OF GEMS AND RIBBONS

Goku and Chi-Chi are overjoyed to see each other. Goku asks Chi-Chi what she's doing out here, prompting the young girl to tell him that seeing what he and the Crystal Gems were able to do last year sparked a desire in her to fight. So, for yearly a year, Ox-King's been giving his daughter lessons in martial arts, allowing her to grow stronger. She even mentions that she saw the Budokai on TV and thought he was amazing. And now, she came to the wilderness to continue training and test her new skills.

Chi-Chi asks Goku what he's doing, and when he responds that he'll be looking for the Dragon Balls again soon, she shyly asks if she can join him. Goku happily accepts, much to Chi-Chi's joy.

For the next few weeks, as they wait for the Dragon Balls to reactivate, Goku and Chi-Chi train and camp together in the wilderness. Chi-Chi takes every opportunity she can to get close to Goku, which lets them get to know each other better and strengthen their bond. During this time, Chi-Chi ends up growing stronger as well, and learns new techniques from Goku. Even if she becomes frustrated at Goku's obliviousness to her flirting, Chi-Chi enjoys spending time with him.

Finally, the day comes where Goku and Chi-Chi wake up, and the Dragon Radar reveals that the Dragon Balls have finally reactivated. The two of them hop on Kinto'un and head off towards the closest one.

OoOoOoO

During this waiting period, back at Capsule Corp., Bulma finds herself in the atrium, watching the Gems as they teach Yamcha the process of the fusion dance. Lapis and Peridot demonstrate by fusing into Turquoise, much to Bulma's awe. Yamcha tries to imitate them and dances with first Jasper and then Lapis, but he just trips over himself with the former and falls into a laughing mess with the latter, much to Peridot's exasperation.

At the end of it all, Yamcha's unable to fuse with any of them Gems. Peridot assures him that it's okay, and Rose admits that even they have trouble fusing sometimes (with the exception of Apache, who is unable to fuse).

As the group of seven heads to the kitchen for dinner, Peridot wonders out loud if Yamcha's body is even capable of fusing. Fusion merges the physical forms of Gems, but Yamcha's half-organic. Lapis shrugs and says anything could happen, optimistically declaring that she thinks Yamcha might be able to fuse one day.

OoOoOoO

Back to Goku and Chi-Chi.

They eventually make it to the area, a wasteland, where two other people appear to be searching for something as well. Goku and Chi-Chi hop off Kinto'un, and expand the image on the radar's screen to locate the Dragon Ball. The other two searchers become annoyed and tell them to scram, but the duo ignores them and pull the six-star ball out from between two rocks.

While Goku's disappointed that it's not the four-star ball, the two searchers are shocked that he found the Dragon Ball. The searchers demand that they hand it over, only for Chi-Chi to kick the first one away, and for Goku to punch the second one when he starts shooting at them, knocking the latter unconscious.

Chi-Chi has a bad feeling about this, and tells Goku that they should keep any Dragon Balls they find, which the boy agrees to. As they ride away one Kinto'un, one of the searchers radios Colonel Silver and tell him what happened. As a result, Silver heads out with a bazooka, shooting it at the duo when they fly by. The rocket destroys Kinto'un, knocking Goku and Chi-Chi to the ground.

Silver demands to know why they're gathering the Dragon Balls, how they found them so easily, and why they're interfering with the Red Ribbon Army. The color drains from Chi-Chi's face when he says "Red Ribbon Army", but Goku furiously refuses to answer any of his questions.

Silver tries to steal Goku's bag, which has the Dragon Ball in it, but the boy manages to snatch it back. Chi-Chi, now suddenly afraid, tells Goku that they shouldn't fight this man, and that they need to leave now. Goku's confused and asks her why, but before she can explain, Silver charges at the duo and attacks them. Unfortunately for him, Goku and Chi-Chi jump out of the way, and the former knocks him unconscious, only adding to Chi-Chi's nerves.

