Project Cloud


Chapter 6 — Plans for the Tournament


The past few years training with Muten Roshi really did well for Mai and Shuu, but mostly Upa, who put his very all into the various forms of physical, mental, and emotional training that Roshi had provided him.

Just a couple years older now, Upa is visibly seen to be a tad bit taller with slimmer cheeks and a leaner over all physical tone, as well as semi-visible abs. Granted, he's still a child, but for a child, he's shown to be pretty damn fit.

He couldn't have done it without his master, though.

Roshi, sitting, just outside his tee-pee on Korin's land, is sipping on some soup as he watches Upa take on Mai and Shuu alongside Bulma, Turtle, Oolong, Pilaf, and Puar.

One would think that Upa would be having the most difficult time taking on two more experienced fighters than he, but his training regimen really aided him in jumping sudden expectations. He dodged all their punches, kicks, and routine attempts at a tag-team take-down effortlessly. It was all the more impressive that he did this with a big, 100 pound turtle shell on his back.

Not a moment's training went by without Upa using the turtle shell. Roshi emphasized this on Upa more than anyone else, starting the kid off with ten pounds and progressively stacking on more after a certain amount of time.

Shuu grabs for his sword and rushes in for Upa, who turns around with perfect timing, to allow his turtle shell to break the sword in half prior to facing Shuu and knocking him down with a simple open-palm strike to the face. He proceeds to lean backward, missing a side kick from Mai, coming back up with a six-inch punch to the stomach that knocks the female over on her back.

This was the first time that Upa had touched either one of them ever since they started just 10 minutes ago.

Upa starts stretching with a big, proud smile on his face. "Is that the best you guys really got? Just a month ago, both of you coming at me automatically meant that I would lose."

"It's because you went the extra mile," Roshi butts in as he's eating with a mouth full of ramen noodles. "Even when our training routine was over, you've been doing workouts of your own, probably those of which you've seen your father do. The combination of my training with some of your dad's teachings and proper rest make for extraordinary progress. Besides, I also believe Mai and Shuu only train because they literally have nothing else to do."

"Heh, they're probably scared to go back out there because of the Red Ribbon," Turtle comments.

"Could you blame them?" Oolong asks the turtle.

"No, not really."

The entire time, Bulma had been seated with her legs crossed and palm mushing her face. Ever since they came to Korin's land, it's been nothing but a bore. Yamcha and Krillin's training was climbing the tower to go train with Korin, meaning that she was stuck down here without her boyfriend and instead with a pervert, people who tried to kill her, and some red-skinned brat that wasn't of any use to her. The only time she could go home was on school days and even then, she never got to sleep over. She just went home to get ready for school, also as a way to check in on her parents.

Despite asking her mom and dad if they even wanted to come along for their own safety, the two assured Bulma that they were fine and said that it's her who must be careful instead.

The lack of expected concern made Bulma question if her parents really even loved her sometimes.

"I'm tired of being here," Bulma mumbles under her breath.

"You say something?" Pilaf asks her.

Bulma is silent for a brief moment, thinking on if she should even say it loud and clear, just because the very thought of saying it made her angry due to the fact that she was missing out on a lot in life. She repeated herself a bit louder, though Pilaf leaned in closer with his hands up against his ear.

"Come again?"

"I said I'm tired of being here!" Bulma shrieked in his ear. Pilaf fell over on his side, crawling at the grass — that was how much fear Bulma put into him. The violet-hair colored female gets up on her feet, dusting herself off. "I want to go home."

"I know," Roshi says with a deep sigh. He and Bulma have had this conversation more times than he's gotten off on video tapes of women doing exercises. It was past the point where it got on his nerves and he just accepted the fact that he would simply have to remind her that all of this was because of her own safety.

Roshi gives Bulma the same routine talk about her protection and how this is all for the best, though this merely evokes a pout and a shrug of the shoulders as she crosses her arms in young, fiery defiance.

"We need to maintain the element of surprise," Roshi finishes. "With them not knowing our whereabouts as we train, we have that leverage."

"When will we finally make our move anyway?" Pilaf asks.

Truth be told, Roshi still wasn't sure — not in the slightest. He initially thought that it would merely be best to wait for Krillin and Yamcha to complete their training with Korin so that Upa could get his own training there as well. So once everyone finished their higher learning, they could then go ahead and proceed to make a move, though he still wasn't confident in that decision. Were his students ready? Krillin and Yamcha? Perhaps. Upa? Roshi really wasn't confident, regardless of the fact that he was making better progress than all of his students, with the exception of Son Goku.

