13

Just an instant before that sphere of energy hit her, a third party's quick and agile figure on the scene lunged at Chi-Chi, tackling her out of range of that deadly attack. Their bodies lurched to the side, and Piccolo's sphere went on, hitting the ground right where Chi-Chi had been a second ago, destroying it and leaving a large smoking hole in its place.

Chi-Chi quickly opened her eyes, confused and dazed. She was alive, that was clear... But what had happened?

As she could, Chi-Chi looked up to try to understand what had happened. She was sitting on the ground, but someone held her with an arm behind her. And upon resting her gaze on that person's chest, the first thing her senses could notice was the reddish keikogi, with the symbol of the turtle on one side of the chest.

That made Chi-Chi's heart skip a beat in her chest.

Goku! She thought in astonishment and quickly looked up to see that person's face. However, this was obviously not the person she believed.

"Krillin," she whispered slowly as she recognized the distinctive face of her savior.

The bald-headed youth was not looking at her but instead had his nervous expression directed at Piccolo. The demon, in turn, did not take long to realize what had happened, and he fixed his piercing dark eyes on them.

"And what are you doing here, Krillin?" Piccolo questioned sternly. "Have you also come to annoy me?"

"No, wait a bit, Piccolo. Please," Krillin exclaimed quickly, holding up a calming hand towards him. "I ask you to have a little compassion... Chi-Chi was just dying of worry for her son..."

"Compassion?" Piccolo pronounced sarcastically, cutting off the young man's words. "You two have not understood how serious the situation is. If you did, you wouldn't be here wasting your time and mine."

"We get it, Piccolo," Krillin replied, trying to sound as confident as possible. "I swear, we do. But understand, Gohan is just a kid. He needs his mother. Please... return him to us, and I promise we will train him so that he can fight in a year with the Saiyans."

"I won't leave something so important in the hands of useless people like you. And if you persist in being a nuisance, I'll eliminate you, too."

Somehow repeating the same threat he had made to Chi-Chi, Piccolo raised his hand again, now in the direction of Krillin and Chi-Chi alike, immediately shaping another sphere of energy... only even bigger than the last.

Krillin stepped back a bit and swallowed nervously. The three of them remained silent for several seconds, almost waiting for the other to make a move or afraid that the wrong one would end up harming them. In the end, Krillin breathed slowly and, as calmly as possible, finally said:

"Okay, Piccolo; you win... We'll leave right now, and we won't bother you anymore. I promise you."

Piccolo watched them in silence without changing his face, still with the ball of energy dancing in his palm, waiting to be launched against his targets. It was impossible from his expression to try to guess what was going through his head or if Krillin's plea made any sense regarding the terrible demon he was. Perhaps the best option would be to take Chi-Chi and fly out of that place as fast as possible before he decided not to allow them.

Suddenly, to the astonishment of both, the sphere in Piccolo's hand vanished, and the green-skinned man lowered his arm the next moment.

"This time, I will spare your lives," Piccolo pronounced loudly, sounding more like a fervent threat. "But I warn you that if I cross paths with you again, or with any other of Goku's stupid friends, before the Saiyans arrive, I will annihilate you all without hesitation. And I won't care who may or may not be revived by the Dragon Balls. Is it clear?"

He did not wait for someone to answer because he immediately rose into the air. And by the time Krillin and Chi-Chi managed to look up in his direction, they only managed to see how his body was covered with energy, and then he shot off at full speed to immediately get away from there.

"No! Don't let him go!" Chi-Chi exclaimed suddenly, trying to stand up. "Flying Nimbus!"

The golden cloud immediately responded to her call, coming down from the sky and parking in front of her. However, when she tried to climb on it, Krillin rushed to hold and stop her.

"No, Chi-Chi!"

"Let me go!" the woman yelled furiously, trying to move toward her transport but unable to break free of the warrior's firm grip, especially weak as she was. "I have to follow him before he strays too far! I need to force him to tell me where Gohan is! I must save him!"

"It's enough! You heard what he said. If you keep provoking him, you'll only get him to kill you now!"

"I don't care!" she yelled into the air with all her might, her eyes brimming with tears. "I don't mind dying! I have to save my son!"

"React at once, damn it!"

Suddenly, Krillin raised his right fist and unceremoniously launched a direct blow to Chi-Chi's face. She received the impact on her right cheek, and her entire body fell to the ground, falling on her side. That sudden blow took her entirely by surprise, feeling it almost like a jolt in her whole being.

"I'm sorry, Chi-Chi," Krillin pronounced severely, although he also regretted what he had just done. "But you have to understand and accept that there is nothing you can do. This is far beyond your capabilities, even ours. The only thing you can do is go back home and wait for Goku to come back. As soon as we revive him with the Dragon Balls, with his help, we can rescue your son. Goku and Gohan need you alive! So don't risk your life in such an inconsiderate way!"

Chi-Chi got up enough to be sitting on the floor and raised her gaze full of fury in Krillin's direction. He felt for a moment that she would jump on him, yell at him, or try some unpredictable, crazy thing, and he prepared to react accordingly. However, Chi-Chi did none of those things. Instead, she lowered her downcast face, and her long hair fell around it, covering her almost entirely like a dark curtain. Even so, the thick tears that began to fall from her face and soak the ground beneath her did not go unnoticed.

"Damn it," she whispered slowly, just a tiny voice, but that abruptly changed into a desperate, angry cry. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!"

As she screamed, she raised her fists in the air and brought them down again and again against the ground, clearly consumed by the overwhelming frustration that flooded her chest. Her words instantly became loud, shrill bellows that echoed through the silence of the plain, tearing the air with them.

