Piccolo squeezed. A sickening grind of bone echoed across the quiet courtyard. Goku choked on a short gasp. Tien stayed silent but his face twisted in raw agony.
"Hahahaha! You idiot." Piccolo laughed.
"You forgot the golden rule. It only takes one drop of power to snap a human neck."
Chi-Chi froze. The wind whipping around her boots died flat. She stared at the monster.
"You bastard!" She screamed.
The Demon King smiled. The distant city fires caught the edge of his sharp fangs.
"What is the matter? You lost your nerve?" He hoisted them higher. Their boots kicked weakly at empty air.
Chi-Chi dug her bloody nails into her palms. Her mind ripped through the angles. She was too far away. A rush would get them killed instantly. A ki blast would catch them in the crossfire. She was entirely trapped.
"If you kill them you lose your shield. The second they drop I will take your head. You know I am fast enough!"
Piccolo tightened his grip. Goku and Tien cried out in pain.
"Take one more step and I pop them both." Piccolo growled.
Tien forced his one good eye open. Blood coated half his bruised face.
"Chi-Chi. Do it. Kill him right now."
King Piccolo threw his head back and laughed. The brutal sound shook the remaining walls.
"You heard the three eyed freak. If you want to see them die so badly then go ahead. Take a swing."
Chi-Chi dropped her hand to her waist. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of Kumokiri.
The metal clicked as she pushed the blade up just one inch. But she stopped. The sword felt like it weighed a ton. She just could not draw it.
The Demon King bared his fangs. He dug his fingers deeper into their skulls.
Goku let out a choked scream. Tien let out a harsh groan.
"Get on the ground. Or I paint the dirt with their brains."
The courtyard went dead silent. Chi-Chi stared at Goku. His face was a knot of pain. The fire in her chest turned to ice. She let go of the sword. Her arms dropped limp to her sides.
She bent her knees. Her boots scraped the loose gravel. She bowed her head and let both knees hit the broken stone.
Goku forced one eye open. Blood ran down his chin but he tried to smile anyway.
"Do not worry about us! Just beat him. You can always use the Dragon Balls to wish us back tomorrow."
King Piccolo threw his head back and laughed. The sound shook the dust in the air. He looked down at Goku like he was a pathetic bug.
"Oh? Did you actually think I would leave a loose end like that?"
He squeezed their heads just enough to make them gasp.
"Your magic orbs are useless. Right after I got my youth I blew your precious dragon to pieces. Nobody is coming back."
"N-No..."
The cold truth hit Chi-Chi hard. The cracked stone bit into her knees. Her eyes went wide as the last tiny spark of hope vanished from the ruined courtyard.
King Piccolo shifted his massive grip. He pulled Goku and Tien close together and pinned both of their heads under his thick left arm. Their bruised bodies hung heavy and limp against his side. He raised his free right hand and pointed a single green finger directly at Chi-Chi.
"Stay exactly where you are."
A sharp hum cut through the quiet ruins. A thin yellow beam of pure energy fired from his fingertip.
The bright laser crossed the courtyard in a fraction of a second. It ripped right through the heavy cloth of her gi and pierced straight through her right shoulder.
"Ghwaah!"
The sheer kinetic impact threw Chi-Chi backward. Her knees dragged hard across the rough stone. A hot splash of red hit the gray dust behind her. The terrible heat seared her muscle and bone instantly. She clamped her teeth together tight. A raw grunt of absolute pain ripped from her throat.
She forced her weight forward against the pain. She did not fall flat on the dirt.
She kept her hands planted firmly against her thighs. She looked straight up at the green monster. A dark and terrifying hatred burned in her eyes.
"Good. It seems you finally understand your place in this world."
"Move, Chi-chi!" Goku shouted.
"Do not just take it. Fight him."
Tien forced his head up a fraction of an inch.
"We are already dead. Stop letting him break you down."
King Piccolo curled his lip in deep disgust. He tightened his thick arm and cut off their air completely.
"Silence! The adults are talking."
He raised his smoking right hand once more. He pointed his index finger straight at her. He aimed directly for her leg. A second yellow beam flashed across the gray dust.
The hot laser pierced completely through her kneecap.
The violent strike shattered the bone instantly.
Chi-Chi let out a sharp cry. Her right leg gave out completely.
She collapsed sideways and caught her weight on her left hand. The smell of burning flesh hung heavy in the ash. She stared at the dirt under her fingers. Her chest heaved with shallow breaths.
Piccolo threw his head back and roared with laughter. He simply opened his hands.
Goku and Tien dropped like stones. They hit the broken floor with a dull thud. Neither of them moved.
The Demon King kicked off the ground. A burst of white ki shot his giant frame high into the sky. He hovered near the clouds and looked down at her.
Chi-Chi kept her palm planted hard against the rubble just to stay upright. Blood poured freely from her shoulder and her shattered knee.
"Look at the mighty hero. Bwahahahaha!" Piccolo sneered.
"I am going to wipe you off the face of this planet."
He raised both hands high. A massive sun of yellow energy ignited between his palms. The sheer heat pushed the smoke away. He was charging the final blow.
