While he slept, he dreamed of her.
Dry blue-eyes. It was the first time he saw her in a different scene. She was inside a dark chamber staring at a piece of paper. It had something written on it.
Level F Soldier. Not approved for battle.
Another paper read: Insubordination. Hearing – attendance required.
She sat, quietly enduring. She didn't look sad. Just tired.
The door opened behind her. She didn't turn. In fact, she gave no indication that she had heard it. A man came up behind her, a soft shadow resting over her. He spoke; in that language Goku didn't know but understood.
You could've defeated him easily. Why didn't you?
There was a faint glimmer in her eyes. It came and went in just a second.
Winning means nothing if the weight of victory is too great to bear.
Her words were met with silence. The he conceded.
I'll arrange for you to stay. You'll be safe here. You will never leave this planet again.
His words were meant to to sound reassuring. It felt like a death sentence.
Goku's eyes shot open. The left side of his head ached. His ear hummed. He was on a bed, he found. Bulma was sitting beside him, pressing a wet towel to his forehead. He was oddly touched by that.
"Wha–" He felt dizzy. Not quite out of that dream land. Yet painfully awake.
"Shhh," Bulma said. "You're okay. That idiot over that hit you with a baseball bat. He's awfully sorry about it. I made sure of it."
Goku glanced to the side. A man in blue rompers and a red flannel shirt sat in the corner looking ashamed. His hair was dark and tangled, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"Wha–Why?"
"Well, you did bring his door down like the big bad wolf, didn't you?" Bulma said.
"Forgive me," the man said. He had a high pitched voice. "I mistook you for someone else."
"Really?" Goku tried to sit up. He didn't think he had a concussion. "Who? Who do you greet like that?"
"The terrible Oolong," said someone. Both Goku and Bulma turned. An elderly woman came out form the back room. She was short and plump. She walked with the aid of a staff. She turned to the man. "Sherman, you oaf. You've hurt an innocent boy. You should be ashamed of yourself." She had a heavy accent.
"I am, Lady Farrah," Sherman said, head bowed low.
"Good. Otherwise I'd think you're no better than Oolong."
"Hold up," Bulma said. "Who's this Oolong, the terrible?"
The old woman and Sherman exchanged a look. "He's a demon," she told them simply.
Oh great.
"A shifter, eh? Nobody knows what he truly looks like. Each time we see him he has a different shape. And they are terrible shapes, oh yes. Inhuman. Monstrous. Every so often, he comes and demands offerings. He takes and takes until we have nothing."
"Rations are low. Harvest hasn't been bountiful," Sherman told them. "The land isn't fruitful. We're in trouble. He'd threatened to burn down the entire village if we don't deliver. We have nothing else to give."
"That's horrible," Goku said. For all his troubles, Goku had never gone hungry; couldn't imagine doing so. He believed in hard earnings and he believed in fair. This wasn't it.
He hated bullies, he decided.
"I don't know who this Oolong is, but he can't do this to you folk," Goku told them. "I'll talk to him for you. I'll fix this."
Everyone stared at him like he had just suggested they bathed in nuclear acid.
"Haven't you been listening?" Sherman cried. "He's a demon! A beast! He can take any form he likes! He can be as strong as a dragon or as tall as the sky!"
"Okay, hold that thought," Bulma said. She opened her purple backpack and brought out the Ryanshinchu. She showed the Dragon Ball to the villagers. "First things first. Have any of you seen anything like this?"
Lady Farrah stepped forward. "I own one just like it," she confessed.
"You do?" Bulma's green eyes sparkled.
The woman brought out a Dragon Ball from inside her apron. Why she carried it there, she didn't say. "I've had it for about twenty years. My darling husband, Trahald, found it in the lake one day. He liked to fish, my Trahald. He died a few months later. One of those great east fish ate him. We never did found out what it was."
Bulma examined the sphere. "That's the Tishinchu," she said. "Seven stars. Ma'am, if you give me that sphere, I will set your village free from the terrible Oolong."
Lady Farrah smirked. "A tempting offer, my child, but do you really expect me to believe a couple of teenagers can defeat the mighty Oolong? I am old. Not a fool."
"Believe what you will," Bulma said. "All I care about is that sphere and I'll do whatever it takes to convince you to give it to me. So tell me now. Where can I find this Oolong?"
Old Lady Farrah studied her with growing interest. "He'll be at the harvest site before twilight. That's where you find him."