Goku asks her what's wrong, and Chi-Chi tells him about the Red Ribbon Army (RRA for short), a paramilitary criminal organization. And now that they've attacked some of their men, the RRA will no doubt target them, which is why Chi-Chi didn't want him to fight Silver. Goku, for his part, merely shrugs and says that Silver wasn't that strong, and that if the others are anything like him, then he should be able to take them down easily. Though this does little to ease Chi-Chi's nervousness.

Since Kinto'un was destroyed, and the next closest Dragon Ball is far away, Goku and Chi-Chi decide to search Silver's capsule house for any capsules. They find a case of them and randomly pull out one, revealing a robot who asks them what their command is. When they tell him, the robot tells them to use capsule 3, which reveals a fighter jet.

Since neither Goku nor Chi-Chi know how to operate it, the robot offers to do it. The duo climbs in, and the robots flies them north, heading for the next Dragon Ball.

OoOoOoO

As this goes on, Commander Red and Staff Officer Black are alerted to what happened to Silver.

Red is infuriated when he hears that Silver was bested by 'two little kids', and orders Black to contact General White and tell him to kill the kids and take the Dragon Ball.

OoOoOoO

Goku and Chi-Chi make it to the northern regions, which is much colder than either of them anticipated. Unfortunately, the low temperatures causes the robot to freeze and crash the plane. Chi-Chi is knocked unconscious, and even though he's freezing, Goku manages to carry her away from the crash site, trekking through the snow and slowly following the radar.

During his frigid trip, Goku comes across a small village. He drags himself towards the closest house and knocks on the door, asking for help. The residents of said house, a woman named Yuki and her young daughter Suno, take them in and help them warm up. Chi-Chi soon regains consciousness, and Yuki gives the duo blankets and hot drinks.

Suno asks what they were doing out there without any winter clothes on, and Chi-Chi tells her that they're looking for the Dragon Balls. Yuki and Suno are shocked and ask if they're with the RRA, which they respond that they're not. Yuki explains that members of General White's squad have come here searching for a Dragon Ball as well, but have been unable to locate it so far, and they have no idea what the RRA plans to do with them.

Goku explains what happens when you gather all seven, then says he only wants his grandpa's four-star ball. Then, Suno mentions that the RRA has their mayor held hostage at their base: Muscle Tower. Goku and Chi-Chi decide to head there, but before they can leave, a couple of RRA goons show up, though the duo takes them down with ease. Suno gives them some of her spare winter clothes and the duo heads off, with Chi-Chi (despite her nervousness) promising to restore peace to this village.

Goku and Chi-Chi rush towards Muscle Tower, easily taking out any guards outside and heading inside. As soon as they're in, General White gives the orders to kill them over the intercom. However, this is easier said than done, as Chi-Chi and Goku manage to take out all the soldiers on the first and second floors with ease.

The duo heads up to the third floor, where they encounter Major Metallitron, who proves to be a challenge. Goku and Chi-Chi work together to fight him, but after getting nowhere, Goku unleashes a powerful Kamehameha…causing them to learn that Metallitron was actually a robot after his head is blown off. Despite their shock, the duo defeats him and heads up to the fourth floor.

They're surprised to see that the fourth floor is an indoor garden. There, they encounter Ninja Murasaki. After being forced to play a few humorous rounds of hide-and-seek with him, Goku and Chi-Chi fight him off; Murasaki might be skilled physically, but isn't too bright. As soon as he realizes he can't win against the duo, Murasaki rushes to another part of the fourth floor and releases a secret weapon: Android 8.

Murasaki orders Android 8 to slaughter the two kids, but Android 8 refuses, saying that killing is wrong. This infuriates Murasaki, and he threatens Android 8, telling him that there's a bomb in his body and he can activate it with a button on a remote control. Unfortunately for him, Chi-Chi steals the remote while he's distracted and destroys it, which gives Goku a chance to knock him unconscious.

Seeing that Android 8 isn't a bad guy, Goku and Chi-Chi team up with him. He leads them through a maze on the next floor, and eventually make it to General White's room. Unfortunately, he was ready for them and presses a switch that drops the floor underneath the trio. White demands they hand over their Dragon Ball, and when they refuse, he unleashes a strange, blue monster that resembles a dark, flowering plant.

