Dragon Balls? (99)

The sound of heavy machinery whirring could be heard as large excavators tore up the farmland that was already in the brink of becoming infertile. The farmers of the Gurumes Kingdom could only watch with resentful eyes as their home was being destroyed by the King and his army.

The people lamented quitely, completely outraged but held their silence, knowing that resistance was futile.

"They can't do this to us!" a little girl named Pansy said, filled with righteous indignation.

She raised up her slingshot and loosed a small rock, the clever contraption allowing the stone to fly through the air and knock in the tooth of one of the operators.

"Hey! I'm just doing my job!" he mumbled disgruntledly, continuing to plough through the fields.

"Pansy no!" her mother cried out, already knowing what would happen.

"You little shit!" a nearby guard rushed towards Pansy, jabbing the back end of his gun quickly at the little girl.

"That's enough," a deep voice spoke out.

A thick meaty hand caught the edge of the gun and looked down on the guard, a firm expression on his face.

"Dad!" Pansy shouted happily, quickly retreating behind one of his pillar-like legs.

"Leave her be! She's only a child," he said defensively, increasing his grip on the gun.

"Hmm? Let go of my gun!" the guard said annoyed.

The guard pulled and pulled but his strength was no match for that of a farmer that had been diligently working since the day he was born.

The soldier grunted and jumped at the farmer, throwing his fist at his face. The farmer caught the hand straightforwardly and pulled him over his gun, making his stomach ram into it before letting him crumple on the floor. Pansy's dad threw the gun onto the soldier's stomach, making him brace under the weight of it.

"Pick on someone your own size!" two guards said simultaneously, taking their own guns off safety.

Pansy's dad shifted in front of his people instinctively, he was the village head so it was his responsibility to protect them.

"What's going on here?" a raspy voice called out.

"C-Captain Bongo!"

"This man attacked me," the guard who got dropped said boldly.

"Oh? Are you really that anxious to die?" Captain Bongo said, looking down on the village head in front of him.

"If that's what it takes to protect my village then so be it!" Pansy's Father said confidently.

"The King has destroyed our land and-"

Captain Bongo opened his palm, revealing a small chunk of rock.

"Hmph!"

He squeezed down on it, crushing it smoothly, revealing a shiny red crystal that gleamed elegantly.

"The blood rubies are the only thing of value in your worthless land and the only problem the King is concerned with," Captain Bongo said simply.

"You think that searching for those gives you the right to turn our farms into wastelands? We will not stand by idly as you destroy our villages!"

"Yeah!"

"You tell him!"

The villagers all crowded round, cheering Pansy's father and firing curses at the soldiers.

"You're pretty bold for a farmer, boldness deserves a reward!" Captain Bongo said, flicking the ruby at him.

Pansy's father raised his hands to catch it before a solid fist smashed against his face. He stumbled back and was caught by two guards who had to work together to hold his weight. He was then thrown forwards into the wide approaching fist of Captain Bongo.

"HAA!" Pansy's father cried as air was forced out of his lungs.

"Dad!"

"Husband!"

Pansy and her mother both ran forward, supporting Pansy's father who was breathing heavily.

"I love my work! It's important to choose a career you enjoy!" Captain Bongo said, turning around and leaving.

"That's right, we're the bosses around here!" a guard said, going back to policing the villagers.

Captain Bongo then approached a car that was way too small for him, climbing into the back seat next to a thin woman with red hair that poked out of her helmet.

"To the palace," the woman named Pasta said, commanding the driver in front.

"This isn't the King Gerumes I know at all!" one of the villagers said.

"Those generals must have tricked him!"

Pansy looked at her father's face which was bruising.

'I'll show them!' she thought, a determined look growing on her face.

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"You call this shit food?" King Gerumes said annoyedly, throwing a plate onto the floor.

"Everyone calls it food," his robotic assistant said snarkily.

King Gerumes collapsed into his throne tiredly, his huge belly leaking out of his clothes.

"I can't take it anymore! Ever since I ate that blood ruby on accident, no amount of food can satisfy my hunger!"

"I know, you've said that to me over a thousand times, what did I say about eating everything you find?" the assistant said in a low voice.

"How many of the dragon balls have we found? I need all seven so I can wish away this horrible hunger!" the King said, continuing to complain.

Before the assistant could even respond, the palace doors were opened, revealing a tall stocky man and a shorter young woman.

"Pasta! Bongo! You return with good news I hope!" the King said, forcing himself to sound excited.

"Depends, what's in it for me?" Pasta said.

"All the blood rubies we've mined! Have you forgotten?" the King said irritatedly.

"Just making sure you remember but this time we have competition," she said cooly.

"With who?" the King asked angrily.

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Mount Pazou was a dense jungle environment, tall and rounded mountains standing upright everywhere while dense forest green covered its surfaces, smothering the walls and floor throughout the entire region.

Deep within this forest stood a solitary house, surrounded by tall trees.

Goku clasped his hands in front of a small shiny orange ball with four stars on it.

"Time to go get some food Grandpa, wish me luck!" he said before hurriedly running out.

