New Judgment

Chapter 3: Drowned

One day I would get used to intergalactic travel… but today wasn't it. Whis and I were soaring through space at impossible speeds. We were on our way to our first planet, the first time I would have to "judge" an entire population. Just the idea of it made me feel like a tyrant, but I tried to reassure myself that I would be cleansing the universe of potential threats; if it came down to having to destroy the place, at least.

This was all after Whis had come to pick me up at Mt. Paozu this morning. Since there were so many planets to choose from, he made the suggestion to start with this one – Planet Lulipa. When I asked him if there was a particular reason, Whis just said "Oh, none in particular! I just thought you might like the people there." So of course there was a reason, but I wouldn't find out until I saw it with my own eyes.

We tried to get in contact with the planet to let them know that we'd be coming, but no one ever answered. And I couldn't really blame them. "Hey, we're coming to potentially annihilate everyone you've ever known and cared for, hope you don't mind!" is not the kind of phone call you want to answer.

"So, Master Court, what will you want to do when we arrive?" Again with the "master" thing, Whis…

"Umm… I was hoping you'd have an idea…"

"Me? Ohoho, but you're the boss here, dear! I only make suggestions every now and then."

I guess he was right. I had better start developing a sense of leadership if I was serious about keeping this position. But still, I legitimately had no idea what to do… "Eh… What would Beerus do in this situation?"

"Hmm… He'd probably stare at the planet from outer space for a few seconds, then blow it up."

"He wouldn't even come down…?!" OK, maybe following Beerus' tactics was a bad idea. "Let's, uhh… Let's go to the nearest capital and seek an audience with its mayor, or king, or whatever it may be."

"Very well. We'll be arriving shortly."

When Planet Lulipa finally came into view, I was surprised by how different it looked in person compared to Whis' hologram. It was green, but not a grassy green, more like a… a yucky green, I guess. There also seemed to be a thick cloud of smog covering the surface. I didn't want to insult the place before even landing on it, but first impressions are important. With more proximity came more detail, and this world was looking more like a planet-sized marsh the more I looked at it. The smell only backed this up.

"Anyways, so, Whis, is there anything I should be aware of before we start?"

"The capital we'll be landing on is simply called 'the Core.' The population is of about 56,000. And there's a café on 6th street that has exquisite tea!" That last one was awfully specific, but Whis was a bit of a cuisine enthusiast.

"… Right, so, is that all you know?"

"I know nothing else." It was the kind of sentence that tells you the opposite of what it's trying to say. Honestly, I think Whis did it on purpose…

We landed in front of a large but shady building. Looking around, there were some other smaller buildings in the distance, surrounding the area we were at. From the sky, it looked like this place was an isolated core within a city, fitting given the name. We knocked on the large, rusty, metallic doors of the building. Apparently this was the best place to find the political head of this city.

"Umm… hello? Anyone home?" After calling for someone, the doors opened slightly. A large, bulky man peeked half of his body through the open space. He looked… mean.

"And who're you?" His voice was mean.

"U-Uhh, yes, hello, eehh… We're looking for the mayor of this city. Ooorrr the king, ooorrr, well, someone that fits that role."

"You'se want'a talk with duh boss? Hah! You must think yer a big deal if yer expectin' to jus' barge in 'ere!"

"We-We're not barging in! Listen, I'm the Goddess of Destruction, and I need to talk with someone of power so that they ca—"

"B'ahahaha!" Aaaand now I was covered in spit. "D'aww, well I think lil' Miss God Lady should'a gone ta play to another playground."

"Look, I'm serious, I need to—"

"SCRAM!" And with that, Mr. Grumpy Bouncer slammed the door on us (or well, mostly just me, Whis was watching from a safe distance).

"… Well, that didn't go as planned. Hey, Whis, what do you prop—"

"I'm going to get some tea now. Give me a call if you need me. Ta-ta!"

"What—Wait, Whis!" He's gone, that bastard! Now what was I supposed to do?! I was hoping that whoever was in charge would tell me about the place and maybe even give me a tour, but it never even crossed my mind that people wouldn't believe that I was a Goddess of Destruction. But a quick glance in a mirror would remind me that I looked like an average Joe, not arguably the most important deity in the known universe. Or, well, I don't think "important" was the right word, more like… Umm… OK, "important" was the right word, but I didn't want to call myself that. I might have had the title, but I certainly didn't have the ego of a god.

Rather than trying to meet with "the boss" again, I decided that I would explore the rest of the city on my own. Walking around, I noticed that the people looked strangely… familiar. I was sure I didn't know any of them, but maybe I had seen their species on that textbook Whis gave me to study for the test? I don't know, I might have just been over thinking it. They all looked kind of ogre-like in nature, though they were of all shapes and sizes. I stuck out like a sore thumb amongst them, which was clear by how many of them gave me strange looks.