For his part, Krillin had to limit himself to just staying by her side in silence, giving her all the time she needed.

When Chi-Chi finally managed to calm down, or at least enough, Krillin took Bulma's ship out of its capsule, and they both got on it. The woman sat in her seat, with her head resting against the cabin's glass, her gaze wholly lost and her body without any strength. There was no life on her face; it was as if she had really died, and that was how she felt, too.

The way back to Kame House was particularly quiet and even somewhat uncomfortable. Krillin's only attempt at conversation was to ensure that everything would be fine when they reunited the Dragon Balls, but Chi-Chi didn't respond to his words at all, so Krillin didn't try to speak again.

Only Chi-Chi herself would know what was going through her mind at that moment.

The trip lasted almost all night, and at some point, Chi-Chi fell utterly asleep, prey to exhaustion. They were already crossing the sea from Kame House when the sun began peering over the horizon. Krillin used the ship's built-in radio to signal their approach, so everyone was out when they reached the small island.

Chi-Chi woke up a few minutes before they landed. Looking down through the window on her side, she saw Master Roshi standing on the beach, Bulma, the old turtle... but she also made out the huge dark-bearded, horned-helmeted figure of his father, Ox-King. The latter's red hovercar was also parked at the side of the house.

When the ship landed, and the hatch opened, Ox-King was the first to approach, looking desperate.

"Chi-Chi!" the big man exclaimed, peering into the ship's interior. "My little girl, are you okay?"

Okay, it was far from describing how Chi-Chi was feeling. Her body, in general, was dirty, and her clothes worn and torn. Her hair was loose, matted, and out of order. His face, arms, and hands were covered in scratches and blows. But the most alarming thing was her totally absent look.

Chi-Chi didn't respond to his father's words or even look at him once as she slowly got off the ship and headed almost automatically toward the hovercar. Before everyone's worried looks, she advanced directly without looking or speaking to anyone else. She practically dropped into the back seat of the hovercar, lying there, curled up.

Ox-King sighed, filled with dismay but at least relieved to see that his daughter was alive.

"Thank you very much for everything, Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma," Ox-King pronounced solemnly, offering a deep and respectful bow to each one. "Now, I will take Chi-Chi home and care for her until she's better."

"You don't have to thank us," Master Roshi muttered. "Unfortunately, we couldn't do much to help her on this occasion. I still hope she can recover as soon as possible."

"Thank you very much, master," Ox-King added, accompanied by another bow. "Please, we entrust you with the mission of reviving Goku. Only he can find a solution to all this madness."

After a few more goodbyes, Ox-King climbed behind the wheel of the hovercar, and they began the journey back to Mount Paozu.

Chi-Chi was completely silent for much of the journey, so Ox-King thought she had fallen asleep. However, after driving for half an hour, Chi-Chi suddenly blurted out, still leaning on the back seat:

"Goku is dead, Dad... And Piccolo Daimao took Gohan..."

"I know, Master Roshi told me everything that happened," Ox-King expressed regretfully. "But don't worry. Everything will be fine as soon as Goku comes back to life."

"You don't understand, Dad," Chi-Chi mumbled bitterly. "That Saiyan and that demon took my son right under my nose, and I couldn't do anything to stop them; anything! I'm his mother, supposed to protect him... and I couldn't. I just couldn't..."

Ox-King didn't know what to answer her, and Chi-Chi didn't insist either. She knew well that he could say nothing to make her feel better. Not him, not anyone.

Arriving at Mount Paozu, Ox-King parked his vehicle in front of the house and hastened to take his daughter in his arms to get out of the vehicle. He was about to lead her inside the same way, but Chi-Chi stopped him.

"I can walk. Please put me down."

Ox-King did what she told, carefully placing her on the ground. Chi-Chi walked on her own with a leisurely step towards the house's main door, with her eyes bent and lost, her arms hanging limply at her sides, and her back somewhat curved. However, she stopped before reaching the house, seeing something next to her that caught her attention. Something quite large, which was strange not to have seen it from the very moment they arrived.

The huge log that Goku carried there the other morning was still lying there right where he had left it then...

Goku better handle it when he gets back, she had said on that occasion. However, the trunk was still there... because Goku didn't return. And he wouldn't be back until who knows when, if one day he really came back.

"Chi-Chi?" Ox-King asked, worried when he saw his daughter stop, but she barely caught the sound of that question.

Without saying anything, she approached the huge piece of wood and stood to one side of it. The mark of the punch she had attempted to throw on that occasion was still visible on the surface of the bark; insignificant, useless... like herself.

The rage began to rise through her entire body like effervescence until it flooded her head only with it and with no other feelings. Her jaw tensed, her fists clenched, and she launched another hard punch against the trunk out of nowhere, obtaining the same result as last time. However, now the pain in her fist didn't stop her from throwing another blow with the other, and another with the first, and a series of consecutive punches and kicks against the trunk while screaming with all her might into the air. Her blows scraped the bark but also wreaked havoc on their respective skin.

"Chi-Chi, stop!" Ox-King yelled at her in exasperation and quickly grabbed her with his arms to stop her. "Please stop! You will hurt yourself!"

"What more can I hurt myself?!" Chi-Chi snapped like a loud wail to the air. "How much more damage can I take, Dad?! I have lost everything, and there is nothing I can do about it; nothing!"

Her body wholly lost strength, barely being held by the strong hands of Ox-King. He lowered her carefully, and Chi-Chi's body fell to the ground.

Just as it had happened on that plain with Krillin, she began to unceremoniously let out howls of pain, anger, sadness, and anguish into the air. Her hands and legs were bleeding from all the cuts and scrapes she had just given herself. And even so, the trunk continued without moving from its place.