The "flower monster" proves to be relentless, thanks to its speed and prehensile vines. In a moment of desperation, Chi-Chi remembers when Goku tried to teach her the Kamehameha weeks earlier and tries to fire one at the monster…but all she can manage is a flicker of light. Despite her embarrassment and frustration, this distracts the monster and gives Goku the chance to attack it with his Nyoibō. The monster suddenly vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving behind only a gemstone. While Chi-Chi is confused, Goku is reminded of the Centipeetle and stuffs the gemstone in his pocket, deciding to give it to the Gems once they're done here.

Goku, Chi-Chi and Android 8 quickly head back up to White's room, much to the General's shock. They demand that he releases the mayor, but White refuses and tries to fight them…only for Goku to kick him down with ease. They force White to take them to the mayor, otherwise known as Chief, but at the last second, White pulls out a pistol and threatens to shoot Chief. It takes another battle of quick thinking, but Goku and Chi-Chi get Chief to safety and Android 8 punches White out of the tower, sending him flying for several miles.

Goku, Chi-Chi, Android 8 and Chief head back to Jingle Village, where the residents throw a party to celebrate their newfound freedom. During the party, Android 8 pulls the two-star Dragon Ball out of his coat pocket. He explains that he found it earlier, but overheard White say that he planned to kill the villagers once he got it, so he hid it until now. Chief declares Android 8 a hero and offers him a place in Jingle Village, much to the Android's joy.

Goku and Chi-Chi spend the night at Yuki's house. But the next morning, they're awoken by sounds of crashing and yelling. It doesn't take long to realize that the flower monster reformed and is wreaking havoc on the village. Goku and Chi-Chi manage to destroy its form and reduce it to a gemstone again. Chi-Chi is still baffled and asks what the heck it is; Goku merely shrugs and puts the gemstone in his pocket again, saying that the Gems might know.

Goku tries to activate the radar…only to discover that it's broken (most likely because he fought while it was in his pocket). Goku and Chi-Chi decide to visit Bulma in West City—both to get the radar repaired, and give the gemstone to the Crystal Gems. But they don't know how they're gonna get there. While talking with the villagers, Goku mentions that his Kinto'un was destroyed, leading to one of the village elders to laugh and say that a Kinto'un can't be destroyed. Goku summons the golden cloud, and sure enough, it arrives.

Goku and Chi-Chi happily hop onto Kinto'un and say goodbye to the villagers, heading off to West City.

OoOoOoO

It doesn't take long for Goku and Chi-Chi to arrive in West City. It's immediately overwhelming for both of them, since they're both country bumpkins. After a bit of exploration and a few hijinks, Goku looks up and spots a familiar blue figure flying overhead.

Goku calls out to Lapis, who is pleasantly surprised to see him and heads to the ground. She recognizes Chi-Chi, and asks what they're doing here. Goku explains that they need to fix the radar and hands her the gemstone. Lapis quickly bubbles it, and takes the duo to Capsule Corp.

She leads them to the living room, where they're greeted with an interesting sight. Yamcha is asleep on the couch, and his gem is projecting a holographic image of his dream; Bulma, Apache and Peridot are sitting around and watching the projection like a movie.

Bulma, Peridot and Apache are happy to see Goku again. After he explains the situation, Bulma takes the radar and heads to her lab to fix it with Peridot. As this goes on, Chi-Chi watches Yamcha's dream projection and asks about it. Apache explains that it happens sometimes when Yamcha sleeps, and he can't really control it.

Goku watches as Bulma and Peridot look over the radar. Bulma asks Peridot for a specific tool, and Goku watches in awe as Peridot's gem glows and she summons the tool with ease. Seeing his intrigued look, she tells Goku that, as a Peridot, she's one of the few Gems that store items in her gemstone. Of course, she has limited space in there, so she usually only stores her tools in there. Then she quietly mutters to herself, "Now, if only I had the storage capacity of a Pearl…"

Before Goku can ask what she means, Bulma finishes repairing the radar and holds it up in triumph. They head back to the living room, where Chi-Chi, Apache and Lapis are still enjoying the show. On their way back, Bulma eagerly asks Goku if she can join his Dragon Ball hunt, saying that things have been pretty boring here recently and she's been craving some excitement, to which he says yes.