I had no idea what to do at that point. Should I ask someone to tell me about the area? Would it be better to walk around and learn about the city based on pure observation? Could Whis help me out? Each of those choices had their benefits and downsides. That said, I had a feeling that Whis would only help me with very specific problems, and this wasn't one of them. So I decided to ask around; maybe someone would be kind enough to help me.

I went to an area that kind of looked like a park. There was a man sitting on a bench seemingly doing nothing, so I approached him. "Hello, sir. I come from another city, so I was wondering…" He turned to look at me with a disgruntled expression, but didn't say anything. "… Ehh… Wondering if you could maybe… tell me more… about…" Having enough of my awkward rambling, the man just stood up and left.

I didn't want to reveal my identity to anyone, as one of two things would happen: either they would go into a panic, or they would think that I was joking and laugh at me. There was the possibility that I might have been taken more seriously if I acted like the Goddess of Destruction I was supposed to be. That, however, involved being violent for no reason, which was absolutely not my style. I simply continued to ask around to different people in hopes that one of them would have a kinder heart, but I was met with failure. Nobody wanted to help me.

Clearly that plan wasn't working, so it was time for Plan B: walk around and observe. I couldn't help but notice something that was entirely absent from an average Earthling city – smiles. Everyone had a bleak expression, which could also be said about the environment. That same yucky green from earlier was present throughout the entire city, only ever contrasted by the scarce neon signs on some shops. I wanted to think that we had arrived on a day with really bad weather, but considering the entire planet looked like this from the exosphere, I was convinced that this was just what an average day looked like.

As I kept walking around, I saw people sleeping on the streets, covering themselves only with dirty scraps of paper. Others were hiding in the obscurity of some alleys, with rather shady looks about them. Not even the children looked happy, instead throwing temper tantrums that their accompanying parents either ignored or replied to by yelling in almost abusive levels. I desperately wanted to find at least some semblance of joy in this place, because the forlorn atmosphere was starting to get to me.

After about two hours of zero progress, I had officially given up on this city, but not the planet. It wouldn't be fair for me to judge an entire world based on a single area. I stumbled upon 6th street, which I remembered was the one Whis mentioned he would be waiting at. I found the café he was talking about, and indeed there he was, drinking tea alongside some other customers. Whis' colorful and fancy outfit was almost comically different from the shoddy, gray clothes that everyone else was wearing.

"Well hello there, Master. Would you like to join me for a cup of tea?"

"Ugh… Whis, please stop calling me that… Have you just been sitting here drinking tea for like two hours?"

"Of course! Tea is best enjoyed when you drink it slowly; it calms your mind, helps relieve stress, let's you think clearer…"

"Uh-huh, sure… Anyways, can we go to a different city? I don't think I'm going to make much progress here."

"Oh my, such determination! Well, if you're so sure, then I'll transport you." Whis materialized his staff, which not even that got a reaction from anyone in the café. He was still sitting very comfortably at the table, though. He tapped the thin end of the staff on the ground, which is what he always did when he used one of his weird magic tricks. And before I knew it, we were teleported out of the café.

Suddenly, we were now on a field just outside of a small town. "Hey, Whis, where is this plaaaa… Whis? Whis?!" Scratch that last paragraph; I was teleported out of the café. Whis left me alone again! What was wrong with that guy?! Now I really didn't know what to do, where to go, anything!

My internal monologue was interrupted by a small bump that I felt on my tail, however. When I turned around to see what it was, I saw a ball slowly rolling away from me. Following its path with my eyes, I saw a small girl a few yards away from me. She was staring at me awkwardly, and I probably was staring back at her without meaning to. Even though she was of the same ogre-like species of everyone else on that other city, she looked even more familiar than the people I was just with. Who was this girl?

"Uuhh… h-hi! Umm… do you know where we are?" I was just adding to the awkward fuels with that question.

Rather than saying anything, the girl simply grabbed her ball and ran towards the town. She looked scared, and who wouldn't be when they saw someone magically appear right in front of them? I wanted to follow her, but I didn't want to seem like a stalker. Still, I had this gut feeling that I needed to do something about. So as to not appear too suspicious, I took note of the general direction the girl headed towards, and I would follow that same route later after exploring a bit more of this town.

This area was considerably smaller than the city I was just at. There were only a few people roaming the streets, though they too didn't seem too happy to see me. However, while the city folk seemed confused but mostly indifferent of my presence, these town folk were… scared of me. Some even hid back into their homes when I got close enough. Though with the shape some of those houses were in, I doubted that they were safer indoors than outdoors.

I don't know what I had done wrong, but I had never felt this much disapproval in my life. I don't think they understood that there even was such a thing as a God of Destruction, just like humans back on Earth had no idea until Beerus showed up. Were they scared of me the same way they would be scared of any other foreigner? Part of me hoped that was it, and not that there was something "special" about me.

Exploring around wasn't really getting me anywhere, so I decided to go back to my plan of following the little girl. She was probably already home, or at least I hoped. When I got to what I believe was the neighborhood that the girl headed into, I tried to look in through the windows of the houses as discreetly as possible. Eventually I saw the girl in one of the houses, and she was alongside an older lady who appeared to be her mother. I sneakily got closer to the window so that I could see what was happening, hopefully without anyone noticing me.