Just as he was going to give an answer, Upa points up at two falling figures from above.

"Look!"

"It's Yamcha and Krillin!" Puar calls out happily.

Krillin and Yamcha fall down from a couple ten thousand of feet as if it was nothing, landing on all ten toes with no apparent immediate repercussions. Yamcha flicked his hair back, revealing all the stubble on his face. And Krillin had to flip his back as well, given that it hadn't been cut since he started training for Korin.

Yamcha was easy to recognize but it was Krillin who got all the weird looks.

This causes the young fighter to raise his arms and shrug his shoulders. "What!?"

"You don't even look like Krillin, even though you are," Bulma says with her arms wrapped tightly around Yamcha.

Looking back to Bulma with a scowl, Krillin asks her, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"We haven't had much time to shave anything down, really," Yamcha says. "Korin wouldn't let us do anything but sleep, eat, potty, and train. That's literally it."

Krillin sighs. "Yeah, man. I didn't think it was ever going to end, but once we got it...we really did."

The last time Upa saw these two was when they had first introduced themselves to him when they entered his land. Since then, he had never seen their faces, but know of them from talk of Bulma, Roshi, and the others.

Upa runs up to Yamcha and Krillin, asking them both how much stronger did they get.

Krillin, flexing his biceps with a grin, says, "Lots stronger. The 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai will be ours for the taking."

"Don't get so cocky," Roshi warns Krillin. "Upa still has to climb the tower."

The two disciples of Roshi look down at Upa for a slight moment before they cover their mouths to stifle the uncontrollable laughter dying to come out.

Bulma smacks Yamcha in the back of the head to get the laughing to stop. "And what's so funny, huh?"

"No disrespect, little guy, but I'm just not sure. This training isn't anything like Muten Roshi's and I don't think you'd be done in time for the World Martial Arts Tournament."

"Again, I warn you, don't get cocky. Need I remind you that I have been the one training Upa? Me, the one who's been trained by Korin." Roshi realizes that he can just end the conversation by noting the look of epiphany on their faces, but he continues anyway. "I know Korin's training better than any other's and I've been preparing him for it. Unless Korin has some new tricks, then Upa should have completed his training much faster than even Krillin and Yamcha did, which had Roshi beat by just half a year, given how it took the seasoned master three years just to finish Korin's training.

"When can I go up there?" Upa asks.

"The sooner, the better," Roshi tells the boy. "Krillin and Yamcha are done, so the spotlight up there is all yours for the taking."

"Awesome!"

Just as Upa goes on to remove his turtle shell, Roshi puts his hand up to stop the kid from doing so. Upa was halfway to completely taking the shell that was twice his size off his back.

"You train with Korin while wearing the turtle shell," Roshi tells him.

Krillin and Yamcha's eyes go huge at the fact that Upa still has to train with that on. Yamcha didn't know what it was like at all to go through rigorous training with a weighted shell, but Krillin remembered vividly. Add that on top of Korin's regimen – Upa wasn't going to have a very easy time.

"Be careful up there," Krillin tells Upa. "The cat can be quite tricky."

Upa tilts his head. "Cat?"

"You'll see," Yamcha chuckles.

Upa's lips curl into a smile, waving at everyone as he crouches down. With a great amount of pressure built into his legs, the young boy defied all the odds of gravity as he rockets hundreds of feet into the air, surpassing the clouds effortlessly within the blink of an eye.

Everyone, including Roshi, was astounded by the fact that Upa could jump so high with the weighted shell on his back.

This just left them all imagining that Upa could possibly make it there to Korin's tower with one single leap had he not used the weighted shell.

Just half a minute later, Upa's lost some momentum, but the wind continues to smash into his face as he elevates to higher territory. Before, the kid would have been terrified of such heights, but he had developed an entirely different mindset. It was Roshi who was to thank for allowing Upa to get rid of his fear of the path of power and to take that leap of faith.

He hadn't stopped thinking about his father with every day that's passed. He prayed for him and even Son Goku when he woke up and before he slept. The kid always asked what happened to Goku, yet nobody would give him a direct answer. He only stopped asking whenever Roshi told him that he would see one day.

Upa knew it wasn't good, but he wanted to keep a positive mindset about the entire situation.