Overhearing this, the other Gems ask to join as well. With more people, they might find the Dragon Balls faster if they split up. Goku loves this idea. Peridot suggests that they wait for Jasper and Rose, who are out on a mission, and Bulma rushes back to her lab to whip up another radar or two (she already started making a few backups, just in case, but hadn't completed them yet).

It takes a while, but eventually, Bulma comes back with three extra radars just as Jasper and Rose warp into the atrium. Goku shakes Yamcha awake, causing his dream projection to vanish. Once the others tell him what's going on, he eagerly agrees to go on the hunt.

And sure enough, the gang heads off again, splitting into groups of four.

Goku and Chi-Chi ride on Kinto'un in one direction, the latter having the Dragon Balls in her bag.

Lapis and Peridot, using water wings and levitation via Limb Enhancers respectively, head in another direction.

Rose and Jasper shapeshift into birds and fly off in another direction.

And lastly, Yamcha, Bulma and Apache climb onto one of the heiress' hoverbikes and head off in another direction.

OoOoOoO

Back at the RRA Headquarters, Red becomes furious when he learns that White was defeated. However, White manages to send him a photo of the two children.

Despite his anger and confusion as to how these kids are finding the Dragon Balls so quickly, Red orders Black to fax the children's picture to every unit, with orders to kill them and anyone associated with them on sight.

OoOoOoO

Lapis and Peridot quickly arrive where the next Dragon Ball should be, but according to the radar, it's somewhere in the ocean. Peridot quickly puts away her Limb Enhancers and the radar (since neither of them are waterproof) in her gem, and dives into the ocean with Lapis.

Unbeknownst to them, General Blue was watching them from the shore of a nearby island. He orders a few of his men to eliminate the "strange women" while searching for the Dragon Ball.

Lapis and Peridot search the bottom of the ocean for a bit, but are unable to locate the Dragon Ball. Lapis eventually finds the entrance to an underwater cave and the two decide to head in there. Before they can, though, a RRA submarine suddenly appears and fires torpedoes at them. It doesn't last long, as Lapis manipulates the water around them to grab the submarine and chuck it out of the ocean, forcing it to land several hundred miles away.

General Blue, who was listening via radio and saw the submarine being thrown, becomes agitated and orders his men to continue pursuing them.

Peridot and Lapis make their way through the tunnel and come across a ledge leading to an air pocket above them (much to Peridot's joy, as she pulls the radar and her Limb Enhancers out again). They continue their way through the cave, barely paying attention to General Blue and his men as they surface as well.

It becomes clear that this isn't just any cave, between the electrical lights installed, a skeleton dressed in pirate clothing, a hallway full of booby traps (which Lapis easily flies over with Peridot clinging to her back), and eventually a secret harbor. The Pirate Robot jumps out of nowhere and tries to attack them, but Peridot easily stops it with her ferrokinesis and throws it against a wall, causing it to explode on impact.

Meanwhile, General Blue gets through the booby trap hallway by making his men trigger all of them, and continues his pursuit of the Gems.

Lapis and Peridot head through another long hallway, and the corridor eventually splits in two. Unsure of which way to go, they split up—Peridot goes left and Lapis goes right. Unfortunately, the Pirate Robot's explosion shook the place, causing the base to crack and shake. They need to hurry before the place collapses!

General Blue comes across the two paths, and decides to head right.

Lapis finds a well at the end of her path and jumps into the water, going through another tunnel. General Blue follows her once he makes it to the well.

Peridot, on the other hand, stumbles upon a dead end. But before she can turn around, a trap door opens beneath her feet and she falls in surprise. She catches herself in midair and hears a strange noise beneath her, and looks down to see a giant crab monster (later revealed to be a corrupted Bixbite). The crab tries to attack Peridot, but she's able to outsmart it and destroy its form. She bubbles its gem, and begins to look for a way out of here.

