"Fine." King Piccolo said, rising.
"But, not on my ship. If you intend to slaughter the girl, take it to the ground."
He turned toward the open bay.
Tambourine gave a shallow bow.
"After you."
Chi-Chi didn't respond.
She didn't look at anyone.
She turned and stepped off the ramp.
She dropped toward the forest below, hair tearing in the wind, her face unchanged.
Tambourine laughed once and followed, wings snapping open.
"Come, Cymbal." Piccolo ordered, floating effortlessly into the air.
"Let us observe. It has been centuries since I watched the life fade from a human's eyes up close."
"Heh. I hope she tastes better than she looks." Cymbal grunted, leaping down."
Piccolo's eyes slid toward the Pilaf Gang, then settled on Piano, his son and attendant.
"You will remain here, protect the ship." He commanded.
/////////////////////////////////
Chi-Chi touched down in a small clearing, dust lifting around her boots. The forest was unnaturally quiet.
Tambourine landed across from her, claws biting into the soil. He rolled his shoulders once.
"Good place, no one around." He said with a grin.
The airship loomed overhead, dimming the clearing.
King Piccolo and Cymbal descended and hovered near the trees, watching in silence.
Chi-Chi breathed in, slow and steady.
"When you start losing, don't waste time begging."
She glanced up at Piccolo, then fixed her eyes back on Tambourine.
"What you did doesn't go away."
Her hand tightened.
"You're not getting away this time. Not after this. I will never forgive you. Any of you."
Tambourine watched her in silence for a moment. Then he laughed, low and rough.
"You humans are all the same. Big words… right before you die."
Tambourine lowered himself, wings spreading as he set his stance. One hand rose, claws ready; the other stayed low.
"Come on. Fight me."
Chi-Chi didn't reach for her sword. She clenched her fist, white Ki gathering tight around her hand.
She surged forward.
Tambourine saw it coming. Straight. Simple.
He raised a hand, ready to brush her aside.
THWACK.
The impact landed hard.
Tambourine's eyes went wide. His guard failed completely as Chi-Chi's fist drove straight into his gut
He choked, blood spilling from his mouth.
He didn't go flying. The force pushed him back instead, boots tearing lines through the dirt until he skidded to a stop.
He stayed doubled over, one hand pressed to his stomach, struggling to breathe.
For a moment, his head spun.
What—? Humans don't hit like that. How did she hurt me?
He started to look up, ready to spit something back—
and realized she was gone.
Tambourine jerked his gaze upward. Chi-Chi was already above him, arms moving fast.
"HAAAAAAAA!"
Chi-Chi punched the air, fast enough that her fists vanished. The blows hit anyway, slamming into him in bursts that tore up dirt and bark.
Tambourine dropped the smirk and threw himself aside. He ran, barely staying ahead of the impacts as the ground exploded where he'd just been. He was fast. Fast enough to survive it.
But when he looked back—
she was gone.
His eyes darted across the clearing. The air was empty.
Where did she—
A ripple in the air to his right made him turn.
Too late.
Chi-Chi was already there—inside his guard, close enough that he could see the anger in her eyes. Her left fist was drawn back, steady, heavy with Ki.
She struck.
The blow snapped his head sideways and lifted him clean off the ground. His body flew back, bounced once across the grass, then slammed hard into a granite boulder at the edge of the clearing.
The rock gave way, collapsing into dust and broken stone.
When the debris settled, the clearing went quiet.
Too quiet.
The sight caught both Cymbal and Piccolo off guard.
Cymbal forgot about eating altogether. He drifted back a step in the air, wings twitching on instinct.
"Tambourine was the fast one, he's stronger than me. I didn't even see her move… how did a human girl do that?"
Even Piccolo felt it—a brief crack in his certainty.
He leaned forward, cape stirring behind him, eyes fixed on Chi-Chi. She hadn't moved since the strike, breathing hard, her aura still unsteady around her.
"…So a human can make one of my sons bleed." Piccolo said quietly, his gaze sharpening.
Chi-Chi didn't chase him. She stayed where she was, dust settling around her boots, eyes fixed on the broken stone.
Her voice broke the quiet. Flat. Almost tired.
"You keep talking about slaughtering martial artists everywhere… but if this is your limit, you were never built to finish that job."
A stone shifted.
Then another.
A green hand pushed out of the rubble and dug into the dirt. Tambourine pulled himself free, slow and stiff, shaking dust from his wings. Blood ran from his mouth, thick and green.
He wiped it away and looked at his hand for a second.
Then he raised his eyes.
The grin was gone. So was the cruelty.
He just stared at Chi-Chi, breathing heavy, eyes locked on her with something sharp and ugly.
The air around him tightened as his ki rose.
No words.
Just a look that said it clearly enough: this wasn't a game anymore.
He wiped the last of the blood from his chin.
"You caught me off guard."
He spread his wings and braced himself.
"This ends now."
Chi-Chi shifted into her stance, calm and steady.
For a moment, the forest was silent. They just stared at each other.