Just as he stopped and paused in the air, Upa clutched onto Korin's tower before he would dip back down.

Holding onto the tower tightly, Upa takes one look down, seeing nothing but white clouds. He looks back up, takes a deep breath, and says, "Here goes."


Red Ribbon Headquarters had always been in one specific area on the West side of Planet Earth. Due to the unexpected attack from Goku's friends a while back, the entire army - or what was left of it - had to relocate elsewhere.

Gero had a personal laboratory of his located in the North East, directly aside North Capitol. The personal laboratory had a secret entrance located on a narrow mountain road where mostly truckers traversed, meaning that there was barely any traction through there asides from mostly working men or families taking vacations.

The workers of the Red Ribbon Army added on to Gero's personal laboratory and built themselves a bunker inside the entire mountain, which they now used as Headquarters. There were many different entrances, for cars, tanks, copters, etc.

It didn't take long for those that did pass by over the course of months long to realize that this place was turning into a base of sorts. And after the news made it clear that the Red Ribbon Army had been attacked, there were those quickly catching on to their new area of operations.

In his own laboratory, Gero takes a lean back into his rolling chair, with a cheesy grin plastered on his face. Subsequent to stretching with an obnoxious yawn, the old scientist removes himself from his chair and goes over to a capsule machine in which he's been keeping Goku in.

Gero grabs at a remote and calls in. "Violet, tell Commander Red that I will be needing him and Officer Black in my presence immediately."

Violet responds, "And who will be the one to watch over personnel amongst other things in the brief absence of Commander Red and Officer Black?"

"You, I suppose," Gero says. "You are now General, after all. It won't be long, Violet. Just bring them over."

"As you wish, Dr. Gero."

Gero stands there, looking directly at Son Goku's face. Since the last time he's tested him, he's made a lot of progress with the young brat. He looked further into his DNA and all of his special properties, having absolutely no idea what he could possibly do with them in fear that he may mess the boy up. He simply continued on with what he knew, as the child still held similar tendencies as Earthlings. With that, he's given him enhanced strength, stamina that will never run out, heightened reflexes, amongst many other things.

The time to attack will be soon.

But they still need that last Dragon Ball for sure measure.

With the automatic doors sliding open behind him, Gero turns his attention to the short red-headed midget and the tall, bald officer. Gero knew that they were here for one thing and one thing only.

Red was quick to ask. "Is it finally finished?"

"Very much so," Gero confirms. "By now he should be perfect. Increased strength, stamina, and total deference. The perfect soldier."

"Well, get on with it," Red tells Gero. "Only the brat knows where the last Dragon Ball could be. We can't track it down with the radar at all, so he must know!"

Red had been more and more impatient as time went on. He had one or two options: use Son Goku as a way to take over Earth or use the Dragon Balls. Truth be told, he wanted Son Goku to be used, but Gero always rejected the idea, given how the kid wasn't perfectly compliant yet. Red understood why Gero didn't want to take any chances, but at the same time, for Goku to take out Earth's army and he use the Dragon Balls would be killing two birds with one stone.

Gero presses the activation remote.

The door to the capsule chamber in which Goku was held in lets out a big puff of icy smoke prior to opening. A split second later, Goku's eyes come to an open and the kid finally steps out.

"This is he," Gero tells the two men, "Son Goku...or if you want to call him...Android nine."

"We'll stick to Goku," Black and Red both say at once.

Gero knew that he had to change more than just Goku's ways. He also changed his attire. He stuck with what the kid always wore, which was a gi, but he merely changed the colors to it — all red. Not only that, but he had an insignia on the front left chest and his entire back that represented the Red Ribbon Army.

"Well?" Gero looks back to Goku. "You may speak."

With enhancements done to his body, Son Goku no longer needed food to fuel his energy. The only thing he had to concern himself over was being hydrated. With cells that deteriorate slowly than the average human as well as his own kind meant that he truly didn't require much to stay on his feet. Regardless, he still wanted to eat just because he knows he liked to do it all the time.

"I want food."

"You don't need food," Gero tells Goku.

"Yeah, but I want it."

Gero looks back over to Red and Black, both of whom merely shrug.

So Gero gives Goku what he wants.

A full course meal of various meats, rice, and seafood. The kid devoured all of it, yet didn't feel a sensation of fullness or content that he used to feel whenever it came to eating.

Could he feel anything at all?