Back with Lapis, she comes upon another pocket of air above her and finds an old chest close to the ledge. She opens it up, revealing a bunch of old treasure—gold, silver, necklaces, crowns, jewels…but the idea of humans wearing 'dead Gems' creeps her out, so she closes the lid. That's when General Blue surfaces from the water and demands that she gives him the treasure. Lapis tries to simply give it to him, saying that she doesn't want any "creepy treasure", but General Blue believes that she's tricking him and tries to fight her.

Peridot, meanwhile, continues exploring her cave when she hears two voices yelling, one familiar and one unfamiliar. She recognizes Lapis' yell and (after putting the radar and her Enhancers away again) jumps into the water and swims to the source.

While she's underwater, a glimmer catches her eye, and she turns to see the three-star Dragon Ball at the bottom of the pool. She excitedly grabs it and continues rushing towards her friend.

When she surfaces, she's met with the sight of Lapis holding General Blue in place via her water wings.

Peridot stores the Dragon Ball in her gem (after grumbling about having limited space in there). General Blue sees her do this and demands that she hands it over. Lapis and Peridot ask what he wants with it, to which General Blue snaps that the RRA needs them. They become shocked when they hear the words "Red Ribbon Army"; they had heard about the organization a few times while watching TV, and knew just how terrible they were.

Lapis and Peridot both give him a dark glare, swearing to never let the Dragon Balls fall into his or the RRA's hands, and Lapis throws him against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Unfortunately, Lapis did it a little too hard, causing the cave to start rapidly collapsing again.

Lapis and Peridot rush out, debris falling around them as they try to get back to the original entrance. They manage to find the tunnel and jump into the water, but the rocks keep falling quicker and quicker. Just as it looks like they're about to be crushed, they embrace and a blinding light shines around them. A few seconds later, a figure shoots out of the cave entrance and breaks through the ocean surface, revealing Turquoise in all her glory, floating above the ocean via her water wings.

Satisfied, Turquoise takes the radar out of Peridot's gem and flies off to the next closest Dragon Ball, hoping she can find it before the RRA does and warn the others.

OoOoOoO

In another part of the world, Colonel Violet leads her men through a jungle, trying to find a Dragon Ball. During their search, Violet happens to see two (as far as she knows) large birds fly overhead when she looks up, but even though they're orange and pink, she doesn't think much of it.

Rose and Jasper land not too far away, shapeshifting back into their original forms, and starting looking for the Dragon Ball. Halfway through the search, one of the nearby RRA soldiers spots them and points his gun at them, demanding that they leave the area. Poor choice on his end, as it ends with Jasper punching him in the head hard enough to send him flying, then going back to the search like nothing happened.

This catches the attention of the rest of Violet's squad. Several of them fire their weapons at Rose and Jasper, but they're quick to dodge and maneuver around them. While Violet continues searching for the Dragon Ball on her own, her men quickly get overpowered by the two Quartzes. Breaking their weapons and/or knocking them unconscious, they don't hold back, especially after recognizing the RRA symbol on their uniforms.

"Destroying innocent people's lives…" Rose growled out, holding a terrified soldier by the collar of his uniform. There was a dark, furious look in her eyes. "Not caring who or what you have to hurt to get what you want…You're just like them!" Without giving him a chance to respond, Rose slams him into the dirt hard enough to knock him out.

Once they've made quick work of the soldiers, the two Quartzes go back to their search.

Meanwhile, after several minutes, Violet finally spots the seven-star Dragon Ball, resting within the branches of a tree. With a victorious grin, Violet starts to climb the tree and reach for it…only for a small, orange monkey to practically catapult itself onto the branch and snatch the Dragon Ball away.

Violet watched in shock as the monkey takes the Dragon Ball back to a large, pink-haired woman, and then quickly shapeshifts into a woman with orange woman with a gemstone on her nose. "Red Ribbon, huh?" Jasper says with a smirk, holding the seven-star ball firmly in one hand. "Don't worry, we'll take this off your hands."

