The tiny yellow Fiat skidded to a stop, its engine giving one last, exhausted cough before dying.
Bulma stepped out, waving away a thick curtain of soot and ash that clung to the car's bright paint.
"Finally! The radar says it's right here, Mountain of Fire from the stories."
Instead, she froze.
There was no orange glow.
No heat.
Fire Mountain was a blackened.
Every tree was a pillar of charcoal, and the earth was scorched a deep grey.
It looked like a massive inferno had been snuffed out by a giant's hand, leaving nothing.
"Whoa, there's no fire, Bulma. It's all dead." Goku said, hopping out of the passenger seat.
From the back seat, Oolong poked his snout out.
"Dead? Good! Let's keep it that way and get the hell out of here!"
Bulma ignored him, squinting at the castle looming on the summit.
"That's... weird. They say this place has been burning for decades. Did someone actually put it out?"
She shook it off, the Dragon Ball mattered more at that moment.
She pointed a finger toward the peak.
"Well, fire or not, the ball is up there! Goku, get moving! Climb up and find it before the owner catches us!"
"I wouldn't bother."
The voice cut through the air like a blade, bouncing off the blackened canyon walls.
Bulma let out a pathetic yelp, nearly jumping out of her skin.
Oolong dived back into the floorboards of the Fiat.
Standing on a blackened boulder just a few feet away was a girl.
She looked impossibly clean against the sea of ash.
She stood there with her arms crossed, dark ponytail swaying as she stared down at them.
Her gaze was ice-cold, cutting right through them.
"The castle is closed to tourists." Chi-Chi said, her eyes locking onto Goku. She didn't even acknowledge the others.
"And if you're after the orange glass ball, it's a paperweight in my father's study. You aren't getting anywhere near it."
Goku tilted his head, his tail twitching.
He didn't feel the threat.
"Who are you? You look like you're actually tough!" Goku asked, a wide grin splitting his face.
Chi-Chi's mask didn't slip, but her eyes narrowed, dissecting his stance.
"I'm the one who keeps the trash off this mountain."
Chi-Chi didn't move an inch. She just stared at them with those cold, judging eyes.
"Turn that yellow tin can around and get lost." she said, her voice dropping an octave.
"Unless you want the same fate as your partner. I left him face-down in the dirt a few miles back."
Bulma blinked, looking at Oolong. Oolong looked at Bulma.
"Partner? What partner? We don't have a partner. Is she talking about a salesman or something?" Bulma asked, genuinely confused
Chi-Chi's brow furrowed for a split second.
She realized the kid with the tail and the girl in the Fiat had nothing to do with the desert bandit she'd just thrashed.
"Never mind," Chi-Chi muttered, her expression returning to its icy mask.
"It doesn't matter. Leave. Now."
Goku turned to Bulma, scratching the back of his head.
"So, uh... what now? She doesn't seem like she's gonna let us through."
Bulma's face turned a bright, frustrated red.
She leaned out of the car window and pointed a finger at Chi-Chi.
"What now? Goku, beat her up! She's just a little girl! You've taken down giant monsters, you can handle one brat easily!"
Goku hesitated, his tail drooping slightly.
"I don't know, Bulma... Grandpa Gohan always told me to be gentle with girls. He said they're... delicate or something."
Bulma let out a scream of pure exasperation, throwing her hands up.
"She's not delicate! She's a brat who's standing between me and my Dragon Ball! In her case, the rule definitely doesn't apply!"
Chi-Chi's patience snapped.
She didn't growl or scream; she just moved.
She vanished from the boulder, appearing in front of the Fiat like a blue phantom. She aimed straight for Bulma's face.
"Hey!"
Goku reacted on instinct.
He threw himself in front of Bulma, crossing his arms just as Chi-Chi's palm struck.
CLANG.
Goku gritted his teeth, his feet digging two shallow trenches into the scorched earth as he was pushed back.
He managed to shove her hand away, but he immediately clutched his forearm, his tail bristling like a cat's.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Goku yelped, shaking his arm out.
"What the heck? Bulma, you were right, she's not delicate at all!"
Bulma cowered behind the steering wheel, her eyes wide as dinner plates.
"I told you! Now do something!"
Goku looked at his arm; a deep red welt was already forming where she'd struck him. He looked back at Chi-Chi, his grin returning, but this time it had a sharp, competitive edge.
"Man, her hands are hard as steel. It's like getting hit by a hammer."
Chi-Chi didn't relax her stance. She stood perfectly poised, her breathing not even slightly altered.
"That was a warning. The next one goes through your ribs." She said coldly.
Goku didn't wait for another warning.
He lunged, a ball of pure energy, throwing a flurry of punches that had worked on every monster and bandit he'd ever faced.
But Chi-Chi wasn't there.
She moved like smoke, her body swaying inches past his fists with ease.
She was reading him.
Goku swung a heavy roundhouse kick, but Chi-Chi dropped low, her clothes whistling in the air.
Before he could reset, she coiled and snapped her leg upward.
CRUNCH.
The kick caught Goku square in the chest. He went airborne, a human projectile flying backward.