Seeing that the kid is finally finished stacking plates on top another so much that it's made difficult to see the wall across the room, Gero wants to get to business.

"What mission do you have for me?" Goku asks.

This puts a smile on Red's face, believing this to be a very good sign that the kid is the one to take the initiative in asking for missions instead of waiting for them to be given out for him.

"We need you to go out and look for the last Dragon Ball," Red tells Goku.

That was all the kid needed to hear. Once Red told him the mission, Goku removed himself from his chair and left the room without a second thought.

Black, amazed, is unable to fathom how ridiculously easy that was. "Just like that? Without hesitation? Without question?"

"The kid vividly remembers the feeling of having the life sucked away from him. From now on he'll do whatever he can to avoid it, which means he has to be loyal to us — no questions asked.

"Good," Red says as he takes a sip of scotch.

Despite that showcase of submission, Black still needed to know something. "Now we know that his loyal can go untested. What is one sure way to know for sure that he's really stronger?"

"I am already one step ahead of you," Gero tells Black.


Kame House was a complete failure. Son Goku stopped by on the very island he came to meet Roshi whenever he asked for training. He knew this was the spot immediately, though he knew something was out of place whenever he noticed that the old man's house was no longer there.

The kid was rather disappointed but didn't showcase said disappointment. He looked off into the sky with a blank stare. The sun was going down and the stars were just dying to shine brightly out into the night.

He knew of only one other place.


The two most unlikely couple: Dr. Briefs and Panchy.

Just by looking at Dr. Briefs and his wife, all the while having knowledge of the former's success, many could only automatically assume that Panchy married Dr. Briefs because of his affluence.

Others were always under the assumption that Dr. Briefs married Panchy because of him being such an intelligent person, a nerd like him would never be able to pull any chicks in High School, so he just used his money to get a fine trophy wife.

Some even believed Dr. Briefs was so smart that he made his own wife from scratch.

Rumors were rumors though and only these two knew the truth.

Dr. Briefs was happy with his lifestyle. And so was Panchy.

Truth be told, the very thing that may have bonded them together in the first place, despite their very obvious difference in intellect, more than likely had to be their laid-back nature.

The two, in their pajamas, lied against the bed-rest, watching television. As Dr. Briefs watched a police show, Panchy's eyes move left and right on the bed for the remote. It didn't take long for her to realize that her husband more than likely had it on him.

"Can you change it to the cooking show for me, sweetheart?"

Dr. Briefs just shrugs. "Why not just watch the cops and robbers show tonight, dear? We go to sleep to your cooking show every night."

Briefs made a point and Panchy wasn't going to make a big deal out of it.

"That's okay with me because you're going to fall asleep to it anyway like you always do."

Briefs just laugh. Oh, how right she was. He couldn't go watching a full movie without dozing off within the first hour.

As they watch the show together, Briefs' mind goes off elsewhere. The first person that comes to mind is Bulma.

"I hope our little girl is okay."

"Oh, I'm sure she's fine," Panchy reassures her husband. "She's a smart girl and she can handle herself just fine."

"That is true. With your looks and my brains, I don't see how she'd be in a pickle, hehe."

BAM

The loud banging sound causes both Briefs and Panchy's eyes to shoot directly at the door entrance of their bedroom. Husband and wife look at one another momentarily, both obviously confused as to what noise could have been made.

"Was it one of the animals?"

Briefs shook his head. "Couldn't be. You know I always make sure to lock them in before night time."

It isn't long before the security alarm rings off throughout the entire house.

Dr. Briefs gets out of bed. "I'll handle this." The old man goes to his drawer and reaches in, pulling out a glock.

Panchy gets out of bed as well but she only goes as far as the door. She listens out for any sounds, but there's nothing - not even the sound of a gun being shot. After a few minutes, the silence keeps on, which really begins to worry her because she knew her husband would call out for her name to let her know everything was fine.

With curiosity beginning to get the best of her, the blonde woman slowly begins making her way down the stairs and into the living room. The closer she gets, the harder her heart begins to beat against her breast.

The livingroom likes like it was pillaged by the FBI. Cushions were torn off the couch and teared up. Drawers were opened and smashed onto the ground. The animals had been let loose as well, but shortly before being reduced to dead bodies.

"W-Who's there?"

Goku lifts his head up, making direct eye-contact with Panchy. Seeing his face, she lets a sigh of relief. "Goku! Why are you making such a mess!?"

