, Chia jumped straight into her pilot's seat, foregoing her usual system checks and speedily activating the quick start program, while she leaned over the main console to jab in the coordinates of a habitable planet in a local star system. The armour-clad woman anticipated that she would be able to land there and run a systems check and diagnostics. At least then she would be able to plan the best ways for her to attain whatever was on that list. She briefly eyed the device housing the list, which now rested on the side of the main console, while she steered her ship as it ascended into the atmosphere. What the hell am I letting myself in for?
Chia had watched other ships make their ascent along with her and a number of others after that too, but it wasn't long before the terraforming station, along with the whole planet - that she had not long since been standing on - practically imploded. Despite gaining a fair distance from the explosion, the sight of the spewing rock hurtling out from the centre of where either Dodoria's or even Zarbon's planet-annihilating beam had struck was still quite striking. She had seen many of the ships caught in the shockwaves, desperately trying to regain control of their vessel, of which had been quite obviously damaged beyond repair, as well as those that perished instantly as a result of the initial blast.
All she could really do now is stand, leaning up against the edge of her ship's main window, as she gripped the device that held the all-important list, while observing the carnage that began to fade into the distance.
She had originally been toying with the device, curiously jabbing at its buttons in the hope that it might release the vital information that was crucial to her decision-making for how to deal with whatever may lay ahead.
For a moment, as she pressed her head against the cold window, staring into the vast vacuum of space, she thought about Bulma and actually hoped that the oddly-coloured Earthling had made it off the planet alive. Hmm, hopefully Kakarot too. She found herself thinking about the messy-haired Saiyan man but quickly shook her head in an attempt to steer away from that ridiculous notion. He wouldn't care either way, and neither would she. Probably.
The trilling beeps caused her to jump slightly, as they alerted her to the activation of her now prized device. Chia was finally going to find out about these so-called forfeits and consequences, but most importantly, what was on that list. She confidently began reading through the parameters, scrolling through warning after warning of non-negotiable death, when her eyes set on the task at hand. Reading through each of the items on the list, her mouth hung open in stunned silence, until…
"Oh, you've got to be shitting me!"