They talked and talked about the terrible, monstrous Oolong – still, Bulma wasn't quite ready for what she saw next. She and Goku were at the harvest site, a big spread of land that had once boomed as plantation. It was mostly dead now. Empty. There was a point in the middle where the villagers had gathered a few baskets of whatever they could find and spare; bread, milk, goat cheese. Things they needed for themselves but weren't allowed to keep.
The ground rumbled and a thing appeared. Big and metallic, it moved at an unsteady pace as if every step took an effort. Its movements were slow and unnatural. Bulma had seen every sort of robotic android known to man. This wasn't right. This looked like it had been made by a five year old with a pencil.
The only explanation was the shifter. He had created this form out of an image in his head. He had probably never seen modern technology and all its accomplishments. That made her feel more confident. Superior.
It came toward the bounty. It looked disappointed.
"This is what you have for me?" Its voice traveled the field. "This is not what you've promised. Not what we've agreed on."
He was looking at Goku who stepped forward. "I'm not from the village, but I'm here to help. You have been taking what it isn't yours to take. You're a thief."
If robots could frown, Bulma thought this one would be doing just that. "You're—" he hesitated, scratching his metallic head. "You're a foreigner? You came here to stop me? Ha ha. You can't do that. I will smash you to a pulp."
"You're welcome to try."
The villain looked from one to the other. He seemed puzzled, as if he had never expected to be challenged.
"I'll be… back some other time…" he muttered and before their very eyes the thing poofed into a small bat and started to fly away.
Goku reacted first. He whistled for Kinto'un. He jumped onto the flying nimbus as it came and soared through the sky in pursuit of the little bat. He captured the thing in his hands and brought it down.
Next thing, before their eyes, the bat turned into a fat middle-aged man. He was about five inches shorter than Goku, with pinkish skin and a protuberant belly. He wore dark green pants with suspenders, cheap, dirty clothes. His fat cheeks were partially covered in stubble, his small eyes were bloodshot, and he smelled like he hadn't showered in days.
The villagers started to come out of their homes to see.
Bulma pulled out her weapon and pointed at the man. He quickly raised his hands in the air. She shoved a hand inside his back pocket and brought out his driver's license.
"Says here his name is Plutarch Oolong," she told the others. "From Octagon City. Thirty-five years old." She glanced at him. "You don't look thirty five."
"I had a bad month," the man replied. He had a nazaly voice.
"Have you no shame?" Lady Farrah came forward, shaking her walking stick threateningly at Oolong's face. He shrank away from her, but couldn't go far because Goku kept a firm hand on his neck.
"You are a lousy excuse for a man!" someone shouted from the crowd that gathered around them.
"Yeah, I get that a lot…" Oolong sighed, and he had the decency to look ashamed.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Goku asked him.
At first, it didn't seem like he had. But then Oolong steeled himself and spoke. "I'm… I'm sorry." He sounded like a child who had been caught doing something wrong. "I was… I was a student in Shapeshifting Academy, back in Espelleto. That's one of those funny villages up North, with the baguettes and the croissants. I had some disagreements with one of the teachers. They had me drop out. Never finished training. So the shapes I take only last five minutes or so. After that, I need another minute to reload my energies. I couldn't get a job for so long… Nobody likes a drop out. I… I was hungry. I'm sorry I took more than you could provide. It got out of control."
"If you're really sorry," Goku said, "there's something you can do to make up to them."
Oolong was apprehensive at that, but ultimately agreed to whatever the people wanted from them. He revealed the location of his evil lair where he kept some of the food he had collected from the villagers. Together, they distributed it evenly.
The villagers weren't as forgiving and they demanded that Oolong be removed from Aru Village. They were ready to let him go without punishment, but they wished to never see his face in those parts again.
"Don't worry," Bulma told them. "He's coming with us."
Both Goku and Oolong spoke at the same time.
"He is?"
"I am? Whatcha planning to do to me?"
"Oh, relax. I'll only hurt you if you don't come willingly."
"Come where?"
"Here and there."
Lady Farrah handed Bulma the Tishinchu. "Here, girl. As promised. We are forever thankful to both of you." She smiled at Bulma and Goku. "You'll always have friends in Aru Village, should you need any."
"Thank you," Goku said.
Bulma put the Dragon Ball safely in her backpack. She used the scooter capsule and climbed on it. She gestured for Oolong to do the same. He did.
