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Yamcha slumped back in his seat, groaning in frustration. Tien opened his mouth as if to speak in Yamcha's defense but then thought that his rib, though broken, has yet to cause him too much trouble when it came to fight, and could at least stand. So, he closed his mouth instead.
Roshi then said, "Plus, if we fail for whatever reason, you may be the last hope of defeating Piccolo. So it's important that you rest up until called upon."
Yamcha nodded reluctantly. Everything Roshi said was true, and much like his idea for defeating Piccolo with the dragon balls, it was always a good idea to have a Plan B.
"We won't fail." Gohan said calmly, "I believe in all of us."
"I hope so, the lives of so many innocent people are at stake." Tien said with great seriousness in his voice.
At those words, Chi-Chi's eyes glassed over in tears. Gine glanced over at her.
"I can't imagine what those poor people were feeling in those moments. Those villagers that monster killed..." She said aloud to no one in particular, her voice slightly choking as she recalled the images she saw on the television earlier.
"Everyone massacred. Even frightened women and children... How could anyone be so cruel..." the young princess said, as she started crying softly.
Gine looked at her sadly. She knew all too well how there could exist such ruthless killers. How she accompanied many of them on her planet purging days. Witnessing acts of violence and atrocities that would make what they saw on the TV seem like child's play.
She was also uncomfortably reminded that Chi-Chi herself came from a village. So Gine could only imagine the terror the young woman must be feeling...
Almost as if arriving on the same thought, Chi-Chi's face suddenly paled.
"DADDY!" The girl screamed.
Everyone jumped and turned to her in alarm.
"What?! What's wrong Chi-Chi?!" Roshi asked, startled.
"I'm on that list too! What if whoever is killing those fighters tries to find me?!" Chi-Chi yelled.
"They won't find you here with us, your safe!" Bulma tried to reassure her.
"No, NO! Don't you remember the news? Whoever is killing those martial artists is also killing the villages too wherever they find them!" Chi-Chi said, half panicking.
Gine realized it first. Then it sunk in for everyone.
Chi-Chi was from a village like those other fighters. If King Piccolo or his minions try to look for her at Fire Mountain, Ox-king, and their entire kingdom would be in danger.
"We have to get to my father!" Chi-Chi clasped her hands in desperate pleading.
Gohan nodded in alarm for his old friend. "You're right! if whoever is doing this is tracking where they live, they'll kill him for sure!"
Roshi wasted no time. "Launch, head for Fire Mountain!"
"Way ahead of ya, tuts!" Launch said as she changed their course. The jet banked hard right and accelerated even faster towards the north...
...
The ocean seemed to zoom right past them a lot faster, and before long they could see the long line of approaching land on the horizon. But Gine wished it could approach faster as this lumbering human-built transport hauled them across the sky.
Chi-Chi started openly crying loudly. Gine got up and sat next to her, trying to comfort the poor girl.
"Please! We have to hurry!" The young princess begged while she buried her face into Gine's dress gi. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose him too!" She sobbed, losing herself to despair at the idea of losing her father.
It was then that Gine remembered that Chi-Chi only had her father to look after her, and her mother was long dead. She couldn't comprehend the idea of losing her parents at the point Chi-Chi was in her life since Gine didn't know her own parents herself, so all Gine could do was hug Chi-Chi back and pat her on the back soothingly.
"Don't worry, Chi-Chi. We'll get to him soon." Gine said, trying to calm Chi-Chi down.
The ocean gave way to grassy land below, then desert. And after a few long minutes, the familiar shape of Fire Mountain appeared on the horizon.
"THERE!" Gine shouted towards Launch as she pointed towards the mountain kingdom below.
"Got it!" Launch confirmed as they descended rapidly.
A few moments later, they circled over the main village where the Ox-king's castle was. As Gine and the others looked down below, crowds of people began to pour out of their homes to see what the buzzing jet was doing above them.
"Look! There he is!" Bulma said from her window.
Everyone saw where she was referencing and saw a behemoth of man make his way out of the castle and into the village square.
"He's alright!" Gine said happily. Chi-Chi risked a look and cried out again but in sweet relief this time.
Launch brought the jet to a slow decent into the wide-open village square. A large crowd gathered to see the commotion but kept their distance to allow the large jet to land.
No sooner after they touched down, the door opened, and Chi-Chi launched herself out towards her father.
"Daddy!" She yelled as she ran into Ox-king's arms for a hug, tears of joy flowing from her eyes.
"Hey, Chi-Chi! It's so good to see you, sweetheart!" Ox-king said happily as he embraced Chi-Chi with his tree-trunk arms. He then looked up from his daughter to see everyone else piling out of the jet, and his face lit up at seeing their familiar faces.
"Master Roshi!" He said waving to them, then he recognized Gine. "Gine!" Then moving on, "Bulma,! Oolo-" He stopped, his eyes widening.
"Gohan? Is that you?!" Ox-king exclaimed in amazement.
"The one and only, my old friend!" Gohan beamed at him as he stepped off the plane.
"This is so un
expected! How are you doing, old buddy?!" Ox-king boomed at his former training buddy.
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Want to read more?
The next 10+ chapters are already available on my Patreon!
By joining, you'll get:
📖 Early access to future chapters
🗳️ Polls to shape the story
🎁 Exclusive content for Patrons
🔥 Bonus scenes & content you won't find anywhere else
👀 Don't fall behind—others are already ahead!
👉 patreon.com/FanfictionTakashi
(If link doesn't show, just search on Google: FanfictionTakashi Patreon)