They were… crying. Why? Had something happened? They were just sitting around a table, not talking, not eating, just… crying. Upon further examination of the room, I noticed that there was some kind of small altar with dimly lit candles around it. At the center of it was a picture, so this was enough info to know that a family death had happened. That explained why they were crying, but who was the deceased? I got as close as I could to get a better image of who the victim was, and it was slowly starting to become clear. It was… Oh, no… Ohh… Noo… It was that kid that Whis had summoned for the test, John Bon Bon. This was his family, and they were lamenting the disappearance of their loved one – a disappearance that I was responsible for. That sense of guilt that I had been feeling since the incident became so dense that I swear I could physically feel it pushing me down.

"You freak!" While I was defenseless from the emotional trauma, I was attacked by some of the townsfolk. Before I had a chance to react, I felt a putrid chemical covering my mouth, and I was instantly knocked unconscious.

I woke up gasping for air. Where was this…?! A swamp? A bayou? Either way, I was completely covered in muddy water, and the odor was like something I'd expect from the underworld. I must have been thrown into this place by those people who attacked me. They must have noticed me – a total stranger – peeking into someone's house, and they reacted accordingly. I always believed in asking questions before acting, but the people on this planet would probably disagree with me.

Suddenly, I started feeling heavy vibrations from under the water. Whatever this was, it was much bigger than anything you'd typically find on Earth. I started backing away, and from the spot that I was emerged a colossal creature! I couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be because of it being completely covered with mud and other dregs. It let out a terrifying roar before lunging its entire body at me! I managed to jump out of the way just in time, but the force of the impact caused a massive wave of water, which knocked me back onto a tree. I had a headache already and this just made it worse.

If it were my dad or Vegeta, they would have stayed and fought this monster. But not me, I needed to run away. And not just from the creature, but from the planet in general. I was sad, angry, frustrated, dirty, feeling guilty, in pain, exhausted, AAAGHH! "WHIS!"

"You called, milady?" He appeared right beside me when I called.

"Get me OUT OF HERE!"

"Understood." And with a flick of his staff, we were back out on the exosphere of Planet Lulipa. Even though Whis was right next to me, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. I had gone through an exorbitant amount of stress, and my brain simply could not take it anymore.

"W-Whis… I-I…" I had to wipe my tears away with practically every word that escaped my mouth.

"Hmm… I understand that you may have had a rough first day, and it truly is unfortunate. However, have you made a decision?"

No matter how upset I was, I still had to understand that I now held the lives of thousands on my fingertips. I didn't want to destroy Planet Lulipa because now I had seen firsthand the low quality of life that its inhabitants suffered, and I felt like destroying them would be putting salt on the wound. But at the same time, that was precisely why I needed to destroy it. Even if not by much, their existence was dragging down the quality of the universe as a whole. I could "let it slide," but I know that wouldn't be the right thing to do, not as the Goddess of Destruction. I had to put my emotions aside for this.

Wiping one more set of tears from my face, I held my hand towards Planet Lulipa. I concentrated the energy from within my body and focused it on the target. My hand began shining with a purple glow. I started slowly yet forcefully closing my fist, as if I were holding the planet in my palm. Volcanic cracks erupted from the surface as I continued to close my hand. Just at that moment, the image of John's family flashed back in my head, making the process that much more painful. But I had already started and I couldn't afford to stop. It took everything I had to bring myself to fully close my fist, which resulted in a gargantuan explosion of planetary debris. And because of the powers of the Destruction ability, that debris started dematerializing, making sure that not even a trace of the world remained. In mere moments, Planet Lulipa and all of its inhabitants had been completely erased from the universe.

"Your job here is done, Miss Court. What would you like to do next?"

"Whis… Let's go home…"

Author's Note: Boy, I'm in like full writer mode right now! Though it's mostly because I just started the fic this week and I have fresh ideas and enthusiasm. I'm afraid that things will eventually slow down once I have other things in my mind. I hope it'll never get to the point where the series essentially goes on hiatus, though. But I do work on other things outside of fan fiction writing, as well as having a job, so I hope you understand when my uploads slow down.

This chapter was a bit tougher to write because I needed to deliver a sense of loneliness, which means that Court had to be thinking to herself the majority of the time. This means that character conversations had to be kept to a minimum, contrasting what you've been seeing up until now. That said, I have a good idea of what this whole chapter was supposed to look like in my head, and I hope I was able to deliver that same image to you.

Lastly, I apologize if some of these chapters don't feel very Dragon Ball Super-ish. Even if this is a DBS fan fic, I always like to implement elements of the original Dragon Ball, which was all about adventure and discovery. There's so much that can be done with intergalactic travel, I simply had to write a few scenes like this! I promise Resurrection 'F' will come soon, but I pray you will enjoy as I explore other aspects of the Dragon Ball universe that Super chose to ignore.