Chi-Chi spat a mouthful of blood onto the rocks. She forced herself to stand using only her left leg. The hole in her shoulder burned like fire. She locked her eyes right on the blinding light above her.
"You have it backward. You are the one who is finished..."
She took a slow breath. The air tasted like blood and dry earth.
"I made a promise before I walked in here. My father died bleeding on the ground because of your spawn. Master Roshi and the others died trying to fix your mess. Every single person you butchered left their fight with me. I am not going to die looking up at you."
Chi-Chi lifted her good arm. The broken rocks shifted.
Kumokiri rattled inside its scabbard down in the dirt. A sharp pulse of clear ki grabbed the steel. The sword violently ripped itself free. It shot straight up. The worn leather hilt slammed perfectly into her open hand.
A heavy gale began to whip around her bleeding frame.
She did not need a working leg to stand right now. The roaring wind simply picked her up. She rose from the cracked earth. She floated higher and higher until she stared directly into his eyes.
Piccolo felt a hot spike of pure rage burn his chest. He squeezed the giant yellow sun between his palms.
"You arrogant little rat! None of those dead fools are going to save you!"
He threw every ounce of his remaining power into the strike.
He hurled the massive sphere of destruction straight down. He did not stay back. His giant body dropped right after the blast. He dove out of the clouds to crush her himself.
Chi-Chi brought the cold metal of Kumokiri up to her face. Her breathing was shallow and rough. Blood dripped from her chin onto the flat of the blade.
Chi-Chi pulled the cold metal close to her face. She closed her eyes against the blinding heat above her.
The deep throb in her shoulder went numb. The agony in her shattered knee faded away completely. She poured every single drop of her remaining power into her left hand.
"You are the blade that parts the storm. You eat the gale. You spit the thunder."
She opened her eyes. A brilliant blue spark ignited at the base of the steel.
"Bite through the sky, Kumokiri."
The wind exploded around her in a howling vortex.
Blue lightning coiled violently around the thin sword.
She blasted forward.
She became a single spark of rebellion charging right into a raging inferno.
King Piccolo plummeted toward the ground like a dying sun. His massive yellow sphere of ki pushed a wall of blistering heat ahead of him.
The sheer pressure crushed the ruined buildings below into fine powder. He roared with absolute murder in his chest.
Chi-Chi rocketed straight upward. The empty air between them vanished instantly.
A streak of pure blue pierced the massive wave of burning gold. The entire world went completely dead and silent for one heartbeat as the two fighters collided in the center of the sky.
The blue lightning tore the sun wide open. A sharp ring of steel echoed across the open clouds.
Chi-Chi stopped her flight high in the air. Her left arm trembled violently. She kept the bright blade pointed straight out.
Below her the massive sphere of yellow ki split perfectly in two. The dead halves exploded harmlessly in the distance.
King Piccolo froze midair. A single thin red line appeared across his thick green chest. The cut ran from his left shoulder straight down to his right hip.
His eyes snapped wide open in pure shock. The top half of his giant body slowly slid away from his waist. Thick purple blood rained down over the ruined courtyard.
He had no power left to heal. He was totally broken.
"I-Impossible!" Blood spilled over his fangs.
"H-How... I am the Demon King. I cannot die by your hand..."
His vision faded to black. Death grabbed his lungs tight.
"N-No!"
He refused to let his dark legacy end on the dirt.
Piccolo gathered every single drop of his fading life.
He pushed the heavy energy up into his throat. His neck bulged with a sickening stretch. He unhinged his jaw and violently spat a large white egg into the cold air.
He used his last spark of strength to swing his heavy fist. He punched the thick shell hard. The impact launched the egg miles away. It vanished instantly over the distant mountains.
"Avenge me. Burn this world to ash my son."
His chest caved in. The broken energy inside his body lost all control. The Demon King detonated. A violent wave of white heat tore through the sky and blew his remains to dust.
The shockwave from the blast rolled over Chi-Chi.
The heat washed over her face but she barely felt it. The bright focus in her eyes faded entirely to black. The howling wind that held her high in the sky died in an instant.
Her grip finally failed. Kumokiri slipped from her bloody fingers and dropped into the empty air.
Chi-Chi fell right after it. She plummeted toward the broken earth like a ragdoll.
The rushing wind tore at her ruined clothes but she was completely unconscious.
The jagged rocks of the courtyard waited far below.
She never hit the ground.
A blur of bruised skin and torn fabric crashed into her midair. Two heavy arms wrapped tight around her waist.
Tien grunted as her falling weight slammed into his chest.
The brutal impact drove all the air from his lungs. He twisted his body just before they reached the dirt. He took the brunt of the landing. His back hit the rubble with a violent thud. The shock rattled his teeth but he kept his grip tight.
Dust settled slowly over the crater. Tien forced his single good eye open. He was covered in his own blood and completely exhausted. He looked down at the girl resting against his chest.
"Hey. Chi-Chi."
She did not move. Her breathing was terribly shallow but steady.
Tien let his head fall back against the cracked stone. A weak laugh escaped his throat. He stared straight up at the clear sky above the ruins.
"You actually did it. The demon is dead. You won."