Son Goku was about 4 foot 5, his small and childish appearance broken by the sleek and slender muscles that adorned his body. He had long spiky hair and big round eyes that made him look attentive. A small wispy tail swished from side to side behind him.

"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hahahaha!"

Goku laughed childishly as he ran through the jungle, jumping from tree to tree like a monkey, then swinging off long vines that threw him high into the air.

Goku soared before landing gracefully on two feet.

"Look out fishes Goku's coming!" he said triumphantly before making a leap towards a nearby lake, somersaulting three times in the air before diving cleanly into the water, performing breaststroke perfectly without ever being taught.

Goku swam through the water slowly, casting his eyes over the various fishes in front of him, dissatisfied with their small bodies.

'I'm super hungry, so I'm gonna catch a big one!' he thought, setting himself a goal.

A soft growling could be heard behind Goku, a growling so quiet that if you weren't listening carefully you'd miss it completely.

Goku turned around and saw a huge fish with its jaws wide open, it's thin yellow eyes peering out the corners sizing up its prey.

"Hi-yah!" Goku said, flying out of the water, he grabbed the fish's tail and slammed it against a rock causing its eyes to bulge out and its body to go limp.

"I caught a big one!" Goku said happily, lifting it onto his shoulders.

BRRRRRRM!

A long white motorcycle with a black "Capsule Corp" logo sped up on the road, travelling hundreds of metres in just a second.

The driver, a blue-haired teenage girl, looked up seeing a dark green aeroplane with a green "Gurumes Army" logo fly through the air.

'Doesn't look friendly' she thought to herself as she pulled out a device with a green screen from her pocket, a shiny orange ball with two stars coming into view for a few seconds.

'According to my dragon radar, the dragon ball is just a few miles ahead! Nothing can stop me from making my wish!' she thought assuredly, a sliver of drool falling from her mouth as she thought about the perfect boyfriend.

'He has to be tall and have super big muscles! He should have a soft but deep voice and the dreamiest eyes possible!' she thought, closing her eyes to envision him.

Goku turned around, he could hear a faint whirring in the distance but when he looked in that direction, he only saw a hill.

'That's strange!'

Goku closed his eyes and focused on the sound, trying to make sure that he actually heard it.

'It's definitely there! I can hear it getting closer!' he thought assuredly.

Goku opened his eyes looked at the hill again, now seeing a long white motorcycle approaching him.

'Ah?' he thought surprised but quickly regained his cool and readied himself in his battle position.

'It's coming straight at me!' he thought narrowing his brows.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Bulma screamed flying over the hill, she struggled to control the motorcycle and shrieked when she saw the small child on the road.

Before she could warn him she suddenly felt weightless, realising that the motorcycle was forcibly thrown into the air.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" She cried again completely terrified before landing and bringing her motorcycle to a screeching halt, performing a quick spin.

"W-Who are you!" she said hastily, bringing out her gun and pointing it and Goku.

Goku caught his fish which he had thrown above the motorcycle and looked back at Bulma, unfamiliar with the strange object in her hands.

"Why do you look so weird?" he asked genuinely.

Bulma was appalled.

"If you don't tell me who you are right this instant I'm going to shoot you!" she said, her hands trembling slightly.

"My name is Goku," Goku said simply, examining his fish.

'Oh no! I got some dirt on it! I'll have to wash it later,' he thought, inspecting his prize.

"Ok then, Goku! W-Why did you say I look weird?" she said, her face flushing red as her eyes went down.

Bulma was extremely self-conscious about her appearance, she had put a lot of effort into it and her father warned her about people who would try to take advantage of her because of it.

She still held the gun with textbook posture though.

"Because your legs are so long and because of the weird lumps on your chest," Goku said honestly, realising his hands were the source of contamination for his fish.

"What? Have you never seen a girl before?" Bulma cried out angrily.

"A girl? The only person I have ever seen was my Grandpa and that was before he turned into a ball," Goku replied, still contemplating how he would cut the dirty fish.

'A ball? I bet the Dragon Ball I saw on my radar belongs to him!' Bulma thought quickly.

"Does the ball happen to look like this?" Bulma said, dropping her gun and taking her own Dragon Ball out.

"Give me back Grandpa!" Goku shouted jumping at Bulma without any hesitation.

"AH!" Bulma threw the Dragon Ball at Goku and quickly veered left.

Goku caught at and held it close to his chest, looking at Bulma angrily.

'That confirms my suspicions'

"I can prove it's not yours, check the number of stars on it!" Bulma said, slightly peeved at the child in martial arts closed who jumped her.

"Huh? This one only has two stars! Mine should have four!"

"Cus it's not yours!" she said loudly, taking it out of Goku's hands.

DSH!

King Gerumes' helicopter landed.

"That's not good!"

"What's not good?" Goku asked confusedly.

"I have a feeling someone is after that Dragon Ball of yours," Bulma said sincerely.

Goku's eyes widened.

"Grandpa!" he shouted before taking off, dragging the fish that was at least four times his size with him.

[Storyteller: And so begins the journey of Son Goku! Will he be able to retrieve his Dragon Ball in time? And how was he able to lift a motorcycle with such ease? And just who are Bulma and the Gurumes Army? Find out in the next chapter of Dragon Ball Revised!]