Then Tambourine was gone.
He struck from above, leg charged with dark energy, aiming for her head.
The ground erupted where she had been—but she wasn't there.
Gunshot-like impacts echoed across the clearing.
Chi-Chi was running on air, kicking off nothing but wind, moving so fast the world around her blurred.
"What?!" Tambourine growled, trying to follow her.
She vanished and reappeared behind him, fist thrust forward.
A blast of compressed air shot at his back. He rolled aside just in time. The force tore through the space he'd occupied, splitting a tree trunk in half.
But that was only a distraction.
Before he could recover, Chi-Chi was already in his guard.
Her fists moved like a storm.
Thud, thud, thud.
He raised his arms to block, but the blows kept coming, each one pushing him back, boots gouging the ground, unable to find an opening.
"HAAAA!"
Tambourine swung his leg, Ki driving a roundhouse aimed at her ribs.
Chi-Chi didn't dodge. She didn't block.
She lifted her left leg and stomped on the inside of his thigh as he extended his kick.
Thwack.
The force threw him off balance, spinning him on one foot.
He swung a desperate backfist. Chi-Chi ducked under it easily and sprang up.
CRACK.
Her uppercut slammed into his jaw. His head snapped back, feet lifting off the ground.
Chi-Chi followed immediately, her arms moving so fast it was almost impossible to track her strikes.
She didn't stop. Fist after fist struck him, face, chest, ribs.
Each hit landed hard, throwing him off balance and keeping him in the air.
The last punch slammed into him.
Tambourine flew back, rolling across the dirt, crashing through bushes before coming to a stop, face down.
Chi-Chi didn't follow.
She walked forward.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Her boots pressed into the earth with steady inevitability.
She didn't rush. She let him feel it.
Tambourine's claws dug into the ground, grass tearing beneath them.
Humiliation burned hotter than pain.
A human had just thrown him to the dirt.
"You..."
Tambourine roared and sprang to his feet. No stance, no punches, he was done playing by the rules.
He threw back his head, and a ball of green Ki flared in his throat, casting the dark forest in an eerie glow.
VOOOOM.
A beam shot from his mouth, cutting through the air, scorching leaves instantly.
For a heartbeat, Chi-Chi's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that much raw power.
She didn't have time to move.
KA-BOOM!
The blast swallowed her. Trees shook, smoke and scorched earth erupted, and the clearing disappeared beneath a cloud of debris.
Up near the airship, the tension finally snapped.
"He did it!" Cymbal squawked, flapping his wings excitedly.
"There is no way a human could survive a blast of that magnitude at point-blank range!"
He grinned, crossing his thick, scaly arms over his chest.
"Heh. Took him long enough. But at least he finished the job. I like my meat well-done anyway."
Tambourine panted, chest heaving, the smoke curling lazily around his legs. The crater before him glowed with residual heat, the earth scorched and blackened.
A cruel smirk returned to his face.
"All talk," he said. "Just another insect. Loud, annoying, easy to squash."
He turned toward the airship, shouting up to King Piccolo.
"It's done! She's—"
The wind shifted.
The smoke didn't just drift away; it was pushed aside, heavy and cold. Tambourine froze. The hair on his neck stood up.
Slowly, he turned.
The clearing was empty, except for her.
Chi-Chi stood in the center of the destruction, untouched. Feet planted, face still, eyes burning with that same frozen rage.
Her left hand rose, palm outward. A thin wisp of grey smoke hissed from her hand. The beam—enough to level a city—had stopped there.
She flicked the smoke away, as if brushing off a fly.
"That… was your best?"
"No…" he breathed, stumbling back over the rubble.
"That's not possible. You… you stopped it. With your hand?"
Above them, Cymbal snapped to attention.
"Master!" He barked, disbelief cutting through his voice as he pointed down.
"She took the whole blast. Tambourine can't handle her."
He turned to King Piccolo, fists clenched, wings twitching.
"Let me go down there. I'll finish it. Together, we can tear her apart before this gets worse."
Piccolo didn't answer right away. He hovered in silence, arms folded, eyes fixed on Chi‑Chi.
Interesting.
"…Very well." Piccolo said at last.
Cymbal blinked.
"You mean it?"
"Go. Join him." Piccolo replied, a faint smile creeping in.
Cymbal's grin spread wide.
"Gladly."
His gaze stayed locked on Chi‑Chi.
"Let me see her limits… before she dies."
Cymbal hit the ground beside his brother, the impact kicking dust across the clearing. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his hands, baring a grin full of sharp teeth.
"Relax, father said we finish this together."
Tambourine straightened, the tension in his posture easing. He wiped the blood from his mouth and let out a thin smile.
"Good, she's quick, but she's only one person. I keep her moving, you crush her. She won't keep up."
Chi‑Chi didn't react.
No edge in her breathing. She looked from one to the other, calm to the point of indifference.
"Surround me. It won't change anything."
She raised her fists, slow and deliberate.
"This ends cleaner if you're both here."