Rose and Jasper both shapeshift into large birds again and take off before Violet can retaliate. After getting over her shock, and then seeing the state her men are in, Violet pulls out her radio and contacts Headquarters to tell them what happened. As she does so, she mentions that the two women both had gemstones on their bodies, just like the creatures they've been finding for the past year…

As they fly off to the next closest Dragon Ball, Rose begins to worry. She's heard several terrible things about the RRA and what they're capable off. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to attack their soldiers, even though they shot first. But the Crystal Gems have been (mostly) avoiding even humanity's most curious eyes for thousands of years now. Surely the RRA won't be able to track them down, right?

Right?

OoOoOoO

Meanwhile, in the colorful and cheery little town of Penguin Village, Captain Brown's squad is busy rushing around and terrorizing the residents (or at least attempting to), hoping to find the nearby Dragon Ball sooner or later.

Bulma lands her hoverbike just outside the village entrance, and after capsulizing it, she, Yamcha and Apache start their search. But as soon as she spots a few people with RRA uniforms, Bulma panics and shoved into the nearest building—the Coffee Pot. Terrified, Bulma asks out loud what the RRA is doing here. Her question is quickly answered by the shop's owner, Aoi Kimidori, who says that they're looking for something called a "Dragon Ball".

Upon hearing this, Bulma tries to back out of the search and tells Yamcha to come with her, saying that they don't really need the Dragon Ball right now. Yamcha tries to argue, saying that this is important to Goku, but they're both cut short when Apache just runs out of the café with the radar, forcing them to follow her.

Apache doesn't hear Yamcha and Bulma yelling after her, only focusing on the radar. She remembers hearing the Brief family talking about the RRA and what they've done. In her mind, they're almost as bad as those who created her, those whom Holly and the others told her about thousands of years ago. And if someone like them wants the Dragon Ball, then she's gonna make sure they don't get it!

While running past a certain house, one of Brown's men spots Apache and aims his weapon at her, yelling for her to halt. She does, and he approaches her, demanding to know what a "little brat" like her is doing out here. She simply tells him that it's none of his business and basically to go pound salt, which infuriates the soldier as she starts to walk away again. He's about to fire his weapon at her…but is quickly cut off by a little girl with purple hair appearing out of nowhere and kicking him hard enough to send him flying into a nearby mountain.

Apache watches this with wide eyes. The girl jovially introduces herself as Arale, and asks Apache what game she's playing. Baffled, Apache snaps that she's not playing and she's looking for the Dragon Ball. Arale, still in playful mode, remembers hearing the RRA soldiers mention finding a "Dragon Ball" and innocently asks if it's some kind of race, and if she can join in. Apache considers this and, after seeing Arale's strength a moment ago, agrees to let her come. Arale cheers in excitement and follows Apache.

As this goes on, Yamcha and Bulma find themselves hiding in alleyways and around corners from RRA soldiers, as they try and fail to find Apache. Without the radar, they have no idea where she could be heading. During their search, they spot Captain Brown riding atop a giant, wolf-like, teal and coral-colored monster (later revealed to be a corrupted Ocean Jasper), using a horsewhip to make it obey him. As Brown barks orders at his men, Yamcha spots the gemstone in the middle of the monster's chest. He unsheathes his sword (which was strapped to his back), ready to attack, but Bulma tries to stop him, this time tugging at his ear and whisper-shouting that he's insane to attack the RRA.

Yamcha, however, brushes aside her worries for just this once. Despite his fear of the RRA, he can't allow them to use mindless monsters for their plans. After wriggling out of Bulma's grasp, Yamcha attacks the group. He targets the monster first, and it disappears in a puff of smoke when he slices it in half, causing Brown to fall to the ground.

Yamcha quickly bubbles its gemstone, then focuses on fighting Brown and the RRA soldiers. He's able to take most of them out, though Brown proves to be a bit of a challenge. While fighting off some of them, though, another solider behind him pulls out his gun and aims it at Yamcha's back. But he doesn't get a chance to fire it, as Bulma runs up and kicks him somewhere below the belt from behind, despite her fear.