It wasn't until her eyes averted over to her husband lying down in his own pool of blood that evoked a bloodcurdling scream from Panchy — one that rang out so loud that the sounds of the security alarms had been muffled out.

But that scream was cut short.


All of Capsule Corp was turned inside out. From the outside looking on, the place would appear as normal as usual, but with one foot through the door, the hell that took place would cause anyone to go into near shock. Perhaps fearful that the intruder was still there.

But Goku was already out and about subsequent to failing in finding the last Dragon Ball there.

Thanks to Gero, flying came naturally to the young cyborg. Goku, flying over Mountain Pazou, looked down directly at his old home in the remote area.

Here is where he was found.

Here was where he grew a love for Martial Arts.

Here was where he became the person that everyone loved.

Until that was robbed of him.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to give it much thought thanks to being blindsided and sent directly into a stream of river hundreds of feet below. The harsh crash into the body of water would have killed anyone, but not him.

No second later than being hit down, Goku hops right back up onto land. The man who struck him down by surprise is already just a few yards away from him, with his hands behind his back.

All Goku needed to see was that pink long coat and that hideous single braid over his right shoulder.

"Long time no see," Tao greets Goku. "You haven't changed a bit."

"You again," Goku says tastelessly.

Tao flips his braid over his shoulder and onto his back. "Indeed. I've been hired for you again. Unfortunately, I was told that the employers should remain a secret."

"I already know who hired you," Goku surprises Tao. "They are simply using you as a test run to see if I've gotten stronger...which I have."

"Very smart. This time, though, I'm not supposed to keep you alive. This means that you die."

"Not really."

As he usually does, Goku gives no warning to Tao as he rushes him. The assassin didn't do as much as see anything but a blur as he got a strike to the gut so powerful that the impact of the punch reduces Tao's longcoat to shreds.

It also sends Tao off his feet and going through a thick layer of lumber, which splits in half and falls directly on his legs, shattering them.

Tao lets out a howl strong enough to send curious wolves his way. Goku is undisturbed by the sounds of agony as he hops onto the dissected tree. As far as being an assassin, Goku was under the impression that these guys would never feel fear or any of the such, but seeing the look of confusion and pure petrification in Tao's eyes, Goku realized that even the worst of people felt fear.

"It was just a trick," Goku tells Tao. "Did you really think I'd be on the same level as last time?"

Just as Tao opens his mouth, Goku shuts him up quickly with a quick, thin, sharp beam of energy right through the mouth.

"I already knew the answer to that."

With the test being done, Goku turns away and takes off back to Headquarters.


East City - pretty much West City, but flipped over to the other side of the map without Capsule Corp. It's pretty much praised for its economic status as well as the academics, due to how only top tier students attend the schools there, whether they be athletes or geniuses.

But it didn't mean that the city didn't have its fair share of delinquents.

It's late. People are either at home beginning to sleep, working, or coming home from work. There are barely any cars out and about.

The perfect time to hit a lick.

Two youngsters - male and female - look to be up to no good late out. If they were the same gender, they'd be considered identical twins given how they look alike enough as is anyhow, despite the different colored hair.

The young blue-eyed, blonde haired female is dressed in a dark blue mini skirt with black tights underneath and a revealing crop top, holding a red curly wig. Standing by a store next to her brother on the corner, she is visibly aggravated.

"You remember what to do, right?"

"Yes," she sighs. "For the thousandth time, I remember." She turns around and bends over to look through the shiny reflection of the glass of a closed clothing shop to put on red lipstick. "I can't believe you've resorted to this of all things though."

She places on a red-headed wig and some eyeshadow as well as puffing up her make-up to raise her cheekbones, making her damn near unrecognizable to her without the makeup and wig on. As the disguise was ninety percent done, all she needed now was some believable colored contacts to change into a completely different person.

"I promise I won't let anyone hurt you," he reassures his sister.

Just then, a dark black cadillac begins to slowly pull up, flashing the lights of the car for a brief moment prior to turning them off. Knowing that the plan was setting in motion, the male twin steps back into the shadows of the alley to remain unseen, his hand motioning over to his hip.

The window is rolled down, revealing a blonde-haired male wearing dark shades.

Not a good sign.

Lazuli looks back at her brother, but is unable to see him because of the fact that he's swallowed by darkness as he's dressed in all black and a ski mask with shades. Her heart is thumping more than usual when it came to scheming people, but she remained cool under pressure. She walks confidently over to the passenger side of the cadillac and leans over to bring her head in. The driver shifted over to the right to get a little closer himself. Just smelling the deep blue perfume coated with a peachy smell stimulated his lecherous thoughts.