"Dear God, you smell," she muttered.
"Bite me."
*
Two days later, the three of them were crossing the North River on a hoi-poi motorboat. The weather had taken a bad turn and they had taken a bad hitting. At one point, Bulma had fallen into the water and lost her funky belt. That had made her extremely upset as all of her capsules had been stored in there. She had even tried to force Oolong to shift into a fish and look for the capsules at the bottom of the river, but he had refused. It was too deep, he had argued. He would never find it.
Her mood didn't improve, but she grew quieter and they moved further west. "I honestly can't believe there's only two spheres left for us to find," she remarked at one point. As Goku grew to know her better, he decided that her drive was success. She liked to do the impossible. She liked to prove people wrong. Gathering the Dragon Balls wasn't about earning a wish for her – she had no use for that – wanted for nothing. She sought the unachievable, moved toward improbability.
"What is it again that you two suckers are after?" Oolong had been asking that question nonstop since they had left Aru Village. He hadn't gotten an answer out of them yet. Bulma and Goku had come to a silent agreement that it was better to keep the information from the man. Sometimes Oolong would bring up the subject completely out of the blue in the hopes of catching them by surprise, but so far he hadn't had any luck.
"I still don't know why we're taking him with us," Goku said, eyeing the man with suspicion. He didn't trust Oolong, nor had Oolong tried to earn his trust.
"I've been asking myself the same thing," Oolong said as he picked his nose. "I've literally no help to offer. Unless you were to tell me what it is you're looking for—"
"His metamorphosis thingy might come in handy," she simply said.
"Alright. Tell me something," Oolong said, leaning toward her. "Where exactly are we going? Can I at least ask that?"
"Mount Fry-Pan," Bulma told him after a moment of consideration.
Oolong looked like he was trying to swallow a sock. "THE – THE FIRE MOUNTAIN?"
"You know it?" Goku asked him.
"DO I KNOW IT?" Oolong sounded exasperated. "That's where the Ox-King lives!"
"What is an Ox-King?" Goku asked.
"Doesn't ring any bells," Bulma said. "And doesn't sound very scary, to be honest. The King of Oxen."
"You don't understand—"
"Grazing all day..."
Oolong stared at her, disbelief all over his pig-like features. "If we get to the Fire Mountain, we're as good as dead!"
"Settle down," she said. "Everything's going to be fine."
However, things were not fine. The boat soon ran out of gas and they had to abandon it. Without any other capsules, they were forced to take the journey on foot. Trying to be a team player, Goku decided to walk beside Bulma instead of using Kinto'un. She made no comments about it, but he could tell she was genuinely touched by that.
They had to cross the desert to get to the Fire Mountain. They marched ahead for hours. Goku's hair was glued to his forehead. He knew he was dehydrating fast, but he was afraid that if he showed any sign of weakness it would dampen his friends' spirits.
The other two were obviously having a hard time. They were falling behind, struggling to keep on moving. Bulma's white T-shirt was now transparent against her skin. She often stumbled as if walking with her eyes closed. Oolong was smelling like burnt bacon. His breathing was shallow and superficial.
"Come on, guys!" Goku urged. "It can't be much further."
Bulma tripped and fell on her knees. Goku rushed to her side. "I can't," she told him. She was on the brink of tears. "I need a break."
"Don't be weak," he teased, knowing that her greatest motivator was anger.
She pushed him down on the sand. "You're—" she stared at him for a long time, thinking. "See? Something is definitely wrong with me! I can't even think of something offensive to call you."
That was a good point.
There were some ruins scattered around the desert that made for a nice shaded shelter. "Why don't you lie there for a second?" he suggested. "Rest. I'll try to find something for us to drink."
She did as he told her and soon enough she was asleep.
Goku felt uneasy. He was so hungry and dehydrated he could actually feel his strength slipping away. He glanced at Oolong. "What do we do?"
"Don't ask me. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you two pinheads."
So no help from him. Goku shouldn't be surprised. The man was so against going to the Fire Mountain that sometimes Goku would catch him walking backwards.
He just had to think. There had to be something they could do. A way out of this. He couldn't lose faith, that was the most important thing. Perhaps he could call Kinto'un to help him look for a source of water. Perhaps–
He spotted a flying jet on the horizon. It was moving fast toward where they were. Goku's spirits brightened. Could this be help? Someone with piles of food? His stomach growled at the mere thought.
Soon enough he found he was wrong.