With Brown and his soldiers either incapacitated or too injured to pull themselves up, Yamcha and Bulma run off. Bulma yells at Yamcha for being reckless; he tries to reason with her, but she doesn't let him get a word in. Grumbling in annoyance, Yamcha tries to ignore her insults and continue looking for Apache.

Unfortunately, it doesn't end there. Brown radios his other men scattered across the village, ordering them to kill the two teenagers on sight. Thanks to this, in between running away and hiding, Yamcha and Bulma have to fight off more RRA soldiers. This only increases their frustration, with Bulma's coming from fear and anger at her boyfriend's recklessness, while Yamcha's is coming from being in over his head but still wanting to find Apache.

Yamcha, now covered in injuries and growing tired, starts to panic a little. He's never truly been on his own from the Gems. He's gotten himself into this mess out of his own arrogance, and now he and Bulma will most likely be targeted by the RRA if they make it out of this alive. As his emotions well up inside of him, his gem suddenly glows, revealing a small handle sticking out of it. Shocked, he grabs the handle and yanks it out, revealing a long, light blue whip with electricity coursing through it.

Bulma and Yamcha are both astonished. Remembering seeing how Jasper and Rose would summon their weapons, he wonders out loud if this is his mother's whip. With newfound confidence, Yamcha rushes out and attacks an incoming group of soldiers. The result is bittersweet; it doesn't electrocute them like he thought it would, but it still injures those he hits. Since he's never used a whip before, it's hard to control and attack.

But luckily, he doesn't have to worry for long, as a monochrome blur comes out of nowhere, jumping from soldier to soldier to either kick them or hit them with her extended weapon. Thanks to Apache's help, Yamcha is able to either knock the soldiers unconscious or send them running away.

Once things have calmed down, Bulma leaves her hiding spot, and Arale runs up and cheerfully introduces herself to Yamcha. Apache sees the whip and is shocked, explaining that that's Holly Blue Agate's personal weapon.

Though happy, Yamcha is a bit confused, since he thought the sword was his mother's only weapon. Apache explains that the whip was designed to hurt Gems but never poof them; Holly hated the idea of making other Gems suffer, even if they were her enemies, and instead used a sword that would immediately destroy their physical forms.

The whip vanishes, and the group of four quickly rechecks the radar. But before they had head out, a loud roar shakes the ground. They turn to see Brown (now bruised up and covered in bandages) and one of his top soldiers approaching them. They're both riding on the backs of large monsters: one orange and deer-like with a gem on its nose, and one purple and jellyfish-like with a gem on its right eye (later revealed to be a corrupted Fire Agate and Lace Amethyst).

While Brown makes an angry speech about how they've disrespected the RRA and won't get away with it (getting lost in his monologue in the process), Apache is horrified at the sight of the two monsters and says out loud that they're using corrupted Gems. This surprises Yamcha and Bulma (and confuses Arale), leading to Apache explaining that all the monsters they've been fighting for years used to be Gems like her and the others. But they were corrupted as a result of the Holly's Rebellion, breaking their minds and turning them into these monsters. Ever since the war ended, the Crystal Gems have been working to subdue and contain them. It's the best they can do for now…

While Brown is still monologuing, the purple jellyfish monster becomes restless despite the top soldier's attempts to quell it. It inevitably knocks the top soldier off, and slams into the orange deer monster as well, knocking Brown off in the chaos. The two restless monsters try to attack the group, making Bulma scream in terror, but thankfully Yamcha and Apache destroy their forms with their weapons before they can do so.

Yamcha and Apache bubble the two gems, with the former still being shocked that the RRA is using corrupted Gems for their purposes. He goes over to Bulma, who is still shaken up, and tries to comfort her, but she suddenly smacks him and starts yelling at him. She yells that she didn't want any of this, that the RRA is no doubt going to kill her, and she blames it all on Yamcha.

Yamcha tries to be understanding and just let her vent. By now, he knows how she gets. But then she yells the one thing she shouldn't have.