"Goku!" Bulma screamed, diving out of the way just in time.
SMASH.
Goku slammed into the side of the car. The metal buckled like paper, the glass shattered into a thousand diamonds, and the tiny car groaned as its frame twisted under the impact.
The vehicle was a total loss.
Oolong scrambled out of the wreckage, his tail between his legs.
"My car! Our ride! We're stranded in a graveyard with a psycho girl!"
The dust settled, and Goku climbed out of the dented metal, rubbing his head.
He wasn't crying; he looked annoyed.
"Alright..." Goku muttered, his voice dropping into a serious growl.
"You're gonna see now!"
He reached behind his back and gripped the Power Pole.
"Power pole, extend!"
The red staff ignited into motion, shooting forward like a lightning bolt. Chi-Chi's eyes widened.
She hadn't expected the weapon to grow.
She twisted her body mid-air, the tip of the pole grazing her blue gi as it hissed past her ribs and smashed into a blackened boulder behind her, shattering it.
Chi-Chi landed silently, her heart racing for the first time. She stared at the red staff, her mind racing.
That weapon...
It looks just like the stories. The red pole that defies the heavens... why does this brat have it?
Chi-Chi didn't let the shock paralyze her. She stayed low to the ground, her eyes locked on the red staff.
"Where did you get that?"
She demanded, her voice no longer just cold, but demanding.
"That pole doesn't belong to a brat like you."
"It was from my Grandpa, Son Gohan!" Goku shouted, spinning the staff with a whistle of wind before tucking it under his arm.
"And I'm not a brat, I'm Goku!"
He didn't wait for her to process the name.
He lunged again, using the pole's reach to keep her at bay. He swung it in a wide arc, aiming for her legs, but Chi-Chi leaped high, performing a perfect backflip in mid-air.
WHAM.
The staff smashed into the ground where she had stood a millisecond before, splitting the scorched earth wide open.
"Whoa!" Goku yelled, looking up.
Chi-Chi was descending like a hawk, her heel aimed straight for the top of his head.
Goku retracted the pole just in time to block, the metal-on-wood impact sending a vibration through his teeth.
"Grandpa Gohan?" Chi-Chi whispered as she pushed off his staff, flipping backward to gain distance.
She landed with a light scuff of her boots.
"You're Son Gohan's grandson?"
Goku blinked, lowering his guard just an inch.
"You knew my Grandpa?"
Bulma, who was hiding behind a piece of the Fiat's mangled bumper, poked her head out.
"Wait, wait! If you know his grandpa, does that mean we can stop the killing us part and talk about the Dragon Ball?"
Chi-Chi ignored Bulma, her gaze never leaving Goku.
The hostility was still there, but it was being drowned out by a growing realization.
"He was my father's sworn brother." Chi-Chi said, her stance softening, though only slightly. She looked at the boy with the tail, really looking at him this time.
"If you're Gohan's blood... then you're not just some mountain thief."
She looked at the wrecked yellow car, then back at Goku's stubborn, dirt-smudged face.
"But that doesn't mean I'm letting you take what belongs to the Ox King, family friend or not, you're still trespassing."
Before anyone could say another word, the mountain itself seemed to groan.
THOOM.
THOOM.
THOOM.
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps shook the ground, making the debris of the Fiat rattle.
A shadow stretched over them, so long and wide it swallowed the sun.
"Chi-Chi! Are these the rats causing all that racket?" a voice roared, sounding like a rockslide.
Bulma and Oolong looked up, and their jaws hit the floor.
The Ox King stood there, a wall of muscle and beard, his massive axe resting on his shoulder like it weighed nothing.
He looked big enough to eat the Fiat for breakfast.
"Eek!" Bulma shrieked, ducking back behind the wreckage.
"We're just passing through! Honest! We're just tourists with really bad luck!"
Oolong was already trying to dig a hole in the dirt with his bare trotters.
"Don't eat me! I'm all gristle and bad attitude! I don't taste good at all!"
The Ox King ignored their whimpering, his hidden eyes behind the goggles focused on Goku and the red staff.
He grunted, a sound that vibrated in Goku's chest.
"Papa, wait." Chi-Chi said, stepping between her father and the intruders. She pointed a calm finger at Goku.
"The boy. He's Son Gohan's grandson."
The Ox King froze.
The massive axe slipped an inch on his shoulder. He pushed his horned goggles up, his tiny eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Goku.
"Gohan?" he whispered, the booming voice suddenly cracking with emotion.
"You're saying... this sprout belongs to Gohan?"
He stepped closer, leaning down until his massive bearded face was inches from Goku's.
Goku didn't flinch; he just looked back with curious, wide eyes.
The Ox King's gaze locked onto the red pole.
"That staff..." the giant breathed, his voice trembling.
"I'd know that red wood anywhere. It's him. It's really him!"
Suddenly, the terrifying monster vanished. A massive, boisterous grin split the Ox King's beard, and he let out a laugh that nearly knocked Bulma over.
"BWAHAHAHA! Gohan's grandson! My brother's own blood is standing on my mountain!"