"What's the receipt gonna look like, hotcakes?"

"50,000 up front."

He lowers his shades a bit with a smug grin. "Oh, you're an expensive one." He looks her up and down before putting his shades up. "But you just might be worth it." He proceeds to pull out a fat wallet, which is full of cards and cash. One simple stack he has in hand is over 100,000 zeni. "Here."

As she places the money in her bra, Lazuli notes that he has even much more in his wallet. She opens the passenger side and gets in. "You're going to be in for a good time."

"Oh, I hope so." He rubs her shoulder.

Just as he begins to start the engine, Lazuli swiftly places her left hand on his hand, then motions it down to his lap. "Why not just right here?" She takes a quick through the mirrors, then around. "Everyone's inside, it's after dark - no activity. We can just do it right here."

Being very experienced with women that worked the streets, the man knew he had to be careful, but damn, this one was just so much better looking than the others. He couldn't wait to get his hands on her.

And his money back.

He removes his hand from the key and begins to lean over to reach for a kiss. As he goes to unbutton his pants, the glass of his driver's side window shatters and goes against his back, causing him to instinctively duck.

Lapis cocks the gun and points it at his hand. "Give us your car and everything that you have on or it's your life and we take everything, as well as your body."

He needed to be direct, calm, slick, patient, and somewhat urgent. He carried on normally like this was routine, so much that it was like crossing the street. Lapis made sure to keep a silencer on the gun just in case he did happen to shoot, which he usually didn't.

He slowly, with his hands up, looks back to Lapis, scared to death, shades all crooked.

Getting a good look at his face thanks to the street light directly behind him, Lapis can't help but let out a harmless laugh.

"Wait, aren't you the announcer guy of the Tenkaichi Budokai? Imagine if the people found out about this." He shakes the gun. "Get out."

As soon as the man strips himself absolutely naked in his own car, Lapis drags him out and runs through his pockets, taking all valuables before throwing his clothes back at him and then taking off. He shoots through a few lights with a breeze before slowing down and driving normally around the city until they found the mechanic shop to change the car up.

The twins both laugh hysterically as they're zooming down the street, as if they had just got away with the greatest crime.

Lapis takes off his shades and mask as Lazuli is quick to wipe all the makeup off as well as her disguise.

With the money they now have, Lapis and Lazuli could not only have the car repainted, but remodeled entirely, making it damn near unrecognizable. It was the perfect lick.

"Can you believe that?" Lapis asks as he pulls into a garage, still chuckling. "We really just robbed a celebrity."

"We might just have hit the jackpot…" Lazuli goes through the man's seven different wallets. "He has over 2 million zeni on him! Who drives around with so much money!?"

"A fool."

"We really just hit the jackpot, bro!" Lazuli presses a bill against her brother's face and snaps the bill by stretching it. "All this money...we're pretty much set for life! And this isn't even counting the money he probably has on his card!"

Lapis shakes his head of disapproval despite his smile of approval. "No, sis." He looks at her. "I know who I saw and that's the tournament announcer guy. We may have all the poor sap's money but people will start asking questions. He's more than likely going to go to the police and we'll have a situation on our hands whenever we're caught living lavishly."

"So!?"

"We're nobodies, Lazuli! Two young bad ass kids who don't know shit but how to survive out here. If people just saw a bunch of nobodies on the come up out of nowhere, we'll be turning unwanted heads!"

Understanding what her brother means, Lazuli sinks herself into the seat as she bites her fingernails with her feet on the dashboard. "So…? What do we do?"

Lapis reaches into crack of the driver's seat on side of him and pulls out a piece of paper. "500,000 zeni - winner takes all. Five months from today." He smacks the paper on the console. "We enter the world martial arts tournament."

Lazuli scoffs. "He probably has one hundred times that."

"But by winning the tournament, at least we can cook up a convincing story. Two young kids who worked at shitty jobs save up their money and enter the tournament on break. We get a lucky day, one of us wins, and we take off with the money, say we invested in simple businesses that provide profit."

"Such as?" Lazuli cuts him off.

"I don't know, breeding animals, or flipping cars or something." He then continues without a hitch. "We use all that supposed money to make it profit and it makes it seems like we really got it on our own instead of having just robbed that idiot back there."