"And now the army's using these…monstrous Gems?! Do you have any idea what kind of chaos that'll cause?! Great, this is just perfect! Not only am I going to die, but the rest of the world is going to suffer! All because of you and your stupid mom!"

Yamcha stares at her in shock. From the sidelines, Apache blinks in surprise, while Arale continues to look confused. Bulma realizes too late what she said, but doesn't get to say anything as Yamcha glares at her in rage. "What do you know about my mom?" he growls out. "I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KNOW MY MOM!" His yell practically shakes the air around them, both frightening Bulma and making her feel bad. "But I do know that she fought for the Earth! She though everyone and everything deserved to be treated with kindness, even people like you!"

In silent anger, Yamcha walks over to the radar (which had been dropped in all the chaos) and picks it up. After taking a moment to look it over, he bitterly tells the others to follow him to the next Dragon Ball, muttering out, "Let's just get this over with." Apache and Arale follow him, while an ashamed Bulma trails behind them.

Brown, meanwhile, frantically orders his top soldier to contact Headquarters and report what just happened…

OoOoOoO

At the RRA Headquarters, Red has been receiving report after report, all saying the same thing: strange people similar to those monsters have been showing and stealing the Dragon Balls.

Colonel Silver…General White…General Blue (after regaining consciousness and swimming to shore)…Colonel Violet…Captain Brown…

Red finally decides that he's had enough, and gives Black a single order: to contact the assassin Tao Pai-Pai.

I was originally going to post the entire Red Ribbon Arc in one chapter, but it was getting a bit too long and I started getting new ideas for the arc halfway through writing this. So, I'm dividing it up into two parts for now. The next part will conclude the arc, then we'll move onto the Uranai Baba Arc

I just love writing Goku and Chi-Chi together. They're so freaking cute!

In this AU, similar to Pearls, Peridots were given the ability to store items in their gems. However, since they have very limited space in there, they mostly use that storage for important tools or devices

Thanks to the involvement of the Crystal Gems, quite a bit has changed in this arc. For starters, since Lapis and Peridot went to the ocean, there was no need to ask Roshi for a submarine, so no one from Kame House got involved and General Blue didn't attack them later on. As much as I love Krillin and Roshi, it just had to be this way

But yes, I still included the Penguin Village section of the arc. I'll admit, my knowledge on Dr. Slump is limited at best (do you have any idea how hard it is to find episodes of either anime online?!), but I tried my best with what I had

Each of the Crystal Gems got a chance to be badass in this arc! Whooo!

And that's right, Yamcha now has Holly Blue Agate's Electric Whip! While writing the early chapters of this story, I decided that I didn't want it to be just a copy-and-paste of the original Steven Universe storyline, so I'm changing a few things up. This will become more apparent in the future, especially once we get to the Z portion of Dragon Ball

Unfortunately, Yamcha and Bulma had relationship drama in the original DB, and although it's under different circumstances in this AU, it's still present. No relationship is perfect, and I wanted to Yamcha and Bulma's to grow and mature alongside them

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this mess! Please leave a review letting me know what you think! God bless you and have a wonderful day/night/whenever you read this!

And, because I forgot to add this in Gem Glow, here's a description of Turquoise's appearance:

Turquoise

Gems: Peridot and Lapis Lazuli

Appearance: 15 feet tall. Slim build. Turquoise complexion. Dark teal-green hair that's messy, slightly spiky in the back, ends at her chin, and has Lapis' bangs. Deep aquamarine eyes. Most of Lapis' facial features, with Peridot's pointed upper lip. Four arms. Teal-colored gemstones.

Outfit: Off-shoulder ocean-green sweater dress with a pale golden six-point star on the chest and ends at her knees, sleeveless black high-neck top underneath, black belt with a golden six-point star buckle around her waist, dark sea-blue leggings with a few tears in them, deep green and black boots that resemble Peridot's Limb Enhancers and end halfway to her knees, black elbow-high gloves on the bottom arms, Peridot's visor, and a gold, blue and white six-point star barrette in her hair.