"So once people see us living good, we won't turn any heads."

"Oh, we'll turn heads," Lapis scoffs with a chuckle. "We just won't be turning any unwanted heads."

"Gotcha."

"Don't you like the sound of that, sis? We'll get to live how we've always wanted."

Lazuli lets out a giggle as she runs her hands through the back of her hair, stretching out her arms until her hands touch the roof of the car. She looks back at her brother with a mischievous grin plastered on her face as she giggles like a little girl.

"Damn right."


With school on the horizon and barely able to get sleep, Bulma felt like it would just be best to go home and lie down on a genuinely comfortable bed so she could get some beauty sleep. She did have exams after all and after preaching on to Roshi how she needs rest to perform, the old hermit gave her permission to go and spend the night.

Bulma knew that Roshi was actually concerned for her safety, but she also knew that he liked keeping her around for other reasons as well. Reasons in which he'd never get to make come true.

Not only was it good being back home, but having Yamcha back for a night, too. Having Puar, her, Oolong, and Yamcha together felt like she had a part of her family back. All of them being at capsule corp meant that they could have a true normal night together.

She was rather elated about it but contained her excitement.

Subsequent to making a turn on the street that her parents live on, seeing all forms of emergency cars such as the police and paramedics right by her house caused her heart to drop.

Bulma instinctively pushes her foot on the gas and zooms over to her house, letting out a loud screeching sound from the car as she slams the breaks. Getting out the car, the first thing she sees are two people being carried out her house.

Bulma breaks down right on her knees, covering her mouth. Yamcha and the others were quick to hop out as well, eyes wide.

Oolong turns around and vomits upon seeing all the decapitated animals being carried out the house in giant plastic bags. Yamcha and Puar are left speechless, unable to register what in the hell could have possibly happened.

But Bulma caught on quick. She always thought that the Red Ribbon Army could indeed attack her home at anytime, but damn, after a while of it not happening, she never really thought such events would transpire.

"NOOOOO!" Bulma wails.

Her face red, body trembling, and brain all fuzzy while on her knees had brought all the attention toward her. Bulma felt like she was about to puke her guts out at the mere thought of her parents being slaughtered.

The hundreds of reporters come to Bulma to try and ask her questions, but Yamcha grabs Bulma by the arm and practically drags her into the passenger side of the car.

He quickly enters the car and drives off.

Bulma is seen with her make-up all runny down her wet, hot cheeks, staring at her quivering hands. Yamcha doesn't do as much as say a word. Hell, he can't even look at her. The crying was more than enough to tear his own heart.

Puar and Oolong sat in the back seat, looking away.

They had nothing to say, either.

Yamcha, looking on ahead, knew that not just anyone could have entered their home like that and do all that damage.

Yamcha knew that Goku had to play a part of it.

After all, only Goku knew where it was that Bulma resided. Working with them now only meant that he'd spill the beans on all his friends. He knew that if happened to be tailed by anybody, he'd have to lose their trail strategically, which meant leading them to one place while sneaking off to another.

Glancing at Bulma stings Yamcha's chest and makes him look back to the road.

He could only imagine how Bulma would react once she realized that Goku played a part in this.


"DAMMIT!"

The table that Red slammed in anger causes a few cards and ashtrays to fall over to the floor. It's obvious that after getting news from Goku of not being able to retrieve the Dragon Balls that he's rather disappointed.

"I could go back to where the guys reported them to last be and spy on them."

"They lost their trail," Gero informs Goku. "The driver led them to one place as they snuck off somewhere else. We're at a dead cold start again."

"So how are we going to get them now!?"

"Easy," Goku says.

Red leans in. "I'm listening."

Only one thing came to mind.

There was one place where Goku knew his old allies would attend to all together. Only then would he be able to catch them off-guard and fight - not to win the tournament, but the Dragon Ball.

"The Tenkaichi Budokai World's Martial Arts Tournament."


Fun Fact: Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, made a parody manga called Lady Red in which the protagonist, a lady with red hair quits her office job to follow her true calling as a superhero, but she's broke, so she eventually becomes a prostitute. During the story, she is violated by a character who LOOKS JUST like the tournament announcer guy. I understand these are different universes, but imagine the fact that the tournament announcer guy, a celebrity in the Dragon Ball world, is getting his hands dirty behind closed doors. Adds layers in my opinion.

Hope you've enjoyed this chapter.